Chapter 24 The Karaoke Party

Chapter 24 The Karaoke Party
With the back of her head firmly held and her hand securely trapped in his, Ruth was entirely frozen. She could only watch helplessly as Matthew Lynes's flawlessly handsome face got closer and closer until his lips finally sealed over hers.
An unfamiliar, intense heat instantly exploded from her core, flooding through her entire body.
The kiss had caught her completely off guard.
The second Matthew had pulled her onto his lap, Ruth hadn't known what to do with her free hand, so she had instinctively rested it on his shoulder. Now, she was basically hugging him.
Literally one second ago, I was deep in an existential crisis.
I was actually calculating the 0.001% probability that Matthew was the legendary 'Keyboard Smash God' who dominated the global servers... because I genuinely couldn't accept the reality that a normal college student was better at corporate management than me.
But in this exact moment, her brain went completely, utterly blank.
Ruth didn't just lack practical experience in this department—she barely even watched romantic movies or TV shows. Her only exposure to intimacy came from reading written descriptions in novels.
Sometimes, when an author wrote a scene that was too explicitly sensual, she would feel uncomfortable and quickly skim past it. She had always prioritized the plot over the romance. You could confidently say she didn't even have theoretical experience, let alone practical application.
Three seconds into the kiss, her eyes fluttered shut. In her completely blank mind, two massive, glowing words appeared:
First Kiss.
Right before his lips had touched hers, Matthew had muttered an excuse. Ruth had to forcefully concentrate just to remember what he had said... oh right. Paying tuition.
If you want to kiss me, just say so! You don't need to invent a corporate excuse!
Since her mouth was currently occupied, she could only violently roast his lack of honesty in her head.
Whenever Matthew wasn't talking, teasing her, or acting like an absolute sociopath, his flawless features and devastating aura made him look aggressively cool and dangerously dominant. Even Ruth frequently joked with Anne that his legendary ass was a literal weapon of mass destruction.
But ever since that moment in class when he had kissed the back of her hand, Ruth had made a startling discovery. Contrary to his sharp, unyielding exterior... his lips were incredibly soft.
The way she was sitting on his lap was actually surprisingly comfortable. Because Matthew had impossibly long legs and the computer lab chairs were built relatively low, Ruth was sitting slightly higher than him. Even though his hand was gently gripping the back of her head, she was the one angled slightly downward.
But the height advantage meant absolutely nothing. From the very first second, Matthew was in complete, absolute control.
Initially, Ruth felt entirely stiff and awkward. But after ten seconds, a single, dominant thought pushed through the haze.
Wow. Kissing someone with soft lips feels incredibly good.
He must have eaten another piece of candy while she wasn't looking, because as he pulled her closer, her senses were entirely flooded by the sweet, cool scent of peppermint.
She briefly wondered what it tasted like...
The exact second the thought crossed her mind, Ruth felt Matthew gently part her lips, attempting to deepen the kiss. Her survival instincts violently kicked in. She instantly clamped her teeth shut, locking the gates like a vault.
Fortunately, Matthew didn't force the issue. He let out a soft, vibrating laugh against her lips and slowly pulled back.
The kiss hadn't lasted very long. The moment Ruth regained her freedom, she instantly scrambled off his lap and practically threw herself back into her own chair.
Neither of them spoke. A thick, heavy silence settled over the empty lab. It felt dangerously like they were both silently reminiscing.
Ruth absolutely refused to look up. She could feel her face burning with an intense heat, and she was entirely certain she looked like a glowing red tomato.
"Sigh..."
A heavy, deliberate sigh suddenly broke the silence.
In the quiet computer lab, the sound was incredibly loud.
...? Huh?
What the hell does that sigh mean?!
Excuse me, I just let you kiss me, why are you sighing?!
Wait... is he judging my kissing technique?!
A barrage of panicked, furious thoughts fired across Ruth's mind like a machine gun. The second that final, horrifying hypothesis appeared, her head violently snapped up like a cat getting its tail stepped on.
