A day with a few small twists and turns seemed to have passed just like that.
After the evening self-study session ended and school let out, Dai Li grabbed Xu Changxing by the arm. “Seatmate, tutor me.”
“Not today,” Xu Changxing said while packing his schoolbag.
“Why not? It is only ten-twenty now, and the dorms do not lock up until eleven. We still have half an hour.” Dai Li hooked his finger through Xu Changxing’s schoolbag strap.
“I need to go back and take a shower,” Xu Changxing raised his eyes to look at Dai Li.
“You are acting spoiled again,” Dai Li muttered under his breath.
“Hmm?”
Dai Li scratched his head with a guilty conscience. “Nothing, nothing at all. Then when do you say we can do it?”
“Well,” Xu Changxing considered for a moment, “the weekend works.”
“The weekend?! It is only Monday!” Dai Li was dissatisfied. “Why can you not stay in the same dorm as me?”
“Young Master Dai, you do not live alone, you know,” Xu Changxing tilted his head and said with helpless amusement.
“I will make Gu Nansong move out right now,” Dai Li said with absolute conviction, as if he were about to sweep poor Gu Nansong out the door the very next second.
“Get real. If I leave, Lin Guo will be lonely,” Xu Changxing offered a faint smile, as if he were genuinely worried that Lin Guo would be sad after he moved out.
Dai Li blurted out, “Put Gu Nansong and Lin Guo together then.”
“Listen to yourself right now.” Too lazy to humor him, Xu Changxing pulled his schoolbag strap free, slung it over one shoulder, and walked toward the classroom door.
Dai Li grabbed his own bag and gave chase, following him all the way to the rear doorway of the classroom, where he suddenly yanked Xu Changxing’s jacket and pinned him against the door panel.
Only Dai Li and Xu Changxing remained in the classroom. The lights inside were bright, while the corridor lights were dim.
Xu Changxing stood at the boundary between light and shadow, making his fair face look even more exquisite.
Dai Li rested one hand against the door panel and the other on Xu Changxing’s shoulder. Because there was not much difference in their heights, Dai Li’s face was practically right in front of Xu Changxing’s.
“What are you doing?” Xu Changxing asked with amused exasperation, standing up to break free from Dai Li’s restraint, only to find that the Alpha’s strength was truly astonishing.
“Let go,” Xu Changxing’s face turned cold.
“You have to promise me first,” Dai Li eased up his grip a little, but still kept him within his tight circle.
“Promise you what?”
“Tutor me this weekend, and also, move in to live with me,” Dai Li demanded unreasonably, looking like a tail-wagging big dog as he pleaded with an aggrieved expression.
“Let go first, and I will promise you,” Xu Changxing stared into Dai Li’s eyes. With his back to the light, he could only see a pair of pitch-black pupils, like an abyss ready to swallow him whole at any moment.
Dai Li shook his head. “No, promise me first.”
“Fine, I promise you,” Xu Changxing flashed a smile that was brilliant in the extreme.
Dai Li was momentarily dazed, his grip instinctively loosening quite a bit. Seizing the opportunity, Xu Changxing broke free from his control and walked out without looking back.
“Hey! You promised me!” Dai Li belatedly caught up with Xu Changxing, looking as happy as a child who had just received candy. “Do not leave right after class this weekend, and I will tell old Chen tomorrow to change your dorm.”
“Tutoring is fine, but I never agreed to switch dorms,” Xu Changxing wore a smile at the corner of his lips.
“You are going back on your word!” Dai Li shouted in exasperation.
“All’s fair in love and war.” Unable to hold it in any longer, Xu Changxing let out a soft chuckle.
Dai Li kept making a fuss the entire way, while Xu Changxing calmly played along, and the two of them walked like that until they reached the fork leading to their respective dormitories.
“Just wait. I will make you willing to move in on your own accord,” Dai Li lifted his chin and made a confident vow.
“I will look forward to it,” Xu Changxing walked down the path toward the Omega dormitory building, waving without turning back, leaving Dai Li with nothing but his retreating figure.
