10

 Lu Yuxing wasn't waiting here for half the day to kiss Shang Jue.

It was just that the guilt from the past few days made it impossible for him to stay calmly in the study room and ignore Shang Jue's advances. Ever since his car accident and memory loss, he had been cold toward Shang Jue.

His personality wasn’t particularly considerate, but he felt that replying with "It's more important than kissing you" was somewhat lacking in emotional intelligence for someone who was supposed to be someone else's boyfriend.

After thinking it over, he decided to come and see Shang Jue.

As for kissing a man... just the thought of it made Lu Yuxing feel a chill.

He didn’t answer Shang Jue's question but asked, “Are you going out?”

“Yeah.”

“With them?”

“...”

Shang Jue turned to look at the girls and suddenly realized that the situation could easily lead to misunderstandings, making it seem like he was a flirtatious scoundrel.

“I helped them out a bit, and they invited me to dinner,” he explained.

Lu Yuxing remained silent.

Lu Yuxing had a striking appearance, with high cheekbones and deep-set eyes, but because his eye sockets were deep and his pupils gleamed coldly, he didn’t look particularly friendly.

When he wasn’t making any expressions, he appeared quite fierce.

Most people, when they first saw Lu Yuxing, would associate him with some kind of fierce and arrogant beast. Only Shang Jue, over the years, had consistently called him "silly dog" in private.

Shang Jue looked at him, surprised that he could actually sense a hint of "unhappiness" hidden beneath Lu Yuxing’s cold expression.

Lu Yuxing was indeed unhappy.

Although he had no impression of his so-called boyfriend, wasn’t it too much to ask Shang Jue to keep a proper distance from other women, since he was his boyfriend?

Lu Yuxing rarely imagined what his partner would be like, but he was very sure that Shang Jue would never be his ideal type.

It was one thing to be a man, but this guy didn’t seem capable of being faithful or loyal.

He irritably swept a glance at Shang Jue’s face.

His eyes curved, lips smiling.

He had a face that seemed to excel at romance.

Shang Jue was completely unaware of Lu Yuxing's inner thoughts and smiled, “Babe, you’re not jealous about this, are you?”

“…”

Which of your eyes saw me being jealous?

Lu Yuxing couldn’t be bothered to respond.

Shang Jue leisurely said, “Otherwise, I won’t go out tonight and will keep you company?”

Implying: Shall we go to Yunhu for a “chat”?

Faced with the intimidation of “chatting,” Lu Yuxing paused for a moment.

“No need.”

Shang Jue's lips curled up in a smile.

He almost laughed out loud.

“Really don’t need me to accompany you? Then I can go, right?”

“Mm.”

Lu Yuxing gave him a deep look and watched as Shang Jue walked away.

—

As night fell, a light rain began to fall, continuing until the next morning, leaving the sky gloomy and overcast. The stairs of the teaching building were covered in muddy shoe prints, making the steps slippery. Someone had carelessly dropped a wet umbrella on the ground, and the air in the classroom was filled with a damp, stuffy scent.

Today, the classroom felt unusually empty. This was indeed the case; according to reliable information from senior students, the morning class was taught by a laid-back teacher who never took attendance. Coupled with the rain, many students had chosen to simply stay in their dorms.

In dormitory 323, only Lu Yuxing and Shang Jue showed up for class.

As Lu Yuxing entered the classroom, he immediately spotted Shang Jue sitting in the front row. His steps hesitated for a moment. 'I want to sit with you,' Shang Jue had said yesterday.

Neither Ge Zhicheng nor Lin Xuying had come, and there was an empty seat next to Shang Jue. With no excuse to keep his distance, Lu Yuxing reluctantly suppressed his resistance and sat beside him.

When Lu Yuxing set his backpack down, Shang Jue, who had been looking at his phone, glanced up at him.

“…”

For some reason, Lu Yuxing felt like there was a hint of disdain on Shang Jue’s face the moment their eyes met. But that couldn’t be possible—after all, Shang Jue was his boyfriend.

The two stared at each other for a few seconds, trying to infuse their gazes with warmth.

Lu Yuxing failed.

Forget warmth; he could barely suppress his instinctive dislike for Shang Jue.

As for Shang Jue, he was thick-skinned enough to use a heartfelt gaze to force Lu Yuxing to turn away. Once Lu Yuxing looked away, he secretly rolled his eyes, disgusted with himself.

This class wasn’t very specialized, commonly referred to as a “water class,” so Lu Yuxing didn’t pay much attention.

Halfway through the lecture, he suddenly felt a tickle on the back of his right hand resting on his knee, followed by a warm, delicate touch.

A jolt of electricity surged through him.

