Every class formation on this part of the sports field had noticed Luo Zhiyu’s presence. Whenever the instructors weren’t looking, students would sneak glances in his direction.
“You’re dead,” Xiao Yan mouthed.
“I’m waiting.” Sitting leisurely in the shade of a tree, Luo Zhiyu took his time drinking his ice-cold soda.
Was this fun for you? Xiao Yan asked with his eyes.
Luo Zhiyu had carried all those cans of soda and more than half a watermelon all the way here. You couldn’t even call that putting in effort. He’d practically risked his life.
You really don’t mind exhausting yourself, do you?
Luo Zhiyu generally wasn’t one to hold grudges. Under normal circumstances, he’d forget about them overnight. Even in special cases, he couldn’t stay angry for more than three days. This extreme situation, in which he’d held onto a grudge for two whole years, was a first for Xiao Yan.
It’s fun. Luo Zhiyu tapped his fingertips against the soda can, producing a crisp metallic sound. I learned from you.
Now, not only were the students undergoing military training thirsty, but their instructors were also stealing several glances in Luo Zhiyu’s direction.
“Little classmate from No. 1 High School.” One of the instructors from the neighboring formation finally couldn’t take it anymore and walked over. “Shouldn’t you be at home doing your homework?”
“Nope.” Luo Zhiyu opened another can of soda. “I can do homework anytime.”
What he meant was that opportunities to pull off such a despicable stunt didn’t come around every day.
When Luo Zhiyu looked up, both he and the instructor froze.
“Hello, Instructor Xia!” Luo Zhiyu’s lips curled into a smile. “What a coincidence.”
“Luo Zhiyu?” Instructor Xia was startled, then remembered the name of the No. 1 High School student standing before him.
Back when Instructor Xia had trained students at No. 1 High School, he’d happened to be in charge of Luo Zhiyu’s class. He remembered Luo Zhiyu vividly. After all, this was the student who had claimed one moment that he’d only just differentiated and was extremely fragile, then picked up a broom the next moment and beaten an alpha student all the way to the other side of the sports field.
That alpha student back then… Thinking about it, he should be a university freshman this year!
Instructor Xia was absolutely certain that he could see two things written all over Luo Zhiyu’s face: Revenge at last and the student has surpassed the teacher.
There were only ten minutes left before the first-year military training at U University ended, and Luo Zhiyu had successfully drawn the hostility of practically everyone.
“That’s brutal.” A second-year student carrying a bottle of ice water passed by Luo Zhiyu. “We second-years only sneak over to drink a little cold water. Little bro, you’ve practically opened a whole stall here.”
“It’s not that bad.” Luo Zhiyu generously offered his new comrade-in-arms half of a small watermelon. “I learned it all from someone else. I just took the idea a little further.”
Luo Zhiyu fished a handheld mini fan out of the corner of his backpack. Following the established procedure, he waved it at Xiao Yan before switching it on.
Xiao Yan: “…”
“Bold move.” The second-year student gave him a thumbs-up. “Careful, you’re going to get beaten up.”
“I have more.” Luo Zhiyu proudly produced a pair of sunglasses and an ice-cooling seat cushion.
There was only one minute left before the first-year military training ended. The voices from the formation grew louder, an increasingly uncontrollable restlessness bubbling beneath the surface.
“Ugh, I’m so pissed. High-school seniors are bullying us right to our faces!”
“Let’s teach him a lesson.”
“I’ll do it.” Xiao Yan volunteered for the task. “I’ll go deal with him.”
“Is it almost over?” Luo Zhiyu asked his newly acquired friend while packing his backpack in preparation for his escape. “Could you distribute the soda and watermelon to everyone for me? I’m going to make a run for it.”
A whistle sounded in the distance.
Luo Zhiyu had brought too many odds and ends. When the whistle blew, he still hadn’t packed away the mini fan. It was a little pink fan generously sponsored by Tang Yuan. After putting it away, Luo Zhiyu grabbed his backpack and tried to run.
But he was a fraction of a second too slow.
Xiao Yan pounced on him from behind and tackled him onto the grass.
Pinning him down, Xiao Yan reached out and removed the ridiculous sunglasses from his face.
“Confiscated.”
