Chapter 43

Yu Fan propped his hand against his cheek, completely blocking the line of sight between him and Chen Jingshen.

He stared at the words in his textbook, still not turning his head. 'No. Who's mad? I'm not mad.'

Chen Jingshen said, 'Then why are you ignoring me?'

'Tired. Don't feel like talking.'

Yu Fan could feel Chen Jingshen silently watching him for a while.

A few seconds later, the gaze on him disappeared, and the person next to him started reading the lesson aloud in a low voice along with the Chinese class representative.

Yu Fan unconsciously relaxed, rubbing his face hard a few times.

He really wasn't mad. He couldn't blame Chen Jingshen for the dream. If anyone was to blame, it was Zhu Xu — dating early and kissing in the classroom hallway, no wonder he got caught. Next time he saw it, he'd just call Fat Tiger directly.

Morning reading ended. The first two periods today were math. Zhuang Fangqin hadn't arrived yet, and group leaders were taking the chance to collect homework.

Ke Ting stood up and collected from the front to the back. When she reached Yu Fan, she asked carefully, 'Yu Fan, are you turning in math homework? Teacher Zhuang said anyone who doesn't hand it in today has to stand for both math periods.'

Yu Fan leaned back in his chair, bent down to look for his textbook, and said without looking up, 'Didn't do it, I'm not—'

'His and mine.' Chen Jingshen pulled two math test papers from his desk and placed them in front of Ke Ting.

Yu Fan was startled. He first glanced at his own drawer, then looked up at the two papers Ke Ting had just taken. 'When did you take them?'

'When you went to the bathroom.'

'...You can't even copy my handwriting. You want to stand for two periods together?'

Chen Jingshen said calmly, 'I think I got it this time.'

Yu Fan didn't believe him. He stood up and grabbed the papers from Ke Ting's hand. 'Let me see.'

Seeing the handwriting on the paper, his eyebrows twisted into a knot, his reaction exactly the same as before. 'What the hell? Does this look like my handwriting??'

When he said the last part, he instinctively looked up for confirmation.

Ke Ting, under his gaze, could only look down at the paper and then said quietly, 'It... kind of does?'

'...'

Yu Fan opened his mouth to say something, but then someone touched his waist. Through the thin summer uniform, he instantly felt the warmth of the other person's hand.

Chen Jingshen looked at the figure outside the door. 'Fangqin is com—'

Crash!

Yu Fan jolted, dodging to the side, crashing into his own desk and chair, shifting his desk and Ke Ting's chair in front.

The loud noise from the desk and chair made the whole class turn around to look.

Chen Jingshen still had his hand raised, turning along with everyone else to look at the person who had flinched away.

'Yu Fan!' Zhuang Fangqin stepped into the classroom and shouted from the doorway. 'Can't sit still in your seat? Trying to pick a fight with the desk? Want to stand at the back for class?!'

To be honest, Yu Fan kind of did want to.

But his deskmate had already extended his noble hand and pulled his chair and desk back into place. So Yu Fan could only mutter 'No,' and sit back down woodenly.

Zhuang Fangqin shot him a glare, walking toward the podium while asking the group leaders who hadn't turned in homework.

After sitting down, Yu Fan stuffed his hands in his pockets and stared at the cover of his math workbook.

Chen Jingshen glanced down at his uniform. 'Does it hurt?'

'It doesn't hurt. Don't talk to me.' Yu Fan's voice was flat. 'I can't talk to you right now.'

His ears were red again.

How could this guy be so amusing?

Chen Jingshen asked, 'Then when can you talk to me?'

Yu Fan estimated. 'After second period.'

Wang Luan'an was the only one in the class who hadn't done the math homework.

He stood holding his textbook, not really paying attention to the lesson, and eavesdropped on the conversation at the next desk.

But what were those two talking about? It sounded like some encrypted conversation to him.

He turned his head and happened to see Chen Jingshen give a faint 'Oh,' then turn back to face the front and look at the blackboard.

Wang Luan'an stared at Chen Jingshen's profile, stunned. He instinctively patted the person next to him and whispered, 'Holy shit, is the top student smiling?'

The Class Discipline Officer pushed up his glasses and ignored him. He just opened his discipline notebook and, on the page for talking in class, smoothly wrote down 'Wang Luan'an.'

After two math periods ended, Zhuang Fangqin put down the papers and leaned on the podium with one hand. 'Alright, before class ends, I'll make a few simple seat changes.'

