C14

 Shang Jue and Lu Yuxing walked together until they reached the fork outside Dormitory Seven. It wasn’t until they turned in opposite directions that they realized they weren't heading the same way.

Shang Jue's rented place was closest to the south gate of A University, and taking any other gate would mean a much longer detour. Lu Yuxing, on the other hand, needed to go to the subway station, which was near the north gate—completely the opposite direction.

"I'll walk you there. It'll only take me an extra ten minutes or so to come back, no big deal," Shang Jue said.

Usually, he wasn’t this patient, but considering he wouldn’t be seeing his “dog” for a while, how could he pass up the chance to have a little fun in their final moments together?

Lu Yuxing nodded and said, "Thanks."

Just outside A University's north gate, the subway station was a short distance away, making it a hub for students, especially on the weekends when the crowd swelled several times over. Lu Yuxing was only carrying one suitcase, so he didn't really need someone to accompany him, and it didn’t seem right to have Shang Jue come along just to squeeze through the packed subway station.

After they exited the north gate, Lu Yuxing glanced at Shang Jue. "You should head back home now. This is far enough."

Shang Jue nodded, his eyes fixed on Lu Yuxing without blinking.

Lu Yuxing was slightly puzzled by the burning gaze, gripping the handle of his suitcase tightly. After saying a quick "Goodbye," he turned and began to walk away.

However, just a few steps in, he suddenly heard someone behind him cough.

Lu Yuxing paused, half confused and half unsure, and turned back around.

Shang Jue was still staring at him, his gaze filled with meaning.

"..." What was that supposed to mean?

Lu Yuxing couldn't understand the hint.

Shang Jue casually said, "Baby, I’m definitely going to miss you during the next few weeks."

Lu Yuxing responded, "Thanks."

But then he thought just saying "thanks" sounded awkward, even to himself.

He added reluctantly, “I’ll miss you too.”

After saying that, he glanced at Shang Jue’s smiling face, trying to figure out what he was thinking.

But Shang Jue’s thoughts were harder to read than math equations, and no matter how much Lu Yuxing tried, he couldn’t make sense of it.

Dragging his suitcase, Lu Yuxing hesitantly turned around and took a few more steps—

"Ahem." Behind him, there were two more coughs.

Lu Yuxing had no choice but to turn back again, his expression now carrying a hint of weariness.

He was growing impatient: What on earth do you want? Can’t you just say it directly?

Shang Jue sighed and raised his chin.

Lu Yuxing felt Shang Jue’s gaze sweeping over his face, slowly scanning him from top to bottom. The teasing look in his eyes was almost tangible, leaving a faint tingling sensation on Lu Yuxing's skin wherever it touched. The gaze finally settled on his lips.

"..."

Lu Yuxing understood.

He wished he didn’t.

He chose to pretend he didn’t understand.

"If you’re coughing, go home and take some medicine."

"...You’ve got to be kidding me."

After leaving those words behind, Lu Yuxing walked away without a trace of emotion on his face, his steps unusually decisive.

Shang Jue had been waiting eagerly to see his flustered reaction. But seeing this, he clicked his tongue in disappointment.

Boring.

Lu Yuxing's immunity had grown stronger over time, and his adaptability had improved. He was no longer the same person who'd get frazzled and flustered just by hearing the word "baby."

After walking this far to send someone off but not getting the reaction he'd hoped for, Shang Jue stood there feeling a bit let down. But then he remembered the good show he was anticipating in the near future, and his energy came back.

He took a long detour as he made his way back to campus, heading toward the south gate.

On the way, he passed a bakery by the cafeteria. To comfort himself for all the energy wasted on messing with a certain clueless "dog" Shang Jue went in and bought a small cake to go.

As he stepped out of the shop, his phone buzzed.

It was almost eight o'clock. Usually, at this time, the only person who messaged him was He Yang with his endless complaints.

Shang Jue checked his phone, but to his surprise, it wasn’t He Yang. The message came from his high school class group chat.

During their three years of high school, they hadn’t switched classes, and with Shang Jue being the class president who could handle everything, the class atmosphere had always been harmonious. Even after graduating and going their separate ways, the group chat remained active, with messages popping up every few days.

Shang Jue found the group chat messages too overwhelming, so he had set it to "Do Not Disturb," only checking in when he had some downtime in the evening. The notification from earlier was because someone had @mentioned him in the chat.

He opened the chat and immediately saw hundreds of unread messages.

Raising an eyebrow, he thought it was rare for the group to be this lively after graduation.

Skimming through the earlier messages, he scrolled to the top and saw an image someone had posted. In an instant, he understood the reason behind the unusual activity in the group today.

The image was an official announcement of a couple's relationship, and both individuals were from their Class 7. The girl had a sweet appearance and had often been called the "class beauty" behind her back during school. However, in Shang Jue's memory, these two had sat far apart in high school and didn’t seem to have any interactions.

