*Clap clap clap.*
Philip's slow, deliberate clapping in the distance resounded loudly in the dead-silent gymnasium.
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Vice Principal Ronald Fitz had directed him towards the gymnasium entrance earlier. He didn't want to enter alongside Philip, and he definitely didn't want to look like he was obviously currying favor with a Whitmore in front of the third years.
So he'd told Philip the way to the entrance and made up an excuse, saying he remembered he had something urgent to do and that he'd join them afterward.
Philip didn't think much of it and entered the large auditorium by himself, along with several other students who were making their way in.
The hall was quite big and had multiple entrances. The door where Philip entered was the main door at the front, directly leading to the ground-level audience floor.
What immediately surprised Philip was the commotion he saw as soon as he stepped into the gymnasium.
A large group of students were gathering at the center of the gymnasium, forming a tight circle like there was something very interesting happening at the center.
Although there were students who remained unbothered and proceeded with their club recruitment activities, it was clear they also knew something was going on at the center but had deliberately decided not to take part in it.
'Are they doing an art exhibition?' Philip thought, assuming it might be some kind of auction or display to gather so many people.
If that was the case, he wasn't particularly interested. He'd already been to high-end auctions where the lowest item cost a million dollars back when he was fifteen. What could college students possibly be selling to entice his mind?
Just as he was about to turn his head and walk towards the club stalls, he heard a cracked, desperate voice.
"LIAR!" the voice came out from the center of the crowd where the group of students was gathering.
It made Philip instantly stop in his tracks.
Surely that wouldn't be some kind of drama performance, right?
'Things might be more interesting than I thought,' Philip mused as he changed direction and made his way to the slowly growing crowd.
When he reached the outer edge of the commotion, he saw Elizabeth Winslet. Her short black hair was all messed up and sticking out in multiple directions.
Her lipstick was smeared on the side of her mouth, and her reddened eyes suggested she might have been crying the night before.
She wore a short skirt and a crop top. Although she didn't have much to offer in terms of chest or rear, they were still nice to look at. Combined with her fair skin and pretty face, she still had what people would call a model body that many would seek after.
Elizabeth, with both her hands, was brutally clutching onto another person's hair, forcing them to bow down.
The other person had a beautiful facial structure, and unlike Elizabeth, she was more developed in certain areas.
Philip couldn't quite make out the person clearly with her hair blocking the view. But after a few moments of observation, he could confirm that it was someone he knew.
"Odette?" Philip muttered under his breath.
He felt confused as to why she was there in a fight. Was it unprovoked? Or had she done something to anger the other person?
Trying to get a better sense of the situation, Philip slowly slipped into the crowd, moving towards the center.
But before he got far into the crowd, his sweater was suddenly tugged by another student—slightly smaller than him.
"Don't. You're a first year, right? It's useless. The other student is a second year and has a brother in third year. This happens once in a while. The other girl is a scholarship student, so this is a way of them showing their supremacy," the first-year student with thick eyebrows warned Philip with a serious face, thinking he was trying to stop the fight.
This was apparently a common occurrence for scholarship students, although it may not always be as physically intense as this.
Things like tripping others in hallways, ordering them around like servants, and verbally abusing them were some things middle-class and high-class students did to make the hierarchy of different social classes clear and relevant.
When Philip heard this explanation, he felt it was completely unreal.
Like it was something deliberately set up by his parents to test his moral consciousness—to see whether he would step up for the girl or not.
He chuckled a bit at the absurdity and began clapping his hands loudly.
The sudden, echoing clapping sound startled all the surrounding students. They all turned and looked in Philip's direction.
Even Elizabeth, who was still ranting, instantly stopped mid-word and looked in his direction.
A handsome young man with a mischievous smile on his face was clapping his hands as loudly as possible.
As if he was sarcastically cheering for her and her pathetic antics.
The crowd quickly dispersed around Philip and made a clear entrance path for him to walk into the center like Moses parting the sea.
