Chapter 29: So, how did you like the manga?

In less than a minute, the bedroom door burst open.

​Himanshu had his school tie in one hand and his bag in the other. The top two buttons of his shirt were undone, and in his rush, he had completely forgotten to zip up his pants. His messy hair kept falling into his eyes.

​Without wasting a single second, he bolted straight for the main door. But as he ran through the hall, Mom, who was eating breakfast at the dining table, saw him and stopped him.

​"Where are you going?"

​Without slowing down, and completely ignoring the Demon sitting quietly at the table, he rushed toward the door and said in a hurry,

​"Can’t you see? I’m going to school!"

​Standing up from her chair, Mom yelled from behind,

"At least eat your breakfast!"

​"I’ll just eat at the canteen!"

​And then came the loud sound of the main door slamming shut— BAM!

​Resting both her hands on the dining table, Mom took a deep breath and said with a faint smile,

"This boy..."

​In the school corridor, Himanshu’s feet were moving at top speed. He wasn’t running, but he was trying to walk as fast as he possibly could.

​Students walking by were giving him the weirdest looks. After all, looking at his state, it was pretty obvious he had literally rolled out of bed and come straight to school without even taking a shower.

​Noticing this, Himanshu lowered his head and kept walking forward without making eye contact with anyone. Dodging the teachers’ gazes and panting heavily, he finally placed his hand on his classroom door. He took a deep breath, panting badly. That’s when he looked down. ’Shit!’ Panicking, he quickly zipped up his pants. Trying to think of an excuse to apologize to the teacher for being late, he adjusted his collar and mentally prepared himself.

​The moment he opened the door, his eyes went straight to the blackboard. But there was no teacher standing in front of it. The class was empty.

​Thanking his lucky stars, a smile of pure relief washed over Himanshu’s face.

​But the second he looked at the students in the class, his smile vanished instantly. Everyone’s eyes were glued to him. Some guys were glaring at him weirdly, while some girls were looking at him in total shock.

​’Did I do something wrong again? Please... don’t look at me like that,’ Himanshu panicked internally.

​This was the first time in his entire life that every single student in the class was staring at him like this all at once. Usually, he only got these kinds of looks when he got low marks, failed, or got publicly humiliated by a teacher.

​Looking down in shame, his eyes fell on Priya’s desk. She wasn’t there; only her bag was kept on the table.

​But then he remembered everything that happened at the store.

’Oh yeah! I actually talked to her...’

​Looking at Priya’s desk, Himanshu started walking toward his own seat.

​"Aaahh!"

​Suddenly, a sharp, terrible pain shot through his thigh—the exact same spot where the Demon had pinched him last night. Due to the sudden pain, his legs stumbled and he crashed straight into the desk in front of him. His entire body weight lurched forward. In a desperate attempt to stop himself from falling flat on his face, he quickly threw both his hands out.

​And right then... he felt something extremely soft against both his hands.

Before Himanshu could even process what was happening...

​SMACK!!

​A deafening slap echoed through the entire classroom, followed instantly by a collective "Oh!" from the rest of the students.

​Himanshu’s hands had landed straight on Monica’s chest.

​Monica was the second most popular girl in the class, right after Priya. Guys were crazy over her figure too. But the worst part was that she had a boyfriend—a gym bro. Just looking at his biceps was enough to make sure no one even dared to try hitting on his girlfriend. And honestly, a huge chunk of her popularity came from the fact that she was Priya’s best friend.

​Monica’s slap landed so fast and so hard that Himanshu didn’t even get the time to pull his hands away from her chest.

​The sheer force of the slap left a ringing sound in his ear. His cheek turned beet red in a second. Snapping back to his senses, Himanshu quickly pulled his hands back and stumbled two steps away in a panic.

"S-Sorry! I swear I didn’t mean to!"

​"Get lost, loser!" Monica spat, making a disgusted face while covering her chest with her hand. As she turned away, she threw a filthy look at Himanshu and muttered under her breath, "I don’t know what she even sees in him."

​After such a brutal humiliation, Himanshu didn’t say another word. Staring at his shoes in pure shame, he quietly walked over and sat down in his seat.

​After sitting down, he lifted his eyes and looked around. Every single student in the class was still staring at him.

​’What is their problem, man?’ he thought in frustration.

"Let them go to hell."

​Gritting his teeth, Himanshu shoved his hand into his pants pocket to pull out his phone and escape this awkward situation. But the moment his hand touched his pocket, he remembered that the Demon had taken his phone last night.

​In a fit of anger, he clenched his fist and slammed it hard onto his desk.

​Ignoring the students, Himanshu turned his face toward the window and tried to calm himself down.

​But right then... a very familiar scent wafted from beside him.

​"So, how did you like the manga?"