The Alchemists

Aleksis closed her phone and hurriedly cleared her bag to enter the next class. Terry had left earlier and there was only Mel nearby. Dave and Kris went to study in the library after lunch and would meet them in class.

Nicolae was still sitting at his table doing something. People could see how influential he was as a student, because his table had a very private location in the corner of the cafeteria where he could relax as he pleased without anyone bothering him.

Of course there were many girls who sat around in order to look at him from afar, but they have learned over the years that it was best to leave him alone. Basically Nicolae was very friendly and if they didn't bother him, he would be very kind to his fans.

When he saw Aleksis walking out of the cafeteria, Nicolae hurriedly took care of his bag and walked after the girl.

"Hey ... wait a minute!" he exclaimed while jogging toward Aleksis.

Mel widened her eyes and stared at him in amazement. Aleksis seemed so friendly with Terry, and now Nicolae approached her.

Gosh ... two of the campus' IDEAL HUSBAND CANDIDATES at once!!!

Aleksis laughed at Mel's attitude and patted her back, "Heiiii ... ssshhh ... wake up ... why are you staring?"

"Er ... I ... sorry..." Mel hurriedly blinked and nodded in embarrassment. She awkwardly rushed off, "I ... I need to go to the library for a while. See you in class!"

With a face so red like a boiled crab she hurriedly walked off to the library. Mel was one of Nicolae's fans and seeing the man up close in  all of a sudden made her unable to behave normally.

Aleksis was stunned to see the behavior of her classmate.

"Jeez ..." She turned to Nicolae, "Do you always make women react like that?"

Nicolae smiled proudly and nodded. He was glad that at least Aleksis saw how the other girls adored him, although Aleksis herself did not seem to realize how handsome Nicolae was and always acted indifferent toward him.

"Yes. All women, except ..." Nicolae looked at Aleksis and did not continue.

The girl understood Nicolae's intentions and burst into laughter. "Sorry to disappoint you, but I have good taste."

Nicolae frowned at Aleksis' words. "So, do you think I'm a lowly man? Who do you consider good? Terry?"

At that time Aleksis was immediately reminded by how Terry 'betrayed her' for the sake of his position in the damn poll and her lips immediately pursed. Watch out, you Terry ... she thought angrily.

Her brother was indeed quirky and unpredictable, but in fact Aleksis knew him so well and in some things they were actually alike. If Aleksis were in Terry's position, she might probably do the same thing because the girl was also very competitive. That was why Aleksis could not be angry with Terry for long. She and her brother were too similar.

"Don't mention Terry's name again," said Aleksis resentfully.

"If you want to avenge the girls who bullied you yesterday, why not just use me? I'm more trustworthy than Terry, and I don't care about my rank in any stupid polls." Nicolae smiled faintly, "I'm willing to be your fake boyfriend. Well ... who knows, if our relationship will end up being real, I don't mind."

Aleksis suddenly stopped in her tracks and looked at Nicolae in surprise. Apparently this young man knew about her game with Terry ... and now he offered to be Aleksis' fake boyfriend?

"Why do you offer to do this?" she couldn't help wondering. "If you claim to be my boyfriend, then your fans will run away."

Nicolae just shrugged, "I'm tired of them. It's good, if they think I have a girlfriend, they will leave me alone. Don't you think it's not tiring to meet fans everywhere you go?"

Aleksis understood what he meant. She herself, for the past few years, had to deliberately make herself look unattractive to avoid unwanted attention from men. She did not expect that a handsome man like Nicolae would also have the same problem.

So now Nicolae offered a solution for both of them. He wanted to break away from his fans, and Aleksis wanted to give lessons to those corny girls who bullied her because they thought she took their crush from them.

Hmm ... that's right. Why not just completely take their crush as they claim?

Terry was clearly on her side, because the man was her brother. If she could have Nicolae in her hands, what a great satisfaction she would get when she saw those girls biting their nails and pulling their hair off in annoyance ...

Ha ha ha...

Aleksis smiled mischievously, thinking about Cindy and her friends' reactions in the public lecture class next week ...

Finally Aleksis narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms, "Your offer is interesting ... I agree, but on one condition."

Nicolae was very pleased to hear that, he smiled broadly and also crossed his arms on his chest, "What are the conditions?"

"Only one, don't fall in love with me." Aleksis' words, which were uttered very decisively, made Nicolae somewhat surprised.

"Why can't I?" Nicolae asked, "What if you are the one who would fall in love with me?"

Aleksis smiled, "I will not fall in love with you. I already have a boyfriend ..."

"Oh ..." Nicolae studied Aleksis for a long time, trying to probe whether the girl was serious or just joking, but he could not be sure which one it was. "If you already have a boyfriend, why not just bring your boyfriend here?"

"He can't, he's busy," Aleksis answered casually. "That's my only condition, it would be good if you can agree to it.  If you don't want to, that's okay too. I can still think of other ways to avenge those girls, even without Terry nor you."

She then walked away from Nicolae and did not wait for the young man to think of an answer. Aleksis was just joking. Nicolae's offer to pretend to be her boyfriend was indeed very interesting, and he looked more reliable than her quirky brother, Terry. But, Aleksis did not take his offer too seriously.

She was already married to Alaric and later she would have to explain to her husband why she had such an agreement with Nicolae. She was quite sure she knew Alaric's sense of humor and assumed that her husband would only respond with laughter.

What worried her was that Nicolae would really fall in love with her.

That was why from the beginning she made such conditions, to protect herself in the future. Nicolae shouldn't seriously like her.

"Aleksis! Wait!!"

Aleksis did not expect that Nicolae would run after her and stop her just before she arrived by the classroom door. Aleksis turned and raised an eyebrow at Nicolae, "What now?"

"I agree to your condition." Nicolae said, smiling broadly. "Win-win for us."

"Oh ..." Aleksis recalled the polls for the IDEAL HUSBAND CANDIDATES, which was the cause why Terry betrayed her. "You will lose from Terry."

Nicolae just shrugged, "I don't care."

He winked and then turned away, leaving Aleksis rooted on her spot in front of the classroom door.

Hmm ... Nicolae might be popular and good looking like Terry, but he was much more reliable and not as selfish as her brother.

Aleksis smiled to herself then shrugged. She entered the classroom which was now crowded with students. After looking around, she noticed that there were not only many male students but also female students.

Apparently Ian and some of his gang members were also popular guys on campus, and so the news that they were now attending class encouraged many female students to come to class as well.

Aleksis could barely get a seat when she arrived. Luckily Ian had vacated a chair next to him and immediately gave the signal for the girl to sit down.

Ahhhh ... this would be a fun lecture, thought Aleksis, smiling broadly.