Chapter 188: Why? Are you part of the bet?

"I need help with the final exam. Can you tutor me?"

For a second, Penny thought her ears were deceiving her.

"Haha!" she tugged her earlobes. "First Brother, I think my ears are playing tricks on me. What favor do you need?"

"Professor Singh is only available on the weekends, but I don’t want to take any chances. You bet on me, so you need to make sure you coach me to get the gold," he said with a straight face.

"..."

Penny was rendered speechless for the first three seconds before she squealed. "Ehh!?!?!"

"Can you help? Or is it too much of a bother?"

"First brother, I think you’re sleepwalking!" Penny laughed nervously. "Why are you asking your little sister for help? Are you running with a fever?"

Atlas pressed his lips and sighed. "I know you’re smart..." he paused and slid his eyes to the corner. "... smarter than me."

"!!!" Penny scrunched up her nose and looked at him incredulously.

Was the world ending?

Looking back to her first life, Atlas never liked when someone was meddling with his affairs. Be it as an adult or as a teenager, he liked doing things on his own. It was why he always felt irritated with her when Penny was poking her nose where it doesn’t belong, especially as adults.

There were times Penny would help him in the company, even if he told her not to. And because she was nosy, Penny ended up in prison because of one bad decision out of a thousand good ones.

"Penny, it’s alright," Atlas reassured, eyes fixed on her. "I’ve come to terms with it."

"But I haven’t," she blurted out incredulously. "First brother, are you okay?"

"A bit." His face slowly turned solemn. "Will you help me?"

"But don’t you have a group to study with? All of them were from the top section. They even come in batches! First brother, don’t tell me you’re tutoring them and neglected your own?"

"Yeah... about that..." A heavy sigh escaped Atlas but didn’t dwell on it. He didn’t even want to think about how he put himself in that situation. "I’m not neglecting it, but I’m a little anxious."

Her brows rose, watching him shift his attention back to her.

"I saw the star section students studying today and from what I saw, they’ve taken that bet seriously. If they’re working hard, I need to work hard twenty times more," he confessed, holding his hand tightly behind him as if that had been giving him the push to ask this request.

The shock on her face slowly disappeared, replaced with mild confusion. ’I didn’t show off that much, did I?’ she wondered. ’I only showed off that I know Slater’s lessons, but that’s because we’re only a year apart.’

"First Brother, you’d get into the top section even if you do it on your own," she said with certainty. ’He did it in the past, and she was certain he would do it again even without my help.’

However, by the look on his face, he didn’t seem to take her words to heart. "I appreciate that you believe in me so much..."

Her face contorted as he suddenly looked so gloomy.

"Well. I’m not really sure if I’m fit to do that, but we can try." She scratched the back of her head, afraid he would stand outside her door all night until she agreed. "We can do a test run, but I can’t guarantee I am an effective teacher."

She couldn’t smack his head and intimidate him just like how she would to Slater.

"Okay. Thanks." Atlas nodded and took a step back. "Sleep now. Good night."

"Mhm." Penny saw him reach the knob and pull the door closed. But before he could fully close it, Atlas stopped. ’What — what now?!’

"Thanks, Penny," he repeated with a subtle smile. "I’m talking about the book recommendation."

"But you already thanked me for that."

"I just thought it was not enough to express my gratitude. That book helped me a lot and, in a way, built my confidence and humbled me at the same time." His short smile stretched a bit. "Good night."

This time, Atlas closed the door while Penny stood in front of the door, stupefied.

She stood there for the next three minutes, staring incredulously at the door in disbelief. When Atlas thanked her for the book recommendation, she brushed it off. Not because she had other important things, but mainly because it was not worthy of her time.

"Moreover, he never liked it when I meddle with his business," she whispered. "But now, he wants me to basically coach him to win."

Her face twisted into three different expressions in a matter of seconds. "Well." Penny shrugged and walked back to her bed. "It’s better to be safe than sorry. I put the majority of my allowance on him, and he must bring home the bacon."

Even though in their past life, Atlas was able to step into the star section on his own, it was better to make sure he would still do that. After all, before, Atlas didn’t have an extra curriculum — the fan club — and was focused on his studies day and night.

*****

The next day...

Bam!

Bam!

Plak!

Slater flinched when Penny dropped a different handful of papers on the table. Slowly, he raised his head as Penny stood in the chair.

"Third brother, those are the lessons we need to cover today," she pointed at the separate stack of papers near him before her index veered to the one across from it. "And First Brother, that’s yours. But before you do some reading, I prepared a hundred questionnaires that you need to answer in under fifty minutes."

"Wait, what?!" Slater gasped. "Why are you giving Brother Atlas something to work on now?!"

Hugo, on the other hand, had a different concern. "Penny, what about me?"

But instead of Penny, Atlas slid an inch stack of papers to his second brother. "I prepared your study materials. Read them and answer the questions on every last page of the lessons."

"..." Hugo opened and closed his mouth like a fish.

"Penny will be tutoring me as well from today onwards," Atlas announced, eyes on Slater. "We’re basically classmates for now."

Slater gasped while Hugo was filled with bitterness.

Hugo frowned. "First Brother, how come Penny gets to teach you two while I have to study the study materials you give me?"

"Why?" Atlas raised a brow and saw it as a chance to say, "Why? Are you part of the bet?"

"..."

Slater smirked, finally having gotten their revenge after yesterday’s bitterness. Although it was not Hugo who said that but their father, Hugo didn’t even have the heart to fight for his brothers.

Hugo sulked, now understanding his brother’s feelings yesterday. ’But I wasn’t the one who intentionally left you yesterday, but Dad.’

"Ahem! Second Brother, even if that’s the case, we’ll still study together. But first, please put down Tiana from your head," Penny smiled and then shifted her attention to her students. Taking the whistle dangling in front of her, she continued, "You have less than an hour. Good luck!"

WHISTLES!