Chapter 50

He gave it to He Qinghuan.

Shen Zhao: "????" It was just so sudden.

Actually, Gu Wang knew how to solve all these problems. Even the books he usually read were no longer high school textbooks; only before exams would he go through those to review and consolidate what he knew.

But now, he had to pretend he didn't. He had dug this hole himself, and he had to jump into it.

The test paper lay across the join between their desks. He Qinghuan was earnestly explaining the problem to Gu Wang, who leaned in, bringing the two of them very close.

He Qinghuan's fingers pressing down on the ruler were long and distinctly jointed. He wasn't the slender teenage type that Gu Wang was; when he wrote, the movement pulled at the layer of smoothly defined, powerful muscle in his arm.

His sleeves were rolled up, so Gu Wang could see it directly.

Following his arm upward led to the straight, smooth line of his shoulders. His loose long-sleeved T-shirt shifted slightly with his movements. Gu Wang glimpsed his collarbone extending from his neckline, and farther up was his Adam's apple, which bobbed when he spoke or swallowed.

Gu Wang's gaze kept traveling upward without stopping, until it met He Qinghuan's eyes.

"You weren't listening?" A faint trace of amusement lingered in He Qinghuan's eyes. After drawing the auxiliary line, he had asked whether Gu Wang understood, only to turn and find Gu Wang staring at him.

For a moment, panic flashed through Gu Wang's eyes. He hadn't expected to get caught out.

"I was," Gu Wang defended himself.

To prove that he really had been listening, Gu Wang picked up his own pen, turned to a fresh page of scratch paper, and drew the auxiliary line for the problem again, adding annotations beside it.

The boy looked serious as he drew, perhaps to prove he really hadn't been distracted. But distracted or not, the fact remained that he had been caught sneaking a look.

He Qinghuan curled his lips. He didn't mind Gu Wang sneaking looks at him. In fact, looking openly would be even better.

"Done." Gu Wang pushed the scratch paper in front of He Qinghuan.

He Qinghuan lowered his eyes. After a long moment, he suddenly smiled.

This wasn't the auxiliary line he had just taught Gu Wang to draw.

Seeing him smile, Gu Wang thought he had drawn it wrong. To Gu Wang, getting a problem wrong was more irritating than getting caught stealing a look.

He asked stiffly, "Did I draw it wrong?"

He Qinghuan curled a finger and tapped the paper, saying mildly, "There are three ways to draw an auxiliary line for this problem. Yours is correct."

Gu Wang let out a breath of relief.

He Qinghuan paused, then continued, "But that wasn't the one I just drew."

Gu Wang: "..."

Shen Zhao, who had eavesdropped on their entire conversation, laughed aloud. Gu Wang glanced at him, and he immediately shut up, lowered his head, and picked up his pen to work on his problems.

Gu Wang placed the test paper in front of himself, feigning composure. "Maybe I'm just naturally gifted at applying what I learn."

He Qinghuan didn't respond to that. After a moment's thought, he murmured softly, "If you want to look at me, Wangwang, I don't mind."

He said it beside Gu Wang in an extremely soft murmur. Shen Zhao, the only other person there, could hear his voice but couldn't make out the words.

Gu Wang's fingertips trembled. It felt as though a little flame had shot up beneath the ear nearest He Qinghuan, heating it until it burned.

He hadn't meant to sneak a look at He Qinghuan.

Much less get caught.

And he certainly didn't want to look openly.

Not long afterward, in about the time it took Gu Wang to finish two short-answer questions, a bespectacled, scholarly-looking boy came down the hallway carrying a large bag of snacks.

"Are you Gu Wang?"

Gu Wang blinked. "I am."

The boy set the snacks on the windowsill and left. Seeing the bag about to fall, Shen Zhao quickly caught it and looked at Gu Wang. "Wangwang, who sent these?"

Gu Wang shook his head. He didn't know either. No one had been coming around him lately. Apart from Lin Meng, who had confessed a few days earlier, there hadn't been anyone else.

Shen Zhao rummaged through the bag and found a note, which he handed to Gu Wang without even reading it. "It's definitely from whoever sent them."

Calling it a note was an understatement. It was an entire sheet of paper covered in writing. Gu Wang went straight to the signature.

Your dear, dear, dear, dear Mei Li.

Gu Wang: ...

