Chapter 25 — Why Are You So Grubby
For a split second their fingers pressed together, then slipped apart.
Chen Jingshen calmly slid the item into his own pocket, picked up his pen, and went back to the test paper in front of him. His expression did not change. No one noticed except Yu Fan.
“Hurry up. Don’t waste everyone’s time,” Hu Pang said, frowning when Yu Fan still did not move.
Yu Fan snapped back. He curled his fingers, turned his empty pockets out, then opened his palm.
Hu Pang looked satisfied and gave a grudging nod. He turned to Wang Lu’an. “You?”
Wang Lu’an patted himself down, inside and out, and lied without blinking. “Director, I quit ages ago. I even forgot how to smoke! All that white smoke in the photo? That was Zuo Kuan. Had nothing to do with me or Yu Fan. We were in there getting smoked like bacon. That guy is too much!”
“…” said Hu Pang.
“.” said Zuo Kuan.
Since Wang Lu’an refused to admit anything and Hu Pang had nothing concrete, he let it drop. He gave a few warnings, then herded Class 8 off to his office. Before leaving, while Hu Pang’s back was turned, Zuo Kuan flipped Wang Lu’an the finger.
Yeah, they had an old pact: if they got caught, they would take turns owning up. Still, this was a bit f***ing much.
Wang Lu’an blew him a kiss.
Zhang Xianjing sighed. “Wang Lu’an, you can lie without blinking and dump everything on someone else. You call that being a man?”
“Sorry, I’m a boy. Also we agreed this with Zuo Kuan ages ago. You wouldn’t get it.”
He finished and looked toward Yu Fan’s desk.
Yu Fan’s face went dark. He was about to destroy the evidence when Wang Lu’an got there first and lifted one of the books.
“Damn, Yu Fan, not honest at all.” Wang Lu’an grinned. “Secretly studying, are we?”
“Studying my a**.”
“Then where did these come from?”
“Found them on the floor during an overnight at the café.” Yu Fan’s tone was flat. “Give them back.”
Who would believe that? Picked them up at the café, brought them to school, put them in his drawer? Even a dog would not buy it. But one look at Yu Fan’s face convinced Wang Lu’an to shut up. He handed the workbooks back.
Yu Fan shoved the books, along with the ones he had pulled out earlier, into the drawer with zero tenderness.
“F***,” Wang Lu’an muttered, watching the retreating back. “Whoever reported us is a dumba**.”
Yu Fan remembered his pack was still with Chen Jingshen.
“Top student! Math teacher wants you in the office!” Gao Shi shouted from the doorway.
After the sports meet and thanks to Wang Lu’an, everyone called Chen Jingshen “top student.”
Yu Fan tightened his jaw and turned, ready to take his pack back. His deskmate had already scraped his chair back and slipped out the rear door.
“…” said Yu Fan.
“Probably your smoke drifted out and bothered someone,” Zhang Xianjing said.
“They could have just told us. What kind of hero squeals behind your back?” Wang Lu’an grumbled. “Besides, we always take turns keeping watch. There was not a soul near that room. Who exactly were we bothering… You saw the pic, right? Whoever shot it grabbed it when it was Yu Fan’s turn to keep watch. Right, Yu Fan?”
“Mm.”
Yu Fan’s hands hung under the desk, listlessly holding his phone. He was not listening. He reopened Snake and, during the three seconds before the game loaded, turned his left hand palm-up. The cut he got last time had barely registered. But the light brush from Chen Jingshen earlier still tingled.
What, does that guy have little spikes on his fingertips?
Chen Jingshen came back just as the bell rang.
The moment he sat, an elbow poked him twice.
“My pack,” Yu Fan said.
Chen Jingshen reached into his pocket and handed the cigarette box back.
Yu Fan glanced at his fingers. No spikes. His nails were trimmed, clean half-moons.
After school the milk-tea shop was slammed with boys again.
Zuo Kuan looked sour as hell, glaring at every passerby like they were the snitch. “F***ing hell. If I find out who ratted, I’ll beat him till his own mom doesn’t recognize him.”
