Finally, Ace got to the point where he learned all the girls' backstories. For some reason, they all seemed very surprised when Ace spoke to them without sounding condescending and even played nice for once, which made Ace scoff under his breath.
"I'm just doing this for my role, so shut up and marry Ace already!" He would protest to each of them.
The first few times, the girls actually looked disappointed with this reply. Yet over time, they seemed to have warmed up to him and even laugh when he complained? Even worse, Ace felt his personality shift because he was getting to know all of them, and he might have gotten too invested in this love triangle. Ah, this isn't good, I'm getting all proud and content thinking potential romances between Red and the girls. It became a fantasy and an addiction to him, that he wouldn't want to admit ever even if the alternative choice was to castrate himself.
Enough about that, Ace managed to sift through newspapers, social media etc and managed to dig up information on all three girls like a creepy stalker. He even gotten them to speak to him about their deepest insecurities after their friendship progressed to a certain level.
Kiwi was afraid that her parents' sweet shop would close down, and since that worrying would keep her from pursuing love and give her face ugly wrinkles if she frowned too much, Ace donated a large sum of money to the shop to produce gourmet sweets from all over the world, advertisements that brought in throngs of school girls by hoards and paid her grandmother's medical fees.
Melissa was in an arranged marriage with a man in the company her parents wanted to partner with, and had insecurities over being her cold personality because she was always raised by her strict parents, and obviously since an arranged marriage would get in the way of Red and Melissa, Ace bribed her fiance's parents with a deal with their company that caused them to call off the marriage, and then burst into Melissa's home demanding to speak to Melissa's parents. After his very persuasive arguing, Melissa's parents thought it over and decided to let Melissa pursue her own self-interests.
Lastly, because June had an inferiority complex over her tall height and tomboyish personality, Ace drew up a whole spreadsheet showing data on the popularity of tall women and strong women to guys, and listed out all her positive actions and traits that he could come up with. June teared up and started bawling on the spot, which initially made him feel worried and tense up. She apologized to him for crying and said that she was feeling much better.
Now that he dealt with all this meaningless drama, Ace was certain that one of the girls would confess to Red anytime. In fact, bonding between Red and the three girls were progressing much faster, and soon they were good friends.
To play his fake role as 'best friend' to the fullest, Ace regularly visited Red, gave quality tips, and hung out with him more often, much to the surprise of his classmates who always saw him as a loner because he alienated everyone with his arrogance.
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One day, Red invited him to hang out with the other three girls to go to the beach. It was a sunny day, and the sea looked inviting. As the best friend and wingman, Ace arrived an hour early to prepare, arriving in his limo with two trucks to set up a makeshift gazebo and tent that extended to the size of a football field. It looked just like a holiday event.
"Yeah set up the buffet tables over there," Ace instructed to four men who worked together to set up the area under the tent, "what do you mean that we can't start fireworks without a license? Are the trained dolphins in the sea yet? If we time this right, when Red swims up with his girl, have the dolphins circle around them."
Kiwi, who just arrived with her bag, was staring at the whole scene with a dumbfounded face.
"Hey, you do know that we're just here for a day," Kiwi began, slapping Ace's shoulder, making him turn around.
"Ah! Kiwi, you're here. You know what day it is, BEACH DAY. One of the most important events in dating sims. We need to make use of this to the fullest," Ace said dramatically, waving his hands about.
"There's an event here? Should we move?" Melissa asked them as she walked up wearing a casual dress and a sunhat.
"It's all HIS doing," Kiwi said as she nudged Ace playfully. "I am just doing my role as the best friend character!" She mimicked Ace's voice while crossing her arms. Ace could feel his eyes twitch in annoyance.
"Keep all the tents and call back all the people, it is very distracting," Melissa complained, twirling her hair between her fingers.