She glared at Matthew, desperately trying to suppress her immense shame and embarrassment. She forced her voice to sound perfectly calm. "...Why are you sighing?"
Matthew didn't answer immediately. He lazily shifted his posture, stretching his incredibly long legs out until his foot hooked around the base of her rolling chair. With a single, effortless pull, he dragged her—chair and all—directly back to him.
The distance between them vanished instantly.
Ruth hadn't expected the aggressive maneuver. She subconsciously gripped the armrests and held her breath.
"I'm sighing..." Matthew reached out, casually wrapping a long strand of her hair around his index finger. His eyes curved into a devastatingly beautiful, incredibly amused smile. His voice was thick with fake helplessness. "...because I just realized my girlfriend is a little too restrained."
"..." Restrained! You think I'm restrained?!
Ruth inhaled sharply. "This is my first kiss..." Her voice gradually lost its volume. "Being a little restrained is completely normal, okay."
Unlike you. You clearly know exactly what you're doing. You're way too experienced.
Ruth had always prided herself on having flawless self-control. After all, she had rejected countless confessions from incredibly handsome guys over the years without batting an eye. But whenever she was alone with Matthew, his mere existence constantly reduced her to a blushing, speechless mess.
Hearing her defense, Matthew couldn't hold back his laugh.
He didn't make a sound, but the warm breath from his laugh brushed directly against her ear. It was hot, tingling, and incredibly distracting. Ruth shivered, violently yanking her hair out of his grip. "What are you doing..."
Matthew paused.
Honestly, he had been holding back for a very long time. In the days immediately following his confession, if he hadn't been entirely distracted by the absolute humiliation of the cartoon band-aids, he would have definitely cornered her and kissed her.
But he had eventually decided that taking it slow wasn't a bad idea.
The women's relationship forum had specifically stated that rushing physical intimacy was a massive red flag. Moving slowly gave the girl a sense of security. First, holding hands. Then hugging. Then kissing. And then...
"Matthew."
Her voice shattered his train of thought. He looked back at her. "Yeah? What's up?"
Ruth looked deeply, intensely suspicious. "Tell me the absolute truth. Am I really your first girlfriend?"
"Yes." Matthew didn't hesitate for a single second. "I told you before, you are the first person I've ever pursued. That's true. This is my first relationship. That's also true."
He paused, his gaze dropping to her lips. "I guarded my first kiss for over twenty years, and I literally gave it to you two minutes ago."
Ruth stared into his eyes. She could see her own tiny reflection swimming in his clear amber pupils. The corners of his lips were perfectly straight, and his expression was completely, absolutely serious.
She wanted to believe he wasn't lying, but... mathematically speaking, it made absolutely zero sense!
How can someone possess this level of god-tier romantic technique without a single ounce of practice?!
Before she could finish her thought, the serious man sitting in front of her dropped his act entirely.
"Look at it this way..." Matthew smoothly slipped back into his lazy, arrogant drawl, slowly listing his accomplishments on his fingers. "My first relationship belongs to you. My first kiss also belongs to you. And if nothing goes wrong... in the future..." He leaned intimately close to her ear. "...My first—"
An absolute, terrifying alarm bell instantly started violently ringing inside Ruth's brain. She knew exactly where this conversation was heading.
She panicked, immediately throwing her hand up and slapping it directly over Matthew's mouth with a soft smack.
Her palm was soft, slightly warm, and completely covered his lips.
Just thinking about the horrifyingly dirty word he was definitely about to say... Ruth felt her face literally combust.
"Stop talking." She ground her teeth together, glaring viciously at the absolute menace sitting in front of her. "You... shut your mouth."
With Ruth's hand clamped firmly over his lips, Matthew couldn't speak, so he just blinked at her with impossibly innocent, totally unbothered eyes.
Internally, he was laughing his ass off.
Tsk. Even though she physically silenced me...
She definitely knew exactly what I was going to say.

As the weeks passed, the rest of Finance 101 had noticed that the Hometown Heroes team stayed after every single simulation to review their data logs. Wanting to learn from the absolute gods of the department, other teams began staying late too, effectively turning the empty computer lab into a crowded study hall.
