ã€ŠPARAMETERS [BL, Eventual Harem]ã€‹


 Chapter 1: Experience Novel

    A beautiful pink haired princess beamed brightly at him. Her eyes were filled to the brim with love, and it was obvious the individual she was gazing at was the most precious person in her life.

    The stars glittered dazzlingly in the moonlit sky behind her, and soothing music began to play as her voice softly drifted through the speakers.

    ¡°I love you,¡± she confessed, tearing up with the depth of her emotion even as her smile only widened further.

    Above her, the text ¡®PRINCESS ALIANA ROUTE CLEARED!¡¯ scrolled across the screen, and the credits began to roll alongside a charming slideshow of the best moments spent with the princess.

    Lee sat back in his chair and stretched his arms out to get rid of the stiffness that had accumulated in his joints from staying in the same spot for the past ten hours. A satisfied smile sat upon his face as he relished in the euphoria of having spent his night with such an endearing character.

    Princess Aliana¡¯s love had certainly felt real; overflowing from the screen and bathing him in the warmth of her care. Lee lived for those brief moments when playing Dating Simulation games when he could fool himself into believing he knew what true love felt like.

    ¡®...And with that depressing thought,¡¯ Lee sardonically admonished himself, ¡®I guess I should at least try and get a couple hours of sleep.¡¯

    He closed the game and glanced at the time, only to find he had twenty minutes before class was to start.

    ¡°Or not,¡± Lee huffed with a slight chuckle. He rubbed at his tired eyes and slid out of his chair, going to his closet to find a clean uniform to change into.

    ******

    As anyone could have guessed, Lee didn¡¯t have a very productive school day. In fact, he spent more than half of it slumped over unconscious on top of his desk.

    Even as the last bell of the day rang Lee didn''t even stir.

    He also missed his teacher trying to shout over the rising voices of his classmates about an assignment that was due the next day.

    Suddenly, someone grabbed Lee by the back of his shirt and began roughly shaking him.

    ¡°H-Huh?! Whazzit¡­?¡± Lee grunted in a daze, a bit of drool sliding down his chin as he raised his head.

    ¡°I feel like I ought to admire your skill to sleep through almost anything,¡± he heard a voice sarcastically praise him from behind.

    Lee turned around to see Arland smirking at him with a single eyebrow raised.

    ¡°Another all-nighter?¡± His friend guessed.

    ¡°Mm, yeeeeahh¡­¡± Lee groggily replied. He always had trouble returning to full alertness after just waking up.

    ¡°Must¡¯ve been a pretty good game then?¡± Arland assumed, curious.

    Lee gave a quick nod. ¡°Definitely. The game had such a great story and characters!¡± He took a moment to remember Princess Aliana¡¯s stunning love confession with a wistful smile. ¡°It¡¯s just a shame I had to finish the last ending,¡± he mused.

    Arland shook his head, perplexed by Lee¡¯s ability to get so caught up in romances with still images of characters on a computer screen.

    A hand smacking the top of Lee¡¯s desk startled the both of them, and Lee quickly swiveled around to see the Class President standing over him.

    The President''s disapproving gaze was slightly obscured by the overhead lights glinting off his large round glasses as he impatiently tapped his foot.

    ¡°Uh, yeah, Thomas?¡± Lee inquired uncertainly.

    ¡°So you weren¡¯t listening,¡± the President deduced immediately. He rolled his eyes as he explained, ¡°The teacher said if you finished your assignment early you can turn it in today for extra credit.¡±

    Lee¡¯s eyes traveled down toward Thomas'' arms, where his redheaded classmate was holding a few papers.

    ¡°Oh, I uh, I¡¯m not done with mine yet. I¡¯ll definitely have it tomorrow though,¡± Lee assured, trying not to sweat guiltily in the face of Thomas'' skeptical demeanor.

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    Lee would certainly try his best to get it done tonight. He wished he¡¯d known about the extra credit beforehand though. He certainly could¡¯ve used it.

    Thomas shifted his attention away from Lee toward the blonde sitting behind him.

    ¡°And you?¡± The President asked.

    Arland, who had begun packing up his belongings, couldn¡¯t help chuckling. ¡°Now come on, Tom,¡± he snickered, ¡°You know better.¡±

    The frustrated sigh Thomas released was long and, on Lee¡¯s end, guilt inducing. Without another word, the President went on to the next row of students.

    Lee doubled down on his motivation to actually complete his homework this time, while Arland was as uncaring about it as usual.

    ******

    That night, Lee sat in front of his computer and groaned aloud. His half-finished assignment taunted him from the screen glowing in the darkness of his dorm.

    He was utterly bored out of his mind. That was why he always struggled to finish his assignments on time. He just couldn¡¯t muster up the will to focus on things he had no interest in.

    What he really wanted to do was take a break and play a game, but he had promised himself he wouldn¡¯t even think of doing so until he finished his paper.

    Then, Lee suddenly had an absolutely GENIUS Idea!

    He could pick out a new game to play and keep working while it downloaded! That would be an extra incentive for him to finish quicker!

    With that belief, Lee happily went to peruse his favorite online store. He had, unfortunately, played through most of the best Dating Sim titles, so for a change he decided to go straight to the genre¡¯s ¡®New Releases¡¯ page.

    He scrolled through a sea of bright and flashy thumbnails, none of which immediately caught his eye. There was no top quality artwork like that of Princess Aliana¡¯s ¡®Your Royal Romance¡¯ on display.

    When he got to the bottom of the page, however, he did stop to stare at an image that didn¡¯t have any attractive characters or scenery shown. There was just a bright pink heart on a solid white background.

    ¡°Parameters,¡± Lee read the title aloud. Its information tags had the words ¡®Dating¡¯ and ¡®Experience Novel¡¯ instead of the usual ¡®Visual Novel.¡¯

    Lee wondered what exactly that distinction meant. Would it somehow be more interactive than usual?

    While he was just initially curious about the vaguely marketed game, what truly made him consider downloading it was the price tag.

    The game was FREE.

    Lee clicked on the title to see if it would be worth his time. There were no reviews for it, but that wasn¡¯t completely unusual for the newer releases. He decided to check out the game¡¯s features.

    There was apparently multiplayer functionality, which was strange but not totally unheard of for the genre. He vaguely remembered a very popular Monster Dating Sim that came out some years ago that could also be played with friends.

    Reading on, Lee¡¯s eyebrows furrowed when he saw the game claimed to have ¡®voice command functionality as well. He speculated on how that would be implemented.

    Perhaps in a gimmick sort of way? For instance, you could say some set phrases like, ¡°I love you,¡± or ¡°You¡¯re beautiful,¡± and the character would react?

    ¡®That would be kind of cute, actually,¡¯ Lee decided, his expectations rising.

    Moving onto the game¡¯s summary, Lee quickly scanned over the words.

    [In this EXPERIENCE, you can romance your handsome male peers!]

    [You have FIVE DAYS to get your dream guy to fall for you, but if you fail, don¡¯t worry!]

    [You can always restart and try again, or choose a different boy to woo!]

    [Increase a character¡¯s AFFECTION and fill your love interest¡¯s HEART GAUGE to get the best ENDING and unlock REWARDS!]

    [Always keep track of your guy¡¯s PARAMETERS and you¡¯re guaranteed a love that will last a LIFETIME!]

    The description was as energetic and to the point as most tended to be, if a bit short. There wasn¡¯t any detail about the actual story of the game though, which was disappointing.

    Also, all the romanceable characters were boys? There hadn¡¯t been an ¡®Otome¡¯ tag for the game, so perhaps the player character¡¯s gender was neutral or optional? That was something becoming more frequent in modern Dating Games.

    Lee didn¡¯t mind whether the heart he was trying to win in the game was male or female, as long as they were written well and the art was nice to look at.

    Even if it turned out the game was crap, at least it was free so there wasn¡¯t really a downside to getting it.

    Lee went ahead and started the download process, but was shocked to see the estimated time it would take to finish was TEN HOURS!

    He couldn¡¯t help but whimper as he realized that even when he finished his homework, he still wouldn¡¯t be able to play until tomorrow.

    Without another excuse to keep stalling, Lee sighed heavily and left the download page running in the background.

    He had a paper to write.

 Chapter 2: Do You Accept?

    Lee blinked at the sight before him.

    He then turned away and lightly massaged the tiredness from his eyes with his thumb and index finger.

    When he looked back the floating message box was still there.

    [WEEK ONE]

    [NEW EVENT: ASSIGNMENT FINISHED ON TIME!]

    (Turn in your assignment to the Class President during homeroom.)

    [DO YOU ACCEPT?]

    [Success: +5 Affection & Heart Gauge Unlocked]

    [Failure: -5 Affection]

    So¡­ clearly Lee must¡¯ve been a little too excited to play the new game he was downloading if he was now having hallucinations like this.

    No matter how often he blinked the words would not disappear. He attempted to wave the text away, but his hand just harmlessly passed through the message without disrupting it at all.

    Lee moved to get out of bed and the floating box followed, always staying directly in front of him at chest height.

    ¡®Maybe I¡¯m just overtired,¡¯ Lee considered. It was the most plausible explanation. He walked across his room to the attached bathroom, thinking that washing up would help to energize him.

    However, by the time Lee was dressed, backpack in hand, and ready for school the situation hadn¡¯t changed. No matter how often he¡¯d splashed water on his face or pinched himself, the words refused to go away.

    Should he just play along then?

    All the ¡®event¡¯ wanted him to do was turn in his homework, right? Lee had been planning to do that anyway, seeing as he¡¯d actually finished it for once.

    There were no buttons to select ¡®accept¡¯ though. He couldn¡¯t touch the box at all.

    Lee pondered aloud, ¡°If I just say ¡®I accept¡¯ will that-?¡±

    The world abruptly blurred around Lee as if his surroundings were rapidly passing him by. He felt like he was on a high speed escalator with no handrails.

    He threw his arms out to keep balance, wobbling precariously, until everything came to a sharp stand still. It was so sudden Lee stumbled forward a few steps.

    Looking up, he found that he had been teleported to stand directly in front of the open door to his classroom.

    ¡°Okay, that, uh¡­ yeah,¡± Lee sputtered, discombobulated.

    Out of pure habit, Lee started forward over the threshold of the classroom just as the school bell rang sharply throughout the halls.

    Thomas stood a few feet away, back facing Lee.

    As the Class President began to turn around, time seemed to slow. The outside edges of Lee¡¯s vision blurred, and only Thomas was in sharp focus.

    The early morning light from the window across the room glinted off Thomas'' glasses, giving his cheeks a warm glow. The President¡¯s shoulder-length strawberry hair fluttered delicately like window curtains caught in a light breeze as he fully faced Lee.

    The world was zeroing in on Thomas like the intro cutscene of a videogame. Soon, even the backdrop of the room disappeared entirely, replaced by sparkling particle effects. The muted sound of the bell ringing in the distance was the only noise to be heard.

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    Lee struggled to process all that he was seeing, but eventually his gaze was drawn to the slow movement of Thomas'' mouth.

    The Class President was clearly trying to speak, but Lee was more focused on the glossy sheen of the boy''s lips.

    For a reason Lee himself could not explain, they captured his undivided attention. Had they always looked so soft?

    Lee might¡¯ve stayed trapped in that almost hypnotized state of being, had Thomas not decided just then to bop him on the head with a clipboard.

    It didn¡¯t hurt, but the small hit was enough to pull Lee back into reality. As a result, all of the sparkles and fanfare that had surrounded Thomas faded away. The two boys were back to simply standing in their normal classroom setting.

    Feeling as if a fog had just lifted, Lee brought a hand to his head. All of that had simultaneously felt too real and too fantastical. He didn¡¯t know what to think anymore.

    Thomas deliberately cleared his throat, causing Lee to look up at him. The redhead raised his eyebrows expectantly, tapping a pencil on the edge of the clipboard in his arms.

    Lee had no idea what he wanted, so he asked, ¡°Sorry, um, what did you say?¡±

    Thomas huffed, focusing on marking something down on the paper in front of him. He then repeated his unheard question, purposefully enunciating the words slowly. ¡°Did you finish your essay?¡±

    Before Lee could even think of replying, a new text window suddenly popped into existence in front of him.

    [ No, I forgot.]

    [Yes, I didn¡¯t want to disappoint you.]

    Okay, so that was still happening.

    Lee tried to ask Thomas if he could see the floating dialogue options, but no sound could escape his throat.

    Not a word; not a gasp.

    Lee had been rendered completely mute.

    Incredulous, Lee clutched at his throat and locked eyes frantically with Thomas, who seemed to have no reaction to Lee¡¯s extended silence or the text hovering between them.

    In fact, there was something unnatural about the way Thomas was standing there watching Lee. The redhead occasionally blinked, and the subtle rise and fall of his chest indicated he was breathing, but otherwise he wasn¡¯t moving.

    To any savvy observer, Thomas looked like an idling game character waiting for some kind of player input.

    That meant it wasn¡¯t just Lee being affected.

    Letting his eyes drift around the room, Lee could tell that all of his classmates were in a similar state to Thomas. There were some minute movements in their bodies that indicated they were all still breathing, but otherwise nobody seemed to have any agency.

    Lee let his gaze warily drift back to the dialogue options. He had an inkling of what he had to do.

    He still couldn¡¯t touch the text, and now he couldn¡¯t speak, so he decided on one mentally.

    The second he made his choice, a response was forced from his throat against his will.

    ¡°Yes, I didn¡¯t want to disappoint you.¡±

    Following those words, Thomas seemed to surge back to life. He straightened up, clutched his clipboard to his chest, and his eyebrows creased in confusion.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t know my opinion mattered that much to you,¡± Thomas remarked, tilting his head inquiringly.

    In a hurry to reply just to make sure he had his voice back, Lee admitted, ¡°Well, when I don¡¯t turn in my work on time you glare at me. It¡¯s a little scary.¡±

    Thomas frowned heavily, averse to being thought of as ¡®scary¡¯ of all things.

    ¡°I¡¯m not trying to intimidate you. It just frustrates me when people give up on their work without even trying,¡± he admitted. ¡°I¡¯ll tone it down.¡±

    Lee quickly shook his head, protesting, ¡°No, it¡¯s okay! You¡¯re my motivation! I wouldn¡¯t get even half my homework done otherwise.¡±

    Thomas looked at Lee with bemusement, shaking his head at the backwards logic. ¡°Whatever works then, I suppose,¡± he concluded.

    Thomas then held out his hand expectantly, informing Lee, ¡°You can go ahead and hand the homework in to me now.¡±

    ¡°Oh, uh, sure,¡± Lee complied, quickly unzipping his bag and pulling his essay out of his folder. He handed it over and Thomas slipped it beneath the top sheet of paper on his clipboard where he¡¯d been marking attendance.

    [EVENT (ASSIGNMENT FINISHED ON TIME) COMPLETE!]

    [+5 Affection & Heart Gauge Unlocked!]

    Lee barely kept from flinching as soon as the new text window appeared in front of him. It stayed just long enough for him to read, then vanished.

