Qin Yuanxi was feeling really down, like he was swinging on a swing but couldn’t get off, lost in thought even during class.
Even his desk mate noticed something was off: “Hey, why are you always staring at Lu Bohuan? Did you guys have a fight? You both didn’t come to class together today, did you fight?”
His desk mate’s expression was pretty complicated: “Did he argue with you or did you argue with him? Wait, you’re so chill, why would you even argue with him? And he shouldn’t either. Lu Bohuan’s icy face is somewhat bearable when he’s with you, but with others, he’s like an ice cube. And you two are always so close, why would you fight?”
It’s no wonder his desk mate was confused. Everyone who knew them knew how biased Qin Yuanxi was toward Lu Bohuan, and as for Lu Bohuan, he was a whole different story, with his ice-cold demeanor thawing only in Qin Yuanxi’s presence. Others wouldn’t even dare utter a word around him.
Usually, these two were inseparable, going to and from school together, sticking to each other like glue. Despite being two handsome guys, they managed to ward off any potential admirers, blocking each other’s paths to romance with expert precision.
His desk mate, being kind-hearted, suggested: “Well, if you did have a fight, why not just apologize to Lu Bohuan? He’s probably just waiting for you to reach out. You’re usually the proactive one, right? It’s better to apologize than to keep staring at him in class. Just apologize and make up, it’s not a big deal, right?”
“No fight, how many times do I have to say it? We didn’t fight,” Qin Yuanxi replied, feeling a bit impatient as he explained, “I just had some stuff to do, so I came early today. That’s why we didn’t leave together.”
“Is that so?” His desk mate clearly didn’t believe him but decided not to push further, flipping open the textbook to start working on the exercises.
After a while, Qin Yuanxi nudged his desk mate’s arm again, “Do you think I’m too clingy to Lu Bohuan?”
“What do you mean by ‘do you’? Aren’t you?”
The deskmate had been with them from elementary school through to middle school and was more familiar with the relationship between the two than other classmates, knowing many details others didn’t.
“Do you remember? Back in elementary school, there was a time when the classes were re-shuffled, and you were separated from Lu Bohuan. What happened then?” The deskmate started laughing as he spoke: “You, the clingy one, carried your chair to Lu Bohuan’s classroom and insisted that the teacher move you back. You wouldn’t go home until it was done.”
“No way,” Qin Yuanxi denied, “I don’t remember that.”
“Then you should at least remember middle school, right?” The deskmate reminded him. “Lu Bohuan was a top student, and you, who struggled with your grades in elementary school, stayed in the classroom every night to study just to be close to him, waiting for Lu Bohuan to finish class. People who didn’t know better might have thought you two were secretly dating.”
“You’re making stuff up,” Qin Yuanxi’s expression flickered, looking a bit unnatural.
It felt like some word had hit him hard, making him feel uncomfortable, like it had struck a chord deep within.
But his desk mate’s words were true. He had always been incredibly clingy to Lu Bohuan, from childhood to now. It was just ignorance when they were kids, all innocence and naivety. But now, now he knew better.
Knowing better meant he couldn’t keep clinging to Lu Bohuan. What kind of person would that make him?
The mature Qin Yuanxi knew the reason for his clinginess towards Lu Bohuan, but it wasn’t normal. They were good friends, best buddies. If Lu Bohuan found out that his best friend had such filthy thoughts about him, would he feel disgusted? Would he hate him?
Qin Yuanxi couldn’t bear to imagine it. Just the thought of Lu Bohuan’s cold eyes on him, filled with distance and indifference, was unbearable. It wasn’t just discomfort—it felt like his heart was being torn apart.
That kind of consequence was unacceptable to Qin Yuanxi. If possible, he didn’t want to have that dream anymore, nor did he want to grow up in the dream and face such a distressing reality.
In the days that followed, things were a bit different than usual. Qin Yuanxi would subconsciously avoid Lu Bohuan. It was intentional, but he tried to make it look natural. Right now, it was the critical final stretch. Qin Yuanxi’s grades had slipped a bit in the last exam, and the teachers were nervous, talking to him several times. Qin Yuanxi knew this wasn’t the time for distractions. The most important task for the next few months was to study hard, take the exams seriously, and get a good score to get into a good college. He couldn’t let all his efforts over the past three years go to waste.
Qin Yuanxi was clear-headed and rational. After figuring things out, he began to adjust his mindset. The slight drop in his grades gave him more reasons to distance himself from Lu Bohuan.
Every morning, he would arrive at school early. At first, he would still run into Lu Bohuan waiting for him. Whenever that happened, Qin Yuanxi would come even earlier the next day, until he started leaving home a bit after six in the morning. Eventually, he stopped running into Lu Bohuan. In the evenings, he stayed in the classroom to do more work. Lu Bohuan accompanied him for the first couple of days, but then stopped. Qin Yuanxi felt a sense of relief and truly began to focus on his studies.
He found that at this stage, only when he was fully immersed in his studies did he stop overthinking. He wouldn’t worry about whether Lu Bohuan would hate him if he knew about his filthy thoughts. His mind could finally be at peace, and that was a good thing.
Time pushed forward. After the bell rang, the homeroom teacher continued to remind them of various things to pay attention to. Qin Yuanxi looked at the admission ticket in his hand, feeling a bit unreal.
