“Stay away from me.”
Duan Xiyan, who was still standing in place, froze for a moment. Before he could even think about whether to chase after him, a voice called out from behind.
“Brother Yan!”
Duan Xiyan turned around to see Wu Hu trotting over.
“You scared me to death! I almost had to call my parents. Fortunately, I confessed quickly, so I only got a demerit plus three days of cleaning the toilets.” Wu Hu patted his chest, looking still shaken.
That was obviously the punishment handed down by the head of discipline.
For a violation as minor as secretly passing monthly exam answers, this punishment was indeed quite light, which explained why Wu Hu looked so relieved.
Duan Xiyan asked curiously, “What happens to the ones who actually stole the answers?”
“What else could happen? Their parents get called in for a joint lecture, they get a double beating of mixed gender when they get home, their allowances get docked, and their freedom during the break gets restricted.” Wu Hu said, his expression gradually twisting in pain as if recalling some unpleasant memories. “The school will probably also give them probationary status.”
“Probationary status?”
Duan Xiyan remembered clearly that when he ran up to the office door, he had just heard the head of discipline say to Yu Zhen, “The school has a zero-tolerance policy toward cheating. Mild cases result in probation, while severe cases lead to direct expulsion.”
How come such a severe cheating offense involving stealing the monthly exam answers resulted in all the direct participants getting off with light punishments?
Wu Hu seemed quite accustomed to it. “Yeah, it is just probation on paper; it will not actually go on their permanent records. After all, those guys all have pretty decent family backgrounds and have donated quite a bit of money to the school.”
“Oh.” It was quite unreasonable, yet somehow entirely reasonable.
“Right, Brother Yan, why did you suddenly rat me out today? Was my performance not thorough enough? Were you unsatisfied with Yu Zhen’s reaction?” Wu Hu suddenly remembered this matter and wore a bitter expression.
Duan Xiyan forced a smile. “Thorough, it was way too thorough. I really have to thank you.”
“Hey, why so polite? It is what I should do!” Wu Hu was pleasantly surprised, then became even more puzzled. “So why did you do it?”
Looking at Wu Hu’s bewildered and aggrieved expression, Duan Xiyan was momentarily at a loss for words. It was obvious the other person had not understood his subtext, so he had no choice but to explain earnestly to Wu Hu.
“I do not want to target Yu Zhen anymore. Don’t do this kind of thing again in the future.”
“Huh?” Wu Hu was dumbfounded.
Just as they reached the stairwell, the corner leading to Wu Hu’s Class 5 classroom was right there, while Class 3’s classroom was downstairs. Without giving Wu Hu time to react, Duan Xiyan reached out, patted his shoulder, and left a goodbye as he headed downstairs.
Wu Hu’s state of utter confusion lasted all the way until the big recess the next day. When Duan Xiyan came over to the restroom to help out, Wu Hu still had not figured out what Duan Xiyan’s attitude was all about.
Actually, this was quite normal. Duan Xiyan had spent a year and a half tirelessly bullying others, and suddenly announcing he would not bully anyone anymore without offering a proper reason was truly hard to believe.
Wu Hu considered himself a troublemaker, not a fool, and he knew very well what kind of roles and losers he and his Brother Yan were.
Therefore, after racking his brains all night, he finally reached a conclusion: “Brother Yan, did you come up with some new trick to fix Yu Zhen, and you are planning to catch him off guard?”
Duan Xiyan unskillfully shook the mop in his hands and gave Wu Hu a strange look at his words. “No, what are you thinking?”
He was well aware that yesterday’s incident had deep roots of his own making. Just as he told Yu Zhen yesterday, if he had not constantly bullied him, Wu Hu would not have gone out of his way to frame him. Plus, it was indeed his own anxiousness that had dragged Wu Hu to turn themselves in. As a good friend, Duan Xiyan felt somewhat guilty.
Therefore, Duan Xiyan had volunteered to help Wu Hu finish cleaning the restroom. However, having lived in a sanatorium previously, he had practically never done any physical chores, and using a mop felt very unfamiliar to him.
Because he had not wrung the mop head out thoroughly, residual water left a long streak trailing across the floor.
It looked very slippery.
“Ow!”