"Wangwang, boo-hoo-hoo, I broke up with him. That bastard only wanted my beauty and money. He cheated on me, and with a little fake innocent in her first year, too. He said I was too willful and he was done putting up with me. Am I not understanding and reasonable enough?... Wangwang, introduce me to Song Zhiyan. I think he's pretty handsome too. Oh, and I'm performing off campus next month. You have to come watch and cheer me on, because that damn fake innocent is going too. But don't worry, I'm center stage!"

After reading it, Gu Wang looked at Song Zhiyan, who was writing furiously across the aisle. "Mei Li wants me to introduce you to her."

Song Zhiyan froze. His first reaction was to look at Meng Ou beside him. When he saw that she showed no reaction whatsoever, he felt bitter and fucking miserable. He looked at Gu Wang. "Don't. Wangwang, please don't. That woman-I can't handle her."

It wasn't that Song Zhiyan deliberately called Mei Li "that woman." It was because Mei Li called him "Song Dumbass" every chance she got.

Gu Wang slowly folded the paper and said just as slowly, "You'd better watch out."

Song Zhiyan: "..."

Propping his chin on his hand, Shen Zhao sighed and muttered to himself, "Well, she could consider me too."

Gu Wang put the snacks under the desk and told Shen Zhao to help himself whenever he wanted. He would have to transfer the money back to Mei Li later. He couldn't help her pursue Song Zhiyan.

After telling Shen Zhao, he hesitated, then said to He Qinghuan, "If you want any, you can help yourself too."

After a pause, Gu Wang took a bag of lime-flavored chips out of the bag and looked up. "All right, now you can help yourself."

He Qinghuan: "..."

His mouth twitched, his gaze turning a little strange. Tapping his pen intermittently against the desk, he said slowly, "Wangwang, why would you think I'd eat something sent by the ex-girlfriend of the person I like?"

Did he look that desperate for a bite?

Gu Wang blinked, taking a while to work out the latter half of He Qinghuan's sentence. It was a bit of a tongue twister. Once he had processed it and met He Qinghuan's eyes again, the feeling inside him immediately changed.

He Qinghuan lowered his eyes, looking as though he had suffered an immense blow and been deeply hurt.

For some reason, Gu Wang felt a little guilty, but to hide it, he said stiffly, "Eat it or don't."

He Qinghuan: ...

At nine that evening, Song Zhiyan came over from the next row with reddened eyes and stood in front of their desks, head bowed and silent.

Shen Zhao jumped. "Song Zhiyan, what happened to you?"

Song Zhiyan slapped a Chinese test paper onto the desk, sounding both impatient and angry. "What the fuck is this paper? A whole page of reading comprehension, and every question asks what feelings the author expressed!"

"What did you write?" Gu Wang took the paper from him. His answer to the first question was the author's patriotism, the second was homesickness, and the third... love for birds?

Gu Wang's expression grew complicated. After a long moment, he said, "His friend gave him this bird. 'Missing an old friend' might be a more appropriate answer."

Song Zhiyan dropped furiously into the seat in front of He Qinghuan. "I know. I just wanted to annoy Old Wen!"

Boys tended to be less sensitive, with few as emotionally perceptive as girls, and Song Zhiyan was the most extreme example of all. During the time he had spent tutoring him, Gu Wang had clearly noticed how much Song Zhiyan struggled with the humanities, Chinese most of all. And within Chinese, reading comprehension drove him the craziest.

Shen Zhao patted his shoulder. "Zhiyan, don't worry. Take it slowly. When Wangwang and I go to A University, you can go across the street. We'll still be inseparable, brothers for life."

Across the street was that diploma-mill second-tier college.

After staring at each other for two seconds, the two began grappling.

Although He Qinghuan hadn't witnessed them fighting many times, he had quickly gotten used to it. He finished his problem, capped his pen, closed his workbook, and looked at Gu Wang. "I need your help with something."

Gu Wang, who was happily watching Shen Zhao and Song Zhiyan trade punches and slaps, nodded without even changing his expression or giving it much thought. "Sure. What is it?"

"Help me apply some ointment."

Gu Wang's expression slowly froze.

A few minutes later, in the school restroom.

Holding the ointment, Gu Wang looked conflicted. "But you still have to shower when you get home. Won't that make this pointless?"