“Come on,” said Wang Lu’an, already mellowed out after a day wrestling with workbooks. “We did not even get disciplinary points. It is just a self-critique.”
“I don’t give a sh** about the critique. Snitches make me sick.” Zuo Kuan swore again and reached into his pocket.
“You want to smoke here?” Wang Lu’an squinted. “Not afraid of someone snapping another pic for Hu Pang?”
“Take all the pics he wants. And hey, the text named all of us. Why was the photo only Yu Fan? I don’t get to be in the frame?”
“…”
Zuo Kuan patted his pockets and came up empty. Right. His smokes had been confiscated.
“Yu Fan, you got any?” He nudged. “Hit me.”
Yu Fan pulled his pack out and tossed it over without looking.
“Man, this is heavy. You just bought— the f***!” Zuo Kuan choked.
“What?” Wang Lu’an flinched. “You scared me— f***!”
They were loud. Even people outside stopped and peered in. Yu Fan, only a few steps away, almost went deaf from the double blast.
He scowled. “What the hell are you two—”
A flash of bright color caught his eye. He looked down.
The blue-purple cigarette pack was stuffed full of candy. All kinds. Singles, lollipops with sticks. The pack bulged like a balloon. His two remaining cigarettes were squashed into a corner, shivering.
“…”
Everyone froze, including the owner of the pack.
“This is—” Zuo Kuan recovered first, eyes misting. “Bro, I admit it. I felt a little wronged taking the blame alone. But you did not have to comfort me like this… Although, no matter how much you do for me now, next time we get caught it is still your turn…”
Yu Fan said nothing.
No wonder his pocket had been heavy.
He rewound. Chen Jingshen had gone to the office and come back. The pack had been this weight ever since. He had been too busy staring at the guy’s hands and had not noticed. How many smokes had he even had left? He had no clue.
Where the hell did Chen Jingshen get this much candy?
“Since you went all out,” Zuo Kuan said, “I will graciously sample a strawberry—”
Swish.
The pack was snatched out of his hand without mercy. Yu Fan dug around, fished out the two cowering cigarettes, and flicked them back. Everything else went into his own pocket.
He planned to bring them to school and peg Chen Jingshen in the forehead one by one.
That was the plan. By Friday, not a single candy had connected with Chen Jingshen’s skull. Neither of them mentioned it.
Wang Lu’an was a thunderclap on a clear day, turning up with seven questions daily. Finally, on Friday, Yu Fan got a solid nap in class.
It was Wang Lu’an’s birthday. He had booked a KTV room for the night, so he spent the whole day racing around Grade 11 inviting people. He was well liked. Smokers and fighters, diligent study types, boys and girls, he got on with everyone.
By the time Yu Fan arrived, the room was packed.
Someone was butchering a song through the speakers, which almost sent Yu Fan back out the door. He looked up. Of course it was Zuo Kuan.
Seeing him, Wang Lu’an popped up and cleared a spot. “Yu Fan, finally. Sit here.”
Half the room looked over. Most of them were on decent terms with Wang Lu’an, but few had ever spoken to Yu Fan. Some were scared. Some had tried and got ignored.
Yu Fan sat without a word. Reading his face, Wang Lu’an passed him a drink. “What, traffic pissed you off?”
“No.”
He had run into Yu Kaiming on his way out and traded a few sharp words. If it were not for the birthday, they probably would have fought.
Yu Fan handed him a bag. “Happy birthday, bro.”
“I told you not to buy me anything. Holy sh—”
He had caught a glimpse of the bucket hat inside. He had shot his mouth off to Zuo Kuan a while back, saying he wanted that hat. Nearly six hundred. He had just bought shoes, was short on cash, figured he would wait. Yu Fan had been eating at the time, head down. Guess he had heard everything.
He knew a bit about Yu Fan’s home life. The hat was not cheap.
Wang Lu’an hefted the bag, hesitating.
“Take it. Don’t get sentimental.”
“…Deal.” Wang Lu’an raised his glass. “No speeches. Birthday boy drinks to you.”
Yu Fan downed the drink in one go.
“You playing or what?” Zuo Kuan yelled, impatient.
