Chapter 33: Catfights (1)
The fragrance from beside Liam wafted over, tickling his nose slightly and immediately pulling him out of his daze.
’Wait...! Since when has Miria been sitting next to me?’
It would be very troublesome if she had been watching them talk for a long time. It would be even more terrifying if she knew what Silvia had been saying.
Liam glanced at Silvia and found that her face, which had been bright red with a little sweat from her own words earlier, had now returned to normal. She put on a polite smile and immediately spoke.
"It’s fine, Prez. Please go ahead." She said politely, making Liam raise his eyebrows at Silvia’s sudden change in attitude.
He had thought Silvia would become timid, but who would have guessed she could control herself so well.
"Thank you, Silvia." Miria replied, nodding before picking up her chopsticks to take a piece of fish from her plate.
Even though Miria now looked strangely calm, Liam could feel Miria’s leg, wrapped in soft stockings, brushing hard against his own leg.
Liam pressed his lips together tightly. It felt like a silent warning.
"Since when have you two been in the cafeteria?" Miria asked. There was clearly a hint of jealousy in her voice.
"Right after the break bell rang, I immediately invited Liam to the cafeteria to discuss the study group report." Silvia answered. It was obviously a lie, which surprised Liam with this unexpected behavior from Silvia.
Miria narrowed her eyes. Hearing Silvia’s words irritated her slightly.
"By the way..." Miria picked up a piece of sauteed broccoli with her chopsticks. With eyes that reluctantly looked at Silvia, she continued, "I always hear that Silvia, the number one model student in this school, is very smart and has excellent grades. But who would have thought you are also very good at tutoring others."
Miria paused for a moment. Her eyes swept toward Liam.
"You know, Liam has always admired you ever since he entered this school. And when he was in the same group as you, he said that your explanations are very clear and amazing, even better than when I teach him something." Miria said with an expression that showed nothing, but deep inside she felt extremely annoyed.
She could see Silvia’s face redden after she mentioned that Liam admired her.
’What is that reaction! You vixen!’ Miria cursed in her heart.
Meanwhile, Liam beside her could only silently eat his Pelmeni. His mind was still somewhat chaotic from Silvia’s request earlier.
But what was Miria saying just now? She was exaggerating what he had said. He had never admired Silvia to that extent, nor had he ever said anything like that.
Silvia put down her chopsticks and held her cup of tea with light and elegant movements. Her slender fingers wrapped around the handle of the teacup.
"I only helped him refine and organize his thoughts." Silvia replied. She still looked very calm. "Liam is someone quite capable. He is a hard worker, catches on quickly, and without realizing it he actually has some talent. It is very satisfying to teach someone like him."
Miria’s polite smile almost broke at that moment. She almost wanted to hypnotize Silvia right then and alter every memory in Silvia’s head related to Liam.
But she held back that impulse.
The atmosphere between the three of them grew increasingly tense. The catfight seemed to be heating up.
Miria’s smile deepened.
"He really is. He has always been like that since he was little. He looks carefree, maybe even a bit dense, but he actually knows what he’s doing." Miria turned her head toward Liam. Her tone was full of affection, as if she were speaking to her lover.
Meanwhile, Liam really wanted to escape this situation. He wanted to say something, but there was no gap for him to interrupt at all.
Then Miria said something that made Liam want to leave even more.
"By the way, didn’t you once say that you were jealous of how ’smart’ Silvia is and told me to learn from her?"
’No shit! You are just making things up at this point, Miria.’
"I didn’t say that." Liam’s voice was very dry.
"Of course you did. Don’t you remember?" Miria blinked.
’You are trying to gaslight me now, Miria??’
"Last week when you came to my house to study together and we had dinner, you said, ’How can Silvia be so smart and disciplined? I wish I had at least a little bit of Silvia’s brain. Life is really unfair.’ That’s what you said."
’There’s no way I said that! Even if I really did say it, it definitely would not have been that exaggerated.’
Cold sweat began to run down Liam’s back.
He could see Silvia in front of him starting to look at him intensely, as if trying to confirm whether what Miria said about him always praising her was true.
"I also want to try learning from Silvia." Miria sighed. Her tone sounded helpless.
"But the result is that I ended up neglecting my duties as student council president. Some things, it seems, really cannot be learned."
Dead silence enveloped the three of them.
Silvia took another sip of her tea with full concentration.
As she put down her glass, her eyes slowly moved upward to face Miria.
"Prez doesn’t need to learn or imitate anyone." She said gently. "Everyone has their own rhythms and traits. Forcing yourself to change will only make you lose what makes you unique."
She paused for a moment. Her words carried heavier weight when one knew what Silvia’s actual life was like. It made Liam, who was now looking at Silvia, feel a slight ache in his heart.
Silvia then glanced at Liam and smiled faintly.
"Like... even though Liam often falls asleep in class and gets low scores, the way he looks at difficult problems is somewhat unique compared to others. He can always see a new perspective that other people might miss. That is also his strength."
As she spoke, the red blush on Silvia’s ears spread slightly to her neck.
Liam was stunned.
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