Want to Have a Relationship with You | Chapter 5 | A Bold Question | Novela.app

Su Jingming had no idea that lending Zhang Jia his math homework would result in him "gaining" a girlfriend. He only found out about it that afternoon. With a trembling hand, Ren Wei handed his phone to Su Jingming, his face a mask of disbelief. "You went behind my back and got together with the class beauty?" Su Jingming skimmed through the post. He finally understood why so many people had been staring at him today. This was the source. Su Jingming asked, "Can it be deleted?" "Why delete it? Is it not true?" Ren Wei asked. Su Jingming suddenly felt that the saying about Ren Wei having "all brawn and no brains" was quite justified. "Is it real or fake? The post makes it sound so convincing," Ren Wei said, pulling up a photo. "There’s even a picture of you two sharing an umbrella!" Su Jingming hadn't realized that high schoolers these days were bored enough to turn a simple act of classmates sharing an umbrella in the rain into a drama about a sweet young couple commuting together. He really couldn't bring himself to care. "We just happened to run into each other on the road. Did they think I went to pick her up?" Su Jingming organized his desk drawer, subconsciously pursing his lips. When had he stuffed so many completed test papers in there? Ren Wei thought about it and nodded. "True. A straight man like you would have a hard time dating anyway." Su Jingming’s hand paused, but he didn't refute Ren Wei’s words. After tidying his desk, Su Jingming rubbed his aching neck. Looking up, he saw Wen Yan walking into the classroom. Their gazes met across the span of a few meters. Wen Yan maintained his usual gentle demeanor, a hint of a smile in his eyes as he gave a small nod. Su Jingming was a bit dazed by the nod and instinctively nodded back. They had been communicating quite a bit lately, mostly over their phones. Su Jingming felt like a naive schoolboy who had just made his first friend, repeatedly scrolling through his chat logs with Wen Yan. Most of the time, Wen Yan started the conversations, and Su Jingming ended them. Just as Wen Yan had said, he wanted to get to know Su Jingming. In just a few short days, Wen Yan had already mapped out Su Jingming’s daily routine. He knew that every morning, Su Jingming would eat a bowl of plain rice noodles at the breakfast stall downstairs. Day after day, without fail. Wen Yan had once asked him, "Don't you get tired of eating the same thing every day?" Su Jingming had replied, "No, because I like it." "Just like how you like Ultraman Tiga?" "You could say that." Before evening self-study, Zhou Hong sought out Su Jingming and Wen Yan. "You two don't need to attend self-study tonight. Go back and pack your things. I'll be waiting for you at the school gate at seven tomorrow morning." Su Jingming gave a sluggish response, looking completely drained of energy. Zhou Hong was used to him being like this. Wen Yan, on the other hand, asked for more details regarding the training camp. Su Jingming stood to the side, feeling waves of drowsiness wash over him as he listened. By the time Wen Yan finally finished his questions, Su Jingming’s vision had cleared slightly. "In that case, we'll head out first. Goodbye, Teacher." As they stepped out of the office, Su Jingming let out a yawn, his face full of exhaustion. Wen Yan asked, "Didn't sleep well last night?" Su Jingming nodded. The weather had been terrible lately, and his body was constantly uncomfortable, which affected his sleep. He looked even more disheveled than usual. Wen Yan was his polar opposite. He wore a crisp, clean school uniform with the sleeves pushed up to his forearms, revealing firm, smooth muscle lines that clearly came from regular exercise. Su Jingming raised an eyebrow slightly, his gaze lingering on Wen Yan’s forearms. The school corridor was dimly lit, with the tall pines outside the window blocking much of the light. Their shadows stretched and hid in the dark corners. Su Jingming stood with his hands in his uniform pockets, a thought beginning to form in his mind. *Does Wen Yan have abs?* *How many?* *Does the top student in the grade also do body management?* Su Jingming pressed his tongue against his teeth, feeling a strange itch. Wen Yan suddenly stopped walking. Su Jingming took two more steps before turning back to look at him. Wen Yan asked, "You've been staring at my arms for a while now. Is there something dirty on them?" Caught staring for the first time, Su Jingming looked awkward. "No." Wen Yan arched an eyebrow. After spending time together these past few days, he had learned something about Su Jingming. He wasn't good at lying. Having had only one close friend for years, Su Jingming’s interactions with Ren Wei were so familiar that they required no pleasantries or disguises. A smile played on Wen Yan’s face. A beam of light from the window illuminated the path in front of Su Jingming. Su Jingming turned his face slightly, his expression complex, as if he were mentally bracing himself for something major. Wen Yan saw that he had something to say and waited patiently. After a moment of silence, Su Jingming spoke. "Wen Yan." "Hmm?" "You..." "How many abs do you have?" *Friends should answer each other's questions,* Su Jingming thought. A flash of surprise crossed Wen Yan’s eyes before he regained his composure. He leaned down slightly to meet Su Jingming’s eyes at the same level. For a fleeting moment, Su Jingming seemed to catch a faint, clean scent from Wen Yan, like the smell of laundry detergent. The seventeen-year-old boy was full of youthful vitality. His eyes held a fragmented smile, like a sky full of brilliant, dazzling stars. "Do you want to feel them and see?" *** Su Jingming felt he must have been influenced by Ren Wei; he was starting to speak without thinking. Upon hearing Wen Yan’s words, he had fled from him without a second thought. It wasn't until he returned to the classroom that he regained his senses. *Was my reaction a bit too much?