Chapter 54 – Dating
“Quit-smoking candy?”
At the guard room by the back gate.
Hu Pang pinched the stick of the lollipop, squinting at it for a while, clearly suspicious. “You two didn’t prepare some little prop just to use it when I catch someone smoking, did you?”
Yu Fan leaned against the wall, speechlessly fished another unopened one from his pocket, and tossed it over.
Hu Pang checked it. The candy really did have a weird design, and the package even had “Miracle Quit-Smoking Tool” written in bold.
There was no smoke smell on Yu Fan either.
“If it’s your quit-smoking candy, why was it in Chen Jing Shen’s mouth?” Hu Pang asked.
“I…” Yu Fan paused, mumbling, “thought it tasted good, so I gave him one.”
“Is that candy something you can just hand out to classmates? Stand up straight. Is that the posture a teenager should have?” Hands clasped behind his back, brows knit, he scolded, “If you weren’t smoking, then what were you running for?” He had chased them all the way to the back gate.
Yu Fan: “Habit.”
“…”
Hu Pang drew a deep breath, then turned to the other student standing there, his expression relaxing in a heartbeat. “Jingshen, why were you in the lab classroom too?”
Chen Jingshen stood with his hands at his sides, eyes lowered as if lost in thought. After a moment he realized he was the one being asked.
He lifted his head, about to speak.
“I called him over,” Yu Fan cut in lazily.
Hu Pang shot him a glare and turned back to Chen Jingshen. “You didn’t touch anything students shouldn’t touch, right?”
“He didn’t smoke,” Yu Fan said.
In a gentler tone, Hu Pang asked, “Then why did you run with them?”
“I grabbed him and ran,” Yu Fan said.
“Did I ask you?” Finally losing patience, Hu Pang swung back to curse him out. “Then tell me, why did you grab him?”
Yu Fan shut his eyes and lied, “He was next to me. I reached out without thinking.”
Hu Pang let out a disbelieving laugh. “So handy with your hands, how come you don’t ‘reach out’ after school and drag him home too?”
“…”
He had more to say, but the two boys in front of him suddenly, in perfect sync, turned their faces aside.
Baffled, Hu Pang frowned, twisted open his thermos, took a sip, and started grilling them about who else had been in the classroom.
By the time the bell rang, he still hadn’t gotten a single name.
Yu Fan kept his usual tight-lipped silence. As for Chen Jing Shen, it was all “didn’t see,” “don’t know,” “don’t remember,” until Hu Pang was fuming, finally waving them away to get ready for the next period.
The bell break sent a brief bustle through the school. The corridor outside the classroom filled with students.
Yu Fan kept his head down and headed for class. He walked a little fast, and those coming his way instinctively made room.
“Back there, what did you say to me while we were running? I didn’t catch it.” A voice sounded behind him just as they neared the room.
“…”
A thin school T-shirt didn’t hide much. Chen Jing Shen could clearly feel his deskmate’s shoulder tense. His steps slowed, even the way he walked turned awkward.
A few seconds later, a cold reply: “If you didn’t hear, forget it.”
Side by side with him, Chen Jing Shen murmured, “Sounded like you said you wanted to talk to me about something?”
“…”
So you did hear it, didn’t you??
When Wang Lu’an saw the two return, he leaned halfway out of the classroom and called, “Yu Fan—”
He barely got the name out before his buddy ducked his head and shot into the room like the wind, so fast he couldn’t even see his face.
Wang Lu’an watched him reach his seat, dazed for a long moment. Then he turned, baffled, to the one who had followed behind. “Top student, what’s up with him? Did Fat Tiger give you guys a demerit?”
Chen Jing Shen said, “No.”
“Then he…”
Expression cool, Chen Jing Shen walked past him and went back to his own seat.
Wang Lu’an: “…?”
Next class was Chinese. Yu Fan stared at the reading comprehension on the test, unable to process a single word. Propping his head between two desks, facing the window, he shut his eyes for a second. His whole face scrunched up.
Why the hell did I blurt it out in the heat of the moment…
Last night he had searched a pile of stuff about dating. Dozens of answers, all over the place: mind the other person’s feelings, stay by their side, surprise them anytime, dates and hugs and kisses.