“Ow, ow, ow!” Luo Zhiyu landed on the grass, with Xiao Yan’s arm serving as a pillow beneath his head. “Shameless! A university student is bullying a high-school student!”
The second-year students who had come over to watch the spectacle: “…”
Nobody could match Luo Zhiyu’s ability to play the victim after starting the trouble himself.
“You went to all this trouble to come here and provoke me. I thought you’d already prepared yourself to be bullied.” Xiao Yan grabbed Luo Zhiyu’s hand and hauled him to his feet. By now, the students from his formation had gradually gathered around to watch him deliver justice and teach this shameless troublemaker a lesson.
“Everyone, help yourselves to the soda and watermelon.” Xiao Yan brushed the blades of grass off Luo Zhiyu’s uniform trousers. “This little menace is my boyfriend.”
Student No. 1: “…”
Student No. 2: “Holy shit.”
“No wonder you were so enthusiastic about volunteering for the task,” someone teased. “Turns out you were afraid we’d bully your little boyfriend!”
These students didn’t know that Xiao Yan and Luo Zhiyu’s pheromone compatibility was practically zero. Since Xiao Yan had said it, they believed him.
It was a novel experience for Luo Zhiyu. He had never experienced anything like this at No. 1 High School.
“Your boyfriend is still in high school? He looks so young! What grade is he in?” one of Xiao Yan’s classmates asked. “How old is your little one?”
“I’m only a year younger than you!” Luo Zhiyu protested indignantly. “I’ll be in university next year, too.”
“You guys go eat without me.” After saying goodbye to his new roommates, Xiao Yan picked up Luo Zhiyu’s backpack and gave him a push from behind. Lowering his voice, he said, “Come on. Time to settle the score.”
Before he could even finish saying the words settle the score, Luo Zhiyu bolted.
The entire class stood frozen in horror as they watched a university student chase his high-school boyfriend around half the sports field. One ran ahead, the other pursued, and the two disappeared into the nearest teaching building.
Luo Zhiyu’s talent for long-distance running had always manifested itself in only one situation: running away.
It wasn’t until he reached the teaching area that he finally slowed down and lightened his footsteps. Xiao Yan caught up and pinned him against a corner wall.
“Don’t move. Let me catch my breath first.”
The military training dismissal time was later than the usual end of classes, so the teaching buildings were nearly deserted at noon. Luo Zhiyu looked left and right, realizing that his chances of escaping were practically zero.
“I won’t run anymore.”
“Fine.”
Xiao Yan didn’t believe him for a second. The scent of tangerines gradually wound around Luo Zhiyu’s neck, pulling him closer and keeping him in place.
Luo Zhiyu: “…”
Now that Xiao Yan was in university, he had become even more unreasonable than before.
His pheromones were ferocious as hell, too.
“Count how many days you haven’t paid attention to me.” Once Luo Zhiyu’s breathing had settled a little, Xiao Yan began his interrogation. “You don’t reply to my messages, and you don’t answer my calls. I’d even started wondering whether I’d bitten you too hard again before the semester started.”
“About two and a half days.” Luo Zhiyu made a rough calculation. “That’s not long at all. Don’t forget that we high-school seniors are busy with homework.”
“Do you think I don’t know whether you actually do your homework?” Xiao Yan knew him far too well. “You’ve clearly been thinking about this for days.”
“Fine.” A tingling, slightly sore sensation spread from the gland on his neck. Luo Zhiyu finally admitted defeat. “I can’t keep anything from you. I was afraid that if I got too excited, I’d let the secret slip. Then how would I be able to live up to what you did back when you came over to drink ice water? Don’t you agree, big brother?”
He’d put it beautifully. The first half alone would have made anyone feel good. It was a classic Luo Zhiyu-style sugar-coated bullet.
Xiao Yan had plenty of experience dealing with Luo Zhiyu and wasn’t going to fall for the trick. He swallowed the sugar coating on the spot and fired the bullet right back at him.
“Student ID 0301, Luo Zhiyu!”
Xiao Yan called him by his student number and full name.
“Present!” Luo Zhiyu answered instinctively.
“Before you came here to pull this stunt, did you ever consider that I could do exactly the same thing to you next year? Everything you’ve done to me this year, I can pay you back in full next year. Did you think about that?”