    Following that though, Lee¡¯s gaze was drawn to the top of Thomas'' head where two new stats floated.

    [Affection: 5%]

    [Heart: ????????] (0/4)

    Lee had received the promised event rewards.

 Chapter 3: Volunteered

    Lee sat subtly rocking back and forth with pent up energy, staring off into the middle distance for the better part of the school day.

    During his final period the math teacher decided to have the students split up into groups to work on reviewing equations for an upcoming test.

    It was a foregone conclusion that Arland and Lee would partner up, given that Arland was Lee''s only friend. Therefore, following the teacher¡¯s instructions on autopilot, Lee stood up and turned his desk around to face his groupmate.

    ¡°Uh¡­ you okay, man?¡± Arland asked in a low voice when Lee dropped back down into his seat with a perturbed expression.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Lee admitted hollowly.

    While Lee already had more than enough reasons to be unnerved considering what he''d experienced earlier that morning, what he was currently looking at had him especially disconcerted.

    Above Arland''s head of tousled blonde hair floated a percentage of affection, just like the one Thomas had.

    [Affection: 32%]

    Lee didn¡¯t know what it meant that his friend also had the stat when the rest of his class didn''t.

    Why only Arland and Thomas, and what did it mean that Arland¡¯s had already passed 30%?

    Thomas also had a ¡®Heart Gauge¡¯ that Lee had apparently unlocked, but Arland only had the ¡®Affection Meter.¡¯ What was the difference there?

    ¡°You wanna tell me what¡¯s wrong?¡± Arland prodded, interrupting Lee¡¯s racing thoughts.

    Lee¡¯s mouth dropped open in a rush to give voice to all the concepts swirling around in his brain, but then he hesitated. How should he even begin?

    Swallowing nervously, Lee asked in a low tone, ¡°Would you believe me if I said I think my life has suddenly become a video game?¡±

    Arland offered up a lopsided and incredulous smile, but his answer was brutally swift and blunt.

    ¡°No way.¡±

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    Shut down so completely, Lee¡¯s shoulders drooped and he looked away. Although he couldn''t really be surprised since his claim was extremely absurd, he felt dejected nonetheless.

    ¡°Maybe you shouldn¡¯t stay up so late on the computer,¡± Arland suggested placatingly.

    Lee gave a soft, ¡°Yeah,¡± from under his breath.

    Arland seemed as if he had more to say, but quickly shut his mouth when their teacher came to stand over them.

    ¡°Did you hear me when I said it was time to get started, boys?¡± Mr. Carthorne asked, his tone scolding.

    Lee quickly obeyed, pulling out his notebook and flipping it open to an empty page.

    Arland, on the other hand, propped his elbow on his desk, rested his chin in his palm, and looked away disinterestedly from the teacher.

    Carthorne only sighed and shook his head at Arland¡¯s usual disregard for all classwork. The teacher chose to instead focus his attention on Lee.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you work with Thomas for today, Lee?¡± He suggested.

    Lee jumped at hearing the Class President¡¯s name, and made to look behind the teacher as if Thomas was going to leap out from there and spook him.

    ¡°What, um, what for?¡± Lee stuttered hesitantly.

    ¡°I know you¡¯ve been struggling in class lately,¡± Carthorne explained. ¡°While you¡¯re always free to ask me if you need help, Thomas would also be more than willing to assist you.¡±

    ¡°I hope you asked Thomas before volunteering him for tutoring like that,¡° Arland remarked snidely, still facing away.

    As Mr. Carthorne narrowed his eyes at Arland for his disrespectful tone, Lee shrunk further into his seat, feeling extra chastised even though the look wasn¡¯t aimed at him.

    Mr. Carthorne didn¡¯t attempt to refute what his blonde student had said. Instead, he started scanning the room until he spotted Thomas, who was making sure all the other students had appropriately split off into groups. He called the Class President over.

    ¡°Yes, Sir?¡± Thomas inquired, immediately trotting over to stand beside his teacher.

    ¡°Would you be willing to join Lee and Arland¡¯s review group?¡± Carthorne asked, smiling down at his top student with encouragement.

    ¡°Of course,¡± Thomas nodded sharply, complying without hesitation.

    ¡°Excellent,¡± Carthorne praised. ¡°I¡¯ll leave you boys to it.¡±

    As their teacher went to check on other students, Thomas also walked off to go get his work materials and drag his desk over to join their group.

    Lee¡¯s eyes followed the President¡¯s retreat, looking up at the stat that had become a permanent fixture above Thomas'' head.

    It had flickered and changed when Mr. Carthorne urged him to collaborate with the two worst students in his class.

    (-2%) [Affection: 3%]

    Lee tried his best not to take it personally.

 Chapter 4: Menu

    When it came time to actually solve the equations they were supposed to be reviewing as a group, it was no surprise when Thomas wordlessly started completing them by himself.

    Lee knew he would be no help, and it was obvious Arland had no intention of assisting either. His friend flagrantly pulled out a deck of cards and started playing a game of solitaire, paying the assignment no mind.

    ¡°I¡¯m not going to just give you the answers,¡± Thomas stated without glancing up from his notebook.

    Lee had figured as much; the President had told him that very morning how much he disliked when people didn¡¯t try to do their own work after all.

    ¡°I know,¡± Lee murmured. Although he had trouble with mathematics at the best of times, he was extra distracted because his eyes kept flickering toward Thomas'' low affection meter and empty heart gauge.

    ¡°I can feel you staring at me,¡± Thomas expressed, disgruntled.

    Lee quickly darted his eyes away, embarrassed to be caught.

    ¡°Sorry,¡± he uttered without an excuse.

    Thomas set down his pencil and focused his full attention on Lee.

    ¡°Do you want me to teach you how to solve them?¡± He inquired.

    New dialogue choices formed in front of Lee; he was thankfully taken less off guard by their appearance this time.

    [Yes, I could really use your help.]

    [No thanks, I¡¯m fine on my own.]

    ¡®Well, the second one would just be a lie,¡¯ Lee figured. His decision was obvious, so he didn''t try to fight the words as they were automatically forced from his throat.

    ¡°Yes, I could really use your help.¡±

    Thomas hummed in acknowledgement and scooted a bit closer to Lee so he could better see his notebook.

    He started to methodically walk Lee through solving the equations, showing an abundance of patience when Lee still struggled initially to grasp his explanations.

    By the time there was only fifteen minutes left of class, Lee had gotten a much better handle on it.

    He happened to glance over at Arland, who was still playing with his deck of cards.

    Without giving it much thought, Lee reached over to the notebook resting unopened on the edge of his friend''s desk and dragged it closer to himself.

    He flipped past the few pages with writing on them to a clean one and started copying down his answers there as well.

    Arland watched him do so impassively; he gave no indication at all as to whether he cared if Lee completed the classwork for him or not.

    Thankfully, Thomas didn¡¯t seem inclined to tell the teacher on Lee for his decision to cheat for Arland. He simply asked, ¡°Why not just let him fail? It¡¯s obviously what he wants.¡±

    Lee wasn¡¯t sure how to answer that.

    He had no idea why Arland refused to do any work, yet still showed up to class every day. It was a mystery the blonde refused to shed light on no matter how many times Lee had asked.

    Even so, what Lee did know was that he didn¡¯t want his only friend to flunk out and leave him here all alone. He couldn¡¯t admit that to Thomas though, especially not with Arland sitting right across from him, so he stayed quiet.

    Eventually, the final bell for the school day rang, and all of the students began to shuffle their desks back into place.

    As it was his job to collect everyone¡¯s papers, Thomas was the first to leave their group, taking Lee and Arland¡¯s pages with him.

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    Waiting until the President was out of earshot, Arland stated, ¡°You really didn¡¯t need to bother, Lee.¡±

    As he stuffed his notebook back into his backpack, Lee replied, ¡°I know.¡±

    Arland sighed whilst sweeping his cards into their box, not bothering to argue the point further.

    Lee shrugged on his bag and prepared to bid his friend goodbye, only to pause with surprise.

    Arland¡¯s ''Affection Meter'' had changed.

    (+3%) [Affection: 35%]

    ******

    Lee jogged straight back to his dorm, more than ready to finish out the day and go to bed.

    He was still hoping to wake up in the morning to find that everything had actually been an elaborate dream, except-

    His computer monitor was on.

    Had it been on before he left?

    Lee understandably hadn¡¯t been paying any attention to it at the time, and he couldn¡¯t remember clearly if he¡¯d turned it off before going to bed last night.

    The computer wasn¡¯t just on; the title screen for a game was displayed as well.

    It was extremely simplistic: the background was pure white, with a single pink heart flashing in and out of existence in the middle of the window while the title ¡®PARAMETERS¡¯ slowly scrolled across the bottom.

    In all the absurdity of the day, Lee had totally forgotten he¡¯d downloaded a new Dating Sim. He wasn¡¯t exactly excited to play such a game due to his current circumstances, but he was at least curious enough to peek at the content.

    Lee kicked his shoes off, tossed his backpack aside, and walked over to settle down in his desk chair.

    There was no option to actually start the game, so Lee tried clicking around the window randomly, which then opened to a barren menu screen.

    There were only two large words in blocky red text: ROUTES and GALLERY.

    Assuming there wouldn¡¯t be anything to see yet in the gallery, Lee opted to click on ROUTES. He expected to be taken to a page where he could see artwork and a few characters from which he could choose to date.

    In a way, he wasn¡¯t too far off the mark.

    He was shown a long column of pictures, most of which were silhouettes of people deliberately blacked out so as to be unrecognizable.

    The only exceptions were the top two. Unfiltered as they were, the images were unmistakably that of Thomas and Arland.

    ¡°Ha¡­ haha,¡± Lee choked out a laugh with a slightly hysterical tinge to it.

    He¡¯d seen, read, and played more than enough fantastical media to recognize the mammoth sized clues beating him over the head at that point.

    ¡®This game is cursed. I downloaded a cursed game. No doubt,¡¯ was Lee¡¯s immediate conclusion.

    Morbidly fascinated, Lee dragged the cursor over to Thomas'' face.

    What came up was some very basic profile information, most of which he was already aware of.

    NAME: Thomas Kingsley

    AGE: 16

    DOB: March 27

    LIKES: ???

    DISLIKES: Laziness

    AFFECTION: 3%

    HEART GAUGE: 0/4

    MOOD: (LOCKED)

    ROUTES CLEARED: N/A

    Just to see what would happen, Lee tried to access the profiles of the people whose faces were obscured, but no information was revealed for them.

    ¡°Okay,¡± Lee exhaled, tilting his head back to stare at the ceiling with dread. ¡°What do I do here?¡±

    Theoretically speaking, if he finished a ¡®ROUTE¡¯ then maybe he would be set free from the cursed game?

    That would mean getting someone to fall in love with him, right?

    ¡®Or worse, maybe I¡¯ll have to finish EVERY route, including these people I don¡¯t know,¡¯ he thought pessimistically.

    If he were being made to win the heart of someone normally it would have been an impossible task; no question about it. However, with the game mechanic assistance being involuntarily given to him, he might actually have a chance.

    Perhaps Lee could even try to see his situation as a boon. Hadn''t he always wished he could live out the romantic fantasies of his favorite games?

    Of course, those had been with pretty drawings of characters and not his real life classmates.

    Out of the two people Lee was currently being given the option to raise the ¡®affection¡¯ of, he knew for sure he didn¡¯t want to pursue Arland romantically. The last thing he''d want is to risk the friendship they¡¯d built up over the school year.

    It was almost just as disconcerting to imagine himself in a relationship with Thomas, but at least Lee could admit he sort of found the Class President attractive.

    He doubted the feeling was mutual though.

 Chapter 5: Straightforward Approach

    Lee¡¯s next day trapped under the influence of a cursed Dating Sim was¡­ remarkably average?

    He¡¯d barely spoken to Thomas at all, and so far none of his short conversations with Arland triggered any dialogue choices. If not for the percentages still suspended over their heads, Lee might¡¯ve been fooled into thinking everything had gone back to normal.

    Lee realized that in order to have any chance of escaping his curse, he needed to be proactive about it. Therefore, at the end of the school day, he decided to try and talk with Thomas.

    Lee was deliberately slow in packing up as he kept an eye on the Class President, who was busy speaking to Mr. Carthorne at the front of the room.

    The teacher seemed to be giving Thomas a last minute task to do, handing the President a few different sheets of paper. After that, Thomas turned on his heel and briskly strode out of the classroom.

    Lee moved to follow, when he felt a hand grasp onto his shoulder from behind. His body involuntarily flinched at the unexpected contact.

    In an instant, the hand left his person and Lee turned to see Arland smiling at him apologetically.

    ¡°My bad,¡± his friend said. ¡°I was just gonna ask if you wanted to hang out today?¡±

    ¡°Um,¡± Lee hesitated, his gaze flicking back to the door even though Thomas was already out of sight. ¡°I-¡±

    ¡°Oh, Lee! Could you do me a favor?¡± Mr. Carthorne interrupted, walking over to them with a single sheet of paper in hand.

    Arland¡¯s friendly demeanor closed off the second their teacher reached them. It made Lee uncomfortable to see his usually laidback friend suddenly become void of all warmth.

    ¡°I forgot to give Thomas this worksheet to copy,¡± Mr. Carthorne continued, oblivious. ¡°Would you deliver this to him? He should be in the teacher¡¯s office down the hall.¡±

    Lee couldn¡¯t have asked for a better opportunity to speak with his classmate. ¡°Yeah, sure!¡± He agreed easily, taking the worksheet.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± Mr. Carthorne replied gratefully, going back to his desk.

    Arland muttered under his breath, ¡°Why didn¡¯t he just do it himself?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll come over to your dorm after I¡¯m done,¡± Lee promised.

    He felt crummy when Arland only shrugged with a strained smile before turning to go, and that feeling worsened when he noticed his friend¡¯s ¡®Affection Meter¡¯ had gone down a tad.

    (-1%) [Affection 34%]

    ******

    While it wasn¡¯t uncommon to see some boys going in or out of the teacher¡¯s office, Lee had never been inside. Only the more trustworthy students were sent to retrieve things from there.

    Thomas, whose role as the Class President basically made him a teacher¡¯s assistant, probably entered the office on a daily basis.

    Lee knocked on the door and peeked inside the window, but it didn¡¯t seem like anyone was inside. When he tried the knob the door turned out to be unlocked, so he let himself in.

    Lee quickly made his way across the room to the only other door in the space. It turned out to be a backroom that housed a copy machine, which is where he found Thomas doing the task assigned to him.

    Thomas raised his disinterested gaze from the machine to look questioningly at Lee.

    ¡°Mr. Carthorne wants you to make copies of this too,¡± Lee explained hurriedly, thrusting the worksheet out toward Thomas.

    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

    ¡°Right,¡± Thomas sighed, straightening up and stepping closer to Lee to grab it. The tips of their fingers made contact, barely brushing against each other. Thomas hardly seemed to notice, just taking the worksheet and setting it on a nearby table beside the others he had yet to make copies of.

