Chapter 35: First Kiss Liability

"What do you actually want? I don’t feel like I have any responsibility to take here!" I said, pulling her hands off me once again.

"You stole my first kiss! How can you not take responsibility?!" Shuyan blurted out, slipping up in her haste.

"You’ve got to be kidding me..." I stared blankly at Shuyan, whose face flushed with a flicker of embarrassment even as she tried hard to put on a calm front. No matter how I looked at her, she didn’t seem like a girl who still had her first kiss!

"You have to give me an explanation today, otherwise you can forget about going anywhere!" Shuyan said stubbornly.

"Miss... Professor Shuyan, what on earth do you want me to do? What’s done is done—it’s not like I can return it to you. What choice do I have?"

"I won’t let you off that easily—you have to take responsibility!" Shuyan argued unreasonably.

"Then how about you kiss me back and call it even? Fine by me." I thought to myself: If you can act like a rogue, can’t I?

"You..." Flustered to the point of tears, Shuyan covered her face, crouched on the ground, and began to cry. The suddenness and sheer volume of her sobbing startled me half to death, forcing me to look frantically around us. Fortunately, not many people came to this spot near Sanshiro Pond, so no one saw us—otherwise, who knows how badly they would misinterpret this!

Circling around her, I asked in frustration, "Alright, Professor Shuyan, stop crying. What do you actually want?"

Hiccuping as she wiped away the tears at the corners of her eyes, Shuyan opened her eyes wide and said, "I don’t even know how the students in class will look at me after this. They’ll definitely think there’s something going on between you and me! No matter who asks about our relationship from now on, you have to say you were pursuing me, and I turned you down!"

"No way. Can’t I just tell them there’s nothing between us?"

"Who would believe you if you said that?! You bastard, you made me spend the whole night outside yesterday, and today you made me lose face like this on my very first day as an advisor! Sob..." Shuyan’s tears started falling again.

"I made you spend the night outside? Were you living in my dorm room originally?"

"Go to hell! Who would want to live with a bastard like you?! I locked my dorm key inside the room and just wanted to climb through the window to open the door!"

"Couldn’t you just go find the dorm supervisor? Who else can you blame for being stupid?"

"You’re the stupid one! I’ve called the dorm supervisor so many times this month already. If my mom finds out, she won’t let me live on my own outside anymore! If you don’t agree, I’ll make your life a living hell every single day!"

I was truly terrified of her now. Nodding, I said, "Fine, it’s a deal. You’re not allowed to make trouble for me anymore after this!"

A faint smile broke across her pretty face, which a second ago was still stained with tears. "Mm, it’s a deal. Now you go back to the classroom first—I’ll follow behind you!"

Without another word, I walked toward the classroom. The moment I pushed the door open and stepped inside, the room instantly burst into commotion.

"Fuitsu, you’re amazing! Did you know Professor Shuyan beforehand?" a guy with sharp features squeezed over and asked.

"I think Fuitsu just charmed our Professor Shuyan! Look at how handsome he is!" said a girl with a face full of freckles, whom I didn’t have much of an impression of.

Being called handsome was quite a fresh experience. I smiled at the classmates gathered around me, remaining silent as I returned to my seat. Just as I sat down, that kid Ryu Yu leaned over slyly and said, "Boss, you’re seriously incredible. I couldn’t hold a candle to your style even if I tried! Tell me, how did you get our gorgeous advisor?"

Holding my head in pain, I said, "If I told you I have no relationship with her whatsoever, would you believe me?"

Ryu Yu stared at me for a long moment, then nodded and said, "Why wouldn’t I believe you?"

"You really believe me? There’s truly nothing between her and me—all of this was just a misunderstanding!" Hearing Ryu Yu say he believed me, I immediately poured out my grievances.

"Haha, even if there is something between you two, who cares? I think our advisor is really pretty, especially her figure—it’s top-notch! If you’re interested, go for it! I’ve got your back, brother!" Ryu Yu said, slapping his chest loyally.

I was so exasperated I practically collapsed onto the desk. Pursue her? Unless I have nine lives like a cat and an indestructible groin, I wouldn’t stand a chance with her! Just thinking about her big foot makes my nerves tense up—if a kick like that lands solid, I’m definitely ruined for life!

Shuyan returned to the classroom as well, and everyone quieted down. After the scene earlier, no one was as terrified of this beautiful advisor anymore, though no one dared to act out of line in front of her either.

"Alright, let’s select our class officers now to assist me with the daily management of the class. Everyone can write down the candidate you think is suitable for class president on the blackboard. Whoever gets the most votes will become the temporary class president for Marketing Class 5. After one week, we’ll see their performance to decide whether they stay in the role. Starting from the first row now!"

Everyone then walked up to the blackboard one after another to write down their votes. To my utter shock, out of 56 students in the entire class, 55 voted for me. The remaining vote was the one I cast for Ryu Yu.

Looking at me with emotional eyes, he said in an overly dramatic tone, "Boss, I’m so moved! If I were a woman, I would definitely fall in love with you! But you should still be the class president—if I competed with you, I’d probably be eaten alive by everyone else!"

Shuyan also looked displeased as she said, "Then our class’s first president will be student Fuitsu. I hope he can shoulder this responsibility!"

"Thank you all for your trust, but I cannot be the class president," I stood up and said.

The other classmates looked at me in confusion. Ryu Yu even stood up and asked, "Why, Boss? You have the best grades in the whole class—if you don’t do it, who will? Besides, you’re already so familiar with Professor Shuyan!"

Ryu Yu’s words immediately drew agreement from everyone, and they all started chiming in to persuade me.

Quickly stopping the noise, I said, "I really can’t serve as the class president. What everyone might not know is that I don’t belong to any single department. Furthermore, I have to double-major across four fields, so I really don’t have enough time. The university administration has also granted me permission to skip regular classes, so showing up on the roster is just a formality—I probably won’t be spending much time in class. I really can’t take on this role, but I will always be a student of Marketing Class 5!"

Hearing my explanation, everyone gasped in astonishment. Double-majoring across four fields was definitely not something an ordinary human could handle—even with a perk like skipping classes, no one envied me.

Hearing that I wouldn’t be around class for long stretches of time, Shuyan’s face immediately beamed with joy. Nothing would be more agonizing for her than having to face me all day—though she seemed to have forgotten that her dorm room was right next door to mine.

"It’s a real shame that student Fuitsu can’t be our class president. In that case, I propose that student Ryu Yu, who received just one vote, serve as our class president—how about it?" Shuyan said happily.

Ryu Yu also stood up at the right moment and said to everyone, "Although I only received Boss’s single vote—and being a one-vote president is pretty depressing—I promise that during my time as president, I will do my absolute best for everyone and bring honor to Class 5!"

I also chimed in to support him: "That’s right, please place your trust in Ryu Yu! Even though I just met him today, in this short half an hour, I can already tell he’s a very enthusiastic person. I support him!"

Hearing my words, Ryu Yu looked at me with gratitude. I patted his shoulder and said sincerely, "Bro, I’ve got your back!"

Everyone agreed to let Ryu Yu try for a week, and the matter of choosing the class president was settled.

Clapping her hands to quiet everyone down, Shuyan smiled and said, "Alright, next I have another piece of news that will make you sad: starting tomorrow, you will begin a week-long military orientation training. Attendance is mandatory for everyone. Fuitsu, as for whether you participate or not, you can decide for yourself!"

The moment Shuyan finished speaking, miserable wails erupted from below!