Chapter 18
Timothy didn't even lift his eyelids; he simply opened a can of coffee, took a sip, then buried himself in his computer, tapping away at the keyboard.
Black coffee with no sugar and no milk; it looked bitter just looking at it.
Colt shifted to the side, propping his face with his left hand and tapping the keyboard with one hand, while observing his desk mate out of the corner of his eye.
Timothy had a clean and refreshing face, his skin as porcelain-white as a vampire who rarely saw the sun. He hadn't used hair gel today, his fluffy, smooth bangs partially obscured his exquisite eyes and brows. Timothy had pulled another all-nighter last night, he looked as if his soul were about to detach from his body, ready to close his eyes and collapse at any second.
The desk mate, who looked as if his soul were separating from his body, stopped working. He propped his cheek with his right hand and looked out the window, his gaze possessing a contradictory quality—both warm and inclusive, yet cold and detached.
It is said that people who are both gentle and aloof are usually strong and rational at heart.
The strong and rational Timothy had a faint smile on his lips, his eyes narrowing slightly as he lifted his black coffee and took a leisurely sip.
Colt felt a bitter taste in his mouth.
Timothy turned into moving black coffee in his eyes, that asphalt-like concentrated coffee. It smelled incredibly fragrant, yet the taste was extremely, extremely bitter—the kind of coffee that only someone with degenerated taste buds would drink, one sip to stay awake all night long!
Colt withdrew his gaze and looked at the latest issue of PRL, casually twirling his pen and sketching component diagrams in the blank spaces before letting out a yawn.
Timothy also let out a yawn.
Colt instantly woke up, his eyes lighting up.
The teacher on stage, who had been hypnotizing them, suddenly clapped his hands and raised his voice: "I was robbed last night."
No one in the audience cared.
During the first week of school, everyone was still suffering from post-holiday syndrome.
Most importantly, encountering a robbery in Gotham is so common that anyone without this experience would be the abnormal one.
From a young age, Gothamites are taught by their families and teachers to carry a small amount of cash on them at all times. If someone robs you at gunpoint, just hand it over immediately; never try to test the hardness of your flesh and blood against a bullet.
Bruce Wayne's parents were a cautionary tale.
Timothy seemed to have caught a keyword; his eyelids, which had been on the verge of closing in a fight, instantly declared a truce, his gaze toward the teacher became sharp.
The teacher said, "Red Robin saved me."
As soon as these words were spoken, all the students turned in unison to look at the podium.
The teacher achieved his goal, sitting sideways on the podium, chatting with the students.
You are all facing adulthood, some of you are already adults. When you leave school, the real Gotham will fully reveal itself to you.. Today, we won't talk about economics; we'll talk about how to better survive in Gotham.
Boos erupted from the audience.
Don't laugh, this is a serious matter. We aren't talking about Gotham common sense, like avoiding food that has been left out of sight, not being able to go to the Lower District, or not being able to go out after dark. Instead, we are talking about remembering the addresses of the shelters in every neighborhood.
For those of you going straight into work after graduation, you must distinguish between legitimate and fraudulent job recruitment websites. For those planning to continue their studies, you must make your documentation as complete as possible before applying for student loans. Don't find it too troublesome; Wayne student loans involve a few more procedures, but the annual interest rate is only 4%, whereas the Gotham government's student loan annual interest rate is 14%. Don't trust those agents who claim to have connections to get you discounts; even if you cannot afford a lawyer when signing a contract, you should still run it through Wayne Legal AI..
You are very lucky; there is a Wayne in our class. Classmates are also connections; save his contact number and email address. Perhaps one day when you are at a dead end, he can give you a job opportunity.
Let me give you a reminder here: take care of yourselves and stay away from drugs. If you want to have a job with benefits and a pension, if you want to be able to stand back up after you fall, then don't touch anything addictive. Even if you are desperate, do not agree to participate in unknown drug trials, do not choose a roadside blood-selling van just for an extra ten dollars, certainly do not trust the industry credit rankings released by official reports..
The teacher spoke earnestly on the stage, but most of the students below paid little heed.
Sociology is a compulsory course, but socioeconomics is not highly valued at the school and is even subtly marginalized by the higher-ups, with its classes even being scheduled on Mondays when students are least interested in studying.
First period, the last period on Friday.
The students were more focused on Red Robin.
Teacher, which Robin saved you? Was it Tiny Robin, who loves slashing people with knives? Or was it Red Robin, who changed his uniform?
It could also be a Robin from the Teen Titans.
Forget it, once Batman returns, the Teen Titans are practically disbanded.
I heard the new Red Robin has a temper; it's like he never went through pre-Batman training. Do the criminals even stay alive?
People on the underground forums are saying that Batman has become irritable because of Red Robin. Criminals who used to only end up with hairline fractures now end up with broken bones.
Gotham might have adults who dislike Batman, but there is certainly no young person who doesn't like Red Robin.
If one had to say they didn't like him, it was only out of envy and jealousy.
Colt had also dreamed of swinging through the night sky of Gotham while wearing a yellow cape.
Timothy was an exception; Timothy did not like Red Robin.
Colt noticed Timothy roll his eyes quite subtly, the gentle mask on his face cracking, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly, as if he were looking down on some unreasonable brat.
