Chapter 2 - 2: The Allure of Martin
Chapter 2: The Allure of Martin
"Martin, how do you keep getting more handsome? Standing next to you puts a lot of pressure on me."
Mark was a shy kid, but around friends, he could really loosen upโa classic example of what people call "quietly bold."
Martin gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder.
"Mark, do you want to date pretty girls?"
"Uh, of course!" Even though Martin's abrupt question made him a bit uncomfortable, he answered honestly.
"Then work hard and make money. Money impresses girls more than a handsome face does."
"Hmm, makes sense!"
Mark thought for a moment, then asked, "So, does that mean when I have money, I'll be more popular than you?"
"As if!" Martin looked shocked. "Because in the future, I'll be both handsome and rich!"
"Damn, he outdid me again!" Mark thought, feeling frustrated.
Just then, the bright yellow school bus pulled up.
Screech! The doors opened.
"Hop on, boys."
"Good morning, Mr. Jared."
"Mornin', sir."
Martin greeted the driver politely, followed by Mark, who blushed and muttered a quiet greeting, barely audible.
After saying hello, Martin turned to the bus, smiling with his hands on his hips. "Hello, everyone! How's it going?"
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"Hey, Martin!" came the chorus of replies, mixed with light laughter, showing that young Martin was clearly well-liked.
"Martin, can you tell us the Kung Fu Panda story again?" a red-haired girl with bangs and light freckles called from the front row.
"Alright, Lindsay, but I hope you won't be bugging me during class for more stories."
"I swear, I won't!"
The bus fell quiet, with only Martin's lively voice breaking the silence.
"... Don't be fooled by the peaceful look of Po's village, 'Valley of Peace.' In reality, it's a hidden martial arts haven! Besides having five kung fu masters, there's even a grandmaster who lives there in secret..."
"To defeat the villain Tai Lung, the 'Valley of Peace' held a special competition. The winner would represent the valley to drive him away. Who would've thought that Po, who couldn't do anything right, would win by sheer accident, shocking everyone..."
The children, especially the little girls, listened intently, their gazes filled with admiration.
Mark, sitting nearby, was envious.
The bus soon reached the school, and one by one, the kids got off.
Since Martin was responsible for keeping things orderly, he was the last to leave.
Mark, his loyal sidekick, followed close behind.
"Lindsay is so pretty, and she seems to like you," Mark said enviously in a low voice.
"I know!" Martin replied casually.
"Dorothy's pretty too, though she's a bit of a brawler. All the boys are scared of her."
"I know that too."
"So, what are you going to do about it?"
"Don't waste a good girl; don't turn down a bad one. In other words, I want them all!"
Mark was shocked. "Aren't you worried those jealous guys will try to beat you up?"
Martin chuckled. "I welcome their challenge."
To Martin, admiration, joy, jealousy, angerโthese were all fuel.
It seemed fate was listening, as a challenge soon appeared.
Thud!
A large, chubby, pale hand slapped heavily on Martin's desk, knocking his books and pens onto the floor.
"Are you Martin? My name's John. You should know me. I'm ordering you to stay away from Dorothy, or I'll snap your neck like a chicken!"
A tall, burly boy with a freckled face stood before Martin, his expression dark and threatening.
"John? Should I know who he is?" Martin asked Mark, feigning confusion.
Mark was nearly scared to tears. "Heโhe's the boss of our middle school, John Trace!"
"The boss? You mean he's the school bully? This fat guy? He's neither intimidating nor impressive. What a disgrace to our St. Marino Middle School!"
"What did you say?!" John's face turned red with rage, and he reached out to grab Martin.
In an instant, Martin caught his thumb and twisted it hard!
"Ahโ!" John screamed, dropping to his knee as tears and snot streamed down his face.
Sure, John was big and strong, towering over most kids his age, butโ
Martin was a demon.
While demons like him had the weakest physical strength in the realm of gods and demons, that was only relative to other divine beings.
For a human? Even with only a thousandth of his former strength, Martin's "speed" and "reflexes" were far superior. Against a kid with no combat skills, it was no contest.
"What did you say your name was again?"
"J-John!"
"And you're the boss of the middle school?"
"Y-yes!"
"Hmm?"
"Ouch, ouch! No, no, I'm not! You are! You're the boss, Big Brother Martin!"
In John's pitiful cries, traces of fear and resentment seeped toward Martin, which he eagerly absorbed, savoring it.
The classmates watching looked at Martin differently now; they could hardly believe that the mild-mannered Martin had such a fierce side and could even bring John to his knees.
