Qin Yuanxi woke up late in the morning, rubbed his bed head lazily, took a few bites of breakfast hastily, grabbed his backpack, and dashed out.
“Slow down, Xiao Lu is waiting for you. Take these milk cartons, he’ll drink them later.” Qin’s mom handed him two boxes of milk and reminded him, “Be safe on your way to school. Being late is being late, don’t panic.”
“I got it, Mom, see you later.”
And he sprinted out in a hurry.
At the door, Lu Bohuan, dressed in a blue and white school uniform, stood on one foot, holding a vocabulary book in his hand. It was unclear how long he had been waiting. Qin Yuanxi rushed over and stuffed the two boxes of milk into Lu Bohuan’s backpack.
“Let’s go, let’s go.”
Lu Bohuan pulled him back, took out a carton of milk from the backpack, and put it into Qin Yuanxi’s school uniform pocket before hopping onto his bicycle.
“Hey!” Qin Yuanxi hurried to catch up. “Ah Tuo, my dear brother, just help me drink it, I don’t like the taste of the milk.”
“Nope, Aunt specially prepared it for you. You need to supplement nutrition in your senior year, even if you don’t like it, you have to drink it.” Lu Bohuan’s words left no room for argument. “Also, did you stay up late again last night? Didn’t I tell you to sleep early?”
“I did.” Qin Yuanxi rode behind Lu Bohuan. “You don’t know, I had a dream in the middle of the night, and when I woke up, I couldn’t sleep anymore. I was in a daze until around four o’clock, and when the alarm clock rang in the morning, I felt like my soul was wandering in space. I got out of bed and felt like my feet weren’t touching the ground, and my head was spinning.”
“Did you wait long?” Qin Yuanxi felt a bit frustrated. “Oh no, today’s the early self-study with the teacher, we’re probably going to be late. I’ve dragged you down, Ah Tuo, sorry.”
The apology was sincere.
“If the teacher punishes us with cleaning duty, I’ll do it all myself. Don’t worry.”
“If you do the cleaning, I’ll still have to wait for you. What’s the difference?”
“Huh? Well, it’s different. When I’m doing the cleaning, you can do your homework while waiting for me. Hehehe.”
He and Lu Bohuan grew up together. When they were young, Qin Yuanxi was the king of the kids in the neighborhood, everyone liked to play with him. Lu Bohuan moved in later. Qin Yuanxi still remembered when Lu Bohuan first moved in, wearing clean and tidy clothes, and not liking to talk to people. The kids were curious about this newcomer, but no one wanted to approach him to play.
Even as a child, Lu Bohuan wasn’t very likable. He didn’t like to laugh and play, always kept to himself. If other kids wanted to talk to him, he wouldn’t respond. It was easy to predict that he would grow up to have a cold demeanor, wasting his delicate doll-like face.
Except for Qin Yuanxi.
Little Qin Yuanxi didn’t initially know there was a cold little guy in his territory. During that period, there was a cold wave, and little Qin Yuanxi caught a cold and fever. Qin’s mom kept him home to recover.
Normally, he ruled over a group of kids, but his body was a bit weak. A small cold knocked him out. Qin Yuanxi had his pride and didn’t want his friends to know he was knocked out by a cold, so he obediently listened to his mom and didn’t go out to play.
After a week, he recovered.
Just as he was about to have fun again, other kids told him about the new kid who was cool and didn’t like to talk, probably not easy to mess with.
Qin Yuanxi thought, ‘How hard could it be?’ and decided to give it a try. On a sunny afternoon, he took a group of kids to observe the ‘enemy’.
Approaching Lu Bohuan’s beautiful house, Qin Yuanxi, bold as ever, snuck up to the window, crouching down to peek inside all by himself.
Through the window, he saw a handsome boy sitting at the piano, tinkling the keys. Little Qin Yuanxi, still in his ignorant age, just thought that this newcomer was really good-looking, even better looking than all the kids he knew. For a moment, he was mesmerized.
Seemingly sensing something, the person inside turned to look at him, and Qin Yuanxi’s eyes lit up. Waving his chubby little hand, he shouted loudly, “Come out and play!”
Then he saw the person inside stop playing the piano, turning to look at him. Encouraged, Qin Yuanxi continued calling out.
He had long forgotten why he came here. All he wanted now was to get to know the handsome boy inside and be friends with him.
The boy inside looked at him for a while, then shook his head. But Qin Yuanxi persisted, still shouting outside.
With his energy, he was eager to make a new friend and thought the new friend might find the outside fun. He kept listing off interesting games, hoping the person inside would like them and come out to play.
Instead of the handsome boy, a middle-aged man came out wearing glasses. Seriously, he told little Qin Yuanxi, “Ah Tuo has to go to class, he can’t play with you guys. Kid, go play by yourself.”
Qin Yuanxi wasn’t pleased. “Uncle, can’t he play with us?”
“Next time, there will be another chance.” Then the middle-aged man politely closed the door. After it closed, Qin Yuanxi still looked inside reluctantly. The handsome boy started practicing the piano again.
After that, Qin Yuanxi always tried to find ways to meet the handsome boy who had just moved in, but he never had the chance to talk to him. Through the glass window, he could always see the handsome boy inside either practicing the piano or writing, never having time to come out and play.
Qin Yuanxi sighed and went home to ask his mom, “Why does the handsome boy next door always stay at home and never come out to play? It seems like he has endless things to do. Don’t his parents let him come out? But why?”
Qin’s mom patted little Qin Yuanxi’s head gently, her tone soft, “Xiao Xi wants to play with your new friend, right? It won’t be long. When he finishes his enrollment procedures, you can play together. By then, Xiao Xi, you’ll have to take care of your new friend, okay?”
