His gaze shifted downward, landing on that single phrase: “Good morning, boyfriend.”
Boyfriend.
It carried a hint of coaxing, a playful nudge. He wasn’t a man easily swayed by sweet talk, but looking at the message, he felt his heart soften ever so slightly.
Fine.
He lowered his eyelashes, masking the subtle, flickering emotion in his eyes.
No next time.
On the other side, Wen Chu was in the middle of a yawn when her phone vibrated. She looked down to check the messages.
L.YE: Mhm.
L.YE: Have you had breakfast?
Wen Chu rubbed her empty stomach. She had rushed over to claim a seat as soon as she’d finished getting ready; after all, a back-row seat in a filler class was a rare prize. There had been no time to buy food.
Chu Chu Hide-and-Seek: No, I’m so hungry QAQ
Chu Chu Hide-and-Seek: I didn’t wake up until 7:30. I was in such a rush to get a seat that I didn’t eat. And I have a full day of classes today, arghhh!
Chu Chu Hide-and-Seek: I am never gaming that late with my roommates again.
She reported the truth, adding a small “repentance” for good measure.
She waited for a while after sending the message, but there was no immediate reply. The professor on the podium had started calling roll. Wen Chu quickly looked up, terrified of missing her name.
A few minutes later, her phone buzzed again. She took a stealthy peek.
L.YE: Which classroom?
Wen Chu froze, then realized what was happening. Her heart skipped a beat. He… he wouldn’t be thinking of…
Hesitating, she sent the info anyway:
Chu Chu Hide-and-Seek: Changyue Building, Room 407, last row by the window.
This time, Xi Liye replied instantly.
L.YE: Got it.
Then, the chat interface returned to silence.
Wen Chu gripped her phone, staring at those two words. Got it? What does he know now? Why does he always like to send “Got it”? Even if he’s trying to act cool, he’s overdoing it, Wen Chu grumbled inwardly.
Ultimately, she couldn’t resist looking up. Peering through the scattered heads of the back row and the students in front of her, she watched the closed front door of the classroom. An inexplicable sense of anticipation began to quietly take root.
Forty-five minutes later, the bell rang, signaling the ten-minute break between university periods. Wen Chu received a message from Xi Liye.
L.YE: I’m here. Come to the 4th-floor stairwell.
Wen Chu’s heart gave a thump. Her roommates were already fast asleep on their desks. She slowed her movements, standing up as quietly as possible, and slipped out the back door unnoticed.
The hallway was noisier than the classroom, filled with students coming and going. She walked briskly toward the stairwell on the west side of the floor. Pushing open the heavy fire door, she shut out most of the hallway’s clamor. The stairwell was dim, lit only by a few rays of light filtering through a high window.
Then, she saw him.
Xi Liye was standing by the window on the stairs’ landing. He wore a deep gray cashmere sweater that made his tall, lean frame look even more elegant and striking. In his hand, he held a plain brown paper bag.
“For you.” Xi Liye walked over and held the bag out to her.
Wen Chu took it instinctively, the warmth of the bag seeping through her fingertips. She looked inside: there was a sandwich and a separately packaged soy milk with a straw already inserted.
Both were hot.
“Eat while it’s warm,” Xi Liye said, his gaze lingering on her eyes, which were slightly wide with surprise. “Weren’t you hungry?”
“How… how did you know about this sandwich?” she asked softly.
Xi Liye didn’t answer directly, merely offering a faint reminder: “Didn’t you tell me over WeChat the other day that you really liked this specific sandwich from the cafeteria? You even said you wanted to eat it every day for the next month.”
Wen Chu blinked, her memory clicking back into place. Oh… right.
That was back when she had first started her “Warm Violence/Bratty Girlfriend” plan. To find things to talk about, she had forced herself to share every mundane detail of her day. One morning, she had managed to buy this sandwich without a long line and had excitedly snapped a photo for him, gushing about how delicious it was and how it would be her breakfast for the next month.
At the time, Xi Liye had only replied with his signature “Got it.”
She had assumed he was just being dismissive and would forget it immediately—after all, he said “Got it” to everything. But not only did he remember, he had noted her casual “like” and brought the sandwich right to her.
