The WeChat Request

The area around them was strangely quiet for a long moment.

Wang Luan'an was the first to snap out of it. His eyes darted between the two, amused. 'No, wait, top student—you won't add our school beauty's WeChat, but you insist on adding Yu Fan's? What, you really want to fight him or something?'

Chen Jingshen glanced at him. 'Fight?'

Wang Luan'an was about to ask more when the person next to him suddenly moved.

Yu Fan pulled his sleeve out of his grip again, harder this time.

'Add your mom. How many times do I have to say it, I don't—' Yu Fan cut himself off mid-sentence, grinding his teeth. 'Piss off. Stop bothering me.'

Wang Luan'an was about to say, 'Bro, no need for such a big reaction, right?' but when he turned his head, he froze again.

Why were his bro's ears red?

It was getting dark. Wang Luan'an wanted to get a better look, but Yu Fan had already turned and left.

His bro's cool silhouette, set against the bicycles passing by, looked a little hurried.

...

When he got home, Yu Fan lay down on the sofa, picked up his Mobile Phone, and swiped a couple of times.

A group chat he'd muted for over a year was now at the top of his WeChat, with messages already at 99+.

Zuo Kuan had created the group. It had all the students who annoyed the teachers, dozens of people, and Yu Fan didn't know more than half of them.

Right now, the ones from Zuo Kuan's class were chatting up a storm.

[What's up with that top student? I think Yu Fan really hates him.]

[No way. If he hated him, would he have just helped him get his money back?]

[But when the top student asked for his WeChat, he didn't give it, and he even verbally greeted the top student's parents!]

Yu Fan's eyelid twitched. He thought back to the expression on Chen Jingshen's face when he grabbed his clothes.

His gaze had dropped lightly, calmly, staring straight at him—exactly like when he handed over the love letter.

Fuck, did this guy have any self-awareness that he was gay?

Weren't gay people supposed to hide and keep it secret?

What did he mean by showing off like a peacock every day?

Yu Fan closed his eyes and rubbed his ear.

He'd left too fast. He should have punched Chen Jingshen in the eye.

Yu Fan moved his finger and left that trash group chat. When he returned to the main WeChat screen, there was suddenly a red '1' on the friends tab.

He opened it casually. It was a new friend request. The requester had a default profile picture—a simple gray-white silhouette—looked like a newly created account—

[s sent a friend request: I am Chen Jingshen.]

[Source: Added via a contact shared by 'Zhang Xianjing'.]

Yu Fan's brow twitched. He shot up from the sofa.

Without a second thought, he hit reject, took a screenshot, and sent it to Zhang Xianjing.

[-: ?]

[Zhang Xianjing: Hehe. I said I could give him your WeChat, and Chen Jingshen added me right away.]

[Zhang Xianjing: The top student already sent a request. Why don't you just add him?]

[-: No.]

[Zhang Xianjing: Oh, suit yourself. I got his WeChat anyway. If I trick him into giving me exam answers, I'll send you a copy too, you hero~]

Only then did Yu Fan remember there was still an exam answer sheet in his school uniform pocket.

He got up to fish it out. The draft paper had been crumpled and stuffed, pitifully wrinkled into a ball.

He stared at the thing for two seconds, let out a soft 'tsk,' picked it up, walked to his desk, opened the third drawer on the bottom, roughly smoothed it out, and tossed it inside.

The draft paper rustled a couple of times from the rough handling, then settled peacefully on top of the pink envelope.

Yu Fan casually boiled some dumplings. He'd only eaten a couple when, at exactly eight o'clock, his phone lit up again.

[s sent a friend request: I am Chen Jingshen.]

[- Rejected. Reason: Piss off.]

At nine, Yu Fan was taking a shower.

[s: I am Chen Jingshen.]

Did this motherfucker set an alarm or something?

Yu Fan dried his hands on a towel and rejected it.

At ten, Yu Fan had just opened the Snake Game.

[s: I am Chen Jingshen.]

At eleven, Yu Fan finished the Snake Game.

[s: I am Chen Jingshen.]

At midnight, Yu Fan stared at his phone screen, unable to take it anymore. The moment the friend request popped up, he hit accept.

'Come on.'

Expressionless, Yu Fan stared at the blank chat between him and Chen Jingshen.

