IF- School section

01

There were twenty minutes left until self-study ended.

An Yi tidied up his desk and stood up.

The hem of his school uniform was pulled down, and he turned his head to the student behind him, Lin Yuming, and whispered, “Are you on duty at the broadcasting room today?”

“Yeah,” An Yi whispered back, “I’ll go to the cafeteria first and put your meal in the usual place.” Lin Yuming clasped his hands together and exaggeratedly bowed to him.

An Yi smiled, picked up his lunchbox, and walked out of the classroom lightly.

The windows of the cafeteria were gradually opening, and An Yi first packed a lunch for himself, then packed a popular teriyaki chicken leg for Lin Yuming and placed it on the table by the window. When he reached the entrance of the laboratory building, there were still five minutes left, enough time for him to familiarize himself with the broadcast scripts for later.

He went up to the fifth floor, turned into the corridor, with teaching rooms, laboratories, and demonstration rooms on both sides. There was usually no one here, and the broadcasting room was at the far end of the corridor. It was usually quiet on this floor as only the broadcasting station’s staff would be here, so it was always quiet.

—

It should have been like this.

But today, as An Yi turned into the corridor, he saw a tall figure leaning casually against the door of the broadcasting room.

As he approached, he saw that the person was wearing a high school uniform with the zipper pulled up to the top, biting on the zipper while playing with his phone. His hair, longer than allowed by school rules, fell messily over his eyes from An Yi’s perspective, and all he could see was the glow of the phone on his prominent nose, giving it a cold texture.

An Yi stopped in front of him.

The other person seemed unaware of him, continuing to lean against the door, blatantly playing with his phone.

“Excuse me,” An Yi said politely, “Could you please move aside?”

At the sound of his voice, the person raised his eyes, looking at An Yi with a straight and indifferent gaze.

An Yi saw a stunningly handsome face, undeniably attractive but with a hint of aloofness, making him appear unapproachable. He took a step back and pointed to the sign above the door, “This is the broadcasting station, and it’s almost time for broadcasting.”

The teenager made an expressionless “Oh” sound, stepped aside, and turned off his phone. He then put his hands in the pockets of his school uniform and continued to look at An Yi with a calm expression.

Feeling puzzled, but with only three minutes left, An Yi didn’t have time to figure out what this high school student who suddenly appeared at the door wanted to do. He took out his keys and inserted them into the lock, only to find that the door was unlocked. He furrowed his brows, twisted the door open, and found several students wearing the same high school uniform gathered around the broadcasting microphone.

“What are you guys doing?” An Yi asked coldly, walking over quickly.

“Just in time, senior,” Qi Wenxing enthusiastically patted his shoulder, dispersing the friends around him, and beckoned An Yi to the microphone, “Where’s the switch for this thing? Pressing this doesn’t seem to work.”

An Yi brushed off his hand and said sternly, “This is the school broadcasting station, students can’t just come in.”

Qi Wenxing chuckled, “We’re not just coming in, we have something important to do.” He took out a piece of paper torn from somewhere, unfolded it, and handed it to An Yi, “Senior, could you help us read this later?”

Without even looking at it, An Yi refused directly, “No, the scripts are fixed every day, if you want to submit something…”

Before he could finish his sentence, a cold voice interrupted him from the door, “It’s time.”

An Yi looked up and saw the teenager leaning against the door, looking indifferent and impatient between his brows.

“Alright,” someone said beside him.

Qi Wenxing immediately slapped the microphone, and he heard a dull echo from the loudspeaker on the rooftop outside the window. Excitedly, he pushed An Yi aside and approached the microphone to test it, “Hello, hello, hello.”

“What are you guys doing, you can’t do this!” An Yi reminded in a low voice, trying to pull Qi Wenxing away. However, there were too many people blocking the way, and he ended up circling around the table, a hint of annoyance on his fair face, “You’re going to be punished for this!”

