Classroom Awkwardness and a Subtle Confession

Sports Day lasted two days, and then a weekend followed right after.

When Monday came around, the class still hadn't shaken off that relaxed vibe.

Yu Fan got roped into manual labor the moment he walked into the classroom.

The class had placed third in the grade for Sports Day this time, winning quite a few certificates for various events. Zhuang Fangqin came over first thing in the morning just to stick them all on the back wall.

Zhuang Fangqin directed from below, head tilted back: 'A little to the left... too far left, it's crooked, crooked... Do you have any sense of balance at all? Look how straight Chen Jingshen put his up.'

Yu Fan stood on the chair, pinching the two corners of the certificate, feeling like an idiot: 'Then why didn't you just have him stick them all up?'

'These are awards each person earned themselves, so of course you have to put your own up,' Zhuang Fangqin said. 'This might be the only certificate you get in all three years of high school, so stick it on properly and don't tear it!'

'...'

After Yu Fan finished putting up his second-place certificate for the long jump, Zhuang Fangqin shoved a first-place relay certificate at him and told him to put that up too while he was at it.

Yu Fan adjusted it dozens of times according to her instructions before she was finally satisfied.

Just as he was about to get down, he suddenly noticed that next to the relay certificate was Chen Jingshen's certificate for the 3000m.

After all that hassle, Yu Fan couldn't resist picking a fight: 'Why does a second-place certificate get to be at the very top alongside a first-place one?'

Zhuang Fangqin: 'He never complained about being on the same report card as you, you know.'

'...'

'Alright, get down now.'

When Yu Fan got back to his seat, Chen Jingshen was explaining a problem to a boy.

Yu Fan didn't recognize this boy—he only remembered that he'd transferred here with Chen Jingshen, and they'd never spoken before.

Yu Fan walked over, but before he could say anything, Chen Jingshen had already stood up to make room for him.

Wu Cai, who had come to ask a question, secretly looked up and watched the school bully expertly toss his mobile phone into the desk, expertly spread his school uniform over the table, and expertly lie down to sleep.

He'd been in the Elite Class all through middle and high school, so honestly, he rarely saw classmates like this. Always sleeping in class, talking back to teachers, and sometimes he'd even run into them smoking in the bathroom.

He was a little scared of Yu Fan, but also found him fascinating.

'Got it?' Chen Jingshen looked up and noticed where the other guy's gaze was, then spoke in a flat tone.

'Ah.' Wu Cai snapped back to attention immediately. 'Got it, got it! Thanks, study god!'

'Actually, I still have one problem I'm not too sure about, but morning self-study is about to start...' Wu Cai smiled, looked up sincerely, and said, 'I wish we were still deskmates.'

Chen Jingshen capped his pen and stared back at him expressionlessly.

For a split second, Wu Cai felt like his face said, 'Are you done? Then go.'

So he tactfully picked up his Question Bank and stood up: 'Thanks, study god. I'll head back to my seat.'

In math class, Zhuang Fangqin stood at the podium and announced the midterm exam two weeks from now.

The class erupted in groans.

'That soon—'

'Why another exam...'

'What? Didn't we just start school yesterday? And now it's midterms already?' Wang Luan'an's voice was the loudest.

She snapped a piece of chalk in half with one hand, threw one half at Wang Luan'an, and the other half at the head slumped over in the back row.

Only after Yu Fan sat up with his eyes closed, looking thoroughly annoyed, did she continue.

'What are you yelling about? This is nothing. Wait till you're seniors, you'll have at least two exams a month.' Zhuang Fangqin pointed at the wall. 'But don't get discouraged either. Think about it—you went from dead last in the grade to third place at the Sports Day. Can't you do the same for the midterms?'

The class was silent for a moment.

Wang Luan'an: 'Qin, not gonna lie—Yu Fan can take first and second at the Sports Day, but what can you expect from him on an exam?'

Zhuang Fangqin: '...'