Curious, he checked the group’s photo album and found a picture of their classmates' university placements. Zooming in, he confirmed that the couple had indeed ended up at the same university.

With fresh gossip, the Class 7 group chat had exploded, and the guys in particular were especially chatty.

[Wang Yuanzhou (Class President's godfather)]: "So, you two were secretly dating behind our backs?"

[Sun Sheng]: "Li Jialiang, you sly dog, you managed to snatch our class beauty, huh?"

[Sun Sheng]: "What about the vow we all made back in the dorm to stay single for life? You’ve all forgotten? Am I the only one who stuck to it?"

[Wang Yuanzhou (Class President's godfather)]: "@Sun Sheng, the clown is you."

[Sun Sheng]: "..."

What followed was a long string of similar jokes and teases. Shang Jue scrolled casually through the banter.

As Shang Jue scrolled to the bottom of the chat, he suddenly saw his name pop up.

[Sun Sheng]: "Jialiang and the class beauty are at the same school, right? Who else from our class is attending the same school? Someone needs to take action and crush the budding love between them!"

[Someone]: "I don’t think anyone else is there."

[Another person]: "Checked the group album; there’s still the class president and Lu Yuxing!"

[Another person]: "Aren’t the class president and Lu Yuxing in the same department?"

[Someone]: "This is kind of eerie... I'm shipping them now just to be safe."

[???]: "???"

[Someone else]: "Lmao, why ship the class president with the genius?"

[Another person]: "Isn't there also 'Little Bee'? She's at A University too, right?"

[Someone]: "The class president and Lu Yuxing study math, but 'Little Bee' is in biology, not the same department."

[Another person]: "Calling 'Little Bee'!"

Shang Jue never expected the conversation to somehow involve him and Lu Yuxing.

Back in high school, while he and Lu Yuxing didn't get along, they never had an outright confrontation, especially since Shang Jue was the class president and couldn’t openly fight with classmates. However, everyone in Class 7 had noticed that, despite sitting in adjacent seats for a long time, the two barely spoke, and whenever they were forced to communicate, it was laced with sarcasm. Eventually, it became widely known that they didn’t get along.

[Sun Sheng]: "All of you above, you're definitely on the class president's and Lu Yuxing's hit list tonight."

[Xiao Mifeng (not Little Bee)]: "Just finished eating!"

[Xiao Mifeng (not Little Bee)]: "! Why are you guys talking about the class president and Lu Yuxing! Is the CP I ship finally gaining traction?"

[Wang Yuanzhou (Class President's godfather)]: "Huh? You actually ship them? How can you even ship that?"

[Xiao Mifeng (not Little Bee)]: "Now’s the time to bring out this picture!"

[Xiao Mifeng (not Little Bee)]: "[Image]"

[Wang Yuanzhou (Class President's godfather)]: "WTF! Where did this picture come from?"

[Wang Yuanzhou (Class President's godfather)]: "This is too spooky, my deskmate's coming over with an 80-meter broadsword."

In the image, Shang Jue and Lu Yuxing were both wearing black suits, standing side by side. The background had been edited to a bright red, making it look like a wedding photo. Unfortunately, both of them had less-than-pleased expressions, looking more like they were getting divorced than married.

Walking down the street, Shang Jue almost tripped and fell. Staring at the picture in shock, he wondered, "When was this edited? Why have I never seen it before?"

[Wang Yuanzhou (Class President's godfather)]: "Little Bee, you’d better delete it. My deskmate and Lu Yuxing go to the same school as you, and if they see this, they’ll be storming your department tomorrow."

[Xiao Mifeng (not Little Bee)]: "The class president is probably not online at this hour, definitely in the library studying."

[Wang Yuanzhou (Class President's godfather)]: "What, even in university? That's insane."

[Shang Jue]: "Where did this picture come from?"

[Wang Yuanzhou (Class President's godfather)]: "Crap, my deskmate saw it. You're done for, Little Bee."

[Wang Yuanzhou (Class President's godfather)]: "[Lighting candles] [Lighting candles] [Lighting candles]"

Following this was a stream of messages filled with candle emojis, with no one caring about Xiao Mifeng's fate.

Shang Jue just wanted to know where that picture came from. He had started typing a question when suddenly, a faint voice, tinged with sobs, reached his ears.

"...Why did you suddenly break up with me?"

"Can you come down from your dorm so we can talk?"

The voice sounded somewhat familiar.

Shang Jue looked up and realized he had wandered back to the fork in the road near the Seventh Dormitory. The person speaking was Lin Yihan, who had been dumped by Tian Miao a few days earlier.

It seemed Tian Miao still hadn't given a proper reason for the breakup.

Shang Jue stopped in his tracks, lowered his phone, and looked at the short-haired girl standing with her back to him.

Lin Yihan had barely spoken a few words when Tian Miao abruptly hung up on her.

Well, that was quick.

The abrupt end of the call caused Lin Yihan's emotions to crumble, and what started as quiet sobs turned into full-blown crying.

