Kissing the Monster

"Let Cleo take her place." Cole didn't even bother looking up from his phone, swirling his bourbon as he pointed a lazy finger in my direction.

That casual command made me the absolute joke of the room.

The Dare card on the table laid out the punishment: confess your love to the school's most hideous, gloomy freak in front of everyone.

His precious childhood sweetheart had drawn the card, but she was already crying. To protect her, Cole didn't hesitate for a second to throw me to the wolves.

Chapter 1 I carried the freshly sliced red velvet cake through the noisy hall, feeling like an invisible server in this luxury penthouse. The game had already started.

They hadn't waited for me. It didn't matter, I told myself. After all, it was Cole’s twentieth birthday, and the room was packed with his inner circle.

These were the elite heirs of North City, the toptier rich kids of the upper class. I wasn't really one of them. It was only natural they’d do their own thing.

I found a stool in the corner and sat down. The game was simple: Truth or Dare. A bottle spun on the table, and whoever it pointed to had to take the heat.

I watched for a bit, but it was boring. I let out a small yawn and was about to sneak a bite of cake. The crowd erupted. "Yes! Finally, it’s Serena’s turn!" "Pick 'Truth,' Serena!

I’ve got the perfect question ready." Everyone was hooting, their eyes darting between Serena and Cole. Someone even let out a sharp whistle.

But Serena shook her head. "No," she said, her hand reaching for the stack of white cards. "I choose Dare—" She didn't even finish the sentence. She just froze.

The atmosphere turned cold.

One guy stood up, leaned over, and read the card aloud. "Go kiss the gloomiest, scariest freak in school, and confess your love to him in front of everyone." "Who’s the ugliest guy on campus?" someone shouted. "The university is huge.

That’s hard to judge." Another guy rubbed his chin and spoke up. "What about Sebastian? He’s the one coming back from abroad, right?" Sebastian. I knew the name.

The rumors had reached everyone before he even stepped foot back on campus. He’d been in the US for medical treatment after some horrific accident.

He had been doing his coursework online and participating in toptier projects overseas. He was supposed to be back in a few days. His grades were stellar.

But the stories were dark. Rumor had it he was cold, arrogant, and impossible to deal with. And that he was hideously deformed. They said his face was covered in scars.

The kind of face that gave people nightmares. How could Serena ever confess to someone like that?

She looked up and turned to Cole, who was sitting right next to her. "Cole," she whispered, sounding fragile and helpless. "I don’t want to go.

I don't want to confess to anyone else." The words were heavy with unspoken meaning. Cole was lounging on the sofa, halfhidden in the shadows where the light didn't reach.

He set his phone down and stretched his long legs.

A slow, lazy smirk played on his lips. "Whatever," he said. "Forget it then." Since the master of the house had spoken, the tension broke immediately.

People started smoothing things over. "Yeah, it's just a game.

No need to take it so seriously." "Why would Serena waste her time on a freak like that?" A chorus of agreement rippled through the room.

But then— "Since when?" The blonde Queen Bee across the table slammed her tequila glass down, the sound of shattering glass piercing the air.

As the only person in this private university who could actually stand up to Serena, she wasn't about to let this slide. "When we started, she was the one who said no one gets to back out," she snapped. "Why does she get to be the exception?" Chapter 2 The blonde queen bee's voice echoed off the high ceilings.

She stood up, slamming her hands on the table. "No way. I call bullshit. Everyone else took their punishment." "Here's the deal, Serena.

You either go confess to Sebastian tomorrow, or you find someone in this room to take your place. Your call." Serena's manicured nails dug into her palms.

She opened her mouth to snap back, but no sound came out. She was the one who had declared that anyone who couldn't handle the heat should get out of the kitchen.

Now she was the one trying to cheat the rules. But a quick scan of the room confirmed the obvious: besides the blonde and Serena, the entire circle consisted of guys.

Who exactly was going to take her place? She grabbed Cole's sleeve, her knuckles turning white. "Cole! Do something." Cole's face remained infuriatingly blank.

His gaze drifted lazily over the heads of his friends. Slowly, deliberately, his eyes locked onto mine. A cold knot tightened in my stomach. No way.

Cole, are you really doing this? "Cleo." He finally tossed my name into the silence. His tone was as casual as if he were ordering a drink. "Serena doesn't want to do it.

You take her place." He didn't even phrase it as a question, certain his obedient little shadow wouldn't dare refuse. I dug my thumbnail into my index finger.

This is the final task. Two years ago, my boyfriend, Sebastian, boarded a flight to the US. We had grown up in the same foster home, surviving the system together.

We were all each other had. That fatal crash not only took him, but it hollowed me out.

I curled up on the cold floor of my apartment for three days and three nights, unable to even cry. Then, the System appeared.

It informed me that Cole was the golden boy of this twisted reality, and it needed someone to play his pathetic, disposable sidekick.

As long as I acted like the perfect puppet and obeyed every single one of Cole's vicious commands, the System promised to give Sebastian back to me once the missions were complete.

But honestly? This final task made me sick to my stomach. Faking a love confession was a cruel, twisted prank to play on anyone. And worse—what if Sebastian really did come back?

If the first thing he saw was me confessing my love to some random guy, what would he think? But the System hadn't built a "No" button into my interface.

