Collision Course: My Husband is the Real CEO

The Attendance Sheet Gambit

"No one's sitting here?" Two seconds later, Scarlett heard herself murmur "Mhm," then watched as he stepped into the seat with his long legs. With the movement, his top fit snugly, revealing a glimpse of his waistline, and further down was what she had been dreaming about—

"Thanks for the other day." His nice butt interrupted her thoughts as he turned and said, "I'm an exchange student, just arrived, so I'm not familiar with this place."

"..."

The other day must mean when I gave him directions.

Scarlett hadn't expected him to start the conversation so directly and instinctively replied, "I'm an exchange student too."

He clearly paused, "You are?"

Scarlett nodded.

She had her reasons. She had no other choice.

They locked eyes. He stared at her for a moment, his pupils bright and sparkling, then suddenly broke into a smile, enunciating word by word, "What a coincidence."

Was it her imagination?

Those two words seemed especially meaningful.

Scarlett feigned calm, "Yeah... it is, what a coincidence."

—That's what she said, but right now, her heart was churning in rebuttal.

—Coincidence?

No.

We were strangers; it's all thanks to my game.

Not! One! Bit! Of! A! Coincidence!

...

After sitting down, Scarlett noticed that the incredibly hot guy seemed busy, perhaps replying to important messages, as he was mostly looking at his phone, his fingers occasionally swiping across the screen.

While Scarlett sent messages in the group chat, pretending to be busy herself, she couldn't help but sneak glances at the person beside her.

This awkward atmosphere, tinged with a strange undercurrent, lasted until the attendance sheet was passed from the front row, and he finally seemed to finish his tasks.

Scarlett recognized this booklet; it was standard issue at Crestwood University. Some teachers found roll call bothersome and simply had students sign the attendance sheet in class. Initially, this had delighted Scarlett and Nina—they could get someone to sign for them in those early morning classes they couldn't drag themselves to.

A black ballpoint pen was clipped to the booklet. When it reached the hot guy, the girl in front of him froze for a moment upon making eye contact.

But he acted as if he hadn't noticed, naturally taking it and politely nodding slightly, "Thanks."

"..."

With just those two words, the girl's face flushed bright red. She stammered, "N-No problem," then turned back and began vigorously shaking her friend's arm. Although Scarlett couldn't hear clearly what was said, it wasn't hard to guess.

Scarlett sighed inwardly.

If this were ancient times, he'd totally be the devastatingly beautiful heartbreaker that topples kingdoms.

Scarlett glanced over and saw the 'heartbreaker' quickly sign his name—so fast she couldn't make out the strokes. Only when he slid the booklet in front of her did she recognize what he had written.

Jude Johnson?

Perhaps noticing her hesitation, a voice laced with laughter sounded near her ear, "What's wrong? Is my handwriting that bad?"

"Hmm?" Scarlett snapped out of it and immediately shook her head at him, "No, no, I was just looking—" Her voice held a note of uncertainty, "Your name... Jude Johnson?"

"Yeah, that's right."

Previously, she hadn't seen clearly due to his cursive writing. Scarlett let out an "Oh," picked up the pen, and started writing her own name.

And Jude, as if mirroring her earlier staring, kept his gaze on her. Scarlett didn't look up, but she could feel his eyes on her.

After writing, Scarlett passed the booklet to the next row. A group of boys and girls there had been chatting and laughing, but when she handed it over and turned her face towards them, their lively conversation abruptly halted as if someone had hit pause.

But she didn't notice.

After passing the booklet, Scarlett turned back and met Jude's eyes. "I'm Scarlett Smith. Scarlett is—"

She had intended to say something like "Scarlett as in...", but her vocabulary failed her momentarily. She couldn't think of any elegant phrase for her name.

In the end, it came out flatly: "Scarlett... just the name Scarlett... Smith is, well, Smith."

Only after speaking did she realize.

Damn, what a lame self-introduction.

...And it was directed at his nice butt.

...Was she trying to make him run for the hills?

Perhaps because this person was too special, even the tiniest insecurities were magnified infinitely.

Words spoken were like water spilled. Scarlett felt a deep wave of regret.

But just as she was racking her brains for a new topic, the person in front of her suddenly smiled.

"Scarlett Smith. It's a lovely name."

Scarlett was taken aback.

His smile was faint, elegant and warm.

She immediately felt her face growing warm, uncontrollably.

In their two meetings so far, Scarlett hadn't spoken much with him, but the impressions were vivid.

His speech wasn't rushed, his tone didn't fluctuate much, but his voice was so exceptionally pleasant that listening to it was truly a delight.

Especially when he said her name. It was simply...

As if reading her mind, before she could fully savor the memory, his voice sounded again near her ear, "Scarlett."

Before Scarlett could look up, a hand appeared in front of her.

The palm had faint lines, the fingers long and slender—a very nice hand.

She looked up at the hand's owner, puzzled.

Jude had placed his hand on the desk and said very naturally, "Can I borrow a pen?"

...

"...Who are those two in the back row?"

"Haven't seen them before. Maybe they're here for an elective?"

"Are you stupid? This is a core class for the Business School finance majors. There are no electives here!"

"That's even stranger... Even if they're not from our department, with looks like that, they'd be famous already. Maybe they're exchange students from another school?"

...

Scarlett, completely absorbed in her conversation with Jude, entirely missed the surrounding stares. It wasn't until the teacher began lecturing that she reluctantly turned around.