Lu Yuxing stiffened and looked down to see a slender, long-fingered male hand grasping his own.

Turning his head, he saw the owner of the hand smiling at him, the smile brighter than usual.

His arm muscles tensed up, instinctively wanting to push the hand away, but when he saw the dimple in Shang Jue’s right cheek, he inexplicably held back.

For some reason, that dimply smile seemed a bit wicked.

“…”

Lu Yuxing licked his lips, and out of a feeling he couldn’t quite articulate, he turned his palm over and slowly clasped that hand in return.

He had a larger frame, so his hand was much bigger; his wrist was thicker than Shang Jue’s, nearly enveloping Shang Jue’s hand completely.

Initially, Shang Jue had been waiting to enjoy the moment, but he froze, and his smile nearly broke into laughter. He almost wanted to lift Lu Yuxing and toss him out of the classroom window on the fourth floor.

Instead of teasing him, he ended up irritating himself. He couldn’t help but reflect: …What was he even after?

During high school, Shang Jue had stared at Lu Yuxing’s expressionless face for two years, rarely seeing any expression other than indifference.

He remembered when Lu Yuxing first transferred to their school; he took first place in the monthly exam with the same calm expression, as if all honors were simply his due, making him infuriatingly arrogant.

From that moment on, Shang Jue's fierce goal became to fulfill his mother’s expectations and eventually step on the prideful person sitting in front of him, hoping to make him look like a lost puppy.

But in those two years of high school, he had never succeeded even once. The closest he came was during the college entrance examination, where he missed beating Lu Yuxing by just one point.

When something is unattainable and lingers for too long, it easily turns into an obsession. Even in college, he couldn’t help but keep track of Lu Yuxing’s GPA and awards…

He had almost resolved to give up.

Shang Jue lowered his gaze to their intertwined hands, feeling Lu Yuxing’s slightly higher body temperature radiating from the contact, which made him uncomfortable as if he were covered by someone else's blanket.

Teasing this foolish dog was worth the effort, even if he had to suffer a little.

Winning 800 but losing 8,000.

Thinking about Lu Yuxing’s face when he eventually regained his memories, Shang Jue’s spirits rose again.

For the sake of those 800 points, he could endure it.

So, he maintained his composure and moved his fingers, shifting their ordinary handhold into a more intimate interlocking of fingers.

Lu Yuxing: …

—

As the class bell rang, the two of them let go of the hands they had held throughout the lesson, both exhaling in relief.

Lu Yuxing discreetly moved his fingers, still lingering in the warmth of that brief connection. While Shang Jue only had one class in the morning, Lu Yuxing had to continue to the next classroom on the same floor.

They happily parted ways. After packing his bag, Shang Jue caught a glimpse of a slender figure and called out, “Tian Miao.”

Tian Miao turned at the sound and was surprised to see it was Shang Jue who had called him.

With a smile, Shang Jue said, “Want to walk together?”

Tian Miao was taken aback; he hadn’t expected such an invitation. “Sure.”

Lu Yuxing watched the two leave, puzzled. “Wait… if I remember correctly, my boyfriend and this Tian Miao weren’t very familiar yesterday, right?”

As they exited the classroom, Tian Miao was still trying to figure out why Shang Jue had asked him to walk together. Though Tian Miao was indeed gay and only liked men, Shang Jue had never been on his radar.

Shang Jue’s aura was different from Lu Yuxing’s and unlike those silly straight boys. Tian Miao felt as if he would be seen through by this person. But there was another reason behind his hesitation…

Tian Miao could think of all the dazzling qualities that surrounded Shang Jue—his family background, looks, academic performance, and demeanor—everything was so perfect and radiant.

A person like him was someone Tian Miao had never considered approaching, knowing it was nothing but a fantasy. He had only hoped to build a better rapport with Shang Jue and expand his circle of connections.

But today, when Shang Jue spoke to him with such a calm and warm demeanor, Tian Miao felt unexpectedly flattered. When he finally regained his composure, he felt a twinge of shame for his instinctive reaction.

It was one thing to like men, but to feel completely overshadowed by another man—his self-esteem was inevitably bruised.

In a matter of seconds, thoughts whirled through Tian Miao’s mind.

He noticed that the footsteps beside him had slowed down, and when he turned to look, he saw that Shang Jue was staring intently at his own left hand.

With delicate long eyelashes casting shadows over his eyes, Shang Jue frowned slightly, his focus unwavering.

“What’s wrong, Shang Jue?” Tian Miao asked.

“Just a moment.” Shang Jue looked up and began to head toward the restroom. “I need to wash my hands first.”

Previous: Chapter 9

Next: Chapter 11