He couldn’t do any of it.
He had never been good at, nor even thought about, forming an intimate relationship with anyone.
So after switching off his phone, he had stared at the ceiling and decided to forget it. Too much trouble. Who knew how long Chen Jing Shen would even like him. Maybe in a while he would realize it was nicer to date someone with a better temperament.
He had it all decided before sleeping. But when Chen Jing Shen dragged him running, all messy yet so steady as he looked back at him, Yu Fan’s mind had gone blank. The next second everything came out of his mouth.
He had even shoved his half-eaten candy right into Chen Jing Shen’s mouth.
And Chen Jing Shen had finished it.
“…”
Yu Fan scrubbed his face hard, then, unable to help himself, tilted his head. From the shelter of his palm he peeked at the boy beside him.
Chen Jing Shen was jotting notes on a test. His handwriting was messy when he took notes, lines loose and scattered. Honestly, his homework and tests were not that neat either. Only when he wrote essays or love letters…
Yu Fan cut off the thought, gaze fixed on Chen Jing Shen’s hand. He watched him stop writing, shift his hand upward, move the pen tip to the empty space at the top of the page. The handwriting suddenly straightened and steadied:
〈What are we talking about?〉
“…”
Stung, Yu Fan snapped his head forward.
He could not focus the entire day. When Wang Lu’an and Zuo Kuan tried to ask about what happened with Hu Pang, he couldn’t be bothered to say much, and he certainly did not speak to his seatmate again.
But his seatmate was very patient.
During the last class of the morning, Yu Fan had his head down reading a hot-blooded manga under the desk when his phone buzzed. A message slid down from the top: [s: What are we talking about?]
Yu Fan jerked his head up, just in time to see his deskmate putting the phone into the drawer, face blank, listening to the lecture.
“?” Yu Fan set the thread to Do Not Disturb on the spot.
At lunch, his hands got idle while he ate noodles. He opened the Snake game. His number one friend on the leaderboard had a Doberman avatar and the username: [What Are We Talking About].
Wang Lu’an was happily eating when the person next to him suddenly started coughing like his lungs were coming out.
During the last self-study period in the afternoon, Yu Fan had developed mild PTSD toward his phone. With nothing else to do, he took out a math test. He got stuck on the final big problems.
He read the questions twice, then, without thinking, slid the paper over and frowned, calling in habit, “Chen Jingshen…”
F***.
He cut himself off, realized what he had done, and did not dare look up at him. He yanked the test back at once.
Chen Jing Shen pressed it down with one hand. It didn’t budge.
“…”
In that split second, the classroom door swung open.
“Everyone, pause for a moment. There’s a last-minute notice. At seven tonight, the school will be watching a movie on the field. Boarders and day students must attend.” Zhuang Fangqin checked her watch. “Leaders are coming to watch with us, so we need to clean the field, the podium, and the stands. Each class gets a section. Our class is in charge of the front of the left stand. I need three students to come take tools and follow me. Any volunteers—”
“Me!” A chair scraped. Someone shot to their feet.
The whole class turned around by reflex, then froze as one.
Zhuang Fangqin also blinked when she saw who it was. After a beat, she added, “If you’re thinking of skipping study hour, don’t.”
“Not skipping.” Yu Fan released the test. “I’ll sweep.”
Zhuang Fangqin hesitated, then said, “We still need two more.”
The class monitor and the labor committee member stood up together, perfectly in sync. Zhuang pointed toward the back. “Good. You three grab brooms and come downstairs with me… Yu Fan! Why are you jumping out the window when there’s a door? Looking for a scolding?!”
Without a word, Yu Fan grabbed three brooms and headed out first.
Still uneasy, Zhuang tossed, “Keep studying,” and hurried after him.
Chen Jingshen withdrew his gaze and spun his pen in silence.
After a long moment, he drew the test that had been slid toward him earlier, along with Yu Fan’s tattered scratch notebook, and lowered his head to write out a full solution.
At first, Zhuang thought Yu Fan either wanted to ditch or slack off.