Everyone was incredibly happy with the new arrangement. Everyone, except a certain completely frozen, highly irritated Matthew Lynes.
Since the room was now packed with massive human lightbulbs, Helen and the guys no longer felt guilty about ruining the couple's private time. They happily stayed behind. Even if they couldn't contribute to the complex corporate analysis, watching the two geniuses effortlessly dismantle a simulated economy was incredibly entertaining.
Watching the other five-person teams violently pull their hair out trying to balance a spreadsheet, Helen felt profoundly, universally validated. Bribing Ruth purely because she was gorgeous had been the greatest strategic decision of her entire life.
Currently, Helen was busy vigorously defending her ship on the campus forum.
She had recently bookmarked several threads dedicated to the Keen-Lines couple. Glancing over at the actual couple sitting a few desks away, she violently typed a reply:
[Ahhhhh I am so incredibly jealous of the people in their Vanguard Cup team! They are literally being carried directly into the National Top 100! And they get to look at those god-tier faces every day! And they get front-row seats to the romance! I AM EXPLODING WITH ENVY!]
Tom, who had been reading over her shoulder the entire time, aggressively twitched his lips. "...Do you have absolutely no shame?"
Helen just smiled brightly and ignored him, happily scrolling to the next thread.
On the other side, Jerry was casually playing a game of digital poker. He briefly glanced at Matthew and Ruth before elbowing Helen. "Hey. Tell the truth. Why did you actually pick Ruth to join our group? Did you secretly know her background? Or Mat's?"
Helen furiously shook her head.
Tom looked entirely unconvinced. "Yeah, I've been meaning to ask you too. How the hell did you know those two were literal corporate gods? Holy shit, this cannot possibly be a coincidence."
Helen: "..."
I am just as terrified as you are!
I literally just recruited them so I could watch them flirt! How was I supposed to know I accidentally drafted two economic supercomputers?!
Helen shook her head aggressively. "...I swear I didn't know! If I knew, why the hell would I hide it from you guys?!"
Jerry and Tom thought about it for a second. That made sense. The three of them had grown up together; they had no secrets.
"Alright fine. But if those two don't drag us into the National Top 100, I'll literally become a vegetarian for a year." Tom patted Helen on the shoulder. "Honestly, your completely brain-dead recruitment strategy might have just permanently altered the trajectory of our entire professional careers."
Being carried into the Vanguard Cup National Top 100 was essentially the collegiate equivalent of effortlessly planting a single seed and watching it instantly bloom into the Amazon Rainforest.
Helen laughed, turning around to lean over the divider separating the desks. The two economic gods instantly paused their discussion and looked up at her.
As always, the two of them looked incredibly coordinated. One was wearing a black jacket, the other a white sweater. Even though they were different brands, they somehow managed to make everything look like matching couple outfits.
Helen automatically screamed 'Holy shit they are so perfect' in her head before getting down to business. "Um, so the sports rep asked me to ask you guys... there's a class party this weekend. Are you two coming?"
The sports rep was the primary, deeply traumatized victim of the 'Band-Aid Incident'.
At first, the rep had been incredibly naive. Seeing Mat's flawless face scarred, he had aggressively checked in on him on day one, day two, and day three. It wasn't until he checked the class group chat and saw all the girls discussing the exact same phenomenon—"Who did Mat complain to today? The sports rep? Holy shit, again? Why is he targeting the rep?!"—that he finally realized the horrific truth.
He finally understood that Matthew's tragic, heartbreaking monologues about his girlfriend's 'obsessive concern' had been a completely fabricated, highly coordinated theatrical performance.
The rep had officially developed severe PTSD regarding Matthew Lynes. The condition was critical. That was why he had begged Helen to deliver the message instead of asking Matthew himself.
Before either of them could answer, Helen quickly added, "It's technically the postponed celebration for the Sports Festival! We waited this long because the prize money just came in. Everyone knows Mat is the biggest reason we won the cash, so they specifically demanded I drag you two there!"
Matthew offered a faint smile. "I'll listen to whatever my girlfriend wants."
