Gu Yu didn’t even look up: “Then you’d better be earlier next time…”
Gu Yu didn’t even look up: “Then you’d better be earlier next time.”
Seeing that he was still acknowledging him, Zhao Che instantly had plenty more to say.
“Why did you call out the school in front of everyone like that? ‘The Mediterranean’s’ face was so mad it turned as red as a pig’s!”
“What’s so strange about that? The rule was unreasonable in the first place.”
Zhao Che looked at Gu Yu’s lowered eyelashes and the distinct knuckles of the hand holding the pen. In truth, half of what he said on stage earlier was intentional. He knew Gu Yu had a stubborn pride down to his bones; if he were truly driven into a public humiliation, there was no telling how long he would bottle it up.
Although this rule existed in his past life, he had never been late then. Who would have thought he’d run straight into it on the very first day of his rebirth?
“Sigh, three thousand words… I feel like my hand is about to be ruined.”
“Be quiet,” Gu Yu interrupted him.
Zhao Che curled his lips and fell silent, obediently lowering his head to write his self-criticism essay.
After finishing their essays, the two returned to the classroom, just in time for self-study class.
Seating in the class was arranged by academic rank. Gu Yu and Zhao Che sat in the first row by the window.
“Brother Yu, Brother Che, you guys were so cool today!” Zhou Wei, sitting behind them, turned into a fanboy with a voice full of admiration.
Gu Yu ignored him, completely focused on grinding through physics competition problems.
Zhao Che, however, turned his head and took up the conversation with a smile: “Oh? And where exactly was I cool?”
“When Brother Che stood on the podium, he looked like a god descending to earth! With that straightforward speech, not only did you bravely admit your mistake, but you also boldly challenged the school rules! You are simply the savior for all of us latecomers, sob sob sob.” Zhou Wei narrated dramatically, even exaggerate-clinging to Zhao Che’s arm at the end, putting on a full theatrical show complete with fake tears and snot.
“Alright, alright, no need to worship me that much.” Zhao Che pulled his arm back, shaking it off with mock disgust. He mused inwardly: If they don’t award you an Oscar this year, I’m not watching.
“Wait, Brother Che, are you rejecting me?” Zhou Wei put on a hurt expression.
“As long as you know.”
As soon as the bell rang, the classroom emptied by more than half in an instant. To students, this was probably the most beautiful music in the world.
“Brother Che, Brother Yu, hurry up! If we wait any longer, those famished wolves won’t even leave us the bottom of the pot.” Zhou Wei threw on his jacket and made a move to run out, not forgetting to call out to the two in front.
The teaching building had seven floors, and Class 2-1 was on the fifth floor. At this rate, the cafeteria would likely be packed to the brim. The scene closely resembled a mini concert, except one side was dressed up to see idols, while the other was a pack of hungry tigers eyeing the aroma of food.
Zhao Che glanced at Gu Yu, who was still hunched over doing problems, and replied to Zhou Wei: “You guys go ahead. We’ll head to the convenience store to grab something later.”
“Alright then… Hey, Class Monitor, wait for me!” Zhou Wei was in such a hurry that he tripped over the doorway on his way out, nearly diving headfirst into the arms of Wei Junjie, who was waiting for him at the door.
Less than three minutes after class ended, only Zhao Che, Gu Yu, and three or four other people were left in the classroom. The old electric fan overhead was still whirring along, making occasional squeaking noises and causing the exam papers on the desks to rustle in the breeze.
Zhao Che watched the person beside him roll his sleeves up to his elbows, revealing a stretch of smooth, pale skin. His pen-holding hand was still writing out steps on the scratch paper, completely unaffected by the outside commotion.
After watching him for a while, Zhao Che finally couldn’t help leaning in: “Student Gu Yu, still writing? Not being eager to eat means there’s a problem with your mindset! Wrap it up quick, let’s go buy something at the convenience store.”
After calculating the answer, Gu Yu pulled his sleeves down and prepared to stand up: “Let’s go.”
From the corner of his eye, Zhao Che caught a glimpse of a formula made of a few letters—it looked completely unfamiliar, but he didn’t catch it clearly.
“How am I supposed to get out when you’re blocking the way?”