    Lee, on the other hand, shivered at even that bare amount of contact.

    He tried to ignore his body¡¯s instinctive reaction. He didn¡¯t understand it, so it was best to pay it no mind.

    ¡°Is that all?¡± Thomas asked, looking back at Lee blankly.

    For the first time that day, new dialogue choices were prompted to appear.

    [Yeah, see you later.]

    [No, I wanted to ask you something.]

    Well, Lee did want to talk to Thomas in general, so he supposed the second option was the way to go. He didn¡¯t have a specific question or topic in mind though.

    ¡°No, I wanted to ask you something,¡± he replied.

    ¡°You need my help?¡± Thomas guessed; likely because that was the reason most people sought him out, be they teachers or classmates alike.

    [What do you do in your free time?]

    [Can you help me study?]

    The second choice would sound better in relation to the question, but Lee didn''t want to add on to Thomas'' mounting responsibilities by asking for extra tutoring.

    So, he quickly shook his head and inquired, "What do you do in your free time?"

    Thomas narrowed his eyes at Lee skeptically, asking, "Why do you want to know?"

    [I was hoping to learn more about you.]

    [Nevermind.]

    Lee despaired over the clunky and redundant dialogue options.

    "I was hoping to learn more about you," he replied, his voice forced to come out chipper even though he was cringing internally.

    "WHY?" Thomas emphasized, crossing his arms with impatience.

    [I like you.]

    [I want to be friends with you.]

    With trepidation, Lee stared at those words and said nothing for a while.

    ¡®What a landmine,¡¯ he thought.

    It would make everything easier if Lee pretended he was playing a regular Dating Sim.

    Confessing romantic interest to a character this early could have extremely disastrous or very advantageous results. It all depended on the archetype of the character being dealt with.

    Lee was more than aware Thomas was a real person, but for now he would need to compartmentalize that knowledge and focus on making choices that would hopefully aid him in escaping his curse as soon as possible.

    The ¡®Class President¡¯ archetype was a popular staple in romance games, so Lee was used to dealing with their prideful and no-nonsense personalities. A straightforward approach often worked best as long as the character¡¯s opinion of the player wasn¡¯t negative. Blunt characters usually appreciated equally blunt honesty as opposed to lies or waffling.

    Therefore, to the best of his ability, Lee would give the answer that corresponded with how he actually felt.

    "I want to be friends with you," Lee said firmly.

    Thomas'' demeanor relaxed from outright suspicion back to something more neutral. Above his head, his affection increased as well.

    (+12%) [Affection 15%]

    It was the biggest jump Lee had seen so far, so hopefully that meant he¡¯d chosen correctly.

    That was when the copy machine suddenly interrupted them by making a loud beeping sound.

    Thomas let out a weary exhale as he was forced to go back to his job, removing the freshly printed copies and setting up the next page.

    Lee shuffled awkwardly off to the side, not sure how to carry on the conversation since no new dialogue options were popping up.

    Thomas definitively put an end to it on his own; while pressing the button to start up the machine again he quietly said, "I''m not really in the mood for this kind of chat."

    "Um¡­ okay. I guess you are kinda busy¡­" Lee replied, nervously wringing his hands. He took a few steps backwards toward the door, but paused to ask, "Do you¡­ need any help?"

    Thomas stared at Lee with a confused frown. He glanced over at the copying machine currently doing all the work, then looked back at Lee with a raised eyebrow. "Not really," was his flat response.

    Lee didn¡¯t think he could possibly feel any dumber, so he turned around and hurried out the room.

    He really didn¡¯t know how to talk to Thomas at all.

 Chapter 6: You Can Trust Me

    Lee gave three sharp knocks to Arland¡¯s door and waited until it slowly cracked open. His friend cautiously peeked out at him.

    ¡°Just me,¡± Lee assured.

    The door swung open fully and Lee was quick to step inside so Arland could swiftly shut it behind him. The smell of strawberries permeated the room, courtesy of the vape flavor Arland preferred.

    Lee wrinkled his nose at the strong scent and moved to sit on Arland¡¯s bed, only to pause at the sight of an open suitcase on it. There were a few days worth of clothes already tossed inside.

    Lee felt a spike of fear run through him. Was this it? Was his friend finally getting kicked out? Trying to keep an air of nonchalance, Lee questioned, ¡°Going somewhere?¡±

    Before answering, Arland took a long drag from his vape, exhaling heavily with frustration. He took care to turn away from Lee so as not to assault him directly with the vapor.

    ¡°I¡¯m getting picked up after morning classes tomorrow to help my parents get ready for some party they¡¯re hosting on Friday,¡± Arland explained, clearly less than thrilled about it. ¡°I¡¯ll be gone ¡®till Monday.¡±

    Lee let himself relax, settling down on the edge of the bed. ¡°What kind of party?¡± He asked.

    ¡°It¡¯s supposed to be for charity, but it¡¯s really just an excuse for Mom to gossip and Dad to suck up to his boss,¡± Arland said dismissively.

    ¡°Why do they need you there?¡±

    ¡°Oh, you know how it is,¡± Arland declared with a flippant wave of his hand. ¡°In their circle you gotta bring your kid, dress them up to brag or lie about their accomplishments, and then herd them off to a corner to socialize with all the other kids forced to be there.¡±

    Lee wondered if that was what most of the boys at Haverford Academy were used to. He supposed it made sense, seeing as many of them were the children of wealthy elites. His own situation was a little different, but Lee wasn¡¯t interested in correcting Arland¡¯s assumption that he similarly attended such parties.

    The two of them decided to redirect their conversation to lighter topics, chatting idly while Arland continued packing.

    Then there was another knock on the door.

    They both tensed, worried it might be a teacher or supervisor. Arland tossed his vape at Lee to hide under the mattress as he crept toward the door and slowly pulled it open.

    The door was roughly shoved ajar and Lee was startled to see Thomas push his way in, arms laden with his school bag, textbooks, and a collapsible lap table.

    Thomas stilled upon realizing Lee was in the room, then whipped back around to face Arland. ¡°What¡¯s he doing here?¡± He demanded brusquely, jutting an elbow out in Lee¡¯s direction.

    Lee very much wanted to echo the question, not at all expecting to run into their Class President here of all places.

    Arland seemed completely unbothered by his arrival, despite the fact Thomas was considered a pseudo authority figure among students. He kicked his door closed and answered, ¡°I invited Lee over to hang since I¡¯ll be gone the rest of the week. Same as you, Tom.¡±

    This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

    Then, as if to emphasize exactly how little Thomas¡¯ presence fazed him, Arland reached under the mattress and pulled his vape back out. He took a puff and then went back to tossing his laptop charger into his suitcase like nothing had happened.

    Thomas glanced back at Lee, who offered up an awkward little wave.

    After a few seconds of silence, Thomas finally grunted, ¡°Whatever,¡± and sat down on the floor. He set up his little table with his homework spread out on it, and leaned his back against Arland¡¯s bed, right next to Lee¡¯s legs.

    Finally, Thomas reached into his bag and pulled out a lighter and a pack of actual cigarettes.

    ¡°You smoke?!¡± Lee blurted out in shock.

    Thomas shifted to turn his body toward Lee, his deadpanned eyes drilling holes of anxiety into him. Thomas took care to light up a cigarette directly in Lee¡¯s line of sight as he asked sardonically, ¡°Got a problem with it?¡±

    Lee quickly shook his head, biting his lip to keep from saying anything else that might further annoy his classmate.

    Plenty of other boys (such as Arland) secretly smoked on campus. What had taken Lee so off guard was he¡¯d never suspected Thomas to be one of them. HIs impression of the redhead had always been that of a strict rule-abider.

    Arland pulled out an ashtray from his desk drawer and offered it to Thomas as he remarked, ¡°Tom can¡¯t smoke in his room, so he drops by here to do it once in a while.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with his room?¡± Lee wondered.

    ¡°Prez is such a happy little helper. Teachers and other kids come to his dorm outside of class all the time to ask him for favors,¡± Arland replied with a derisive snort.

    Thomas snatched the ashtray out of his hand with a glare, offended at being described as a ¡®happy little¡¯ anything.

    Lee understood; someone in Thomas¡¯ position definitely couldn¡¯t risk a teacher coming by and catching the smell of nicotine. Arland already didn¡¯t care about rules, so he wouldn¡¯t bother snitching on the President like someone else might.

    That still left Lee confused about one thing though. ¡°I thought you guys didn¡¯t like each other?¡± He admitted.

    Arland and Thomas both blinked at him, nonplussed. In unison they asked, ¡°What gave you that idea?¡±

    ¡°It just seemed that way?¡± Lee rubbed at his arm unsurely. ¡°You never look that happy to see each other.¡±

    Arland asked in a fake whisper, ¡°When does Thomas look happy to see anybody?¡± The President blew smoke toward his face in retaliation, so Arland ducked out of the way and continued with a grin, ¡°I think Tom¡¯s a bit of a teacher¡¯s pet, but he¡¯s cool.¡±

    Thomas rolled his eyes and stated, ¡°It annoys me that Arland treats school like a joke, but I don¡¯t dislike him personally.¡±

    So they were kind of friends? That was the tentative conclusion Lee came to.

    ¡°Are you going to tell?¡± Thomas inquired as he purposely knocked some ash off the end of his cigarette.

    Before Lee could respond, two new dialogue choices appeared before him.

    [Yes, it¡¯s against school regulations!]

    [I would never! You can trust me.]

    Of course Lee wouldn¡¯t tell. What sense would it make to turn Thomas in for something he watched Arland do all the time?

    ¡°I would never!¡± The words were dragged from Lee¡¯s throat and turned into an emphatic declaration as he assured, ¡°You can trust me.¡±

    Thomas stared him down for a long moment, measuring his sincerity. Eventually, his posture relaxed and he turned back to his homework, muttering, ¡°Alright.¡±

    (+5%) [Affection 20%]

    Lee had hoped Thomas¡¯ affection would go up, but was surprised when he finally got a new achievement alongside it.

    (+1) [????????] (1/4)

    The Heart Gauge actually increased!!!

    Even though he didn¡¯t quite understand what made ¡®Hearts¡¯ different from ¡®Affection,¡¯ it was tangible progress.

 Chapter 7: Whereéˆ¥æªš The Benefit?

    The back half of Lee''s third day trapped under the influence of a cursed game was a lonely one.

    Arland had left campus hours ago, and the emptiness of the seat behind him was profoundly noticeable to Lee as he struggled to concentrate on his math test.

    He was the last one still working to complete it, and tried not to let the low chatter of the rest of the class distract him as he wrote down his final answer.

    Despite the fact that Thomas had helped him understand the formulas better during their group review session a couple days ago, Lee didn¡¯t feel particularly confident about receiving a passing grade.

    When Lee stood up to turn in his work, the sound of his chair scraping against the floor made the class fall silent in anticipation. He lowered his gaze to the floor, uneasy being the center of attention.

    Mr. Carthorne smiled up at him from his desk as Lee handed over his test. The teacher gave it a quick scan to make sure all the questions had been answered, then announced, ¡°Okay, as promised, I¡¯m ending class early now that everyone¡¯s finished.¡±

    There had only been fifteen minutes left in their final period, but the class still erupted into grateful cheers as if they¡¯d just been given a week''s vacation.

    Lee was just relieved to have all those eyes off of him.

    He went back to his desk to collect his bag, dodging as other boys rushed past in their race to escape the classroom.

    Out of the corner of his vision, Lee saw Thomas make his way to the front of the room and start cleaning off the whiteboard; one of his many mundane duties as Class President.

    Were there any benefits to Thomas¡¯ position? He always seemed so busy running around doing chores for the teachers.

    Lee hesitated to leave as the rest of the classroom emptied out in record time. He hoped Thomas might be in the mood to speak with him today.

    Mr. Carthorne got to his classmate first, however, asking him, ¡°Could you do me a favor, Thomas?¡±

    Thomas¡¯ back stiffened as he paused in his erasing, still facing the board, before acquiescing, ¡°Of course.¡±

    ¡°Excellent,¡± their teacher exclaimed with a clap of his hands. He then gestured to the fresh stack of papers on his desk and explained, ¡°I need you to help me grade these tests. I just remembered I have a meeting this afternoon and I won¡¯t have time to complete them all.¡±

    ¡°I can do that, Sir, ¡± Thomas said simply.

    ¡°Thank you so much, Thomas. I have to go now or I¡¯ll be late,¡± Mr. Carthorne spoke quickly, jogging toward the door. ¡°You know where my grading materials are!¡± He called out while leaving in a rush.

    Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.

    The sound of the door swinging shut echoed throughout the classroom, now vacant aside from the two boys left behind.

    Lee¡¯s mouth hung agape; he was in disbelief that he¡¯d just witnessed a teacher foist all his work onto a student. Yes, Thomas was the Class President, but the jobs that came with that position were meant to be small organizational tasks like passing out papers or taking attendance.

    Was Thomas actually an unpaid secretary!?

    ¡°Why are you still here?¡± Thomas asked after a few tense moments of silence, returning to cleaning the board.

    Lee hesitated, swallowed the many things he actually wanted to say, and instead inquired, ¡°You want some help with the grading?¡±

    A loud thunk sound reverberated through the room as Thomas slammed down a dry eraser harder than he needed to. His back looked rigid and his shoulders were hiked up.

    Thomas always seemed vaguely annoyed at the best of times, but Lee was starting to fear that maybe the President just really didn¡¯t care for him.

    However, when Thomas turned back around to face him, his expression was neutral. ¡°Why are you offering to help me?¡± He asked.

    At moments like this, Lee would compare navigating conversations with Thomas to the feeling of handling unstable chemical solutions. He found him extremely intimidating.

    ¡°I thought, well, it¡¯s not fair for you to always have extra work? I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve got other things you¡¯d rather be doing,¡± Lee haltingly explained. ¡°I¡¯ve got nothing going on, so I might as well help out if I can, right?¡±

    Thomas pushed his large round glasses further up his nose, taking the time to consider Lee''s words.

    ¡°Fine,¡± he eventually conceded.

    (+3%) [Affection 23%]

    Lee let out a small sigh of relief.

    Thomas went over to Mr. Carthorne¡¯s desk and opened up a drawer, pulling out two red pens and a folder. He then picked up the stack of test papers waiting to be graded and carried them over to a desk in the front row.

    He sat down and waved his hand toward the desk beside him, indicating Lee should join him. Lee hurried to do so, sliding into the unfamiliar seat as Thomas set half the papers down in front of him.

    Lee held back a startled yelp as Thomas grabbed onto the side of his desk and chair and pulled him closer so they were right up against each other. The President then pulled out an answer sheet from the folder and placed it between them.

    ¡°This-¡± Thomas pressed his index finger to a spot on the sheet, ¡°Shows how many points each answer is worth.¡± Their shoulders were touching, and Lee¡¯s body gave an involuntary shiver that he hoped went unnoticed.