Yu Fan's originally lazy posture unconsciously tensed up, and he instinctively looked at Zhuang Fangqin on the podium.

...Right, he had almost forgotten. Seats were supposed to change after the midterms.

Chen Jingshen would probably be moved too.

After all, his mom had said so.

Yu Fan leaned back in his chair, watching Zhuang Fangqin flip through the new seating arrangement, and suddenly felt a bit stuffy. It was the kind of feeling he got when he came home and found the lights on — annoyance mixed with a little resistance.

After a few seconds, Yu Fan snapped back to reality.

What was there to be annoyed about? Wasn't it perfect if Chen Jingshen moved away? From now on, no one would stare at him in class, no one would bother him every day explaining problems, and Chen Jingshen wouldn't get called out by Zhuang Fangqin for him not studying.

There was a rustling sound from beside him. Yu Fan turned his head and saw Chen Jingshen bending down, fiddling with his desk.

?

Fangqin hadn't even announced it yet. Was he that eager? Was this his attitude toward being separated from the person he had a crush on?

Go, go, go. Just move away already, so I don't have to hear 'like, like, like' in my ear all day. So annoying—

'Cai Yun and Xie En'en switch seats. Class Monitor and Zhou Xiaoye switch. And...' Zhuang Fangqin's gaze drifted over to them. 'Wu Cai, you switch with the Class Discipline Officer.'

Zhuang Fangqin closed her notebook. 'Alright, use the break to switch quickly. Don't delay the next class.'

The moment Zhuang Fangqin left, the classroom filled with the sound of desks being moved. This kind of small-scale seat change was actually more lively than a full class swap.

Sensing the gaze from beside him, Chen Jingshen turned his head. 'Can we talk now?'

Yu Fan looked at him. '...Why didn't you get moved?'

'Why would I get moved?'

'Your mom—' Yu Fan paused, stopping himself just in time. '—of a bitch. Then why were you packing your bag?'

Chen Jingshen raised an eyebrow and stated, 'Class ended. I'm putting away my textbook.'

'...'

—

As the biggest beneficiary of this seat change, Wang Luan'an was genuinely happy all day.

After second period in the afternoon, Wang Luan'an walked to the hallway, leaning against the window in a good mood, soaking up the afternoon sun.

Zhang Xianjing propped her chin on one hand, her beautiful long hair loose. 'Is it really that great? The Class Discipline Officer is at the first desk now, but he still turns around to stare at you two or three times every period.'

'Doesn't matter, as long as he's not right next to me staring.' Wang Luan'an remembered something and propped his elbows on the windowsill. 'Top student, I saw your family's car at the parent-teacher meeting yesterday. That thing's badass.'

Teenagers weren't that sensitive about this kind of thing. Wang Luan'an genuinely meant the car was awesome. But after a moment, he added, 'Also saw your mom. She's really beautiful.'

Chen Jingshen tossed his pen into his pencil case and said flatly, 'Thanks.'

Wang Luan'an: 'I could tell you got it from her. Especially the nose and—'

Yu Fan grabbed his water bottle and threw it toward the window. 'So noisy.'

Wang Luan'an dodged, reached out, and caught the bottle steadily. His peripheral vision glanced at the hallway of the neighboring class.

He put the bottle back on Yu Fan's desk and nudged Zuo Kuan's arm. 'Zuo Kuan, what's up with that girl from your class? She was about to come over, then saw me and turned back. Is she crushing on me?'

Zuo Kuan glanced back in that direction. 'Yeah right, like it'd be you. That's the one I mentioned at lunch last time. She's looking at Yu Fan.'

The person who was called out sat motionlessly playing on their Mobile Phone, not even turning their head.

Yu Fan opened Snake Game. Just as he was about to start a new game, his peripheral vision caught the friend leaderboard.

He paused, then couldn't help elbowing the person next to him. 'When did you beat my high score??'

Chen Jingshen glanced at him. 'After we hung up the video last night.'

'...'

Their voices were low, so no one else heard clearly. Wang Luan'an said 'Oh' without much interest. 'Why do so many people have a crush on Yu Fan? Just because he's handsome?'

Zuo Kuan: 'What else?'

"Not entirely." Zhang Xianjing analyzed lazily. "Mainly it's that Bad Boy Lounge aura about Yu Fan."

Yu Fan was a bit stunned by that. He finally looked up. 'Talk about someone else.'

Zuo Kuan was indignant, frowning. 'What, I'm not a bad boy? I'm fucking bad as hell!'