Luo Zhiyu really hadn’t. He wasn’t the sort of person who planned for the future. All that mattered was getting his revenge and enjoying the moment. Who could have predicted that their cycle of retaliation might continue indefinitely?
“Come on, big brother.” Luo Zhiyu backed down. “This isn’t good for either of us. When will this endless cycle of revenge ever end?”
“It ends now.”
The backpack in Xiao Yan’s hand dropped to the floor.
He pushed Luo Zhiyu against the wall and pinched his cheeks, forcing his mouth open before lightly biting the corner of his lips.
“Open your mouth.”
“Let go, let go!” Luo Zhiyu struggled twice, but Xiao Yan freed one hand and pinned both his wrists against the wall above his head.
“Brother Yan,” Luo Zhiyu pleaded.
“No one passes through here at noon. There are no security cameras, and besides…”
As if he’d seen through Luo Zhiyu’s concerns, Xiao Yan lowered his head and cut off the words he hadn’t yet spoken with a kiss.
“Who’s going to police you at university?”
Luo Zhiyu felt that Xiao Yan had genuinely changed since entering university. At first, he still struggled a little, making a token protest. Eventually, he simply gave up. Xiao Yan changed his grip on Luo Zhiyu’s hands, supporting him instead so that he wouldn’t slowly slide down the wall.
“Don’t bite.” Xiao Yan raised a hand and brushed the corner of Luo Zhiyu’s eye with his fingers, mixing threats with coaxing. “And don’t hide. If you don’t know how, I’ll teach you. Cicada, pay attention. You can learn anything. Next year, when you’re a first-year student undergoing military training, I’ll come stand in the sun with you. How does that sound?”
Half an hour earlier, Luo Zhiyu’s WeChat Moments had looked like this:
[Cicada]: [Photo] Revenge at last. Sunglasses smile.jpg
[Location: U University Sports Field, X City]
[Fan Yue] — Comment: Holy shit, that’s brutal. Xiao Yan definitely never imagined this day would come when he was pulling stunts back then.
[Tangyuan Hides from Cats] — Comment: Hurry up and use the mini fan I sponsored! It’s so good, hahaha!
[Zhang Shu Is Not Mochi]: …Luo Zhiyu, run! Be careful or you’ll get beaten up.
[Luo Sixue]: No wonder the house was empty. Senior year starts tomorrow, so why did you go all the way over to the university district? Do you know someone there?
[Fence-Sitter]: I give up. You really are something else. Xiao Yan has already graduated, and you still went all the way to his university to provoke him. Are you asking to get beaten?
There were plenty of young couples on the university campus. Everywhere he looked, people were walking around in pairs. But Luo Zhiyu was the only one who had come to visit his boyfriend wearing his high-school uniform. Quite a few passersby turned their heads to look at them.
Once the excitement of getting his revenge wore off, Luo Zhiyu began feeling melancholy again.
School would start tomorrow. Xiao Yan would no longer be at No. 1 High School. If Luo Zhiyu wanted to see him, he would have to wait for weekends when he was allowed to leave campus.
There was still an entire year of senior high school ahead of him. It was going to be a long one.
The little hooligan, whose lips were a little redder than usual, looked Xiao Yan up and down before letting out a mournful sigh.
“Stop sighing.” Xiao Yan had never seen him this dejected. “There’s no evening self-study on Friday nights. I’ll come see you. I’ll wait outside your classroom. When you look up after class, you’ll see me outside the window.”
“Okay.”
Luo Zhiyu was cheerful again.
For the entire first week after school started, Luo Zhiyu looked forward to Friday. Even during lessons, he would absentmindedly stare at the desk in front of him.
“This desk…” The math teacher interrupted Luo Zhiyu’s trance. “Has it started growing flowers?”
“Not exactly.” Luo Zhiyu came back to his senses. “I’m looking at an object and thinking of someone.”
The desk he was sitting at now had belonged to Xiao Yan before he graduated. Luo Zhiyu used to spend a lot of time sitting here, and even the windowsill was familiar to him.
Teacher: “???”
Teacher Zhang sent Luo Zhiyu out into the corridor to get some fresh air and clear his head.
