Chapter 181: How to reject an admirer 101

"Penny?" Slater poked Penny’s shoulder, but her head moved, resembling a bobbing head dog like the car decoration. "Did she sleep late last night?"

He turned to the back, giving his elder brothers a questioning look. Atlas and Hugo shrugged and shifted their eyes to her.

"Don’t disturb her," said Atlas. "She’s still probably tired from yesterday’s event."

Hugo nodded and leaned forward, catching her head before it could hit the window. "Don’t we have pillows here?"

"Since when did we bring pillows to school?" Atlas returned with a bit of sarcasm.

"Should I check her bag?" Slater suggested, making his brothers furrow their brows. "What? You have no idea anything can fit her bag."

"Just hold her head like that," Atlas ignored Slater and cast his eyes on Hugo. "We’re almost there, anyway."

A shallow breath escaped Hugo’s nostrils, but he didn’t complain. This was for Penny, and he didn’t mind doing something for his little sister.

Even so, their curiosity about why Penny was so sleepy when she was normally energetic in the morning lingered in their minds.

If only they had known Penny and Charles had come home at around three in the morning last night, they would have understood.

Shortly after, they reached the school. However, this time, Atlas requested to drop them off at the drop-off point area so Penny could rest some more. He was concerned about the long walk when Penny was obviously not ready for the day.

When they arrived, Slater shook her a bit to wake her up.

"Penny, we’re here."

"Hmm?" She rubbed her eyes, still half asleep. When her vision grew a bit clearer, all she saw was the concerned look from her brothers. "Huh?"

"Penny, are you okay?" Hugo asked while retrieving his hand. "You nodded off as soon as you sat down in your seat."

"Ah. Hehe. Yes, I’m okay." Penny intuitively turned to the window, furrowing her brows as this wasn’t the usual place the driver dropped them off.

"First Brother is worried you’re not ready for the long walk. So, he requested to be dropped off here since it’s closer to your building," Slater explained before she could even ask.

Penny once again turned to her brothers, who were being so attentive for no reason. "Uh... okay?"

Ignoring their misplaced attentiveness, Penny jumped out of the vehicle and prepared to start her day.

It didn’t take long for her to realize being dropped off at the main drop-off area wasn’t a good idea. Since the way they were coming from was the closest to her building, her three brothers would be walking with her until she reached building 1.

Penny was about to bolt away from them and get to her building when she caught some students. Her face contorted, catching some of them wearing accessories with her face on it!

"!!!"

Some keychains with her face in them were dangling from the zippers of their bags, others on their phones. A few were wearing some subtle hair accessories with the name "Penny" around it. She even saw some wearing sashes from Penny’s fan club.

’What in the horror film is this?’

She thought since the assembly was over and that their first charity event was a success, the hype would deescalate. But from what she was seeing, it wasn’t the case! If anything, it seemed the effect was the opposite.

"Penny~!"

"Good morning, Penny~"

"You’re so cute, Penny~!"

"Oh, my god, it’s Penny!"

Penny placed her hands on either side of her face and tried to hide. How come some students wanted this popularity? And even dreamed of it? It was embarrassing!

Her brothers, who were walking just a few steps behind her, looked like her personal bodyguards at this point. However, they didn’t mind. Hugo even smiled back at the students greeting Penny.

Even Slater was forced to greet them back, since Penny obviously found her new popularity unpleasant. Atlas, on the other hand, didn’t bother completely. If Penny wasn’t bothered, why would he?

"Big Brothers, my building is here. I gotta go!" When she was at the building, Penny faced her brothers and smiled brightly. "Bye!"

Swoosh!

She fled faster than a blink of an eye.

"Times like this, I feel like all her fats are just inflated skin," Slater muttered. "She’s like a balloon. How is she so fast with that size?"

Her brothers glanced at him but didn’t add more comment on that. Though, Hugo had one thing to say:

"Slater, don’t say that in front of Penny. She might get hurt."

And just like that, the brothers who planned to walk her to her classroom were forced to reroute and head to their respective buildings.

Hugo and Atlas still walked Slater to his building, since it was close to Penny’s. Hugo and Atlas share the same building, and it was still so early. So they weren’t in a hurry.

When they watched Slater get into his building, Hugo and Atlas remained quiet.

Their silent journey to their building, however, didn’t last long when a girl suddenly turned up from Atlas’s side.

"A — Atlas!"

The two brothers stopped, turning to the girl who seemed to be around Hugo’s year. They weren’t sure since Hugo and Atlas weren’t particularly interested in girls at the moment.

"Who are you?" Atlas asked emotionlessly.

The girl pressed her lips and suddenly took out something from her back. Atlas and Hugo slowly gazed down at it, only to see a small box in her hands.

"I really admire you for many years now! I practiced making chocolates and eventually perfected how to make one. I made these chocolates just for you!" the girl was almost yelling her confession, her head cast down. "Please accept this!"

The corner of Hugo’s lips curled up, casting his first brother a meaningful look. However, Atlas’s reaction was still the same.

Atlas neither accepted nor rejected the girl. Instead, he took out his phone and scrolled through it.

"First brother?" Hugo called, curious. Even the girl slowly peeked up at Atlas, wondering what Atlas was doing.

Why was he on his phone so suddenly? Did he think this was a time for study?

Atlas didn’t say anything for a minute before he asked. "What’s your name again?"

"Uh, Merelyn."

"Merelyn, what?"

"Merelyn Kho."

"Merelyn Kho," Atlas repeated and set his attention back on his phone. After another few seconds, he cast her a look and apathetically said. "Sorry, I can’t accept that. You’re not on Penny’s fan club member list."

Hugo: "..."

The poor girl: "???"

"Good work, though. Enjoy your chocolates," and just like that, Atlas resumed his steps after rejecting his admirer just because she wasn’t a member of Penny’s fan club.