“We know, we know, thanks, senior,” Qi Wenxing covered the microphone, glanced at his companions, and An Yi was pushed all the way back from the broadcast position to the door.

“Hello, hello, cough!”

A response came from outside, and Qi Wenxing and his friends laughed. Qi Wenxing cleared his throat and began to read the paper he had handed to An Yi with a serious expression.

An Yi was anxious, about to rush over, but the collar of his school uniform was suddenly grabbed from behind.

He turned around, glaring angrily at the taller teenager behind him, “Let go of me, what are you doing?”

The rest of his words were completely blocked by a warm palm.

An Yi was pressed against the wall by the teenager, with nowhere to retreat and no way to hide. He was enveloped in the faint fragrance emanating from the teenager.

Too close for comfort, An Yi clamped the teenager’s wrists with both hands, trying to pull them away from him.

Sensing his intention, the other party pressed even tighter, soft lips pressing against his hand, forcing An Yi’s lips apart slightly, and a hint of warmth from the interior of his mouth touched the teenager’s palm.

The other person clearly felt it too.

Staring at him with a calm gaze.

An Yi suddenly quieted down, the anger in his eyes dissipating, leaving only a hint of embarrassment and pleading.

However, the teenager didn’t let go, continuing to press him against the wall, covering his mouth, until Qi Wenxing and the others succeeded.

The students crowded in the broadcasting station laughed and ran out in a mess. In the chaos, An Yi heard someone shout, “Let’s go! Yan Chen!”

The teenager looked deeply into his eyes.

With a glance at An Yi, he let go of his hand, tucked it back into his school uniform pocket, and lazily walked out the door.

An Yi leaned against the wall and took a few deep breaths. When he chased out of the door, the group of noisy teenagers had already reached the staircase, with the tallest one called Yan Chen walking slowly at the back.

02

The noon broadcast that day was called the “Dark Three Minutes”.

Upon hearing it, Lin Yuming didn’t even eat his chicken leg, but rushed to the broadcasting station. When he arrived, Yan Chen and the others had already left, so he asked An Yi what had happened, but An Yi couldn’t explain it clearly for a while.

His attention had been entirely taken by Yan Chen just now, so he didn’t know what Qi Wenxing had read in the broadcast until Lin Yuming told him.

Qi Wenxing theatrically read notes from a senior teacher, full of obscene and voyeuristic language about students’ privacy. The excerpts he read weren’t the most extreme, but they were explosive enough. In the end, Qi Wenxing even repeated the name of the teacher three times.

The school couldn’t suppress this matter, and it directly alarmed the principal.

The teacher involved was suspended pending investigation that afternoon, and An Yi had to skip his classes for the afternoon, staying in the principal’s office to explain the situation repeatedly, and eventually had to put it into a written report before returning to the classroom.

“Do you not know any of those people?” Lin Yuming asked.

An Yi shook his head. He heard Yan Chen’s name, but he didn’t mention it to anyone.

The school had other ways to investigate the students who broke into the broadcasting station, but it would take some time.

This matter was not directly related to An Yi, so he wrote a report and handed it in, then didn’t pay much attention to it. Unexpectedly, the next day was Saturday, and he encountered those people again downstairs at the extracurricular tutoring center.

This time they weren’t wearing school uniforms, but Yan Chen’s appearance was too distinctive to forget at a glance.

Several of them were dressed fashionably, sitting outside the cafe under the umbrella, playing games around a table. Yan Chen sat with his legs crossed, wearing large headphones on his head. Despite appearing isolated from the world, he suddenly raised his eyes after looking at An Yi for a few seconds, meeting An Yi’s gaze.

An Yi: “…”

The pressure on his face remained the same as before. He quickly averted his gaze and went upstairs.

Yan Chen glanced around the floor sign, then looked back at his phone screen, which had already turned gray.

Qi Wenxing slapped his thigh and mocked him, “What kind of posture was that, Chen? Too stiff!”

