Aftermath

Cen Xia woke the next morning to sunlight. The dazzling rays outside the window fell squarely across his face.

He sat up in bed. Beside him, Shi Su was still asleep, his fluffy head tucked into the blankets with only half of it showing.

At that very moment, Ding Yiheng also woke in a daze. His hair was a bird's nest, and his already small eyes were narrowed to slits. He greeted Cen Xia when he saw him.

"Morning..."

"Mm..."

Neither of them was fully awake, so they each sat in bed for a while to come around.

Ding Yiheng's brain slowly booted up, and he finally remembered why he was there.

"Has the rain stopped?"

"It stopped last night," Cen Xia answered in a low, raspy voice. "The sun's already out today."

"Mm... Why are you in Shi Su's bed?"

"You and Fang Sheng took up the other bed. If I didn't sleep in the hospital bed, where was I supposed to sleep? On the floor?"

At the mention of Fang Sheng, Ding Yiheng finally shifted his gaze. "I was wondering why I kept having nightmares last night. I dreamed a python had wrapped itself around me. Turns out it was this guy."

As he spoke, Ding Yiheng lifted the leg off himself.

Fang Sheng rolled over without waking.

"What time is it?"

Cen Xia picked up his phone and checked. "Nine."

"Aren't we late?"

"Technically, yes." Cen Xia checked his messages and nodded. "But the school announced the morning off. Classes resume as usual this afternoon."

Ding Yiheng flopped back down. "I'm sleeping some more."

Cen Xia got out of bed and drew the curtains, plunging most of the room into darkness. With the sun no longer bothering him, he intended to sleep a little longer too.

As soon as he lay down, Shi Su sleepily opened his eyes halfway. Seeing him, he scooted over and wrapped his arms around him, resting his face on his shoulder in a posture of complete trust.

"...Brother Cen..." he murmured as if talking in his sleep, then drifted off again.

Cen Xia snuggled down a little and closed his eyes peacefully.

When he woke again two hours later, it was hunger that had roused him.

Cen Xia moved the arm draped over him aside and slipped quietly out of bed.

Everyone else was still asleep.

He brushed his teeth and washed his face in the ward's washroom, scooping up a handful of water and splashing it over his face. Droplets ran down the contours of his cheeks.

Even after looking at it for over a month, the face in the mirror was still so unfamiliar.

Sometimes, when he glanced up and caught his reflection, his unfamiliar self would even catch him off guard.

He wondered if, at this rate, he would eventually forget what he had originally looked like altogether.

As he was thinking, someone knocked softly on the washroom door.

"Brother Cen, are you in there?"

Cen Xia wiped his face and opened the door. Shi Su was standing outside, his hand still raised to knock.

"I'm done. You can use it."

Ding Yiheng and Fang Sheng were awake too. They sat on the companion bed, leaning against the wall on opposite sides as they scrolled through their phones.

"Who took this?! How could they make me look like this? What's that supposed to mean?!" Ding Yiheng suddenly cried, his brows knotted, excitement and anger written all over his face.

Fang Sheng had evidently seen it too. He held back his laughter for Ding Yiheng's sake, but the corners of his mouth twitched uncontrollably, and all his effort ended with his face twisted into a knot.

Cen Xia kicked the foot of the bed, reminding them to hurry up and get up.

Fang Sheng pressed his lips tightly together and held up his phone to show him the screen.

It showed a silhouette photograph, with heavy rain in the foreground and three thin silhouettes frozen deep within the curtain of rain.

The person in the middle stood firmly with his legs apart, one arm wrapped around another person, who leaned limply against his chest, one arm hanging weakly at his side. At first glance, it looked like the final scene of some hot-blooded anime;

On the right side of the picture, someone hunched over, holding an umbrella in his left hand and raising his right arm over his head to shield himself from the rain. His posture looked a little sleazy, and compared with the people beside him, he somewhat spoiled the picture.

"Who took this of me?! Who was it?!" Ding Yiheng glowered in anger. "Why did they make you look so cool? Why did they have to pick the most bedraggled moment to photograph me? I stood up so coolly for my friend yesterday, ready to take a knife in the ribs for him, and all I got to show for it was this ugly picture to haunt me for the rest of my life?"

Cen Xia comforted him. "It's fine. You're better-looking than me."

"...That's true." Ding Yiheng was comforted in a second.

Someone had uploaded the photo to the forum as the image for the most popular thread.

The title read, "Don't know when to quit? Loyalty reaching the heavens? Click to see three 'idiots' confront and provoke Shen Si on the rooftop!!"

The instant Cen Xia read that line, he wanted to report the thread.

What bastard came up with that title?!

He'd better not let me catch him!

The post briefly summarized what had happened on the rooftop, but left out the part where Shen Si bullied Shi Su.

Picking on the weak and fearing the strong was only human nature.

The comments below were all over the place, saying everything under the sun.

[If you don't want to live, I suggest jumping straight off the building-]

[Who gave him the guts to play hero in front of Shen Si?]

[He's not a special-admission student, is he? Why would he stand up for one?]

[What's wrong with special-admission students? They have human rights too!]

[The person above is ten thousand percent a special-admission student. Your year's pretty gutsy, huh? Daring to leave comments on the forum. Just you wait, I'm going to find out who you are right now]

The next second, the comment was deleted.

[And here I thought you were so brave. That's it? If you hadn't deleted your account and run off, I might have respected you as a real man]

[Actually... they're pretty loyal to their friends...]

[Agreed]

[I wonder how Shen Si will get back at them]

[Nice, we've got something new to watch]

[Isn't anyone going to do something?]

Someone replied below: [The president's away, but that person from the Disciplinary Group is at school]

[Do you think he'll do anything?]

[...Fifty-fifty]

There was another thread just as popular.

The comments were full of people showing off little floral umbrellas identical to Chi Zhao's.

Neat and uniform, utterly unhinged.

Cen Xia was puzzled. "I can understand why He Wangsheng is popular, but why Chi Zhao?"

Even though he had only met Chi Zhao a few times, judging by what he had done so far, Chi Zhao was eccentric, unpredictable, and did as he pleased. Why was his approval rating only a little lower than He Wangsheng's?

Ding Yiheng scratched his chin. "Maybe he has some exceptional quality?"

After all, school had only been in session for a little over a month. Even Ding Yiheng hadn't reached the point of knowing everything about the school.

With a click, Shi Su came out after washing up, having even changed into his school uniform.

"Don't you need another day's rest?" Cen Xia asked him.

"No. I'm not that fragile."

Cen Xia gave a slight nod, then said without preamble, "I saw your body when I changed your clothes yesterday. You really are well-built."

Shi Su's ears turned red, though his face remained fairly calm. "As long as you like it, Brother Cen."

What does he mean, as long as I like it? A faint trace of confusion crossed Cen Xia's mind, but it vanished without a trace an instant later.

Once Ding Yiheng and Fang Sheng had washed up, the group gathered their things and went to Shi Su and Fang Sheng's dormitory, having lunch along the way.

The three had become famous at school, but very few people actually knew what Cen Xia looked like. Whether by coincidence or something else, none of the photos circulating on the campus forum had ever captured Cen Xia's face from the front.

As they walked, a few people recognized Shi Su. Some curious, others surprised, they gave the group a few extra looks, but their reactions were fairly calm.

Only then did Cen Xia find it a little strange. In the past, someone should have dug up their personal information by now, but this time, not a single comment had paid any attention to who they were.

Cen Xia privately wondered whether the World Will was intervening behind the scenes. He made up his mind to find a chance to ask Them next time.