“Really?” Little Qin Yuanxi was very excited. “Then when will he go to school? Tomorrow? Will he go tomorrow? The day after tomorrow? He must go to school on Monday, right?”
Qin Yuanxi didn’t have to wait long. On the next Monday, the homeroom teacher led the handsome boy into the classroom and introduced him, “This is Lu Bohuan, a new student in our class. Lu Bohuan, from now on, you’re part of our class. Let’s welcome our new classmate with applause.”
Whispers filled the air, and little Qin Yuanxi’s eyes sparkled.
The teacher continued, “Lu Bohuan, for now, please sit in the empty seat at the back. We just rearranged the seating last week, and we’ll do it again next week. You’ll get a new seat then.”
Little Lu Bohuan politely nodded to the teacher, then with his backpack on his back, he went to the back row.
As soon as the textbooks were out, he felt someone staring at him. Little Lu Bohuan looked up and saw the boy who often appeared outside the window squinting and smiling at him.
Little Lu Bohuan didn’t know what to do for a moment. When the other waved at him, he instinctively waved back.
The first class was Chinese. Qin Yuanxi didn’t know what the teacher was talking about. Throughout the class, he only had eyes for Lu Bohuan at the back. Finally, when the class ended, before the teacher could leave, he couldn’t wait and ran to Lu Bohuan’s seat.
“I’m Qin Yuanxi.” The boy was full of enthusiasm as he finally spoke to the handsome boy. “Why does the teacher call you Lu Bohuan, but the uncle that day called you Ah Tuo? Do you have two names?”
“It’s my nickname.” Lu Bohuan lowered his head. “The name I’m called at home.”
“Oh, I see. I don’t have a nickname. I’ll have to ask my mom to give me one when I get home.” Qin Yuanxi chatted with Lu Bohuan, leaning on his desk. But as he spoke, he felt a bit uncomfortable. His eyes quickly scanned the room, and he immediately went to talk to the students in the front, “Hey, Zhang Wen, Liu Ming, could you move forward a bit? Xia Qi, you sit in my seat, move over here. Jiang Hao, come sit behind us. The two of us will sit together.”
Qin Yuanxi’s leadership skills had already shown in the small class. He directed this and arranged that, then moved his desk to sit next to Lu Bohuan, his face beaming with a big smile. “I’ll sit with you so you won’t be lonely. I’m the class monitor. If there’s anything you don’t understand, you can ask me. Oh, by the way, do you like candy? Here, it’s super sweet.”
Lu Bohuan stared at the candy in his hand, taken aback, before he could even say thank you, the bell rang for class.
This class was taught by the homeroom teacher. As soon as the teacher came in, she noticed the change in the back, but she didn’t say anything. She just reminded Qin Yuanxi, “You’re the class monitor. Take care of the new classmate, no bullying, no talking during class, got it?”
“Teacher, don’t worry, I got it.”
Qin Yuanxi agreed readily, then took out a pretty notebook from his desk pocket and started writing in it.
Lu Bohuan’s arm was nudged, and the notebook was passed over. Inside were the tender notes of a young boy: ‘Ah Tuo, let’s go home together after school.’
From then on, the young boy took Lu Bohuan under his wing, unilaterally ‘taking care’ of him. And this ‘care’ continued for many years.
Lu Bohuan went from being quiet and reserved as a child to becoming cool and handsome as he grew up, still not fond of talking. But only when he was with Qin Yuanxi would his face show a little more expression and color.
As the two entered the classroom, the homeroom teacher first noticed Qin Yuanxi and was about to scold him. But then she saw Lu Bohuan behind him, and her words changed, “You two should also pay attention to time. Senior year is crucial, and early self-study is important. The day’s plan begins with the morning. How can you be late?”
“Sorry, teacher, I overslept this morning.”
The homeroom teacher looked at Lu Bohuan. “You overslept too.”
Lu Bohuan nodded. “Yeah.”
The homeroom teacher looked helpless. “Lu Bohuan, maintain a proper attitude. Just because you have good grades doesn’t mean you can be arrogant. How many students regretted because they didn’t have the right mindset in their senior year and ended up failing?”
The homeroom teacher, new to the class, didn’t understand the connection between these two boys nor knew that Lu Bohuan’s delay was solely due to waiting for Qin Yuanxi.
“Go stand at the door and review your books for a while. Come back to your seats after the morning self-study.”
Qin Yuanxi leaned against the wall with his backpack, tapping his toes restlessly, far from being still.
They were in the science class, so not many students came out in the morning to review. Across the teaching building were the arts class, where a row of students voluntarily came out to review.
The buzzing sound of recitation made Qin Yuanxi feel drowsy, and he leaned his head on Lu Bohuan’s shoulder.
“So tired, I feel even sleepier when I study.”
Lu Bohuan didn’t move. “What kind of dream did you have last night?”
Qin Yuanxi, who was about to yawn, halted at these words. His head moved away from Lu Bohuan’s shoulder on its own, and he stammered softly, “I don’t remember.”
Lu Bohuan turned his face and saw Qin Yuanxi’s ears turning red. He clenched the wordbook in his hand. “Was it that kind of dream?”
Qin Yuanxi’s face suddenly flushed, his earlobes turning even redder as if dripping blood. “How… how did you know?”
“No, it’s not.” He didn’t even know what he was saying, feeling embarrassed. After feeling embarrassed, he felt something wasn’t right and quickly turned to look at Lu Bohuan. “Ah Tuo, have you ever had that kind of dream before?”
“Yeah.”
The soft sound reached Qin Yuanxi’s ears. He opened his mouth, wanting to ask Ah Tuo who he dreamed about, but he dared not. He lowered his head, looking at his toes. His expression seemed a bit aggrieved, a bit sad.
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)
