The next day, thinking He Yuqing would finally calm down and stop bothering me was a huge mistake. We’d barely made it through one period before this guy just couldn’t hold it in and came over to chat.
“Youjie… let’s go check out the Tea Ceremony Club after school too,” He Yuqing said, smiling at me with a brightness that didn’t lose to the sun outside.
“I really don’t wanna go…” I looked off to the side. Seriously, this guy barely talked to me last night, and now he’s doing a full 360? I just couldn’t figure him out.
“Why not? That’s so weird.” He looked genuinely confused.
“Thanks to you, I barely slept last night.” If there was a mirror, I was sure I’d see full-on panda eyes. Because of that argument we had, this guy was so annoyed he just kept muttering and muttering like a monk chanting sutras. I couldn’t sleep the whole night. After forcing myself through one class, the drowsiness hit hard.
“Youjie, insomnia at your age, huh?” he said, shamelessly making fun of me.
“And whose fault is that? Some people clearly have zero self-awareness.” I snapped back.
“Self-awareness? Who needs to reflect? Isn’t it just you losing sleep on your own?” He Yuqing kept playing dumb as usual. He really did seem to float between sharp and clueless.
“I’m done talking to you. I’m so sleepy right now…” I couldn’t help yawning, wanting to take a quick nap while the break lasted.
“That won’t do at all, Youjie.” He Yuqing grabbed my shoulders with both hands and pressed down hard.
“Ah~ this feeling—wow, that hurts.” For someone who looked so weak and frail, who knew he had that much strength.
“Well? A little more awake now?”
“Don’t go pressing down on people’s shoulders out of nowhere, okay? That really hurts.” I rubbed my aching shoulders, annoyed.
“But at least you’re awake now, right? You’re not supposed to waste your youth like this. You should be putting more effort into girls. I mean, what a waste of your prime years if you don’t chase any, right?”
If he’d said that any louder, the girls in class would’ve branded him a scumbag on the spot.
“So anyway… let’s go to the Tea Ceremony Club after school. The upperclassman there is really pretty, total eye candy.”
“If you’re trying to tempt me, then—”
“Is that how it is, Jie?” My words got cut in half by Zhiye. Her serious expression instantly shut my mouth.
“That’s exactly how it is, Zhiye,” He Yuqing said smoothly. “Youjie’s really interested in the senpai at the Tea Ceremony Club, so we were planning to go together after school.”
This guy had absolutely no sense of danger. Zhiye is the type who can one-shot you before you even finish your sentence, you know.
“Is that true, Jie?” Zhiye’s unfocused eyes turned to me. That strange pressure around her—what was that?
“Listen to me. I’m not like he says, okay? I’m not ‘interested’ in some Tea Ceremony Club senpai.”
“Youjie’s lying again. We went there together yesterday, didn’t we?”
Hearing such a dangerous line, I instinctively tried to cover his mouth. Too late. This guy was a pro at adding fuel to the fire.
“So it’s true,” Zhiye said. “Jie, how could you do that? Sneaking off to see other women behind my back.”
A black, oppressive aura seemed to rise up behind her, like her hair itself was about to float. As you can all probably imagine, Zhiye was very, very angry.
“This is all your fault.” Cold sweat ran down my back as I glared at He Yuqing.
He Yuqing looked equally embarrassed, clearly at a loss in front of this situation.
“That kind of Jie can’t be exposed to that many females. Locking you up is clearly the necessary measure.” Zhiye pulled a coil of rope out from her desk.
“Didn’t think you’d actually prepare something like that over this,” He Yuqing muttered in awe beside us.
“Now you’ve seen how scary Zhiye is, right? So the line you’re supposed to say right now is what I want to say, got it?”
“So what do we do now? The mood’s terrible,” He Yuqing panicked, flailing like a headless chicken. That was supposed to be my instinctive reaction, okay? Also, you’re the culprit here.
“To untie the bell, you need the one who tied it. You’re the only one who can fix this.”
“Me? How am I supposed to fix it?”
“Zhiye misunderstood because of what you said. So clearing it up has to come from you.”
“…Yeah, that’s true. Zhiye, listen to me,” He Yuqing said, trying to stop her and reaching for the rope in her hand.
“Other than Jie, no one is allowed to touch me.”
“Ah—I didn’t mean it like that,” He Yuqing said, shrinking his hand back under the weight of her aura.
“Zhiye, this is a misunderstanding. I was just joking. Actually, I’m the one who really likes the Tea Ceremony senpai.” He Yuqing rushed to explain. So his true feelings finally slipped out. This guy, seriously.
“Then why drag Jie into it?”
“Because… because we’re bros, that’s why. Haha.”
He suddenly slung an arm around my shoulders, making me freeze for a second. I could feel the weird stares all around us.
“Anyway, it’s all a misunderstanding. Just blame him.” I quickly lifted his arm off me and spoke to Zhiye in the most serious tone I could manage.
“Then I’ll trust, for now, that Jie wouldn’t cheat on me.” Zhiye’s face instantly softened into a gentle smile. That crushing aura evaporated in an instant.
“Crisis averted…” He Yuqing let out a long breath. It was rare to see him looking this mentally exhausted.
“Impressed now? So don’t run your mouth like that again,” I murmured to him.
“I’ve seen a bit, yeah. But… are we going after school or not?”
“You really never learn, do you? I’ve got my own club activities to go to.”
“That’s such a shame. I really wanted to show you senpai’s beauty, Youjie.”
“Let’s drop that topic… or Zhiye’s gonna snap again.”
“Yeah, you’ve got a point…” He Yuqing chuckled like nothing had just happened.
“And stop calling me your ‘bro’ like that.”
“Eh? Isn’t that normal?”
“It’s not normal at all, okay? Didn’t you see those weird looks from the class just now?”
“Really?” He Yuqing glanced around. Either he really hadn’t noticed, or he was pretending not to.
“This is the bond between men,” he said, totally straight-faced. I honestly think he’s the only one who could say that out loud so casually.
“Jie doesn’t need that kind of bond,” Zhiye cut in.
“Eh… even you’re getting involved, Zhiye?” he groaned.
“Please control yourself, He Yuqing. We’re in public.”
“So I’m being treated like I have some weird fetish now?” He Yuqing looked at me, utterly innocent.
“How would I know what’s going on with you? Anyway, Zhiye’s right. Please control yourself…”
“Even you too, Youjie?” He Yuqing stared at me in disbelief.
“I can’t help it. I’m just following my heart.” I said it in the most devout tone, like I was praying to God.
“And here I was, so sincere…” He Yuqing looked like he was about to cry.
Right then, Zhong Meiya walked into the classroom, shot a glare at the two of us, and snapped, “Class is starting. No more chatting. If you’re standing around talking, shouldn’t you be back in your seats?”
