n

n

nIt was his little sister who had insisted he learned that material after all.

nHow could he possibly find the face to not know the material that his younger sister already knew?

nWhere would his pride as an elder brother go?

nEven if he didn't want to learn it, he had to want to learn it!

nThere was no second nor third option.

nHe either had to learn it or he had to learn it or he had to learn it.

nWell, those were his second and third options.

nAnyways, now that things had already developed to this point, there was only one more thing for Theo to do.

nIn this case, learning was just like bitter medicine.

nNow that he had already drunk it, as an unscrupulous person, of course, he would want others to drink it as well.

nIf they didn't drink it, then he could just force it down their throats.

nThis feeling of schadenfreude was great!

nWhat, you thought that he was going to say something about bitter medicine being good for you? Ha! Ha! How funny. *Insert fake smile :)*

nJoin in the suffering, he thought as he tutored his compatriots.

nCompanions for life, am I right?

nHe didn't want these people to give in mid-way!

n

"Anyways, let's leave that at that.

"

nThankfully, after that summer, there weren't many more like it.

nHe dove into swimming afterward, and Emilin could only admit that exercising was really good for the body, and one couldn't just sit in front of books all day.

nNot to mention, that would solve half of Theodore's near-sightedness problem that Emilin had been wanting to help with.

nTheo had inadvertently learned that trick from his big brother Nathen.

nThat was also one of the reasons why the two of them ended up becoming so fit.

n6 and 8 packs were nothing when stacks of textbooks were on the other side of the scale.

nDid these people really think that these abs came from out of nowhere?

nDream on!

nThey came from the fear of becoming a bookworm with a Ph.D. education by 10th grade!

nTheodore said those words as those distant memories of him cramming in information in the blazing summer started to fade into oblivion.

nIt was a good skill, to be able to stop thinking about the things one wanted to stop thinking about.

nA skill that most ordinary people didn't have.

nMeanwhile, Jenna was still stuck at the revelation that Theo too had a day when he had to study hard to learn information.

nEven if those days were much earlier for him than they were for her.

nAh, how refreshing a thought.

nSo he too had this day!

nInstantly, her impression of Theodore's little sister, whom she hadn't even met, rose by a degree or two.

nAfter all, Emilin had been the only one that could confront Theodore without even trying, at least from Jenna's perspective.

nBut then she froze.

nSh*t.

nIt couldn't be that this guy didn't learn ** for the other four years in which he was in high school right?

nThen does that mean that he had 4 more years than I did learning college courses?

nCRAP!

nJenna's whole body suddenly deflated.

nHow could he even catch up anymore?

nCan you not leave some room for other people's livelihoods?

nAnd though Jenna abhorred the thought of what kind of answer would end up coming out of Theo's mouth, she still had to ask.

n

"Then that means your current studies are around...?

"

nShe asked meekly as if the answer would take away her last breath while the soft winds could possibly blow her ashes away.

nTheodore thought about it for a bit.

nHe was about to open his mouth to voice his answer, but when he saw Jenna's defeated appearance, he closed his mouth again and decided to hold back.

nHe knew well what a studious and determined person Jenna was, it was as if there were a fire raging in her eyes and in her heart.

nHow could he have the heart to smear her efforts?

nNo matter how much he enjoyed other's sufferings, he still knew of limits.

n

"It should only be around our 4th-year courses.

"

nTheodore said with some uncertainty after some contemplation.

nThat was low enough, right?

nMeanwhile, Jenna was about to pull out her hair while Kayden's eyes were also twitching.

nBrother.

nDo you even know how to use the term ONLY?

nWhat do you mean ONLY??

nWhat more do you f***ing want?

nWe're over here working our asses off to barely get the grades we want for our 1st-year courses while you're over here... having ONLY mastered your 4th-year courses.

nKayden almost wanted to turn around and leave for a second right then and there as he pondered on the fact that he was even slightly older than this son of a nice person.

nBut what could he do?

nIt wasn't as if he was in the dark beforehand.

nAt some point, before this point in time, he had already come to terms with such thoughts.

nIt wasn't particularly hard as even in his own family friends, he was surrounded by abnormal people.

nJenna also finally gave up.

nThere was no point in comparing with this person.

nWouldn't she just tire herself out?

nNow she finally understood why there was a documentary about people who committed suicide when going to these top universities in the past because of the pressure.

nIt must be because of these types of students that you simply couldn't compare to.

nBut since she had already found out that she couldn't compare, Jenna could just spare herself the effort and trouble.

nShe didn't want to die young after all.

nA weight was immediately lifted from Jenna's shoulders as she decided that she would no longer bother always comparing herself to others.

nThere were some things that you just couldn't do no matter how much hair and sleep you lost.

nIt was a matter of talent.

nAnd she had no such talent. There was nothing she could do about it, and so she wouldn't mull over the matter any further.

nIf she had a chance to catch up, then she would do her absolute best, but since that light had been extinguished, she would just have to follow her original plans.

nThere was no need for her to feel inferior just because she was different.

nThere were bound to be people who were better than you in certain matters and there was nothing you could do but accept it and continue by following your own path.

nJenna, who had been pulling all-nighters felt like she was given a new lease on life.

nHer eyes shone with a new light, a new amber as if she had finally left the vicious cycle that had been entrapping her.

nIt was an attractive look on her.

nOr so Theodore, who sat across from her, thought.

nKayden, who sat next to her, making it easier for Theodore to tutor them both at the same time, missed the scene.

nBut neither of them would be able to miss how Jenna had changed in the following days as the whole air around her became more relaxed and carefree.

nNot to mention, with her whole body and mind at a much less tense state, not only did her complexion improve but so did the results of her studying sessions with Kayden and Theo.

nTheodore, as the person who corrected half of their practice mock tests, could not possibly fail to notice such a detail.

nAnd this was a good thing for him too as he would have to grade less of these tests in the future.

nBut that was a matter of the future.

nAfter that episode, Theodore, Kayden, and Jenna continued studying at this bench outside.

nThis was the very same one in which Kayden and Theodore first met Gen together, and now, it was their regular studying spot other than the library and one of the private studying halls.

nIt was inconvenient for them to study in their rooms as they were still in the school dorms, and it didn't matter if it was outdoors since they didn't have to worry about the wind in a place like Basilian.

nOf course, the only problem was that under the blazing sun, the computers couldn't be seen properly, so this place was only ideal when it was cloudy, like today.

nWhile Kayden and Jenna kept reviewing the higher-level maths class's content, Theodore was also studying his own material.

nHis performing arts and communication major was not there just for show.

nHe still had quite a bit to learn from those classes, the improv class with the ruthless Professor Thiago in particular.

nThough Theodore quite liked his style, it was still hard on his students.

nIn the end, neither of them questioned why Theodore was still in their grade despite being able to graduate at this very moment.

nSince he was staying, he must also have his reason right?

nTheir thoughts didn't really go much deeper than that.

nBut one thought that did in fact pass through Jenna's mind was somewhat unrelated.

nShe thought back to all those times in which their classmates would talk behind Theo's back.

nWhile he was quite popular, in the end, there would still be jealous people, so that was completely normal.

nIf any of the people that thought Theodore was being way too high profile and showing off too much when sleeping in half of his classes, they would probably receive a hard slap in the face when they found out why those classes were so sleep-inducing to this man, right?

nIf such a day came, she too wanted to witness the scene.

nAfter all, schadenfreude was not a feeling limited to Theodore.

nJenna smiled at the thought.

n