Page 25

Fu Cheng's grades were the result of hard work. When he couldn't solve a problem, he kept working on it even while eating. Today, his math teacher had assigned several problems covering a fairly broad range of material, and Fu Cheng was writing formulas on a sheet of scratch paper.

Shen Yi had finished his problems and was helping Fu Cheng organize some materials. His neck ached a little from keeping his head down so long, so he leaned back in his chair and rocked back and forth with one foot braced against the floor. The ceiling in his field of vision rocked too.

Knock, knock, knock. Someone rapped on the door, and Fu Cheng looked up.

"I'll get it," Shen Yi volunteered eagerly.

"Okay." Fu Cheng lowered his head and went back to his problems.

Shen Yi crossed to the door in a few strides and pulled it open.

"Fu Cheng, don't leave your things..." Fu Yuhe, standing outside, saw someone unexpected before him. His words caught halfway out.

"Good evening, Brother Fu." Shen Yi leaned his shoulder against the doorframe, wearing a gentle, harmless smile.

Fu Yuhe had just returned from outside, his expression cool. He wore an impeccable suit, but a few strands of hair had fallen over his forehead, giving him a more casual air. He held Fu Cheng's school uniform jacket in his hand.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

Shen Yi blinked. "You didn't know?"

The words sounded suggestive between the two of them.

Fu Yuhe glanced inside through the gap beside him.

"Fu Cheng's doing his homework," Shen Yi said.

Fu Yuhe reached out and pulled Shen Yi into the hall, then gently closed the door. "What are you trying to do?"

Shen Yi said, "Turning your back on me already, Brother? How heartless."

Fu Yuhe said, "I was drunk last time."

"Does being drunk mean you can just kiss whoever you want?" Shen Yi sounded as though he were accusing him, with a hint of grievance.

A sudden pang of guilt rose in Fu Yuhe.

Shen Yi didn't dwell on that. "You promised me one condition."

Fu Yuhe said, "..."

Chapter 12: Puppy

After a moment of silence-

Shen Yi looked at him with clear eyes, his tone full of uncertainty. "No way, Brother. You're not going to deny it, are you?"

Fu Yuhe met his gaze, then turned his head away. "What's your condition? Go on," he said mildly.

"I haven't thought of one yet, Brother." Shen Yi took a step closer to Fu Yuhe, who instinctively felt that being so close was no good. He stepped back, retreating into the corner.

Shen Yi kept pressing closer. Fu Yuhe lowered his voice and held a hand between their chests. "Talk properly."

Shen Yi seized his hand, slowly slipped his fingers between Fu Yuhe's, and clasped them tight. "I am talking properly."

His other hand rested against the wall beside Fu Yuhe's face in a carefree pose. Even his expression was as flippant as his actions; nothing about him suggested he was "talking properly."

Shen Yi's shadow fell over Fu Yuhe. With the hand clasped around Fu Yuhe's, he played with his fingers, lightly pressing between their bases in a distinctly suggestive manner. His fingertips stroked inch by inch over the back of Fu Yuhe's hand, like a playful child who had found an interesting toy.

The weather had begun to turn chilly as winter set in, and Shen Yi's fingers were a little cool. The sensation of his skin traveled from Fu Yuhe's fingers to his chest, and the barely perceptible teasing stirred his heart.

Shen Yi's action was like a signal, shattering the calm surface of everything and pulling them back to that night, telling Fu Yuhe that things could never return to how they had been before-though they hadn't been all that good before, either.

"I don't have time to play games with you." Fu Yuhe lowered his eyes, keeping his tone outwardly steady and calm. "Since you haven't thought of anything yet, forget it."

"Forget it?" Shen Yi pressed. "What do you mean by that? Do you mean you're not going to keep your promise, or that we'll talk about it when I've made up my mind?"

Fu Yuhe said, "..."

He was unexpectedly good at zeroing in on the point.

"We'll talk when you've made up your mind." Fu Yuhe tried to push him away with the hand whose arm held the school uniform jacket, but Shen Yi wouldn't budge. Fu Yuhe looked up, and Shen Yi was still watching him with a serious expression.

"What if you go back on your word later?" Shen Yi asked.

Fu Yuhe said, "I won't."

Shen Yi said, "Are you waiting for me to forget about it?"

Fu Yuhe said, "..."

He was also very good at seeing through people.

"I won't forget," Shen Yi said.

Fu Yuhe suddenly paused. "Was that... your first time?"

He had meant to say "first kiss," but felt the words were a little hard to say in this situation, so he used a different expression. Yet once he said it, it sounded even stranger.

A "first time" was always special and hard to forget. Those words carried too much meaning.

Shen Yi was eighteen, had never dated, and had never kissed anyone. That was normal, but also a little surprising.

The lingering, suggestive atmosphere seemed to turn into strands of exceedingly fine silk, winding around them both, thread after thread, tangled beyond separation, vague yet distinctly present.

It could neither be seen nor touched, yet it conveyed that feeling that could only be understood, not put into words, to both of them.

"It was for me." Shen Yi admitted it openly, without the slightest hesitation. "It was for you too, wasn't it, Brother?"

Fu Yuhe immediately denied it on reflex. "It wasn't."

Shen Yi's answer gave him a strange sense of satisfaction, but he didn't want Shen Yi to know they were on equal footing. At the very least, he wanted to have the upper hand in this.

Shen Yi sighed softly. "Ah..."

Then he ran the tip of his tongue over his crimson lips, leaving a moist sheen on them. "The way you were that day, I thought you were too..."