Want to Have a Relationship with You | Chapter 22 | The Borrowed Uniform | Novela.app

Chapter 23 - The Borrowed Uniform Su Jingming finally emerged from the bathroom, feeling the unfamiliar weight of the borrowed clothes against his skin. Wen Yan was already settled on the sofa, a steaming mug of cold medicine resting on the coffee table before him. The sharp, medicinal scent hit Su Jingming’s nose, and he instinctively wrinkled it; he had always been overly sensitive to the bitter aroma of such concoctions. Wen Yan looked up, his gaze sweeping over Su Jingming. The sight was, to put it mildly, a bit comical. The clothes didn't just fail to fit; they swallowed him. Su Jingming had been forced to roll the long sleeves up to his elbows, and even then, the hem of the shirt hung nearly to his knees. The trousers were no better, requiring several thick folds at the ankles just to keep him from tripping. "What are you staring at?" Su Jingming asked, his voice tight with self-consciousness as he shuffled over. Without a word, Wen Yan pushed the mug toward him. Su Jingming’s initial impulse was to refuse, but the words died in his throat under Wen Yan’s steady observation. He picked up the cup; the temperature was perfect, warm enough to soothe but not enough to scald. Only after Su Jingming took a sip did Wen Yan answer his earlier question, a faint, teasing arch to his brow. "I was just thinking... you look like you’ve stolen my clothes." Su Jingming’s lips twitched. *Impulse really is the devil,* he thought bitterly. He had rushed over here in a fit of hot-blooded passion, but now that he was actually face-to-face with Wen Yan, he felt utterly out of his depth. He was rarely one to act on pure emotion, and he was even less skilled at navigating the awkward aftermath of such outbursts. Sensing the growing silence, Wen Yan checked the clock on the wall. It was half-past ten—neither too early nor too late. He stood up, retrieved a few exercise books from his room, and tossed them onto the coffee table. "Since we’re bored anyway, why don't we do some problems?" Su Jingming stared at the books in disbelief. *Is this really how this is going to go?* Outside, the storm raged on, rain lashing against the windowpanes in a chaotic, rhythmic assault. Inside, the two boys sat on the rug, separated by a distance that felt both intimate and vast. From the corner of his eye, Su Jingming watched Wen Yan work. The other boy moved with a practiced ease, scribbling formulas onto scratch paper with a languid grace. Perhaps because they were in the privacy of his home, Wen Yan exuded an air of effortless relaxation that Su Jingming had never seen before. It occurred to him then that he didn't truly know what Wen Yan was like when the school gates were closed. While Su Jingming was lost in thought, Wen Yan had already breezed through several complex problems. He glanced over at Su Jingming’s paper, which was covered in circles and underlines but lacked a single solved equation. "Little Hero," Wen Yan began softly. At that exact moment, a violent crack of thunder shook the building. Su Jingming jumped, his wandering mind snapping back to the present. "Huh? Were you calling me?" As the sky outside grew darker, the shadows in the room deepened, making the light in Su Jingming’s eyes seem unnaturally bright. Wen Yan’s grip on his pen tightened. He looked into those bright eyes for a heartbeat too long before shaking his head. "It’s nothing." He had come dangerously close to losing himself in that gaze. *** As noon approached, Su Jingming’s phone buzzed. It was Ren Wei. "Where are you?" Ren Wei’s voice crackled through the line. Su Jingming glanced at Wen Yan, who was still focused on his studies. "I’m... out," he answered vaguely. "Are you coming in this afternoon?" "Yeah, I’ll be there." "Cool. Bring me a drink when you come." Ren Wei paused, then added with sudden suspicion, "Wait, Ming-ge... you aren't secretly dating someone, are you?" "How is that possible?!" Su Jingming blurted out, his voice rising in an instinctive defense. Wen Yan’s head turned, his eyes narrowing slightly as he watched the exchange. Su Jingming leaned back, his face flushing. "Just shut up and hang up!" "Why such a big reaction? Unless you're actually with—" Su Jingming cut the call before Ren Wei could finish. Back at school, Ren Wei stared at his darkened screen in confusion. Zhang Jia, standing nearby, blinked at him. "What did Su Jingming say?" "He told me to shut up." The smile on Zhang Jia’s face faltered. She looked down, her voice small. "What kind of girls do you think Su Jingming likes?" "Probably the 'damsel in distress' type? You know, petite and clingy?" Ren Wei mused. He had known Su Jingming for years, and the only woman he’d ever seen him around was his mother, Cheng Hui—a woman who was sophisticated, gentle, and intellectual. While everyone else was cycling through rounds of puppy love, Su Jingming remained a "solo-from-birth" holdout. Su Jingming arrived at the classroom just as the bell rang. As expected, every eye in the room turned toward him, but this time, the curiosity was tinged