Elizabeth, who was still clutching Odette's hair, raised her eyebrows at Philip's theatrical entrance.
"I never thought I would experience bullying in real life. *In* our economy," Philip said loudly, still maintaining his mocking smirk as he looked around at everyone.
Philip's eyes looked back at Elizabeth, and his smile shifted dramatically to a hateful, disgusted expression. "This is so fucking cliché," he said.
His expression was that of someone utterly disgusted by something or someone standing in front of them—which was Elizabeth.
Elizabeth scrutinized his gaze and instantly knew that Philip was not on her side, as it was a look she herself often used on others.
"Who do you—" Elizabeth was about to question Philip with a distorted face, but was cut off by a loud, commanding voice from Philip.
"Before we continue, first release your hand and let the girl go. That would be the best course of action for you," Philip said. His tone was not that of someone who was asking—but someone who was simply stating an undeniable truth.
"That is, if you don't want to be—" Philip continued, but was interrupted by Elizabeth, who could not tolerate Philip's tone of voice as if he was speaking to a lower lifeform.
"Shut the fuck up! Who do yo—" Elizabeth shouted, clutching Odette's hair even tighter. But she was once again stopped by a greater force.
*SLAP!*
Philip's right hand flew out in a lightning-fast motion. His distance from Elizabeth was about an arm's length, so he could easily gather momentum without having to move the rest of his body.
Philip's palm connected perfectly with Elizabeth's cheek, the impact spreading across her entire face like a shockwave.
With his equal-opportunistic mindset, Philip hit Elizabeth with the same force he would've used on a man.
The force of impact, the inertia created, made Elizabeth's head snap violently to the side.
She immediately let go of Odette, stumbling hard to her right side.
The force was so tremendous that her body spun once before crashing to the ground—like a malfunctioning helicopter's motion right before it crashed.
Odette collapsed to the ground as well. Having been suddenly released, she had to sit down to recover her legs and back from being bent in such an awkward, painful position.
"Odette, come to this side," Philip said in the same cold, authoritative tone.
He had one arm positioned behind his back, and his right arm hung down at his side, having just finished its job.
...
Odette's heart almost stopped when she first heard the clapping, thinking the crowd might have been cheering Elizabeth on for bullying her.
But after she heard a familiar voice, her heart was more at peace than it had been.
Even after being bullied to such an extreme extent, she hadn't been planning to yield any time soon. Asking and shouting for help wasn't an option for her.
She'd thought it would only make her look more pathetic.
But that didn't mean she didn't want help or didn't desperately need someone to stand up for her.
And hearing Philip's familiar voice, she felt her chest and stomach fill with warmth.
She felt more like crying than she ever had before.
And hearing his icy tone commanding her to come to his side—although it was something that would normally make people feel distant and unfamiliar—
To Odette, it was the sweetest voice she could hear at this moment.
Without even looking up, she got up from her knees. Her messed-up hair was partially covering her face as she walked to Philip's side.
And when Philip had asked for her to come, he'd meant for her to stand behind him or beside him where he could protect her.
But completely betraying his expectations, Odette walked closer and closer to Philip.
Her head facing down and her hair still covering her face.
She gently pushed Philip's right arm, which Philip raised instinctively in confusion.
Under his arm, over his sweater, and around his chest, Odette wrapped her arms tightly around Philip and buried her face between her arms and Philip's chest.
Completely silencing Philip.
He didn't say anything and just let it happen.
Philip was completely shocked by this unexpected action, utterly losing his composure for a moment. He still had his right arm raised awkwardly in the air and slowly lowered it.
Odette's body was fully pressed against his, especially her chest, which Philip tried very hard to ignore in his mind.
On the other side.
Elizabeth, who had been slapped into nearly another realm, had stumbled back about two steps.
For about five seconds, she'd lost consciousness completely and was shaken hard by her friends, who immediately rushed to her aid.
"You, you, you slapped me?!" she shouted from the ground, touching her burning, reddened cheek in disbelief.