Yu Fan kept his eyes closed and said nothing, showing no intention of arguing.

Zhang Xianjing propped her chin up: 'Teacher, our class average on the last grade-wide exam wasn't dead last either.'

'Then what was it?' Wu Cai couldn't help asking.

'Third from the bottom.'

Wu Cai's vision went dark.

'Alright, anyway, that's the deal. I'm telling you in advance—after the exam comes parent-teacher conferences, so you'd better think about what you're doing.' Zhuang Fangqin said. 'Also, about the seating...'

'A lot of you have complaints about the current seating, and some parents have even come to me about it. So after the midterms, I'll take your score changes into account and make some small adjustments.'

'Finally, certain classmates—Yu Fan, open your eyes for me... certain classmates, if you still give up on yourselves and won't even write the multiple-choice questions, then I'll have no choice but to move you to sit right next to the podium.'

She called him out, but didn't fully call him out.

The moment class ended, Wang Luan'an rushed over.

'Damn, I'm sure of it,' he lowered his voice and shot a resentful glance at the discipline monitor, 'the people who went to Fangqin to ask for a seat change definitely include my deskmate!'

Zhang Xianjing: 'Can't blame others. Who told you to sleep in class every day?'

'So what? I didn't bother him. Besides, Yu Fan sleeps in class every day too, and the study god never complained, right?' Wang Luan'an tilted his chin. 'Right, study god?'

No answer.

Wang Luan'an turned his head and saw Chen Jingshen with his eyes down, working on problems.

His knuckles gripped the pen, his lips pressed cold and tight. The sharp lines of his brows and eyes made him look icy whenever he was silent.

'That's different—Yu Fan doesn't snore when he sleeps.' Zhang Xianjing flipped her hair. 'Besides, do you really want to sit next to the discipline monitor?'

'Hell no. My name shows up in his discipline book even more often than Yu Fan's. I'd love to stay far away from him—but he can't just go to the teacher and ask to switch seats on his own. That makes me lose face.'

Zhang Xianjing rolled her eyes at him.

She remembered something and suddenly nudged her deskmate: 'Ke Ting, just now the teacher said some student's parent asked for a seat change. That couldn't be your mom, could it? Your mom didn't like me sitting with you last semester, boohoo.'

Ke Ting froze for a second, then quickly went back to her usual blank expression and answered quietly: 'No. I told my mom we're not sitting together this semester.'

'Good.'

Wang Luan'an: '...'

Good where??

Zhang Xianjing was satisfied and turned to the person who hadn't said a word: 'Yu Fan, what's your plan?'

Yu Fan leaned back in his chair and looked up at her: 'What?'

'Didn't you hear what Fangqin said? If you do badly this time, you're moving to the front of the podium.'

Tap. Yu Fan heard his deskmate gently set his pen down on the desk.

Yu Fan was about to say she was bluffing—Zhuang Fangqin had threatened to put him by the podium countless times, and he'd been sitting among the students for two years already.

Zhuang Fangqin didn't like singling out any student.

But the words reached his lips and he swallowed them back.

Yu Fan lifted his head and looked toward the podium.

Wang Luan'an: 'What are you looking at?'

Yu Fan: 'Checking which side of the podium has the better view.'

'...'

The person next to him suddenly stood up, the desk and chair scraping. Yu Fan instinctively looked up.

He only caught a glimpse of Chen Jingshen's cold profile. Chen Jingshen put down his pen, stood up, and walked out of the classroom without a word.

It was kind of amazing, actually.

Chen Jingshen's expression right now was no different from usual, but Yu Fan could somehow sense, very subtly, that Chen Jingshen was in a bad mood.

'But sitting in front would be super inconvenient for playing on your phone and stuff... Yu Fan?' Wang Luan'an called him. 'What are you staring at?'

Yu Fan pulled his gaze back: 'Nothing.'

Chen Jingshen didn't come back until the bell rang for class.

When he returned, his expression was even colder, and he even pulled out his physics textbook right in front of the Chinese teacher.

