Chapter 64: Ch 64: Let’s pretend to Date

Alan’s mood felt sour as he suggested this arrangement. He did not even know why he was offering something like this in the first place.

His logical side told him that he would need Daniel’s guiding if he wanted to be with Noah and not drain him dry. But for the first time, his rational side was being overpowered by weird emotions.

As a result, his mood was weird as well, and it showed on his face.

Daniel looked stumped as well, and his face showed an equal mixture of shock and tiredness.

"Tsk, you really think you are a big shot while threatening me like this? I don’t want anything to do with you-"

"We can pressure the teachers and the academy as well if we are together. You can use my name and expect it to have an effect if people believe we are together. Of course, I am not offering this for yourself, but for Noah’s sake. I don’t want to accidentally drain him dry. So I need a partner with enough power to keep me stable."

It sounded logical on paper, but Daniel still had a hard time believing him.

He wanted to say no, but then Alan struck another chord with his words.

"Besides, don’t you feel like Noah is trying hard to get us together? It’s not obvious, but I cannot help but feel like he subtly tried to put us in situations where we end up together. So why not pretend to give him what he wants from us? That way, we can help lower his guard."

Alan pointed out, and once again, Daniel wanted to call bullshit, but he could not.

He had thought about it before as well and found out that Alan was right. Noah was trying to push them together, likely because of their similar high grades.

"So, you are saying that you want to pretend to date me in order to make Noah feel much more relaxed, and then you want to make a move on him? Are you even hearing yourself talk?"

Daniel tried not to yell, but it was hard. Luckily, Alan had an artifact that blocked all the noise out.

"I am quite serious about my proposal. You can either take it or leave it. But I have a feeling that we might lose Noah to someone else if we don’t make a move soon."

Alan pointed behind his back, where Ethan and Noah sat. Daniel felt his heart skip a beat in shock and anger as soon as he noticed Ethan handing Noah a granola bar, and Noah looked like he was falling in love.

Jealousy made his insides twist in a way they never had before, and all he wanted to do was walk over to the pair and grab Noah’s hand to pull him away.

"That bastard-!"

"Will keep making moves on Noah. So we need to mark our territory. So, what do you think? Are you ready to become my accomplice? This might also make it easier for Noah to ask us for favors in the future."

Alan asked this question at the end of the lunch break, but he only got an answer once the classes ended.

Daniel looked at Noah’s lost expression, and he watched as Noah turned to look at Ethan, preparing to ask him something. And that made Daniel’s patience snap.

"Fine! Let’s pretend to be together or whatever. But our ultimate goal will be to be with Noah. I am still going to do my best to make Noah choose me alone. And if that happens, then you need to back down."

Daniel pointed out as he started walking toward Noah.

Alan let out a sigh at his words, but honestly, he felt the same inside.

"Alright. But I would like to propose the same thing. If Noah chooses me, then you will have to be the one to back down. This will be the deal between us."

...

"Are you going to return to your room now? Want me to accompany you?"

Ethan asked, completely unaware of the company he had standing behind him. But even he was not able to ignore Daniel’s glare and decided to look back at the guide with a shudder.

Daniel did not seem to care about the fact that he was scaring Ethan with his presence, and instead, he chose to address Noah and ignore the other esper.

"Let’s head back together, Noah. You said that you had a bad feeling about my room last night, right? Then let’s check it out together."

The offer was nice, but Noah was not sure what he and Daniel would be able to do if something had happened.

Luckily for them, Alan had walked over as well, and he looked interested in what they were talking about.

"Are you heading to your room? I will come as well. I want to see your new room as well."

Alan placed his chin on Daniel’s shoulder when he said these words, and Noah expected Daniel to shake him off with a yell.

But that did not happen.

Instead, Daniel seemed to be tolerating Alan’s presence around him with a frown on his face, but the lack of violence was new and unexpected.

It felt odd to see this situation, even if this was what Noah wanted in the first place. He should be happy with this...

But something about it made him feel lost.

’I should feel relieved that things are getting back on track. So why do I...feel like I am borrowing time? No, I just need to trust the system and that dream. Once I do that, I will be able to escape this life.’

The thought of freedom was what kept Noah going, and he nodded silently at Alan’s request.

Daniel did not look happy at the fact that Alan was going to follow him, and Noah decided to grab and pull at him before he could change his mind about Alan.

"We should get going as soon as possible. If someone had truly done something to your room, then we need time to get it sorted out."

Noah told Daniel while tugging him along. As for his own room...he was not even going to go there. He would likely end up in the medical wing once more.