    ¡°Just mark a check by the correct answers, cross out the incorrect ones, and tally up the total for the final grade,¡± Thomas continued, giving no indication he was at all uncomfortable with their proximity. ¡°You got that?¡±

    Lee nodded rapidly, not wanting to speak and risk stuttering out of nervousness. He¡¯d probably never been this close to, well, anyone for a prolonged period of time.

    Thomas handed over a red pen and the two got started on grading, working in moderately companionable silence.

    Lee was halfway through marking his third test when he noticed that Thomas was using an eraser on the paper next to him. It had Thomas¡¯ name at the top.

    Lee did a double take, thinking he might¡¯ve mistaken what he saw, but no. Thomas was grading his own test and he''d just changed an incorrect answer to the correct one.

 Chapter 8: Admiration

    ¡®Should I say anything?¡¯ Lee debated.

    What good would it do to call out the Class President for cheating? Lee had no plans to tattle to the teacher about it, so did it matter?

    ¡°I can feel you staring at me,¡± Thomas stated, eyes still scanning his paper to see if he needed to make any further corrections. He found one more answer he got wrong and quickly set to changing it.

    Lee bit the bullet and asked, ¡°Why are you cheating?¡±

    ¡°Because I want to get a perfect score,¡± Thomas replied indifferently, penciling in the new answer. When he looked over his test once more and found nothing else to fix, he began grading it as normal.

    ¡°You would¡¯ve gotten an ¡®A¡¯ even if you didn¡¯t cheat though¡­¡± Lee pointed out. ¡°Why bother?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not easy to maintain high marks,¡± Thomas asserted. ¡°A handful of wrong answers here and there will slowly whittle away at my grade point average.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re already the top student in our grade. I don¡¯t think you can climb much higher.¡±

    Thomas insisted, ¡°Keeping my current spot is paramount. There are expectations placed on me that I can''t disappoint.¡±

    Lee couldn¡¯t relate at all; there was no one in his life who would bother caring about his academics.

    The President questioned, ¡°Is it safe to assume you think less of me now?¡±

    ¡°Why would I?¡± Lee asked, surprised Thomas even cared about his opinion.

    Thomas twisted sideways in his seat to look directly at Lee, his tone low as he divulged, ¡°I have to study during every minute of my free time to even come close to the grades I get, and I hate every second of it.¡±

    Didn''t most people hate studying? Lee didn¡¯t expect Thomas to be a school loving android just because he was a top student.

    ¡°Even with all that effort, I rarely get perfect marks,¡± the President continued. ¡°Convincing teachers to like me enough to give me extra credit, or trust me enough to handle our classwork is the only way I can make up the difference. I¡¯m not naturally very smart.¡±

    Lee scratched the back of his head, unsettled. He didn¡¯t agree with Thomas'' view at all. ¡°It sounds to me like you¡¯re putting down your own intelligence,¡± he replied.

    Thomas frowned heavily at the response.

    Lee elaborated, ¡°You may not ace every test or whatever, but you¡¯re obviously still smart. I know you tutor other people all the time. Don¡¯t you need to have a good understanding of the material for that?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m basically just parroting what I¡¯ve memorized from text books,¡± Thomas rebutted. ¡°Anyone can do that.¡±

    Lee quickly shook his head in denial. ¡°Not me! I seriously admire your work ethic. I wish I had the will to push through the things I hate doing to achieve my goals. You¡¯re amazing.¡±

    Thomas didn¡¯t seem to know how to react to Lee¡¯s sincere praise. He shifted his eyes away, staring down at his desk as he mumbled, ¡°You must be easily impressed.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not it,¡± Lee laughed. ¡°You¡¯re just an exceptional person.¡±

    Thomas refused to look in his direction, moving his glasses further up the bridge of his nose as he went back to grading. It was difficult to guess what he was thinking.

    Thankfully, Lee was given a rather obvious hint!

    The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    (+8%) [Affection 31%]

    (+1) [????????] (2/4)

    Lee wore a satisfied grin as he too went back to his task, ready to settle back into their previous semi-companionable silence when-

    [Do you want to hang out after this?]

    [Do you want to study together?]

    He was given new dialogue choices.

    Lee was apprehensive about being prompted to invite Thomas to spend more time with him. It wasn¡¯t that he was opposed to it, but he didn¡¯t want to push the President too much in one day.

    However, what Lee was certain of was that studying together was an AWFUL idea. They would just be miserable doing something they both despised.

    Had the cursed game system not been listening to the conversation they''d just had!?

    Therefore, Lee chose, ¡°Do you want to hang out after this?¡±

    Thomas smacked his pen down on the desk with an audible ¡®CLACK!¡¯ He rested his elbow on top of the paper he had just finished grading, propped his chin in his hand, and glared at Lee with a tinge of frustration.

    What was wrong now???

    Thomas threw Lee for a complete loop when he asked frankly, ¡°You mean like a date?¡±

    That-

    What?

    How had he even come to that conclusion? Did Thomas¡¯ brain get hijacked by the mechanics of the curse?

    ¡°Um-¡± Lee stuttered unhelpfully. He was at a loss, trying to figure out the best way to reply, when his options were once again narrowed down to a select few responses.

    [Yes, like a date!]

    [No, just as friends.]

    [Why do you ask?]

    ¡®The third one! THE THIRD ONE!¡¯ Lee¡¯s mind frantically latched onto.

    ¡°Why do you ask?¡± He was forced to say calmly, not at all expressing how distressed he was inside.

    ¡°You¡¯ve just-¡± Thomas started, then grimaced slightly and averted his gaze. ¡°It seems like you¡¯re paying way more attention to me recently. We¡¯ve spoken more these past few days than we have the entire school year, so I thought maybe you developed a crush on me or something,¡± he concluded, flicking his eyes back toward Lee.

    ¡®That¡¯s because I¡¯m being controlled by a game,¡¯ thought Lee, though he knew better than to say it aloud.

    He¡¯d rather not have Thomas think he¡¯d lost his mind. Plus, wouldn¡¯t it also be kind of mean to say?

    ¡®It¡¯s not like I¡¯m against spending time with Thomas and getting to know him better,¡¯ He mused. He¡¯d already learned quite a lot just by going with the flow.

    ¡°I mean, I am interested in you,¡± Lee admitted. The question was if that interest was romantic, and not even he knew the answer to that currently.

    Thomas'' eyes widened and his lips parted, but he didn¡¯t say anything right away. He didn¡¯t look upset, rather completely taken aback. He¡¯d lifted his chin off his palm but was just awkwardly sitting there, floundering on how to reply.

    (+2%) [Affection 33%]

    The image was honestly kind of silly in an endearing way, and Lee held back a chuckle as a newfound wave of calmness came over him. He smiled as he asked, unprompted by any game mechanics, ¡°Do you want to go on a date with me, Thomas?¡±

    Still taken off guard, Thomas anxiously fiddled with the handle of his glasses, his eyes fluttering about without ever settling on Lee. ¡°What would we even do?¡± He questioned after several seconds.

    Lee hummed in thought, not having considered that. He¡¯d never been on a date, let alone asked someone out before.

    He shrugged and suggested, ¡°We can just hang out in my room and watch movies and play games? I can get us some snacks from the vending machines too.¡± That would put a serious dent into the little money he had set aside, but oh well.

    Thomas didn¡¯t appear thrilled by the prospect, so Lee prepared himself for a possible rejection.

    However, begrudgingly, the President murmured, ¡°Okay.¡±

    Their date was set.

 Chapter 9: With Good Company

    Upon finishing the grading Lee and Thomas placed the tests in a neat pile on the front desk and locked the door behind them as they left the classroom.

    Now, the two of them stood awkwardly in the deserted hallway.

    ¡°Are we going or what?¡± Thomas inquired with feigned disinterest. The way he was glaring down at the floor and fidgeting with the straps of his backpack betrayed his hidden anxiousness.

    It was fascinating to see a less controlled side of him.

    ¡°Um, yeah,¡± Lee hurriedly agreed. ¡°Do you wanna stop by your room and change clothes or drop off your bag?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine as is,¡± Thomas insisted. He turned and started walking briskly down the hall. Lee hurried to follow a step behind.

    Was Thomas eager to get their date started, or did he just want it over with?

    Lee let his eyes skim upward to take a peek at Thomas¡¯ ¡®Affection Meter¡¯ again.

    [Affection 33%]

    ¡®That¡¯s about the same as Arland¡¯s,¡¯ he noted.

    What did it mean that Thomas apparently had the same level of fondness for him as his friend did? Lee let his mind wander with speculations as they made their way across campus to the dormitories.

    They stopped in the lobby to grab snacks from the vending machine as planned, but as Lee went to dig out his wallet Thomas went ahead and inserted his own money. The President started punching in several codes for twenty dollars worth of food and drink.

    ¡°I was going to buy them,¡± Lee said with a pout. Weren¡¯t you supposed to pay for the food when you asked someone out?

    Thomas gathered up all his purchases and unceremoniously dumped them into Lee¡¯s arms.

    ¡°There, you can carry them,¡± he stated as if compromising.

    After riding the elevator up to Lee¡¯s floor they encountered an issue.

    ¡°I can¡¯t reach my keycard like this,¡± Lee informed, lifting the snacks up for emphasis. He was hoping Thomas would take the hint and relieve him of the burden.

    Instead, the President inquired, ¡°Which pocket?¡±

    Lee¡¯s brain stalled for a split second.

    ¡®Oh, he¡¯s gonna- okay. That¡¯s fine. This is fine. Everything is fine,¡¯ Lee frantically assured himself.

    He lightly bumped Thomas with his hip to indicate the side pocket closest to him and murmured, ¡°This one.¡±

    Wordlessly, Thomas reached his hand into said pocket without hesitation. He was swift in retrieving the key, but Lee still couldn¡¯t suppress a shudder at feeling the boy¡¯s hand slide against his upper thigh.

    Noticing the reaction, Thomas'' eyes snapped up to study Lee¡¯s progressively reddening face. Fortunately, the President decided not to comment on it, moving on to unlock the door and hold it open politely.

    Lee choked out his thanks as he hurried inside, dumping the packaged food onto his bed. As Thomas closed the door behind them, Lee went to his computer with the hope of distracting himself by searching for a movie they could watch.

    However, he¡¯d forgotten to close out the ¡®PARAMETERS¡¯ window the last time he used it, so the first thing to pop up on screen was Thomas'' profile information.

    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    In fear, Lee twisted to look back at Thomas, who had kicked off his shoes and was already walking up to stand at his side.

    ¡°What¡¯s the problem?¡± The redhead asked, looking first to the monitor and then to Lee¡¯s tense posture in puzzlement.

    ¡°Uuuhhh¡­?¡± Lee produced helpfully.

    Thomas squinted at the screen and guessed, ¡°Something wrong with the computer?¡±

    With bated breath, Lee pointed right at the picture of the President¡¯s face and asked, ¡°Can you not see this, Thomas?¡±

    Thomas followed his finger and stared dead at the monitor, only to question, ¡°What am I supposed to be seeing? It¡¯s just dark.¡±

    Though taken aback by the answer, Lee quickly moved his mouse to minimize the page and implored, ¡°How about now?¡±

    Thomas frowned, unamused, but dutifully responded, ¡°I see your home screen now.¡±

    Lee pressed his face into his palm and groaned as he lamented, ¡®So even if I wanted to, I can¡¯t show anyone the game for proof. Should¡¯ve known it wouldn¡¯t be that easy.¡¯

    He shook off his disappointment and swiftly changed the subject, ¡°Is there anything you want to watch?¡±

    Thomas eyed him skeptically, but didn¡¯t try to pull an explanation from him. ¡°Actually, I think I¡¯d like to try playing a game,¡± he suggested. ¡°You like those, right?¡±

    Lee was surprised that was his first choice. ¡°Do you play any games?¡± He asked.

    Thomas shook his head and said, ¡°I don¡¯t really have time for them.¡±

    That sounded like an absolute travesty to Lee, whose voice emanated with seriousness as he asserted, ¡°We¡¯ll have to rectify that immediately.¡±

    Lee pulled his desk from against the wall and turned it so the monitor faced the side of his bed. He then went to his closet in order to hunt down his extra controller from where it was buried by the clothes carelessly tossed inside.

    Upon success, Lee returned to find that Thomas had taken it upon himself to get comfortable. He¡¯d climbed onto Lee¡¯s bed, arranged their snacks for easy reachability, and placed the pillows along the wall so they would have something to lean on.

    Lee plugged in the controllers and crawled onto the bed beside Thomas, copying his cross-legged pose. He chose one of his favorite platformer games for them to play because it had a multiplayer story-mode.

    As cheerful music began to resonate from the speakers, Lee almost forgot he was supposed to be on a date instead of just hanging out with a new friend.

    Almost.

    Thomas removed the distance between them, deliberately scooting so close that their thighs were pressed flush against each other.

    It could not be overstated that Lee rarely, if ever, experienced physical contact with other people.

    As a result, every time he was touched his body would involuntarily tremble as if it didn¡¯t know how to process the new sensation. Even though he couldn¡¯t help the reaction, Lee was still extremely embarrassed since he knew Thomas could feel his shaking and he didn¡¯t want the other boy to get the wrong idea.

    ¡°So, how does this game work?¡± Thomas asked quietly, both hands gripping his controller while giving Lee his full attention.

    Lee allowed himself to take a steadying breath before meekly demonstrating the controls. Despite the simplicity of the game, Thomas insisted on leaning closer toward Lee to ask clarifying questions on what the buttons did.

    Was the President intentionally trying to make him uncomfortable?

    When they finally started playing the actual game, there were barely any hiccups in their teamwork. Thomas was able to pick up on things rather quickly, and soon their characters were taking down enemies and blazing through puzzle sections in perfect sync.

    Thomas appeared to take the game as seriously as he did school work. He was leaning forward and practically staring daggers at the screen, tapping buttons with speedy precision to get the timing on their combo moves just right.

    During lulls in action or loading screens, Thomas proposed some really creative strategies for boss enemies they had coming up. Though Lee had beaten the game before, this was his first time going through it on the multiplayer route. It presented a new kind of challenge that he was enjoying immensely, and he was down to try anything.

    Lee let himself ease into a relaxed state, immersed in the fun of playing a good game with good company. He whispered under his breath, ¡°This is great.¡±

    He noticed Thomas'' character stutter and almost miss its timing when a jump came up, so he shot a glance at his partner.

    (+7%) [Affection 40%]

    Thomas¡¯ eyes were firmly planted on the screen, but perhaps sensing he was being watched, he muttered, ¡°...It¡¯s enjoyable.¡±

    Lee beamed; he hadn¡¯t meant for his words to be overheard, but he was glad Thomas felt similarly.

 Chapter 10: Blissfully Unaware

    After hours of video game playing, Lee suggested they take a break and watch at least one movie while they had the time, since it was still a school night.

    The two of them settled down in front of a cheesy looking action flick neither of them had seen before.

    Lee tucked himself cozily under a blanket and held out the side for Thomas to join him if he wanted. The president immediately curled up right against Lee, seemingly determined to make sure there was absolutely no space between them.