“Playing.” Wang Lu’an looked back. “Yu Fan, dice?”
“No.”
“Then watch me slaughter the entire Class 8 table.”
“F*** off,” Zuo Kuan said. “Just because it’s your birthday does not mean I won’t cuss you out.”
Yu Fan sat back and watched them roll dice. A girl got the mic. Her voice was nice and finally spared him from Zuo Kuan’s assault on the ears.
Would have been better if the song were not “Father.”
Two lines in and he was irritated again. He reached for a smoke on reflex. The moment his fingers touched the pack, something felt off. He clicked it open and met the printed smile of a little girl on candy wrapping.
Damn. Wrong pack.
He turned to ask Wang Lu’an for a cigarette.
Wang Lu’an shot to his feet. “Zhang Xianjing calls nine sixes and you keep it closed. I call four threes and you open? Zuo Kuan, if you are in love with Zhang Xianjing go confess. Don’t gross me out at the table!”
“Stop talking sh**!” Zuo Kuan barked. “I am not in love with her. She is not my type!”
“Please stop fighting,” Zhang Xianjing pleaded.
“…”
Yu Fan gave up. He pulled out a lollipop, ripped the wrapper, and stuck it in his mouth. Milk flavor. Fine. Average. Not bad.
Two servers pushed in, each carrying a cardboard cylinder. The lighting was low. He did not look closely.
By the time he realized, it was too late.
Bang. Bang.
Party confetti cannons exploded louder than the speakers. Streamers and glitter shot across the room and fluttered down.
The servers chimed in unison. “Happy birthday to Mr. Wang Lu’an! May you live as long as the heavens, peace year after year, blessings and longevity without end!”
Crunch.
Yu Fan snapped the candy clean in two.
The girl beside him jumped and clapped her hands over her ears. In the flinch she bumped his shoulder. She looked up, cheeks red. “Sorry…”
He slid away a little. “It’s fine.”
The birthday boy had jumped too. “F***!”
“How about it?” Zuo Kuan crowed. “I had them set that up.”
“You’re a f***ing idiot,” Wang Lu’an said.
Yu Fan agreed.
He stood with the stick between his teeth. He had just taken a step when someone called him.
“Where you going?” Wang Lu’an asked.
“Bathroom.”
“Perfect. Pick up the top student on your way back.” He waved his phone. “He says he is at the KTV entrance.”
“…”
Yu Fan blinked. “Why is he coming?”
“Huh? I invited him. I was worried he would not.”
“…”
You cannot curse the birthday boy, Yu Fan told himself. “He can’t come in on his own?”
“I thought he might get lost. Maybe it’s his first time at a KTV. Just grab him, yeah?”
“No. I am not his errand boy.”
“Then I will ask a server to lead him. It is busy tonight though. He could be waiting forever…”
Two minutes later Yu Fan stalked into the lobby wearing a scowl.
This place had gone full fake palace. A row of men in suits and sunglasses stood like statues at the door. They looked cool, sure. All the girls in the lobby were staring past them, whispering and giggling.
Yu Fan spotted Chen Jingshen instantly.
Black hoodie, black cargo pants over those long legs. He seemed born for the dark. He was looking down at his phone.
Yu Fan spat out the candy stick and walked over. “What, waiting for a palanquin to carry you in?”
Chen Jingshen paused and looked up. His eyes were so dark they gleamed in the dim light, calm as a night lake you could drown in.
Yu Fan met his gaze for two seconds, then looked away. “Come on. Inside.”
He had just turned when a hand caught his arm and tugged him back into place.
“What the—”
Chen Jingshen reached up and slid his fingers into Yu Fan’s hair.
Yu Fan went quiet.
With Yu Fan’s chin slightly raised he could see the slope of Chen Jingshen’s neck and the notch of his Adam’s apple. The fingers moved lazily through his hair. Every brush sent a jolt through his scalp.
For no reason at all he thought of the same hand ruffling the dog.
After several very long seconds, Chen Jingshen drew his hand back and opened his palm. An elegant hand, now looped with streamers and glitter.
“Why are you so grubby,” he said.
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