"Yeah, this is supposed to be a casual trip to the beach, we don't need a... is that a buffet table?" Kiwi said, squealing with shining eyes, "I mean, get rid of everything other than the buffet. Not that I'm hungry ehehehe." Kiwi giggled, "but yeah, the whole appeal of a trip with friends is keeping it simple. Playing volleyball, swimming in the cool water, picking up seashells and soaking in the scenery."
"Uhh, sorry," Ace apologized, "is that how it usually goes? I never came to the beach with friends before. The time I went to beach is overseas at our family's beach house when I was five. My parents did not want me to step into the 'dirty polluted water' that is a mixture of dirt, animal dung, litter and oil from oil spills."
"Tch, rich people and their problems," Kiwi teased.
"I wouldn't say it is a problem faced by rich people specifically, but more of an Ace problem," Melissa said, and Ace winced.
"Hey, did you guys wait long?" Their heads turned to see June yelling as she approached with Ace. The other two girls reacted as they see Ace with June, Kiwi looking a bit fired up, while Melissa walked towards Ace and grabbed hold of his arm.
The battle for points had begun, that was obvious to Ace, who ordered the men to take down the tents but promised to still pay them for their work.
Firstly, Ace talked to Red as the girls headed to the bathroom to switch to their swimwear.
"This is actually my first time going out with friends to the beach," Ace admitted in embarrassment, taking off his pants to reveal his swimming briefs, and then pulled off his shirt in one swooping motion. Meanwhile, Red pulled off his shirt nervously. He was wearing red boxer trunks, and Ace thought it was a pleasant surprise that his body looked lean and fit under his usual clothes. That face and body would make any woman agreeable towards him. But it was getting odd that Red was staring at Ace's body with his mouth wide open.
"Yeah, leave the ogling to the ladies. Speaking of the ladies, I bet they would look fine. Here they are," Ace could spot the approaching girls from a distance. Kiwi was wearing a cute, one piece sky blue swimsuit fitting tightly over her small figure, with bows at the ends that fluttered when she skipped over. Melissa was wearing an all white bikini top and bottom that was both elegant and flattering to her slim waist and decent chest, while June wore a rather small but very sexy red bikini that... showed off her assets and tanned thighs.
Mmm, just as good as I dreamed it'll be, Ace thought happily as he looked at them.
Their reactions were much more surprising. Ace expected them to lash out at his 'pervy' staring, or joke around about it, but he felt their eyes glued to him instantly, in a way that made him feel very self conscious... even for Ace.
Melissa, who was usually composed, started looking away with a heavy blush on her face, yet sneaked in glances towards his way.
June was shamelessly staring right into his chest, then slowly walked behind him in a circle.
Kiwi started nosebleeding heavily, before fainting to the ground with a thud. That made Ace feel worried.
"Kiwi! Is there something wrong with my swimsuit?" Ace asked, placing a hand onto her face which made her suddenly roll over to the other side.
"It's hella distracting, wearing such a small speedo! It's barely covering up anything!" June yelled.
"Why are you talking to me while standing right behind me? Yeah, I never thought that this swimsuit was anything bad before, but I'll put on some clothes," Ace said as he put his shirt back on.
Switching the topic, Ace said, "by the way, your outfits look really good. Totally sexy." From the informative material he read about romance (manga, fan fiction, TV shows), this would be the part where the best friend character gets unfairly punched and branded a pervert. Instead, the girls looked pleased and confident with his compliment. Red complimented them as well.
"Kyaaaa! Thanks, you look good too!" Kiwi said excitedly.
"It's not like I dressed up for you, you know!" Melissa said while huffing, "But hearing you say that makes me happy."
"I can see you looking at my body, mm I bet you're thinking dirty now, aren't you?" June said mischievously, winking at Red who blushed.
The first thing they did was to play beach volleyball. Ace paired up with Melissa while Red paired up with June. Kiwi decided to judge the match.