He Qinghuan slowly lowered his sleeves, his eyelids drooping. "Four times a day. This is the schedule the doctor recommended."

Nine in the morning, three in the afternoon, nine at night, and before bed.

On this point, he hadn't lied to Gu Wang.

The doctor had indeed recommended that, but had also said that if circumstances didn't allow it, the nine p.m. application could be skipped. At present, though, circumstances clearly allowed it.

Gu Wang could no longer decline. After all, He Qinghuan had been injured because of him, and he couldn't bring himself to refuse.

The restroom had incandescent lights, but two were broken, and the remaining two were very weak. Their dim light fell over the boys' faces, casting a hazy layer of light and shadow.

The boy lowered his head and unscrewed the caps. There were several tubes.

Gu Wang looked up, a little lost. "How do I apply it?"

Was he supposed to lift his shirt, or...

"You won't be able to see unless I take it off," He Qinghuan said mildly.

Gu Wang: "..." Really, if not for He Qinghuan's indifferent expression and calm tone, he would have thought he was doing this on purpose.

He Qinghuan turned his back to Gu Wang and took off his shirt. Gu Wang's gaze traveled upward from his waist. What he should have noticed was how good He Qinghuan's figure was, but what captured all his attention was the crimson covering almost his entire back.

He Qinghuan wasn't tan; his skin was on the fair side. Combined with the insufficient restroom lighting, that meant the burn would otherwise have looked even more alarming.

He Qinghuan had acted so unconcerned that they had genuinely assumed it wasn't serious.

The crimson stopped where the back of his neck met his shoulders. Although the skin hadn't broken, partly because He Qinghuan had stayed out of the sun and his smooth, soft clothing hadn't rubbed against it, the sight still made one's chest tighten.

The burned area formed a clear boundary against the healthy, uninjured skin, enough to make one imagine the pain when the burn had first happened.

How had He Qinghuan managed not to let his expression change?

He had even been in the mood to ask Gu Wang to blow on it.

Gu Wang's movements were very gentle as he worked down along his shoulder blades, then his waist. He didn't let himself think about anything else, afraid that losing focus would make him press too hard.

He Qinghuan didn't need to bend over. Gu Wang wasn't much shorter than him. As they stood in front of the mirror, He Qinghuan turned his head to look into it.

The boy's brows were furrowed, his expression serious, with a little... heartache?

Perhaps he hadn't even realized it himself.

In fact, it only looked frightening now. The pain had mostly been yesterday, burning fiercely until the middle of the night. Only that morning had the burning sensation gradually subsided.

Now, he barely felt anything.

He Qinghuan didn't regret it either. Even though he hadn't fallen asleep until two or three that morning, he had never thought that he shouldn't have blocked it. What he had thought was, Thank goodness I did.

But now, he regretted it a little.

Not blocking that basin of hot pot broth for Gu Wang, but asking Gu Wang to apply the ointment. Originally, he had only wanted to tease him.

He Qinghuan lowered his lashes. "Are you done?"

Gu Wang froze. "Did I hurt you?"

"It's a little cold." He Qinghuan made up a random excuse.

Gu Wang didn't give it much thought and sped up. Soon, he said, "Done."

He Qinghuan put his shirt on, while Gu Wang set the ointment aside and washed his hands.

In the dim hallway outside the door.

Squatting by the entrance, Shen Zhao lowered his voice. "Can I go in now?"

Song Zhiyan said, "No."

Shen Zhao said, "Those two are so wild! They're not even together yet, and they're already doing this and that!"

Song Zhiyan said, "???? Isn't he applying ointment?"

Shen Zhao said, "Then why didn't He Qinghuan ask me to help?"

Song Zhiyan said, "???? What the fuck would He Qinghuan ask you to help with?"

Shen Zhao said, "Exactly. He just wants to screw Wangwang-oh, I meant pursue romance. Round it off, and isn't it basically that?"

Song Zhiyan said, "Did you come to use the restroom or gossip?"

Shen Zhao blinked. "Gossip. No, I said it wrong again. I came to use the restroom. Believe me, I'm about to burst!"

Song Zhiyan: "..."

There were paper towels on the wall beside the sink. After washing his hands, Gu Wang heard one being pulled out. Thinking He Qinghuan had pulled it out for him, he reached to take it.