While standing by the bulletin board, Luo Zhiyu noticed the messages left behind by the previous graduating class. The students had covered it with sticky notes bearing their farewells to No. 1 High School, their teachers, and their classmates.
Nobody had signed their name, and the messages varied widely. Luo Zhiyu found several particularly amusing ones among them.
Sticky Note 1: The thing that scared me the most at No. 1 High School was the orange cat. The thing I’ll miss the most is also the orange cat.
Sticky Note 2: Thank goodness! No one will call me Mochi anymore. TAT
Sticky Note 3: Sob, sob. I slowly deleted the address of No. 1 High School from my shopping and food-delivery apps, replacing it with another unfamiliar place.
There was also a tangerine-shaped sticky note squeezed into the edge of the bulletin board, hanging precariously. Luo Zhiyu reached out and plucked it off.
“Cicada, look at me! Look at me! Look over here →→→”
The arrows pointed toward a peach-shaped sticker. Heaven only knew where Xiao Yan had managed to get it.
[Cicada]: Got nothing better to do, huh?
[Tangerine]: I knew you’d see it.
When Luo Zhiyu returned to the classroom, Jing Ximing immediately interrogated him.
“Are you under pressure? Why have you been so listless lately?”
“The same old problem.” Luo Zhiyu sighed.
“Long-distance relationship?” Jing Ximing remembered that this was the only thing capable of making Luo Zhiyu so conflicted. “Judging by how exhausted you look, has it gone international this time?”
It was only a few streets away, with perhaps one or two traffic lights to wait at. Luo Zhiyu couldn’t quite bring himself to say that.
Friday finally arrived, but the last class of the day had been scheduled for an in-class test.
[Cicada]: Are you here yet?
[Tangerine]: I’ve left campus.
[Cicada]: I have to take a test first. Wait for me a little.
[Cicada]: Your student ID has expired, hasn’t it? And this isn’t visiting hours, either.
[Tangerine]: Focus on your test. Don’t worry about me. I’ll climb over the wall.
[Cicada]: Sure, sure. I’ll write faster and hand it in early so I can come out.
Luo Zhiyu settled down to take his test.
Ever since the previous graduating class had left, Director Wu had been enjoying a peaceful life. The two students with zero pheromone compatibility had finally gone their separate ways, and No. 1 High School had returned to its usual tranquility.
Every day, Luo Zhiyu looked just like a model student, going to and from school alone. There was no one left for him to visit and stir up trouble with.
Without Xiao Yan around, Luo Zhiyu was positively well-behaved.
Director Wu felt he had accomplished something momentous. It was significant not only for No. 1 High School but also for Luo Zhiyu and Xiao Yan themselves. The two students’ endless bickering should finally be over.
All the senior students were taking exams during their final lesson of the day. As usual, Director Wu made his rounds to check discipline in each classroom. By the time he reached Class Three, there were only ten minutes left before the end of the lesson.
A student was leaning against the railing diagonally behind the classroom’s back door. He wore a neatly arranged white-and-green senior-year uniform, his posture straight and his bearing excellent. There was absolutely nothing to criticize about him.
Although the student’s back looked strangely familiar, this was the time for the Friday exam for senior students. It hardly seemed appropriate for someone to be standing here, leaning against the railing and gazing into the distance while basking in the evening sun.
“Which class are you from?” The director approached sternly, already preparing a lecture. “It’s currently…”
The “student” turned around and smiled politely the moment he saw a familiar face.
Someone who had already graduated in June was standing in the corridor wearing last year’s senior-year uniform. The four digits on his nameplate, 0301, were crystal clear. He seemed completely unconcerned about the fact that he had no business being there at all.
In fact, the moment he saw Director Wu, he even seemed rather delighted.
Xiao Yan greeted him of his own accord.
“Wow, hello, Director Wu!”
“Director, making your rounds to supervise the exams?”
His casual tone was so disarming that the director nodded first.
“Yes, I’m supervising the exams.”
Ten seconds later—
“What are you doing back here?!” Director Wu finally processed what was happening and reacted as though facing a formidable enemy. “You’ve already graduated! Are you two still going to fight?!”
Xiao Yan: “?”