    ¡®I would¡¯ve never thought Thomas was such a cuddly person,¡¯ Lee mused as he tried to focus on the film, his body tense as he struggled not to react. He was extremely sensitive to having the full weight of another person upon him.

    He wouldn¡¯t call it unpleasant, per se, but it would take some getting used to. Perhaps some extra exposure therapy would help? Since Thomas was comfortable initiating the contact, it ought to be fine for Lee to reciprocate, right?

    He carefully shifted his hand out from where it had been resting in his lap to capture Thomas'' limp fingers. The redhead twitched subtly at the unexpected touch, but when Lee gave his hand a small squeeze, the President reciprocated by firmly grasping back.

    (+10%) [Affection 50%]

    Relieved, Lee let his body sag bonelessly into the pillows behind him, finally comfortable enough to focus completely on the movie.

    ******

    He wasn¡¯t aware of when he fell asleep, but the next thing Lee knew he was being roused by Thomas gently tapping him on the cheek. He had dozed off on the President''s shoulder.

    ¡°Mmn?¡± Lee hummed tiredly, not fully cognizant.

    He heard a distant murmur of, ¡°It¡¯s getting late. I¡¯ve gotta get back to my room.¡±

    ¡®Thomas is leaving? I don¡¯t want him to go...¡¯ Lee thought mournfully. ¡°You can stay here,¡± he mumbled, his eyes only half open as he looked at the redhead beseechingly. ¡°You can borrow my clothes to sleep in.¡±

    When there was no immediate reply, Lee¡¯s mind slowly started to drift off again. He was seconds away from falling back to sleep when he felt a hand brush aside his disheveled bangs from his forehead.

    He heard Thomas mutter, ¡°Why are you like this?¡±

    Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    Following that, the President leaned away to crawl off the bed. Without another body to hold him up, Lee flopped down gracelessly onto his side. He made to snuggle deeper into his blanket, but Thomas took hold of his wrist and dragged him right to his feet.

    ¡°Don¡¯t fall asleep yet,¡± The President insisted. ¡°You need to show me what clothes I can wear because I¡¯m not searching through your disaster of a closet.¡±

    Lee grumbled incoherently, but obediently shuffled over to pick out sleepwear for them both. He tossed a clean shirt and some shorts over his head toward Thomas, not checking to see if the other boy caught them.

    Eager to return to his bed, Lee grasped the bottom of his uniform shirt and pulled it over his head as quickly as possible. He dumped it on the floor before carelessly dropping his pants and kicking them off to the side too.

    There was a sharp intake of breath behind him.

    (+3%) [Affection 53%]

    Perhaps if he wasn¡¯t still half asleep, Lee would¡¯ve been more heedful of the fact he was basically stripping in front of the boy he was technically still on a date with.

    As it was, Lee was much too tired to care as he slipped into some cozy sweats and an oversized T-shirt. When he turned back around he found Thomas standing frozen, holding the outfit he¡¯d been given in front of his face like a shield.

    ¡°You gonna change, Thomas?¡± Lee inquired in drowsy innocence, walking right past the other boy to reach his bed. The President slowly lowered the clothes with caution and scowled in his direction.

    There were still some unopened snacks on the bed, so Lee gathered them all up and dumped them haphazardly on his desk. He then tossed his pillows back into place, pulled back the sheets, and flopped face first onto the mattress.

    He listened as Thomas speedily changed into his borrowed clothes. The redhead placed his folded up uniform in the desk chair along with his glasses and then turned off Lee¡¯s monitor.

    With the room plunged into darkness, Thomas cautiously clambered over Lee¡¯s body to lie down next to him.

    Lee tiredly pulled his face out of his pillow and turned his body toward Thomas. He really wanted to regain the peaceful and comforting feeling he¡¯d had before he dozed off during the movie, and there was only one way he knew of to achieve it.

    Unable to see at all, Lee felt around blindly in the redhead¡¯s direction.

    ¡°Lee,¡± Thomas hissed in response to having a hand suddenly start smacking him in the face. He grabbed the offending wrist to stop the attack.

    That was the end result Lee had been aiming for. He slipped his hand down into Thomas¡¯ palm and gave it a squeeze, relaxing into the warmth of his bed as he sank into the blissful easement of unconsciousness.

    Thomas was left alone with only the sound of Lee¡¯s slow breathing, which grew heavier as he drifted deeper and deeper into sleep.

    While gently gripping the slack fingers in his hand, Thomas turned onto his back and stared up at a ceiling he couldn¡¯t see.

    ¡°What the hell am I doing,¡± he whispered into the dark nothingness that surrounded him.

    (+5%) [Affection 58%]

    (+1) [????????] (3/4)

 Chapter 11: ROUTE CLEARED!

    Lee was sluggish in waking up. His brain always felt like it was full of cotton first thing in the morning.

    He tried to raise his arms above his head to stretch out the kinks in his muscles, but found that one of them was trapped.

    Thomas, in his sleep, had curled up against Lee while clutching onto his fingers tightly.

    Lee''s slow-chugging mind quickly started working overtime as it struggled to catch up to the events of yesterday.

    He¡¯d had his first ever date!

    With THOMAS!

    ¡®It was quite nice actually...?¡¯ Lee thought, baffled. He used his free hand to rub some of the tiredness from his eye as he observed his bedmate.

    There was no furrow in Thomas¡¯ brow and his ever-present frown was gone. Instead, the redhead¡¯s lips were slightly parted and his expression was soft and unbothered. Lee had never seen him look so at ease.

    ¡®He has pretty eyelashes,¡¯ Lee couldn¡¯t help but notice, fascinated by the way they rested above the other boy¡¯s cheeks. He felt the inexplicable urge to touch the President¡¯s face.

    After a second of deliberation, Lee carefully reached out to do just that. He brushed the back of his hand right under Thomas'' eye with feather light pressure.

    In response to the faint tickling sensation, Thomas shot a hand out to grab Lee¡¯s wrist. The redhead wrinkled his nose and squinted blearily over at his sheepish looking classmate.

    ¡°Morning!¡± Lee chirped, leaning quite close into Thomas''s space.

    ¡°...Good morning,¡± Thomas replied gruffly, dropping Lee¡¯s hands as he sat up. He swept his mussed strawberry hair out of his face and glanced around his blurry surroundings for his glasses, momentarily forgetting he¡¯d left them in the desk chair.

    ¡°Did you sleep well?¡± Lee asked, sitting up too and watching the way Thomas'' half-lidded eyes wandered around the room. He was used to seeing Thomas look perfectly put together, but right now the redhead just looked adorably disheveled.

    Stifling a yawn, Thomas replied half-heartedly, ¡°Yeah, I guess.¡± Then, finally noticing Lee¡¯s intense focus on him, asked, ¡°Why are you staring at me like that?¡±

    Without a second for consideration, Lee blurted out his previous thought, ¡°You look really cute right now.¡±

    Thomas¡¯ striking clover eyes, usually hidden behind his spectacles, widened with incredulity. He hunched his shoulders self-consciously as his cheeks took on a flushed glow.

    (+7%) [Affection 65%]

    The President¡¯s cuteness factor only shot up even higher in Lee''s heart.

    ¡°Y-You keep-!¡± Thomas started, stuttering uncharacteristically. He stopped himself, took a deep breath, then continued more subdued, ¡°You keep doing and saying things I don¡¯t understand.¡±

    Even though the statement was vague, Lee could relate to the sentiment. He himself didn¡¯t fully understand his own feelings.

    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    ¡°I don¡¯t mean to be confusing,¡± Lee conveyed, lowering his eyes contritely.

    After a moment, however, he peeked back up at Thomas with a tiny grin and asked mischievously, ¡°What¡¯s not to understand about me thinking you look cute though?¡±

    (+5%) [Affection 70%]

    Lee struggled not to smile wider at how promptly Thomas¡¯ Affection Meter rose again. Even if he tried to pretend otherwise, some part of the President must really like it when Lee called him cute.

    Thomas shut his eyes and tilted his head up toward the ceiling, inhaling deeply as if gathering mental strength. His face was still noticeably pinkish, much to Lee¡¯s silent satisfaction. Breaking Thomas out of his stoicism was swiftly becoming a new favorite pastime.

    With a heavy sigh, Thomas regained his composure and regarded Lee with a determined frown. He inched closer, leaning so much forward that Lee¡¯s eyes crossed trying to keep him in sight.

    ¡°Thomas?¡± Lee uttered, raising his arm reflexively. Whether he meant to push the redhead back or drag him closer was yet to be decided.

    Thomas'' eyelashes lowered as he further closed the distance between them. Lee let his eyes flutter shut instinctively, and a moment later he felt the barest of pressure against his lips.

    He chose to press forward, reciprocating the impromptu kiss.

    (+5%) [Affection 75%]

    Seemingly emboldened by Lee''s silent acquiescence, Thomas rose to his knees and gently pushed Lee down into the mattress. He then swung his leg over Lee¡¯s waist and straddled him without once breaking their lip contact.

    It all felt like it was happening in slow motion to Lee, who was just pliantly letting his mouth glide in time with Thomas'' motions. His hands hovered awkwardly off the bed, wanting to touch the redhead but too hesitant to go further. He¡¯d never kissed anyone before and was afraid of messing up and embarrassing himself.

    Eventually, the need for oxygen would force the two apart. They drew back with their noses still touching, staring into each other¡¯s eyes as they caught their breath.

    Lee felt like he was floating. He couldn¡¯t believe he was really lying on his bed kissing Thomas in his dorm room.

    (+1) [????????] (4/4)

    The final heart for the gauge above Thomas finally appeared, but Lee barely paid attention to that. Who cared about the cursed game when he was still reeling from having such an amazing first kiss!?

    Unfortunately, the mechanics of the Dating Sim would not be ignored for long.

    [MAX HEART GAUGE ACHIEVED!]

    [THOMAS (NORMAL) ROUTE CLEARED!]

    To accompany the announcement hanging overhead, Thomas'' Heart Gauge exploded into an obnoxiously sparkly firework show. Lee couldn¡¯t help the way his eyes widened as he stared up at it, startled by the fanfare.

    More achievements soon took the place of the previous ones.

    [NEW CG UNLOCKED!]

    (DISPLAYED IN SYSTEM GALLERY.)

    [THOMAS (MOOD INDICATOR) UNLOCKED!]

    (DISPLAYED IN SYSTEM ROUTES.)

    Lee wondered what would happen next. A large part of him hoped he would now be set free from the curse; he¡¯d finished the ¡®route¡¯ after all.

    However, it was not to be. What budding hope he had was abruptly dashed when he heard, ¡°What the hell was all that?¡±

    Lee immediately refocused on Thomas, whose head was tilted back to look up toward the ceiling. His eyes were narrowed in an effort to read without his glasses on. There was no doubt as to what he was looking at.

    ¡°Um,¡± Lee started, but had no idea how he planned to finish the sentence. He was too busy feeling a mix of stupefaction and fear.

    Thomas warily lowered his gaze away from the otherworldly sentences to glare in confusion at Lee. ¡°No, seriously,¡± he stated with obvious agitation. ¡°What is ¡®Thomas Normal Route¡¯ supposed to mean? Where are the words above us coming from?¡±

    Thomas could now see the game mechanics.

 Chapter 12: Belief

    Lee sat up with Thomas still above him, forcing his classmate to scoot back to sit on his lap.

    ¡°This might be¡­ I don¡¯t know if you¡¯ll believe me,¡± Lee began.

    Thomas¡¯ eyes hardened warily, likely picking up on Lee¡¯s unconsciously contrite tone.

    ¡°So¡­ on Monday I downloaded this free Dating Simulator game to play. Uh, do you know what that is?¡±

    ¡°I think I can figure it out contextually,¡± Thomas stated, his voice eerily flat.

    ¡°Right, well, I think the game was cursed because when I woke up the next day I was being given dialogue options and there were cutscenes and stuff¡­¡± Lee went on, doing his best to explain the game mechanics he¡¯d been forced to live under for the past few days as thoroughly as possible.

    He stuttered frequently, anxious in the face of Thomas¡¯ frighteningly inscrutable demeanor looming above him.

    The Class President didn¡¯t interrupt once, listening with his full unnerving attention.

    Only when Lee eventually trailed off and they sat in stifling silence for a full minute did Thomas finally act. He slid off Lee¡¯s lap and took hold of the edge of the desk that had been turned toward the bed last night.

    He pushed it back into its previous spot against the wall and switched on the monitor where the paused credits of the movie they¡¯d been watching were still present.

    Thomas pointed to the screen and ordered, ¡°Show me the game.¡±

    As Lee scrambled to do so, Thomas turned away and carefully plucked his glasses off the desk chair he¡¯d left them on last night. When he looked back, the ¡®PARAMETERS¡¯ window had already been pulled up.

    ¡°...This is the screen you couldn¡¯t show me yesterday?¡± The redhead surmised, leaning over to read the title scrolling sideways across the monitor.

    ¡°Yeah, to access the rest of it I just have to do this-¡± Lee illustrated by taking hold of his mouse and clicking a random area on the window, which presented them with the ¡®ROUTES¡¯ and ¡®GALLERY¡¯ options.

    Thomas placed his hand over Lee¡¯s and directed the mouse to open up the gallery. Lee tensed but refrained from reacting further; he didn''t want to pull away and make Thomas think his touch was unwelcome. He forced himself to focus on the screen.

    The first image in the gallery was actually a looping GIF of the cutscene moment he¡¯d had with Thomas in their classroom doorway a few days ago. The President''s slow turnaround whilst surrounded by sparkles as his hair fluttered in the breeze was captured in all its whimsically beautiful glory.

    Thomas was stone-faced as he studied the scene. Assuming his lack of reaction was caused by confusion, Lee hurried to explain the circumstances of how it came to be.

    ¡°It¡¯s showing you from my point of view on the day this all started. It¡¯s not unusual for a new, um-¡± Lee hesitated nervously, ¡°...Love interest to be introduced in a really pretty way like this in romance games.¡±

    His words hung in the air, no response forthcoming.

    ¡°S-So the gallery is probably here to look back at significant moments between us,¡± Lee trailed off, disheartened.

    ¡°Like this other one?¡± Thomas questioned, gesturing to the still image beside the GIF.

    It depicted their kiss from earlier, but not from Lee¡¯s perspective. It was as if a ghost with a camera had laid down next to them and snapped a shot from the side. Their eyes were closed, heads angled into each other while their faces were flushed in pleasure. Lee¡¯s shoulders were pushing against the mattress as his back arched, trying to press closer to Thomas.

    This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

    They looked totally absorbed in the moment.

    Additionally, tiny hearts and glitter were stamped around them, seemingly added on in post.

    Lee covered his face with his free palm, flustered at seeing himself in such an intimate position. ¡°Y-Yeah, like that,¡± he stuttered.

    Thomas navigated back to the main menu without further comment, apparently done with the gallery. His hand was still covering Lee''s on the mouse as he clicked on the ¡®ROUTES¡¯ option, ignoring the many pictures of hidden silhouettes to hover over his own profile.

