Xie Wenliang hadn’t really been expecting much. He thought his younger brother would respond with something vague like “It’s okay” or “Everyone’s easy to get along with.”
It was true that good looks tended to attract people’s affection, but personality mattered too. Given how his brother kept everyone at arm’s length, over the years, only Song Yuan, his one close friend, could truly be called a friend.
Once in middle school, the family threw a birthday party for Xie Wenxing and invited many classmates, hoping to liven things up and make Xingxing happy.
But the atmosphere got a little too festive. Someone playfully smeared cake on Xingxing’s face, and he immediately turned pale, throwing up everything he had eaten that night.
Even now, thinking back on that scene still sent a chill down his spine.
Word spread quickly after that, and fewer people wanted to be friends with Xie Wenxing.
After all, no one wanted to risk having someone vomit on them. Getting clothes dirty was one thing, but losing face was another.
That afternoon, Xie Wenliang had heard his mother expressing worry that Xingxing might not have any friends at school.
Who would have thought that when he asked that evening, he’d get such a pleasant surprise?
Xie Wenliang was too curious to hold back. He raised his hand to pat his brother’s shoulder, then thought better of it and lowered it. “Tell me more. Let me be your sounding board.”
“I’ll tell you.”
The moonlight reflected in the boy’s eyes, making them shine brightly. “But you have to promise me you won’t tell Mom and Dad. This stays between us, heaven knows, earth knows, you know, I know. No third person gets to know!”
Xie Wenxing paused, then added, “If you tell anyone, you’re a dog!”
Xie Wenliang saw no issue and readily agreed. “Deal. I promise!”
Xie Wenxing pointed a finger at his nose. “Swear it!”
Xie Wenliang raised three fingers cooperatively. “I swear. If I breathe a word of what you tell me tonight, I’m a dog!”
Xie Wenxing studied him for a few seconds, then suddenly broke into a grin, his eyes curving into plump crescents. “Okay, I trust you.”
When it came to what was on his mind, Xie Wenxing was unusually shy.
Before he even spoke, a faint blush had already crept onto his face.
In contrast, his eyes were bright, and a smile unknowingly tugged at the corners of his lips. He fidgeted, rubbing the fabric of his pants between his fingers, hesitating for a long while before finally speaking in a halting tone. “Actually, the first time I heard his voice, I felt like he was really special.”
Xu Huai’an’s voice was like a hook, gripping and compelling. Every time Xie Wenxing heard it, a tingling sensation ran through his ears.
The unfortunate thing was that Xu Huai’an didn’t like to talk. Even though they sat so close, one desk apart, over the past several days, Xie Wenxing had barely heard him speak a handful of times.
Xie Wenliang had only heard one sentence, but he could already see the fascination sparkling in his brother’s eyes. So my little brother has really fallen for someone.
“He’s really good-looking. I think he’s even better-looking than me. The first time I saw him, someone was confessing to him. But he didn’t like her, so he rejected her right away.”
Better-looking than Xingxing? That’s impossible. But love made you see things differently.
As for what he said about the person being better-looking than him—
Xie Wenliang frowned briefly but didn’t think too much about it.
After all, the word “good-looking” could apply to anyone, male or female. Nothing in his brother’s words suggested he was talking about a boy, so for now, Xie Wenliang was simply basking in the joy of his younger brother finally having a crush.
Xie Wenxing got lost in his memories. “A lot of people at school like him. They’re always giving him gifts, but he doesn’t like that. He turns them all down.”
In this day and age, vanity was common among teenagers. Not accepting gifts was a commendable trait.
Xie Wenliang nodded, already forming a favorable impression of this future sister-in-law.
“He’s tall and plays basketball really well! He can even dunk! He’s amazing!”
Xie Wenliang nodded.
Then it hit him.
He nodded again? Tall?
He didn’t expect his brother to be into tall girls, but hey, that was fine. That way, she could protect Xingxing from getting bullied.
“I love his voice. Whenever he gets a little close, right here—”
Xie Wenxing pressed a hand to his left chest. “—my heart races like crazy. Brother, am I sick?”
Xie Wenxing looked up at his brother, confusion in his eyes.
There was a five-year age gap between the brothers, and Xie Wenliang had always taken on the role of protector in front of Xie Wenxing.
That had never changed over the years.
Whenever Xie Wenxing came across something puzzling, he would turn to his brother for answers.
A mischievous grin spread across Xie Wenliang’s face. For a moment, the young man who hadn’t even graduated from college seemed to regain some of his boyish playfulness. He teased his younger brother in an exaggerated tone. “Xingxing, you’re done for. You like her!”
Xie Wenxing was silent for a moment. Then a question mark practically materialized above his head. “Huh?”
His confusion only deepened. “But he is…” a boy.
Before he could finish the sentence, Xie Wenliang cut him off, raising a finger and lifting his chin with an air of absolute certainty. “But what? But a lot of people like her? Worried she won’t like you back? Or thinking you’re too young for a relationship before college entrance exams? Or…”
Xie Wenliang’s tone grew a little heavier as he thought of his brother’s condition. “Or are you worried because you don’t like getting close to people, so you lack confidence, thinking you’ll just admire her from afar while someone else ends up with her?”
The barrage of questions left Xie Wenxing momentarily dazed. He hadn’t really registered most of them, but the last one hit home.
The thought of someone else being intimate with Xu Huai’an made his heart ache with a sour, swollen feeling. Instinctively, he recoiled from the idea.
Xie Wenliang saw right through him. “Feels bad, doesn’t it? Anyone would feel bad seeing the person they like being close to someone else!”
He declared with finality, “So yes, you definitely like her.”
