Just as Camellia had predicted, the students of Harmony High forgot all about the silly rumors surrounding her within just a few days.
Now, the spotlight was on the very first rehearsals of a brand-new dance crew: Let's Dance.
According to plan, on the day of the upcoming Vietnamese Women's Day Event - October 20th, Let's Dance would perform a cover of the wildly popular hit "Kiss you, Bite you" by the rising idol group that every girl at Harmony High was obsessed with - Crimson Veil.
Because the official school dance crew - Dancing Stars - had booked the dance studio months in advance, Let's Dance had nowhere to practice.
Dancing Stars flat-out refused to share the studio, even for a single rehearsal, despite not preparing any performance for the event themselves.
And so, Let's Dance was forced to train inside the Grand Theater - Harmony High's indoor performance hall.
The Grand Theater boasted a professional sound and lighting system, along with stage equipment worthy of a real arts venue. Its seating stretched across two floors, with enough space for at least 500 spectators.
At first glance, it might seem as though the school and teachers were favoring Let's Dance by letting them rehearse there. But anyone who had ever danced before knew: beginners needed mirrors on all four walls, not a grand stage.
And above all, they needed privacy…
Something the Grand Theater utterly lacked.
Every single rehearsal of Let's Dance drew an audience of Harmony students - bringing with them a wide range of attitudes.
The girls, in particular, flocked to the front rows for the best view of the twenty boys on stage. Most of the trainee dancers stood over 1.75 meters tall, with decently athletic builds.
But for Ethan, joining Let's Dance was nothing short of a nightmare.
Thanks to his Bloodbound ears, he could hear every whisper, every giggle, every biting comment from the girls in the audience.
"Tall and broad, but not handsome? They look more like King Kong than idols."
"Ugh! Why are there hippos on stage?"
"God, their moves are so jerky - like zombies! Nothing like the idol aura of Crimson Veil!"
And every time his own name was paired with words like "junkie," "skeleton," or "mountain monkey," Ethan tried to trick his ears into going deaf.
"Ethan! You got thisss!"
From the stands, three girls from Class 11D - Autumn, Cherry, and Amy - were cheering at the top of their lungs.
Class 11D didn't have many girls to begin with. Their figures were relatively petite compared to the average Harmony High girl, but right now, their attitude looked downright fierce and battle-ready.
"Don't you dare badmouth Autumn's man like that! Are you blind or what?"
Cherry shouted into the ears of the girls sitting in the row below.
Autumn, however, had no time to correct Cherry's words. She was too busy holding Amy back - stopping her from pouncing on the girls who had just insulted the Let's Dance boys from the D-group classes.
Faced with the fiery loyalty of his classmates, Ethan only wanted to dig a hole and bury himself alive.
He never liked being the center of attention.
So what the hell was he even doing here?
(Maybe I should just quit Let's Dance?)
No - no way. That wasn't an option.
Ethan quickly shook off the cowardly, defeatist thought creeping into his mind.
His goal here was clear: to earn 50 HP for himself and for Class 11D.
That was more important than anything else!
Besides, Ethan had already trained with Let's Dance for three sessions. Dropping out now would be a waste of all that effort.
Thankfully, because Mr. Bach often made Class 11D practice flashmobs as warm-ups in his P.E. classes, dancing wasn't nearly as impossible as Ethan had feared. The moves just demanded sharper execution and better synchronization.
Not to mention, Royce had even lent him a Nintendo Switch so he could practice with Just Dance. Training with the game - alongside two well-built guys like Royce and Felix- helped Ethan learn to really feel the beat.
Thanks to that, he could now keep up with the increasingly difficult drills from the team leader, Chris Vu, a senior from Class 12C.
But it seemed…
… Chris didn't look happy about that at all!
More than once, Ethan caught him - and a few other guys - giving him the kind of look you'd give to garbage.
Ethan hoped it was just his imagination, maybe the result of stress from rehearsals. After all, rivalries between guys usually didn't play out in this weird, simmering way.
"Because… the Five Fruit Tray Decorating Contest at the Mid-Autumn Festival landed right at the start of Week 2 of the Take Care of the Girls Event for Women's Day. So some guys had to vote for the girls they were assigned to care for… If that overlap hadn't happened, your Class 11D would've won the Popular Vote for sure and bagged an easy 100 HP. Class 12C only beat you by… one single vote. That's why Chris's been sulking."
Andrew the Detective from Class 11B spoke between ragged breaths. His determination to spill information, despite his lack of stamina, left all his dance steps completely off-beat.
"Hey, Ethan! So, what do you think - does Chris dislike your Class 11D more, or my Class 11B more?"
Andrew the Detective nudged Ethan again.
"How should I know!"
"Heh heh. Obviously my class. Because it was my class that snatched First Prize in the Fruit Tray Decorating Contest."
Andrew's grin stretched all the way to his ears.
"Bet you didn't see that one coming, huh? My class was one of the ones stuck with the ugliest fruit and decorations in the whole school. And yet - we pulled off a spectacular comeback. We crushed 12A, 11A, and 10A, swept the competition, and scored 100 HP thanks to our Don Nathaniel."
Ethan's gaze shifted toward Nathaniel. Standing 1.78 meters tall with sharp, striking looks, he too had been drafted into Let's Dance.
Nathaniel was now in the center of the stage, showing off his ability to plant his head on the floor and spin like a top without getting dizzy, earning awestruck admiration from the other Let's Dance members.
That Nathaniel belonged to a class notorious for solving problems with fists and muscles - yet he was also the only junior on Harmony High's Math Olympiad team.
It was a spot that could have been Ethan's, if only that night he hadn't dozed off at school… hadn't cut through a dark alley… hadn't witnessed the Blood-Giver attacking Royce… hadn't saved Autumn with his blood… hadn't become a Bloodbound… and, most crucially, hadn't missed the qualifying test for the Math team.
But then again - without Ethan, who knows what would've happened to Royce and Autumn that night?
And even if he had made it to the exam, what if he still lost to this handsome, athletic math prodigy anyway?
Who could say what fate really had in store?
Ethan had disliked Nathaniel ever since their clash in the cafeteria a week earlier. And now, with Class 11B winning First Prize in the Fruit Tray Contest thanks to him, Ethan's annoyance only deepened.
This guy might be even more "perfect" than Royce himself.
"Uh. Congrats to your class, I guess."
Ethan replied coolly, hoping his flat tone would kill Andrew's enthusiasm.
But he was wrong.
When had Andrew the Detective ever stopped bragging just because the other person wasn't interested?