    Lee peeked through his fingers to see if anything had changed since the last time he¡¯d seen it.

    NAME: Thomas Kingsley

    AGE: 16

    DOB: March 27

    LIKES: Cuddling, Being called cute

    DISLIKES: Laziness, Studying, Poor Grades

    AFFECTION: 75%

    HEART GAUGE: (Stage 1) - COMPLETE!

    MOOD: ??????

    ROUTES CLEARED: NORMAL ROUTE

    The President coughed awkwardly and looked away from the screen, bringing a hand up to cover the bottom half of his face. Lee suspected he was hiding his embarrassment because of the likes that were added.

    However, as Lee continued to read, he was brought up short by the newly unlocked ¡®Mood Indicator¡¯ with three very angry faces beside it.

    Hesitantly, Lee asked, ¡°Thomas¡­ is this correct? Are you upset-?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not. I have no idea why it says that,¡± Thomas stated, swiftly turning away to gather up his uniform. ¡°I think I¡¯ve seen enough for now. I¡¯m going back to my room to get ready for class.¡±

    ¡°Wait!¡± Lee called out worriedly. ¡°You believe me after all this, right? About the curse?¡±

    Thomas started to dig around in his uniform pocket as he replied, ¡°I already believed you based solely on your initial explanation. I only looked through the profiles because I was curious.¡±

    ¡°Ah, okay¡­¡± Lee conceded apprehensively.

    The President claimed to not be bothered, but his face had become entirely closed off, making it impossible to tell what he was truly thinking. Thomas had been far more accepting of the circumstances than Lee could¡¯ve ever hoped for, yet there was a level of tension that hung in the air he didn¡¯t want to leave unresolved.

    Where did they stand as of now?

    Lee desperately wanted to know, so on impulse he hurriedly approached Thomas who had already started heading toward the door.

    The President was in the process of pulling out his phone, likely to check the time, when Lee caught him by the wrist.

    As Thomas turned to look back at him questioningly, Lee tugged him closer and planted an urgent kiss to his lips, needing to lean upward because of their slight height difference.

    The phone dropped from Thomas¡¯ grip as he went rigid in surprise.

    The two remained still for several seconds; just long enough for Lee to realize he might¡¯ve made a grave mistake and start to pull back.

    However, the President grasped onto his shoulders with surprising force and abruptly pulled Lee closer, forcing him to stumble up onto his tiptoes as Thomas fervently deepened their kiss.

    As quickly as it began, they broke apart a short moment later. Thomas quickly reached down to snatch his phone off the floor as he uttered hurriedly, ¡°I¡¯ll see you in class. I have to get there early to take attendance.¡±

    Rather dazed, Lee could only nod in agreement.

    Thomas spun around and opened the door, only to pause once again while staring in disbelief at the phone in his hand.

    ¡°...What¡¯s wrong?¡± Lee wondered. Had the short fall caused damage to the device?

    Thomas held out his phone for Lee to see, showing off the home screen. There was a new app that had a pink heart on a plain white background for an icon.

    With trepidation, Lee raised a finger to tap it, and it immediately opened to the ¡®PARAMETERS¡¯ title screen.

    How was that even possible?

 Chapter 13: Infection

    There wasn¡¯t much time left to continue their talk, so the boys split up with the understanding that they would discuss things in more depth after school.

    The first half of the day passed by in an uneventful blur.

    Arland was still gone, and Thomas was sitting too far away for he and Lee to do more than exchange glances.

    There was nothing to distract Lee from the typical mundanity of boarding school life until lunch time finally arrived.

    Thomas joined Lee at his lonely table in the far off corner of the cafeteria, but the first thing the President did upon sitting down was open up a textbook. He was getting in some last minute cramming before the quiz they had coming up in fifth period.

    Lee munched on a leftover bag of chips and watched his classmate study. With a quizzical frown he commented, ¡°I don¡¯t understand how you can focus on schoolwork after everything that happened this morning.¡±

    Thomas replied without looking up from his book, ¡°I¡¯m not about to let my grades drop just because you¡¯ve dragged me into some kind of supernatural gamified phenomenon.¡±

    ¡°I didn''t know you¡¯d get pulled into whatever this is with me,¡± Lee insisted, before looking away guiltily. ¡°Even if a part of me is glad I¡¯m not alone anymore,¡± he admitted softly, hunching over in his seat. ¡°Sorry, I know that¡¯s selfish.¡±

    Thomas shot a glance toward him, only to be greeted by Lee''s unconscious ¡®kicked puppy¡¯ expression. He let out an audible sigh and scooted closer so that their legs were touching.

    Lee reluctantly raised his head to look at his classmate.

    ¡°I don¡¯t blame you for feeling that way," Thomas said gruffly, fixing Lee with a steadfast stare. "I''m sure I''d also be relieved to have another person to rely on if I were in your place. Since I¡¯m here, I¡¯ll help you as much as I can.¡±

    Lee perked up at the President''s blunt but effective reassurance, glad that Thomas didn¡¯t appear to resent him for being cursed by proxy.

    ******

    After school they met up in Lee''s room, their de facto base of operations.

    The two boys sat on the carpeted floor in their lounge wear as Thomas opened his laptop on the small table he brought with him.

    ¡°So, to start with,¡± the President began by gesturing toward the screen. ¡°The ¡®PARAMETERS¡¯ application isn¡¯t just on my phone, it¡¯s here too.¡± There was a heart-shaped shortcut identical to the one on Lee¡¯s desktop. ¡°After checking it out I''ve confirmed it has all the same information as what you showed me earlier. Even the pictures.¡±

    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    ¡°That¡¯s so strange,¡± Lee mumbled, mildly disturbed. ¡°So once you¡­ joined me, the curse spread to all your devices like a virus?¡±

    Thomas shook his head. ¡°That was my first assumption, but no. When I was in the teacher¡¯s office I noticed the same icon on one of the computers there too. I decided to investigate further, so right after classes ended I went to the library to look through those computers. They all had the application installed.¡±

    Lee was dumbfounded. The curse had infected the whole academy?

    Thomas opened up a blank document on his laptop and started to speedily type a summary of what they knew about the curse as he spoke.

    ¡°My working theory is that this isn¡¯t a new development; it wasn''t caused by the change of having me with you," he detailed. "I think the ¡®game¡¯ has been on all these devices since the moment you first downloaded it, but we¡¯ve only just recently noticed this because I can see it too.¡±

    Well, now that he thought about it, Lee hadn''t looked at another computer besides his own in the past few days, so he wouldn''t have seen anything different. That made Thomas'' suggestion plausible.

    ¡°Have you checked your phone, Lee? Assuming I¡¯m right, it should have the application too,¡± Thomas proposed.

    ¡°Oh, uh, I don¡¯t own a cellphone,¡± Lee admitted sheepishly.

    The President stared at him like he¡¯d just said the sky was green.

    Feeling judged, Lee hurriedly explained, ¡°I used to have one, but when I accidentally broke it my parents said they wouldn''t give me a new one until I learned to be more responsible.¡±

    ¡°Ah.¡± Thomas gave an understanding nod.

    Since that seemed to be enough, Lee chose not to mention that it had been eight years since then.

    Moving on, Thomas stated, ¡°We should plan our next moves as best we can with the information we have so far. The theory for now is that you have to find and ¡­romance everyone listed in the game¡¯s ¡®Routes¡¯ menu to break the curse, right?¡±

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s more of a worst case scenario,¡± Lee replied, still holding onto the hope he wouldn¡¯t be forced to participate in a series of dating tropes with a bunch of strangers.

    He¡¯d been lucky to have Thomas, someone he was at least reasonably familiar with, be the first person put in his path.

    Thomas nodded once again. ¡°I see. What other factors might affect our success?¡±

    Lee tilted his head thoughtfully as his mind drifted back to the most recent dating-related game he¡¯d played, Princess Aliana¡¯s ¡®Your Royal Romance.¡¯

    ¡°It usually depends on what the game considers the ¡®True Ending,¡¯ he expressed. ¡°For instance, if the game has a main title character then once you get the best ending with them the game is technically over and the other love interests are considered bonus content. For all we know, there might only be one person I need to romance and I just haven¡¯t met them yet.¡±

    When Lee finished, the sound of Thomas¡¯ speedy typing seemed to become louder and harsher for a few seconds before abruptly stopping.

    ¡°That¡¯s a good place to segue into the next point I wanted to bring up,¡± Thomas declared.

    The President temporarily minimized his document page and opened the ¡®PARAMETERS¡¯ window, clicking on the ¡®Routes¡¯ menu. He ignored his own profile and went straight to the only other one available.

    ¡°We should focus on Arland from here,¡± Thomas advised.

    Lee stiffened; just the thought of engaging with Arland in any sort of romantic context immediately made his chest tighten with dread.

 Chapter 14: Avoidance

    Unaware of the meaning behind Lee¡¯s sudden deer-in-headlights impression, Thomas continued, ¡°You¡¯ve already made decent progress with him. According to this profile Arland¡¯s affection is at thirty-four percent.¡±

    Lee shook his head in emphatic disagreement. ¡°I actually haven¡¯t made much of any progress with Arland! His affection started out at thirty-two percent and has barely risen at all since then.¡±

    Thomas¡¯ brow creased with confusion, and he pursed his lips before inquiring, ¡°...What percentage did mine start with?¡±

    Lee eagerly seized the opportunity to derail the topic. ¡°At zero I think, but I was given an event to do with you right away that raised it a few points. I¡¯m actually surprised by how high it¡¯s gotten,¡± Lee replied, looking right at the President¡¯s ¡®Affection Meter¡¯ as he spoke.

    Thomas noticed his line of sight and grimaced at the reminder of the intangible ¡®75%¡¯ that floated above him. It was a mystery as to why it hadn¡¯t disappeared the same way the ¡®Heart Gauge¡¯ did once Thomas¡¯ route was finished.

    ¡°Back to Arland,¡± the President dictated, much to Lee¡¯s dismay. ¡°Even if it will be difficult, the two of us together should be able to find a way to raise his ¡­stats.¡± The Class President frowned after his use of the gaming term. Talking about a real person in such a way likely felt distasteful to him.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I just- I can¡¯t do that,¡± Lee haltingly replied, twisting his hands around the hem of his shirt.

    ¡°Why not?¡±

    ¡°Arland was the first person to be kind to me in a long time. He doesn¡¯t usually go out of his way to befriend people, but he noticed how lonely I was during the first few weeks of school and decided to help me out.¡±

    Lee stared down at his lap as he reflected.

    ¡°Even if I did successfully complete his route, then what? Wouldn¡¯t our friendship be ruined once he found out about the curse?¡± Lee wondered fretfully, clutching at his shirt with a white-knuckled grip.

    He waited anxiously for Thomas¡¯ response; if the redhead insisted that including Arland was the only way to move forward, he would need to suck it up and risk everything.

    Thomas eventually acknowledged, ¡°You care about how he might feel after the fact.¡± His low voice was tinged with an odd inflection that couldn''t be identified.

    ¡°Yes,¡± Lee agreed, slumping with emotional fatigue. ¡°So can we please avoid Arland and try to figure something else out?¡±

    Instead of a reply, the sound of typing started up again. Lee peered over at his classmate, to see Thomas looking as impassive as usual.

    ¡°I understand,¡± the President said eventually. ¡°For now, we can try to figure out the identity of some of the other people with hidden profiles.¡±

    Lee was touched by Thomas¡¯ willingness to accommodate his personal shortcomings. He was so lucky to have someone like the President by his side!

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    ¡°What usually happens if you fail in one of these dating simulator games?¡± Thomas suddenly asked.

    ¡°Fail?¡± Lee parroted in confusion.

    ¡°For example, if you were to choose all the incorrect dialogue options. There would be consequences for that, correct?¡±

    ¡°Oh! You¡¯re talking about bad endings,¡± Lee realized.

    Thomas nodded. ¡°What do you think would happen if we deliberately aimed for one of those endings?¡±

    Incredulous, Lee asked, ¡°You want to get a ¡®Bad End¡¯ on purpose somehow?¡±

    ¡°An ending is an ending,¡± Thomas remarked with a light shrug. ¡°Don¡¯t games end faster when you make all the wrong choices?¡±

    ¡°They usually do,¡± was Lee¡¯s hesitant reply. ¡°But in romance games that can have disastrous consequences. I¡¯m kind of terrified of what might happen if I get a ¡®Bad End¡¯ with a real person.¡±

    Thomas continued to take notes on the new information. ¡°Disastrous how? The point of the game is just to fall in love, right?¡±

    ¡°In a lot of games like this, characters can end up dying when you don¡¯t get a good ending,¡± Lee cautioned with a wince. ¡°It sometimes happens by freak accident, like randomly getting hit by a train or something.¡±

    Thomas paused in his typing, his last bullet point reading:

    <ul>

    <li style="font-weight: 400">Be cautious of Bad Endings - Might cause death?</li>

    </ul>

    Appalled, the President sputtered, ¡°What the hell kind of games are these?¡±

    Lee huffed out an awkward chuckle, unsure how to explain why the extra drama and thrill brought on by such terrifying yet avoidable bad endings appealed to many romance lovers.

    Following such a foreboding topic, they decided to wrap up their planning session for the evening.

    Thomas started packing up his portable table and laptop, intent on retiring to his own dorm room a floor above.

    Obstinately, Lee plucked the items from his hands.

    ¡°...What are you doing?¡± Thomas asked, bewildered.

    ¡°Please stay here again tonight,¡± Lee implored, clutching the redhead¡¯s property to his chest.

    He¡¯d had a taste of what it felt like to fall asleep beside someone, and yearned to experience it once more. Additionally, he hoped to wake up to Thomas¡¯ adorable bedhead again too!

    The President frowned at the earnest face in front of him.

    ¡°Pretty please?¡± Lee begged sweetly.

    (+1%) [Affection 76%]

    Thomas looked away with indecision, but Lee was bolstered by the confirmation his tactic was working. He continued, ¡°Pleeeeeeaaaaase?¡±

    The redhead let out a long, suffering sigh. He pushed his glasses further up his face and finally relented, ¡°Alright.¡±

    Lee hopped in victory and hurried to set Thomas¡¯ stuff down off to the side so he could throw his arms around the Class President.

    The embrace was a tad disjointed because of Lee¡¯s unfamiliarity with hugging people. He had accidentally trapped Thomas¡¯ arms against his sides, but the President was nice enough to raise a hand as high as he could to pat Lee¡¯s elbow indulgently.

    After they moved to the bed and got comfortable in their same positions from last night, Lee quickly dropped a kiss on Thomas¡¯ cheek. He then immediately rolled over to face away before the redhead could react, listening as Thomas huffed, exasperated, behind him.

    Lee gasped when he felt the back of his neck get flicked sharply by the President''s finger in retaliation. Thomas then shuffled around to put his back to Lee too, but pressed close so that their shoulder blades were touching.

    Lee shivered in contentment, relaxing into what was shaping up to be another peaceful slumber.

 Chapter 15: Cut To Black

    ¡°LEE,¡± someone hissed urgently in his ear, their breath tickling his neck.

