Yibo got up on Monday morning completely overtired. He hadn't slept for most of the night. His thoughts circled incessantly, and it was not necessarily because of his double victory at the competition, but rather because of his father's words about his behavior towards Zhan. Had he really been unfairly rude to Zhan, as his father had said?

The more he thought about it, the more he had to agree with his father. He finally admitted to himself that every time he met Zhan, he found a reason to be angry with him just before. Actually, whenever he saw him with Alessia. And then, yes then he had been thoroughly rude to Zhan. But in those moments he considered himself in the right.

But now that he thought about it, he was only angry because he was jealous. He had misbehaved and taken out his anger and jealousy on Zhan without the latter even realizing why Yibo was acting that way. And, without Yibo even having the right to take out his anger, disappointment and jealousy on Zhan. After all, Zhan doesn't know anything about Yibo's feelings for him, and even if he did, Yibo wouldn't have had the right to do so. They are not a couple and never have been. However, he also told himself that he was, after all, only 18 years old and in love for the first time. It is okay to make mistakes!

The insight about his mistakes brought him, however, now in this moment where he had to concentrate on the upcoming acting training and the selection of the duos, nothing. He had to concentrate on his task, playing a drunk in a forest, and that was incredibly difficult for him, as tired as he was.

Fortunately, the acting coach believed that Yibo was still suffering a little from his angina and gave Yibo the morning off. He didn't have to be back until noon when the duos were selected. Grateful for the 4 hours of rest, Yibo retired to the dorm and lay down in his bed. No sooner had he tucked himself in than he was asleep.

When his alarm clock woke him up punctually half an hour before lunch, Yibo freshened up briefly in the bathroom and then made his way to the cafeteria. Arriving at the community center, Yibo saw Xiao Zhan standing in front of the building, apparently waiting for someone. For a brief moment, he considered just walking past him and into the cafeteria, but then decided against it and said, "Um, hi. If you're waiting for Alessia, you're waiting for nothing. She won't be back until tomorrow. Her parents are in the city and since she doesn't have to train this week because of her injured ankle, she's staying at the hotel with her parents overnight. At least that's what I heard when I was at the dorm and overheard our house father talking to the house mother."

"Oh thank you. But actually I wasn't waiting for Alessia, I was waiting for Cheng. Alessia already wrote me that she won't be back until tomorrow. I was only concerned about my brother now. He had an appointment with the doctor to have his arm checked and he wrote me that he would be back for lunch." Replied Xiao Zhan.

"Oh, I didn't know that. Oh well, I'm sure he'll be here soon."

"Yibo?"

Yibo, who had avoided looking directly at Zhan until that moment, now did look at him, surprised to hear Zhan speak his name. "Yes?"

"How come you're talking to me normally now? You were always yelling at me before and now you're completely different."

"I um, I want to apologize about being so rude to you."

"Okay I accept the apology. But why were you like that?"

"Because of Alessia. All I have to do is look at her and I get mad right away."

"Uh-huh. Well I don't know what happened between you. But you should try to get along with her somehow. After all, you'll be seeing each other almost every day for the next four years. And getting angry about her all the time won't bring you anything except headaches and maybe premature gray hair. Besides, surely you can use your energy in other ways than arguing, can't you?"

"It's not like I want to argue with her now. I stay out of her way most of the time. It's just that sometimes that doesn't work and then it comes to a confrontation. I don't care what she says, everything about her makes me angry. And she doesn't like me any more than I like her."

"Okay. But it would still be better..." Zhan broke off his sentence and focused his gaze on something behind Yibo. Yibo spun around and rolled his eyes.

"Speak of the devil, and it''s not far away. I'm going to go eat. Have fun."

"Wait a minute Yibo. I wanted to ask you something else. I wanted to..." Again, Zhan broke off in mid-sentence as Alessia hurriedly hobbled towards him, almost falling into his arms.

"ZhanZhan, I told my parents that I wanted to come back here already. They wouldn't have time for me anyway because they planned to visit some sights and the museum. And before I get bored alone in their hotel room, I'd rather come here and spend time with you." Said Alessia cheerfully. When her and Yibo's eyes met, he could tell exactly that she was lying. But Zhan seemed to believe her.

Zhan replied, "Oh, I'm glad. But you shouldn't run around so much. You need to take it easy on your ankle."

Yibo rolled his eyes again, now annoyed. He pushed past Zhan and into the community center. Zhan still wanted to stop him and asked him to wait a moment, but Yibo just shook his head and left. He just couldn't bear to see Zhan and Alessia so close to each other and to hear them talk so intimately.

As he entered the cafeteria, Youn waved at him, sitting at a table with Wooseok. Yibo nodded, picked up his lunch, and sat down with the two. He shook his head thoughtfully, then said to Youn, who had been looking at him in confusion, "I had a conversation with Zhan for a very brief moment. Quite normally and without anger. And what happens? Alessia suddenly arrives!"