Yu Fan: '...'

'That's different,' Zhang Xianjing began to analyze. 'Not to mention Yu Fan is better looking than you, he's also quiet, tall, and has that hair that's almost covering his eyes...'

Zuo Kuan grabbed his own hair. 'Mine isn't long enough?'

'Depends on who it is. With Yu Fan's face, half-hidden gives that melancholic vibe. You... you'd better not grow it out. You'd look like a dumb emo kid.'

Zuo Kuan: '...'

Wang Luan'an bent down to size up his buddy. 'Damn, so that's why Yu Fan doesn't like cutting his hair. He's been planning to seduce the girls all along.'

Next period was self-study. Chen Jingshen pulled out a competition paper and was working on it. Hearing that, his calculation slowed down a bit.

That slight slowdown was noticed by Yu Fan.

'Shut up.' His heart inexplicably beat a little faster. Yu Fan raised his hand and messily pushed his front hair back. 'I'm getting it cut after school. Shaved clean.'

Wang Luan'an: 'For real?'

Yu Fan: 'Would I lie for money—'

'Oh shit oh shit oh shit!' Zhu Xu hurried over from the next class, slapping hard on their window. 'Fat Tiger's coming! Run!'

Wang Luan'an was startled and instinctively made a motion like putting out a cigarette. After doing it, he came to his senses. 'Damn it, so what if he comes? We're not even smoking. Why run?'

'He's got two barbers with him!' Zhu Xu said. 'He just chopped off the hair of all the freshmen who didn't meet the dress code! He's heading to our Academic Building right now!'

Holy shit?

The two standing outside the window hadn't even reacted when they heard a loud crash beside them — the sound of a chair being shoved back abruptly.

Yu Fan pulled out 'Ben Fei' from his drawer, rolled it up and held it in his hand, tossed his phone into his pocket, and stood up.

Remembering he still had today's math homework, Yu Fan bent down and started rummaging through his drawer again.

Wang Luan'an asked blankly, 'What are you doing?'

'What do you think?' Yu Fan said. 'Sit here and wait for Fat Tiger to cut your hair?'

'Oh, oh, oh.' Wang Luan'an snapped out of it and quickly went into the classroom to grab his stuff, ready to bolt.

But as he was grabbing things, he thought something was off. He turned around and asked, 'Wait, why are you running? Weren't you just about to shave your head?'

'...'

Yu Fan's hand froze as he was pulling out the paper.

'Who knows what level those barbers he brought are?' After a moment, he squeezed out a sentence.

Wang Luan'an: 'You're going to shave it all off anyway. Who cares what level they are?'

'...'

'After I shave it, I still want to leave a letter here,' Yu Fan pointed at the back right of his head. 'Would Fat Tiger let me keep that?'

Wang Luan'an wanted to say that was way too cheesy, but seeing his buddy's deadpan face, he shut his mouth. '...Probably not. Let's just run.'

Yu Fan clutched his workbook, wanting to kick the chair of the person next to him to make him move.

Unexpectedly, Chen Jingshen stood up before he could extend his leg, slung his bag over his shoulder.

Yu Fan was taken aback. 'What are you doing?'

'Coming with you guys.' Chen Jingshen said, 'I don't want a haircut either.'

Yu Fan glanced at Chen Jingshen's hair. It was a bit long, but not noticeably so.

Wang Luan'an had already packed his bag and came over. 'It's fine, top student. Your hair's okay. Just slick it back a bit and Fat Tiger definitely won't catch you.'

'Just in case.' Chen Jingshen asked, 'Where are you guys going?'

Wang Luan'an said blankly, 'The back gate's been tight these days. Can't get out. Probably play some ball.'

'Can I join?'

'Yeah, of course you can...'

The dangling strap of Chen Jingshen's bag was grabbed by someone. He turned to look.

'Why are you butting in?' Yu Fan said coldly. 'Just go to your class.'

'I really don't want a haircut.' Chen Jingshen looked down at him. 'It's self-study anyway. Take me with you.'

—

During the two self-study periods on Friday afternoon for the sophomores, the basketball court was almost entirely filled with freshmen boys.

Since it was a last-minute skip, they couldn't get enough people. Zhu Xu simply grabbed a few freshmen athletes who weren't training and had them play 5v5.

Both sides traded blows. The tall figures of the boys darted and jumped across the court, soon drawing a crowd of onlookers.

The two most handsome ones were especially eye-catching.

