He's such a kind fella, those rumours are awful and fake and only purpose is to drag his name through the mud. It's justified that he's anxious rn since he did just died.
I really like the story so far and our two protagonists. If the ML was the soft inside but mean and arrogant outside type,, I would have gotten tired of that type of ML so this ML is refreshing where they clear their relationship and argument in 1 chapter instead of dragging to many chapters where they finally get along and show their true self. So showing ML that's kind and reasonable with their feelings on first two meeting is very nice, it's like meeting a stranger that wants to help you when they saw you're in trouble.