Zhang Zhaomu froze.
"If I said I didn't mean to, would you believe me?"
He guiltily let go of her hair and spoke in a small voice.
Xiang Qing said nothing. She lifted herself slightly off her stool and shifted it toward the window.
Then shifted it a little farther.
Only when her arm was pressed against the wall, leaving enough space between herself and Zhang Zhaomu for a whole other person to sit, did she stop.
Only then did she silently lower her head and return to her book.
Zhang Zhaomu: "..."
What kind of reaction was that?
You could at least tell me off, or just report me to the teacher!
What the hell was this silent treatment?
Her reaction only made Zhang Zhaomu feel even more ashamed, as though he had bullied a timid, introverted girl in his class.
"Damn [Cat]!"
Grabbing her hair just now had been an entirely unconscious reaction. Why had it been fluttering around so unpredictably? It had practically been tempting him!
Their relationship as deskmates had already been no different from that of strangers. Now, he feared, it was snow piled on frost.
Zhang Zhaomu lay on his desk and watched Xiang Qing out of the corner of his eye. Her posture seemed awfully stiff. Several minutes had passed, and the textbook material Chen Yongchao was explaining at the front had already moved on to the next page, yet the book in front of her remained unchanged.
For once, the girl wasn't listening to the lesson.
It seemed she really had been frightened.
Still, such a strong reaction was rather strange... He had only touched her hair, but her response made him feel like some pervert sexually harassing her.
Feeling thoroughly uncomfortable, Zhang Zhaomu finally couldn't hold back. He tore out a sheet of paper and quickly wrote, "Sorry, that was presumptuous of me. Are you okay?"
He had wanted to poke her arm to get her attention, but he was afraid she might react even more strongly, so he merely placed the note carefully over her textbook.
Xiang Qing's fingertips whitened slightly around her pen. She didn't turn to look at Zhang Zhaomu. After what seemed like a moment's hesitation, she wrote a few words on the note, then pinched it between her fingers, glanced at Chen Yongchao at the front, and quickly passed it back.
"I'm okay. It's all right."
Zhang Zhaomu let out a small breath of relief.
It was good that she was willing to reply. At least that meant she hadn't taken him for an irredeemable pervert.
He glanced at her again. The girl still had her head lowered, her eyes fixed on the language textbook that should really have been turned to the next page long ago. Her posture was even stiffer.
A strange reaction from a strange deskmate.
But Zhang Zhaomu no longer had the mind to investigate. His attention had been caught once again by the bow on the headband of the girl sitting in front of him.
"I really want to pull it off..."
No, I've already made that mistake once! It's just instinct. I can absolutely control it!
A human couldn't-at least, shouldn't-lose to a cat!
"But the girl in front has a pretty nice personality, and she's one of my customers too. If I told her I'd let her jump the queue, she surely wouldn't get mad if I played with her bow, right?"
Having convinced himself, Zhang Zhaomu's fingers twitched.
Just as humanity was about to suffer a crushing defeat, a slender, pale hand suddenly reached over from beside him and placed a note in front of him.
Then it quickly withdrew.
Zhang Zhaomu paused, then turned toward Xiang Qing. Her head was buried even lower, hiding her expression entirely. All he could see was the translucent, rosy-red flush of the ear peeking through her black hair.
"Why?"
That was all the note said.
It came out of nowhere.
Zhang Zhaomu frowned slightly and wrote down his confusion. "Why what?"
Then he passed the note back.
Xiang Qing stole another glance at Chen Yongchao at the front before lowering her head to write and quickly passing it over.
"Why did you touch my hair?"
Zhang Zhaomu: "..."
Classmate, that question really isn't easy for me to answer.
Was I supposed to say I'd actually acquired a persona called [Cat], so I was completely unable to resist things moving unpredictably, like hair blowing in the wind?
"Xinxi Special Pet Park opens today..."
The image surfaced in his mind again, and Zhang Zhaomu hurriedly gave his face a few light pats.
I definitely can't tell the truth!
Even being taken for a pervert who liked playing with his female deskmate's hair was better than losing his qualifications as a human and becoming a humanoid cat put on display.
I'll just give her some vague excuse.
Zhang Zhaomu thought for a moment, then wrote, "Because your hair looked really nice."
After passing the note over, Zhang Zhaomu went back to staring at the bow on the girl in front.
A little while later, the note came back with just one word on it.
"Oh."
Zhang Zhaomu: "?"
What did that mean?
Forget it. I can't be bothered. I'll just take it as her accepting my reason.
Zhang Zhaomu yawned. For some reason, he was starting to feel sleepy again. He buried his head on the desk and fell asleep almost instantly.
"...Zhang Zhaomu?"
A voice called from somewhere far away, accompanied by bursts of cheerful laughter.
Zhang Zhaomu ignored it. Nothing mattered more than sleep.
"Zhang Zhaomu!"
The voice came a little closer, becoming unbearably annoying.
Suddenly, a hand landed on his shoulder. A jolt ran through Zhang Zhaomu's entire body. Before he even opened his eyes, every sound around him had reached his ears.
The slightly hurried breathing of the person standing beside him, laughter coming from all directions as though scrambling to squeeze into his brain, and a gloating mutter from the back door: "That guy's done for this time."
He instinctively tensed to spring up, but his newly awakened mind finally made him realize his situation-
He had fallen asleep in the classroom, and Old Chen seemed to have told him to come to his office after class.
He could smell the faint scent of cigarette smoke on the person standing beside him. His identity went without saying.
And so he forcibly turned the spring upward into the simple act of standing.
Only then did Zhang Zhaomu open his eyes and see Chen Yongchao's somewhat livid face.
His first reaction was relief.
Good thing I controlled myself and didn't do anything shocking. Sure enough, I'm getting more and more experienced at handling this sort of startle response.
"You were sleeping so soundly." Chen Yongchao was still dripping with sarcasm. "What sweet dream were you having?"
He actually hadn't been dreaming, but he really had slept soundly.
Answering like that, however, would undoubtedly pour oil on the fire. Naturally, Zhang Zhaomu wasn't that stupid. He merely lowered his head obediently. "I'm sorry, Mr. Chen."
"Come with me." Chen Yongchao strode out of the classroom, and Zhang Zhaomu hurried after him.
They passed down the long corridor and arrived at the teachers' office.
Naturally, the school's teachers didn't have individual offices. Several desks shared one room. Chen Yongchao's desk was in a corner, and aside from his lesson plans, it actually held a complete tea set.
"Oh, Mr. Chen." A teacher at a nearby desk greeted him. "Class over? Is this a student from your class?"
"Our fine class monitor." Chen Yongchao sat down in his chair. "The one who got me chewed out by the higher-ups this morning."
"Tsk." The teacher looked Zhang Zhaomu over. "So he's the one."
His words were loaded with meaning. "The image consultant who's been so popular at our school lately?"