Just as Duan Xiyan wanted to wring the mop dry again to wipe away the water stain, he heard a squeak behind him. A tall, burly boy almost slipped and fell right at the restroom entrance, saved only by two classmates following behind him who reacted quickly and propped him up.
The boy who almost slipped wore a school uniform jacket thrown over his shoulders, a loose basketball jersey underneath, tattered ripped jeans on his lower half, and a pair of blazing red limited-edition sneakers that made him look like he was wearing wind-fire wheels.
Quite trendy.
Duan Xiyan’s gaze lingered thoughtfully on the holes in the boy’s pants for two seconds.
He had seen this bunch before yesterday in the office.
“How are you mopping the floor, Wu Hu? Has the water leaking from your brain not finished draining out yet?” The leading trendy guy clearly came in with a chip on his shoulder. He put on a show of patting his knees and planted himself right by the restroom door.
Wu Hu gripped the mop handle tightly, shot Duan Xiyan a this is bad look, and swallowed hard. “Sorry about that, Zhang Yu, I will right away—”
“Sorry, I mopped the floor,” Duan Xiyan spoke up out of nowhere, slightly turning his body to block in front of Wu Hu. “It is my first time mopping and I am not very practiced at it. I will hurry up and wipe away the water leaking from your brain.”
“What the fuck do you mean?” The trendy guy’s face tightened, fire practically shooting from his eyes as he stepped forward to confront Duan Xiyan.
As the leader of the school bully gang, he could not afford to lose face in front of his brothers, especially since he had come looking for trouble in the first place.
Duan Xiyan blinked, his tone innocent yet punchable. “Nothing much, just agreeing with you.”
“You!” Zhang Yu widened his eyes and pointed his index finger, but Wu Hu swiftly pressed it down and pulled him toward the outside of the restroom.
“Hey, Zhang Yu, Brother Yu, it is just a small matter, no need, really. Let us go outside if we have anything to talk about.”
Before leaving, Wu Hu shot a glance at Duan Xiyan, implying that he would handle this and that Duan Xiyan should not follow.
Duan Xiyan was not good at handling this kind of situation, and his intervention might just stir up unnecessary conflict. He knew this well enough, so he did not follow them out.
He looked at the sparkling water stains on the ground, felt a brief headache, and then carried the mop toward the sink again.
Since he had to wring it out again anyway, he might as well wash the mop while he was at it. The water was gushing out noisily when Duan Xiyan suddenly heard a strange sound from behind, causing him to frown slightly.
He turned off the faucet, and the restroom instantly fell silent, making that strange sound much more distinct. It was not his imagination.
Duan Xiyan listened closely.
Intermittent gasps and pants could be heard. It was obvious that the owner of the voice was desperately trying to suppress it, coming straight from the restroom stall closest to the sink.
In Enzi No. 1 High School, the big recess required students to do calisthenics, so everyone was out on the playground except, of course, for truants from the bully gang and students like them who were sentenced to clean the restrooms.
When they came in over ten minutes ago, the restroom had been dead silent, and Duan Xiyan had assumed nobody was here.
Judging by the sound, it was quite distressing. Could a student be having a medical attack?
Duan Xiyan put down the mop and knocked on the stall door with some concern. “Classmate, are you okay?”
The person inside did not answer. The panting stopped for a few seconds before breaking out again uncontrollably.
“Do you need help?” Duan Xiyan asked again, his hand already resting on the doorknob.
This time, the person inside finally replied.
“Need.”
The moment he heard that voice, Duan Xiyan froze.
“Stay away from me.” The familiar yet distant, icy voice was broken, yet filled with extreme effort. It was clear that the owner of the voice was struggling hard against physical discomfort.
Even though he was not using any force, the dilapidated stall door swung open softly on its own. The boy was pale, lifting his eyelids wearily to look at the person at the door. Sweat dripped from his forehead onto his eyelashes, his expression shattered and brilliant.
Duan Xiyan was stunned.
The person inside the stall was Yu Zhen.
Yu Zhen’s school uniform was worn much less neatly than usual; the zipper was half-open, the clean white T-shirt underneath was soaked with sweat, and his sleeves were pushed up casually to the bend of his arms, exposing a length of elegantly shaped forearms.
