“How’s university life?” Director Wu asked, showing some concern for the student he used to know so well. “I see you hanging around No. 1 High School every day. I keep feeling like you haven’t graduated yet.”
Even the security guards at No. 1 High School had grown numb to it. Whenever they saw Xiao Yan, they simply let him through without a word.
“Great.” Occasionally, he even had his boyfriend attend classes for him. How could life not be great? “It keeps getting better.”
After today, Luo Zhiyu would be graduating, too.
“Time really flies.” Director Wu had spent all these years mediating their fights, so he was quite familiar with both Xiao Yan and Luo Zhiyu by now. “Back then, Luo Zhiyu was only in his first year of high school. I don’t know what you did, but I doubt it was anything good. That kid chased you around trying to beat you up. I remember thinking that this so-called zero compatibility really lived up to its reputation.”
“Later, your relationship eased up a little. You both became more sensible, and you could even put your differences aside and share a room during competitions. You were much less trouble.”
Xiao Yan: “……”
“I checked Luo Zhiyu’s birthday. It’s at the end of June this year. From now on, you’ll both be university students. Stop fighting every time you see each other. Don’t embarrass No. 1 High School, understand?”
“All right, all right. I understand, I understand.” Xiao Yan agreed. “Don’t worry. We both know what to do.”
“Whether you bury the hatchet with a smile or go your separate ways, that’s up to the two of you.” That was as far as the director was willing to go in his attempt to mediate. “Sigh, you’re easier to talk to than Luo Zhiyu. I suppose it’s because you’re a year older.”
“No, Luo Zhiyu is easy to talk to, too.” Xiao Yan instinctively defended Luo Zhiyu. “He doesn’t have a bad temper, either.”
Director Wu: “?”
“Have I finished talking him out of fighting?” Director Wu wasn’t sure anymore.
“We really won’t fight.” Xiao Yan folded the stack of tutoring-center advertisements in his hands into paper airplanes and paper boats. “Director, I’ve taken every word you said to heart.”
“Mm.” Director Wu nodded solemnly. “Then why aren’t you leaving yet?”
Xiao Yan: “???”
It began pouring that afternoon during the final written examination. Luo Zhiyu put down his pen and waited for the bell signaling the end of the exam. Around him, the scratching of pens continued. Raindrops struck the glass windows, leaving transparent trails behind them.
Outside the examination venue, most of the teachers and parents waiting to see the students off had taken shelter beneath temporary canopies. The rest had opened umbrellas in all sorts of colors. From Luo Zhiyu’s perspective, they looked like vibrant flowers blooming in the rain.
When the bell signaling the end of the final examination rang, Luo Zhiyu remained in his seat while the teachers counted the exam papers. The school serving as the examination venue had previously been quiet, but its corridors and staircases suddenly erupted into a frenzy.
All kinds of noisy voices surrounded Luo Zhiyu. Some people were comparing answers; others were asking whether they had gone off-topic in their essays. These voices reached his ears indistinctly, none of them quite registering.
He hadn’t brought an umbrella. Using only his transparent document folder to shield himself from some of the rain, he ran toward the school gate.
Students standing beneath the corridor, planning to wait until the rain eased before leaving, watched as one absolute idiot charged without hesitation into the torrential downpour.
“……”
“In that much of a hurry?”
“Maybe he didn’t do well on the exam.”
“He’s going to get completely soaked! The exams are over anyway. There’s no rush to go have fun right this second.”
The end of high school came quietly. It wasn’t as grand as they had imagined, nor as rushed as they had expected. The countdown to the college entrance examination written on the blackboard had finally reached zero.
And so, calmly and naturally, amid a crowd of people who were either excited or lost, he ran step by step toward his future.
Outside the school gates, parents had gathered to wait for the candidates. Some were loudly asking how difficult the exam had been. There was also an alpha student who seemed to have filled in his answer sheet incorrectly. He stood beside the entrance to the examination venue, crying bitterly.
Luo Zhiyu had assumed that with so many people gathered outside, he would have to put in some effort to find Xiao Yan.
Unexpectedly, the moment he exited the school gates, he spotted a transparent umbrella among the riot of colorful ones. Its canopy was printed with lots of little oranges, making it particularly conspicuous in the crowd.
Xiao Yan always seemed to have a way of making sure Luo Zhiyu could pick him out of a crowd at a glance.
