I'll Do Better Next Time

"Can you help me tie my tie?" Yu An handed him the tie.

He Li'an took it. "Lift your chin a little."

Yu An obediently did as he was told.

As He Li'an tied it, Yu An lowered his head and watched intently, trying to learn. Seeing this, He Li'an chuckled. "There isn't enough time today. I'll teach you properly another day."

"Which day is another day?" Yu An looked up at him, his gaze utterly serious.

He remembered Yu An saying before that he didn't like waiting.

He Li'an thought over his schedule for the morning.

"Come find me at the student union after lunch. I'll teach you then."

"Okay."

The moment Yu An arrived at school, Song Yuechi caught him.

"Hey!" Song Yuechi quietly pounced from behind, trying to put Yu An in a chokehold.

Without even turning his head, Yu An nimbly dodged aside.

Song Yuechi had used too much force and missed entirely, pitching uncontrollably forward. Yu An considered it for a second, then still reached out in time to pull him back.

He caught half of Song Yuechi's lapel and let go once Song Yuechi had regained his footing.

Song Yuechi breathed a sigh of relief, eyeing him strangely. "How did you just dodge like that? Do you have eyes in the back of your head?"

Yu An said flatly, "Any normal person could dodge that."

Song Yuechi, an abnormal person whose success rate at dodging his brothers' chokeholds was zero: "..."

Song Yuechi quickly gathered up the pieces of his shattered heart and quietly asked Yu An, "Who exactly is that bastard?"

"Bastard?" Yu An looked confused for a moment, then understood. "Oh, you mean He Li'an."

"Huh?" Song Yuechi raised his voice. "You're saying the bastard who took you out for a couples' set meal and then took you to get a room was Senior He?"

Strange looks turned toward them from all around.

Yu An wasn't affected in the slightest. Song Yuechi, meanwhile, regretted blurting it out and wanted to slap himself. He tried to drag Yu An away with him.

But Yu An refused.

He didn't think there was any need to run away.

Song Yuechi could only cover his face and sneak far away like a thief who had just stolen a chicken.

Once they reached a place with few people around, Song Yuechi continued muttering to Yu An, "How could it be Senior He? He... he doesn't look like that kind of person?"

Though he said that, he had actually begun to believe Yu An.

Because Yu An looked so innocent and easy to fool.

Yu An explained, "I tricked him into going. And he didn't take me to get a room. We went home after eating."

"Went home???" Song Yuechi only heard the latter half.

"Yeah. I've been staying at his place while I recover."

"You live together???"

"Yeah."

"What difference is there between that and getting a room!!!"

"..."

Song Yuechi dragged out and raised the pitch of the last word in every sentence.

Yu An was astonished by his abundant emotions.

Only after Song Yuechi's expression calmed down a little did Yu An say, "There is a difference. Getting a room means sleeping together; staying at his place means we sleep separately."

He didn't want to damage He Li'an's reputation, so he explained very seriously.

Song Yuechi: "Oh."

Explaining was just covering it up!

During class, Yu An listened very attentively.

When he took notes, he couldn't quite move his elbow freely. He gave it a light shove and found something blocking it.

Turning his head, he discovered that Song Yuechi was already asleep, drooling.

Yu An felt a little worried.

Song Yuechi was so dumb and didn't study properly. Would he really be able to inherit the family business well?

"Class dismissed."

The teacher's voice was like flipping a switch. Song Yuechi instantly opened his eyes and woke up.

With his messy yellow hair sticking up in all directions, he asked Yu An, "What are you eating for lunch?"

Yu An helped pack up his things without looking up. "A cod set meal."

He had decided on the cod set meal yesterday when he looked over the menu.

Although he had tried food from outside with He Li'an last night, eating anything else by himself still felt like a risk.

Song Yuechi caught sight of his notebook filled with notes and turned away dizzily. "That stuff again? You're already this skinny, and you still want to lose weight?"

Only healthy-food restaurants served meals like that.

"Not losing weight. Healthy."

Yu An had already slung on his backpack. Remembering the phone cases, he said, "The phone cases should be finished this weekend. I'll give them to you next Monday."

Song Yuechi said, "Fine."

Yu An turned and left.

He wasn't particularly tall. Lean and straight-backed as he walked through the crowd, he had an unusual aloof calmness about him. Even his back alone was striking.

After watching for a while, Song Yuechi was surprised to find that Yu An's pace and stride length were both remarkably even.

His classmate really was like a little robot.

Little Robot Yu An received a call from He Li'an at the healthy-food restaurant.

"Do you know where the student union office is? Do you want me to send you the location?"

"Okay."

Yu An examined the cod set meal he had just bought.

The fish was pan-fried golden, and the side dishes were colorful. It looked very pretty.

He was a little hungry, but He Li'an on the other end still hadn't hung up. He asked, "Is there anything else?"

"About to eat?" He Li'an's voice came through the phone, even clearer and gentler than usual.

"Yeah."

So hurry up and hang up.

He Li'an caught the meaning and, for some reason, felt a little mischievous. He deliberately dragged it out. "Did you go to the healthy-food restaurant from yesterday again?"

"Yeah."

"What set meal did you order?"

"..."

"Cod?"

Yu An had already run out of patience, but at once asked, "How did you know?"

That was amazing.

He Li'an had actually guessed it.

"Tell you when you get here. Eat quickly, it's already 12:20." There was obvious amusement in He Li'an's voice as he hung up.

Yu An put down his phone. Halfway through eating, he suddenly looked up at it.

Just now, He Li'an had sounded so happy when he hung up.

Like... he had done something bad and was very pleased with himself.

Yu An followed the address to the student union office.

He raised a hand and knocked.

The next second, the door opened.

He Li'an's handsome face appeared before him, carrying a faint smile. "You're here."

Yu An walked in expressionlessly.

After taking only two steps, he turned back and gave He Li'an, who was closing the door, a heavy huff to express his anger.

What kind of white moonlight deliberately dragged out a phone call when someone else was eager to eat!

Apparently, He Li'an did!

He had made it so obvious that He Li'an naturally knew why he was angry.

Yu An had already sat down on the sofa. He Li'an poured a cup of hot water, carried it over, and crouched in front of him. "I won't do that next time."

There was laughter in the man's voice, without much sincere remorse, but his face was simply too handsome.

Yu An couldn't help looking at him a few more times before reaching out to take the cup.

The smile on He Li'an's face deepened. "I'll teach you how to tie a tie."

Perhaps because he had grown accustomed to being taken care of by He Li'an these past two days, Yu An subconsciously lifted his chin for him to remove the tie.

He Li'an's gaze swept over the half of Yu An's snow-white neck that had been exposed. Lowering his eyes, he reached out.

Bang!

At that moment, the door was pushed open from outside.

"Is anyone here!"