The Grapevine

Chapter One

Willian Sean Hunter knew something was off as soon as he entered the lecture hall. Conversations dropped to a low hum, and his classmates' eyes kept darting his way, accompanied by smirks, arched eyebrows, and more than a few suppressed laughs. It was like walking into a movie scene where the lead character is the last one to realize they're the center of attention.

"Did I miss the memo or something?" he muttered under his breath, adjusting his shoulder bag as he slid into his usual seat at the front.

Just then, his friend Hyun Jin dropped into the seat beside him, sporting a grin so wicked it had to be hiding something juicy. She leaned in, and Sean could already tell she had a headline ready.

"Well?" she prompted.

"Well, what?"

She leaned closer. "You, my dear genius, apparently have a new boyfriend."

Sean's brow furrowed. "A new... what?"

"Oh, c'mon!" Hyun Jin all but squealed, giving him a playful shove. "The whole campus is talking about it. Apparently, you and Eric Young are a 'thing'."

Sean nearly choked. "Eric Young?"

"Mr. Popular? Band guy? Star pitcher on the baseball team?" She listed his titles as if Sean lived under a rock.

"And since when am I dating him?"

Hyejin waved a hand, delighted. "According to campus gossip? Since last night. You two went to the movies together, alone."

"Alone?" Sean echoed, baffled. "I didn't go to the movies last night."

"Oh, sure. That's 'exactly' what someone who was at the movies with Eric would say," she teased, her voice dripping with playful suspicion.

Sean rolled his eyes. "I was literally at home, working on Dr. Han's assignment. Unless he snuck into my room and helped me balance equations, I think you're way off."

She gave him an exaggerated look of pity. "Deny it all you want, my dude. People 'want' this to be true. You know how wild they get with stories about him. And now? The campus power couple rumor of the year."

Sean sank back in his seat, pinching the bridge of his nose. The last thing he needed was for the university to turn him into some kind of headline.

As if the universe were intent on testing him, Sean had barely settled into his physics lecture when he felt the familiar buzz of whispered conversations drifting his way. The subtle glances and hushed remarks were almost enough to make him sigh, but he kept his focus. Today was about keeping his cool.

Dr. Han strode in, and the room quickly quieted as students shuffled to pull out laptops and notebooks. After a moment of silence, the professor launched straight into a difficult question from last week's reading, scanning the room with a hard look.

He waited, his gaze roaming, but no one dared to raise a hand. One student tried, stammering through an answer that missed the mark. Dr. Han's frown deepened as he moved to another, and then another, only to be met with awkward pauses and more wrong answers. Frustration was clear in his voice as he finally turned his attention to Sean.

"Mr. Hunter?" Dr. Han prompted, expectantly.

Sean cleared his throat and answered carefully, his tone even and polite. "The solution involves applying the conservation of momentum. Given the initial conditions, we can use this to predict the outcome by..." He explained the concept, breaking it down concisely.

A few heads turned his way, some with wide eyes, others with looks of mild envy. Dr. Han gave a curt nod, clearly appeased, and moved on, but Sean barely noticed the ripple of attention around him.