Can't We Really Do It Again?

He Li'an seemed very interested in his situation and continued asking, "What major are you in?"

Yu An had only gone to school when he was very young. After that, he had stayed home all the time and knew nothing about universities or majors.

But such a small matter could not stump him.

With a serious expression, he made something up. "The same as you."

He Li'an showed no suspicion at all. There was even a faint hint of delight in his eyes.

"Why didn't I see you at the freshman orientation?"

"What's your name?"

Yu An lowered his eyes slightly and discovered that, because he had been carried sideways in someone's arms, his name tag had been pressed into the folds of his uniform. "Yu An."

Fortunately, He Li'an could not see his name tag.

Otherwise, it would have been hard for him to explain.

"Yu An..." He Li'an softly repeated his name, a smile appearing at his lips again. "My name is He Li'an. We both have an An in our names. Isn't that a coincidence?"

Yu An looked into He Li'an's eyes and spoke slowly. "The An in my name has the wood radical."

"The An in eucalyptus?"

"Mm." Yu An explained seriously, "It's a very unkind tree."

Eucalyptus trees had extensive root systems and high transpiration rates. They could easily cause soil desertification and were detrimental to the growth of other plants.

This was information Yu An had looked up online after growing up.

He did not know whether his parents had held any other hopes when they gave him the character An for his name. He only knew they had given him a rather unkind name.

Noticing the negativity in his tone, He Li'an comforted him. "Eucalyptus trees are very useful. They can be used for papermaking and medicine. Trees are like people—if they have strengths, they will also have weaknesses. You can't look only at their flaws."

Yu An's eyes lit up. "Then do you like eucalyptus trees?"

"Hmm?" He Li'an had heard him clearly, but the question had jumped too far ahead for him to answer right away.

Just then, they entered the campus hospital.

The doctor looked up at them. "What happened?"

He Li'an set Yu An down on the examination bed. "He sprained his ankle."

The doctor came over to examine Yu An's ankle and glanced at his name tag. "Student Yu An, what department are you from? Remember to fill out the registration form later."

Yu An looked at his name tag in surprise.

The name tag, which had been completely blurry before, now clearly displayed the two characters "Yu An."

Why did it suddenly appear?

Was it because he had just told He Li'an his name?

In the main text of the novel, He Li'an was already dead.

But in the prequel Yu An was currently in, He Li'an was a beloved, white-moonlight-type character and one of the main cast.

Could it be that any information acknowledged by the main cast would become real?

"I'll fill it out for him." He Li'an got up to fill out the form, and Yu An's gaze followed him closely.

If things really were as he suspected—

Then as long as he gained He Li'an's trust, could he have anything he wanted?

He Li'an picked up a pen and looked over. "Which Yu?"

After a pause, He Li'an tentatively asked,

"The Yu from lush?"

"The Yu from melancholy."

Yu An answered at the exact same time, their voices overlapping.

"I guessed right." He Li'an chuckled, pleasure shining through his handsome features.

Yu An thought his smile was beautiful. It made people feel warm, so he stared at him without blinking.

After writing down Yu An's name, He Li'an seemed to sense something and looked up.

The doctor was palpating Yu An's injury. He sat very properly, his hands braced at his sides. One leg rested on the stool while the other hung naturally down. Because he was thinner and weaker than others his age, his toes only just touched the floor, and his calf swung faintly with a childlike motion.

He Li'an could not help curling his lips again.

But Yu An had been looking at him for too long. A full minute had passed, yet he had not blinked once.

Was he scared?

He Li'an set down the pen and walked over. "Doctor, how bad is his injury?"

"We'll need an X-ray to see." The doctor released his hand and turned to write the examination order.

He Li'an lowered his head. Yu An was looking up at him.

His eyes were clear black and white, moist and bright.

He Li'an raised a hand, intending to pat his head. "It's okay. I'll stay with you."

Yu An frowned and swiftly tilted his head away.

He did not like other people touching him.

Not even He Li'an, who was so good-looking that Yu An wanted to live a little longer for him.

No one was allowed to break his rules so easily.

He Li'an froze. He had not expected Yu An to dodge him and instinctively apologized. "Sorry."

Yu An said magnanimously, "It's good that you know you were wrong."

Although He Li'an suddenly reaching out to touch him had made him unhappy,

he was still quite satisfied with He Li'an's proactive attitude in admitting fault.

"..."

He Li'an had never experienced being rejected before and did not know how to react for a moment.

Just then, the doctor finished writing the examination order.

"You can go get the X-ray now."

The examination showed a ligament sprain. The doctor fitted Yu An with a brace and told him to stay in bed and rest.

He Li'an arranged an electric wheelchair for Yu An.

Yu An found it fascinating. While the doctor explained the precautions, he had no mind to listen, focusing entirely on figuring out how to operate the wheelchair.

Seeing this, the doctor emphasized the instructions to He Li'an instead.

By the time they finished talking and turned around, they discovered Yu An had already set the wheelchair to fifth gear and was tearing around the entire lobby.

He Li'an's expression changed, and he called out sharply to stop him. "Yu An, stop!"

Yu An was immersed in speeding around in the wheelchair and did not hear him. He was even imitating the sound of a car starting. "Vrooom—"

Being transported into a novel was great.

If he had not been transported into a novel, he would never have known wheelchairs could be so much fun.

Just as he was having the time of his life, a tall figure suddenly blocked his wheelchair from the front. Long legs braced against the wheelchair, and with astonishing speed, he snatched away the control switch.

He Li'an intercepted him quickly and cleanly, and Yu An did not have time to react at all.

He Li'an was slightly out of breath as he crouched in front of Yu An. "Yu An, do you know that this is very..." Dangerous!

Yu An finally came back to his senses and looked at him with open admiration. "That was amazing!"

Stopping a moving wheelchair with his bare hands required tremendous strength.

Yu An was not physically strong, so he admired people with great physical power.

He Li'an met Yu An's eyes for only a second before the intense sincerity in them startled him into looking away.

"You can't do that again. It's dangerous." The faint trace of anger in He Li'an's voice had long since vanished, and his tone returned to its usual gentleness.

"Oh." Yu An knew it was dangerous, but he did not care. "But you looked really cool just now. Can't we really do it again?"

"..." He Li'an walked around behind him and began pushing his wheelchair. "No."

He did not look at Yu An's face the entire time, afraid that if he saw that sincere, innocent face, he would not be able to refuse firmly.

Yu An said, "Oh."

His tone was deeply disappointed.

It made people's hearts soften.

"Once your injury heals, we can do it again." By the end, He Li'an's tone was nearly a sigh.

He did not know why he was making such an absurd promise to this junior student.

But Yu An's response was beyond his expectations.

"Forget it."