"The legendary June and Ace duo has now broken up! The last time they fought against the three of us in that tennis match, we got utterly wrecked! Now I have no idea who would win this match!" Kiwi yelled out, "alright, if you're ready Ace, start!"
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Ace did not play volleyball before, but he did spend time watching volleyball matches and other sports on TV while he was eating dinner every once a week. Still, without experience, this could set him at a disadvantage. He served the ball, wincing at the pain his hand felt, and the ball skidded to a halt at Red's feet, before Red could even blink.
"One point to the Ace and Melissa team! Red, pay attention to the game!" Kiwi shouted.
The rest of the game got too easy for Ace, as he got used to the stinging sensation on his hands and arms, and the point was easily scored when Melissa set the ball high enough for him to go in for the killing blow. June was still trying to get used to the game, letting the ball bounce on the sand before realising, oh heck this isn't tennis! Red was doing good, yet he was pretty much unable to break through Ace's power smashes. Halfway through the game, Ace realised he was so excited to play the game that him and Melissa were winning very one-sidedly, so he decided to scale it back a bit, allowing the game to stop at a score of 10-5.
"And... Ace and Melissa won! Congratulations! Ace is the MVP of this match!" Kiwi shouted while clapping.
Ah, I think I stood out too much, Ace thought as he sweated nervously.
"You did a great job," Melissa said, smiling while dabbing a towel on his neck to wipe off the sweat, "I think... we make a great team." She looked away when she said that. Ace followed her gaze and guessed that she was staring at Red who was consoling June.
"You can go and cheer up Red, if you want, I'll be fine after drinking some water," Ace said as he sat up, but realized he forgot to take a water bottle with him. Of all things to forget, Ace thought as he cussed.
"You didn't bring water to an outdoor trip?" Melissa lightly scolded him, and then shoved her bottle towards his direction, "hurry up."
Ace felt thirsty, so he thought nothing of it and then just chugged down half of the bottle. Seeing that most of the water was gone, Ace guiltily said, "I'm sorry, I'll make it up to you later." Melissa nodded before rushing off giddily.
After eating at a picnic and playing around, it was getting late and the sun was setting.
June stood at a side holding surfboards. Melissa brought a float along because she didn't know how to swim, while Kiwi was walking along the shore, searching for crabs and seashells.
"Who do you want to hang out with? This could be a good chance to have a one-on-one interaction with your potential waifu before the day ends," Ace said as he lay down on a beach chair while admiring the scene. "You can help Melissa learn how to swim, surf with June or walk around the shoreline with Kiwi. There is so much potential to be a lasting memory, and could score you serious points."
"Fwaaaah!" Red let out a sigh as he sunk into the other beach chair next to him, "I'm too tired to move, see?"
Not making a decision between girls, spoken like a true harem protagonist, Ace thought to himself.
"You choose not to hang out with a beautiful girl to sit here with me? Well ok I'm absolutely attractive and I am a great conversationalist, no wonder you like to sit here," Ace said proudly.
"I don't know why our classmates like to spread bad rumors about you. Talking about how you are a dick to everyone and how you harass the girls, but you get along with the three girls fine," Red said as Ace sipped soda from a can.
"I'm used to people talking behind my back, and it's true that I acted like a dick in the past," Ace said, unaffected.
"I think they are blowing it out of proportion," Red said angrily, "I have to disagree with them all the time. Why can't they understand that you are a good person? Can't they spend their time doing something else than complain about others just because they are jealous of your money and talent in tennis?"
Feeling rather touched, Ace smiled while ruffling up Red's hair. Yes my brother, I shall do my best to help you seduce a woman, he thought as a ghost of a smile appeared on his lips.
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"Your bedroom is pretty small, along with the rest of your place," that was the first thing Ace said once he stepped into Red's messy room. Band posters were hung up on the wall along with the faded posters of characters in video games. There was a single bed at the far end of the room, facing the window.
"Is my room that bad?" Red looked crestfallen as he walked to plop down onto his bed. "And I tried so hard to clean up the room last week for this," he whispered to himself.