"Let's talk about it later instead." Youn replied, pointing to the door through which Zhan and Alessia had just come. And once again, she clung to Zhan's arm and grinned as everyone turned to look at the two of them.

"Oh man. I thought he was waiting for Cheng?" Yibo asked rather himself than Youn or Wooseok.

"Oh, was he actually waiting for Cheng?" Asked Wooseok.

"Mn. That's what he told me outside. But apparently he forgot about it when Alessia arrived."

"This is going to be another big fuss, isn't it?" Suspected Seungyoun with knowledge of Cheng's hot-tempered character.

"Then we'd better hurry up with dinner now before Cheng comes and the sparks fly again. I don't feel like being there again. Besides, then everyone always looks at us strangely as if we're participating in the fight." Said Yibo. Youn and Wooseok nodded. The three ate as fast as they could and left the cafeteria just a few minutes later.

When the three went outside, Zhan and Alessia had just sat down at one of the tables. And Yibo could still see the questioning look on Zhan's face as he watched the three of them leave the cafeteria with big quick steps. And they were not the only ones. Three women and two men also hurried outside, and the three could hear them venting about Alessia, saying that they couldn't stand Alessia.

The three spent the rest of the break outside in the fresh air. They did not see Cheng arrive. But when they went back to the community center and gathered in the auditorium of Keno Academy like everyone else from the first year, they heard that there was almost a fight between the two brothers when Alessia told Cheng in a rather rude way that she did not want Cheng to join her and Zhan at the table. The reason she gave was that this was only a table for two and not for three.

Cheng is said to have gotten very angry and said that he didn't want to sit at a table with such a scheming bitch anyway. However, before it could really escalate between the two again and before it could come to another real quarrel between the two brothers, two supervisors intervened and brought peace again.

When Cheng finally joined the three in the auditorium, they could see that he was still angry. Therefore, they avoided addressing him about the incident in the cafeteria. But Yibo silently wondered why Zhan didn't say anything when Alessia made Cheng understand that she didn't want Cheng at their table. Or did Zhan just want to avoid an uproar from the two of them, so he stayed quiet?

After the first-year Keno Academy students and also the Paradise Academy students were seated in the auditorium, the director and the trainers came into the auditorium and went on stage. The director said, "Last time we let you choose your partners. This time we are doing it differently. We are using the random principle and letting the lot decide. We've put your names in the lottery pot and I'm going to draw two names at a time to form a duo."

The director also immediately set about spinning the lot cylinder and then drew the first two names. Yibo's name was drawn third and his partner in the duos will be Emily Qin. (No, she won't be a villain in this story.) Much to Yibo's sorrow, Zhan's and Alessia's names were drawn together again and they will once again form a duo.

Yibo looked to Zhan at the announcement and seemed a little confused. Did he see a bit of displeasure in Zhan's gaze? Did he perhaps not like the fact that he was making a duo with Alessia again? And apparently he wasn't the only one who noticed. Youn had noticed it too and asked Yibo, "Do you think Zhan was just thrilled when his and Alessia's names were drawn together?"

Shaking his head, Yibo replied, "No, he wasn't thrilled. He looked like he disliked it."

"I noticed that, too." Whispered Wooseok. Cheng just sat there silently with his arms folded in front of his chest, scowling. He obviously didn't care at all.

After the duos were chosen and announced, the pairings had to stand next to each other on stage. Yibo and Emily stood together at the edge of the stage. She smiled and asked Yibo, "Are you okay with me being your partner?"

"Yeah sure. I know you can sing and dance well. I think we both have a chance to win." Said Yibo.

"I think so too. With a partner like you, I guess nothing can go wrong."

"Haha, we'll see."

"I hope we'll beat that arrogant Alessia. She gets on my nerves like you wouldn't believe."

"Yeah, me too. We're going to work hard so we can beat her!"

"Mn. I'll do my best." Said Emily with a grin.

Yibo was very confident about the victory against Alessia. Because even though he never talked to Emily before and paid no attention to her, he still knew who she was and what she was capable of. True, her greatest talent lies in acting. But Yibo also knows that she is equally talented in singing and dancing. And he was looking forward to working with her.

Afterwards, when everyone was ready to go back to practice or class, Yibo and Emily went to dance practice together. The dance coach wanted to start working with the two of them first and show them a choreography that they could both perform at the competition. And as the two left the building, Yibo didn't miss the looks from Zhan, who was looking at him in a disgruntled way that seemed strange to him.

And when Yibo, actually just to see Zhan's reaction, put his arm around Emily's shoulder, Zhan's reaction was quite strange. Because he pushed Alessia away from him with a grim look and hurried past Yibo and Emily with quick steps. And not without "accidentally" grazing Yibo's shoulder.

Could it be that Zhan didn't like the fact that Yibo formed a duo with the second most beautiful woman of the Keno Academy? Or did Yibo tell himself that because he wanted Zhan to be jealous, as he always is of Alessia?