I'm Not That Easy

The two of them stared at each other for a full thirty seconds.

Yu An remained perfectly still from beginning to end. He Li'an's eyelashes trembled slightly before he suddenly let out a soft laugh. "Yu An, you're really bold."

He looked composed, but Yu An felt like he had the upper hand. "Then maybe you like people as bold as me."

The smugness in his tone was practically overflowing, and his eyes sparkled.

The smile on He Li'an's face faded slightly. The next second, he abruptly reached out, grabbed Yu An's arm, and pulled him into his embrace.

Yu An was startled by He Li'an's sudden move. By the time he reacted and tried to struggle, his hand had already pressed against the other man's chest.

The house was kept at a constant temperature year-round. Through He Li'an's thin, soft pajamas, Yu An could clearly feel the firm, powerful chest beneath his palm.

Having been curious for a long time, Yu An could not help applying a little pressure.

The body beneath his palm instantly tensed.

Then came He Li'an's dangerous voice. "Yu An!"

Yu An looked up. Their breaths were so close that they nearly mingled.

He noticed that the tips of He Li'an's ears had already turned red.

He knew this was what He Li'an looked like when he was embarrassed.

"No one's ever treated you like this?" Yu An asked, his clear black-and-white eyes full of anticipation for He Li'an's answer.

The more innocent his expression was, the more infuriating his words became.

He Li'an said coldly, "I'm not that easy."

"Oh." Yu An blamed himself. "Then did I defile you?"

"...Shut up."

"..."

Yu An fell silent, but his palm quietly moved.

He Li'an's entire ear turned scarlet, and he immediately let go of him. "Did that yellow-haired male classmate teach you that?"

Yu An looked bewildered. "Huh?"

He Li'an glanced at his hand, and Yu An instantly understood. "No."

The urge to explore a beautiful body was instinctive. It did not need to be taught.

He Li'an did not believe him. "Stop defending him!"

Yu An said, "He really didn't teach me."

He Li'an firmly believed that Yu An was an innocent child when it came to such things. "Don't get too involved with him."

He always felt that yellow-haired male classmate would lead Yu An astray.

Yu An said without hesitation, "No. He's my good friend. When we ran into bad people today, he even stood in front of me."

He Li'an was silent for a moment before maliciously speculating, "There are many insincere people in this world, so maybe he was only pretending."

Yu An looked at him in shock.

He Li'an grew somewhat uncomfortable under his gaze and turned to look elsewhere.

He knew that kind of speculation was despicable, but he was simply worried.

Yu An was no longer in the mood to touch him. Sitting upright, he frowned and said, "Song Yuechi is too dumb to fake it."

He Li'an said, "..." Was that any way to talk about his good friend?

He recalled how, that day in the student union office, the yellow-haired male classmate had looked utterly panicked when he saw him undo Yu An's tie. Yu An's words did seem to make some sense.

"Even if that yellow-haired male classmate isn't a bad person, you should understand that people can be treacherous. You can't..." He Li'an carefully considered his wording. "When you don't know what someone is really like, you can't take the initiative so casually. You need to be more cautious, understand?"

Yu An nodded. "I understand."

He Li'an rubbed his head. "Don't just understand. Remember it too."

"Mm."

He Li'an withdrew his hand and looked at Yu An in surprise.

Just then, when he had touched Yu An's head, Yu An had not shown the slightest resistance or tried to dodge.

Did accepting his touch completely mean that Yu An liked him even more?

"There's something you need to remember too."

Yu An's voice brought He Li'an back to his senses. "What?"

"His name isn't Yellow-Haired Male Classmate. His name is Song Yuechi."

"..."

"Will you remember it?"

"Oh."

Yu An still agreed to let He Li'an help him find a place to live.

Song Yuechi asked him, "Why?"

"Finding a place is troublesome, and you might run into scammers. Besides..." Yu An glanced at Song Yuechi. "Finals are coming up."

He Li'an was reliable, understood his financial situation, and had people of his own. He could therefore find a suitable place faster than Yu An could, while Yu An himself could free up time to prepare for his exams.

Upon hearing those last four words, Song Yuechi's vision went dark. "Damn it! Who the hell invented final exams?! I want to shoot him!"

He looked like he was about to lose his mind.

Yu An silently moved a little farther away and opened his textbook. There was a lot he needed to memorize, and he had not memorized it yet.

Starting that week, Yu An became busy.

Whether he had an early class or not, he would arrive at school early and go to the library to study and recite his material.

Song Yuechi sometimes went with him, but he usually fell into a dead sleep after studying for only ten minutes.

For a while, Yu An suspected that Song Yuechi's books had been laced with sleeping pills.

Whenever Yu An finished studying and was ready to leave, he would wake Song Yuechi. The moment Song Yuechi opened his eyes, he entered rage mode. "Why am I not dead yet?!"

After spending more time together, Yu An had come to understand that Song Yuechi did not truly want to die when he said things like that. It was simply an extreme manifestation of hating school.

What he meant was: if he were dead, he would not have to study.

Yu An comforted him enthusiastically. "Don't lose heart. There's still more than a month left. There's time."

Song Yuechi looked at him as though he were absurd. "Do you know that the gap between people is even bigger than the gap between people and ghosts?"

Yu An paused while packing his bag. "There are no ghosts in this world."

Song Yuechi was amused by his serious expression, then sighed again. "My brain doesn't work as well as yours. I've already prepared myself to fail and take make-up exams. Sigh!"

Yu An did not offer any more comforting words.

Because he felt that everything Song Yuechi had said was true.

Winter days grew shorter. By the time they left the library, the sky had gone completely dark. Yu An walked straight ahead, watching the path without looking aside, while Song Yuechi looked around and skipped along. After only a few steps, he bumped Yu An with his shoulder.

Yu An looked up in confusion. Song Yuechi pursed his lips in a certain direction, signaling for him to look.

He looked over and saw He Li'an.

He Li'an was not wearing his uniform. He emerged from the dimly lit woods, the hem of his coat fluttering in the night wind, looking tall and valiant.

Song Yuechi patted his shoulder. "I'm heading out first."

Before Yu An could say anything, Song Yuechi had already run off. Swaying from side to side, he disappeared into the night.

Yu An stood where he was and watched He Li'an walk toward him. "The driver said you hadn't gone back yet, so I happened to come by and take a look."

Yu An tilted his head up and asked, "Passing by again?"

Over this period, he had also realized that He Li'an really was, as Song Yuechi had said, one of Saint Belien's most prestigious names. He was not actually at school very often.

He Li'an narrowed his eyes slightly. "What? Is there a problem?"

"I was just asking." Yu An blinked innocently.

He Li'an had the illusion that he was being teased. "Is that so?"