Coming back to his senses, Zhao Che said casually, “Oh, oh, right! Let’s go, let’s go. I haven’t eaten that croissant in so long, I’m starving.”
When Zhou Wei and Wei Junjie returned to the class, they sat directly behind Gu Yu and Zhao Che.
Munching on his bread, Zhao Che asked curiously, “Aren’t you guys boarders? Why aren’t you going back to the dorms?”
Zhou Wei complained with a full face of annoyance, “The fan in the dorm broke recently. It’s so hot you could die; it’s better to stay in the classroom.”
“Ah, I see.”
“Brother Che, you have no idea today…”
Before Zhou Wei could finish, Wei Junjie pointed at Gu Yu’s desk: “Brother Yu, what are you drinking? Is that a new orange juice from the convenience store?”
Zhao Che followed his finger and immediately spotted the “gourd bottle” on Gu Yu’s desk. The bottle was covered in cartoon stickers, with one reading “Love you, mua~“. Before he could even speak, he heard a loud “pfft“.
Zhou Wei couldn’t hold back his laughter: “Sorry, Brother Yu, it’s just that this bottle is way too unique, hahaha!”
Gu Yu’s face darkened instantly, rendered speechlessly annoyed: “…”
Looking at Gu Yu’s embarrassed plight, Zhao Che found it quite funny. He deliberately suppressed the corners of his mouth before explaining: “My mom freshly squeezed this morning and shoved it into our bags before we left.”
As he spoke, he pulled his own bottle out from his backpack—sure enough, it was identical to the one on Gu Yu’s desk.
Most students at school knew that Zhao Che and Gu Yu lived together. After all, the two were practically joined at the hip, and the same parent always attended their parent-teacher meetings. It was just that no one knew the exact relationship; the most popular guess was “distant relatives staying over.”
Wei Junjie’s attention was entirely on the drink, not caring at all about the hilarious packaging.
Zhou Wei was the first to spot his expression and teased: “Holy crap, you big glutton, didn’t you just eat your fill? Why do you want to drink someone else’s mom’s juice now?”
“I ate my fill, but I didn’t drink my fill!” Unfazed and unabashed, Wei Junjie looked at Gu Yu with expectant eyes. His gaze practically screamed, Yu-god, give me a sip!
In Zhao Che’s memory, Wei Junjie was Class 2-1’s famous “Mr. Nice Guy”—generous, easy to talk to, and voted in as class monitor, taking a lot of the heat on behalf of the whole class.
He wasn’t fat, but he was built solid. Sitting at 183 cm tall at a school desk, he always looked a bit cramped. There was a mole above his upper lip, which Zhou Wei often teased him about: “That mole means you’re destined to be a foodie.” He never got upset, instead replying with pride: “My grandma said being able to eat is a blessing!”
However, Zhao Che wasn’t worried that Gu Yu would give Wei Junjie this bottle of juice—yet the very next second, he was proven wrong.
Gu Yu passed over the bottle he had already taken a sip from.
The one Gu Yu had drunk from!!!
Seeing this, Zhao Che couldn’t care less about propriety; he reached out and pressed his hand over the back of Gu Yu’s hand, pushing the bottle back.
Seeing the juice about to reach him only to suddenly reverse direction, Wei Junjie exclaimed, “What are you doing, Brother Che!”
Zhao Che pulled his hand back, clearing his throat twice to cover his actions, and tossed his own bottle to Wei Junjie: “Ahem, drink mine. His is already opened.”
Looking at the full bottle handed to him, Wei Junjie said with utter satisfaction: “Thank you, Che-brother, love you, mua~”
Zhao Che: “…”
That loud “mua” caused Zhou Wei, who had just taken a sip of water, to spray it out with another “pfft“, though luckily he covered his mouth in time.
This time, the one with the dark face was Zhao Che. He fiercely broke off a piece of bread and stuffed it into his mouth, trying to mask the awkwardness in his heart through aggressive chewing.
Out of the corner of his eye, the person beside him suddenly let out a gentle laugh. The laughter was faint, but it was enough for Zhao Che to clearly see the shallow dimple on his cheek and the sharp tip of a tiger tooth peeking out as the corner of his lips curved upward. Watching this scene brought him straight back to the day they checked their College Entrance Examination scores.
