Teenage Big Boss
Han Cheng’s victory banquet was for the Nine-School Friendship Basketball Tournament.
The boys at the table were all worked up, waving their arms and talking big. Shi Xu sat at the head of the table without saying a word.
His mind was full of the days before he died.
Maybe he’d been so consumed by resentment and obsession after death that he watched himself drift free of his body, intangible, around the hospital room.
He’d also seen the man who’d been murmuring softly by his ear the whole time. It had actually been Shen Yu.
Floating beside the hospital bed, Shi Xu had seen his own handsome face, pale and bloodless. He’d also seen the man, whose face was even paler than the one about to die, holding his hand with his lips pressed to it, saying nothing.
He’d just kept looking at him, until Shi Xu was almost frightened out of his wits.
There was a despair in that expression no award-winning actor could fake. Without thinking, Shi Xu had drifted closer to get a better look.
Just when he thought the man had fallen asleep, he moved.
His handsome phoenix eyes were bloodshot. Still holding Shi Xu’s hand, he leaned forward and reached up to touch his head, gently, so gently, smoothing the cowlick sticking up from his crown.
That cowlick was the one thing Shi Xu didn’t like about himself. There was a spot on the crown where a few hairs stuck straight up, so conspicuous that he always had to press them down with hair gel. Otherwise, he looked like an idiot.
As he watched those long, beautiful hands, like works of art, carefully stroke his hair as if he were a priceless treasure, Shi Xu instinctively reached up to touch his own head. His palm passed right through. He awkwardly lowered his hand and went back to watching the big boss smooth his hair.
Then…
He watched the big boss rise slowly and lean in. Shi Xu jolted upright and reached out to stop him, but it was no use. He saw the man’s lips touch his forehead, then the space between his brows, and move lower…
And just like that, his first kiss was gone.
…
It all seemed to make sense, and yet it was completely unbelievable.
“Brother Xu, bottoms up!”
Gao Zan raised his glass and called out.
The noise around the table paused for a moment. Everyone was used to Young Master Shi not being much for conversation.
No one would have thought it strange if he didn’t drink.
So when Shi Xu picked up his glass, everyone looked a little surprised.
They raised theirs too, ready to bring the party to its peak.
Then Shi Xu said, “I’m underage. Drinking isn’t good for me.”
And left.
Shi Xu headed back to school, more than a little eager.
He didn’t care what people said around the table after he left.
He’d died because of rumors and public opinion. Was he supposed to be afraid of a bunch of stupid boys pretending to be adults while they drank and talked nonsense?
He had to go find Shen Yu.
He needed to ask the question that had been eating at him.
The school had special dorm arrangements too. Students like him, whose fathers were major shareholders, got a single room in Building C. It wasn’t extravagant, but it had everything: a big bed and a small sitting area, like a little hotel room.
The students in Building B had regular dorm rooms, four to a room, with beds above and desks below. They were pretty lively.
Shen Yu was in B-402.
It didn’t take much asking around to find him.
As Shi Xu passed the girls’ dormitory building, he heard wave after wave of gasps. He glanced up with a faint smile, setting off a whole tidal wave of screams.
The school forum exploded again.
One photo, taken from upstairs, caught Shi Xu with his brows raised and his peach-blossom eyes curved in a smile. His eyes were beautiful. Though they were called peach-blossom eyes, their lifted outer corners had a hint of innocent appeal. But the moment he smiled, his lips were so seductive.
As his fans would later put it: sweet and sultry.
When Shen Yu saw the photo, he held down on it to save it, then couldn’t help looking at it a few more times.
He quickly scrolled through the page, wondering what Shi Xu had been doing at the girls’ dorm.
Seeing the girls’ excited cries, bold praise, and confessions, he felt proud, and afraid.
When someone knocked on the dorm-room door, his two roommates were gaming. Out of habit, they ordered the roommate in the corner, “Shen Yu, get the door.”
Shen Yu said nothing. A few long strides brought him down from the top bunk. The people who came to visit were always friends of his three roommates. Since transferring here, he’d hardly spoken to anyone.
Keeping his head down had only made people think he was easy to push around, but he didn’t mind.
He opened the door and, as usual, turned straight around to go back in. Then a lazy, familiar voice drifted after him. “Little classmate, aren’t you going to invite me in? You need to work on your manners.”
Shen Yu stopped. His fingers curled into his palm, and his head dipped even lower.
“B-Brother Xu.” One of the boys, in the middle of an intense game, turned around, scrambled to slap his computer shut, and shot to his feet in surprise.
The other boy put his game down too. They both stared at Shi Xu, more nervous than if the dorm supervisor had caught them smoking.
“Hey.” Shi Xu leaned against the doorframe, the corners of his lips slightly raised as he greeted them. “I was bored, so I thought I’d come sit for a while. You don’t mind, do you?”
“Not at all, not at all. Have a seat, Brother Xu.” One boy promptly brought over a chair, while the other hurriedly wiped it with a towel.
Some people liked ordering others around like lackeys, then willingly became lackeys themselves.
Maybe that was just human nature, sucking up to the powerful and looking down on the weak.
Shen Yu didn’t react, which Shi Xu was used to.
He looked up at the four bunks and quickly picked out the one in the far corner. The white bedding was neat as a pin, without a spot of color out of place.
“Yours?” He pointed up with his chin.
Shen Yu had no idea why Shi Xu had suddenly shown up in his dorm, or why he was staring at his bed. Before he could think it through, his head had already dipped in a nod.
Shi Xu climbed up. His long legs hanging from the ladder were impossible to miss. He craned his neck to look at the bed. The sheets were slightly rumpled, clearly because Shen Yu had just climbed down.