She had no idea about the discussions brewing in the classroom, nor did she know that half an hour later, a hot post would trend on the Crestwood University forum:

[Topic] #Location: Finance Class, Business School. This year's junior class has two incredibly attractive exchange students!!! They're literally the pinnacle of campus looks!!!#

—

Once class started, the PPT was projected onto the large screen.

Scarlett skimmed through it; she had already studied the material for this semester's textbook two years ago.

Back then, she used the original English version, while here it was the Chinese translated version.

The teacher's style was quite rigorous, not really the type to interact much with students. The first class mainly outlined the semester's knowledge structure. Not many were paying close attention, and a low hum of discussion persisted.

Scarlett had initially assumed that since Jude borrowed her pen, he must be planning to take notes seriously. And since Jude hadn't brought any bag—no pen, no notebook—she thought he'd probably ask to borrow her notes soon.

But half an hour passed.

She truly hadn't expected...

He had borrowed that pen just to spin it in his hand...

Scarlett hesitated several times, clearly wanting to say something. Jude probably noticed and explained with a smile, "Back in high school, I always got impatient during lectures. Don't know when it started, but pen spinning became a habit."

As he spoke, his hands didn't stop moving.

The pen spun around his thumb, sometimes clockwise, sometimes counter-clockwise, occasionally weaving through each finger gap. A slim black pen danced and twirled between his fair fingers as if performing a magic trick.

Scarlett's appreciation for 'looks' wasn't limited to faces. Physique—like legs, waist, hands, and yes, butts—were all within her scope of admiration.

So, watching such elegant hands perform pen spins right in front of her was its own kind of enjoyment.

Another half hour passed. On this first day of the semester, the teacher let them out early.

When Jude returned the pen, he suddenly asked, "Is there a convenience store near the academic building?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm thirsty, didn't bring water. Probably because it's the start of the semester, the vending machines I passed on the way here weren't fully stocked yet."

Scarlett understood, "There's a*****e, but I remember it's quite far... There are drink places closer by, like Ivy Sips Cafe and Coco Grove. Do you want something from there?"

"?" Ivy what and Coco what?

Jude thought he might have misheard, but before he could ask again, Scarlett suddenly laughed.

When she laughed, two small dimples appeared on her cheeks. Her big eyes curved like a clever little fox—cute and mischievous.

"These shops are kind of a Crestwood University specialty," she said. "A friend of mine who's a grad student here told me about them... Hang on a sec."

This wasn't a lie; Nina was now a grad student at Crestwood University, just starting her first year.

"There are quite a few shops and bubble tea places around campus. Maybe the competition is fierce, so some try to stand out with catchy names. Plus, a lot of students here aim for grad school abroad—" Finishing her sentence, she deftly opened her brand-new notebook, her slender fingers quickly writing a few words before sliding it towards him: "So, we ended up with these."

Jude looked down.

—Ivy Sips Cafe

—Stanford Market

—Coco Grove

Jude: "…………"

The first two were self-explanatory. Scarlett pointed at "Coco Grove" and said, "This one specializes in coconut juice."

Jude offered a measured comment, "...Quite literal."

After his brief assessment, he looked up and asked, "Which one's your favorite?"

"Ivy Sips, probably. My friend took me there once; their pearls are really good." It had been three years since Scarlett last had it, and she felt a bit nostalgic.

"Do you know the way?"

"Yeah."

"Then take me there. My treat."

"?"

...Was this for real?

Scarlett was stunned, "Why are you treating me?"

Jude seemed surprised by the question, raising an eyebrow slightly, "Guidance fee?"

"..."

Just before class ended, she'd been wondering how to politely, non-awkwardly, and non-off-puttingly extend this encounter to continue their... whatever this was.

And now, look! The opportunity had literally walked up on its own two legs.

What a perfect 'guidance fee'!

The sky cleared, the rain stopped, and she felt back in the game!

Internally, Scarlett's spirits skyrocketed, complete with imaginary celebratory drums and gongs. She swiftly packed her notebook and pen into her light bag and followed Jude out through the classroom's back door.

The hallway was noisy, but her mind was a chaotic loop of "He's buying me bubble tea!" and internal "HAHAHAHAHA!" She wasn't sure what to say to Jude, her excitement with no outlet.

While waiting for the elevator, Scarlett stood still, opened f*******:, and furiously typed her screams into the Sassy Sisters Squad group chat:

[Being classmates is definitely the best strategy! This game works like a charm! Just after the first class! He's actually offering to buy me bubble tea ahhhhhhhhh!!!]

Chloe: [?? Seriously? Is this hot guy that forward?]

Nina: [??? What the hell? What happened to the innocent persona?]

Chloe: [Image: Metro old man looking at phone.jpg]

While she was buried in her phone, she didn't notice Jude also taking out his phone.

His phone vibrated silently. Jude answered, his assistant's familiar voice coming through, "Mr. Johnson, is the video conference scheduled in half an hour still on?"

"..."

Jude lowered his gaze, glancing at the person beside him.

The girl was looking down at her phone, her slender fingers flying across the keyboard. He couldn't tell what she was typing, but the corners of her eyes were curved, her dimples showing as she smiled.

"...Ahem, Mr. Johnson?"

Jude leaned casually against the wall, his eyes still on her, his expression somewhat lazy. He lowered his voice slightly and replied, "No. Reschedule it."