Damien clicked his tongue, staring at the paper in his hands again.
It was his test script, and written above it with a red pen was a bold 10/10.
'Of course I got everything.' he thought, roughly tucking the paper into his pockets.
He ran a hand through his pitch-black hair, letting out a low sigh as he made his way home.
He was currently taking a shortcut through an alley, which was one he used quite frequently.
Though he hadn't read at all for the test, he was still able to get a perfect score, because he had seen those same questions over and over again.
Unless he wanted to, it was completely impossible to fail.
'But then even if I fail, there wouldn't be any difference…' he thought, turning
"Stop there bitch!" A shout came suddenly from behind.
Damien let out a sigh, not even turning yet.
'Yeah… those three idiots.' he thought, slowly turning around.
Just like he expected, three boys about his age were stomping towards him, their faces twisted with anger.
The one in the middle seemed the most annoyed out of the three.
His short brown hair was messily combed, his brown eyes wide with irritation, and his face scrunched up.
His right fist was clenched around a crumpled piece of paper, gripping it like it was the only thing keeping him from snapping.
Damien's eyes moved lazily to the paper, but his expression didn't change.
'So… Andy's seen the 2/10 he got and is now mad at me.'
Andy hadn't even shown him the test score yet.
But he already knew what was written there, same way he already knew what was going to happen next.
Because even though it made no logical sense… he had experienced this exact moment many times before.
Or rather… he felt like he had.
This world was like an endless loop to him, no matter what he did, he just couldn't seem to get out of it.
His whole life seemed like a bunch of reruns—an endless Deja vu.
And just as he had expected, Andy marched up and roughly stretched out the paper in front of him, shaking it a little.
He tapped his thin finger on the bold red number at the top, gnashing his teeth.
"You see this?" he spat. "I failed the damn test!"
Damien's expression didn't change, and his eyes remained dull.
Andy stepped closer, waving the paper like it was a knife.
"I failed… because you wouldn't answer me in the hall!"
As if on cue, the two boys beside him—twins, or maybe just equally forgettable—frowned at the same time.
"How could you be so selfish?" one said.
"You knew the answers, and you just kept ignoring us," the other added. "There's no way you didn't notice our signals."
Damien exhaled quietly, rubbing his temple.
'So we're doing this again…'
He looked up at Andy and spoke with a flat tone. "Ohh. I guess I'm sorry then."
With that, he turned around, slowly, almost lazily, and began walking away.
His gaze lowered slightly, and his eyes narrowed.
'He'll attack now.' he mumbled inwardly, his eyes narrowing slightly.
He suddenly paused, bending forward as if he wanted to tie his shoelace.
And in the next second, a fist whizzed past the air where his head had been.
However, the punch hit nothing.
The boy who had thrown it—one of the two beside Andy—stumbled a little, blinking in confusion.
'He dodged it? How?!'
His eyes were wide, like he'd just seen a ghost pass through a wall.
Before he could say anything, Andy's voice roared from behind.
"We're outside the school now!" he shouted. "Don't think anyone's coming to save you!"
Damien stood upright again, straightening his back.
He dusted his hands against his pants and turned around slowly.
Andy was glaring at him now, chest heaving.
The boy who had thrown the punch stepped back into place, looking unsure.
The other one glanced between his friends, clearly starting to regret coming along.
'This again…' Damien thought, the boredom in his gaze deepening. 'Well, I'll just have to play my part.'
Andy stepped forward.
"You think you're better than everyone, don't you?" he snapped. "Just because you are a little brilliant and dumb g-girls fawning over you!"
Damien interrupted him with a yawn. Loud, long, and completely uninterested.
Though the part about him thinking he was better than everyone was wrong, he couldn't deny he was indeed handsome.
With a pair of sharp blue eyes and a well-sculptured face, he sure was a lady killer, a reason every girl in their department fawned over him.
Andy's face twitched.
"You little…!" he shouted, grabbing Damien's collar with his free hand. "I don't know how you're doing it, but you can cheat on the tests and exams all you want, but don't think you're special."
"At the end of the day, you're just an orphan living off a dumb scholarship!" he continued, tightening his grip over Damien's collar.
Damien didn't resist. He just looked him in the eye.
"You done?"
Andy hesitated, teeth clenched in anger.
And then, suddenly, he swung a fist toward Damien's face.
But Damien had already moved.
With a small twist of his shoulder, he broke free from Andy's grip and took a step to the side, easily dodging the punch.
Andy stumbled forward slightly, thrown off by the failed attack.
Damien chuckled dryly.
"It's always the same thing with you."
Andy's eyes flared with annoyance.
"Tch—bastard!" he growled, swinging again.
However, Damien smoothly leaned to the side, letting the fist fly past his cheek like a gust of wind.
'Another one's going to come from the side.' he mumbled inwardly, his eyes narrowing slightly.
He shifted his weight and stepped back.
And just like he'd predicted—one of the boys beside Andy lunged at him, throwing a wide punch.
The fist cut through the air right in front of him.
Damien clicked his tongue in disappointment.
'Predictable.'
The boy's eyes widened in shock, completely exposed from the wild swing.
Before he could even recover, Damien struck.
He swung a clean punch into the boy's face, hitting square on the nose.
"Urgh!" the boy grunted, stumbling backwards.
He crashed to the ground with a dull thud, landing right in front of Andy's feet.
"Stay out of my way!" Andy shouted and kicked him aside like trash.
The boy groaned, clutching his jaw, as Andy stepped over him and charged again.
He screamed, swinging a punch with everything he had.
Damien scoffed.
He dodged the punch without effort—then raised his palm and delivered a sharp slap across Andy's face.
Smack!
Andy's head twisted to the side from the force, and he stumbled.
His body twisted, and he lost his balance—colliding with the wall of the alley with a heavy thud.
A small cut appeared on his forehead where he hit the wall, blood slowly trickling down.
"Tch…" Damien's gaze shifted.
The third boy, who had only been watching from the start, was one charging at him with his fist pulled back.
However, Damien didn't even look at him.
With a calm step forward, he raised his fist and delivered a swift uppercut right into the boy's chin.
Crack!
The hit landed clean, and the boy's eyes rolled up as he collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.
Damien lowered his hand and finally turned back to Andy.
Andy was sitting on the floor now, his back against the wall, his eyes wide and dazed.
Blood was still oozing from the cut on his forehead.
When his gaze met Damien's, he shivered.
Damien looked down at him and scoffed.
"I've told you this many times before…" he said quietly, his voice low and cold. "Think whatever you want to think about me. But don't disturb me."
With that, he turned around and walked out of the alley.
Ding!
His phone suddenly buzzed in his pocket, and he sighed, pulling it out.
A new notification was displayed at the top, and he was about to swipe it away, before he saw who the message from.
Andy's Mom: Well… Andy said he'll be sleeping over at a friend's place tonight.
The moment Damien read through the message, his eyes widened, and his lips curled into a smug grin.