Nightfall.
Wen Tao tossed and turned on his bed, unable to fall asleep. After yet another failed attempt at falling asleep, he grabbed the black phone sitting on the bedside table.
With a "click," the phone unlocked and illuminated Wen Tao's face with a bright light.
The phone's wallpaper showed a boy sweating profusely after running around on a basketball court. The boy in the picture was currently looking up, a bright smile on his face as the warm sunlight illuminated his face.
Wen Tao hadn't been in the right state of mind during the day, so he hadn't noticed. But after returning home and unlocking Li Beining's phone again, he realized that he was none other than the boy in the picture that Li Beining was using for his phone's wallpaper.
With one hand covering his face and the other holding the phone, Wen Tao began to ponder. Then, a terrifying thought popped into his mind.
Thinking back now, Wen Tao recalled that during the times they hung out, Li Beining would sometimes threaten him with an "I'll sleep with you if you don't listen to me" whenever he refused to go along with his arrangements.
Could it be…this bastard's gay?
Wen Tao got goosebumps when he thought of this possibility. Hurriedly, he placed the phone back on the bedside table and wrapped himself tightly with his quilt.
Fuck! If that's the case, doesn't that mean I'm at risk of losing my innocence if I keep hanging out with him?!
Wen Tao felt disgusted simply at the thought of Li Beining possibly making a move on him. Quickly, he made up his mind to clarify the matter with Li Beining. If Li Beining truly was gay, then they were in need of setting boundaries.
…
Yin Zhao-an had already washed up and climbed into bed early into the evening. When she saw Tang Yu emerging from the bathroom, her eyes widened like an owl's.
Even without looking into Yin Zhao-an's brain, Tang Yu could guess what the other party was thinking. After having a taste of the forbidden fruit, it was only natural for her to want more. However, Tang Yu had no intention of humoring Yin Zhao-an's desires, at least not before they were officially together. Not to mention, she wasn't mentally ready to take the last step yet.
When Tang Yu got into bed, she deliberately kept quiet and put some distance between herself and Yin Zhao-an. However, less than ten minutes after she tucked herself into bed, she felt the person behind her grow restless. Although Yin Zhao-an's lack of self-restraint exasperated her, she chose not to say anything about it.
After a while, Tang Yu felt a hand quietly creeping onto her waist, the hand clearly implying its intent. Even so, she chose to remain indifferent.
When Yin Zhao-an felt no rejection from Tang Yu, she felt emboldened and started to move her hand upward until she felt something familiar.
Then, she promptly retracted her hand, feeling as if she was a pervert. At the same time, she couldn't help but feel awkward and disappointed. After all, who'd wear underwear when going to sleep…
…
Tang Yu's silent resistance made Yin Zhao-an behave herself, and she no longer touched Tang Yu even after the latter moved out of the Yin household.
By now, Yin Zhao-an had long made a full recovery. However, Wang Zhen did not let her return to school as she had already missed an entire semester.
With nothing better to do, Yin Zhao-an began to shuttle between her bedroom and the study, occasionally helping her father with some of his company's work.
Yin Zhao-an had suffered a deep wound to her forehead that had ended up scarring. The dark red scar was unattractive, so she no longer cut her hair short, instead opting to grow it out.
When Yin Changcheng noticed this, he asked if Yin Zhao-an wanted scar removal surgery. Yin Zhao-an was originally tempted by the idea but eventually decided to keep it as a reminder to herself. She wanted to remind herself that she must keep a tight hold of her beloved Tang-Tang's hand whenever they went outside, and she mustn't let go of her for even a moment.
…
Even though Yin Zhao-an didn't have to attend any classes, she still regularly visited Chong High. She also had no problems entering the school since she had Wen Tao getting her in.
Wearing a blue and white school uniform that was a size larger for her body, Yin Zhao-an felt like she truly was attending school as she walked around the campus. However, different from her, the actual students of Chong High didn't walk around leisurely enjoying the campus scenery. Instead, they were either busily making their way from one place to another or gathered in groups to study and gossip.
…
Once the four morning lessons were over, Tang Yu slowly walked down from the fourth floor with her hands in her pockets. Unlike the other students, it wasn't her style to rush up and down the stairs.
When she reached the first floor, she noticed many students looking at a corner while having hushed discussions among themselves.
Tang Yu initially thought that Wen Tao had come to find her again. It had already been a while since he had last come to monitor her meals, so she couldn't help but follow the other students' gaze out of curiosity.
However, Tang Yu froze as soon as she saw the person the other students were looking at.
Just as the student walking behind Tang Yu was about to bump into her, Yin Zhao-an pulled her to her side, smiling mischievously.
Tang Yu felt a little dazed, feeling as if she had just seen the Yin Zhao-an from her previous life. The past Yin Zhao-an had also behaved unrestrained like this and had a handsome face brimming with youthful vitality. There was also that unique sense of pride she radiated.
This was a kind of Yin Zhao-an that existed only during high school. Upon entering university, everything about her had changed. She became less willing to interact with others, disliked going out, and had never shown her carefree smile again. In addition, the only words that would come out of her mouth were words of impatience and complaints.
Seeing Tang Yu staring at herself in a daze, Yin Zhao-an thought Tang Yu had frozen up because she was too excited to see her. Hence, she casually wrapped an arm around Tang Yu's shoulders and grinned.
"Surprised? Happy? Alright, don't just stand there. I brought you lunch, so let's eat by the sports field," Yin Zhao-an said as she escorted Tang Yu to the sports field.
As they walked, Tang Yu noticed that the number of people turning to look at her was a lot more than usual. Most of these people would whisper to each other as soon as they saw her, discussing something unbeknownst to her.
…
Li Beiyu, who had just come out of a convenience store with a popsicle, grew ecstatic when she spotted Tang Yu and Yin Zhao-an sitting under a tree. Immediately, she reached for her phone and used it to secretly take pictures of the two.