"No, I guess you could say it is cosy this way. It is very neat, even without maids around," Ace decided to lighten up the atmosphere, before sneaking in a grin, "now... where do you keep... it?"
"What is it?" Red asked blankly, as Ace dipped his head under the bed and looked around. Ace then pulled up the mattress, but shook his head and placed it back down. He looked through the drawers and tapped the bottom of the drawer with a fist, but it sounded solid. Ace went through the bookcase, even flipping through the pages quickly.
"Ok I'm beat," Ace said with a resigned voice, "you're real good. I can't find your stash."
"Stash? What?"
"I don't mean drugs, if you're worrying about that. I mean... sexy ladies? Hot nurses? Whatever you're into. Maybe you have it on your laptop, but my parents keep a strict eye on my browsing history and files, they have special software installed in all my devices that no one I paid managed to hack through."
"Sexy ladies?"
"Where do you keep your porn stash?" Ace said bluntly.
Red just looked on blankly, looked like he got it and then shook his head. Oh god, do I have to explain the birds and the bees to him?
"No... experience? At all? With a girl or..." Ace trailed off.
"Uhh none. But I do sit through sex ed class."
Ace felt that his jaw was about to fall off as Red was blushing madly. Ace sighed. This isn't the time to act cute and innocent, why is Red more like a female lead than the rest of the love interests?
"Right. I'll help you with your first experience."
Red nearly fell off the bed in shock.
After several minutes, both of them were sitting in front of Red's laptop, staring at the video intensely.
"That girl is not bad, 7/10," Ace said.
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"You can come out now, you're bad at hiding," Red said as he shook his head with a deadpan expression.
"Ah, you got me," Ace said, as he jumped out from the center of a life sized cardboard tree.
"Even if you're going to help me win over a girl... This is going beyond the job description, stalking us everywhere."
"Who says that i can't love my job!" Ace joked, ripping up the pieces of cardboard to recycle later. Yes, even Ace knew the importance of saving the environment, thank you.
Red scratched his head as he spoke, "What about we hang out? I could use some time to relax aside from trying to chase the girl I want. I have to watch my words around them all the time, it's quite stressful."
"I know it's cliche, but be yourself! If you're going to date someone seriously, it's going to be a matter of time until they figure you out," Ace said, "those girls, not to make fun of them or anything, but they don't have high expectations for men. What I mean is, they are the type who are satisfied if you're straight with them, even though Melissa would not show it because she was raised to mock people who do not follow the norms. I think it's incredibly cheesy but you have a kind heart and empathy, and it's probably enough.“
"Be myself?" Red echoed, "You're way better suited as a protagonist. You're basically perfect material."
"Of course I am," Ace replied, "but that means there isn't any character progression, and that it makes me not very relatable and overwhelming to hang out with. I bet none of the girls like me that way."
Red recalled moments when Ace played tennis with June every week, adopting a dog with Melissa, how Kiwi introduced Ace to her family and how the three girls stared at Ace's toned muscles at the beach.
"Yeaaaaah," Red said, unconvinced.
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"I think something huge happened in your life," his butler said cautiously, "recently you have been... Very content. I'm actually very happy for you, but I'm also very worried. Last time, you ordered a 'life-sized cardboard tree' online, and the following week, a cartoon magical girl costume. Now every single day I walk into the room, I can hear you giggle like a schoolgirl."
"Nah there's no need to be worried, but thank you for your concern," Ace said gratefully as he watched his laptop intensely.
" You've been very considerate lately, what caused this change in personality?" The butler asked curiously, "Is it a lover?"
"Even better."
"More than one girl is chasing you romantically?"
"What? No!" Ace said, slamming his laptop shut, "I've discovered shipping!"
The butler just looked confused. "You mean, shipping of a product you are waiting for?"