Helen: "..." SUGAR! SO SWEET!
"I don't have a problem with it," Ruth said, turning to look at Matthew. She whispered, "But don't you have tutoring this weekend?"
"It's fine, I can just take a day off..." Matthew looked incredibly happy. He slung his arm casually over the back of Ruth's chair, his voice lazy and relaxed. "Honestly, rather than tutoring, I'd much rather attend a group activity with my girlfriend."
Helen: "..." Wuuuwuuu! Mat literally distributes pure romance 24/7!
Hearing his response, Ruth's eyelid violently twitched.
Him being this eager to attend a 'group activity' was absolutely not a good sign... While it was entirely impossible to predict what kind of sociopathic trap he would spring on the class next, she firmly resolved to make absolutely sure his face did not sustain a single scratch.
The class party was officially scheduled for Sunday afternoon. The itinerary Helen sent over was simple: Karaoke first, followed by dinner at a booked restaurant.
Since the timing worked out perfectly, Ruth scheduled a lunch date with Anne Clark and Olivia Jupe for Sunday at noon.
They met at their absolute favorite high-school restaurant. Unlike her usual high-society standard, Ruth showed up wearing her standard "normal college student" disguise. Anne Clark arrived draped entirely in blindingly expensive, limited-edition designer brands.
And Olivia Jupe... the girl who usually spent three hours doing her makeup... arrived completely bare-faced, wearing a cheap tracksuit.
Anne's jaw literally dropped. "What the hell happened to you, sister? Did you go through a brutal breakup?!"
Ruth immediately piled on. "Yeah, Miss Software Engineer, you look terrible. We haven't been able to drag you out of your dorm for weeks, and now you show up looking like a literal ghost?!"
"Don't you dare mention it to me! Shut your mouth!" Olivia violently dropped into her chair, her face twisted in pure rage. "My professor forced me to join a massive systems-development project! My brain is literally imploding every single day! Honestly, the only way I survive the coding sessions is by aggressively cursing your name for twenty minutes straight!"
Ruth: "..."
She really couldn't defend herself against that accusation. It was entirely her fault.
Back in high school, the three rich heiresses had been inseparable. Ruth and Olivia were STEM majors, while Anne was Humanities. After graduation, when Ruth enrolled in Cal U's Computer Science department, she had forcefully dragged Olivia with her.
Olivia had been hesitant, knowing the terrifying reputation of Comp-Sci majors inevitably going bald from stress. But Ruth had violently pounded her chest, boldly declaring: 'Sister! I dragged your SAT score up to a 690! I can definitely carry you through a Computer Science degree!'
Convinced by the flawless logic, Olivia blindly followed her.
And then...
The absolute god of the department, Ruth Keen, immediately abandoned her and transferred to Harvard Business School, leaving Olivia completely alone to suffer the baldness.
Because of her violent temper, every single time a massive exam or project deadline approached, Olivia would exclusively spam the group chat, aggressively reminding Ruth of her broken promises and burying her in a mountain of middle-finger emojis.
"Computer Science isn't meant for human beings!" Olivia raged. "If I wasn't trapped in this major, working like a literal dog 365 days a year, there is absolutely no way I would still be single after four years of college!"
Knowing exactly how terrified she was of Olivia dragging up the past, Ruth aggressively flattered her, poured her tea, and desperately apologized until Olivia finally stopped rolling her eyes.
Naturally, the lunch immediately devolved into Ruth's personal "Brag About My Boyfriend" convention.
After consuming a horrifying amount of romantic dog food, Anne Clark raised her hand. "I have a question."
"Speak," Ruth said.
"So, based on everything you just told us, 'Mr. Perfect Ass' hasn't suspected a single thing about your true identity? He genuinely believes you're just a completely normal college student?"
Ruth nodded vigorously. "Not only does he not suspect anything, my persona is absolutely flawless! I am currently playing the role of a pure, brilliant, innocent little flower! It's perfect!"
Olivia aggressively spat in disgust. "Puh."