At the examination send-off area for the municipal No. 1 High School, the parents were saying goodbye to their temporary mascot of good luck.
“Thank you, thank you! That was very thoughtful of you to wait here with us for so long.”
“You’ve worked hard, Xiao Yan,” one parent said gratefully. “I’m sure this year’s students will achieve excellent results, too.”
“Would you like to come with us?” someone invited Xiao Yan. “We’ve hired a bus to take everyone back to the city.”
“He doesn’t need to.” Director Wu, who was helping take down the canopy, declined on Xiao Yan’s behalf. “He’s here waiting for someone.”
“To arrange a fight?” Director Xu, who had come over to help, asked.
“No fighting,” Xiao Yan said with a frown.
Someone came rushing over from a distance, slammed his document folder onto a folding table, then jumped up and threw his arms around Xiao Yan’s neck.
“Big brother! I’m done!”
Luo Zhiyu had recklessly thrown himself into the torrential rain, and he was soaked from head to toe. When he lunged at Xiao Yan like that, he immediately drenched Xiao Yan’s clothes, too. The rainwater in his hair trickled down Xiao Yan’s neck, slowly rolling beneath his collar.
Xiao Yan reached out to embrace him. The umbrella printed with little oranges fell to the ground, landing at their feet.
“You didn’t bring an umbrella. Why didn’t you wait for me to come inside and get you? Why did you rush out like that?” Xiao Yan gently patted his waist. “Look at the state you’re in. You’re drenched.”
“I’m impatient by nature!” Luo Zhiyu was overjoyed. “Come on, let’s get soaked together.”
Director Wu: “……”
After sending away two students who were completely drenched but still wanted to help with the cleanup, several teachers who had accompanied the candidates showered Director Wu with praise.
“Now we can finally relax. Those two permanent fixtures have both gone off to university. At last, things will quiet down.”
“That’s good, though. I just heard Luo Zhiyu call him ‘big brother.’ They’ve already turned from enemies into friends, haven’t they?”
“If it weren’t for their incompatible pheromones, I’d almost think the two of them were having a puppy-love relationship. But this is great, too. A pure friendship between an alpha and an omega.” Teacher Xu, who had taught both students, joined the conversation.
“Where did Xiao Yan buy that umbrella with the little oranges? It’s quite pretty.”
Xiao Yan had asked his family’s driver to park his car in a nearby parking lot. The two of them walked over, a journey that took less than five minutes.
“Am I going to get your back seat wet?” Luo Zhiyu hesitated beside the car door, water still dripping from every part of him. “My clothes are completely soaked.”
“You will.” Xiao Yan reached out and pulled Luo Zhiyu along. “So get into the front passenger seat.”
The logic was so moving that Luo Zhiyu laughed and fastened his own seat belt.
[Luo Sixue]: Are you done with the exams?
[Luo Sixue]: Do you need a grand, spectacular pickup service? Should I drive over in a convertible to collect you? I could put on sunglasses, spend two hours doing my makeup, and come pick you up looking gorgeous.
[Zhizhi]: Get out of bed, open your window, and see if it’s pouring outside.
[Zhizhi]: Middle finger.jpg
[Zhizhi]: I finished half an hour ago.
[Luo Sixue]: ……
[Zhizhi]: But I might not have done very well. I feel like I didn’t perform that well. Bawling.jpg
[Luo Sixue]: Get lost, get lost, get lost. You say the same thing after every exam, and when the results come out, you score higher than everyone else.
[Luo Sixue]: Go complain to your boyfriend.
[Zhizhi]: All right, all right.
After suddenly coming to a halt following such a busy period, Luo Zhiyu found himself in the gap between high school and university, with nothing much to do. Wrapped in Xiao Yan’s little blanket, he wandered around Xiao Yan’s apartment for the entire evening. After declaring several times that he was bored, Xiao Yan finally sat him down in a chair and assigned him a whole pile of tasks.
“Here’s a copy of my general education timetable.” Xiao Yan sent the schedule to Luo Zhiyu on WeChat. “You’ll be free for the next couple of weeks anyway, so just come along with me. You can familiarize yourself with university classes in advance. Most first-year courses are general education classes.”
Luo Zhiyu glanced at the timetable. College Student Mental Health, College Student Physical Health, Current Affairs and Policy, and other standard general education courses were listed there.
Back in high school, the two of them had attended the same school but were in different grades. Apart from physical education, they had practically never had the opportunity to attend classes together.