'Let's see what bullshit you're going to spew.'

Ten minutes passed. No movement from the other side.

Twenty minutes passed. No message.

Thirty minutes passed. No message.

...

An hour later, Yu Fan looked at the completely empty chat between him and Chen Jingshen, expressionlessly opened s's profile, and dragged him into the blacklist.

-

In the middle of the night, Yu Fan opened his eyes to the sound of rustling.

The drowsiness that had just surfaced receded in an instant. He picked up his phone and checked the time: 3:30 AM, not even the roosters were awake.

Another clatter from outside the room.

Yu Fan's expression turned cold. He threw off the covers, got out of bed, and pulled out a badminton racket with a few broken strings from behind the curtain.

He walked quietly to the door, his hand just grasping the handle—

'I didn't hear the phone, I just got home. Did you place that bet for me or not? Bet on what... Didn't I tell you? Correct score 2-1, buy ten thousand—if you placed it, I'll pay you, you think I'd welch on a bet?'

Yu Kaiming's voice squeezed through the crack in the door like a power drill starting up without warning. 'Which channel has the live broadcast... got it, got it.'

Hearing the familiar voice, Yu Fan threw the racket back in its place, but his face turned even colder.

Two minutes later, the sound of a live sports commentator came from outside.

When Yu Fan opened the door, Yu Kaiming was twisting open a beer, legs propped up on the table, comfortably watching the game.

Annoyed that the TV volume was too low, Yu Kaiming picked up the remote and cranked it up by ten.

Yu Fan leaned against the doorframe. 'If you're deaf, go get treatment.'

Yu Kaiming paused in his drinking, then continued turning up the volume. His hand rested on the sofa, eyes still on the TV. 'I'm in my own home, I'll listen as loud as I want. If it's too noisy, get the hell out.'

Yu Fan didn't hesitate for a second. He turned back into his room, grabbed the stuff on the table in a hurry, snatched his jacket, and walked out the door.

Closing the door, he leaned against the electricity meter box and waited for a moment. The moment he heard 'Shoot—' from inside, he reached up, pulled down the main switch, then took a lock from his pocket and locked the meter box.

When Yu Kaiming leaned out from the Balcony, he happened to see Yu Fan's back.

His face red, he cursed crudely. 'Fuck your mother, Yu Fan! Get back here! You son of a bitch! I told you to get back here, you hear me—'

In the darkness, the boy's silhouette was thin. He couldn't be bothered to even reply, walking away without looking back.

Yu Fan went to the Internet Café, rented a computer, and slept for two hours.

The Internet Café was small. The only empty seat was next to a broken window.

He closed his eyes in the cold wind for two hours. The smell of smoke drifted over intermittently. The people in the next booth were playing a game like it was war, their voices louder than the KTV Lounge next door.

When Yu Fan woke up, his head was pounding. He felt like he might as well have pulled an all-nighter.

Early spring mornings were chilly, and a fine drizzle was falling.

The Internet Café owner was an old acquaintance. Seeing him come out, he poked his head out from the front desk. 'Yu Fan, heading to School? You're dressed so thin, didn't you know it's colder today? It's raining outside, take an umbrella.'

'No need.'

Yu Fan zipped up his school uniform jacket, turned, and walked into the rain.

When Chen Jingshen arrived at School, there were only a few people in the Classroom.

Seeing the person sleeping face-down on the desk, he paused slightly, then looked up at the clock above the blackboard.

Yu Fan had his whole face buried in his arms, hair messy, shoulders rising and falling slightly with his breath. It looked like he'd been sleeping there for a while.

It was a big temperature drop today. His thin school uniform jacket stood out against everyone else.

Chen Jingshen pulled his Textbook out from his desk and flipped through a couple of pages of the lesson.

A gust of cold air drifted in. The person next to him stirred, curling his fingers into the wide sleeves of his uniform.

Chen Jingshen stood up and quietly closed the window next to him.

When the class entered the Classroom and saw the person who was usually late already in his seat, they were all a bit surprised.

'Yu Fan, why are you here so early today?' Zhang Xianjing turned to look at him. 'Changed your ways?'

The fingers Yu Fan had hanging over the edge of the desk twitched. After a long moment, he squeezed out a 'Mm.'

