All night long, Su Jingming felt as though his heart were skipping beats.
Perhaps it was because Song Yifei had swallowed the words he was about to say; everything regarding Wen Yan felt blurred, yet Su Jingming found himself caring about it intensely.
What did Song Yifei mean?
What did he think of Wen Yan?
How else could he think of him?
Su Jingming suddenly lamented the profound depth of the Chinese language. A few short words could contain so many different meanings.
His mind remained elsewhere until they finished eating. When it came time to pay, he accidentally gave the owner an extra fifty yuan. It wasn't until the owner grabbed his hand to return it that he snapped back to reality.
Song Yifei had a cigarette dangling from his lips, his head lowered as he frowned at his phone.
S: *I want to help you ask him, but I don't know how to bring it up.*
S: *I get the feeling he isn't one of "those."*
The light over his screen was mostly blocked by a shadow. Song Yifei immediately locked his phone. Su Jingming was looking at him with an indifferent gaze.
"I'm going home."
Song Yifei guiltily shoved his phone into his pocket. "Right. Thanks for the treat."
Su Jingming picked up his bag. "It’s fine. I should be the one paying."
Song Yifei watched Su Jingming make a cool exit. It wasn't until the phone in his pocket vibrated a few times that he recovered his senses.
Wen Yan: *Are you an idiot?*
With just those four words, Song Yifei felt deeply insulted.
He gritted his teeth and sent Wen Yan a voice message: "If I ever give a damn about you again, I'm a total idiot!"
When Wen Yan received the message, he only offered a faint smile.
More than Song Yifei, Wen Yan wanted to know—more than anyone—exactly what Su Jingming thought of him.
The November nights were long, and the stars were not as bright as they were in midsummer. Even the temperature was gradually dropping. Su Jingming didn't sleep soundly that night, drifting in and out of dreams.
His mind was full of Wen Yan, as if he had been poisoned.
Daylight arrived later than usual.
When Su Jingming showed up to class with dark circles under his eyes, the first thing out of Ren Wei’s mouth was a string of colorful Chinese expletives.
"What were you doing last night? You don't have to push yourself that hard for your studies, do you?" In Ren Wei's world, if Su Jingming looked like this, he was either reviewing too late or had some sort of mental breakdown.
He preferred to believe the former.
"You finally don't want to be pinned down anymore? You want to flip the script?!" Ren Wei's eyes sparkled. "Ming-ge, I'm so relieved you've finally seen the light."
Su Jingming slumped onto his desk, ignoring Ren Wei's idiotic remarks.
*Pinned down, flipping the script...* His head was full of it; there wasn't a shred of youthful innocence left in him.
Ren Wei pulled his unfinished homework from his bag and habitually reached into Su Jingming's drawer to fish out his assignments. Wen Yan walked into the classroom just in time to see this.
From his angle, it looked more like Ren Wei was groping around Su Jingming's stomach.
Wen Yan strode over. Just as Ren Wei pulled the homework out of the drawer, he looked up and saw Wen Yan. "Oh, you're back. Are you feeling better?"
Only Zhou Hong knew that both Su Jingming and Wen Yan had been hospitalized. Even Ren Wei didn't know that Su Jingming had been kicked down the stairs by Su Qicheng.
Wen Yan nodded. He looked down at the slumped Su Jingming. Before he could ask, Ren Wei helpfully explained from the side, "Ming-ge stayed up late last night. He's catching up on sleep now."
Hearing this, Wen Yan fell silent for a moment. Ren Wei flipped open the homework to start copying and continued, "I guess he doesn't want to be pinned down by you anymore. He's studying hard to move up."
"..."
At that moment, Su Jingming had drifted into a brief slumber, unaware of Ren Wei's dangerous commentary.
"To surpass you, my Ming-ge has been burning the midnight oil. It seems he’s quite bothered by being pinned down by you."
"Is that so..."
