My Idle System

The school was ending, their sole current link, if it could even be considered one, so Christian was prepared to go and talk to her promptly.

Even though he hadn\'t made any preparations, thanks to his sister, his outfit at least was quite nice, and he was really thankful to her for making him change his clothes.

So now, looking at Eva, who was gazing out the window at the small river, lost in her thoughts, he finally gathered his courage and stood up.

Walking toward her table, with one step at a time, he felt conspicuous in the surrounding space, but he couldn\'t pull his mind away from what he was about to face. So, he just kept his eyes on the woman not far from him, who still hadn\'t noticed him. He also finally thought about how he should start, after all, he hadn\'t prepared anything.

And he also didn\'t want to come off as cliche, hitting on her like the hoodlums in all kinds of stories.

So, after digging through all kinds of things in his mind, he finally came up with an answer, he could start with an indirect compliment.

As in, while his intention could be understood, it still shouldn\'t come off as too direct.

So, arriving at her table, Christian finally opened his mouth and said.

"Hello."

Eva, interrupted from her thoughts and seemingly uninterested in the one who had suddenly talked to her, turned her head toward him and replied blandly.

"Hel-lo?"

But she paused for a moment, taken by surprise at the person standing in front of her. She quickly returned to her senses, concealing her astonishment, and instinctively, she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, her demeanor still calm, yet there was a glimmer of curiosity in her eyes as she took in the unexpected visitor.

Christian, thinking that he couldn\'t fail with his first sentence, didn\'t catch the changes in her tone, the slight surprise, or even the shift in her demeanor, and finally asked.

"You are Olivia Carter\'s older sister right?"

Christian, now aware that she was actually Olivia Carter\'s mother and not her older sister, deliberately asked this question. After all, his train of thought was that no woman would feel bad about being complimented or misunderstood regarding their age. He needed to catch her attention and pique her interest first before a proper conversation could take place after all.

He wanted to compliment her without appearing to be hitting on her.

For now at least!

Eva, hearing the new way she was being hit on, simply chuckled and replied, neither denying nor affirming his statement.

"Hmm, well, I can be considered her big sister."

\'So, while you are her mother, you can also be considered her older sister?\'

While this was what Christian thought inside his mind, finding it a little funny that she didn\'t correct him, he still didn\'t dwell on it and continued. Knowing that this was now the most important moment.

"Actually, I go to the same school as Olivia and happened to see you by chance once, so seeing you here today made me want to say hello."

"I hope I\'m not interrupting anything."

Eva, intrigued, looked into Christian\'s green eyes, which seemed to try hard not to reveal anything while meeting hers. She replied calmly and concisely, wanting to see where he was going with this.

"No, it\'s okay."

Hearing her short answer, which still didn\'t give much, Christian felt that the start couldn\'t be considered a success. He also felt a bit frustrated, as he had hoped to avoid being too direct. However, he was somewhat relieved that it wasn\'t a complete failure; she hadn\'t responded negatively, or at least it didn\'t seem that way to him.

So, steeling his nerves, he finally asked.

"Are you waiting for someone, or simply taking some time for yourself?"

Christian felt his heartbeats rising now. At first, he hadn\'t wanted to ask her this directly, but he now felt compelled to find out if he could sit down. Even so, he wanted to know if she was alone, ensuring that his next question wouldn\'t be in vain.

By first letting her know that he was supposedly a classmate for her daughter, he hoped that the chances of a positive response to his next question would increase.

He just hoped his current choices were right.

"No, I\'m alone. If you\'re also by yourself, we can sit together."

\'Saaafe!\'

While cheering inside himself at the fact that she had even gone a step further and invited him to sit, Christian tried to appear as nonchalant as possible and sat down normally, even as if a little reluctantly.

Okay, maybe he was exaggerating a little. But anyway, now sitting with Eva at the same table, Christian was prepared to continue the conversation; he couldn\'t let the atmosphere become awkward. However, Eva was a little faster than him and asked,

"So, how did your last exam go today?"

While taken by surprise, Christian still replied normally—or at least he tried to. However, the slight tilt of his head and the questioning tone in his voice told a different story.

"Not bad?"

Chuckling and taking Christian\'s breath away with her smile, Eva pressed on with her questioning.

"So, you are uncertain?"

"Actually, it was perfect. I\'m expecting a full score, after all."

Christian immediately corrected himself, replying confidently this time, even as he sensed that her tone was strangely interrogative.

He even attempted to show off a bit while doing so.

But Eva, not letting him off that easily, suddenly asked again.

"To that degree? Then you must be one of the top students. But I don\'t recall Olivia ever mentioning that there was someone so handsome among them."

Despite hearing the compliment at the end of her sentence and feeling quite happy, Christian still felt a little awkward about the question, disguised as a statement. He also wasn\'t sure if he should explain that it was only recently he had started to break free from his average scores at school.

So, Christian, thinking that the price for showing off was turning out to be a bit too high, decided to change the subject and evade her probing question about school. He figured he could brush it off and steer the conversation in a different direction.

"Thank you for the compliment."

\'Should I compliment her back? But, with her appearance, she must have been showered with them, right? Maybe she\'s tired of hearing them? But she started it, after all.\'

While having all kinds of arguments in his mind, Christian thought that complimenting her back might be a little overused. Still, he felt it was the safest way to shift the conversation and ensure that the topic of school didn\'t come up again.

"Actually, you are even more beautiful."

"Thank you too."

Christian, seeing the warm smile she offered in response, felt a wave of relief wash over him. Her reply was not negative, and that gave him a boost of confidence.

Thinking it was enough for compliments for now, he decided it was time to shift the conversation again. He wanted to say something different, something that might provoke a different kind of reaction, even if it could lead to an awkward moment.

So, he gathered his courage and spoke.

"Actually, even though I\'ve been at the same school as Olivia for four years, I never initiated a conversation with her, not even once."

"Like, while she always seemed somewhat dazzling compared to the other students, I never thought about fawning over her or even considered talking to her."

\'Well, it\'s partly because I felt there was no chance at first, so I didn\'t hold any interest. But even when I thought I might have a chance, I still didn\'t try after all, so I guess that\'s not entirely a lie.\'

While giving some excuses in his mind, Christian didn\'t stop and continued.

"But when I happened to see you, things changed, and I made an attempt to talk to her, hoping to get to know you through her."

"After seeing the bad impression she left, I changed my mind and ultimately decided not to go through with it."

"Now, looking at you, I feel like your personalities are quite different."

"So, what do you think the reason might be?"