“Gu Yu, I got a 718! What about you?” At that time, Zhao Che’s voice still held an uncontained youthful spirit, bubbling over with excitement that couldn’t be hidden.
“716.” Gu Yu’s answer had been as aloof as usual, devoid of much emotion.
“Let’s apply to the same university!” Zhao Che had followed up almost instantly.
“Okay.” Gu Yu had replied with just that single word, light as a falling feather.
Zhao Che remembered clearly that Gu Yu’s lips were turned up at the time, his dimples sinking deeper than right now, and the cold distance usually lingering in his eyes had softened. The sweet aroma of citrus floated through the air, mixed with a hint of slightly bitter freshness, slowly filling Zhao Che’s heart piece by piece until even the aftertaste carried the sweetness of maltose.
A sudden outcry snapped Zhao Che right out of his memories.
“Ah! Brother Che, why does this taste like carrot?!” Wei Junjie knitted his brows, his mouth smacking repeatedly as he held up the “gourd bottle” and looked it over. Half the juice in the bottle was already gone, showing that this single gulp had dealt quite a bit of “damage.”
Just as Zhao Che opened his mouth to speak, he caught his breath wrong and instantly choked, his face flushing bright red as his shoulders shook with coughing.
At that moment, a cup was handed to him. Without thinking, he poured it down his throat. The coughing stopped, but his expression turned rather peculiar.
“What is this…”
“Freshly squeezed radish juice,” Gu Yu answered calmly.
“…”
Zhao Che finally experienced that indescribable sensation Wei Junjie felt. It didn’t just contain carrots; it was mixed with apples, oranges, spinach, celery, and even a faint hint of cilantro!
Right now, he seriously suspected that Ms. Wang Xue was trying to poison him and Gu Yu. On his very first day after rebirth, he had forgotten that his own mom loved to engage in weird “R&D”, never expecting to fall victim to a bottle of “freshly squeezed love juice.”
“Gu Yu, are you serious? Is it really just radish juice?” Zhao Che felt like his tongue was hardly his own anymore.
“Mm.” Gu Yu picked up his own “gourd bottle,” which was already mostly finished, brought it to his lips, and demonstrated another gulp with an expressionless face.
Looking at the grimacing Wei Junjie, the subtly pained Zhao Che, and the unfazed Gu Yu, Zhou Wei took a curious sip as well, before immediately baring his teeth in disgust: “Holy crap… my only review is: is this even meant for human consumption?”
Having finished the last drop, Gu Yu acted as if he had no taste buds at all, nonchalantly opening his workbook to start grinding through cloze test exercises.
Zhao Che looked down and caught sight of the small remaining splash of orange-red liquid at the bottom of his cup. Remembering that Gu Yu had just poured this for him, he raised his hand and drank it all down in one gulp.
Wei Junjie and Zhou Wei: “?”
Wait, didn’t Brother Che also think it tasted terrible? Why did he just chug it?
Ignoring their stares, Zhao Che wiped his mouth and grinned at Gu Yu beside him: “Thank you, Yu-brother~”
Gu Yu threw him a look reserved for the intellectually challenged: “Didn’t you always argue that you’re older than me?”
Who cared who was older or younger? Given a second chance at life, the person he cherished was standing right in front of him alive and well. If he didn’t take advantage of the moment to flirt a little, it would be a complete waste of good fortune!
Zhao Che was determined to carry his shamelessness to the end: “I’ll let you have it this once. Of course, it’s fine if you want to call me that back.”
Gu Yu pursed his lips and fell silent for a moment, as if holding something back with all his might, before finally squeezing a single word out from between his teeth: “Get lost.”
The scolded guy, however, let out a low laugh, a wave of warmth rippling through his chest. Zhao Che thought to himself: The seventeen-year-old Gu Yu really is the same as in my memory—he gives you the cold shoulder the moment you tease him. Yet somehow, seeing this awkward tsundere look today… why is it so damn cute?
Watching the foolishly grinning guy in the front row, Zhou Wei whispered to Wei Junjie: “Brother Che… did he just get a high off being cussed out?”
“I don’t know,” Wei Junjie shook his head.