After school, Ellie waited, leaning against the door to the teachers' lounge. She looked at her watch, then glanced at the door. Shortly after, "sreeg," the door opened, and Maya stepped out.
"Excuse me, sir," Maya said.
After closing the door, Maya immediately walked over to Ellie, who looked like she had been waiting for a while. Then they walked toward the exit together.
"Sorry I took so long," Maya said.
"It's fine. So, did you tell them?" Ellie asked.
"Yeah, my scholarship has been canceled, so it will be given to a student who hasn't received a scholarship yet. Now I can be a full-time mother," Maya replied.
"That's great. Now you can focus entirely on the pregnancy," Ellie said.
"What about you?" Maya asked.
"From the beginning, I never intended to continue to college; I was just going to go straight to work, so it's not a problem," Ellie replied.
"You mean as a content creator? Don't you need a course for that?" Maya asked.
"I can take an online course later, so I won't have to leave the house and can still take care of the baby," Ellie answered.
"Hmm... that's good then," Maya said.
"But," suddenly, a very handsome young man with neat blonde hair, wearing an expensive watch and a gold necklace, carrying a smartphone that cost as much as a month's car payment, and a little arrogant, blocked their path.
"Hello, my love, Ellie," he said.
Ellie didn't answer. She just stared at the young man with a sharp, cold gaze. Maya immediately stepped forward, putting her hands on her hips and glaring angrily at the young man.
"What do you want, Charles? Move it," Maya said.
"Aw... you're so fierce, Maya. I just want to invite Ellie to eat with my family. We graduate in a month, and of course, we won't see each other again, right? You commoners just wouldn't understand, Maya," Charles said.
"Ha! At least I'm not disrespectful like a spoiled brat who still relies on his daddy's money, like the guy who thinks he's handsome standing in front of me," Maya replied, throwing shade.
"It's fine, Maya, let's go," Ellie urged, putting a hand on Maya's shoulder.
They walked past Charles casually, ignoring him, which clearly annoyed him. Suddenly, "tap," Charles grabbed Ellie's shoulder from behind. Ellie immediately shrugged off his hand and turned back.
"Please don't be rude," Ellie said with a cold tone.
"Why are you ignoring me, Ellie? I can ask my dad to help me propose to you. We're both from prominent families. Why would you want to be with that commoner... what's his name? Oh, right... Dylan," Charles said, insulting him.
"Bwaak," suddenly, a straight kick landed on Charles's stomach until "ohok," Charles's eyes widened, and saliva came out of his mouth. Maya pulled her leg back and put it down.
"Don't be disrespectful to Dylan," Maya said.
"W-what? You dare hit me, commoner? Just you wait, I'll deal with you. Don't expect your life to be peaceful after this, and (turning to look at Ellie and pointing at her) you, you will be mine, I promise," Charles said angrily, holding his aching stomach.
"That's enough, let's go, Maya," Ellie said, turning back around.
"Yeah, no need to deal with a pathetic guy who can only open his hand and ask his dad for money," Maya taunted.
Both of them turned around and walked out of the school building, leaving Charles to glare at their backs, furious and in pain. But just as they stepped out of the gate, "krep," they were suddenly grabbed by three men wearing button-up shirts, jeans, and sunglasses.
"Hey! What's the big idea? Let go!" Maya shouted, struggling.
Ellie was silent but struggled with all her might. Then the men turned them around to see Charles walking up to them. After Charles stood in front of the two girls, he gave a smug, arrogant smile.
"You forced me to use the hard way," (looking at his three thugs) "do whatever you want with this one, but I'm going to dinner with Ellie and my family," Charles said.
"Got it, boss," the three men in sunglasses replied, chuckling.
But suddenly, "duaaak...buaaak...blak," Dylan jumped and did a split kick in the air, hitting the heads of the two men holding Ellie and Maya. Then he lifted his leg and struck the last man with his heel in mid-air. When Dylan landed, the three men had all fallen down. Ellie and Maya immediately stepped behind Dylan, who was wearing a yellow construction helmet, dirty white gloves, construction worker pants, a black t-shirt under a safety vest, and boots.
"H-hey! What the hell?" Charles asked, terrified.
"Oh, so it's you, Charles... what's going on here? Who are these guys? Your people?" Dylan asked casually.
"You... you bastard! I won't forget this... watch your back, this isn't over," Charles said, pointing at Dylan but turning around and heading back into the school building.
Dylan turned around to look at Ellie and Maya behind him. Then he was shocked to see Ellie, who was stunned, captivated with sparkling eyes full of respect and admiration, especially Maya, who had her hands clasped into fists as if praying, her eyes sparkling with pure admiration and respect.
"Hey! What's wrong with you two?" Dylan asked.
"W-we were bothered by Charles just now," Ellie replied.
"Yeah, that's right. He had bad intentions for Ellie... and me," Maya added.
"Alright, well, you two go home. I have to get to work," Dylan said.
"Why are you coming this way, Dylan?" Ellie asked.
"I had to buy something, the foreman told me to, so I happened to be passing by," (actually CATS told me to take a detour here... unbelievable) Dylan answered.
Suddenly, both of them immediately moved forward to hug Dylan, which made him instantly uncomfortable, and he tried to pull away.
"H-hey, this is right in front of the school! What if someone sees us?" Dylan asked, looking right and left, hoping no one was watching.
"It's fine. Charging the battery," Ellie replied.
"Yeah, that's right. Haven't been charged all day," Maya added.
"Okay, okay... I have to work. I'll buy food when I get home. I'm going to be late at this rate," Dylan said.
But the two of them kept hugging Dylan for a while longer. Finally, Dylan suggested they walk with him and then go home past the construction site. As they walked, Ellie and Maya kept linking their arms with Dylan's. They kept looking up at Dylan's face from the side, even though they had to crane their necks since they were shorter than Dylan.
[See, sir? If you hadn't taken a detour, your two wives would have been in danger.]
"That's really true, so many problems today," Dylan replied.
[What else can you do? All your wives are unintentionally tempting many men. This is the kind of problem they face every day. Please give the brooches I gave you to them, sir.]
Then Dylan reached into his pocket and pulled out two red metal brooches. He stopped for a moment.
"Here... put these on," Dylan said.
"Oh, what are these?" Ellie asked, taking a brooch and examining it.
"A protection charm... supposedly," Dylan answered.
"Hehe, cute. Can I have it?" Maya asked.
"It's for you and Ellie. Lena, Amy, Aaron, Fiona, and Iris already have theirs. I bought one for everyone," Dylan replied.
"Oh, right. How's Iris? Is she better?" Ellie asked.
"She is. Her fever has gone down, but she's still a little weak. Let her rest first," Dylan answered.
"That's a relief then," Ellie replied.
"Look, does it match?" Maya asked, wearing the brooch on her shirt collar and pulling her shirt, so the cleavage inside was visible to Dylan.
"Y-yeah, it looks good," (why did she put it there... ugh, I'm late now... I'm going to get yelled at... I hope they don't cut my pay... so many things happened today... all because of CATS) Dylan said, stepping back a little.
[You're welcome, sir. I'm happy to help.]
"I wasn't talking to you," Dylan said.