Yu Fan, who had just openly indicated he didn't want to be his deskmate, raised an eyebrow.

Who's he putting on that face for.

The Chinese teacher was explaining classical Chinese at the podium. Her voice was gentle, her pace slow—very conducive to falling asleep.

The nerves that Zhuang Fangqin had wound tight for half a class quickly relaxed in Yu Fan.

He scooted his chair back a little and lay down again. Within a few minutes, drowsiness swept back over him.

...

Just as he was about to fall asleep, his shoulder was suddenly bumped.

Yu Fan was a light sleeper. He lifted his head from his arms almost reflexively. His hair stuck up messily in front, and he squinted with a frown at the direction the bump came from—

Chen Jingshen sat up straight, his arm bent and slightly crossing the line between their two desks.

He seemed unaware of Yu Fan's gaze, looking down as he took notes.

Accidental?

This guy had long arms and legs—it wasn't impossible for him to brush against things sometimes.

Yu Fan held back, rubbed his eyes, and lay back down.

Two minutes later, the sound of a water bottle hitting the floor yanked Yu Fan back from outer space.

He lifted his head, showing one eye, and watched his deskmate bend down to pick up the bottle and put it back on the desk.

'...'

A little while later.

Yu Fan lifted his head from a dull thud and glared at Chen Jingshen through gritted teeth.

Chen Jingshen flipped open the thick classical Chinese annotation book on his desk—thicker than a brick—and marked a key point without even looking up.

Yu Fan's drowsiness had been chased all the way to Spain.

The only reason I'm not beating you up is out of respect for the Chinese teacher.

Yu Fan rubbed his face, sat up with a dark expression, grabbed his phone, opened the Snake Game, and started biting the enemy snake as if it were Chen Jingshen.

He had just eaten an extremely long Chen Jingshen when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the guy next to him pick up the brick-like book, apparently meaning to shove it back into the drawer. On the way, the brick 'accidentally' knocked into the upright Chinese textbook that Yu Fan had set up as cover.

The textbook fell with a thud, landing precisely on his phone. Yu Fan fumbled, and with a clatter, the phone dropped to the floor.

Yu Fan: '...'

The noise was loud enough that the whole class turned around to look.

The Chinese teacher, who had been writing on the board, turned around very slowly. Her willow-leaf brows were slightly furrowed, her expression both angry and aggrieved.

'I believe my good temper is not a reason for you to take advantage of it,' she said. 'Last row, second from the end. Classmate Yu, Classmate Chen. Please pick up your textbooks and go stand in front of the blackboard.'

Yu Fan: '...'

Wang Luan'an was about to joke around with his bro as he passed by, but when he looked up and saw that coffin face, he quickly shut his mouth.

Only after she saw the two of them standing properly did the Chinese teacher turn back to the board with satisfaction.

Yu Fan clutched his textbook, closed his eyes, and had just told himself in his head, 'Murder is against the law'—

'Wrong page,' came a voice from beside him. 'The teacher's on page 47.'

'Chen Jingshen,' Yu Fan ground his teeth, 'come to the bathroom with me after class.'

Chen Jingshen: 'Open to page 47, and I'll go to the bathroom with you.'

'...'

Chen Jingshen said: 'Math is hard without a foundation. Chinese is a new lesson—you might be able to follow it.'

Yu Fan frowned in confusion: 'Chen Jingshen, what exactly are you trying to do?'

Chen Jingshen said: 'I want to keep sitting next to the person I have a crush on.'

'............'

Silence from beside him.

Chen Jingshen turned his head to look at him, meeting Yu Fan's murderous glare and bright red ears.

'What's wrong,' Chen Jingshen said. 'I didn't say 'like' this time.'

'................'

Yu Fan stared at the classical Chinese text in front of him, crumpling the textbook in his grip until it crackled.

Damn it.

Can't stand another day of this.

Can the midterms just be tomorrow?