"Yeah. I asked him about it before, but he never gave a clear answer. He's finally figured it out now." Ren Wei suddenly looked up at him. "Wen Yan, you'd better be careful during the next monthly exams. When my Ming-ge gets serious, he’s not his usual self."
Ren Wei’s gaze was so earnest that Wen Yan almost believed him.
*So Su Jingming cares that much about being second in the year?*
*He doesn't want to be pinned down by me?*
Wen Yan seemed to come to a realization. He nodded. "I understand."
Su Jingming was eventually woken up by Ren Wei. He lifted his head groggily, instinctively looking toward Wen Yan's seat first.
This time, someone was sitting there.
He rubbed his eyes. Wen Yan was looking down at a book. After staring at Wen Yan for several seconds, he suddenly noticed that the school uniform Wen Yan was wearing didn't seem to fit right.
It looked a bit small.
Su Jingming snapped awake instantly.
*Shit.* The uniform Wen Yan was wearing was his.
And the uniform he was wearing was Wen Yan's.
He had forgotten to swap them back last night!
Su Jingming guiltily retracted his gaze, his cheeks and the tips of his ears flushing red in an instant. Ever since he started hanging around Wen Yan, he had been experiencing these bouts of shame frequently.
He desperately wanted to ask Wen Yan: *Don't you have a spare uniform? Do you have to wear mine?*
For some reason, Su Jingming felt Wen Yan was doing this on purpose.
But he had no proof.
He hurriedly fumbled for his phone in his drawer. The commotion was so loud it drew the attention of Zhou Hong on the podium.
The teacher gave a light cough. "Su Jingming, come up and solve this problem." He paused. "Wen Yan, you solve the other one."
Su Jingming felt his head spin as he slowly stood up. Wen Yan took the lead and walked up, with Su Jingming following close behind.
The two of them stood side-by-side, their backs to the class. Su Jingming’s mind was entirely occupied by the uniform situation. His heart was racing so fast he could practically hear it. Countless eyes were fixed on their backs, and he was terrified someone would notice something fishy. He hadn't actually done anything wrong, yet he had never felt this guilty in his life.
His mind was filled with the question Song Yifei had asked yesterday.
*What do you think of Wen Yan?*
*He’s great.*
*He’s also very good to me.*
*So good that I want to find every possible way to be good to him, to give him everything I have.*
His "illness" was getting worse. When it came to Wen Yan, he was terminal.
The more Su Jingming thought, the redder his ears became. He tried his best to calm his emotions, but after writing down a single step of the equation, he hit a dead end.
Wen Yan deliberately slowed his pace to wait for Su Jingming. A problem of this difficulty was no challenge for him.
He just hadn't expected Su Jingming to be spacing out at a time like this.
"Keep writing. f(x) = x² + 2x + 1."
Su Jingming suddenly snapped out of it. Wen Yan was watching him out of the corner of his eye.
He quickened his pace. The students sitting below witnessed firsthand how clear and concise Su Jingming’s logic was.
Zhou Hong twitched his lips as he looked at the solutions provided by his two prize students. They were even more concise than the answer key.
When Su Jingming returned to his seat, the pounding of his heart didn't subside for a long time.
He stole a glance in Wen Yan's direction. His uniform really didn't fit Wen Yan; even the trousers were a bit short, exposing his ankles.
Su Jingming gritted his teeth, found his phone under the drawer, and sent Wen Yan a WeChat message.
Salted Egg: *You there? Let's go swap uniforms in a bit?*
Wen Yan: *No.*
Salted Egg: *Don't you think wearing my uniform is a bad fit?*
Wen Yan: *It really doesn't fit well. It's a bit small. I didn't realize you were so thin.*
Salted Egg: *Don't you have another uniform to change into? Let's go to the restroom after class and swap.*
Wen Yan: *Beg me, and I'll go.*
Salted Egg: *???*
Wen Yan: *Call me something sweet, and I'll agree.*
***