"Okay, got it. Innocent little flower." Anne laughed. "So you're really not going to tell him the truth? You're just going to keep dating him like this?"
"...I've thought about it." Ruth paused, subconsciously poking at her fruit dessert. "But originally, I definitely thought the 'student' identity would make it easier to get close to him! Since we were peers and classmates, it gave us things to talk about, and it made it infinitely easier to flirt with him..."
"And then?"
"And then I found out that Mr. Perfect Ass is actually pretty poor." Ruth rushed to clarify before they could insult him. "I mean that as a compliment! He might not have a great family background, but he is absolutely incredible! His face and his personality are literally perfectly tailored to my exact standards!"
"We just started dating. If I suddenly drop the bomb that I'm literally the heiress to a multi-billion dollar corporate empire, it feels a little..." Ruth hesitated, suddenly remembering a key detail. "Plus, honestly, playing a character for this long messes with your brain. The other day, I literally forgot I could just call my private chauffeur! I actually thought I was a normal student and willingly rode the subway for forty minutes to get home! Can you believe that?!"
"So I'm planning to keep the disguise going for a while longer... Wait, what the hell are those looks for?! What's wrong with being poor?! Do not look down on him just because he doesn't have money!" Ruth fiercely defended him. "Even though he's broke, he is incredibly hardworking! He tutors on the weekends!"
Her eyes literally sparkled with pride. "Tell me the truth! Even though he doesn't have a trust fund, isn't a college student actively working a part-time job infinitely better than all the useless, parasitic rich boys in our social circle? Be honest!"
"And his tutoring salary is literally $400 a month!" Ruth took a sip of tea, aggressively pulling statistics out of thin air. "I don't know the exact market rate, but I Googled it, and for a standard college tutor, $400 a month is basically a massive fortune!"
Anne Clark and Olivia Jupe stared at each other in absolute, horrifying silence.
Wake up, sister. Your massive '$400 fortune' literally wouldn't even cover the cost of the lunch you are eating right now.
But since she was the future CEO of a global conglomerate, she could do whatever the hell she wanted. They couldn't stop her.
Anne Clark picked up her teacup. "Honestly, I don't even know what to say. I guess I'll just raise a glass to the deeply tragic, profoundly broke 'Master Lynes'."
Olivia nodded in agreement. "Master Lynes has walked way too far down the path of poverty. He is entirely out of sight."
Ruth: "........."
After the roasting subsided, Anne suddenly frowned. "Actually, your current situation reminds me of someone."
Ruth looked up. "Hmm?"
"You remember my older cousin, Amy Clark, right? I've mentioned her before. She's pretty infamous in our social circle, an absolute party animal."
The heiresses of massive aristocratic families didn't just spend their days acting like perfect socialites, sitting front-row at fashion week, and smiling for the media. They had a horrifying amount of free time. Amy Clark was essentially the undisputed queen of high-society entertainment. While her parties were wild, they were always strictly legal.
Ruth nodded. "Of course I remember her. Didn't she literally set the high-society record for dating four different billionaire heirs in a single month?"
"Sigh. That's all in the past."
Hearing Anne's tone, Ruth's gossip radar instantly activated. "What happened? Did she have a dramatic redemption arc? Tell me everything, I love this kind of drama."
Anne scoffed. "Her situation was actually terrifyingly similar to yours. A few months ago, she went on a business trip to the neighboring city... and ended up falling desperately in love with a broke college student at F University."
"My cousin basically lived on his campus for a month, aggressively chasing him. She called me every single day crying about how 'this time it was real' and how she had 'finally found true love.' Then, last week, she called me at 3:00 AM. She told me she had finally confessed to the student that she was an heiress to the Clark empire, and told him that after he graduated, she wanted him to move to Veridian City so they could build a future together..."
Anne paused for dramatic effect. Ruth was entirely captivated. "And then what happened?!"
Anne deadpanned: "And then, the broke college student immediately dumped her."
Ruth: "........."
Olivia, entirely unfamiliar with the brutal reality of class warfare, was completely confused. "Wait, why?! Veridian City has a way better economy than the neighboring city!"
