beta
Blondie seems like a very cute child and maybe a good match for the MC... But sometimes romance isn't important.
It's cold, it's cruel, and it's mercenary but the gray haired guy is the MC's chance to escape. They're in high school, he can find another romance when he's grown. He has to get away before his father is out of prison and beats him to death. That's so much more important than anything else and so far the gray-haired guy is his only chance.
That doesn't mean I think the gray-haired guy is a good long-term partner. He's a douchebag who deserves to be used and tossed aside.
Maybe Blondie is secretly rich too but until he is I just don't find myself rooting for him. It's not because he's not nice or good, but rather I place survival over romance.