Shang Jue pressed his lips together, waiting for Lin Yihan’s sobs to quiet down a little before walking over.

“Xiao Han.”

Startled, Lin Yihan quickly wiped her tears and turned around. She was surprised to see that it was Shang Jue who had called her. "Shang Jue?"

Shang Jue gave her a small smile.

Lin Yihan touched her swollen eyelids—she hadn’t slept well in days and had been crying a lot. Being seen in such a disheveled state by someone she wasn’t familiar with made her feel a little embarrassed.

“I... I just broke up with Tian Miao, so...”

“Yeah.”

“You knew?”

“I knew. But breaking up with a scumbag isn’t something worth being sad about.”

Lin Yihan was stunned, staring at Shang Jue in disbelief.

But Shang Jue didn’t elaborate further.

Lin Yihan couldn’t help but overthink, wondering if Tian Miao had been seeing someone else. If that were true, she wouldn’t be feeling sad right now, but rather disappointed.

Suddenly, the sound of wheels rolling on the ground came from behind them, getting closer.

Shang Jue initially didn’t pay much attention until the rolling sound stopped behind him, replaced by the steady breathing of a man.

When Shang Jue turned around, he was caught off guard by the familiar face that met him, giving him quite a shock.

The person he had just seen off a few minutes ago was back again. He almost thought he was seeing a ghost.

Did this idiot forget something? Shang Jue wondered, looking at Lu Yuxing’s face in surprise.

“You…?”

Before Shang Jue could ask, Lu Yuxing had already shifted his gaze to Lin Yihan, whose eyes were red from crying, and then looked back at Shang Jue.

“This is Lin Yihan, from the physics department,” Shang Jue explained when he saw the deep, thoughtful look in Lu Yuxing’s eyes. "Don’t misunderstand, she’s Tian Miao’s ex-girlfriend."

Lu Yuxing thought for a moment, then frowned and said, “That scumbag?”

Lin Yihan: …

Shang Jue: …

Well, you really don’t mince your words.

Lin Yihan was left speechless by the two guys’ identical choice of words. Tears were still hanging on her cheeks, but for a moment, they didn’t fall.

Lu Yuxing simply said, “Breaking up is a good thing.”

He didn’t say much, but coming from Lu Yuxing, his words carried a certain weight.

Shang Jue echoed, “Yeah, it’s not worth regretting.”

Lin Yihan fell silent. After Tian Miao had broken up with her, he hadn’t even offered her the kind of comfort these two were giving her.

She understood the message in Shang Jue and Lu Yuxing’s words. With both of them agreeing so completely, it was clear that Tian Miao probably wasn’t as good as she had imagined. Perhaps, he even had issues with his character.

Moreover, the two standing in front of her were both tall and extremely good-looking—well-known for their looks in the school. With two handsome guys standing on either side of her, comforting her, she suddenly found herself unable to cry anymore.

Her tears lingered in her eyes for a while, but Lin Yihan managed to hold them back.

“Want some cake?” Shang Jue offered, holding out the cake in his hand.

Lin Yihan waved it off, politely declining, “No, thank you…”

“Take it.” Shang Jue insisted, pressing the item into her hand.

Reluctantly, Lin Yihan accepted it. A faint scent of sweet cream wafted up, and somehow, it helped to soothe her emotions a little.

“Thank you. I’ll think carefully about what you both said,” she replied softly, trying to lift her lips into a smile. Though it looked a bit forced, it was much more spirited than before.

For a moment, Lin Yihan was overwhelmed by too much information. After thanking them, she took the cake and returned to her dorm.

Only Shang Jue and Lu Yuxing were left, exchanging glances.

Shang Jue asked, “Why are you back?”

Lu Yuxing paused for two seconds, released the handle of his suitcase, and before Shang Jue could react, he stepped forward and hugged him.

Before entering the station, he had thought that asking for help was a bit difficult, but a hug was okay.

Lu Yuxing's hug was somewhat stiff, but it felt very real. His arms wrapped around Shang Jue's waist at an angle, his palms pressed against his back, holding him quite tightly.

Lu Yuxing's hug was somewhat stiff, but it felt very real. His arms wrapped around Shang Jue's waist at an angle, his palms pressed against his back, holding him quite tightly.

The two of them could even feel each other's hearts beating against their chests, and they could smell each other's scent.

Shang Jue distinctly noticed a faint fragrance on Lu Yuxing, unsure whether it was from the shower gel on his neck or his clothes.

Still processing the sudden hug, Shang Jue instinctively held his breath to avoid inhaling Lu Yuxing's scent too much.

The hug lasted about ten seconds, then Lu Yuxing released him and their eyes locked for a brief moment.

He took his hand off Shang Jue's shoulder and said, “Remember to take your medicine when you get home.”

Shang Jue thought: …you’re the one who needs to take medicine.

Lu Yuxing said, “I’m leaving.”

“...Oh.”

Previous: Chapter 13

Next: Chapter 15