At sunset during dusk, the setting sun dyed the clouds at the edge of the sky red, reflecting a brilliant golden evening glow, making the entire Nancheng seem as if draped in a soft veil. Beneath the remaining glow, traffic flowed constantly and people rushed past in haste, as countless figures gradually merged into this beautiful scene.
The bus crawled slowly through the evening peak traffic. The carriage was not overly crowded, but it was filled with a complex scent mixed with the aroma of food, a faint smell of sweat, and the exhaust fumes from outside the window.
Gu Yu and Zhao Che sat side by side in a double seat next to the window. Gu Yu tilted his head slightly, his eyelashes—like two small fan blades—casting a small shadow beneath his eyes. The contour of his side profile looked exceptionally soft in the setting glow of the sun.
Only after tracing the outline of Gu Yu’s side profile with his gaze did Zhao Che pull out his phone, which had been buzzing non-stop ever since they finished dinner and boarded the bus.
He seriously suspected that if it kept vibrating, the skin on his thigh through his pocket would soon go numb.
The moment he unlocked his screen, notification alerts from the group chat named “Who Cares About Studying When Slacking Off Is Fun (Say No to Overworking)” were popping like crazy. He clicked it open to look—
I Like Weekends: [Fuck, is this square dance meant for humans to perform? Crying.jpg]
Gentle: [Is it really that hard?]
Sport: [You didn’t see the way Zhou Wei was dancing in the dorm; I almost died laughing.]
Zhao Che raised an eyebrow and clicked open the video Li Changlin had just sent. In the video, Zhou Wei was twisting his body to a square dance instructional video on his phone, his movements ridiculously exaggerated. His waist wiggled like the spirit-snake-turned-demon from Calabash Brothers—he had managed to turn a perfectly fine square dance into a grotesque water-snake dance.
Cheye: [Looks like an old lady turned demon. Bursting-with-laughter.jpg]
Right after, a neat row of [Bursting-with-laughter.jpg] followed below, the formation as synchronized as if it had been rehearsed in advance.
I Like Weekends: [Fuck! If you keep laughing, I’m going to report your phones! I’ll have the Dean confiscate all of them tomorrow!]
Right after he sent that, another [Bursting-with-laughter.jpg] popped up in the group, and the ID turned out to be GY.
Zhao Che froze for a second, instinctively raising his head to look at the person beside him. Unbeknownst to him, Gu Yu had already put on a single wireless earbud. Holding his phone in his other hand, his fingertips tapped lightly on the screen, a faint, almost imperceptible smile hovering at the corners of his lips.
At that moment, the phone in his hand buzzed again with a vibration.
I Like Weekends: […Brother Yu, you’ve changed. You used to never laugh at me. Feeling-wronged.jpg]
Gentle: [Hurry and go report Brother Yu! Gloating.jpg]
Cheye: [Day student here—playing on my phone fair and square. Na-na-na.jpg]
I Like Weekends: [I suspect you guys are collectively bullying me. Heartbroken.jpg]
GY: [No, just telling the truth.]
I Like Weekends: *[…] *
I Like Weekends: [Brother Yu, your mouth is so venomous! Crying-crying.jpg]
Cheye: [There are even more venomous things, want to try?]
I Like Weekends: [Politely decline.]
While they were having fun in the group, the bus’s automated voice announcement suddenly rang out: “Next stop, Fengjing Garden. Passengers getting off, please get ready in advance.”
Hearing this, Zhao Che knew this was their stop. He turned off his screen and wanted to remind Gu Yu, who was wearing an earbud beside him.
He leaned a bit closer to Gu Yu until their shoulders almost touched. Just as he was about to speak, his gaze unintentionally shifted sideways and froze abruptly.
A large patch of fair, clean skin was exposed at the collar of Gu Yu’s school uniform, his collarbone deeply indented—from Zhao Che’s angle, it was a completely unobstructed view.
Zhao Che’s breath instantly hitched a beat.
