novel
| ← Ch.60 | Ch.62 → |
Note: not proofreaded
Now that Song Mo mentioned this, Zhen Yuanbai paid more attention and suppressed his worry, not going to check up on Shi Bufan.
Once lunch break was over, Zhen Yuanbai returned to the classroom as Shi Bufan was sitting on his chair with a gloomy face.
He purposely ate food with beans in it and had Ye Lian tell Zhen Yuanbai. He originally was thinking of his little classmate throwing himself in his arms, crying and sniffling, wanting to make up with him. In the end, his little classmate didn't even pay attention to him.
Shi Bufan was confused. Didn't Zhen Yuanbai quite like him?
He scratched his face and Zhen Yuanbai kept his eyes on the blackboard still. He secretly touched the allergy pill in his hands and hesitated, wondering if he should give it to Shi Bufan. However, he felt as if Shi Bufan would've taken the pill already. That boy wasn't stupid. It'll be ugly if he had a face full of rash. Wasn't he quite narcissistic?
Indeed, Shi Bufan had taken the pills, but this couldn't comfort his broken heart at all. Zhen Yuanbai actually... didn't care about him at all.
Shi Bufan felt complicated.
Another day of being given the cold shoulder... After Zhen Yuanbai left the classroom with a straight face, Shi Bufan went to the basketball court. Qiu Jing was quite excited, seeing that Shi Bufan was able to abandon Zhen Yuanbai to play with them."It'll be the sports competition in a few days. You know about it, right?"
"Mhm."
"Are you going to participate?"
"No." Shi Bufan didn't like being in the crowd at all. After he came down from the basketball court he took a seat and twisted the cap of the water bottle open, saying, "Did you tell Zhen Yuanbai today?"
"Even if I didn't tell him, he should know from how swollen your face is." Ye Lian said, "Don't think about it. He doesn't care about you at all."
Shi Bufan was about to hit him with the water bottle when Ye Lian hurriedly ducked it, saying, "I'm just teasing. Why are you so violent?"
Shi Bufan unhappily cushioned his face with his hands. Ye Lian smiled and sat down, saying, "What exactly did you do to him? How come he dislikes you so much?"
"He doesn't dislike me." Shi Bufan said, "He's just angry at me."
"What exactly did you do?"
"..." He actually didn't do much either. Didn't he just kiss Zhen Yuanbai without his permission on the street? And then Zhen Yuanbai pushed him away with teary eyes, saying that he disrespected him. Shi Bufan touched his nose and it felt as if he was a pervert.
Ye Lian knew that he wasn't going to get a response, so he asked another question, "Since it's your fault, can't you just coax him? It's not like you haven't done that before."
"What do you know?" Shi Bufan wanted to let Zhen Yuanbai know that he can't mention "breaking up" no matter what. Look at what he said the other day. He actually wants to find a better person than him?! Don't mention that there isn't anyone better than him in this world, but just the thought of him irked Shi Bufan. Zhen Yuanbai was basically asking to be kissed.
Ye Lian curled his lips and said, "Look at you. You're used to having a happy life and you're just taking advantage of the fact that Zhen Yuanbai likes you. You want him to come over and coax you, and to admit his mistake... hey, you weren't like this in the past when you were secretly in love with Zhen Yuanbai."
Ye Lian was laughing in the back and gossiped, "You don't know the person he's secretly in love with... don't mention it. He likes that person a lot."
Ming Mai widened his eyes and asked, "How badly does he like them? Are they also a guy?"
"Yep." Ye Lian said purposely, "He looks quite similar to our sister-in-law."
"Damn!" Ming Mai said shockingly, "Brother Shi is such a scumbag... he's treating sister-in-law as the replacement. No wonder he doesn't talk to Brother Shi now."
Zhen Yuanbai really wanted to talk to Shi Bufan, but he felt the need to let him know the consequences of disrespecting them. How come Shi Bufan felt as if he was one of those domineering CEOs by forcibly kissing him? He's actually very brainless by doing this, ok!
While being conflicted, Zhen Yuanbai scrolled through the two's chatting history before angrily tossing his phone to the side. He got under the covers and tried to sleep.
