Evil Engineer Falls for His Best Friend

Chapter 1: The Beginning, Part 1

6 Years Ago / Start of the Second Semester…

Going back 6 years, I transferred schools in the second semester of 10th grade. My beauty and arrogance made people envious of me, the new girl.

"Hey! Hold her down, I'm gonna teach her a lesson. So arrogant, you think you're pretty? You think you're some rich kid? Huh!" said one of the three girls, while the other two held my arms tightly. I struggled to break free from the two girls holding me, but they held on too tightly. Just as the girl who spoke was about to slap me, a deep male voice suddenly rang out.

"You guys are only good at ganging up!"

"This is a girl's matter. Stay out of it, Darren," the same girl replied.

"I can't stay out of it because the girl you're ganging up on is my friend."

Wait a sec... since when did I become your friend? This guy looks familiar! Oh, the one I sat next to in class this morning...

"Hey, can I sit with you?"

"......"

He didn't answer me and kept his head down, refusing to make eye contact with me, as if I didn't exist. Someone like Eve doesn't care, huh! I sat down next to him without waiting for a response.

"This girl dared to smile at my boyfriend, I'm gonna teach her a lesson," the same girl said.

Which boyfriend? I tried to remember. Today is the first day of school, and I haven't smiled at anyone yet. Oh! I remember now. This morning when I walked into the school, I was looking for where the 10th grade/2 classroom was, and I bumped into a guy. I apologized to him and gave a small smile. That guy? That’s the boyfriend of the girl who's about to slap me now?

"Huh! That unattractive guy? I just bumped into him and apologized. Do you really have to slap me over that?"

"Then why did you smile at my boyfriend?"

"It was just a smile. I didn't do anything with your boyfriend. If you're so possessive, why not put him on a leash?"

"Are you calling my boyfriend a dog?"

"I didn't say that..." As soon as I finished speaking, the woman slapped me hard across the face with a loud smack! My head turned with the force of the slap, and I tasted blood at the corner of my mouth. Just as she was about to slap me again, the guy who claimed to be my friend grabbed her wrist. He squeezed it hard, causing her to cry out,

"Ouch!"

He then pushed her down, and the other two who were holding me let go to help their friend.

"You've slapped my friend, so we're even. If you mess with her again, I won't let you off easily. Oh, and your ugly boyfriend better watch out too," the guy threatened. He seemed to have quite a bit of influence, and the girls quickly walked away.

"First day here and you're already causing trouble," he said.

"I was just minding my own business. Those girls started it," I replied, raising my hand to touch the corner of my mouth. It felt hot and would probably swell soon enough. That girl slapped me really hard.

"Go sit over there... I'll clean the blood for you," he said, pointing to a marble table. I obediently went to sit down.

He took a handkerchief from his shirt pocket and gently wiped the corner of my mouth. His face was just inches from mine, and our breaths mingled together. My heart was beating erratically, and I could feel it.

Thud! Thud!

What's happening to me? Why is my heart pounding so hard it feels like it's going to burst out of my chest?

"All done," he said, lowering his hand and stepping back.

"Hmm," I murmured.

"Can't you even say thank you?"

"Oh... thanks a lot. What's your name? I haven't learned anyone's name since I stepped into this school."

"Darren," he replied.

"Oh... Darren. I'm Eve." What kind of guy is named Darren?

"Hmm," he nodded in acknowledgment before asking again, "Why did you transfer here?"

"Well, I got into a fight at my old school, so I..." I trailed off.

"I see... you probably don't have many friends, do you?" he said mockingly.

"I do... I have one close friend," I replied proudly.

"Ha! That's a lot, a whole one friend,"

Was he mocking me?

"I just don't like being in the middle of chaos," I replied, trying to save face.

"Okay then, I'll let you join my gang. I guarantee no one will dare mess with you again."

"A mafia gang?" I asked.

"Not exactly," he said with a slight shrug. "It's more like a gang of handsome, rich guys. If a beautiful girl like you joins, maybe we should change the gang's name, huh? Think the others will agree? Of course, they will! They have to, because I am the gang leader. They have to listen to me."

Finally, a beautiful girl like me got into Darren's gang. Previously, the gang had four members:

Darren), the heir to a famous private hospital.

Kent, the heir to the largest transportation business in the country.

Chin, the heir to the largest real estate business in the country.

Pat, the heir to a famous hotel chain with hotels nationwide.

And the fifth, and obviously the most beautiful member, is me.

I'm close with all of them, especially Darren. Why? Because whenever there's a group project, they make me do it alone. And what do they do? They drink and hit the clubs. They have to pamper the only girl in the group, because without me, they wouldn't graduate. Each of them has quite the personality: flirtatious, deceitful, cunning, and two-faced.

Initially, I used formal pronouns with them, but as we got closer, we switched to more casual ones.

By the way, I forgot to mention that Darren has a twin brother named Dexter, who studies in class 1. His brother is a smart student, not very talkative, unlike Darren. I'm not very close to Dexter, but we greet each other normally when we meet.

***

Grade 11, Semester 1…

"Eve... surprise," a voice called my name from afar. I looked around to see where it was coming from, but the voice was so familiar. There it is! I found it...

"Leah!" Yes, Leah, my only close friend. We ran to each other and hugged tightly in excitement.

"Did you transfer here? Why didn't you tell me?" I asked Leah.

"I wanted to surprise you. Was it a surprise?"

"Veryyy much," I said, dragging out the word for emphasis.

"I missed you so much."

"I missed you too... So, which class are you in?" I asked Leah again.

"I'm in class 3. How about you?"

“I'm in room 2. We're in different rooms, but that's alright since they're right next to each other.” At least I have another close friend now. Leah is the only girl I'm really close to.

“Oh, okay.”

Then I introduced Leah to the gang, which I named myself.

“Hey guys, this is Leah, my best friend. She just transferred here and is in room 3.”

“Hello, everyone.” The guys gave Leah a slight nod, grinning from ear to ear, especially Darren.

You guys can't handle a pretty face, can you?

“Leah, this is Kent, Chin, Pat, and Darren.” I introduced them to Leah.

“Nice to meet you all,” Leah said with a sweet smile.

With Leah joining, our gang had another member, and I wasn't the only pretty girl anymore since there were two of us now.

***

Grade 12, Semester 2…

“Eve, are you seriously not going to study engineering with us?” Darren asked me.

“No, I'm going to study literature.”

“If you don't study with me, how am I supposed to graduate?”

“That's your problem. You can't expect me to be with you every step of the way. Plus, I'm a girl. you really want me to study engineering with you guys?”

“Come on, I'm begging you. Study engineering with me.”

“No, I'm definitely going to study literature. Don't even try to persuade me. I'm not going to study with you.”

In the end, I ended up studying computer engineering with the gang. Why? Hmm, I won't spill the beans now... I'll tell you some other time.

As for Leah, she decided to study communication arts.