Oh, Timothy is a fan of Red Robin; he even dreams about Red Robin in his sleep.
He was feeling wronged on behalf of his idol, because the appearance of the current Robin had turned his idol into Red Robin.
Colt bit the end of his pen. Thinking about how such a serious and proper deskmate had actually modeled the Red Robin who "solves riddles to confuse the Riddler and knocks out Killer Croc with a staff" into a Cole Duck in his dreams, he felt that his deskmate's maturity was all an act, that Timothy was definitely a childish kid at heart.
Timothy suddenly turned his head, his serious ice-blue eyes staring straight at Colt, revealing a look of disapproval.
So fierce.
The lethality of that gaze was so strong it was comparable to Batman's disapproval.
Colt nearly chipped a tooth on the tip of his pen. He held his breath, wondering whether or not to say hello. Timothy, however, averted his gaze and looked out the window.
A yellow and green leaf was blown by the wind and became wedged in the crevice of the window frame.
Colt took a look and understood immediately.
Oh, for Robin's sake, that fierce glare was directed at Robin.
Colt had just breathed a sigh of relief, but in the next second, Timothy suddenly turned the computer screen toward him, a row of large characters appeared on the screen:
Hello, Ghost, please restrain your gaze; it's affecting my studies.
The pen Colt was biting in his mouth fell, he blankly shifted his gaze from the computer to Timothy's face.
Timothy held a hypocritical, elegant smile at the corners of his mouth and gave him a slight nod.
Colt's face twisted as his chin smashed right through the desk.
He pulled his head out from where it had nearly been buried in the desk and looked up, only to find that Timothy was still watching him, though his once polite smile had lost its politeness.
Extremely impolite!
Arrogant like a cocky duck that won a game of hide-and-seek!
Colt picked up the pen, sat up straight, looked at the blackboard, taking notes seriously in his physics journal.
'He can see, he can see, he can see.. He really can see!'
Timothy can see, of course!
That blurry photo from photography class lacking a clear subject, the fact that Timothy could enter his Ghost field, both proved that their mental magnetic fields were connected; Timothy could see him just like Dad and Birdie could!
'Why did he stop pretending? Why did he take the initiative to greet me? How should I respond to him?'
Colt's eyes shifted, glancing at Timothy out of the corner of his eye, only to find that Timothy was observing his clothes.
All lab coats in the world are the same, what's there to observe.. Wait, there's an ID number on Dad's lab coat!
Colt changed his posture to lean over his book, hiding the number on the chest of the lab coat.
Colt comes from a single-parent household, both father and son are STEM-oriented; their only pursuits in life are food and warmth, so it's perfectly normal for his father to bring home a few extra work uniforms for his son to wear!
Stay calm, don't panic, divert his attention!
Colt shoved the journal back into his backpack, pulled out a notebook, scribbled a line of text with a quick swish-swish-swish, then moved the notebook to the center of the desk without looking up.
Hello, Drake, please control your gaze; it's affecting my studies!
Timothy looked at the text, then at Colt's piercing eyes, before finally withdrawing his scrutinizing gaze.
Colt felt lucky.
Perhaps he didn't recognize his own company's lab coat; after all, lab coats all over the world are more or less the same. With so many industries under Wayne, there was a very high possibility that Wayne would not recognize it.
In the next second, Colt discovered that the notebook he had brought to take notes was his father's meeting minutes, the Wayne logo was even on the header of the pages!
..
Five minutes left until class is over.
Colt silently counted down the seconds.
.. The study theme for this month is the relationship between heroes and urban development. Students who are interested can try to write an essay and give a presentation in Friday's class; if you achieve an A grade, you will be exempt from the final exam for this course.
The teacher required that study groups be finalized before eight o'clock on Monday morning and sent to him via email; students without a group will be assigned to one by the teacher during the next class.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Gunshots suddenly rang out.
It was a large-caliber semi-automatic rifle, coming from the direction of the football field, only two hundred meters away from this teaching building.
Thanks to the school building sponsored by Wayne, every classroom in Gotham High is equipped with a bulletproof safe room.
The students ran toward the safe rooms, grumbling and cursing.
They weren't cursing the school's poor security, but rather the troublemakers for choosing a bad time. If they had started shooting in the morning, they would have had the day off.
That's just how Gothamites are.
Colt swept the books and the computer from the table into his backpack, swung it onto his back, looked at Timothy.
Timothy's things were still on the desk, but he was nowhere to be seen!
Colt's eyes widened. With a quick kick of his feet, he glided around on his skateboard and discovered that Timothy had already bolted from the classroom and was climbing out of the window at the end of the hallway.
This is the third floor!
Colt rushed over, only to see Timothy, like a light little bird, using the momentum from the branches stretching out beyond the window to land safely.
Young Master Wayne's landing pose was perfect, a textbook superhero landing, incredibly cool—even Duke, the most perfect lander in the Teen Titans, couldn't compare to him!
The only imperfection was Wayne's attire. A suit and tie were not suited for athletics, his gemstone cufflinks flew off, landing in the bushes.
Colt hovered in mid-air, arms crossed as he looked down at Timothy. He was equally jealous of anyone with higher agility than him, especially the wealthy.
Timothy looked up at Colt, his eyes, which were more beautiful than any gemstone, filled with disapproval.
What don't you agree with?