Lu Yuxing only fell asleep when it was almost dawn, while Shang Jue had not slept all night. Both of them were severely sleep-deprived, and after more than an hour in class, they finally lost control and openly dozed off in the front row.
The teacher at the front frequently cast glances their way, and in the end, unable to bear it any longer, he called out their names. This professor was always strict with students; although he was already familiar with Shang Jue and Lu Yuxing and held a fondness for them, he still didn't show any leniency when reminding them.
Having rarely faced such harsh criticism from a teacher, Shang Jue rubbed his fingers over the tip of his nose, feeling a bit embarrassed, but it did energize him.
Lu Yuxing, on the other hand, showed no reaction. He held a pencil between his fingers, zoning out while staring at the draft paper beneath him.
Both were lost in their own worlds, oblivious to the curious stares from the students in the back row. In their first year, before they had chosen their majors, Shang Jue and Lu Yuxing were notorious figures in their grade, often discussed among peers. After both entered the mathematics department, they solidly occupied the top two positions in the major and recently began sitting together in class, which was already enough to attract attention.
However, the two usually vibrant individuals were now both dozing off together... It was hard not to let imaginations run wild. Some students who were keen on shipping cp almost burned holes in the backs of the first row with their intense gazes.
Someone secretly took a photo and posted it on the A University anonymous forum, embellishing it with vivid descriptions. Before publishing, they pretended to be polite by adding a "delete if infringing" note at the end. The forum, which was established years ago for students to anonymously provide feedback, had long since been abandoned by the school and transformed into a place for students to gossip, share information, and discuss rumors.
By the end of the class, a buzz of activity erupted below. The first few floors were filled with laughter, and few took the cp seriously. But on the floor below, someone weakly said, "Actually... before class, I think I heard one of the big shots call the other 'baby'..."
"I heard it too from upstairs! I'm sure it was Shang Jue calling!" Another chimed in, "I thought I was hearing things when I heard it in the classroom!"
After that, the tone of the posts changed. Some listed clues about Shang Jue and Lu Yuxing's interactions this semester, while others mentioned seeing them study together in the library or eat in the cafeteria... Including the time during a class team-building event when Shang Jue and Lu Yuxing left the classroom one after the other and never came back, which raised some eyebrows at the time...
What started as casual curiosity soon spiraled into speculation about the authenticity of their relationship.
Unaware of all this, Shang Jue forced himself to get through the day’s classes, utterly exhausted. There was an upside to being overly tired; he felt he could fall asleep on the floor as soon as he got home.
After school, Shang Jue usually took his time packing his bag, not because he was slow but to avoid the crowded hallways and stairwells of the teaching building. He was also waiting for Lu Yuxing to say something. After holding it in for a day and a night, he wanted to know if they could break up quickly. He didn’t want to wait another evening.
Then Shang Jue noticed that among the students leaving the classroom, some would glance at him with a strange look.
He frowned slightly.
It had been like this since that morning; however, there hadn’t been many people sneaking glances at him back then, so he didn't think much of it. Ge Zhicheng and Lin Xuying were going to play basketball that evening and wouldn’t be walking with Lu Yuxing.
Shang Jue glanced at the person next to him, unsure what they meant now.
"Shang Jue," Wen Jiayue, for some reason, also stayed behind and approached him from the back row.
It seemed she had purposely waited for most people in the classroom to disperse before coming over to find them.
She looked at Shang Jue and the equally unhurried Lu Yuxing and said, "Why haven't you both started packing?"
Shang Jue felt a headache coming on, so he forced a smile and replied briefly, "I'm a bit slow."
"…Lu Yuxing is slow too?" Wen Jiayue pursed her lips.
"Yeah," Shang Jue replied.
Lu Yuxing was currently thinking about his breakup speech.
Wen Jiayue was silent for a moment. When she spoke again, her tone was laced with cautious inquiry, "This morning, someone posted on the school forum. Haven’t you seen it?"
Shang Jue didn’t use the forum. There weren't many students using it at school, and it had become a poor environment in recent years due to lack of official management. He had uninstalled it after browsing for a bit during his freshman year.
Curious, he asked, "What did they post?"
"Don’t you guys play on your phones during class?" Wen Jiayue said, handing her phone to Shang Jue.
The screen displayed the post released that morning.
After reading the main post, Shang Jue understood what was going on.
