"Jiang Wei, you playing ball next period?" Ding Banfan ran over to Jiang Wei's side the moment the bell rang, clutching a basketball and looking excited.
"Class Three has PE next period too, right?" Jiang Wei stretched lazily. "With Ye Feiyang there, do you even need to ask?"
"Alright! Shall we head down together?"
Jiang Wei turned to look at Tang Zihe, who was still slowly working through a problem. The geometric figures on his paper had been scribbled over with messy pencil marks until the original shapes were barely recognizable. The margins were filled with various numbers and letters, lacking his usual neatness and instead appearing layered and cramped. Clearly, this problem was a tough nut to crack.
"Oho, now that’s something new," Jiang Wei leaned in to take a closer look. "Even the God of Study finds a problem he can't solve?"
"I'm not an actual deity, of course there are things I can't do," Tang Zihe gave a helpless smile. "You guys go ahead. I need to find the math competition teacher and ask how to solve this. I probably won't make it to PE."
"Got it."
Once Jiang Wei and Ding Banfan had chatted their way out of earshot, Tang Zihe finally gave up on his own train of thought. He gathered the scratch paper on his desk, picked up his pencil and the test paper, and left the classroom.
As he left, he habitually looked back, his hand already on the light switch, only to realize that Gu Renwen was still in the room, buried in his work.
He didn't find this strange. In his memory, Gu Renwen had always been quite averse to PE because of his poor physical fitness. He was usually the last to leave the classroom, only appearing on the sports field right as the final bell rang.
It seemed he wouldn't be responsible for the lights after all.
Once the sound of Tang Zihe's footsteps faded down the corridor, Gu Renwen glanced at the clock hanging above the blackboard. He finally stood up, closed the front door, and walked toward the back exit.
As he passed the last row of seats, he hesitated for a long moment before finally stopping in front of Jiang Wei’s desk. His gaze swept over the area before settling on the white insulated thermos sitting on the desktop.
Slowly, he reached out his hand toward the bottle.
***
"You guys keep going. I'm gonna take a break and grab a drink." Jiang Wei made a gesture and stepped off the court. His eyes scanned the sidelines, but he didn't see Tang Zihe anywhere. Only then did he remember the guy had told him he couldn't make it this period.
Habit is a terrifying thing. For instance, he had grown used to Tang Zihe sitting by the court during PE, bored out of his mind and doing practice problems with Jiang Wei's water bottle beside him. Whenever Jiang Wei was tired or thirsty, a single glance was all it took to find his "source of life."
Now, looking at the sidelines where only a few girls were sitting, he actually felt a bit out of sorts.
"Jiang Wei."
Hearing his name, it took Jiang Wei a few seconds to realize someone was calling him. He turned around and saw Gu Renwen walking toward the court.
He couldn't help but find this peculiar.
Usually, Gu Renwen would go out of his way to avoid the sports field during PE. Even when they weren't allowed to return to the classroom early, he would choose to stand under a small patch of shade. Now, he was actually approaching them of his own accord.
Gu Renwen held up a water bottle and said succinctly, "Tang Zihe asked me to bring this to you."
Only then did Jiang Wei notice the white thermos in his hand. It looked familiar, and after another glance, he realized—wasn't that his own water bottle?
What was going on here?
Jiang Wei felt like there was a bit too much information to process all at once.
"Ah, thanks." He felt that if he dithered for even a second longer, Gu Renwen’s brow would furrow even tighter—as if the water bottle were a hot potato. To prevent his bottle from being dropped or the other boy's forehead from tying itself into a knot, he quickly took the item.
Gu Renwen said nothing more, turning around and walking in the opposite direction of the court.
*Guess he hasn't been possessed by an evil spirit,* Jiang Wei thought randomly.
"What was that about?" Ding Banfan had clearly seen the exchange and asked in confusion.
Ye Feiyang chimed in as well. "The person delivering your water changed today?"
Jiang Wei: "..."
Ye Feiyang continued, "This guy doesn't seem to compare to Tang Zihe at all. Why has your taste downgraded?"
After Ye Feiyang had suffered two major mental blows, and with the repeated reminders from his classmates and underlings, he had realized the importance of checking the school forum regularly. He had resolved to turn over a new leaf, checking it two or three times a week to keep up with the latest school gossip—all to avoid falling into such a predicament again.
However, since then, he had fallen into a new predicament—the more he looked at the explanations and speculations in the "CP thread," the more they made sense. Tang Zihe and Jiang Wei definitely had something going on.
"What are you even talking about?" Jiang Wei said, caught between laughter and tears. "Tang Zihe asked him to bring it over. What are you imagining?"
Ye Feiyang: "Oh, so that guy is Tang Zihe's lackey?"
