Chapter 1

"Neil, I don't think you need to go that far," one of our classmates called out.

The rest of them in the private room glanced at each other, too scared to make a sound.

Zoey Johnson pulled her jacket tighter around herself as she glared at me in fury. Michael Greer, her male best friend, got up and held her protectively in his arms.

"What the hell are you doing, Neil?" he questioned. "It's just a game. Do you really have to blow things out of proportion like this?"

I took out my phone and snapped a photo of the two of them pressed together before instructing the bar to give me a copy of the security footage.

Eyeing Michael coldly, I grabbed him by the collar and threw him aside. "Sorry, but I'm not in the habit of sharing my girlfriend with another guy."

My eyes flickered back to Zoey, who'd curled in on herself. Reaching out, I said gently, "Be good and take your top off."

I grabbed her by the chin, forcing her to meet my eyes. She was actually trembling in fear.

"I-I know I made a mistake, Neil," she stammered in apology. "I should've introduced Michael to you sooner. You wouldn't be getting jealous if I did, right?"

When I didn't respond, Zoey hugged me and continued, "Neil, Michael and I just grew up together. We're childhood friends. We even bathed together when we were kids. It's not strange that he knows my secrets."

I mercilessly shoved Zoey away and reached out to yank open her collar. She let out a shriek. "Neil! Have you lost your mind?"

She hastily covered her neckline while trying to kick me away, but I easily caught her slender calf the moment it came toward me.

"Zoey, I can't accept my girlfriend having such an intimate relationship with another man—especially when…"

When I hadn't even seen "a secret" like that of hers myself.

An indescribable sense of bitterness flickered in my heart, and an unnamed anger surged within me. Without knowing it, I'd tightened my grip on Zoey. It wasn't until she cried out in pain that I let go.

My eyes were bloodshot.

Zoey was clearly frightened. She ducked behind Michael before snapping at me, "Stop making a scene, Neil! I've already explained things to you. If you keep acting like this, I'm going to break up with you."

The words "break up" made me clench my jaw.

Meanwhile, Michael took the chance to wrap an arm around Zoey before shooting me a smug look. "Neil, look at you. Why are you scaring our precious Zoey like this?

"She told me you were born with XYY syndrome. Hah! I've heard about people like you. You're all violent and aggressive. Freaks like you shouldn't even exist in this world!"

I glared furiously at Michael, feeling an instinctive urge to smash my fist into his face. But when my eyes met Zoey's, I caught myself.

He was right about that anyway. I was born with XYY syndrome. Even though it'd been disproven already, many people still held onto the outdated belief that people like me were born with a violent streak.

In fact, I probably wouldn't even be born if not for Mom's health condition that made it hard for her to have another child.

Nevertheless, once I became aware of the misconceptions, I slowly learned to be even more vigilant about controlling my emotions.

Growing up, people called me a monster or a freak. The neighbors wouldn't let their kids play with me. Even the housekeeper kept her distance.

When I was little, I accidentally stepped on my nanny's arm and broke it. I spent three days by her bedside, tearfully apologizing for that.

During middle school, I stumbled upon a couple of thugs who were trying to rob a classmate of mine. When they spotted me, they tried to rob me, too.

In order to protect my classmate and me, I fought back with all my strength. Who would've thought that these thugs would be far weaker than they pretended to be?

Yet somehow, my reputation just kept getting worse. People even started calling me a school bully and would go out of their way to avoid crossing paths with me.

I didn't have a single friend, spending all my time alone instead.

That only changed when I got to college—when Zoey lit up my world like a sun.

I connected my phone to the projector in the room and pulled up all the chat logs Michael had sent anonymously to me, along with the photos of him kissing Zoey.

With a look of sorrow and confusion, I turned to Zoey and asked, "Zoey, are you also fine with me flirting with other women?"