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Medical Center.
The birthday party was a total hit.
Everyone was having a blast—including Sheldon, who'd fully embraced the "ooh, this is actually awesome" vibe.
A shiny Thomas the Tank Engine worth treasuring? Yeah, that was enough to keep him hooked and happy.
Sheldon always acted like everyone else was beneath him—like ants, basically. By that logic, he'd be some superior, non-human being.
But nope, he was dead wrong. Like, way off.
The "Law of True Enjoyment"—one of humanity's core traits? He's got it in spades.
So, yeah, still human after all.
Adam wasn't shocked one bit.
Having seen Sheldon's life play out dozens of times, it's clear the guy's whole existence is a highlight reel of the True Enjoyment Law, plus plenty of "I'll just go with it" moments.
What he'd told Emilia earlier—that if you figure out the trick, Sheldon's "pretty easy to get along with"—wasn't just empty comfort.
Like Sheldon himself said, you either roll with him or go against him.
But here's the thing: even when he picks the second option—going against him—it's not some grand third path. It's still option two. Normally, if you push back, Sheldon's got a bag of petty tricks up his sleeve—pranks, or playing the "poor me" card with some fake self-pity.
He's mastered the art of being adorable.
If his mischief fails, he'll cute his way into making you feel bad, so you back off and slide from "against him" to "with him" without even noticing.
But against Adam—who knows him inside out and has the tools to flip the script—Sheldon's stuck in option two with no comeback.
He knows it's a bad look. If too many people catch on, it'll get harder to flip their "against him" into "with him."
Still, he's sharp enough to realize Adam's got his number—and he can't fight back.
That's why he calls it a "third option"—a special case. He's trying to distance Adam's tactics from his usual flip-the-script game, cutting his losses fast.
What a little schemer! 😏
This clever little gremlin was all smiles with his Thomas train… until Paige, fed up with his smugness, suggested a chess match. That pure joy? Poof—gone.
In a peak showdown, Sheldon lost. Again.
Good thing it's par for the course by now.
He didn't flip the table like the first time, face screaming "I'm not okay with this, let's go again!"
"You and Adam should play," Paige said with a sneaky grin. "Neither of you can beat me, so whoever wins gets a shot at me next."
"Me and Adam?"
Sheldon froze, then smirked with pure disdain. "Oh, Paige, Paige, Paige~"
He'd been losing to Paige for years—science pecking order, academic wins, you name it. She's always had the edge.
He's used to it by now.
Plus, Paige does math, he does physics—no direct clash there.
So losing to her in chess? Not a big deal.
But now Paige wanted him to play Adam—and acted like she was curious who'd win? That made him scoff at her whole idea.
"Oh, Sheldon, Sheldon, Sheldon~"
Paige grinned, teasing. "What's on your mind?"
"Do I really need to spell it out?"
Sheldon shot Adam a glance, flashing a smug, punchable smile at Paige.
"You think you've got this in the bag?"
Paige's grin widened.
"Obviously?"
Sheldon gave her a "duh" look.
"Adam?"
Paige turned to him.
"Uh, not sure about this…"
Adam smiled modestly.
Winning or losing? He didn't care much.
But Sheldon? He might not handle losing so well.
If Adam won, Sheldon could stir up some chaos.
Paige leaned in and whispered something to Adam.
"For real?"
Adam's eyes lit up, and he sat up straight, pumped.
"Beat Sheldon, and it's real," Paige said with a laugh.
"I have to win!"
Adam was all in now. "Sheldon, let's do this!"
Sheldon making a fuss if he lost? Whatever—his mom and grandma were around to coddle him. Adam wouldn't have to deal with it.
Paige's rare,主动 offer? That was a golden ticket he never saw coming. He was hyped!
This was her loosening up after their trio reunited for the first time in years—pure joy talking. Miss this shot, and who knows when it'd come again?
Sheldon was playing this chess game whether he liked it or not!
Adam's call! 😤
"You seriously wanna play me?"
Sheldon's eyes widened, staring at Adam.
"What? Scared?"
Adam dropped the modesty, egging him on. "You chicken?" (Chicken meaning "backing out" in English slang.)
"That's ridiculous!"
Sheldon yelped. "Chickens aren't even that cowardly! Don't you remember how I used to get chased up the big elm tree by the neighbor's chickens when I was a kid?"
"Oh, I remember! No one could forget that!"
Adam glanced at Paige, who was grinning ear to ear. His excitement spiked, and he waved off Sheldon's tangent. "Are we playing or not? Don't tell me you're actually chickening out!"
"Fine, if you're set on humiliating yourself, what can I say?"
Sheldon shrugged.
Adam slid into Paige's spot.
Sheldon even tried to let Adam take white and go first.
Adam peeked at Paige.
"Coin toss," she said, smiling. "Fair fight."
She and Sheldon always tossed for it too.
White going first has a slight edge—stats show 53% of grandmaster games end in draws, 29% with white winning, and 18% with black.
"Coin toss it is."
Adam didn't care about fairness—he just wanted the W.
But Paige's words clicked: if he didn't beat Sheldon fair and square with real skill, her offer might lose its shine. And that's not what he wanted.
So now? Full throttle. Best effort.
Back in the day, even with an IQ matching Sheldon's, beating him would've been a pipe dream. Adam wouldn't have overthought it.
But since getting closer to Paige—especially after she started teaching him math—they'd been playing chess together a ton.
It felt like doing "homework" after class—if you catch my drift. 😉
Luckily, their brains were sharp enough that they didn't need a physical board to ruin the vibe. Souls locked, a starry chessboard formed between them, black and white pieces clashing in a flicker of light.
Adam's IQ was already sky-high and still climbing. Add constant sparring with a top-tier player like Paige? His chess game had leveled up—night and day from before.
Sheldon had no clue.
Adam played it coy, lulling him into a false sense of security. One careless slip from Sheldon, and Adam pounced—major damage, game over.
"NO!!!"
"YES!"
"Hehe!"
Sheldon's shocked scream mixed with Adam's smug laugh and Paige's gleeful giggle.