Chen Jingshen hadn't played basketball this freely in a long time. Ever since he joined the basketball team in middle school and Ji Lianyi almost shut down the entire basketball activity, few people had asked him to play, and he consciously stopped joining.

At the most tense moment of the score, Chen Jingshen sank a clean three-pointer, taking the lead. Wang Luan'an and Zuo Kuan, who were charging at the opponent's rebound, rushed over excitedly to pat him, shouting 'Awesome!'

Yu Fan was the last to fall back on defense. As he passed by him, he patted his shoulder.

'Nice.'

A moment later, Yu Fan turned, faked out two opponents, and slammed a beautiful dunk.

Hearing the opponent's undisguised 'Fuck' of surprise, Yu Fan couldn't help smiling. He turned and lowered his head to walk back, when his hair was suddenly pressed down by someone.

Yu Fan was stunned. He looked up to see who it was.

Chen Jingshen had unbuttoned the top two buttons of his collar, rare for him. Sweat dampened the hair on his forehead, revealing his sharp, lean features. He looked down, smiled, and said, 'Nice.'

'...'

The game ended, and everyone was exhausted.

Playing ball in summer was both satisfying and torturous. The air was hot and dry. A few guys even lay down on the spot to catch their breath, their chests heaving violently.

Yu Fan wiped the sweat from his chin, picked up a sweaty Mineral Water Bottle from the stone bench, and tilted his head back to chug. The bottle was half empty in an instant.

He turned around and saw Chen Jingshen standing behind him.

Chen Jingshen was also drenched in sweat, his uniform just as messy as theirs. But maybe because his face was so cool, he didn't have that dirty, sweaty, smelly look the other guys had.

Everyone else was chugging water, but Chen Jingshen's hands were empty.

The icy water slid down his throat, refreshing. Yu Fan was satisfied and asked him, 'Not drinking?'

'I want to.' Chen Jingshen said, 'I'm waiting.'

'Waiting for what?' His throat was still dry. After saying that, Yu Fan tilted his head back and took another gulp.

'Water.'

'?'

Chen Jingshen lowered his eyes, glancing at his hand. 'The water in your hand is mine.'

'...'

How was that possible? He had only taken two sips. The other bottles on the stone bench were all empty—

His peripheral vision caught something. Yu Fan looked down and saw a Mineral Water Bottle that had rolled onto the ground, still more than half full.

'...'

The Mineral Water Bottle in Yu Fan's hand made a clicking sound as he squeezed it.

He still had a small mouthful of water in his mouth that he hadn't swallowed.

Chen Jingshen's. Water. That he had drunk from.

...

The heat that had just been cooled by the icy water rushed back to his head like a waterfall. Yu Fan stood there, his mouth half-puffed like an idiot.

Chen Jingshen: 'Done drinking?'

Yu Fan stood frozen, letting out a very low 'Mm.'

'Then?'

Like a robot, Yu Fan held the bottle out.

Only when his hand was empty did Yu Fan snap out of it. His eyes wide, he said with water still in his mouth, 'Mm mm, mmm mmm mmm...'

Wait, I fucking drank from this, let me buy you another one—

Chen Jingshen held the bottle, tilted his neck back slightly, pressed his lips to the rim, and drank the rest of the water.

The line of his protruding Adam's apple bobbed up and down, and Yu Fan's heart jumped with each bob.

Gulp.

Yu Fan swallowed the icy water in his mouth.

Chen Jingshen put down the bottle. 'What did you say?'

Yu Fan: '...'

His mouth was numb. Yu Fan instinctively wanted to lick his lips, but at the last moment it turned into a pressed-lip motion. 'Nothing.'

When guys played ball, they often put a dozen bottles together. Drinking the wrong one was totally normal.

They were all guys. What was the big deal??

After resting a while, everyone packed up and left.

The guys behind were still chatting excitedly about the game. Chen Jingshen turned his head and asked, 'Eat together?'

Yu Fan shook his head silently.

Chen Jingshen: 'Did you bring your homework?'

Yu Fan nodded expressionlessly and walked a little faster.

Chen Jingshen turned and glanced at him, but didn't say anything else.

Yu Fan had wanted to speed up and lose him, but it happened to be the peak time for students leaving school. The gate was packed with students. Yu Fan had to slow down.

He and Chen Jingshen walked side by side. The person beside him suddenly called out, 'Yu Fan.'

'Are you,' Chen Jingshen suppressed a smile, 'not able to talk to me again?'