His hands were braced on the toilet lid, his fingertips turning pale white from the exertion.
Duan Xiyan stood in a daze for a moment, and just as he wanted to ask what was wrong, sudden movement came from the restroom entrance. His mind buzzed, and he quickly stepped into the stall, pulling the door shut behind him.
The space was cramped, with Duan Xiyan standing right between Yu Zhen’s legs, locking eyes with him from top to bottom.
The heat within the narrow space seemed to rise a notch, and the atmosphere instantly turned indescribable.
“Brother Yan?” Wu Hu’s confused voice came from outside. “Huh, where did he go?”
Duan Xiyan clearly heard Wu Hu’s footsteps growing louder, then gradually fading away. At their closest, there was only a single door separating them.
He felt as though his heart was about to jump out of his chest.
Duan Xiyan averted his gaze, somewhat regretting stepping into this stall. He could easily have closed the door for Yu Zhen from the outside just now why on earth did he step inside too?
His brain must have short-circuited.
In his peripheral vision, Yu Zhen bit down on his wrist, sweat dripping silently from his jawline.
Wu Hu wandered around the restroom, found no trace of Duan Xiyan, and left in confusion.
After things outside had remained quiet for a good while, Duan Xiyan finally snapped back to his senses. His hand was still resting on the doorknob; like it was a hot potato, he shoved it open and stepped back two steps.
“Sorry, I just figured you probably would not want anyone else to see you like this.” Duan Xiyan rubbed his nose and cautiously stole a glance at Yu Zhen. The other boy’s eyes were slightly lowered, his complexion so pale that no other emotions could be read from it.
Duan Xiyan did not know where to rest his eyes, so they fell upon the two rows of clear tooth marks on Yu Zhen’s wrist. “Um, I will take you to the infirmary.”
After waiting for what felt long enough for Duan Xiyan to think he would be rejected in the next second, the other person gave a very faint “Mn.”
It was as if Duan Xiyan had received some kind of royal pardon. He instantly let out a sigh of relief, stepped forward, and pulled one of Yu Zhen’s arms to drape over his neck, hoisting him up.
Yu Zhen’s body temperature was shockingly high. Duan Xiyan’s heart gave a jolt, and after holding back several times along the way, he finally could not help saying: “You just hold on a bit longer, we will be there soon.”
“Mn.” That sound seemed squeezed out between his teeth.
To get from the sophomore teaching building to the infirmary, they had to cross the zone of two other teaching buildings, climb a small slope, and go up dozens of steps. Under normal circumstances, it took about five minutes to walk over, but with a patient propped up on him now, Duan Xiyan did not dare walk fast.
Even though he could feel that the weight on his shoulder was quite light, it was obvious Yu Zhen was trying hard to control himself so as not to lean his full weight onto him.
However, that just made it even harder to walk fast.
When they reached the slope, Duan Xiyan hardened his heart, grabbed Yu Zhen’s arm, and pulled him slightly closer to his side. “You can lean on me a bit more, I mean, that way we can walk faster.”
With that pull, the surface area of contact between the two of them became even greater. Yu Zhen’s body stiffened for two seconds before he ultimately followed suit and put a bit more weight on him.
Irregular, burning hot breaths blew against Duan Xiyan’s earlobe, staining his originally fair earlobe with a hint of heat.
This feeling was a little bit weird, and Duan Xiyan suddenly regretted letting Yu Zhen lean on him.
Still, Yu Zhen was a patient and a patient Duan Xiyan could not afford to offend so he could endure it.
“Um, are you wearing some kind of perfume? It actually smells quite nice.” Feeling Yu Zhen’s awkwardness, Duan Xiyan tried to make conversation to ease the embarrassment. As a result, the other’s body stiffened even more.
Ah, did he say the wrong thing?
Or was Yu Zhen embarrassed because he got caught wearing perfume?
Duan Xiyan quickly looked for a way out. “It is pretty windy today, maybe I smelled it wrong.”
“No.”
“Oh.”
True to form, Yu Zhen would not admit it.
Yet it really did smell quite nice.
Refusing to admit it when someone compliments you this classmate was being somewhat proud and prickly.