"Y-you won't get it," Ace said, while blushing, which was a rare sight even for the family butler who worked there for 11 years, "j-just leave and close the door behind you." Ace pushed his butler out of the door.
After the butler left, Ace opened his new, secretly bought laptop to a screen that had a special application the Gods installed known as 'Fan site' that was a website made by Gods for Gods and people to talk about the most incredible and popular 'games'. Apparently in the God realm, Gods watch people as a form of entertainment like on TV, and there were ratings for different games. For example, his game was rated 7.5 out of 10, which was a pretty decent score since most games are rated around 5. But other than watching himself, he also wrote... fanfiction on the site about Red dating the other girls, and even participated heavily on the forums, becoming one of the leaders of the Spring Love fanbase.
Online, he took the name of "Red_HaremKing".
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Spring Love fan forum
Topic: Best Ship??
LoliLove: So, after 23 episodes in, I really find Melissa to be a total bae. She's so cool and collected but has such an unexpectedly cute side to her. Like she loves chocolate banana ice cream so much she forgot to wipe her mouth and then Red took up a tissue and wiped it off. EEEEEE its so cute im blushing rn
JuneMyWife: Username does not check out lol. Kiwi is the loli. June > Melissa. Melissa follows that common trope where a cold girl suddenly shows her soft side, and that trope is so outdated. RED X JUNE
Red_HaremKing: Ladies, obviously the most correct choice is that he must pursue all three equally. Each girl has her own unique charm and personality, so why not have all three?
JuneMyWife: @Red_HaremKing didn't the synopsis of the show state that he can pursue only ONE girl? And pick one, harem king! I don't believe that you don't have a bias!
OtomeIsLife: Yesh why care about Red? He's just a Gary Stu with a boring background, like all other MCs in harem shows. I'd rather have best boy Ace be the protag. But if none of the girls want him I can have him for myself :p
LoliLove: Right? Ace is so well developed as a character, I ship him with June! When I see them play the tennis match in episode 12 it's like they have synergy or something!
SS_BL: i ship MC with Ace!
Red_HaremKing: What. No. Ace has nothing to do with the ships in this show. He's just a stuck up rich kid who thinks normal people are peasants to him. Do you want to date that kind of guy??? Only a superficial person would think Red is like a typical MC, he's the MC and Ace is the love rival for a good reason.
JuneMyWife: WTF harem king, didn't you say you watched all the episodes? It's obvious by now that Ace is just a very softhearted guy underneath his mask of confidence. Didn't you see that he paid for Kiwi's family business when it was going under, and even strongly rejected Kiwi trying to thank him at all! this type of men are hard to come around irl
OtomeIsLife: Ignore @Red_HaremKing he must just be a troll.
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Soon after that, Ace suddenly got spammed with hate mail, and then after a minute, he was banned on the forums. Pissed, he scowled as he turned to the fan fiction site. After reading a fluffy story on Red and Kiwi going on an amusement park date, he felt more relaxed and strangely happy, until he scrolled down to read the next title.
Baked with Love, an Ace X Kiwi fanfic
Me and Kiwi, what is this atrocity? Ace thought, letting his hands slam down onto his keyboard. Immediately, Ace let his hands fly over the keyboard, typing out a long hate comment onto that fan fic.
Red_HaremKing: Full of grammar mistakes, vocabulary as varied as a preschooler's. This pitiful excuse of a 'fanfiction' should not even exist because it taints the reputation of Spring Love. The writer needs a serious reality check, Kiwi is most likely not attracted to Ace, but at the most see him as a friend. Did you even watch the episodes?
When he scrolled further down, he felt his heart fall further, seeing a range of fanfiction that contains him and other girls, especially some weird fiction about him doing- okay that was too explicit. Ace slammed the laptop down with a reddened face. He'll even kill Gods to get rid of this content. Everyone should know by now that the Red harem route is always the best. As he waits to create a new account, he'll fight tooth and nail to show that.
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