In the front row, Lindsay's eyes sparkled. "Martin is amazing. He's not only handsome and smart, but he's strong too. I like him even more now."
Just then, the classroom door flew open, and a tall girl burst in. "John, you jerk, don't you dare bullyโ"
She froze, staring at John kneeling with a tear-streaked face, while Martin stood confidently before him.
What... what was going on?
This wasn't how she imagined it at all.
"Dorothy, what brings you here?" Martin asked, turning to her in mild surprise.
"I... I heard John was giving you trouble, so I came to stop him." Then, realizing the situation, Dorothy grinned. "But it seems I don't need to."
Martin gave her a smile, a faint allure radiating from himโunintentionally, just part of his nature.
Dorothy's face turned bright red.
And she wasn't alone; all the girls in the class, without exception, felt their hearts racing.
Mark stared blankly at his friend, wishing he could be in his shoes. Why was it that when Martin smiled, he was so irresistible?
He just couldn't figure it out.
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๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ฃ๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ข๐ค๐ข๐๐ฃ๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐ญ๐ฅ๐ง๐๐จ๐จ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐๐ง๐๐ฉ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐๐ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ฉ๐๐ค๐จ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ค ๐จ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ค๐ง๐ฉ ๐ข๐ ๐ค๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐๐จ ๐๐ค๐ช๐ง๐ฃ๐๐ฎ. ๐๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐ฉ๐ง๐๐๐ช๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐จ ๐ข๐๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ง๐๐๐ก ๐๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ฃ๐๐!
๐ฆ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ธ๐ ๐๐ผ:
• ๐ ๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ
• ๐ผ๐๐ข๐๐ง๐๐๐๐
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๐๐ ๐ฎ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ป, ๐๐ผ๐ ๐๐ป๐น๐ผ๐ฐ๐ธ:
• ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐น๐๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐๐: ๐๐๐ฉ ๐ญ๐ด๐ฑ+ ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐จ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ค๐ ๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐ฎ๐ค๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ก๐จ๐.
• ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐น๐๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐ต๐ผ๐๐-๐ข๐๐: ๐๐๐๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐ ๐จ๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐ก ๐จ๐๐ค๐ช๐ฉ ๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐ฎ ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ฉ๐๐ง ๐๐จ ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐๐ค๐ง ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐จ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ค๐ง๐ฉ!
๐ฌ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐๐๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ผ๐ป๐น๐ ๐ณ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ ๐บ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐๐ ๐ฏ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐น๐๐ผ ๐ต๐ฒ๐น๐ฝ๐ ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ด๐ฟ๐ผ๐ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐๐ป๐ถ๐๐. ๐๐ณ ๐๐ผ๐'๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ฎ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ฒ๐, ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ท๐ผ๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐!
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๐๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ฅ๐ค๐ฌ๐๐ง ๐ค๐ ๐พ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ข๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ผ๐๐ซ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ ๐๐ง๐๐ฃ๐จ๐ก๐๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ ๐๐ง๐ค๐ข๐ฅ๐ฉ, ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐๐๐ฃ ๐๐๐๐ค๐ง๐ฉ๐ก๐๐จ๐จ๐ก๐ฎ ๐ฉ๐ง๐๐ฃ๐จ๐ก๐๐ฉ๐ ๐พ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐จ๐ ๐ฃ๐ค๐ซ๐๐ก๐จ ๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐ฃ๐๐ก๐๐จ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ฉ๐ ๐๐ช๐ข๐๐ฃ-๐ก๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ช๐ง๐๐๐ฎ, ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฉ๐ช๐ง๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐ฎ ๐ฃ๐ช๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ก. ๐๐๐๐จ ๐ช๐ฃ๐๐ฆ๐ช๐ ๐ฉ๐ค๐ค๐ก ๐๐๐ก๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐จ ๐ง๐๐จ๐ช๐ก๐ฉ๐จ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฉ ๐ง๐๐ซ๐๐ก ๐ฅ๐ง๐ค๐๐๐จ๐จ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐๐ก ๐๐ช๐ข๐๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐ง๐๐ฃ๐จ๐ก๐๐ฉ๐ค๐ง๐จ, ๐๐ง๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐๐ญ๐ฅ๐ง๐๐จ๐จ๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐๐ช๐ง๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ฉ๐ง๐๐ฃ๐จ๐ก๐๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐จ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐ง๐๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ญ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐๐ฃ๐๐!
๐๐ฆ๐ต๐ผ๐ฝ: ๐๐๐ฉ๐ง๐๐ค๐ฃ.๐๐ค๐ข/๐๐ค๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ง/๐๐๐ค๐ฅ