Other than a pillow and a blanket folded into a neat square, there was nothing there.
Sure enough, everything was clean and orderly.
Shi Xu looked around curiously and sniffed. There was a pleasant, cool fragrance. It must have been Shen Yu’s.
He was about to ask what cologne Shen Yu used when he looked down and saw him looking up.
Shen Yu hadn’t expected him to turn around so suddenly. He ducked his head in a fluster, avoiding Shi Xu’s gaze.
For a moment, Shi Xu was stunned.
He’d seen Shen Yu as an adult.
Ten years later, Shen Yu had become a legendary business figure, a pillar of the industry: composed, profound, and so handsome he seemed to exude both authority and pressure.
But that brief glance, even through those oversized glasses, had shown Shi Xu the youthful face of the future big boss. The features were sharply defined, ridiculously good-looking, but not nearly so intimidating.
Then Shen Yu had ducked his head in a moment of panic, his thick lashes fluttering like little fans. The big boss had turned into a little puppy right before his eyes. Shi Xu had come here intending to get straight to the point, but now he was suddenly in the mood to tease him.
“Little classmate.” Shi Xu kept one hand on the ladder instead of climbing down. He leaned forward, lowering his head toward Shen Yu from above.
Shen Yu immediately took a step back.
The other two roommates sensed trouble and made an excuse to leave. Later, they heard that Shen Yu had somehow offended Shi Xu in the cafeteria, and wondered whether they should report it to a teacher or find someone to break up a fight.
In the end, they decided it was best to let things play out, and went to an internet café to keep gaming.
The instant his roommates left and shut the door behind them, Shen Yu wanted to bolt too. But he still had enough sense not to do something so bizarre.
He could feel Shi Xu watching him, motionless, like a hunter eyeing his prey.
Shen Yu pressed his lips together slightly. He’d been thinking about it all day. Nothing but that incident could have caught Shi Xu’s attention.
Some things couldn’t be avoided, especially when Young Master Shi wanted something. Shen Yu wouldn’t be able to get away either.
“Are you still mad?”
The boy’s clear, cool voice was so captivating that Shi Xu couldn’t help smiling. It was the first time he’d heard it.
“Hm?” He really had no idea what Shen Yu meant.
After answering, Shi Xu climbed down. The aisle between the beds was narrow. Once he was standing there, they were barely half a meter apart. Shen Yu took another step back, until he was against his roommate’s bed, but Shi Xu didn’t seem inclined to move.
Standing in front of Shen Yu, Shi Xu realized that the slender-looking boy was actually a little taller than he was.
The question he’d planned to ask suddenly seemed a little too abrupt.
As a teenager, the big boss seemed like a startled bird. Shi Xu was afraid that if he asked too much, Shen Yu would run away.
“I’m hungry.” Shi Xu turned and sat down in Shen Yu’s chair. A few neatly arranged books sat on the desk.
His stomach helpfully growled twice.
He hadn’t had so much as a sip at the party, and he hadn’t eaten a single meal since his rebirth. It was a pretty good excuse.
Shen Yu looked at the back of Shi Xu’s head again, his eyes full of questions behind his glasses. But when he heard Shi Xu’s stomach actually growl, he went to the cabinet. “It’s too late to leave campus, and food delivery can’t get in. This is all I have.”
Shen Yu took two packets of instant noodles from the cabinet. He wanted to ask why Shi Xu had come here when his own dorm must be full of snacks.
Why had he come here?
Even if Shen Yu really had upset him, Shi Xu wouldn’t come to someone else’s dorm over something like that. He wasn’t unreasonable.
Shen Yu didn’t ask.
Shi Xu seemed to be in a good mood. He stood on tiptoe to browse the books, the cowlick on his head bobbing as he casually said, “I’ll have the braised pork rib flavor.”
“Okay.”
Shen Yu took the thermos to get hot water. Shi Xu rested an elbow on the desk, looking toward the figure disappearing through the doorway.
His first day reborn, and he’d run into Shen Yu. It really was nice.
After getting the hot water, Shen Yu knocked on the neighboring dorm room for the first time and asked for a packet of pickled vegetables.
Once the noodles were ready, he was still a little worried that the young master might not be able to stomach them.
Shi Xu practically wolfed them down. He hadn’t thought he was all that hungry, but the smell of the noodles had opened the floodgates. His stomach had suddenly felt empty, and the instant noodles he usually disliked tasted like a feast fit for royalty.
With the side dish, he finished the bowl in three to five minutes.
As soon as he finished, someone slid a pack of tissues and a cup of lukewarm water across the desk. Wiping his mouth, Shi Xu smiled. “You’re pretty thoughtful, little classmate. Whoever you date in the future will be lucky.”
Shen Yu’s heart gave a violent thump. The happiness he’d felt at seeing Shi Xu eat the noodles he’d made vanished, replaced by a crushing wave of nerves.
His fingers curled again. Could Shi Xu have remembered?
If he had, would he tell Shen Yu to leave in a moment?
Shi Xu looked at his hands. So the big boss had this habit when he was nervous as a teenager.
And those hands were really beautiful.
Shi Xu, who was a hopeless face-and-hand enthusiast, resisted the urge to get closer for another look.
For Shen Yu, Shi Xu’s behavior was already too forward. It was better to take things slowly and let them happen naturally.
After all, the big boss seemed like he needed protecting right now!
The gratitude and shock that had filled Shi Xu’s heart with nowhere to go during those last few days after his death seemed to have found an outlet.
From today on, he’d be a little kinder to Shen Yu.