To her surprise, he was the most diligent of the three. From the moment they came downstairs, his broom never stopped, eyes fixed on the ground.
She did not skimp on praise. “Nice. Very clean. Seems like you shouldn’t be picking up trash in the future. You should be a sanitation worker. You’ve got the gift.”
Yu Fan didn’t look up. “Thanks. I’ll consider it.”
Zhuang chuckled and tapped his head. “Alright, I have a short meeting. Keep sweeping. Remember to be on time for the movie tonight. They’ll be taking attendance.”
The notice had come late, so by the time they got downstairs to clean, it was almost time to go home.
Bad luck for Zhuang: the section she drew was the biggest in the grade. By the time they finished, the campus was bathed in gold and the paths were nearly empty.
They still had to wait for the student council to check the work before they could leave. Yu Fan just flopped onto the stand, propped the broom beside him, hunched his back, and slouched against a higher step to wait.
Dusk blazed. Fire-clouds burned across the sky, red spreading like ink. Yu Fan stared at those clusters of cloud for a while, until a rustle sounded to his side.
He turned his head off guard and locked eyes with Chen Jing Shen.
F***…
Yu Fan planted a hand, about to spring up and leave, when a cold bottle of soda appeared in front of him.
“Teacher sent me to bring drinks,” Chen Jing Shen sat down beside him and said mildly. “No mung-bean slush left.”
“…”
Yu Fan had been sweeping for nearly half an hour. He hadn’t felt thirsty until he saw the bottle. Now his throat felt dry.
He shot a wary glance around. The class monitor and labor committee member were two steps below, each with a bottle of cola in hand.
Looked like Fangqin had really sent them.
Yu Fan grunted an “oh,” took the cola, and gulped several mouthfuls. The ice-cold liquid slid down his throat, and his whole body loosened.
Which was why, when his eyes dropped and he happened to notice some writing on the plastic bottle, it didn’t register at first.
He lifted it to eye level. All he could make out was a thick black stroke.
What was that? A cola promotion? Buy one get one? Did he win something?
He tipped back another swig, then raised the bottle again. In the glow of the crimson sky, he could see the words scrawled in thick black marker on the plastic—
〈What are we talking about?〉
Yu Fan: “…………”
The bottle crumpled with a sad series of squeaks as his grip tightened.
Chen Jingshen’s half-lowered lashes fluttered. He was already prepared for the boy beside him to toss the bottle and stalk off.
The next second, his collar was grabbed. He looked up, startled.
“Chen Jingshen, can you stop already? You really don’t know what I want to talk to you about?”
Whatever daze he had vanished fast. “I don’t.”
“Dating!!!”
Yu Fan’s face burned as red as the clouds. He kept his voice low with effort, boiling over yet trying to contain it. “Dating! I’m f***ing saying I want to date you! We’re dating! Got it or not?!”
“…”
From the corner of his eye, Yu Fan caught sight of something and immediately snapped his head toward it. “Hey, you, the guy down there. Yeah, you. You’re throwing trash on school grounds? Do you see how clean it is? You still have the face to litter? Pick it up and put it in the bin!”
The student jumped, snatched up his plastic bag, and bolted.
Yu Fan watched him run out the school gate, then swung back with his face still stormy.
And saw Chen Jing Shen turn his head, his shoulders shaking twice, like he could not hold it in.
Yu Fan froze. He still had a fist on Chen Jing Shen’s collar. He gave it a weak tug, growling, “Chen Jingshen, what are you laughing at?”
Lips pressed together, Chen Jing Shen faced him, then turned aside again. He looked like he was struggling not to lose it.
Before Yu Fan could blow up again, Chen Jing Shen finally spoke. “Because I’m happy.”
“Yu Fan, this is my first time dating,” he said. “I’m really happy you’ll be my boyfriend.”
Boy…
Bang. Yu Fan felt his brain explode.
His fingers slowly, slowly loosened on the collar. His shoulders relaxed bit by bit. A buzzing filled his head for a long, long moment. Only after ages did a thin, airy reply squeeze out of his throat.
“Oh… oh.”
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