    ¡°Ten more minutes,¡± Lee grumbled. He attempted to smush his face further into his pillow, but a hand took hold of his shoulder and forced him to roll over onto his back.

    Thomas was glaring down at him, frowning worriedly as he hissed, ¡°You need to wake up now and look at this! What am I supposed to do?¡±

    Lee blinked sluggishly up at the other boy. As he waited for his sleep muddled brain to catch up, he allowed his eyes to trail absently down Thomas¡¯ form. His gaze admiringly fixated on the President¡¯s wild bedhead and glossy pink lips.

    ¡°LEE!¡± Thomas repeated more insistently.

    Lee blinked again and finally noticed that there was text hovering in the air behind Thomas.

    [WEEKEND ONE]

    [NEW EVENT: ROMANTIC PICNIC DATE!]

    (Take your Love Interest out for a sunny breakfast in the park and partake in delicious food, sweet conversation, and beautiful scenery.)

    [DO YOU ACCEPT?]

    [Success: +10 Affection & New CG Unlocked]

    [Failure: -10 Affection]

    [OR SKIP TO WEEK TWO]

    Lee¡¯s heart raced at the thought of going on another date with Thomas. An intimate picnic would have much clearer romantic undertones than a night of gaming and movies.

    ¡°We need to refuse this. How do we do that?¡± Thomas inquired, squinting as he forced his poor eyesight to study the words.

    The question pierced right through Lee¡¯s barely formed daydream of relaxing on a colorful blanket beneath the shade of a tree while cuddling up beside Thomas.

    ¡°You want to refuse it?¡± Lee asked, disheartened.

    ¡°The rewards aren¡¯t worth going,¡± Thomas asserted. ¡°I assume that a ¡®CG¡¯ would just be another image of us for the gallery, and raising my affection would not benefit either of us in this situation. We need to focus on making progress; the chance to skip past such a waste of time isn¡¯t something we should pass up.¡±

    Lee''s picnic fantasy completely withered and died in the face of his classmate¡¯s pragmatism. He could understand Thomas¡¯ point of view, and even agreed overall once he thought about it.

    Even so, there was one notion he wanted to argue.

    ¡°Don¡¯t say your affection level doesn¡¯t matter, because it matters quite a lot to me,¡± Lee stated firmly.

    ¡°Did I misunderstand some mechanic of the game?¡± Thomas wondered, confused. ¡°What is there to gain from it when my route is already finished?¡±

    You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

    ¡°I like you,¡± Lee declared. After the words left his mouth his emotions briefly wavered with insecurity. However, they quickly settled into resolute acceptance, so he continued, ¡°And I want you to like me too.¡±

    (+1%) [Affection 77%]

    Thomas crossed his arms over his chest and scowled down at the mattress beneath them, biting his lip in a way Lee found particularly endearing.

    ¡°...It just went up again, didn¡¯t it?¡± Thomas asked, voice strained with embarrassment. He must¡¯ve caught the way Lee¡¯s eyes reflexively darted to look above him when the number changed.

    With a tiny smile, Lee nodded sheepishly.

    Thomas quietly groaned and dropped his head, letting his messy locks conceal his expression. Lee gave his shoulder a consoling pat.

    Thomas had chosen to avoid vocally acknowledging Lee¡¯s confession, but Lee still felt optimistic based on the redhead¡¯s telling reaction.

    He turned back to the floating text and reread the event one last time. It would be a shame to pass up on the opportunity, but Thomas was right. They needed to focus on escaping the curse as soon as possible, not indulging in it.

    Lee recited, ¡°Skip to week two.¡±

    Then, like the flick of a light switch-

    BLACK.

    Everything was swallowed up into an empty void.

    His sight, his hearing, his sense of touch; it was all gone.

    He tried to call out for Thomas, but produced no sound.

    He couldn¡¯t move.

    Did he even have a body to move anymore?

    All he currently had the ability to do was think increasingly panicked thoughts.

    Terror like that of which he¡¯d never felt before flooded his psyche.

    If he still had lungs, he might¡¯ve started hyperventilating.

    Was this it? Would this be his forever?

    An eternity existing AS nothing.

    IN nothing.

    Then he blinked.

    He blinked?

    And suddenly Lee was back. He was still at Haverford Academy for Young Men, sitting on his bed inside the sophomore dormitory, with Thomas right next to him.

    <strong style="text-align: center">[WEEK 2, DAY 1]

    He saw the words, but didn¡¯t care. There were no choices to accompany them, and they disappeared as soon as he processed their meaning.

    Lee was dizzy with the abrupt return of all his senses, and his body broke out into a cold sweat.

    He wheezed and reached out with reckless desperation toward his partner.

    Thomas snatched up his hand and also grasped onto Lee¡¯s upper arm, immediately shuffling as close as it was possible to be without climbing directly on top of him.

    At first, Lee thought the redhead was only trying to provide comfort, but he quickly realized that Thomas was in need of it too. While Lee was mostly rigid and dazed in his fear, the boy next to him was absolutely quaking against his side.

    Despite still processing his own emotions, Lee turned to wrap his free arm around Thomas¡¯ shivering back. He used his weight to pull them both down to lay on their sides as they curled into one another.

    Thomas let out a shaky exhale and buried his face in Lee¡¯s collarbone. His chin was trembling as he croaked hoarsely, ¡°Okay, that- ¡­Let¡¯s not do that again.¡±

    Maybe after some time passed and they were able to pull themselves reasonably together they could discuss logically what had occurred, but for now¡­

    Whatever that was?

    Definitely never again.

 Chapter 16: Resilience

    ¡°A loading screen?¡±

    ¡°Or something similar, I think. That''s the only explanation I can come up with,¡± Lee murmured as he lightly traced the seam of Thomas'' shirt with his thumb.

    Laying comfortably within the cocoon of Lee¡¯s arms, Thomas glared down at his phone as if the date and time it displayed was personally offensive to him.

    They had successfully skipped past the entire weekend and arrived at the following Monday with less than an hour to get ready for class.

    Well, more like twenty minutes in Thomas¡¯ case, as the President needed to be in the classroom early. He was expected to sweep the floor and take attendance as usual.

    Neither of them were particularly interested in moving from the relative security of Lee¡¯s bed, but nothing would be accomplished if they wallowed in the dorms all day. Therefore, Thomas reluctantly extracted himself from Lee¡¯s embrace and hurried back to his room so he could wash up and get dressed.

    The second Thomas was gone from sight, Lee began to feel as if the walls of his room were weighing down on him. Being separated so soon after experiencing the isolating terror of his very existence going dark, only to eventually load back in was unbearable.

    Lee speedran getting ready for class and rushed downstairs so he could catch Thomas before the President left the dormitory. He was relieved when they met up in the lobby, and if Thomas was at all surprised to have Lee join him he kept it to himself.

    Together, they made their way across campus to the main school building. The early morning air was a little chilly and heavy with fog, so Lee huddled closer to Thomas.

    During their brief time apart, the President appeared to have effortlessly bottled away the terror that had plagued him following their harrowing experience.

    The redhead was currently optimizing his time by scrolling through the PARAMETERS app on his phone. He closely studied the silhouetted profiles, trying to pick out any identifying qualities they could use to possibly recognize someone.

    As they walked side by side, Lee couldn''t help but steal glances at Thomas. The determined set of the other boy¡¯s jaw and the way his clover eyes laser-focused on his self-appointed task made Lee¡¯s heart flutter with a mixture of admiration and affection.

    He appreciated not only his partner¡¯s dedication and work ethic, but mental fortitude as well.

    The only sign Thomas wasn''t as fine as he seemed was the way he¡¯d taken hold of the strap of Lee¡¯s backpack, keeping them constantly connected.

    ¡°I see two people here who ought to be easier to recognize in passing than the rest,¡± Thomas commented, holding out his phone for Lee to take a look at what he was referring to.

    The shape of the first boy on screen looked to have short hair, pointy objects protruding from the neck area, and something dangling from one side of his face. An earring, if Lee had to guess.

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    Thomas then scrolled down to show him someone who had a much wider build than all the others. The width of his shoulders completely filled the small square available for his image, and he appeared to have even shorter, very spikey hair.

    ¡°Memorize the details that stand out to you and keep an eye out for them,¡± Thomas recommended. ¡°I¡¯ll do the same.¡±

    ******

    Arland finally walked in the classroom, one of the last to arrive. Lee was all but bouncing in his seat, so grateful to finally have his friend back on campus. He had to fight the unique compulsion to run up and toss his arms around him.

    The urge to hug people at all was a rather new development for Lee; he must¡¯ve gotten spoiled by all the closeness he¡¯d been receiving from Thomas lately.

    Arland paused just inside the doorway, speaking to Thomas as the Class President marked him down for attendance.

    In a strange role reversal, Arland appeared to be surprisingly frustrated while Thomas seemed cool and composed about whatever they were talking about.

    Lee lamented his inability to hear what they were saying over the chatter of the other students in the room.

    A stray, infinitesimal bout of worry struck him just then.

    Thomas wouldn¡¯t¡­ go behind his back and try to tell Arland about the curse would he?

    Certainly not.

    Thomas had been nothing but understanding and supportive thus far; Lee had no reason not to trust him to keep his word and leave Arland out of their plans.

    He berated himself for even having the passing intrusive thought.

    Speaking of Arland, he had walked away from Thomas and was now making his way toward his seat behind Lee. As he passed by, he tapped Lee¡¯s desk and murmured with a strained smile, ¡°Hey, man.¡±

    ¡°Good morning,¡± Lee replied softly as he turned to watch the other boy lazily slouch into his chair.

    Arland immediately took out his deck of cards and began to aimlessly shuffle them in a self-distracting manner.

    The flurry of things Lee had wanted to say fled his brain in the wake of the blonde¡¯s uncharacteristically sour mood.

    Their homeroom/english teacher chose that moment to finally jog into the room just as the late bell began to ring. Lee reluctantly turned back to face the front.

    Ms. Marley looked a bit frazzled as she hurried to set her bag down on her desk. ¡°Sorry for running late, boys! I had a last minute call to take in the office,¡± she apologized, huffing and puffing like she¡¯d just run a mile.

    Thomas handed her the clipboard for attendance and she gave him a fleeting smile of gratitude in return.

    ¡°Thank you, Thomas. I can always count on you to be on top of things,¡± she praised.

    Thomas only nodded and stood beside her desk, awaiting his next inevitable task.

    Ms. Marley clapped her hands together to gather the full attention of the classroom.

    ¡°Good morning, everyone! I¡¯ve been instructed to remind you all about the tenth-grade field trip to Silent Valley Park coming up next Monday!¡±

    She quickly opened up her bag and pulled out a stack of pamphlets, handing them over to Thomas.

    ¡°Pass these out to everyone,¡± she instructed, only to hastily correct herself. ¡°Ah- except for Arland.¡±

    She¡¯d made no attempt to lower her voice, so the entire class heard the exclusion and glanced back to look at the boy in question.

    Lee wanted to do the same, immediately concerned about why his friend was being left out, but didn¡¯t want to add to the sudden attention on Arland.

 Chapter 17: Permission Revoked

    As instructed, Thomas proceeded to distribute the pamphlets to all of his classmates, minus one student.

    ¡°I¡¯m very sorry, Arland,¡± Ms. Marley said, her expression sympathetic. ¡°We got a call from your parents this morning informing us that your permission for the trip has been revoked. You¡¯ll have to remain on campus next week.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I know,¡± Arland replied. The rhythmic sound of cards slapping against each other sped up, contrasting with the carefully constructed neutrality of his tone.

    Lee couldn¡¯t understand why Ms. Marley had decided to announce Arland¡¯s exclusion in front of everyone. Wouldn''t it have been better to pull Arland aside to tell him privately?

    Lee felt the first embers of true irritation on his friend¡¯s behalf spark within him. He clenched his fists and he glared mulishly down at the surface of his desk, unsure of what to do or say.

    When Thomas came around to place the pamphlet of information about Silent Valley Park on his desk, Lee had the childish urge to shove it to the floor.

    Possibly able to read his mind, Thomas lightly brushed Lee''s knuckles with the back of his hand in a reassuring gesture as he passed by, immediately calming him down.

    Lee followed the redhead with his eyes, and watched as Thomas leaned in to whisper something to Arland, who responded with a tight-lipped smile and a dismissive wave of his hand. The President silently carried on distributing pamphlets in the next aisle.

    Did Thomas also care that Arland was kicked off the trip?

    Lee wouldn¡¯t call the two of them particularly close friends; most of their conversations were filled with sarcastic banter and subtle jabs. Still, Lee had personally witnessed a certain level of camaraderie and mutual respect between them, so it was possible.

    ******

    Second period was the prime time to sneak in a conversation.

    Their science teacher had a fairly relaxed attitude, and had simply assigned them all a few chapters to read and take notes on. As long as everyone had their books out and at least seemed to be working, the man turned a deaf ear to any talking in the room.

    Lee sat sideways in his seat, his textbook resting open on his lap. That way he could appear to be engrossed in his work while he chatted with his friend.

    "Did anything happen while you were at home?" Lee asked quietly.

    Arland responded with a halfhearted shrug, already setting up his cards for his usual classtime game of solitaire. "I guess something happened, but it wasn''t anything serious. You and Tom can stop being such worrywarts about it."

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    So Thomas had expressed concern. The fact that Arland¡¯s unusually bitter mood was enough to prompt Thomas into checking on him too, only made Lee worry more.

    However, he wasn¡¯t sure how appropriate it was for him to push.

    Lee and Arland had never really had deep, emotional conversations. Most of their time spent together consisted of Arland utterly stomping Lee at any and all card games, playful teasing from the blonde, and comfortable silences spent just lounging in each other¡¯s dorm rooms.

    It was hard for Lee to gauge just how close of friends they really were.

    ¡°Tell me anyway?¡± Lee requested softly, looking down at his lap while fiddling with the corner of a page in his book.

    Arland¡¯s mouth stretched up into a small smirk. ¡°Oh, I just embarrassed my parents in front of a bunch of important guests," he said flippantly.

    Lee''s eyes were as wide as dinner plates. He didn''t even want to imagine how his own parents would react if he''d done something similar.

    ¡°So now they''re¡­ angry with you? Lee asked, tentatively.

    ¡°More like furious,¡± Arland confirmed nonchalantly, but his smirk dropped as he continued, ¡°But I refused to apologize and suck up to everyone, which only made them angrier. I kept telling them I didn''t want to be there in the first place, so really it''s their own fault.¡±

    Arland''s dismissive attitude toward his parents'' disappointment was something Lee struggled to comprehend. He couldn¡¯t fathom openly challenging his parents, let alone publicly embarrassing them.

    ¡°That''s enough about me though,¡± Arland cut through Lee''s fretful thoughts with a playful tone. ¡°What did you do while I was gone? Pretty lonely without me I bet,¡± he teased, clearly wanting to change the subject from his own troubles.