Anne threw her hands up in the air. "I have no idea! I mean, sure, the Clark family isn't quite at the level of the Buckley Empire, but... No, it definitely wasn't because we aren't rich enough. It was because we're TOO rich. Honestly, I think the guy just didn't want to get dragged into the absolute toxic nightmare that is high-society aristocratic politics."
Anne sighed heavily. "Anyway, my cousin hasn't gone to the office or thrown a party in weeks. She just sits at home aggressively drinking herself to sleep. She sends me a hundred voice notes a day crying about him. It is so incredibly annoying, I'm literally one second away from blocking her."
"Thank god I'm a genius..." Ruth clutched her chest in pure relief. "If I had told him, I would have definitely ended up exactly like your cousin! I am so smart. I am literally a tactical genius..."
Anne gave her a long, hard look. "Um... yeah. Compared to my cousin, your delusional fake poverty is definitely going much better for you."
Ruth took a slow sip of tea. She thought about it for a second. "Honestly, this just proves a universal truth."
"What kind of pot fits what kind of lid. What kind of wine goes with what kind of meal." Having aggressively delivered the rhythmic proverb, she slammed her teacup down onto the table with a loud clack. She nodded with absolute, unshakeable certainty. "When it comes to dating, you absolutely have to be on the exact same level."

After saying goodbye to Anne and Olivia, Ruth caught a cab directly to the karaoke bar. Thankfully, traffic was light, so she arrived exactly on time.
Karaoke bars were usually dead in the early afternoon, so business didn't officially start until 2:00 PM. Operating with the immense wealth of Matthew's prize money, Finance 101 had successfully rented out the largest, most obnoxiously luxurious VIP party room in the entire establishment.
Matthew had texted her while she was in the cab, offering to come down and get her. The second she texted him she was at the door, he appeared in the lobby.
It was almost November, and the weather had dropped significantly. Ruth was already wearing a thick sweater and a heavy coat. Matthew, however, seemed entirely immune to the cold. He was currently wearing a single, thin hoodie.
While it looked freezing, the thin fabric perfectly highlighted the aggressive, lethal lines of his upper body. Watching him walk toward her was an absolutely breathtaking visual experience. Ruth smiled warmly. Before she could even open her mouth to say hello, he stepped directly into her space and pulled her into a tight embrace.
Ruth froze, her face buried firmly against the soft fabric of his hoodie. She instantly smelled the distinct, crisp scent of cold cedar. Before she could even process the hug, Matthew's voice drifted down from above her.
"The last time we saw each other was Friday."
"...Yeah."
"We haven't seen each other for two whole days." He paused, his voice dropping into a devastatingly low drawl. "Did you miss me to death?"
Wow. And here I thought he was actually going to be romantic.
Regaining her senses, Ruth immediately shoved him away. "Who the hell missed you to death?!" she scolded. "Classmate Lynes, your narcissism is actually terminal!"
Being yelled at genuinely seemed to make Matthew incredibly happy. He let her go, immediately reaching down to interlock his fingers with hers. "Come on. They're waiting."
Ruth didn't pull away, happily walking beside him toward the elevator.
Matthew's fingers were incredibly long, slender, and the skin was flawlessly smooth. If she didn't know he was a broke college student, she would have assumed they were the hands of a billionaire piano prodigy.
Holding his hand felt amazing, except for one minor issue: his skin was freezing.
The elevator doors were entirely mirrored. Looking at their reflection, Ruth met Matthew's eyes. "Are you not freezing wearing that?" She gave his hand a gentle squeeze. "Your hands are so cold..."
Matthew paused, turning his head to look at her. Noticing his gaze, Ruth turned to look back at him.
He could clearly feel that her hand was significantly smaller than his. It was impossibly soft, completely boneless, and radiating a deep, comforting warmth.
Honestly, Matthew frequently experienced these exact, overwhelming moments whenever he interacted with his girlfriend.
Moments where his brain violently short-circuited and he thought: What kind of absolute, god-tier fairy did I manage to catch? She is so fucking cute.