with something else. Ren Wei frowned as Su Jingming took his seat. He reached out and tugged at Su Jingming’s sleeve. "Don't you think this uniform is... a bit massive on you?" Su Jingming lowered his eyelids, avoiding the question. The uniform belonged to Wen Yan; of course it didn't fit. "Where were you this morning?" Ren Wei persisted. "Weren't you looking for your girl—" Su Jingming glared at him. "I don't have a girlfriend. Stop spreading rumors." Zhang Jia, who had been eavesdropping, felt a wave of relief wash over her. She turned around, intending to strike up a conversation, but the teacher walked in, and the room fell into a disciplined silence. The first period was math. Teacher Zhou Hong—Old Zhou—knew Su Jingming had skipped the morning session, but he didn't press the issue. Seeing the boy back in his seat, Old Zhou’s expression relaxed, and he began the lesson. Su Jingming found himself listening with an intensity he had never felt before. The atmosphere in the classroom seemed to hum with a strange energy. Five minutes before the end of class, Old Zhou closed his textbook. "The school sports meet is coming up in a few days," he announced. "Sign up with the sports representative. If we place well, I’ll take the whole class out for hot pot." Ren Wei was instantly energized. He elbowed Su Jingming. "You gonna sign up for anything?" Su Jingming shook his head, but before he could speak, Zhang Jia turned around. "Su Jingming, which event are you doing?" "Him? He never joins in," Ren Wei answered for him. "I only ask out of habit. Why don't you ask me instead?" Zhang Jia rolled her eyes playfully. "You’re so fast, you’re obviously doing the long-distance run." "Ha! You noticed," Ren Wei grinned. As they chatted, Su Jingming’s phone buzzed. He was messaging Wen Yan, and as he read a reply, a genuine laugh escaped him. Ren Wei and Zhang Jia both froze. Su Jingming... was laughing? The sound was rare, and without his glasses, his expression was startlingly clear and handsome. To Zhang Jia, her female intuition screamed that he was talking to someone he truly liked. "Su Jingming," she said, trying to sound casual. "We haven't added each other on WeChat yet. Want to swap?" "Sure," Su Jingming replied easily, pulling up his QR code. Zhang Jia hadn't expected him to be so agreeable. She took out her phone to scan, but just as she did, a notification banner popped up at the top of Su Jingming’s screen. **Wen Yan:** *No need to wash the uniform before returning it. It’s no trouble.* Zhang Jia’s hand froze. The realization hit her like a physical weight. The uniform Su Jingming was wearing... it belonged to Wen Yan. And the clothes underneath weren't what he’d been wearing that morning either. She silently finished adding him and turned back around, her mind racing. Ren Wei, finally deciding on his events, looked at his two companions only to find them both acting strangely. *Did I miss something while I was thinking?* *** Su Jingming was distracted for the rest of the day. When his pen fell to the floor for the third time, Ren Wei gave him a look. "What are you doing?" "Studying," Su Jingming lied. The moment the final bell rang, Su Jingming packed his bag with record speed and vanished before Ren Wei could say another word. He had never been so eager to get home. However, he was intercepted at the bottom of the stairs by Song Yifei, who wore a mischievous smirk. "I tried to catch you this morning, but you were a no-show." Song Yifei’s eyes traveled over the ill-fitting uniform and the familiar-looking shirt underneath. His grin widened. "Did you hit a growth spurt in the last few days?" Su Jingming gave him a tired look. "What do you want?" "Skewers and drinks, obviously. We didn't finish our talk last time." Su Jingming wanted to refuse, but remembering Wen Yan’s mention of how much Song Yifei had helped, he nodded. They went to their usual stall, a place that felt like a shared sanctuary for their secrets. Song Yifei set a few bottles of soda on the table. Su Jingming glanced at them. "I thought we were drinking?" Song Yifei rubbed his nose. "Didn't we embarrass ourselves enough last time?" At the mention of "last time," Su Jingming thought of Wen Yan’s account of his drunken antics. He silently opened a soda and drained half of it. "...Thanks." Song Yifei blinked, then pulled out a cigarette and lit it. He took a long drag. "It was nothing." The silence stretched between them, heavy with unspoken words. Finally, Song Yifei exhaled a cloud of smoke and asked tonelessly, "What do you think of Wen Yan?" Su Jingming’s grip on the plastic bottle tightened until it crinkled. He stared at Song Yifei, his eyes unreadable, until the stall owner arrived with their food. "Let's eat first," Song Yifei said with a sudden smile, as if the question had never been asked. In that moment, the words were right on the tip of Su Jingming’s tongue. *He’s wonderful.* But he didn't have the courage to say it aloud. Just like the way he kept Wen Yan’s chat pinned to the top of his list, his feelings were something that had to remain in the shadows, hidden from the light.