The Nerd's Dillema|+18

Chapter 1: The Sticky Note

Library, 3:15 PM.
The table was covered in high-level calculus equations.

Pond Naravit didn't even look up as a shadow fell over his notes.
"Is this seat taken?"
A smooth, practiced voice.

The kind of voice that usually made half the lecture hall turn around.
Pond kept writing.

"Yes."
A low laugh.
"Strange. I don't see anyone sitting here."
Pond finally stopped his pen.

He lifted his gaze, his dark eyes entirely unbothered, flat, and completely immune to the bright, dazzling smile flashing down at him.
Phuwin Tangsakyuen.

Campus playboy. Center of attention. The guy who apparently thought everyone had all day to entertain his games.

"You're standing in my light," Pond said evenly. "And your presence is lowering the room's average IQ."

Phuwin's smile didn't fade, though a dangerous, competitive glint flickered in his eyes.

"Cold," Phuwin murmured, leaning closer against the edge of the table. "I like a challenge."

"Good for you," Pond replied, already turning back to his textbook. "Find a challenge somewhere else."
Phuwin didn't move.

Instead, he reached out, sliding a small, bright yellow sticky note right over Pond's pristine equations.

Pond stared down at it.
Scrawled in messy, confident handwriting:

Bet you can't last five minutes without looking at me, genius. Prove me wrong.

Pond's jaw tightened.
He didn't look up.

He slowly peeled the sticky note off his paper, balled it up without opening his expression, and dropped it straight into the recycling bin beside his chair.
Then, he looked straight back at Phuwin.
"Three seconds," Pond said coldly. "You lost."

Phuwin blinked.
For a fraction of a second, absolute shock crossed his face.
Then, a slow, incredibly wicked grin spread across his lips.

"Three seconds," Phuwin murmured, his voice dropping into something low and amused. "Cold-blooded. I love it."

Pond didn't blink.
"If you don't move in the next five seconds, I'm calling campus security for harassment."
Phuwin raised his hands in mock surrender, taking a slow step back.

"Alright, alright, genius. Save the drama for the lecture hall."

He lingered for one more second, his eyes raking over Pond's unbothered posture with a sharp, calculating gleam.
"See you around, Pond."

With that, Phuwin turned on his heel and strolled back toward the far corner of the library.
Where three of his closest friends were watching the entire interaction like they were front-row at a cinema.

Phuwin dropped into the leather armchair across from them, sliding a five-thousand-baht cash note right onto the center of the table.
Mick choked on his iced coffee.

"Wait." Mick stared at the money, then up at Phuwin. "Did you just strike out in record time?"
Fourth leaned forward, grinning. "I give it a week before Phuwin's ego completely shatters."

Phuwin didn't look bothered at all. He just propped his chin on his hand, his eyes locked back on Pond's distant silhouette through the tall glass shelves.

"Shatters?" Phuwin hummed, a lazy, confident smirk playing on his lips. "Please. I just found out he has teeth."

Win raised an eyebrow. "So the bet's off?"
Phuwin picked up his iced coffee, taking a slow sip as the challenge settled deep in his chest.
"Off?" Phuwin laughed softly. "Are you kidding? Make that ten thousand."

Mick sat up straight. "Ten thousand to make the campus ice cube fall for you?"

Phuwin's eyes darkened with a competitive thrill.
"To make him fall so hard he forgets his own calculus equations," Phuwin corrected smoothly. "Watch and learn, boys."

The next morning, the lecture hall was already buzzing by the time Pond walked in.
He didn't care about the chatter. He didn't care about the crowds. He just wanted his usual seat in the front row, his black notebook open, and peace and quiet.

Except, when he pulled out his chair, something was already sitting right on top of his desk.
Another sticky note.

Except this one wasn't yellow. It was a bright, obnoxious neon pink.
Pond frowned, picking it up with two fingers like it might carry a disease.

Scrawled in that same messy, infuriating handwriting:
Round two, genius. Don't ghost me today or I'll sit right on your lap.

Pond's head snapped up.
His dark eyes scanned the crowded auditorium, cutting through the sea of students until they landed dead on the back row.
There sat Phuwin.

He wasn't even pretending to look away. He was leaning back in his chair, propping his chin on his palm, flashing Pond a slow, devastatingly smug wink.

Beside him, Mick and Fourth were practically vibrating with suppressed laughter.
Pond stared at him for three full seconds, his jaw tightening into a hard line.

Unbelievable, he thought.
He peeled the pink note off the desk, crumpled it into a tight ball, and dropped it into his backpack without giving Phuwin the satisfaction of a reaction.

He pulled out his laptop, opened his slides, and tried to ignore the warm, irritating prickle of awareness creeping up the back of his neck.
Little did Pond know, the pink note was just the appetizer.

Because by the time afternoon rolled around, Phuwin's "bet" was about to escalate into something neither of them could escape:
Mandatory tutoring.