He chuckled in disbelief, "Delete if infringing? It's anonymous; how can I contact them to delete it?"
Lu Yuxing shifted his gaze and saw the words in the main post, along with a photo of him and Shang Jue from behind.
Shang Jue briefly skimmed through the comments; initially, not many took it seriously—just some idle chatter. However, as he scrolled down, some users were earnestly analyzing his relationship with Lu Yuxing... The analyses were surprisingly accurate.
Shang Jue thought, "Are these people really that bored?"
He also noticed a familiar ID in the comments.
Not the Little Bee: [Hehe]
Though it was just two short words, they conveyed an uncontrollable excitement.
Shang Jue sighed, "…What are you doing here?"
Are you like a bee, buzzing wherever there’s sweetness?
Within the towering comments, there were also some unpleasant and vulgar remarks—some cursed the poster, while others boldly expressed discriminatory opinions against same-sex couples, emboldened by the anonymity of the forum.
Shang Jue came across several comments he disliked, one of which had many responses quoted below.
Anonymous User 2b4227: [Hehe, Shang Jue is gay, but Lu Yuxing might not be.]
[? Shang Jue is gay? Is that true?]
[I’m also in the same department as Shang Jue and have never heard of that. Just read the post and don’t spread rumors.]
[Am I really out of the loop? How could Shang Jue be gay?]
Anonymous User 2b4227: [My friend saw him at Breeze, you can search where that is. Believe it or not.]
[Breeze, I’ve heard of it; it’s a gay bar.]
[Did someone really see Shang Jue there?]
Shang Jue couldn’t help but laugh.
Where did you see me at Breeze? Huh? Classmate Tian Miao.
His lips curled up slightly, but his gaze slowly turned colder.
Anonymous User 2b4227: [Moreover, Shang Jue is very close to a gay guy from another department; everyone in the mathematics department has seen them together frequently. Lu Yuxing is definitely straight and probably doesn’t even know Shang Jue likes guys... Shang Jue is hiding his orientation for some reason; you figure it out yourself.]
[I think I know who you’re talking about, He Yang? I’ve heard he’s not a good person; he seems to be quite promiscuous?]
[So, Shang Jue is hiding his orientation and trying to get close to straight guys? That operation is a bit disgusting, isn’t it?]
[Is anyone really believing this? Uh... Reported the post.]
Not the Little Bee: [I came back and found the comments have gone off the rails. He Yang is from our department, and those who know him are aware he’s a good person. The rumor about him being promiscuous is false; he’s just a wealthy second-generation, so many people are drawn to him.]
Not the Little Bee: [As for the two in the main post, though I really don’t want to say this... but! They were at odds in high school and would never be together in this lifetime!!]
Not the Little Bee: [To the anonymous user above, your ID really suits you; 2b indeed.]
Not the Little Bee: [The post has been reported.]
As Shang Jue continued scrolling, the post now showed that it had been deleted.
Lu Yuxing had been watching him scroll down, unaware if he had seen the comment from Xiao Mifeng about their "terrible relationship."
Just now, he felt guilty when he saw that sentence and instinctively scrolled past it quickly, only to realize later that it was meaningless. Lu Yuxing should have known about their past relationship by now.
"It's deleted, huh?" Wen Jiayue said in surprise, then relaxed. After all, the comments were overwhelmingly negative.
She cautiously confirmed, “I saw them talking so seriously, I thought... so, you two?”
Shang Jue smiled and said, “No, it’s fake.”
Lu Yuxing suddenly turned his head, looking deeply at Shang Jue.
Shang Jue was taken aback by his meaningful gaze and met his eyes for two seconds, biting his lip. What do you want me to do then?
Wen Jiayue seemed relieved by this response. “The school really should ban anonymous posts; there are all kinds of people in there. But since not many use our school’s forum and the posts get deleted, the impact probably won’t be too big…”
Shang Jue felt his sleep-deprived head ache even more. “Not too big…” Maybe. But even so, the impact had already exceeded what he had anticipated as a joke.
That little hole he poked for fun had now become impossible to ignore, and there was even a risk of being noticed by others.
It was one thing for him to be seen as the one who poked the hole, but what about Lu Yuxing?
Despite the emotional difficulty of accepting it, his rational mind kept telling him: it really has to end.
Shang Jue smiled and returned his phone to Wen Jiayue, feeling a sense of frustration that had expanded into a massive black hole in his heart.