Even though he currently inhabited the body of a seventeen-year-old boy, the soul inside had long been an adult for six years. Facing the person he yearned for day and night at this moment and looking at this alluring sight, torture was nothing more than this.
His inner feelings were already tumbling like surging waves, and those unseemly thoughts grew wildly like weeds, filling his mind with scorching and bold ideas. Driven by desire, he really wanted to throw all caution to the wind, lean over, and take a bite or gently touch it first.
Unfortunately, just this afternoon, due to an impulse of his, he had been slapped square across the face by Gu Yu. If he dared to act recklessly again this time, there was no telling where the next slap might land.
Zhao Che swallowed hard, forcing down the surging impulse inside him that raged like a flood. His throat bobbed once before he spoke in a low, raspy voice: “Student Gu Yu…?”
Gu Yu’s collarbone remained clearly exposed. Lowering his head, he was focused on looking at his phone, his fingertips still sliding across the screen, completely unaware of the burning yet restrained gaze the person beside him was fixing on him right now.
Hearing someone call his name, he turned his head slightly, frowning a bit in confusion: “Hmm?”
“Your collar is unbuttoned.” Zhao Che’s gaze still hadn’t shifted away from that spot, his tone of voice tightening slightly.
Only then did Gu Yu look down, realizing that all three buttons at his collar had somehow come loose, exposing skin that felt slightly cool in the air.
He followed Zhao Che’s line of sight and met the other person’s completely unreserved gaze. That gaze was far too burning—so hot that it made him feel inexplicably uncomfortable. Even across the distance of half a meter, he could feel the tumbling emotions within that look.
While frantically buttoning up his collar, he spoke with a trace of awkwardness he hadn’t even noticed himself: “What are you looking at me for?”
“Ah… ah, nothing… just that.” Like a thief caught red-handed on the spot, Zhao Che quickly shifted his eyes away, stammering, “No… nothing, it’s just that I felt you looked a bit handsomer than me today… haha.”
Gu Yu raised his eyes to look at him in total bewilderment, thinking: What kind of episode is this idiot having again?
“Ahem, limited to today only!” Zhao Che’s cheeks burned slightly hot.
Just as Gu Yu was about to say “Are you sick?”, a soft click sounded right before his eyes, and a glaring flash blinded him, making him instinctively narrow his eyes.
“What are you doing?!” he asked with a touch of annoyance at being startled, his frown deepening even more.
Zhao Che immediately shoved his phone over, pushing the chat interface he had just sent to Wang Xue right in front of Gu Yu’s eyes. The light from the screen reflected in his eyes, making him look exceptionally earnest: “Reporting in!” After saying that, he added cautiously in a much softer voice: “Sorry, accidentally touched the flash…”
Looking like this, he resembled a large dog that had done something wrong.
Gu Yu glanced at the screen—it was nothing more than ordinary updates like “We’re on XX Road, almost home” and “What are we eating later?”, attached with two photos underneath—
One was taken right after school, a shot of his back as he walked forward carrying his backpack; the other was clearly just snapped on the spot, the lens pushed a bit too close, capturing his frowning, angry expression with complete clarity.
Seeing that it was a report to Aunt Xue, the words at the tip of Gu Yu’s tongue were swallowed back down. Too lazy to bother arguing, he just let out an “Oh” and turned his head away, looking back out the window. However, his ears quietly flushed a bit warm, as if kissed by the setting sun, leaving only a subtle, inexplicable awkwardness in his heart.
The bus pulled slowly into the station. The moment the doors opened, the evening breeze blew in, carrying a cool refreshing scent.
Zhao Che stood up first, reaching out to support Gu Yu, who was almost knocked off balance by the inertia. Then he beamed a silly smile at him and blinked, indicating no need for thanks.
Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, it was the day of the sports meet. The line-ups of each class assembled along the track. Quite a few classes were dressed very formally—the girls in Class 3 wore white dresses, while the boys in Class 5 all wore black tailcoats, drawing the attention of students from other classes.