* *What's the big deal about guys the same age touching each other's abs?* *The athletes on the field lift their shirts to show off for the girls all the time, don't they?* Ren Wei saw his heavy expression. "Didn't you go to Old Zhou's office with Wen Yan? Why are you back alone?" "Him..." Su Jingming glanced at the classroom door; Wen Yan hadn't arrived yet. "He still had some things to ask Old Zhou." Ren Wei nodded. "So you're skipping evening self-study?" "Yeah, I'm just back to pack some things before I head home." As Ren Wei watched Su Jingming pack, he sighed. "How am I supposed to survive these next two weeks?" "Survive with your life," Su Jingming said without looking at him, organizing the books and exercise sets in his drawer. "Ah! Ming-ge!" Ren Wei suddenly grabbed Su Jingming’s sleeve. "Can you guys bring phones? Can I ask you about problems I don't understand?" "We can bring them, but you..." Su Jingming looked up. "There's too much you don't understand. I won't have that much time to teach you." He finished speaking and handed a notebook to Ren Wei. "Take my notes and look through them first. Most problems are just the same concepts in different packaging. Find similar ones and try to work them out." Ren Wei felt the notebook in his hand was very heavy. His Ming-ge’s words were as blunt as ever. Su Jingming spent some time finishing his packing. There was still half an hour before evening self-study began, and students were trickling into the classroom. Zipping up his backpack, Su Jingming weighed it; it was a bit heavy. He said goodbye to Ren Wei and left the classroom. Before leaving, Su Jingming glanced back. Wen Yan still hadn't returned. Su Jingming felt exactly like a criminal fleeing the scene of a crime. *You were the one who asked how many abs he had.* *Him letting you touch them seems perfectly reasonable.* Su Jingming walked toward the school gate, looking down at his phone. He decided to send Wen Yan a message. **Salted Egg:** I'm leaving. **Wen Yan:** Okay. The reply was almost instantaneous. Immediately after, Wen Yan sent another message. **Wen Yan:** Name change? **Salted Egg:** Yeah. **Wen Yan:** Salted Egg Superman? **Salted Egg:** You have a problem with the name? To show his displeasure, Su Jingming sent a meme. **Salted Egg:** [Ultraman_Says_No.jpg] Seeing the meme, Wen Yan suddenly laughed out loud. He leaned against the corridor window, his back to the light. With a turn of his head, he saw a figure walking out against the flow of the crowd. His laugh caught the attention of the person next to him. "You look like you're in heat." For once, Wen Yan didn't bother to correct him. "Song Yifei, you better tuck that pack of cigarettes in your pocket properly. If the dean walks by, do you want your parents called in?" Hearing this, Song Yifei looked down and saw the corner of a red box peeking out of his uniform pocket. He instinctively shoved the cigarette pack deeper. Song Yifei said, "You said Su Jingming saved your sister, but he doesn't look like the type who can fight." "Appearances can be deceiving." Wen Yan put his phone back in his pocket and turned to face the window. Wen Yan hadn't personally seen how Su Jingming had handled those thugs either. He had only heard Wen Miao say: "He’s very skilled, totally at ease. He looks like one of those 'chuunibyou' teens who gets into fights all the time." Wen Yan neither agreed nor disagreed. To take down five people single-handedly and so effortlessly meant he couldn't be anything less than a veteran of many battles. Song Yifei added, "He just seems very aloof. Aside from his seatmate, I haven't seen him get close to anyone." Having said that, Song Yifei fixed his gaze on Wen Yan’s profile. "But you've been getting quite close to him lately." "We're making friends. Naturally, you have to get close to understand someone." Song Yifei shrugged, offering no further comment on Su Jingming. He patted Wen Yan’s shoulder a few times. "Still, I don't think you're the type to proactively make friends." As soon as Song Yifei finished speaking, the corner of Wen Yan’s mouth twitched almost imperceptibly. Song Yifei understood Wen Yan’s temperament. He was the type who seemed easy to get along with on the surface, but in reality, he always maintained a sense of distance. Song Yifei had once joked: "Yours isn't a 'sense of distance'; it's that you draw your boundaries too clearly." Wen Yan always kept a comfortable distance from others—one that didn't make the other person feel awkward, nor himself. It was just like how Wen Yan controlled his scores on exams. He didn't want the gap between him and the second-place student to be too large, fearing it would cause a psychological blow or a sense of helplessness in the other person. He did his best to consider others' feelings without compromising himself. Song Yifei zipped up his school jacket. "Want to go grab some barbecue in a bit?" Wen Yan turned to look at him. "Aren't you attending evening self-study?" "What self-study? My class isn't like yours." --- **Glossary** | Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | 咸蛋 | Salted Egg | Su Jingming's new chat nickname. | | 小学鸡 | Naive schoolboy | Slang (lit. "primary school chick") for someone acting immature or naive. | | 奥特曼达咩 | Ultraman Says No | A popular Chinese meme using the Japanese word "dame" (no/don't). | | 宋依斐 | Song Yifei | A friend of Wen Yan. | | 温妙 | Wen Miao | Wen Yan's younger sister. | | 老周 | Old Zhou | A familiar way to refer to Teacher Zhou Hong. | | 发春 | In heat | Slang for acting flirty or lovestruck. |