NPCs Watch from the Front Row

Student council, president's office.

With a bang, the wooden door slammed hard against the wall, then bounced sharply back, showing just how angry the person who had arrived was.

He Wangsheng sat in a large, high-backed chair, a pair of gold-rimmed glasses perched on his high-bridged nose. He was looking down as he handled some business. At the sound, he didn't even raise his head, simply scolding without expression, "Get out!"

Shen Si's eyes reddened with anger, but he unwillingly walked back out and shut the door.

After composing himself, he raised a hand and knocked.

Only after a long wait did the person inside say, "Come in."

Shen Si pushed the door open and entered. He Wangsheng had finished his work and was leaning back in his chair, watching him come in.

Shen Si said, "Why did you let Zhou Zanli into the student council? You knew perfectly well he offended me!"

He Wangsheng said unhurriedly, "He only took a couple of photos. You've deleted them, and you've already vented your anger. What more do you want?"

"I want him expelled!"

He Wangsheng looked at him with disapproval. "Know when to stop, Shen Si. I can turn a blind eye to the things you do at school, but you can't go too far."

"...Fine, I can let him stay in school." Shen Si took a deep breath and asked, "Why did you let him into the student council? I heard you personally asked for him by name."

He Wangsheng took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose, a chill in his voice. "Shouldn't I be asking you that? You used my name to teach someone a lesson, and now he's come to me. As president, was I supposed to turn him away?"

Shen Si frowned. "Who? That special-admission student?"

He sneered. "He's got some nerve, standing up for someone else right after the semester started. At Kanlitel, he actually dreams of being a savior? Ridiculous."

"Those ratlike special-admission students volunteered to be dogs. The owners agreed, and so did the dogs, yet a stray dog passing by couldn't stand to watch?"

He Wangsheng's voice was mild. "Keep yourself in check lately. Chi Zhao has finished dealing with his affairs, and he'll be focusing on the school from now on."

"So soon? Wasn't his family..."

He Wangsheng raised his eyes, and Shen Si hurriedly shut his mouth.

"All right, I know. But I won't let Zhou Zanli stay in the student council in peace."

"Do as you please."

A general course held once every two weeks.

The scene felt familiar.

Cen Xia sat by the window in the second row, with Lin Jiandu in front of him. Their seats had changed, and so had their relationship. They were no longer classmates who were strangers to each other.

When Lin Jiandu came in and saw him, he even greeted him.

Ling Xian, on the other hand, stared at him for several seconds before he remembered his face.

"So it's you!"

Pei Huaiyi sat in the outermost seat, leaning lazily against the back of his chair. At those words, he spared Cen Xia half a glance.

"What have you two been doing behind my back?" He toyed with a small, exquisite silver lighter, opening and closing it with crisp clicks.

"He's the guy I told you about, the one who looked like a zombie when he had an episode."

Cen Xia: "..." Had he looked that ugly at the time?

Pei Huaiyi seemed to take an interest, and the crisp clicking in his hand stopped.

"When are you going to have another episode? Let me see."

Cen Xia: "..." You're the one who's really sick in the head.

After class, Cen Xia discovered that he had actually made it onto the forum, though the discussion hadn't gotten much attention.

Someone asked what Pei Huaiyi had been saying to him.

A comment below replied: Pei Huaiyi asked him when he was going to have an episode.

Cen Xia: Screw you! Your whole family has episodes!

Cen Xia had always known that the third book didn't have a complete timeline. The plot was too fragmented, but the locations were clear.

But no matter how clear the locations were, Cen Xia hadn't expected the empty classroom with no one in it in the book to be the classroom for the general course.

He had forgotten one of his course books on the desk and remembered it halfway back, so he returned to fetch it.

He had already stepped into the classroom with one foot before he heard Lin Jiandu's voice.

"Let go of me..."

Cen Xia went completely numb.

The two were struggling beneath the floor-length curtains. Two buttons on Lin Jiandu's uniform had come undone, revealing a little snow-white skin. His eyes were wet, as though he were on the verge of tears.