In comparison, Class 1 of Grade 11 looked very minimalist; everyone wore light blue summer school uniform short-sleeved shirts, looking neat and crisp.
Zhao Che, who held the class sign at the very front of the line, was even more eye-catching. The moment he appeared, some people still couldn’t help but let out exclamations of awe. Even though he wore the exact same school uniform as everyone else, standing there—even with his cuffs slightly faded from washing—he was still dashing and striking.
Sitting on the lower bleachers, the underclassmen girls were staring intently at the Class 1, Grade 11 formation while chatting. Their voices were neither loud nor soft, passing right into Zhao Che’s ears.
“Che-shen looks so prominent even in a school uniform—his looks really leave nothing to be said.”
“Is the title of school prince just for show?”
“Hey, don’t say that—I think Gu Yu from their class also deserves to be called a school prince.”
“Gu Yu? He’s handsome, sure, but I heard a senior girl in Grade 11 confessed to him recently and even wrote him a love letter. Who knew…”
“Knew what?”
“Spill it already,” a student on the side urged, asking out of curiosity.
The gossiping girl covered her mouth and lowered her voice: “Who knew he actually tore up that love letter and handed it back to her!”
“Tore it up and handed it back? Isn’t that way too ungrateful?”
“Exactly! Seems like it wasn’t just once that he hurt people like that!”
“Oh right, right! I also heard some gossip recently—that Gu Yu seems to be fostered at…”
Halfway through her sentence, they suddenly felt something wasn’t right, as if a sharp glare was locked tightly onto them. Several of them raised their heads at the same time, happening to meet Zhao Che’s eyes.
His gaze was terrifyingly cold, dark and devoid of any warmth at the bottom. Being stared at like this, a chill ran down their backs, and they quickly shut their mouths.
Just as it quieted down, they saw Zhao Che turn his head back, smile at Gu Yu beside him, and say something, his expression perfectly natural. It was as if that sinister gaze from just a second ago was merely a hallucination that had never existed at all.
He continued holding the sign as he walked forward. Reaching the turn, he gently adjusted the angle, and the classmates behind him followed his footsteps, moving forward step by step.
On the podium, the host spoke enthusiastically into the microphone: “Next up, approaching us is the formation of Class 1, Grade 11! They step with neat strides, their light blue uniforms concealing youthful vigor and enthusiasm… Next, please enjoy their performance: ‘Dazzling Ethnic Style’.”
As the familiar, upbeat music played, everyone’s attention was instantly drawn over. Looking at this somewhat tacky square dance, smiles hung on everyone’s faces.
The music ended, bringing a perfect curtain call. Fortunately, no accidents occurred, and Chen Shuang’s anxious heart finally settled down.
After the formations of the entire school finished walking, the competitive events of the sports meet began.
Class 1, Grade 11’s seating area was right beside the podium, offering a wide view to clearly see the conditions of various competitions. However, once noon arrived, it was inevitable to be exposed directly to the hot sun.
“Phew, I was nervous to death! I almost stepped on the wrong foot where the music ended just now.” Zhou Wei unscrewed a bottle of water and sighed toward Zhao Che and the others.
Standing on the side back then, Zhao Che hadn’t looked at anyone else; his gaze had stayed fixed on Gu Yu the entire time. Thus, he replied offhandedly: “You didn’t twist into a snake spirit—not bad at all.”
Zhou Wei hummed twice: “That’s a must! I really put in the effort this whole week!”
“Haha, standing behind you, do you know how miserable I was?” Li Changlin complained while pinning his number bib onto his clothes.
“What?”
“I wanted to laugh but didn’t dare to—holding it in was too miserable.”
“Get lost.”
At this moment, a few buzzes came through the loudspeaker: “Check-in for 100 meters boys and girls for Grade 10 and Grade 11 in progress.”
With a cheeky, provocative expression, Li Changlin said, “Alrighty, getting lost right now.”