Chapter 1

Romeo held the papers that had taken up his time these past few days. He looked at the stack of papers with a big smile. His final project was finished; it was just waiting for the Professor's approval, and then he would graduate.

"I can finally finish it." Romeo smiled happily. 

These few years, Romeo studied diligently. He majored in Development Economics. Actually, he didn't like it, but because of his intelligence, during his studies, Romeo was always the best on his campus. 

When Romeo saw Professor Arnold's room, where he would review his final results, he became very excited and nervous at the same time. After reading and revising it many times, to the point of sacrificing his rest time, Romeo was very satisfied with the results. "I hope Professor Arnold likes it, too."

Romeo walked away excitedly, but Tyler and his friends came to block his steps. 

Without further ado, Tyler splashed Romeo's face with soda. Some of Tyler's friends even poured iced coffee on Romeo. 

Romeo, who didn't expect them to splash him with drinks, didn't have time to dodge. He was shocked.  

"What the hell?" Romeo looked at Tyler and his friends with an irritated look. 

Tyler and his friends laughed happily. Romeo wiped his wet face. He was sad and disappointed when he realised the report he had worked so hard on was now damp and dirty. His hard work these past few days was ruined. 

Romeo glared at Tyler and his friends. "Why did you do that?" 

Tyler laughed, seemingly not feeling the slightest bit guilty. He casually replied, "You looked like a stray cat, so we flushed you." 

Tyler's friends' mouths were no less insolent. They deliberately insulted Romeo. "Your messy clothes and dirty body make you look even more like a stray cat!" 

The bystanders laughed at this incident. It looked hilarious.

"It looks like today is Romeo's bad luck day." One of the students who saw the bullying did not help but laughed. 

"He's actually brilliant. It's a shame to have problems with Tyler." One of the students commented. 

They saw this as nothing outrageous but a fascinating spectacle worth watching. A poor, orphaned scholarship student facing a group of wealthy students. It looked like a group of whales surrounding a tuna. 

"You guys are so outrageous!" growled Romeo, expressing his displeasure. 

"Who do you think you are?" retorted Tyler. His face showed a haughty expression. He was the son of a wealthy businessman, and his family controlled many businesses in this city. "In this place, no one deserves to oppose me!" "Don't you realise what you're doing?" Romeo held up his assignment sheet. "Look at this! You're destroying my hard work! If you do it to someone else, you could ruin their future!" "To hell with it all! He who has the money and the power is the one who gets to act!" Tyler didn't care at all. He snorted harshly. "You deserve it anyway."

Romeo glared at Tyler. "You guys are really out of line!" 

"Do we look like we care?" sneered one of Tyler's friends. "Just go home and cry in your house." 

"Hey, you think someone like him has a home?" Tyler insulted. Everyone laughed again. 

When things got tense, Professor Arnold exited his room, looking disturbed. "What's going on? Why are you all crowding around?" he asked. 

Tyler stopped laughing and smiled at Professor Arnold. "Nothing, Prof." 

They casually left the place as if they had done nothing. Romeo could only stare at their departure with a look of hatred.

Professor Arnold saw Romeo standing in front of him and asked him to come in. Romeo let out a long breath, trying to calm himself down. He nodded and was forced to enter Professor Arnold's room. 

"Have you been working on it?" asked Professor Arnold. 

Romeo nodded. "I did, Prof., but my assignment was ruined by a drink." Romeo held up his final project. "Can you give me two hours? I need to reprint this again." 

Professor Arnold nodded and smiled. "You're always the best. You're usually disciplined and orderly, and since this is your first mistake, I'll give you an extra two hours." 

Romeo smiled, was pleased, and nodded. "Okay, Prof., I'll return as soon as possible." 

 Romeo left the campus immediately and ran as fast as he could to the printing shop. At lunchtime, the place was usually very crowded. 

After arriving, he breathed a sigh of relief. "It's a Good thing it's not too crowded." He went to one computer, took out a flash drive, and started printing his assignment. 

An hour later, Romeo had finished it. This time, he was more careful. He wrapped his assignment in plastic and put it in his bag. 

When Romeo arrived at the campus, Tyler and his friends intercepted him again. Romeo looked at them warily. 

"What are you guys up to?" asked Romeo, wary. 

"Bothering you, of course," Tyler replied casually. 

Romeo became curious as to why they always bothered him. In fact, he never bothered them at all. 

"Why do you guys like to bother me so much?" Romeo asked. 

"I know if you ever liked my girlfriend, Naomi," Tyler said. His expression changed at the mention of that. 

"Naomi? When did you guys start dating?" Romeo asked again. 

"It's none of your business!" Tyler retorted, sounding like he didn't like it. 

"None of my business? Of course it's my business!" Romeo retorted. You guys keep bothering me because of that girl, even though we never dated!" 

Romeo once confessed his love to Naomi during his first semester of college. However, the girl rejected him firmly, and from then on, Romeo didn't have any feelings for her. 

Tyler came forward and was now one step closer to Romeo. He pointed at Romeo's chest and pressed it. "Whatever your reason, I don't like it!" 

Romeo swatted Tyler's hand away, making Tyler furious.

Snap! 

Romeo's face turned red. He felt a burst of emotion inside his chest. 

"How strange you are! Did you leave your brain at home?" Romeo growled. He didn't look scared of Tyler and his friends at all. "We're not in a romantic relationship at all! Your jealousy is completely unfounded!" "Trying to advise me, huh?" Tyler sneered. "Guys, get over it!" "Gladly!" Tyler's friends answered him excitedly. They advanced together and surrounded Romeo. 

Several people attacked him at once. Although he was able to dodge several times, Romeo had his limits. When Tyler's fist hit his face, he felt dizzy, and his vision trembled slightly. 

Tyler's friends took advantage of this moment. They punched Romeo in the stomach, kicked him in the face, and even threw him to the ground. 

"What a loser!" blasphemed one of Tyler's friends. 

"Useless scum!" insulted another of Tyler's friends. Romeo couldn't do much. He curled up on the ground and shielded his head from the blows. 

Seeing Romeo almost helpless, Tyler asked his friends to stop. "Get his bag." 

One of Tyler's friends nodded, then took Romeo's bag and gave it to Tyler. 

As he expected, Romeo's final project was kept inside the bag. Tyler grinned and took it. 

"Don't...." Romeo whispered in between his dwindling consciousness. 

Tyler grinned. He approached Romeo and squatted beside him. "Look at this." 

Tyler tore the papers and threw them at Romeo's face. 

Snap!

One final blow made Romeo's vision darken, and he passed out.