    ¡°Class sucked without you,¡± Lee readily admitted with a small smile. ¡°But I had Thomas with me all the rest of the time, so it wasn''t so bad.¡±

    Arland paused in mid-motion of setting a card down on his desk. ¡°You had ¡­Thomas? Our grumpy, closeted smoker, teacher''s pet Thomas? Are we talking about the same person?¡±

    Lee nodded eagerly, a bubble of excitement forming around him. He struggled to keep his voice low as he replied, ¡°I really, really like Thomas.¡±

    Arland appeared absolutely flabbergasted. ¡°So after hanging out together in my room one time you¡­ what? Became besties?¡±

    ¡°We went on a date,¡± Lee whispered conspiratorially, his eyes lighting up at the memory of their time together. He was over the moon to finally be able to share at least part of what had happened since Arland left, even if he couldn¡¯t mention the curse.

    Discussing crushes was a true friendship rite of passage after all!

    ¡°I was gone for three and a half days,¡± Arland said in disbelief. ¡°You two used to barely speak to each other. How are you suddenly dating?¡±

    Bashful, Lee''s gaze drifted towards the front row of desks, where Thomas sat. The Class President was completely focused on the reading assignment, unlike the majority of their classmates who were chatting quietly, much like Lee and Arland were.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure we¡¯re technically dating,¡± Lee mumbled. ¡°We haven¡¯t really talked about it. Things are kinda complicated at the moment.¡±

    ¡°Complicated,¡± Arland repeated flatly, his eyebrows raised in surprise. ¡°From nonexistent to complicated in less than a week.¡±

 Chapter 18: Captivating Stranger

    Third period was a complete blur to Lee, who struggled to stay awake during their droning history lecture and power-point presentation. Even had his life depended on it, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to recall a single section of the lesson.

    He was eternally grateful when the bell signaling the start of their lunch period finally rang. He packed up his bag and quickly looked toward the front of the room for Thomas, hoping the President would join himself and Arland at their usual table.

    However, Thomas had already been caught by their teacher, who unloaded a stack of books into his arms with directions to return them to the school library. Without a word of protest, Thomas immediately left to complete the task.

    Lee hitched his backpack higher onto his shoulder and hurried to follow Thomas while Arland trailed behind at a slower pace.

    ¡°I¡¯ll come with you to drop those off,¡± Lee volunteered as he caught up to Thomas in the hallway.

    ¡°You really don¡¯t have to. I¡¯ve got it,¡± Thomas murmured, adjusting his grip on the books.

    ¡°I want to!¡± Lee declared earnestly.

    Thomas rolled his eyes and begrudgingly muttered, ¡°Fine. Do what you want then.¡±

    Lee grinned, stepping closer to take half of the stack into his own arms as he chirped cheekily, ¡°I will.¡±

    Arland, a silent observer of their short interaction, caught up to walk on Thomas¡¯ opposite side. ¡°Man, seeing really is believing huh?¡± He said with a bemused snort as he continued absentmindedly fiddling with his playing cards.

    Lee and Thomas both aimed perplexed glances his way.

    ¡°I still need to get used to the idea of you two being so¡­ comfortable with each other,¡± Arland elaborated, nudging Thomas¡¯ side teasingly with his elbow while winking at Lee.

    While Thomas furrowed his brow in further confusion, Lee suddenly found the floor to be supremely interesting. He hunched his shoulders and raised the books in his grasp a little higher, attempting to hide behind them.

    He should¡¯ve known Arland wouldn¡¯t pass up the chance to tease him about his feelings for Thomas.

    When they reached a junction in the hallway Arland paused, flicking a card out from his deck and sliding it between his middle and index fingers. He looked toward Lee and pointed the card at him as he remarked, ¡°I expect a lot more details on what went on with you two later.¡±

    With that, Arland veered away toward the cafeteria, twirling his card as he left.

    Lee and Thomas continued on toward the library. The Class President quickened his stride and Lee hurried to match his pace. The echo of their footsteps became distractingly loud as the halls steadily emptied around them.

    "You really don''t have to come with me," Thomas eventually repeated.

    This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    Lee glanced his way, doing his best to interpret his partner¡¯s minimalist expression.

    The wrinkle between Thomas¡¯ eyebrows might¡¯ve been the only giveaway, but Lee thought that Thomas seemed frustrated all of a sudden.

    ¡°We went over this. I don¡¯t mind helping,¡± Lee replied with a small frown. ¡°You¡¯re doing so much to help me after all.¡±

    The next several seconds were spent walking in tense silence.

    Then, as if unable to contain the words any longer, Thomas asked in a strained tone, "What exactly did you tell Arland about ¡­us?"

    The question hit Lee a little unexpectedly, but perhaps he shouldn¡¯t have been surprised.

    ¡°I mentioned that we¡¯ve been spending more time together and that we went on a date,¡± Lee admitted, a new bout of anxiety rising within him.

    Had Thomas wanted to keep their relationship ¡ªhowever it was defined¡ª private?

    With difficulty, Lee shifted the books he was holding to one arm and tentatively reached out to place a hand on Thomas¡¯ shoulder.

    ¡°Was I not supposed to?¡± He asked quietly.

    Thomas¡¯ gaze slid down to the hand on him, flicked back up to briefly meet Lee¡¯s eyes, then quickly skittered away toward the library''s double doors up ahead.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. You¡¯re fine,¡± Thomas stated, speeding up his pace.

    Would he really react that way if everything was fine?

    Confused and worried, Lee followed him up to the library¡¯s front desk.

    There was no librarian present, so the two of them went straight to the return box and dumped the books inside.

    "Thomas," Lee began, attempting to ask the redhead to explain his thoughts. However, the words died on his lips as Thomas''s hand shot out, wrapping around his bicep with unexpected urgency.

    "Look," Thomas hissed, eyes fixed on the opposite end of the room; Lee followed his gaze.

    Before anything else, Lee spotted the unmistakable flash of metal glinting as it caught the light filtering through the high windows. A beacon amidst the sea of shelves.

    Its source was the accessory dangling from the left ear of a boy who had just entered the library.

    Before Lee could react, Thomas was tugging him forward, cutting through the maze of bookcases with single-minded focus.

    "Excuse me!" Thomas called out, uncaring of the fact he was supposed to keep his voice low in a library.

    Well, with no authority figure present to enforce such a rule it probably didn¡¯t matter.

    The boy ahead paused and turned in their direction.

    Lee felt something palpable shift in the air between them, as if a lock had clicked open in his mind. The world around Lee slowed to a crawl.

    The new boy¡¯s appearance was absolutely vibrant.

    Dust particles danced around him, sparkling under the inexplicable spotlight that suddenly appeared from above.

    A sudden breeze that shouldn''t have been possible within the closed confines of the library surrounded him, tastefully fluttering the student¡¯s uniform sleeves and collar and revealing the fishnet top underneath.

    There was a glossy sheen to the dark, straight-edged hair and long bangs that hid the boy¡¯s eyes from view. His well crafted skull earring with sparkling rubies for eyes swung idly in a hypnotic motion.

    Even the spikes that dotted the choker wrapped around his pale neck and the jet black polish on his nails were details that involuntarily snatched Lee¡¯s attention with obsessive clarity.

    He simply couldn¡¯t look away.

    Thomas, meanwhile, blinked amidst the gust of impossible wind and implausible beams of light; his confusion was palpable. All the whimsical details that had Lee mesmerized, didn¡¯t have nearly the same impact on Thomas.

    Completely unaware of the splendor going on around him, the stranger voiced, "Did you guys ¡­need something?"

    The spellbound moment shattered, reality rushing back at Lee with the force of a crashing wave.

    Just then, an intangible Affection Meter materialized over the head of the boy Lee had just spent an indeterminable amount of time gawking at.

    [Affection 0%]

    A new Love Interest had been discovered.

 Chapter 19: Romance Me

    Lee stood there, mute, his mind still grappling with the dissonance between the cinematic allure that had surrounded his newly met Love Interest, and his abrupt return to the plain old library setting.

    Thomas, ever the pragmatist amidst Lee''s unhelpful mess of thoughts, forged a path through the awkward stillness. ¡°Sorry to bother you,¡± he hurriedly stated. ¡°We just had a few, ah, quick questions to ask. What¡¯s your name?¡±

    ¡°Draven,¡± the boy replied, tilting his head inquisitively. Lee couldn¡¯t help the way his gaze followed how Draven¡¯s bangs flopped endearingly to one side, fully revealing one of his bright cerulean eyes.

    ¡°I¡¯m Thomas, and this-'''' The President used his hold on Lee¡¯s arm to lightly jostle his dazed body for emphasis. ¡°This is Lee. We were wondering¡­¡± Thomas hesitated for a second, but quickly improvised, ¡°What sort of games you like to play?"

    Instead of appearing put off by being randomly questioned by people he¡¯d never met, there was a subtle shift in Draven¡¯s body language from distant yet curious, to solidly intrigued.

    "Well," Draven replied, placing his hands on his narrow hips as a corner of his mouth quirked upward, "I¡¯ve got a thing for story driven games. Mostly Visual Novels."

    "REALLY?!" The word tumbled out of Lee while his heart did a peculiar somersault in his chest. He¡¯d completely snapped out of his previously overwhelmed state as he declared, ¡°Me too!¡±

    Draven''s grin widened and he leaned forward to ask in a playfully conspiratorial whisper, "Have you played ¡®Wandering Beats of the Heart¡¯ or ¡®Dream A Better Nightmare''? I just finished those recently."

    ¡®Wandering Beats of the Heart¡¯ echoed in Lee''s ears, evoking an intense, long-awaited desire. The game had been languishing on his wishlist for months, a dream left unfulfilled by the realities of his limited funds.

    "I''ve wanted to play ''Wandering Beats'' for ages," Lee confessed, tone dripping with longing.

    "Excellent story," Draven nodded sagely, acknowledging Lee¡¯s passion. ¡°What have you played?¡±

    Lee leaned forward, eager to delve further into a discussion about branching narratives and character development. "Have you tried ''Your Royal Romance''?" He asked, almost bouncing in place with anticipation.

    "Actually-" Draven began, but Thomas stepped between them, squeezing Lee''s shoulder.

    Lee immediately settled down, slightly embarrassed by how animated he¡¯d gotten just from finding someone who shared his hobby.

    "Sorry to cut in," Thomas said, causing both Draven and Lee to turn towards him. "But I¡¯m glad to hear you¡¯re knowledgeable enough of the subject. That will make this easier."

    Thomas stared hard at Lee, who sensed a shift in the seriousness of the atmosphere.

    If Thomas was trying to telepathically communicate something Lee was falling short in understanding this time.

    Was he trying to let Lee know he had a plan to get Draven on their side, or was Thomas just going to continue winging it? Did he want Lee to say something??

    "Draven," Thomas began, breaking eye contact with Lee to focus on the other boy. "We''re dealing with something... unusual. It''s like a curse."

    Oh, nevermind. Thomas had just come right out and said it.

    This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

    ¡°What kind of a curse?¡± Draven asked mildly, leaning against the wall beside the library doorway and crossing his arms.

    Lee was taken aback by Draven¡¯s cavalier attitude. Did he already believe in the concept of curses? Well, Draven did seem to dress in a sort of alternative goth aesthetic. Maybe he was into the occult too?

    Unlike Lee, Thomas didn¡¯t seem to care about Draven¡¯s lack of a reaction. His words were measured, carefully avoiding any semblance of jest as he explained, "It''s like being trapped in a video game, of the romance genre specifically. It seems to be centered around Lee¡­¡±

    As Thomas continued to describe the details of the curse, Lee observed Draven closely.

    The raven haired boy slowly straightened, brushing his bangs out of his eyes while leaning forward slightly. The more Thomas spoke about how complicated Lee¡¯s life had become following his purchase of a suspicious free game, the more Draven''s eyes widened and his face lit up with pronounced excitement.

    "Wait, wait, let me get this STRAIGHT!" Draven enthusiastically exclaimed. "You¡¯re saying you two are basically stuck in a dating sim? With stats and dialogue choices¡ª the whole bit?? And I¡¯M a love interest in this curse!?!?¡±

    "That¡­ would be the gist of it," Thomas replied with a small frown. "I know this isn¡¯t ideal, but since you¡¯re clearly interested in similar games, I thought you might be open to believing and assisting us?"

    "Oh, I''m definitely in!" Draven exclaimed, clapping his hands together as his eyes sparkled with exhilaration. ¡°This is freaking WILD!¡±

    He was far more exuberant than Lee would have first assumed him to be based on his appearance.

    Lee shot a glance at Thomas; now even the President looked mildly disturbed by how easily his explanation had been accepted.

    "You¡¯re really okay with this, Draven?" Lee asked carefully. "You don''t mind the idea of someone you just met trying to ''romance'' you?¡±

    ¡°Solely just to break a curse?" Thomas added with a pinched frown.

    "I mean, it''s not every day you get to be a part of a real life game plot," Draven said brightly, placing his hands on his hips and puffing out his chest. "Like, literally, I love stories like this, and I¡¯m curious about how these ¡®mechanics¡¯ work exactly. I wanna see them, so go ahead and romance me!¡±

    Lee exchanged an incredulous glance with Thomas, whose expression only became more perturbed.

    Perhaps once upon a time Lee might¡¯ve felt similarly to Draven about the situation, had he not experienced instances where his autonomy was cruelly yanked away from him.

    ¡°Before we get into, uh, however this is going to go¡­ I want to clarify something. To avoid any potential misunderstandings.¡± Lee stated haltingly.

    ¡°Go ahead,¡± Draven replied, still grinning.

    Lee placed his hand on Thomas¡¯ shoulder, who turned toward him inquisitively.

    "I like Thomas,¡± Lee announced before elaborating, ¡°For real. Outside of game-mechanics stuff.¡± Admitting as much was starting to become easier and easier the more he said it.

    As if struck by lightning, Thomas gave a full body flinch. Despite the fact Lee had confessed the exact same thing to his face, it still seemed to catch him off guard. His cheeks flushed a subtle pink as he pointedly glared at the floor, refusing to give any sort of verbal acknowledgement.

    While Draven seemed a bit surprised, he accepted Lee¡¯s words easily and snickered as he reassured, "Well, you don''t need to worry about me. I get what this is, and I¡¯m cool with whatever connection you guys have going on.¡±

    Lee smiled, feeling a mix of relief and gratitude. They truly had a new ally they could count on, and so quickly! It was almost too good to be true!

    "Thanks, Draven," Lee said, his voice filled with sincerity. "We really appreciate your help."

    "Of course!" Draven grinned, excited energy radiating from him. He rubbed his palms together eagerly and asked, "Now, what do we need to do first? How does this work?"

    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Lee struggled, not sure himself, when-

    [WEEK TWO]

    [NEW EVENT: LUNCH DATE!!!]

    (Get to know the cute gamer-goth boy you just met by eating lunch together in the cafeteria.)

    [DO YOU ACCEPT?]

    [Success: DRAVEN +5 Affection & DRAVEN Heart Gauge Unlocked]

    [Failure: DRAVEN -10 Affection]