No, I'll always be on your side

This time, Chen Yannan was the one who froze.

He could hardly remember the last time Li Shu had lost his temper with him. His lively, cheerful nature had grown more restrained with the first stirrings of youthful love, his eyes constantly lingering on him.

Li Shu did not need to say anything. Chen Yannan knew it all.

Xue Chen and all the men and women before him had been nothing more than people he played along with. Chen Yannan had thought it through carefully: he needed power and status before Li Shu could rightfully stand beside him, but to obtain that power, he had to push Li Shu away.

He had once firmly believed he would never waver, yet now, looking at Li Shu's tense eyes, he suddenly found himself unsure.

Had I done something wrong?

"What do you mean by that, Shu?" Chen Yannan stood ramrod straight, but the vexing exhaustion beneath his eyes and his trembling pupils betrayed what was on his mind.

Li Shu had originally intended to speak calmly, but he simply could not stand hearing anyone bad-mouth Pei Song'an. Apart from his habit of liking to kiss him, The Crown Prince put even good people to shame!!!

"What do I mean? I mean Xue Chen deserved it!"

Li Shu stamped his foot in anger. "First, using someone as a human target, then Xue Chen's broken wrist. Do you really not know who sent people to threaten and scare me?"

"You keep saying it's for Li Shu, but all these years, when you kept bringing all those lovers here, did you ever consider Li Shu?"

"Brother Yannan, you always treat me like an idiot. No one is going to stay in the same place waiting for you forever."

"And neither will I."

Chen Yannan deliberately controlled his voice, yet still could not keep it from trembling. His heart abruptly clenched as though something had struck it hard, and even his throat faintly tasted of blood:

"Shu, you don't understand. In my position, power and true love can never coexist."

Li Shu had not held out any hope to begin with, but hearing Chen Yannan say those words to him himself, he still felt sorry for the original owner and felt that it had not been worth it.

Chen Yannan was perfect as the boy next door who looked after him like an older brother, but he was not suited to being a lover.

"Fine, I don't understand." Li Shu wrapped his coat tighter around himself. "Then I wish you success."

Just then, footsteps approached from behind Li Shu. He turned to look. It was Pei Song'an.

Pei Song'an held a scarf. He first glanced at Li Shu, then let his gaze fall on Chen Yannan's half-raised hand and smiled faintly.

"Were you worried Li Shu wasn't wearing enough too, Yannan? Did you come to bring him some warmth?"

Looking at Pei Song'an's face as he asked a question he already knew the answer to, Li Shu suddenly felt that this man not only had a way with words, but a bit of a sense of humor too.

Chen Yannan openly raised his head to meet Pei Song'an's questioning gaze, his tone no longer as polite as it had been at first:

"How thoughtful of you, The Crown Prince. I was indeed negligent in that regard."

Pei Song'an expressed his understanding. "It's all right. The Xue Family's unreasonable pestering is already enough to leave you overwhelmed. I'll take care of Li Shu. Don't worry."

Chen Yannan made a veiled jab. "Then The Crown Prince must be very careful. Our Shu is too kind. Most people who turn up around him out of nowhere are no good. Who knows how they secretly covet him under the guise of being an older brother, thinking they were born to be our Shu's lover."

Pei Song'an laughed, his words carrying a pointed meaning. "Yannan, Li Shu can judge for himself. Besides, without going through a few scumbags, how could he see that the person beside him now is the better choice?"

With that, Pei Song'an took Li Shu by the wrist, his body heat seeming about to seep through the skin and into the bones.

But the next instant, Li Shu felt a pull from behind in the opposite direction.

Pei Song'an turned his head, his gaze falling on Chen Yannan's hand around Li Shu's other wrist. A trace of coldness entered those narrow eyes with their ambiguous smile.

"Worry about something useful." As he spoke, the man wound the scarf around Li Shu's neck. "Isn't Xue Chen still waiting for you at the hospital?"

"You said you were buying him porridge, but actually came back to school to soothe Li Shu."

The words that spilled from Pei Song'an's thin lips were sharp and cutting:

"Chen Yannan, go back and tell Xue Chen that if Li Shu loses so much as a hair next time, it won't be as simple as a broken wrist."

Just as he finished speaking, Chen Yannan's phone rang. From Li Shu's angle, he could just see that the caller on the screen was Xue Chen.

When his gaze fell on the screen, Chen Yannan's expression looked unpleasant too. Though hesitation showed on his face, he still turned away and answered the call.

Only after he had left did Li Shu belatedly react:

"Why did you come over? Didn't you say you'd bring the scarf next time you picked me up for tutoring?"

"Mm." Pei Song'an's dark eyes settled on Li Shu's soft, fair skin. "I just wanted to come."

"Why are you mixed up with Chen Yannan again?"

Pei Song'an was upset. He knew perfectly well that Li Shu had approached him with an ulterior purpose, yet every time he wanted to push him away, Li Shu would surprise him in an unexpected way.

This time was no different. He had heard Li Shu and Chen Yannan's entire conversation.

Li Shu had gotten angry with Chen Yannan for his sake.

He was like a child who had only just become old enough to eat candy, soothed by the mere scent of sweetness.

"What do you mean, 'mixed up'?" Li Shu was brimming with righteous indignation. "He was trying to drive a wedge between us, and he even said you had bad intentions. I call things as I see them. People who bad-mouth others behind their backs aren't much good themselves."

Li Shu clenched his fist and waved it in the air. "If it weren't for our childhood friendship, I'd deal with him sooner or later!"

Pei Song'an suddenly fell silent.

He stared at Li Shu, a tangle of feelings filling his heart. The corridor lights fell into his dark pupils, while most of what he heard was the sound of students turning pages in the classrooms.

Reflected in his pupils, Li Shu was frank and straightforward, with his own logic for right and wrong. This was what someone like him looked like when speaking up for him. But if one day his and Chen Yannan's positions were reversed, would Li Shu turn against him because of the values he had held since childhood?

"So you were speaking up for me just now?"

Several emotions shifted repeatedly through Pei Song'an's eyes. In the end, he decided not to speak in riddles to Li Shu. He might not understand.

"Did it never occur to you that everything Chen Yannan said might be true?"

"If I bad-mouthed Chen Yannan to you too, would you think I wasn't much good either?"

Pei Song'an's questions made Li Shu's heart shudder. He instinctively sensed danger flowing between them, but he truly could not pin anything down:

"Why are you suddenly being so aggressive?"

"I haven't done anything wrong!"

Pei Song'an looked at him with a smile. "No. It's just that I tend to think about a lot of things."

Li Shu froze for a moment, then suddenly understood.

When someone showed kindness to a child who had lacked love growing up, that child would always suspect ulterior motives.

Ah, that was how this poor thing was.

Li Shu thought of his mission. Whether for Pei Song'an himself or so that he could return smoothly in the future, he had only one goal.

"No, I'll always be on your side."

Pei Song'an's gaze was deep and unreadable. Who knew how many emotions he had swallowed alone.

"All right."

"Remember what you said today."