Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 71595 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 358(@200wpm)___ 286(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71595 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 358(@200wpm)___ 286(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
Vivi wrinkles her nose when she sees where I’m looking. Her voice lowering into a whisper, she says in Japanese, “Those girls are morally incapacitated.”
Have I also mentioned that while being raised by priests has made Vivi pure of heart, it hasn’t been effective in curbing her penchant for calling a spade a spade? She’s like the female version of Simon Cowell, just minus the cussing.
Grinning at her choice of words, I say, “This school’s version of Mean Girls, right?”
“Hai. They are horrible bullies. They go to such extraordinary widths—-”
“Lengths,” I can’t help correcting with a grin.
“My humble apologies. I do mean to say that. They are willing to go the extra meter for him.”
“Mile,” I supply.
“Oh, yes. That is what I mean to say. It’s horrible, the way they have no limit—-” The waitress returns to our table then, and when Vivi quickly stops speaking, I follow her lead, only smiling and thanking the server as she places our drinks on the table.
“I didn’t want to risk anyone overhearing us,” Vivi explains in a whisper as soon as the server leaves.
“I see,” I whisper back. I try but fail to make sense of it. “Why?”
“I told you,” she says, still whispering. “They’re horrible.”
“In what way? Like they think he’s public property so anyone close to him gets bullied and so they hide her shoes—-”
Vivi snorts. “You have clearly read too much shoujo manga. We are in college now, and so of course the bullying is more sophisticated. They...what do you call it when they steal your password for social media accounts?”
I gape at her. “Seriously? They’d go as far as hack other people’s accounts?”
“They will stop at nothing, I tell you,” Vivi says darkly. “The whole nine feet!”
My mouth opens and closes. You know what? I think I’m not going to bother correcting her for now. I get what she’s saying anyway.
Glancing back at the girls, I try to imagine what kind of guy could possibly inspire such blind worship, and all I can think of is Charles Manson.
“Is he a celebrity then? Is that why they’re so into him?”
“Not really, although his father has become quite famous recently. Rather, he is...” Vivi says something in Japanese that I can’t quite grasp, and her brows furrow. “How do you say this...he’s one of our school’s...live-in evil men?”
My confusion clears, and I almost start laughing. “Resident bad boy?”
“Hai!” Vivi nods vigorously. “That is exactly what he is. I simply do not understand the appeal of such men. Do you know that last year most of the girls in our school gave him chocolate for Valentine’s?”
“Isn’t that normal?” Here in Japan, it’s common practice for girls to give chocolate to guys. Giri choco or obligation chocolate is for male friends, family members, and just about any kind of guy that they’re not romantically interested in. Honmei, on the other hand, is usually homemade or at least very expensive, and it’s the type of chocolate a girl would give to the guy they like.
“It is as you say, but what is not normal is what he did afterwards.”
I frown. “So...he gave it away?” It’s the most douche-like thing I can think of.
“Worse.” Vivi’s lip curls anew. “He threw it all out, and he did it here in school, where everybody could see!”
I can’t help wincing at her words. “Bloody pig.”
“And that’s just the tip of the glacier.”
Iceberg, I almost correct her, but then I see the murderous scowl on her face and change my mind. Who cares about grammar when it’s just a conversation between roommates, right?
“There is this girl who left him a note about waiting for him at the back of the university hall—-”
“To confess?” I ask uneasily. Shy and demure as most Japanese girls seem, it’s nevertheless the norm for them to make the first move in dating. To ask a guy out, a girl “confesses” she likes him, and when Vivi nods and scowls, I feel sorry and appalled for the unknown girl, having a pretty good idea of what happened after. “She got rejected, didn’t she? And you all knew?”
“Once again, it is worse than you imagined. He didn’t even bother to tell her he wouldn’t be coming and so the impoverished girl waited all night. She contracted pneumonia afterwards, and the entire incident so humiliated her she moved away and transferred schools.”
I’m speechless and appalled by the time she finishes. Vivi is right. The guy is evil. Glancing outside the window, I remark bemusedly, “How can they still like him knowing what he did?”
“Hits me.”
Again, it takes me a second to understand what she means, and my lips twitch when I realize what it is. Beats me.
By the time we leave the university hall, Mr. Despicable’s fangirls are still there by the steps, and when we’re far away enough, I ask Vivi what exactly they’re waiting for. Do they just want to look at him? Get his autograph? Steal a kiss?