Wen Jiayue left.
Only Shang Jue and Lu Yuxing were left in the classroom.
Shang Jue tried to put aside the messy forum posts and comments and looked at the person beside him, saying, “I couldn’t sleep last night, babe.”
Lu Yuxing asked, “Why?”
Shang Jue replied, “Waiting for your message.”
Lu Yuxing: “…”
“So,” Shang Jue sighed lightly, “if you still have nothing to say today, I’ll have to stay up another night.”
“What do you want to hear me say?”
Forgive me? Lu Yuxing felt a bit choked.
He had endured being deceived, been magnanimous, and forced himself to accept it. But forgive? He really wasn’t that generous.
Hearing Lu Yuxing throw the question back at him, Shang Jue felt a bit helpless.
He would rather Lu Yuxing say it himself.
But he really needed to sleep tonight; if he stayed up another night, he was afraid he might collapse.
Do I really have to spell it out for you? Fine...
Shang Jue had no choice but to say, “I’m waiting for you to say we should break up.”
“…”
Lu Yuxing’s expression twisted suddenly, staring at him in shock.
His shocked expression also left Shang Jue stunned.
Why is he looking at me like that…? He can’t possibly not have thought about it!
Last night when he asked about that transfer record, wasn’t he just testing him? He had already given him the answer!
He couldn’t believe that Lu Yuxing, with his brains, wouldn’t understand the current situation.
Lu Yuxing: “Do you think I want to break up with you?”
Shang Jue remained silent but felt dissatisfied that Lu Yuxing still pretended to hide his reaction at this point.
Wasn’t he tossing and turning last night thinking about this? Why is he acting like this now!
“Shang Jue.” Lu Yuxing couldn’t continue to speak to this person in a friendly manner. His brows furrowed tightly, and he seemed a bit irritable, “Are you doing this on purpose? Pushing me to forgive you with these words?”
If I can’t forgive you, does that mean we should break up? Is that what you mean?
Shang Jue: ………
Are you sick? I’m not crazy; why would I think you could forgive me?
Lu Yuxing stared at him fiercely, this time correctly interpreting Shang Jue’s stunned reaction.
But even if Shang Jue hadn’t asked him to forgive him, clearly bringing up the words “break up” at this time essentially wanted him to express his stance.
He indeed couldn’t break up with Shang Jue, but if he said “I never thought about breaking up” at this time, it would be equivalent to giving in again.
Letting his guard down again and again was tantamount to trampling on his own pride for someone like Lu Yuxing.
Lu Yuxing felt a stomachache from anger, and he also felt wronged.
It was clearly his lie, so why should he be the one to bear the consequences and make a statement? He hadn’t slept all night waiting for Shang Jue’s reply, feeling anxious all night, but didn’t he have his own emotions to digest?
If only Shang Jue felt a bit guilty, he wouldn’t be so impatient to poke at his wounds after just one night. Not even a single word of apology as a gesture before poking!
Even with the best temper, he should be furious at this moment.
“Break up then…”
Lu Yuxing bit down hard on his teeth, “You did something wrong.”
Shang Jue was stunned, “I know.”
“I can’t forgive you.”
Shang Jue: “I know…”
Lu Yuxing swallowed his anger, stepping on his own dignity again, “I never thought about… breaking up with you.”
Shang Jue: ………
Shang Jue didn’t understand.
You can endure being deceived? Or does this guy actually have a love brain, and once he’s in love, he stops caring about everything else?
This guy’s rationality was probably knocked out by a motorcycle, Shang Jue thought.
Really envious.
Too bad mine is still intact.
This silly dog is saying he doesn’t mind now because he has no idea how much he hates me. If he ever remembers it one day, wouldn’t he be so mad he’d want to stab me with a violin?
Should I say something to give him a clue?
What should I say?
Should I say: Hi, babe! Actually, our relationship used to be terrible. How terrible? Haha, you’d probably want to kill me if we met. I lied about being your boyfriend just to annoy you, because your nickname for me is “idiot,” and I was so mad… Who knew you’d turn out to be so useless that you actually got bent? Haha, but life is unpredictable, and now I seem to like you, so can you keep being with me?
After organizing this long speech in his mind, Shang Jue fell into silence.
“…”
Damn, if I say all this, I’m afraid I’ll be sent straight to the psychiatric hospital by Lu Yuxing on the spot…