Why?
Xie Wenxing propped up his textbook, appearing to be deeply focused when in reality, he was lost in thought.
Ever since he noticed that Xu Huai’an hadn’t worn the sneakers that morning, he had felt confused.
Why didn’t he wear them? Did he not like them?
But earlier, when Xie Wenxing had visited his dorm, he had seen that most of his shoes were sneakers, which meant he probably liked them.
He had given the gift, and Xu Huai’an had accepted it. Xie Wenxing should have been happy, and he was, overjoyed all night, even dreaming about Xu Huai’an. In his dream, he kept asking, “Do you like it? Do you like it?”
But now, he couldn’t stop spacing out. During breakfast after morning reading, he almost stuck the straw of his soy milk up his nose.
Song Yuan saw this and choked on his own drink. Covering his nose, he said, “Xingxing, be careful.”
Xie Wenxing, completely lost in thought, didn’t even notice Song Yuan’s predicament. He traced his chin with his fingernail and asked, “If someone gives you a gift, and it’s exactly what you like, but you never use it, why is that?”
“Huh?”
Song Yuan looked up at the ceiling. “Why, indeed?”
He couldn’t help but feel the scenario sounded strangely familiar.
Xie Wenxing slurped down the rest of his soy milk in one breath, making a sucking sound. “Yeah, that’s what I’m asking you.”
Song Yuan flailed his arms. “How should I know? Maybe they accepted it out of politeness to not embarrass the giver, but they don’t actually like it.”
That was a possibility, but it required one condition, they would have to know who the gift was from.
Xie Wenxing asked, “What if they don’t know who gave it?”
Song Yuan replied, “That’s even easier. People usually don’t use things from unknown sources, do they?”
Unknown source?
Xie Wenxing: …
That stung.
But Song Yuan’s words reminded him, if Xu Huai’an didn’t know the gift was from him, then his plan of apologizing and naturally becoming friends with him would fall apart, wouldn’t it?
Class was about to start, so Xie Wenxing had no time to dwell on it and pushed the thought to the back of his mind for now.
Although the workload for second-year senior high wasn’t as heavy as that for third-year, it was by no means easy.
Especially for someone like Xie Wenxing, whose foundation wasn’t particularly strong.
He needed to spend a lot of time just to finish his assignments, and even then, he couldn’t guarantee accuracy.
After staring at a problem for fifteen minutes without making any progress, Xie Wenxing slumped onto his arm in defeat.
Maybe I should get a tutor.
But then his thoughts circled back again.
Does he like it or not?
Class time always flew by quickly. By the time the evening dismissal came around, Xie Wenxing spotted a newly opened trendy milk tea shop on his way out of the cafeteria.
Song Yuan excitedly lined up, while Xie Wenxing initially wasn’t interested. But after a moment of hesitation, he said, “Two taro bubble milk teas, one half-sugar, one sugar-free.”
Song Yuan was pleasantly surprised. “Ah, Xingxing, how did you know I was craving this?”
It was only then that Xie Wenxing seemed to remember Song Yuan. “…Huh? Oh, that one’s not for you.”
Song Yuan: …???
He stared at Xie Wenxing, his eyes practically screaming, “Are we even friends anymore?”
But his pointed looks were wasted. Xie Wenxing had spotted a figure in the distance and wasn’t paying him any attention.
What is he doing over there?
Xie Wenxing left a quick “You head back to the classroom first, don’t wait for me” and took off.
Song Yuan stood there dumbfounded.
Something’s up. Something’s definitely up.
Meanwhile, Xie Wenxing was tailing a boy at a careful distance.
The school was huge, and since Xie Wenxing was new, he wasn’t familiar with many places outside his usual classrooms. He watched Xu Huai’an turn a corner, but by the time he reached it himself, all he saw was a row of waist-high shrubs.
“Where’d he go? He disappeared.”
Xie Wenxing looked around. Aside from himself, there wasn’t a single person in sight.
Whenever he was troubled, he had a habit of biting his lip.
He was doing it again now, his lips glistening, faint teeth marks visible from where he had been worrying at them.
Frustrated, Xie Wenxing ran his hands through his hair until it was a messy bird’s nest.
Then he turned around, and walked straight into a warm, solid wall.
“Ah! I don’t remember there being a wall here.”
He looked up, and froze.
The face that had haunted his dreams was right in front of him. Up close, his eyes were long and narrow, his eyelids slightly lowered, a look that was both languid and coolly aloof.
Xie Wenxing’s eyes slowly widened, his lips parting slightly. “What are you doing here?” he exclaimed.
Xu Huai’an raised an eyebrow ever so slightly. “That’s what I should be asking you. Why are you following me?”
Xie Wenxing felt as though his head had been struck by a heavy blow, dizzy and reeling.
He knows!