That night, as soon as I lay down, I yawned repeatedly. The day's work had left me utterly exhausted.
Dạ Uyên was still standing beside me, hugging his pillow.
I reached out and pulled him down onto the bed. Before his slightly surprised expression, I turned off the light.
In the darkness, my voice softened, tinged with weariness: "Good boy, A Uyên, go to sleep."
I said this while gently patting his back, out of habit.
After a while, he remained silent, and I assumed he was asleep, so I didn't think much of it. My eyelids grew heavy. Darkness slowly swallowed my consciousness.
I drifted off to sleep.
But I didn't know Dạ Uyên was still awake.
In the dimly lit room, he slowly sat up.
Moonlight streamed through the curtains, illuminating my sleeping face.
He looked at me for a long time.
Then, slowly, he reached out and gently touched my cheek.
His fingertips were so light they were almost imperceptible.
"Brother…"
His voice was very soft, as if afraid of waking me.
"If you keep acting like this… how can I bear it?"
His hand slowly slid down my cheek, stopping at my lips.
His eyes were no longer innocent like during the day.
They darkened.
They were frighteningly deep, with a hint of unreadable desire…
The next morning.
I opened my eyes, still groggy from sleep.
Dạ Uyên was standing by the bed, smiling: "You're awake?"
His voice was as cheerful as ever.
The delicious aroma of food wafted into my nose, making me a little more awake. I rubbed my eyes, walked closer to him, still sleepy: "A Uyên… you're up so early today?"
He only mumbled "hmm," but his eyes remained fixed on my face.
I was a little confused: "What are you looking at?"
Dạ Uyên coughed lightly, quickly turned away, and pushed me towards the bathroom: "Go wash up, then come have breakfast."
I felt something was off… but I was too tired to think too much about it.
In class, I slumped down on my desk.
Kha Nhiêm saw this and asked: "Ninh Xuyên, are you okay? You look a bit pale."
I didn't look at him, just closed my eyes tightly: "I've had some things to do these past few days… I'm just a little tired."
He mumbled something and didn't ask any more questions.
For some reason, since entering the classroom, Dư Thanh Ngôn had been staring at me constantly. His gaze was a little strange.
Being stared at while I was tired made me incredibly uncomfortable. I almost turned around and said, "Haven't you ever seen a handsome guy before?" but I was in class, so I refrained.
During recess.
As usual, Vũ Hy walked to my desk.
This time, he even tapped lightly on the desk, his voice overly polite: "Ninh Xuyên, I have something to say."
I looked up.
Our eyes met.
For a fleeting moment, Vu Hy's expression flickered briefly before returning to his familiar, friendly smile.
"I came to return the money I borrowed from you."
He pulled out exactly ten thousand dong from his pocket, no more, no less. Watching him rummage through his pockets, I was speechless.
Kha Nhiem couldn't help but frown: "Is this what you call returning it?"
Vu Hy didn't answer, just gave Kha Nhiem a sidelong glance.
But as he turned to leave, Kha Nhiem unexpectedly grabbed his arm.
Everything happened so fast.
Vu Hy stumbled backward.
And…
Kha Nhiem instinctively put his arm around his waist to steady him.
The whole class fell silent.
My jaw almost dropped to the table.
This posture… it just didn't look normal.
Wu Xi froze, turning to look at Kha Nian. Kha Nian also froze, staring back at Wu Xi.
Just then, Lin Ze Yun suddenly stood up, his eyes so cold they seemed to want to devour them alive, and he advanced towards the two of them.
The atmosphere was tense.
Suddenly, Wu Xi spoke in a sweet voice tinged with sarcasm:
"No wonder you've been interfering in my relationship with classmate Ning Chuan these past few days... it turns out..."
She paused.
Her lips curved into a mischievous smile as she leaned close to Kha Nian's ear, speaking loudly enough for the whole class to hear:
"You like me?"
It was like a bolt of lightning from a clear sky...
The whole class fell silent.
I was shocked a second time, unable to utter a word.
Lin Ze Yun also froze mid-sentence.
Kha Nian's face flushed red, and she quickly let go of his hand, stammering: "You... what the hell are you saying?! Who would like someone like you?!"
She pointed at Wu Xi, her voice sharp, then stormed out.
I then leaned over and whispered, "You still haven't given up your habit of provoking people, have you?"
Wu Xi shrugged, her face innocent as if it had nothing to do with it.
Then she pulled Lin Ze Yun's hand: "What are you standing there for? Go back to your seat."
I hadn't been sitting for long when my phone vibrated.
A message from Wu Xi.
I opened it and stared at her blankly.
She didn't look at me.
She just continued texting.
After reading it, my eyes darkened.
Without saying anything, I just texted back a single sentence and put my phone away.
I thought to myself,
"I wonder what kind of trick this girl is planning now."