As soon as Xu Changxing returned to the dorm, Lin Guo pounced toward him, but stopped abruptly as if remembering something just as he reached him.
“Xingxing, Xingxing, you are finally back. Sit down, I have something to tell you,” Lin Guo wore an anxious yet mysterious expression.
Xu Changxing set down his schoolbag, sat on his chair, and looked up to ask, “What is wrong?”
“It is just that, well,” Lin Guo stammered for ages, his fingers twisting together like a hemp rope.
“What happened?” Xu Changxing patiently soothed him.
“Ah, it is just that Gu Nansong confessed his feelings to me today!” Unable to hold it in any longer, Lin Guo blurted it out in one breath.
“You agreed?” Xu Changxing asked very calmly, pouring Lin Guo a glass of water.
“Of course not. I only think of him as a good buddy,” Lin Guo pouted with an indignant look. “I never expected him to harbor improper thoughts about me.”
“That was pretty obvious,” Xu Changxing said with a smile.
“Was it obvious? Where was it obvious? The two of us have always hung out like this since we were kids,” Lin Guo scoffed. “Hey, Xingxing, did I ever tell you? Gu Nansong is basically half a childhood sweetheart of mine.”
“A childhood sweetheart…”
“Half, just half. He transferred away in the fifth grade of elementary school and only came back to Gaoyang No. 2 High School for high school,” Lin Guo recounted his past with Gu Nansong. “Xingxing, let me tell you, he was so annoying when he was little…”
And so, that evening turned into Lin Guo’s night of memories, as he recounted everything between himself and Gu Nansong from kindergarten all the way to the present, while Xu Changxing proved to be a wonderfully attentive listener.
Consequently, the next morning, Lin Guo and Xu Changxing both came to class sporting heavy dark circles under their eyes.
As soon as Xu Changxing sat down at his desk, he slumped over and went straight to sleep.
Seeing this, Dai Li teased him a bit. “Studying late into the night, seatmate?”
“Shut up,” Xu Changxing’s voice was muffled in the crook of his arm, sounding soft and lethargic from a lack of sleep.
Dai Li swallowed hard. “Early in the morning, do not…”
Xu Changxing offered no further response and seemed to have fallen asleep, so he failed to notice that the person beside him skipped an entire morning self-study session.
It was a drizzly, overcast day, so the large-group morning exercise break was canceled.
The class monitor walked in carrying a sign-up sheet. “Everyone, for the autumn sports meeting next week, anyone who wants to participate can come sign up with me.”
“Seatmate, are you going?” Dai Li asked curiously.
“Not going,” Xu Changxing slumped over his desk, turning his head to look toward Dai Li’s side. “Are you going?”
“I am the star player of Class 1. Of course a young master like me is duty-bound to win glory for the class,” Dai Li patted his chest.
“You have a severe case of unyielding middle school syndrome,” Xu Changxing closed his eyes, too lazy to humor him.
“I signed you up anyway,” Dai Li smiled slyly.
“Get lost,” Xu Changxing said before turning his head away again.
“Do you want to run the one thousand or three thousand meters? Or high jump? Long jump?” Dai Li leaned close to Xu Changxing’s ear, chattering nonstop.
“I will hit you if you keep making noise,” Xu Changxing finally reached his limit, furrowing his brows in dissatisfaction.
“Come on, hit me,” Dai Li grinned mischievously as he leaned his face right next to Xu Changxing’s hand, then put on a regretful expression. “Too bad you are allergic… Holy cow!”
Dai Li was still gloating that Xu Changxing could not hit him due to his skin allergies, when in the very next second, Xu Changxing brought a book down squarely onto Dai Li’s back.
“Holy cow, you actually hit me?!” Dai Li reached behind his back to rub the spot, wincing in pain.
“Wasn’t this your request?” Xu Changxing smiled faintly, using the exact book he had just used to strike him to lift Dai Li’s chin. “Satisfying your request.”