A faint crease appeared between Xie Wenxing’s brows, as if there was still something weighing on him.
Xie Wenliang mulled it over. The usual concerns were few. “Are you worried Mom and Dad will find out about your early relationship? You don’t need to worry about that. To be honest, if they knew you were dating, I think they’d be thrilled for you!”
Xie Wenxing’s eyes lit up. “Really?”
Xie Wenliang nodded. “Of course. Have I ever lied to you?”
Xie Wenxing thought about it. He was right.
They say the person in the situation is the one most easily fooled, while the onlooker sees clearly. Xie Wenxing was caught in the middle of it all, having never experienced anything like this before. He hadn’t realized that the way his emotions fluctuated because of someone else was exactly what it meant to care about them.
After talking with his brother, he finally understood his own feelings.
That night, before falling asleep, it suddenly occurred to him that he had forgotten to tell his brother that Xu Huai’an was a boy. Oh well, I’ll tell him tomorrow.
But the next day, Xie Wenliang had plans to go out. By the time he came back, Xie Wenxing had already forgotten about it.
Over the weekend, Xie Wenxing logged into the game several times, but his friend request to Stay Away From Me remained pending.
His lips were marked with teeth indentations, yet he didn’t seem to notice.
Feeling restless, he grabbed the giant teddy bear from his bed and gave it a few good swings, then buried his face in its plush belly, muffling his frustrated sounds into the soft fabric.
Finally, he rummaged through his backpack at the foot of the bed and pulled out that nearly worn-down pencil. Gripping it tightly in his hand, his gaze gradually grew resolute.
He had made up his mind. He was going to pursue Xu Huai’an.
It was his first time having a crush, and he had no experience at all. Over the weekend, he had gone online and done his research.
He had even drafted a pursuit plan, filling several A4 sheets with notes.
Everything was ready. All that was left was to put it into action.
When the new week began, the students in the classroom clearly hadn’t fully recovered from their weekend fun.
The sound of reading was sparse, interwoven with hushed whispers.
Xie Wenxing had something on his mind; his lips moved along with the reading, but his heart wasn’t in it.
He recalled the first time he had seen Xu Huai’an—Luo Yinyin had been confessing to him. Xu Huai’an had rejected her without any hesitation. Xie Wenxing immediately dismissed the idea of confessing as a first step. After exhausting what felt like billions of brain cells, he had come up with a plan: Step one, get to know the person. Start by becoming friends.
“Xingxing.”
Song Yuan lightly poked Xie Wenxing’s elbow with his pen.
Xie Wenxing had never actively tried to befriend anyone before, so he was incredibly nervous, his entire body stiff as a stone. Startled by Song Yuan’s poke, he shot up like a spring.
They were in math class at the time. The math teacher adjusted his glasses. “Xie Wenxing, do you have an issue with my teaching?”
Xie Wenxing’s scalp tingled under the teacher’s stern gaze. “No, you’re teaching very well.”
He had only called him up to remind him to stop daydreaming, but not only did this student fail to reflect, he started evaluating the quality of the lesson.
The math teacher felt a little displeased, but when his eyes fell on Xie Wenxing’s face, paler than snow, with large, light-colored eyes and an overall soft appearance, he hesitated.
In that brief moment of hesitation, Zhou Yuan raised his voice. “Teacher, if you don’t continue, class is going to end.”
The math teacher swept his gaze across the eager faces of the other students and gestured with his hand. “Alright, sit down. Pay attention in math class, or you’ll find yourself falling behind this lesson, and then you won’t be able to catch up in the next. Understood?”
Xie Wenxing nodded. “Mm-hmm, understood.”
After this small interruption, Xie Wenxing assumed Zhou Yuan had helped him out because they had played games together over the weekend, a slight familiarity.
He leaned back slightly, the back of his chair lightly bumping against Zhou Yuan’s desk.
Zhou Yuan heard Xie Wenxing’s soft, cloud-like voice: “Thanks.”
Zhou Yuan rubbed his ear in surprise, making sure he hadn’t misheard.
When Xie Wenxing first transferred into the class, he had caused quite a stir in a few private group chats among the students.
He was good-looking, and quite a few girls liked him, wanting to get to know him, their teasing words carrying a hint of flirtation.
But then there was that moment during morning exercises, when Xie Wenxing flinched away from Xu Huai’an. And his look of resistance whenever someone tried to get close. Zhou Yuan had quickly concluded that this new deskmate, though soft-looking and remarkably handsome, almost rivaling Brother Huai, had a cold personality. He didn’t like being close to people, didn’t seem interested in making friends.
So this “thanks” caught Zhou Yuan by surprise.
His gaze lingered on Xie Wenxing a little too long.
Then his leg got kicked again.
Why “again”?
Because the only reason Zhou Yuan had spoken up to help earlier was that Xu Huai’an had kicked him.
Twice now. His pants leg was marked with two gray shoe prints.
If you weren’t my Brother Huai… Hmph!
Although Zhou Yuan didn’t understand why, he was used to it. Xu Huai’an had always been like this. His words were precious, and he rarely bothered explaining himself. All Zhou Yuan could do was guess.
It had been Xu Huai’an who made Zhou Yuan help, yet that little brat rabbit had thanked the wrong person.
That affected Xu Huai’an’s mood just a little.
His gaze fixed on the pale nape of the boy in front of him to the right. He ran his tongue over his canine teeth, his eyes narrowing slightly as he tilted his head, his gaze tracing from that nape up to the ear, then down along the spine. What he was thinking, no one could tell.
Xie Wenxing lowered his head, feeling a sudden itch. He reached back and scratched his nape, then his back.