Zhou Fan hummed a song under his breath with a single white earbud plugged into his right ear. He flipped through an exercise book on his desk while pulling an orange candy from his pocket.
Dai Lin leaned over and stared at the rare sight with disbelief. He asked if the sun was rising from the west today and noted that Zhou Fan was actually doing problems himself. He turned to Zhang Chifeng and asked what was going on since the other boy was clearly failing at his job as a scribe.
Zhang Chifeng rolled his eyes and told him to screw off. He nudged his chin toward the front row and made a shushing gesture. Dai Lin looked back and saw Chi Hanqing sitting at his desk with his head down while focused on a problem. It was a normal scene at first glance, but then he noticed a detail: the top student had a white earbud in his left ear. It was the same model as the one Zhou Fan was wearing.
Dai Lin realized that Zhou Fan had already secured the target. He opened his mouth to ask but then remembered the shushing gesture. It seemed Zhou Fan did not want to go public with his relationship with the new transfer student just yet. Dai Lin was thoughtful. As one of the inner circle, he knew he could not be kept in the dark for long, but he also knew to keep his mouth shut.
Usually, Zhou Fan was flashy and did whatever he pleased. While he did not go around announcing his romances, he never hid them either. This sudden change of heart suggested that Chi Hanqing wanted to keep it secret. It made sense that the young master of a wealthy family would want to avoid the trouble of his parents finding out he was involved with a guy. But that still did not explain why Zhou Fan was suddenly studying hard.
A snap of fingers sounded in front of the face of Dai Lin to pull him back to reality. Zhou Fan asked what he was thinking about so deeply while propping up his chin. Dai Lin smiled and noted he was wondering which meridian finally opened up for Zhou Fan to start grinding problems instead of sleeping.
Zhou Fan felt a bit depressed speaking of this. Since they started dating, they had met in that science classroom several times. Zhou Fan discovered a new trait of his: he loved physical affection. No matter what Chi Hanqing was doing, Zhou Fan wanted him in his arms.
Yesterday, when they were kissing and the atmosphere was perfect, Zhou Fan tried to slide his hand under the shirt of Chi Hanqing. However, Chi Hanqing pulled his hand away and told him seriously that if he wanted to go further, he had to study hard. As long as the grades of Zhou Fan improved on the next exam, no matter by how much, it would count.
Zhou Fan had heard those words his whole life, but he had never actually followed them. He was lazy and lacked motivation. Now, he had motivation. He did not resent the request, but he was curious why Chi Hanqing made it. Chi Hanqing told him he wanted them to go to the same university.
Zhou Fan scribbled down an answer based on half-guessing and thought of the look on the face of Chi Hanqing when he said that. He could not help but smile. He did not know if Chi Hanqing was serious, but it seemed absurd. Zhou Fan was at the bottom of a class for connected students and was lucky to get into a second-tier college. Chi Hanqing was clearly top-tier material.
A top student and a slacker going to the same university seemed unrealistic regardless of who adjusted their standards. More importantly, the topic meant Chi Hanqing was genuinely considering a future. To Zhou Fan, the future was too far away, and he was not even sure if this relationship would last a semester. He decided to forget about it since he felt Chi Hanqing was just in the honeymoon phase. He thought that once the other boy calmed down, those thoughts would disappear.
Zhou Fan twirled his pen and moved to the next question. Dai Lin saw him react and waited for more, but there was nothing. He looked at Zhang Chifeng, who was busy texting his girlfriend. Dai Lin muttered that the world had gone mad and returned to his seat. On the way, he tapped the desk of Chi Hanqing. He noted they were all friends now and invited the top student to hang out sometime.
Chi Hanqing looked up coldly and asked since when they were friends. Dai Lin grinned and noted that friends of Zhou Fan were friends of his. He wondered how Zhou Fan handled this iceberg since just talking to the guy made him feel a surge of pressure. At the mention of the name of Zhou Fan, the coldness in the eyes of Chi Hanqing melted slightly. He noted he might be free another day.
As soon as Dai Lin sat down, his phone vibrated with a message from Zhou Fan asking what he said. Dai Lin laughed because in the past, Zhou Fan never cared about his boyfriends talking to others. Now, he was checking in immediately. Dai Lin replied that he told Chi Hanqing they were friends and invited him to hang out. Zhou Fan asked for the response. Dai Lin explained the interaction and noted he did not know Zhou Fan liked the icy beauty type. He told Zhou Fan to come to Little Cloud at lunch to explain how he got him.
Zhou Fan replied that he was not going and told Dai Lin not to go either because he had a date. He also told Dai Lin not to go blabbing about them. Dai Lin asked if the secrecy was because of the family of Chi Hanqing. He noted his own family had connections and offered to dig around to see what the background of Chi Hanqing was. Zhou Fan called him a real pal and promised to treat him to dinner another day.
Dai Lin asked when exactly that day would be. Zhou Fan replied it would be the day Chi Hanqing is free. He then put his phone away and continued his problems. He wished time would move faster since the next exam was a month away.
Friday night at the Chi residence, Chi Hanqing was in the study. His phone vibrated in his pocket and caused his violin bow to pause slightly. His mother did not look up but asked what happened. He noted he was distracted. She told him to start over.
When he finished, his mother asked how life was at First High. He replied that it was very good. She let out a cold laugh and told him to enjoy this year while it lasts before waving for him to leave. Chi Hanqing did not move and asked if he could go out this weekend. She gave a final refusal.
Chi Hanqing felt as if he could not breathe. He put his violin back in its case and started for his room. His mother called out from behind him and told him to bring her his phone to check. Chi Hanqing paused and went to get it. In his room, he shut the door quickly and pulled out his phone. There were two messages from Zhou Fan asking for a date and offering to cook.
Chi Hanqing deleted the messages and moved the number of Zhou Fan to his block list to ensure his mother would not see a notification. He had already filled his phone with spam numbers to cover his tracks. He returned to the study and handed the phone to his mother. She did a simple check and handed it back while noting that his father was already unhappy about the transfer. She warned him not to try any other little tricks.
The heart of Chi Hanqing skipped a beat. He took the phone to his room and unblocked the number. He realized his request to go out had made his mother suspicious. He wished he had saved the number of the friend of Zhou Fan earlier to have a reasonable excuse. Having a completely empty phone felt unnatural. He closed his eyes as a dull pain in his chest made breathing difficult. He slid down the door until he was sitting on the floor then picked up his phone to reply.
He told Zhou Fan he had violin on Saturday and tutoring on Sunday. Zhou Fan replied instantly that there was no need to apologize. He asked if the violin lesson was still with the same teacher. Chi Hanqing sent back a confirmation. Zhou Fan replied that it was good.
Chi Hanqing did not understand the response but did not ask. He read the messages carefully as if trying to memorize them before deleting them. He could not leave a trace of Zhou Fan on his phone. He felt like an inadequate boyfriend because they could not have public dates. He worried Zhou Fan would grow bored and break up with him. He made a secret decision to tell Zhou Fan on Monday that he was willing to give him whatever he wanted.
The next day, Chi Hanqing sat in the car with his violin case. He was never allowed to get out of the car early again, so he could only look at the basketball court through the window. At the entrance of the complex, the driver stopped to take a photo of him entering the gate for his parents. He quickened his pace until the eyes behind him finally vanished. He let out a long breath. A light and roguish whistle sounded nearby. Zhou Fan was leaning against a wall in a black tracksuit and asked who he was hiding from with a playful smile.