Hearing the footsteps, Lin Jiandu looked over. The moment he saw him, his eyes lit up.

"Cen Xia!"

Hearing the name, Ling Xian stiffened and turned to glare at him.

"Fuck, why is it you again?"

Cen Xia felt utterly numb. Who could have imagined that coming back to pick something up would make him the source of the footsteps that had both frightened and thrilled Lin Jiandu in the book?

While Ling Xian's movements had paused, Lin Jiandu quickly broke free, hurried over to Cen Xia in three steps as though they were two, and hid behind him.

Cen Xia explained aloud, "I came to get my book."

He was explaining in his head too. World will, watch closely. I haven't done anything. I only just came in.

Ling Xian clicked his tongue, his face full of displeasure. "Why do you keep ruining things for me? Are you doing it on purpose?"

To prove he wasn't lying, Cen Xia walked over to the seat he'd occupied in class and picked up the book he'd forgotten.

He waved it. "All right, I've got my book."

He went to leave, and Lin Jiandu followed behind him, clutching the hem of his clothes and sticking close to his every step. Ling Xian didn't stop them.

Even after they left the teaching building, Lin Jiandu was still clutching his hem tightly, showing no sign of letting go.

Cen Xia stopped and only then noticed that the hand gripping his clothes was trembling slightly. He turned his head, his gaze falling on the top of Lin Jiandu's bowed head.

He was crying. Large tears, like pearls spilling from a broken string, rolled down his fair cheeks and past his chin before disappearing.

His body trembled lightly beyond his control.

Cen Xia knitted his brows and hesitated for a few seconds before letting out an almost imperceptible sigh and patting his shoulder as if to comfort him.

That seemed to break some kind of seal. Lin Jiandu suddenly threw himself into Cen Xia's arms and wrapped both hands around his waist, finally releasing the sobs he had been suppressing.

He sobbed quietly.

Feeling the warmth against his chest, Cen Xia froze. Several minutes passed before he raised his arms and embraced him in return.

For all that Lin Jiandu was a universally adored bottom, he was still a boy. His frame wasn't as small as a girl's, and he was about the same height as Cen Xia, neither soft nor hard in his arms.

Even after he had cried his fill, the person in Cen Xia's arms didn't let go. He buried his face in Cen Xia's chest and tightened his arms around his waist a little more.

Cen Xia let him hold on for a while, only patting him when he began to feel a little hot.

"That's enough, right? You're holding me too tight. I'm a little hot."

Only then did Lin Jiandu slowly let him go, his head lowered so that his expression couldn't be seen.

Cen Xia thought he was still caught up in the fear from moments ago and comfortingly stroked his head.

"All right, stop crying. I'll treat you to a meal."

No one knew that this beautiful young man, who had just been crying like a pear blossom drenched in rain after being harassed, was thinking-

So slender...

His waist is so slender.

Beneath that frail, harmless exterior, the young man slowly raised his head and gave his "savior" a beautiful, captivating smile.

"Okay," he said.

Cen Xia had originally wanted to take him to the cafeteria, but so many heads turned and so many eyes followed them along the way that he had to abandon the idea.

He told Lin Jiandu to wait where he was, went to the cafeteria to buy food, and then took him straight back to the dorm.

It was his first time bringing someone back to his dorm.

Lin Jiandu looked around curiously. The living room of the single dorm wasn't large, and the school had furnished all the rooms alike. Only the kitten plushie on the sofa belonged to Cen Xia.

He walked over and picked up the plushie.

Cen Xia was taking the food out and putting it on the table. As he did, he wondered why the world will hadn't reacted. Didn't this count as interfering with the plot?

Or was it because the protagonist had taken the initiative, so it didn't count as his interference?

Once he had taken all the food out, Cen Xia caught sight of him out of the corner of his eye, holding the plushie without letting go.

He said casually, "You like it? You can have it if you do."

Lin Jiandu's eyes lit up. The flush hadn't yet faded from his face after his tears, and he was so beautiful he hardly looked real.

"Really? Thank you, Cen Xia!"