*Pfft—*
Xia Shan evidently choked on the water he had just sipped, coughing violently while trying to offer Ye Feiyang a brief explanation. "What lackey? That's another top student from our class. He's the type who usually has nothing to do with anyone. He's got no connection to us."
Jiang Wei unscrewed the cap, nodding as he drank.
"Oh, I see," Ye Feiyang said, throwing a three-pointer. "I thought he looked like a total nerd. Doesn't seem like the type your Brother Tang would take an interest in."
The water Jiang Wei had just swallowed nearly sprayed out. "I'm begging you, please stop talking."
***
Tang Zihe looked at Jiang Wei, who had been uncharacteristically listless and slumped over his desk since the afternoon break. He reached out to check the other's forehead.
No fever.
"Don't touch me, I'm so sleepy." Jiang Wei weakly swatted Tang Zihe's hand away and shifted his position to keep lounging on the desk, looking as though he were struggling just to stay conscious.
"Did you stay up late last night?" Tang Zihe asked, puzzled.
"No. My routine is very regular, more regular than yours," Jiang Wei let out a yawn.
That was truly strange then.
"If you're tired, don't force yourself to stay up."
"It's fine," Jiang Wei yawned again as he spoke. "There's only one more period before school's out for dinner. I'll sleep during evening self-study."
Seeing that his persuasion was useless, Tang Zihe stopped trying. He let the boy beside him yawn one after another, nearly catching a yawn himself.
"Brother Jiang, are you okay?" During dinner, Xia Shan finally found a moment to ask. "I've been listening to you yawn behind me all afternoon. I was almost hypnotized."
"I don't know what's wrong either," Jiang Wei rubbed his eyes with a bit too much force, leaving the skin around them slightly red. His eyelashes were damp with the tears that come from yawning, making him look as though he had been crying. "I'm just mysteriously sleepy today. I definitely went to bed at eleven last night, just like usual."
"Did you do anything special today?" Shen Yannan asked with a frown.
"No, everything was the same as always." Jiang Wei slowly poked at some greens and put them in his mouth. He looked so exhausted that he seemed ready to collapse onto the table and fall asleep at any second.
Once everyone finished dinner and returned to class, Jiang Wei indeed wasted no time in finding a comfortable position to rest his head on the desk. "I can't do it. I really can't hold out anymore. I'm going to sleep for a bit."
"Mhm, go ahead," Tang Zihe said softly, pulling out the test paper he had tucked away before dinner. "I'm going to talk to the teacher about a few more problems after the competition training tonight. Are you going back to the dorm by yourself after self-study, or are you waiting for me?"
"It's fine, just come find me when you're done," Jiang Wei gave a small wave of his hand. "Good luck with the training."
Almost the moment he finished the sentence, Jiang Wei closed his eyes and fell fast asleep.
Tang Zihe looked at the sleeping boy, not knowing whether to laugh or sigh.
He looked much better behaved when he was asleep. Tang Zihe’s gaze traveled over Jiang Wei; from the start of the semester until now, this was the first time he had seen Jiang Wei truly sound asleep at his desk.
His gaze eventually lingered on Jiang Wei’s slightly parted lips.
He also looked much sillier than usual.
Tang Zihe forced himself to look away, but he found it impossible to concentrate on his test paper. His mind was filled with the soft tips of hair, the long eyelashes, the high bridge of the nose, and the pale pink lips he had just glimpsed...
He took his jacket from the back of his chair and draped it over Jiang Wei before standing up to leave the classroom.
Hearing the movement, Xia Shan looked back. "Where are you going, Brother Tang? Competition training doesn't start for another half hour."
Without looking back, Tang Zihe replied, "It's a bit hot in the classroom. I'm going to the corridor for some fresh air. I'll head over early."
Even when the bell for the end of evening self-study rang, Jiang Wei showed no signs of waking up.
"I called him twice just now, but I couldn't wake him at all," Xia Shan said to Shen Yannan as he packed his bag. "If I couldn't hear him breathing, I'd suspect Brother Jiang had dropped dead from exhaustion."
Shen Yannan, who rarely stayed past the bell, looked at Jiang Wei with a frown, sensing that something was off.
"Forget it. Tang Zihe will probably be back to wake him up soon."
"True." Xia Shan tugged at his collar. "I need to get back and shower. I was sweating all over from basketball today; I've been holding out all night."
"Teacher, I still don't quite understand this problem you gave me this afternoon," Tang Zihe said, stepping forward after everyone else had left the competition training room. "I used two completely different methods and got two entirely different answers, but I can't see which method is wrong or where the mistake is..."
After a brief period of clamor, the teaching building fell silent once more. Only two people remained in the classroom of Class One, Grade Twelve.
Gu Renwen looked up at the clock on the wall.
It was 9:43 PM.
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