Wen Chu’s fingers tightened on the paper bag. It felt as if something had gently bumped against her heart, making it feel soft, aching, and a little panicked with uncertainty.
Once she had finished most of her food, she belatedly realized something. She looked up at him, feeling a bit embarrassed. “Did… did you eat yet?”
“Mhm,” Xi Liye nodded.
“Oh…” Wen Chu replied, unsure of what to say next. “Um… thank you. For coming all this way.”
Xi Liye watched her slightly reddened ear-tips and flickering gaze. His lips seemed to curve up in a near-invisible arc. “It’s no big deal. Isn’t this what a boyfriend is supposed to do?”
It had to be said—after reading that book from Qin Yu, Xi Liye had indeed learned a thing or two about “boyfriend duties.”
As if possessed, Wen Chu heard her own voice pipe up: “Then… do you want to stay for class with me? It’s just a 45-minute filler lecture.”
The moment the words left her mouth, she froze.
Before transmigrating, she often saw couples where one person would attend the other’s classes even if they weren’t enrolled. At the time, she found it baffling. Why waste time listening to a subject you have no interest in, enduring boredom and awkwardness, when you could be resting or doing your own thing?
She regretted it instantly. How could a person like Xi Liye waste time on something so trivial? He must be incredibly busy with his lab work.
“Never mind,” she added quickly, feeling annoyed with herself. “You’re probably busy, right? Don’t you have experiments? I was just asking.”
Then came another wave of regret. Wait, aren’t I supposed to be a brat? Why am I being so considerate? She quickly changed her tune: “Actually, no—you must stay for class with me!”
Watching her internal struggle play out across her face, Xi Liye found it unexpectedly amusing. “What class?”
Wen Chu answered instinctively, her heart racing traitorously. Xi Liye gave a slight nod, seemingly searching his memory for info on the course. A moment later, he tilted his head toward the stairs.
“Let’s go,” he said, his tone natural. “Isn’t class about to start?”
Wen Chu hadn’t expected him to actually agree. Xi Liye had already taken two steps down the stairs when he realized she wasn’t following. He stopped and looked back at her, his brow arching almost imperceptibly.
“Didn’t you want me to stay for class?” he asked, as if confirming the simplest fact in the world.
“Y-yes… but…” Wen Chu’s mind was a mess. “Your lab data…”
“It can wait,” Xi Liye interrupted. “It’s just one class.”
With that, he didn’t wait for her, turning to continue downstairs with a steady, unhurried pace that carried an air of unquestionable authority.
Wen Chu’s brain felt overloaded. Finally, she took a deep breath, suppressed the storm raging in her heart, and jogged to catch up with him.
When the two of them walked through the back door of Room 407, the bell for the start of class rang.
The noisy chatter in the classroom died down into an eerie silence the moment Xi Liye’s silhouette appeared. Countless gazes—curious, shocked, or probing—shot toward them in unison.
Xi Liye acted as if he noticed nothing. His calm gaze swept the room and quickly locked onto the window-side corner where Wen Chu had been sitting. There was a vacant spot right next to her—Xia Yaoyao was still asleep, leaving the seat beside her open.
He walked straight over and sat down in the empty seat next to Wen Chu’s original spot. His movements were natural and fluid, as if he belonged there.
Under the weight of a hundred stares, Wen Chu had no choice but to bite the bullet. She brushed past Xi Liye’s legs to squeeze into her original seat, feeling like an ant being roasted on a grill.
Crap, I forgot how popular this guy is. Fortunately, since it was a filler class, there weren’t too many students; most had skipped.
Xia Yaoyao was jolted awake by the movement beside her. She looked up blearily, wiped some drool away, and glanced at Wen Chu with half-closed eyes. Then, she saw the person sitting next to Wen Chu.
Her eyes snapped wide, all traces of sleep vanishing instantly.
“Ho—” She caught herself, nearly shouting, and clamped her hand over her mouth. She looked at Wen Chu, then at Xi Liye, her eyes as wide as saucers. She silently mouthed the words: WHAT. IS. THE. SITUATION?!