He glanced stealthily towards Lu Bohuan, watching him for a while before gripping the admission ticket tightly.
Lu Bohuan had said they would have a good talk after the exams. He hadn’t mentioned it since. Lu Bohuan knew about Qin Yuanxi’s awkwardness and decided to give him space. But soon, the exams would be over. What would Lu Bohuan say to him then?
As Qin Yuanxi was lost in thought, he suddenly saw Lu Bohuan turn around. Their eyes met, and Qin Yuanxi quickly looked down, not wanting to make eye contact. That kind of gaze made him feel uneasy.
“Students, make sure to eat normally these next few days. No need for any special supplements. Just stick to your regular diet and maintain your usual routine. That’s all I have to say. Stay calm during the exams. You are all the best. Good luck!”
After the teacher’s final words of encouragement, the school day was over.
Qin Yuanxi intentionally lingered, hoping Lu Bohuan would leave first like before, but today was different. Both of them hesitated, lingering until almost everyone in the class had left. There were only a few boarders left packing up their things. It would be awkward to stay any longer. Qin Yuanxi quickly grabbed his backpack and left the classroom. As expected, Lu Bohuan followed right behind.
“Um, do well in the exam tomorrow. Good luck,” Qin Yuanxi felt a bit awkward. He didn’t know what to say to Lu Bohuan, especially at a time like this. Whatever he said seemed off, making him feel tense all over, like he couldn’t breathe.
“You too,” Lu Bohuan’s voice was deep. For some reason, Qin Yuanxi felt a hint of sadness in Lu Bohuan’s voice, but he wasn’t sure.
He wanted to look up at Lu Bohuan, but suddenly something was thrust into his hand. Lu Bohuan handed him a pen, “This is the one I usually use. Take it as a backup for the exam.”
The pen felt cool, and Qin Yuanxi’s fingertips touched the metal of the pen. It felt like his words were stuck in his throat.
After a moment, he said, “Thank you.”
“Good luck in the exam,” Lu Bohuan nodded at him. “I won’t wait for you tomorrow.”
Qin Yuanxi was a bit slow to react, and Lu Bohuan had already left.
By the time he realized there was something odd about that statement, Lu Bohuan’s figure had disappeared.
Since Qin Yuanxi had started distancing himself from Lu Bohuan, Lu Bohuan hadn’t waited for him for a while. Suddenly hearing Lu Bohuan say that made a bold idea pop into Qin Yuanxi’s head, but he couldn’t be sure. Could it be that all this time, Lu Bohuan had been waiting for him, but he didn’t know?
Time didn’t give Qin Yuanxi much chance to think. The next two days were the exams, and Qin Yuanxi didn’t have any spare time to think about anything else. He poured all his thoughts into the exams. When the exams were finally over, he felt drained. Qin Yuanxi’s parents came to pick him up, saying they would celebrate properly tonight.
“Let’s invite Xiao Lu to join us,” Qin’s mom suggested from the passenger seat to Qin Yuanxi. “Have you been in touch with him these past few days? Xiao Lu’s dad seems to be on another business trip, and the boy is going to the exam by himself. I wonder if he can take care of himself. How can he let a child go alone for such an important event? Ah, thankfully Xiao Lu is sensible. If he were like our Xiao Xi, that would really worry us.”
Qin’s mom said a lot, but Qin Yuanxi kept his head down, silent.
“Hey, Xiao Xi, why don’t you ask Xiao Lu? Invite him to celebrate and relax with us. Let’s have dinner first, then go singing together. How about that?” Qin’s dad chimed in. “It’ll be fun to have Xiao Lu join us.”
“He has something to do and can’t come,” Qin Yuanxi replied.
Qin Yuanxi’s gaze fell on his phone screen. The top message was from Lu Bohuan. He opened it to find Lu Bohuan’s message from two days ago, reminding him to bring all his exam documents. Qin Yuanxi didn’t reply, and they hadn’t contacted each other since. Just as Qin Yuanxi was about to turn off his phone, it buzzed with a new message.
[Lu] : Exams are over.
Qin Yuanxi smirked. Well, wasn’t that obvious? What a useless message.
After hesitating for a while, Qin Yuanxi edited a message to Lu Bohuan, reluctantly bringing up the topic his mom had mentioned. He had barely sent it when Lu Bohuan called. Qin Yuanxi hurriedly answered, hearing Lu Bohuan’s voice on the other end.
“If I come, will I disturb your family gathering?” Lu Bohuan’s voice was low.
“No,” Qin Yuanxi’s voice was small, emphasizing again, “My mom asked you to come. Where are you? My mom said she can pick you up.”
“I’m still at the exam center. Just came out.”
“Is it Xiao Lu?” Qin’s mom, hearing Lu Bohuan’s voice, immediately spoke up. “Tell Xiao Lu not to wander around. We’ll come to pick him up. We’ll be there soon.”
“You heard that?” Qin Yuanxi repeated his mom’s words.
On the other end of the phone, Lu Bohuan seemed to chuckle softly, then said, “Yeah. I’ll wait for you.”
Hello, everyone ヾ(＾∇＾). I hope you enjoyed the story! If you’re feeling generous, please buy me a coffee, share/comment on my translated works! Check out the link below for early chapters. (๑>ᴗ<๑)