The spring sports competition was about to start. There weren't many candidates in the elite class that could take on this responsibility. Although Shi Bufan was an athlete, he wasn't interested in these activities. Using the teacher's words, it didn't give him a sense of honor. In the past years, it was fine. After all, no one could manage him. But this year, Ji Yanping decided to try her best. She called Zhen Yuanbai over and wanted him to ask Shi Bufan about it.
Zhen Yuanbai wasn't really willing either, saying, "I probably can't convince him either."
"Doesn't he quite listen to you?" Teachers were different from students. They didn't think that Shi Bufan would kick Zhen Yuanbai to the side that quickly and break off their relations. In her eyes, Shi Bufan just didn't want to be disciplined. He was still a good student and she felt like he would give Zhen Yuanbai face."Try. After all, friendship comes before the competition. Our class has never really gotten any awards from the competition, so if Shi Bufan agrees, we might have a chance."
What does she mean by friendship before competition? Zhen Yuanbai felt as if Teacher Ji wanted her students to be skilled in all subjects and gain first place in everything.
He didn't have the habit of rejecting his teacher, so he accepted this grand task. After school was over, he arrived at the basketball court. Once Ming Mai saw him, he stopped what he was doing and slightly widened his eyes. Qiu Jing hurriedly caught the flying ball and said, "Why are you in a daze?"
"... Ye Lian was clearly correct. The class monitor was just a replacement for who Brother Shi truly likes. It's bitter being a replacement. Whenever they give each other the cold shoulder, he needs to make up with him first."
Qiu Jing heard the gossip from him yesterday and a flicker of pity flashed by his eyes. He knitted his eyebrows and said, "Brother Shi is a little overboard. In the past, he bullied him to this point, and now he treats him as a replacement... tch, what a scumbag."
They have received quite a bit of help from Zhen Yuanbai and their grades have increased a lot. Their parents don't hold much hope to them, and they just want them to improve their grades. They all thought that their precious sons have turned over new leaves, so they rewarded them materialistically and spiritually. Therefore, they were quite grateful to Zhen Yuanbai.
After Shi Bufan saw Zhen Yuanbai, he was frozen in his spot. He reluctantly tried to contain his excitement and the twitching of his lips. He waited for his little classmate to walk over to him, wondering what he was going to say to him. Yet, he saw his two friends eagerly walking over to Zhen Yuanbai, asking, "Class monitor, why are you here?"
"Are you here for Brother Shi?"
Zhen Yuanbai subconsciously nodded and praised, "You guys are pretty good at basketball."
"Heh. We're ok." Qiu Jing lowered his voice and said, "You're here to ask Brother Shi to take you home?"
Ming Mai also said, "How about we bring you home? I can call my driver to drive you home."
"No." Zhen Yuanbai was confused as to why they were suddenly so passionate. He said, "The teacher wants Shi Bufan to participate in the sports competition... How about you relay the message on my behalf? Ask him if he is willing to go."
"Sigh. You want to ask him that? He's definitely not going. He never liked team sports, but class monitor, if you need us, we can sign up."
"Right, right. Brother Shi definitely won't go."
...
Shi bufan's smile faded and he stood for a minute before noticing that his little classmate was blocked by his two friends. He couldn't even see his little classmate's sleeves. Finally, he couldn't hold it in anymore and asked, "Why are you guys surrounding him? Do you guys know him that well?"
The words seemed to be targeting Zhen Yuanbai and this made Ming Mai unhappy. Qiu Jing said, "No, he came here to ask if you were participating in the sports competition and I helped you reject him already."
Ming Mai glanced at Shi Bufan's fierce gaze which seemed to be holding enmity against Zhen Yuanbai. He hurriedly pushed him and said, "You can head back first."
Zhen Yuanbai nodded and turned around, leaving.
Shi Bufan was speechless since they said everything for him.
Zhen Yuanbai walked out. On one hand, he was happy that Qiu Jing and Ming Mai treated him nicely, but on the other hand, he felt regretful that he wasn't able to talk to Shi Bufan. However, what did he mean by that?... Just a few days ago, he wanted kisses and hugs from him. But in the blink of an eye now, he was being ruthless.
