“Hey, hey, have you guys heard?” In the classroom of Class 3, Grade 2 at Deshun High Schoolone of the top schools in S City several female students huddled together for gossip after class.
“Are you talking about the new transfer student in Class 1?” the short-haired girl guessed instantly.
“Yeah! That new guy is so handsome!! Don’t you think he looks like a young Takuya Kimura? Those eyes, that skin, that face, Oh my god, just looking at his back is enough for me to give him my heart…”
“True, with a face like that, he’s captured way more than just your heart!”
“Right, Sigh! What a pity, his seat isn’t very good. Seriously, why does he have to sit in front of that bully?”
The “bully” these girls were talking about was none other than the school’s notorious “underachieving slacker” someone who had money, looks, and a great physique, but absolutely nothing else! Not only was he at the bottom of the academic rankings, but his behavior was also atrocious. Relying on his wealthy background and family status as a major financial benefactor of the school, he picked fights and stirred up trouble at every turn, leaving even the principal powerless against him.
“We can only stand outside and steal a fleeting glance to be satisfied… Fei Qinan, why does he have to be so handsome!?” another girl clutched her chest, completely infatuated.
You can’t really blame them. In a school renowned for academic excellence, a rare catch like Fei Qinan, who had good looks, height, and most importantly, high intelligence, was simply too hard to come by. The placement test he took right after transferring directly broke the school’s historical grade-level record; it was practically off the charts!
“Still, he seems really cold and aloof, doesn’t he? I’ve never seen him act close to anyone. Even Wang Hao, the class monitor and total sweetheart of their class, barely talks to him.”
“You don’t understand. Top-tier academic gods like him are always detached and don’t have many friends.”
“If he were to gaze at me with those eyes for even a few seconds, I reckon I’d pass out right on the spot”
“And then have him give you mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, right? Hahaha.”
“Hehe, do you guys think someone with my looks could melt his millennium-old iceberg of a heart?”
“Alright, everyone scatter, this girl’s lost her mind…”
“Hey, hey, hey, Don’t leave yet… I’m not done talking yet”
Just like that, Fei Qinan became the talk of the school during breaks less than a week after transferring. Before he arrived, everyone mostly discussed who had scored top of the class, which class had produced a new prodigy, or whether the “bully” from Class 1 was fighting someone again.
Now, they had a brand-new topic: What kind of girls did this new heartthrob academic god actually like? Which girl would ultimately manage to conquer his indifferent heart?
Grade 2, Class 1
Fei Qinan had zero interest in getting closer to his new classmates. While others gathered in groups to chat or go to the restroom after class, he simply stayed by himself, occasionally offering a bland, perfunctory response when a female classmate tried to strike up a conversation.
Let alone having any kind of rapport with his classmates, he hadn’t even exchanged many words with the people sitting directly in front of and behind him, especially the “sleep god” who constantly skipped school and was rarely seen: Qi Shun.
That afternoon before classes resumed, Qi Shun slung his school bag over his shoulder and strolled into the classroom. Beneath a well-cut, handsome crew cut was a rebellious face, slashed across the forehead by an eight-centimeter scar that looked like it had healed some time ago. Beneath thick, striking brows were a pair of deep, unignorable eyes filled with impatience and arrogance. His upper lip was thin while his lower lip was slightly full, and a triangular silver stud in his left ear flashed with a dazzling, piercing light.
Qi Shun walked up to his desk, glanced sideways at the student in front of him, and slammed his bag down onto the desk before sitting down. The motion startled the surrounding classmates, making them shiver; it seemed some unfortunate deity had put him in a foul mood today.
“Hey!”
“Hey! Are you dead or what? Didn’t you hear me calling you?”
Qi Shun gave Fei Qinan’s back a forceful shove. Was this guy’s ears just for decoration?
Fei Qinan didn’t even turn his head. “What is it?”
“I’m going to sleep. Don’t make a single sound, or you’ll get out of my sight immediately.”
“Mm.”
Witnessing this, the surrounding classmates all drew sharp breaths! They had never seen a single hero dare to speak to Qi Shun like that, and inwardly, they all gave Fei Qinan a hearty thumbs-up!
Although Qi Shun felt a bit humiliated, he could only grumily bury his face in his arms and start sleeping. After all, this guy hadn’t actually done anything to offend him, and besides, didn’t he always hate people who talked too much?
When school let out in the afternoon, the students on cleaning duty had already finished and gone home. The classroom was left with only Fei Qinan, who had no plans of leaving just yet and Qi Shun, who had slept through the entire afternoon.
Fei Qinan propped his head up with one elbow, turning his gaze toward the window. The gradually darkening sky cast a quiet serenity over the bustling campus. At that moment, the person behind him finally stirred.
Qi Shun opened his eyes and shook out his stiff arm. Half-asleep, he was completely “dazzled” by the scene unfolding before him.
The lingering, gentle rays of the setting sun spilled lazily across Fei Qinan. His slender, fair fingers were extended and paused in mid-air, as if trying to catch the fading brilliance. Under the twilight glow, a few slightly long strands of bangs and his sharp profile made him look just like an angel stepping out of an oil painting giving off a strange… and inexplicably comforting feeling.
Qi Shun couldn’t help but shudder and shake his head. An… an angel!? And comforting? What the heck! Why on earth would I, damn it, have such a terrifying thought!?
Feeling a bit spooked, he irritably grabbed his school bag and strode out of the classroom, leaving Fei Qinan alone to immerse himself in his own world.