Now, being able to follow Xiao Yan to class made Luo Zhiyu feel as though he had finally caught up with him.
For the remaining days of June, Luo Zhiyu followed Xiao Yan around, sitting in on classes and freeloading on food and drinks. Before long, he had explored the entirety of U University. Some of the general education classes were small enough that the professors even came to recognize this student who kept showing up to sit in.
“Your boyfriend?” During a break, the professor teaching one of the general education classes asked Xiao Yan, who was sitting in the front row. “He looks so young. Your boyfriend looks like a high school student.”
“Yes. He just graduated and is still waiting for his college entrance examination results,” Xiao Yan explained. “He’s sitting in on the class.”
“I’m not that young, Professor.” Luo Zhiyu, who had been resting with his eyes closed, looked up. “I’ll be eighteen in just a few days. I’m practically a university student already.”
“Eighteen is still a child.” Xiao Yan laughed at him. “You’ll always be a year younger than me.”
“Anyway, I’ve caught up with you.” Luo Zhiyu quite liked the feeling of sitting in the same classroom as Xiao Yan. Their classmates and professors were all friendly, and everyone believed that they were a real couple. He had almost forgotten about the whole pheromone issue.
Luo Zhiyu’s family also took his eighteenth birthday very seriously. They held a small birthday banquet for him a day early, inviting quite a few people from their industry. It was lively for the entire day.
On his actual eighteenth birthday, Xiao Yan organized a small birthday gathering for him together with several classmates from No. 1 High School.
The days spent waiting for the college entrance examination results were nerve-racking, but these high school graduates were naturally good at entertaining themselves. Freed from the constraints of exams and schedules, a group of students drank until they were sprawled all over the place. With their lips no longer sealed, they brought up all sorts of ridiculous stories from the distant past.
“Back then, I was checking the evening study session with that guy.” Fan Yue, who had returned to City X to celebrate Luo Zhiyu’s birthday with Xiao Yan, slammed his beer can onto the table. “We caught Xiao Yan sneaking takeout with Luo Zhiyu. And Zhiyu actually thought we were trying to set him up! Hahaha!”
“That happened?” Jing Ximing was astonished. “I do remember when we swapped rooms for dorm inspections during military training. Those two kept reporting each other for illegal electrical appliances, and in the end, neither of them got the upper hand.”
“Ah, speaking of this, I’m almost afraid to tell any more stories.” Tang Yuan joined the discussion. “Every time I tell one more story, Brother Yan gets another pot dumped on his head.”
The various outrageous things the two had done in their first and second years of high school were pieced together by the group, everyone talking over everyone else. The whole picture emerged in perfect detail, as though it had all happened yesterday.
“Now that I think about it, I caused you quite a bit of trouble.” Luo Zhiyu leaned closer to Xiao Yan. “Didn’t I, big brother?”
“That’s not all,” Xiao Yan said. “Those are just the things they know about. There are plenty more they don’t know.”
Neither of them had ever been particularly well-behaved. They had stubbornly kept finding ways to cause trouble for each other until one of them finally fell in love.
When he was three years old, Luo Zhiyu, who always managed to hit whatever target he pointed at, bit Xiao Yan, a little boy in the middle kindergarten class, on the wrist. From that moment on, the two who had become sworn enemies bickered and fought their way through childhood until they eventually became bound to each other by fate.
“You already bit me back a long time ago.” Luo Zhiyu grabbed Xiao Yan’s wrist and turned it over and over, examining it. Remembering the several times Xiao Yan had bitten him hard enough to leave a temporary mark, he flung Xiao Yan’s hand aside. “Can’t be helped. I started it.”
Bite marks weren’t likely to leave scars, and Xiao Yan wasn’t prone to scarring, either. But the mark had undeniably remained back then. Luo Zhiyu suspected he must have been a dog in disguise.
“Let’s just consider it the mark you left on me.” Xiao Yan took his fingertips and pressed them against his own wrist. “A peach blossom petal you left behind.”
When Luo Zhiyu had been in his first year of high school, he had once given Xiao Yan an IOU to make up for unfinished homework. When he saw that IOU again, Luo Zhiyu realized he had underestimated just how vindictive Xiao Yan could be.
A homework assignment for the latest, most advanced ABO Physical Health course was now sitting right in front of him.
Luo Zhiyu felt he had every reason to suspect that Xiao Yan had done this on purpose.