At Harmony High School, students in the morning session attended core subjects like Math, Literature, Foreign Languages, History, Physical Education, National Defense Education, Career Guidance, and Experiential Learning. These were all held in fixed classrooms, in a traditional style meant to strengthen class unity.

But in the afternoon, students moved between classrooms to attend elective subjects based on their individual schedules.

Perhaps because Autumn had chosen a different combination of electives from Ethan, he had never once seen her in his afternoon classes.

“Honestly, I have no idea where Autumn is right now. I also don’t know which classes she takes in the afternoons…”

Ethan hesitated as he tried to gently persuade Flora.

”…You should wait until tomorrow morning, then come ask her in class 11D.”

“But Orange might give birth today. Her belly’s so big already—I can’t wait that long. You have to help me find Autumn right now.”

Seeing how determined Flora was, Ethan sighed. The number of sighs he had let out since transferring to Harmony probably matched the sum total of all the sighs he’d taken in his entire life.

Dragging his sore, aching body, he followed Flora to the Academic Affairs Office—only to find it was closed for the lunch break.

He dared to call the teacher in charge of the office, asking for Autumn’s schedule, but she flatly refused, citing the policy of student information confidentiality.

(What if I broke in and accessed the info from their computer?)

That idea was immediately dismissed. If caught, expulsion would be guaranteed—100%.

Suddenly, a name flashed through Ethan’s mind. If he called that guy, he’d probably find out where Autumn was right away. But if he relied on Andrew The Detective for this, then the “game” would become way too easy. Worse, that guy might ask for some kind of information trade—it wasn’t worth it.

He also considered calling Royce, but odds were high Royce would just tease him until he died of embarrassment.

But strangely, Ethan genuinely wanted to find Autumn on his own this time, without anyone’s help.

He wandered aimlessly down the hallway, and somehow his feet brought him back to class 11D. Flora trailed behind him, still worried and persistent.

That morning, the scent of lilies from Autumn had been more intense than usual, along with her obviously sulking expression, which had made it impossible for Ethan to focus in class.

Now, that familiar floral scent still lingered faintly in the air. As he stepped into the classroom, it hit his nose and sparked an idea—

This was starting to feel like a game to him.

“Let’s go, Flora! We’re going to find that little fox.”

“It’s a cat, Ethan…”

Ethan didn’t bother correcting himself. Instead, he closed his eyes tightly, temporarily cutting off his sense of sight to sharpen his sense of smell.

He began tracing the lingering scent of Autumn, starting from their shared desk, moving blindly toward the door like someone groping through the dark.

“Uhh… What are you doing, Ethan? Hey, watch the table!”

Flora’s warning came a bit too late. He bumped into a few desks and chairs, and he could already imagine the bruises that would show up later.

Out in the hallway, walking got easier—no obstacles. He could just follow the wall with one hand.

“Careful—the stairs!”

Though her warning was late again, thankfully Ethan only missed a single step. By some miracle of ancestral protection, he managed to regain his balance without tumbling down the staircase.

As the scent of lilies grew stronger, Ethan knew he was going the right way.

(Heh, this game’s too easy!)

Confident he had reached the final checkpoint, Ethan opened his eyes—

And jumped in shock to find himself standing right in front of a door labeled:

Kickboxing Club.

The kickboxing room was thick with the overpowering scent of lilies—so strong it felt suffocating, like it could kill someone. It seemed to reflect the emotional state of the girl who carried that fragrance.

Ethan had never stepped into a gym or boxing room before, so he was a bit overwhelmed upon entering and seeing all the walls lined with gleaming mirrors.

The training room was divided into two sections by a central runway. At the end of it stood three tires of increasing size. Ethan wondered what on earth tires were used for in a place like this.

On the right side was a rack filled with dumbbells, neatly arranged in pairs from 2kg to a whopping 50kg. On the floor, there was also a long barbell, already loaded with three 10kg plates on each side.

To the left, near the wall, hung three punching bags suspended from the ceiling. Judging by how worn and scratched they looked, people here trained hard. This side stood out even more with its proper boxing ring—complete with four-tension ropes.

And on that ring stood Autumn, alone.

Her hair was tied into a high ponytail, and she wore an all-black outfit consisting of shorts and a sports bra.

Thump. Thump.

With a pair of oversized boxing gloves—comically large against her slim arms—she delivered punch after punch, left, right, knees, and a series of powerful kicks to a poor, battered training dummy.

“Oh wow… So admirable.”

Flora stared at Autumn in awe.

“More like terrifying,” Ethan muttered.

“I’m not talking about what she’s doing. I’m talking about how she looks.”

“Yeah.”

“She’s so petite, but her proportions are perfect—tiny waist, long legs, curves in all the right places. Especially… those assets of hers. They’re totally captivating.”

“Uh-huh… Autumn has pretty eyes.”

“Sigh. Has anyone ever told you that you’re totally green and naïve, Ethan?”

Flora looked at him like she truly pitied his innocent soul.

“Hmm… Royce said that once.”

“Ohhhh! And look—Autumn even has visible abs! Why are you turning away, Ethan?”

Flora squealed in excitement, then quickly moved behind Ethan and began shoving him toward the ring.

“Can you ask her about Orange for me? Please?”

She stammered. For someone this shy, she might even be more introverted than Ethan himself.

Autumn paused her routine and leaned against the ropes when she noticed them. Her slender brows furrowed when she saw Ethan.

“Autumn...”

There was a slight hesitation in how Ethan addressed her.

“Where’s that orange cat from the other day?

After all, Ethan had won the “Death Race” showdown during the last P.E. class, so there was really no need to call Autumn “little sister” and make things more tense than they already were.

“Hmm… if you come up here and spar with me, I’ll tell you!”

As if to intimidate him, Autumn leapt into the air and delivered two spinning kicks straight to the training dummy’s head.

(Great. At this rate, my next stop won’t be the infirmary—it’ll be the cemetery.)

“Go, Ethan! I’m cheering for you—go get Orange back for me!”

Flora shouted, enthusiastically pushing him forward.

“Why don’t you go up there?! I don’t wanna die!”

“Hic hic… You… you yelled at me. You’re so sexist!”

Now trapped between two demons—one constantly demanding duels, the other crying at the drop of a hat—Ethan wanted nothing more than to run straight out of this hell room.

Thankfully, Autumn seemed to feel a little guilty at the sight of Flora’s tears. She gracefully jumped down from the ring and landed smoothly.

Then she took off her boxing gloves and gently patted Flora’s shoulder in a comforting gesture.

“You better apologize to her. Now!”

“Huh?”

Ethan had to dig deep, using every kind of logic—deductive, strategic, even reverse thinking—but still couldn’t figure out what he’d done wrong.

“Sorry, Flora!”

Just to get this over with, he gave in. He thought about Royce’s fear of girls and silently prayed to the ancestors that he wouldn’t end up the same way.

“I left the cat at a friend’s house. After school, I’ll take you there to get him.”

“Can we go now, Autumn? Orange is about to give birth!”

“Flora…”

Autumn pursed her lips, probably to hold back a laugh.

“Male cats can’t give birth.”

“But his belly is huge!”

“Yeah, he’s got a big belly. And big balls too—not like someone else’s…”

Autumn trailed off mid-sentence and turned to look at Ethan with the most mischievous, wicked smirk he had ever seen.

Immediately, Ethan was reminded of the incident at the infirmary—when Autumn had ordered Royce to destroy his blood-stained PE uniform.

His face began turning bright red—like a fully ripened tomato.

Women really are the root of all pain.