'This tired? Did you go out thieving last night?'

Wang Luan'an raised an eyebrow. 'Isn't he this tired every day?'

'Usually he at least shows his face for a bit. Today all I see is hair.' Zhang Xianjing stretched, then turned her curved eyes to the person next to her. 'Dear deskmate, did you do yesterday's math homework?'

Wang Luan'an said, 'I did it. I'll let you copy.'

'Yeah right, with your math...' Zhang Xianjing said disdainfully. 'Morning self-study is about to start. Get back to your seat.'

'Hey, isn't that biting the hand that feeds you?'

Yu Fan wasn't actually asleep, but his head felt heavy and his whole body had no strength. He could only lie on the desk and listen in snatches.

The sounds around him grew more and more distant, eventually turning into syllables he couldn't understand, floating by his ears.

Before long, Zhuang Fangqin's vigorous voice came faintly. 'Some students, they look like they came early, but they've been sleeping all morning.'

'Forget it, let him sleep. He'll learn his lesson someday.'

After a moment, she changed her mind. 'Here's a new key point, everyone write it down... Who closed all the windows in the Classroom? Students in the back, open all the windows around you. Can't let the room get too comfortable, or some people will lie down and never get up.'

'I closed them, teacher.' A low voice came from beside her. 'I'm cold.'

Zhuang Fangqin looked at the short white down jacket on Chen Jingshen, puzzled. 'Oh... alright, then don't open them.'

'For the test paper I went over today, anyone who got a problem wrong, go home and copy the solution ten times. Hand it in tomorrow. Anyone who doesn't will stand at the blackboard for next week's math class.'

...

Yu Fan fell completely asleep.

After who knows how long, two light taps sounded by his ear, making his temples throb in response.

Wang Luan'an's voice drifted down from above. 'Bro, school's over. You've been sleeping all day, still sleeping? Come on, let's go eat.'

Yu Fan's head was splitting. He gave a very slight shake of his head.

Wang Luan'an: 'You're not coming?'

Yu Fan nodded.

'You're not hungry? I heard a new malatang place opened at the end of the street. It's so cold today, you really don't want to go?' Wang Luan'an said. 'Alright, I'll go by myself then.'

Yu Fan's eyelashes fluttered. He couldn't be bothered to respond.

Before leaving, Wang Luan'an subconsciously glanced at the person next to Yu Fan.

School had been out for a while, but Chen Jingshen was still tilted to the side, studying. His posture was a bit more relaxed than during class, his jawline cold and taut, his gaze fixed on the problems in his workbook.

No wonder he's the top student, Wang Luan'an thought.

The top student stayed in the Classroom after school to grind problems. He was determined to out-study everyone else.

The class left one by one, until only the last two people remained in the Classroom.

After finishing the test paper in his hand, Chen Jingshen glanced sideways. The person next to him was still lying there, with no sign of waking up.

He leaned back and pulled out another new test paper from his desk.

After solving two problems, he heard the person next to him let out a heavy breath.

Chen Jingshen's pen paused. He turned to look and realized something was off with Yu Fan.

Yu Fan felt like he'd slept himself into a daze, alternating between hot and cold, his throat dry and painful, his breathing labored.

A draft of cold air seeped in through the crack in the door. He shrank from the cold. Just as he was about to shift position, he suddenly felt a warm touch on the back of his neck.

Before he could register what it was, the thing turned over and pressed fully against his skin.

The boy's palm was broad and scorching hot, easily covering his entire nape.

Yu Fan shuddered. The whole area of skin began to tingle.

He struggled to open his eyes, turned his head, and glanced at the person beside him.

Chen Jingshen had one hand on his nape, the other tapping on his phone. Feeling the gaze, he lifted his eyes slightly.

Yu Fan's eyes were already burning red, faintly coloring the area beneath the mole at the corner of his eye. His pitch-black pupils were fixed on him without moving.

After a long moment, Yu Fan moved his lips with difficulty.

The person who hadn't spoken for a long time had a hoarse voice, lacking his usual force.

'You motherfucker...' Yu Fan squinted. 'Sexual harassment?'

.

Chen Jingshen frowned, his lips pressed into a straight line. After a moment, he spoke.

'Yu Fan, you have a fever.'