I forced myself to look up, keeping my face still. "And what if I don't want to do it either?" "So?" Cole threw the word back at me like a piece of trash.

He leaned forward, eyes devoid of warmth. "Does what you want actually matter?" Right. Did it? I gave a stiff nod.

After a suffocating silence, I slowly pushed myself up from the stool. "Fine.

I'll take Serena's place." The second the words left my mouth, the mechanical voice echoed in my skull. [ Task 99 initiated. ] [ Upon successful completion, the Host will be permanently unbound from the male lead, Cole. ] [ Wishing you the best of luck! ] Overlapping with the System's chime was Cole's indifferent drawl. "Yeah.

Good luck with that." The circle of rich boys erupted, their faces lit up with cruel anticipation. "Cleo, the guy looks like a monster.

Are you actually going to be able to get the words out without gagging?" "Hey, if Sebastian says yes, you can't take it back!" "We should start a group chat just to monitor their little romance." "Damn, that's brutal!

Hahaha!" Chapter 3 For the past two years, I had shadowed Cole without a title or a sliver of dignity.

To everyone else in this orbit, I was just the young master's pathetic little tail. On call 24/7. Ready to be used and discarded.

Now, I was even taking the fall to confess to a monster just to protect his precious first love. How pathetic.

But God knows, no one in this room felt more relieved than I did in that exact moment. I let their mockery wash over me, my face an unreadable mask.

I waited until they ran out of insults and the whole spectacle just got boring, then turned to leave. "Cleo!" Serena's voice stopped me in my tracks. "I'm so sorry for putting you through this." She held out her hand, pushing an object toward me. "Here, you should take this back." It was the birthday gift I had given him.

A glass jar filled with folded paper stars. The sick joke of it all was that Cole had specifically asked for them.

We had been watching a movie in English lit, and in one scene, the female lead folded a paper star, smiling at the hero. "They say if you give this away, the stars will protect us so we never have to part." Cole had suddenly leaned in close, his breath brushing my ear. "Cleo.

Make me a jar of those." That had been Task Number 98. It wasn't exactly hard labor. But those stars actually held a specific meaning for me. I tilted my head, glancing at her.

I let out a flat "Oh" and snatched the jar from her manicured fingers. Perfect. As long as the task counted as completed, I didn't care.

If he didn't want it, fine—I never wanted to give it to him in the first place. "Sure," I said. "Maybe I can use them for my confession tomorrow." I didn't believe in any of that "forever" garbage anyway.

But Cole's head snapped up. His eyes locked onto mine, unblinking and dark, scanning my face as if trying to dissect whether I was serious or bluffing. Too bad for him.

Once this confession was over, he and I were done. That part wasn't a lie. Sebastian's flight landed early. The academic advisor dropped the news in the department's group chat.

He must have caught wind of the ugly rumors circulating, because he specifically added a warning. [ I will formally introduce Sebastian during this afternoon's department assembly. ] [ This university prides itself on its integrity. ] [ I expect zero tolerance for any bullying or ostracizing of your peers. ] The second the notification went out, one of Cole's boys actually created a new group chat and dragged me into it. [ Cleo, Sebastian's coming in to process his paperwork.

You better be ready. ] [ Why not just confess right in the middle of the department assembly?

How about that? ] [ I heard the scars on his face make him look like a coldblooded serial killer.

Just close your eyes and suffer through those few seconds, hahaha. ] It was glaringly obvious. They only made this chat so they had frontrow seats to the trainwreck.

Those oldmoney heirs had their own exclusive circles, and they had never once included me in their real group chats before. This was a first.

And it was strictly for roasting, mocking, and feeding off the drama.

A few hours later, Serena even posted a status update on her social media feed. [ First assembly of the semester. Counting on you! ] She specifically tagged me.

Everyone who had been at the game swarmed the comment section to pile on. [ Counting on you! ] [ Counting on you! ] The post acted like a beacon, dragging in dozens of people who had no idea what was going on. [ Wait, what's happening?

Can someone explain? ] [ Did I miss something again… ] She probably figured that by making it a massive public spectacle, she was cutting off any chance of me backing out at the last second.

By whipping up this absolute frenzy, the entire campus was suddenly hyperfixated on the afternoon assembly.

Chapter 4 Even before the lecture started, someone actually stood up to scout the hallway. He whipped his head back, relaying the intel. "The professor is coming!

There's a guy following right behind him. Wearing all black. Looks pretty tall… and his face, uh…" Someone shouted my name. It was one of Cole's boys. "Sebastian is here!

Go on!" He yelled it out loud. I flinched, snapping my head back in sheer frustration. Cole was slouched in the back row, a mocking smirk playing on his lips.

He mouthed the words, you can still beg me to call it off, Cleo. Before I could process his words, Serena shoved me hard from behind.

I stumbled forward, my boots skidding across the tile. I pitched right into the guy who had just walked through the door. I crashed into a solid chest.

He wore a tailored black trench coat, and a heavy wave of cedarwood and cold air swallowed me. That lethal familiarity sent a shiver straight down my spine.

The professor's voice drifted past my ear. "Everyone, this is our new transfer student just back from the States, Sebastian." Sebastian