Minding My Own Business

I watched Matt crane his neck for a better look while trying to shield his manhood with one hand, and my disgust deepened.

A few hours later, a video of Aurora's speech was uploaded to the school message board and she went viral across campus. Everyone called her the school's beauty queen and the video was downloaded countless times, and a full-body photo of her was put on the homepage, right beside my top scorer photo.

In the photo, she wore a white spaghetti-strap mini dress that exposed almost every bit of skin she wanted to show. She looked so fair and gentle, it was almost unreal. Meanwhile, I wore an ordinary white T-shirt and jeans. It was so glaring that we did not even seem to belong in the same league.

Someone on the forum immediately started comparing us.

[When school started, I thought Wendy was quite pretty. But next to Aurora, she looks so tan and ugly.]

[They're in the same dorm. Why can't she learn from Aurora and use sunscreen properly?]

[A girl who doesn't even use sunscreen. I can't believe Matt didn't mind someone like her.]

Soon, Matt sent me a message: [Wendy, I don't think we're right for each other. Let's break up.]

The day I had been waiting for was finally here. I held back my excitement and sent him a few simple texts asking him not to break up.

Then I wrote: [Forget it. I'll be honest, I think you and Aurora are a better match. If she's the one you like, I wish you both well.]

A few days later, Aurora showed up arm in arm with Matt. The moment they appeared, everyone applauded. Aurora covered her mouth and laughed shyly on purpose, but I noticed the sunscreen on her body looked even thicker than before.

She had become even more dependent on it over the past few days. She had even set an alarm to apply it all over her body every two hours.

At this rate, there would be no need to wait until the end of the school year like in my last life. Her skin would start ulcerating before freshman boot camp was even over.

The two of them walked over like celebrities surrounded by admirers, and I smiled. "Aurora, you look even more beautiful lately."

Aurora leaned against Matt and smiled back at me. "Thank you for letting Matt and me be together."

I looked at the sunscreen smeared around Matt's lips and smiled sincerely too. "Of course. We're best friends, after all."

After that, Aurora and Matt took a few days off, and Aurora did not come back to the dorm either.

Judging from Aurora's social media posts, Matt often drove her around in luxury cars and took her to his family's businesses. The two of them were having lavish meals every now and then by the river and staying at five-star hotels.

That day, I was packing when my roommate muttered behind me.

"I wonder what Aurora added to that sunscreen of hers to make men lose their minds over her. Even you got bewitched enough to hand your boyfriend over to her just like that. I heard from students from other faculties that while Aurora is officially Matt's girlfriend, she's actually in a relationship with a lot of the other guys too. Since you two are so close, has she told you about it?"

I said nothing and simply continued to pack things into my suitcase.

My application to switch dorms had been approved. Once freshman boot camp was over, I would move out. I really could not stay another second in a place filled with that fragrance.

The day before the boot camp's performance day, the instructor had us all sit in a circle. Anyone with talent could volunteer to perform in addition to the march, where everyone would have to join.

Naturally, Aurora was the first to go.

She wore that white spaghetti-strap mini dress today, with white shorts beneath the skirt that left plenty to the imagination.

As she danced, I noticed that the fragrance was more than ten times stronger than before, and the watery sheen on her skin made the guys even more restless. Even the instructor blushed at her teasing.

I sat across from Matt and saw the sunscreen on his arms and face too.

But when I glanced to the side, another guy had some around his lips. Another had some on his arms. Even the tall, handsome guy in the back row had sunscreen smeared across his collarbone in plain sight.

Aurora had added too much fragrance into the sunscreen. Once it got on someone, it could no longer be washed off.

When the dance ended, the whole field erupted in cheers.

A dark light flashed inside Matt's eyes, as if he was upset that something that belonged to him was being coveted by others.

After thinking for two seconds, he walked over and dropped to one knee before holding out an expensive diamond ring.