Does he really like me still?
Zhen Yuanbai had been thinking about this question frequently.
"Stop right there."
Zhen Yuanbai stopped and turned around. As expected, it was the rude Shi Bufan. He pursed his lips and said, "Can't you talk nicely?"
"You..." Shi Bufan wanted to retort but was worried that he might anger Zhen Yuanbai. He walked over with a straight face and attempted to strike up a conversation."What did the teacher say?"
"Can't you understand me?" Zhen Yuanbai said, "They already told you. The teacher wants you to attend the sports competition."
"Talk nicely, otherwise I..."
"You what?!" Zhen Yuanbai raised his chin and said toughly, "Besides saying "otherwise, " can't you use another phrase? You only know how to threaten people. You think that you're part of the criminal underworld?"
Shi Bufan was speechless momentarily before he tsk'ed and said, "Fine, I won't threaten you. Be good and talk nicely."
"Talking nicely... the teacher wants you to attend the sports competition."
"I don't want to."
Zhen Yuanbai looked at him as if looking at a retard and he said, "They already told me your decision. So you came over just to repeat the same words again? Why are you here?"
"..." I just want to talk to you!
Shi Bufan had the heart of choking Zhen Yuanbai.
Zhen Yuanbai revealed a small proud smile and contained his happiness, saying, "If there's nothing else, I'm going now."
He walked quickly and when he turned the corner, he almost started humming a song, until he heard rushed footsteps behind him. Zhen Yuanbai was pressed against the wall by Shi Bufan coughly. Shi Bufan knitted his eyebrows tightly and asked, "Do you want me to go or not?"
Zhen Yuanbai said slowly, "You'll listen to my words?"
Shi Bufan laughed from being angered."You're really... correct."
He held a straight face and glanced at Zhen Yuanbai's proud expression, almost couldn't hold in the urge to kiss his lips. Zhen Yuanbai allowed him to kiss him and pushed him again, saying, "There's nothing I want to say. If you want to go, you can go. If you don't, you don't need to. It's all up to you."
"That's it?"
"That's it." Zhen Yuanbai stood up straight and said, "Look. I respect you a lot, so you need to do the same too."
"Then you can't mention breaking up with me out of nowhere."
"I didn't do that."
"Then why did you say that you'll abandon me once you find someone better? You're trying to be shameless?"
"I didn't say it like that." Zhen Yuanbai said, "I was just listing some possibilities? Like you said, what if you accidentally become paralyzed? Obviously, I'll only take care of you if we didn't break up by then... otherwise, if you have someone you're interested in, do you think I can act shameless and go to take care of you?"
"You're quibbling." Shi Bufan said, "Then you said that you'll break up with me if you meet someone better in the future."
"I didn't mean that I would meet someone better than you. I meant that if I encounter a better relationship... like how we like each other right now, but what if I don't like you as much anymore one day? And the same applies to you? If we both meet someone better for each other, we obviously will break up."
"I don't understand what you're saying." Shi Bufan reached over and brushed the bangs aside from his forehead and said, "No matter what, you can't mention breaking up. There's no way we're breaking up."
Zhen Yuanbai stared at him and he couldn't help but smile. He suddenly became a bit shy and asked, "You're saying... you'll like me forever?"
"... You?"
"If that's the case for you, that's the case for me." Zhen Yuanbai's face suddenly flushed red as if he had applied blush on his cheeks. But he didn't avoid the topic and instead, he trained his eyes on Shi Bufan confidently and well-behaved. He emphasized, talking in a tone in which only the two of them could hear, "If you keep on liking me, I will keep on liking you."
Shi Bufan got his fingertips stuck on Zhen Yuanbai's curly hair. He placed his forehead on Zhen Yuanbai's and said in a low voice, "Then why do you have to mention this kind of possibility?"
Zhen Yuanbai blinked his eyes and said a bit carefully, "Maybe... I just want you hear you say that you'll keep on liking me."
| ← Ch. 60 | Ch. 62 → |