For example, right now. She was staring at him with her massive, worried eyes, complaining that he was cold while secretly tightening her grip on his fingers to warm them up.
Before Matthew could say a single word, the elevator dinged, signaling they had reached their floor.
The massive VIP suite was located directly around the corner from the elevator banks.
When Matthew pushed the heavy double doors open, the room was already packed with their classmates. But the exact second the two of them walked in, it was like someone had violently hit the pause button on reality. The entire room went dead silent.
Ruth was just raising her hand to awkwardly wave hello when the man standing next to her beat her to it.
"Sorry to keep everyone waiting. My family member got lost, so I had to go downstairs and bring her up." Matthew casually slung his arm over her shoulders, pulling her intimately against his side. "Allow me to introduce her. This is my family member, Ruth Keen."
The rules for the class party had specifically stated that students were allowed to bring 'family members'—which was the university code word for boyfriends or girlfriends from other majors.
But...
Who the fuck in this room doesn't already know exactly who your family member is?!
Unable to handle the sheer, unadulterated arrogance, the entire class violently exploded.
"Mat, can you please stop showing off?! Is this actually necessary?!"
"Except for like five people, literally every single person in this room is single! Are you just actively trying to mentally torture us?!"
"Ugh, don't even remind me! I am literally traumatized! The other night I had a nightmare that Mat appeared next to my bed wearing a tiny blue flower, explicitly telling me that his cut was fine but Ruth was 'terrified of infection'!"
"Hahahaha! God! 'Terrified of infection', my ass! In the end, Master Ruth literally had to forcefully rip the band-aid off his face because it was so embarrassing!"
Since Ruth had arrived last, the class spent the next ten minutes aggressively roasting Matthew's chaotic track record before finally shifting to the karaoke machine.
The deeply traumatized sports rep proudly volunteered to sing the opening song.
A few seconds later, the massive screen lit up with the title of the track: Wounded So Deeply By You.
The sports rep grabbed the microphone, his eyes shining with fake, dramatic tears. "I dedicate this song to every single lonely soul in this room who has been personally victimized by Mat."
The room instantly erupted into cheers and laughter. Ruth had originally wanted to mock the incredibly cheesy song choice, but after hearing the dedication, she couldn't stop laughing.
The absolute menace sitting next to her looked completely unbothered. "Isn't that a massive exaggeration? What did I even do?"
"..." What did you do?! Do you have absolutely zero self-awareness?!
The sports rep was incredibly athletic, which meant his lung capacity was fantastic. Even though his actual singing technique was completely terrible and he occasionally went brutally off-key, he managed to hit the high notes perfectly. Overall, it was a solid performance.
The VIP room had a massive, wall-to-wall screen. For absolutely no logical reason, the music video playing on the screen suddenly shifted from a tragic, emotional breakup scene to the male lead aggressively working out in a gym... entirely shirtless.
Perhaps the actor's body was genuinely impressive, because several girls in the class immediately started screaming.
But right as Ruth looked up to see the shirtless guy... her vision was instantly, violently plunged into darkness. A large, cool hand clamped firmly over her eyes. The pressure was gentle, but the blockade was absolute.
Completely blind, Ruth had absolutely no idea what was happening.
Then, a familiar voice drifted directly into her ear, dripping with aggressive, unrestrained judgment.
"What kind of garbage physique is that? What are they screaming for..."
"Those muscles are definitely injected with synthol. If not, they're straight-up silicone chest plates..."
"The dumbbell he's holding isn't even real metal. It's obviously a foam prop... Tsk. So fake."
Ruth: "..."
Matthew relentlessly roasted the actor's body for a solid minute, but his hand never moved a single inch from her eyes.
Finally, after he had thoroughly demolished the guy's existence, he leaned impossibly close to her ear. His hot breath brushed violently against her skin, sending a chaotic shiver down her spine.
"...Don't look at it. It's a waste of time."
He paused, clearly realizing his tone had been slightly too aggressive. His voice dropped into a dark, devastatingly intimate whisper.
"If you really want to look... your boyfriend can take his clothes off for you."