Qin Muye echoed softly, “Noob.”

Yan Chen put away his phone, took off his headphones and threw them to Qi Wenxing, then stood up and stepped over the knee-high flower fence of the cafe, walking into the adjacent commercial building.

03

English tutoring today.

An Yi had just taken out his notebook when he felt a shadow looming over him. He looked up and saw Yan Chen’s stern face, feeling stunned for a moment.

Yan Chen pulled over an empty chair next to him, sat down, and put his hands in his coat pockets, staring at An Yi intently.

Although An Yi hadn’t done anything wrong, he felt inexplicably guilty under Yan Chen’s gaze. He grabbed his pen and asked, “Is there something wrong?”

Yan Chen nodded, but didn’t say what it was.

An Yi could only continue to ask, “What’s wrong?”

Yan Chen said, “I need to write a self-reflection.”

“Huh?” An Yi reacted after a few seconds, “What self-reflection? Is it about your intrusion into the broadcasting station?”

“Yeah,” Yan Chen said, “Help me write it.”

His tone was very straightforward, and An Yi was slightly stunned before saying, “This has nothing to do with me. I haven’t mentioned any of you to the teacher.”

Yan Chen retorted, “Then how did they find out about me?”

An Yi thought for a moment and said, “Maybe it’s the surveillance or something, and you guys were so conspicuous.”

“How can you prove it wasn’t you?” Yan Chen leaned back in his chair, his dark eyes sharp like interrogating a suspect.

An Yi was caught off guard by the question. He couldn’t prove that he hadn’t done something.

Yan Chen took matters into his own hands and decided, “Write it during class and give it to me later.”

An Yi replied, “…I don’t have time.”

But Yan Chen had already taken out his phone and handed it to him, saying, “Add me on WeChat. Find me after class.”

An Yi’s eyelids twitched. As the tutoring teacher approached the classroom, seeing Yan Chen’s apparent insistence on not leaving without being added on WeChat, he reluctantly took out his phone and added the contact.

“I’m An Yi,” he said.

“I know.” Yan Chen didn’t explain how he knew his name or tell An Yi how to spell his own name. After the friend request was successfully sent, Yan Chen returned to the cafe downstairs.

“Where did you go?” Qi Wenxing looked at Yan Chen strangely. “Why are you smiling? Something good happened?”

Yan Chen sat back in his chair and glanced at him. “Secret.”

Next to him, Qin Muye sneered impatiently and asked Qi Wenxing, “Are we playing or not?”

“We’re done,” Qi Wenxing glanced at the time and put away his phone. “It’s almost time for the escape room. Let’s go.”

04

Throughout the tutoring session, An Yi was a bit distracted.

He kept looking out of the classroom from time to time.

Why did Yan Chen insist on him writing the report for him? Was he convinced that he had reported him to the school? It was too domineering of him. Could he be the kind of school bully who gangs up on others? He had a handsome face, but his expression was always cold, indeed a bit unfriendly. But what happened at the broadcasting station yesterday was ultimately a good deed… although the method was a bit too aggressive.

An Yi pondered during the entire class, and after it ended, he packed his bag and went downstairs.

He glanced at the cafe first, but the group of teenagers under the parasol was nowhere to be seen. He sighed in relief and headed towards the dessert shop next door. He bought two cup cakes and carefully stored them, planning to take them home to his sister—a little girl who had been craving them lately. Since the last time she ate one, she had been pestering her brother to buy her more cup cakes.

Carrying the cup cakes, An Yi walked out of the commercial street, planning to find a shared bike by the roadside to ride home.

He unlocked the bike with his phone, pushed it out, and was about to ride when suddenly the bike felt heavier. He turned around and found Yan Chen sitting on the back seat without him noticing.

The teenager tilted his head slightly, looking at him.

“Didn’t I ask you to add me? Are you trying to escape?”

^[1]Author’s note Writing about the youth and school life in the parallel universe of An An. In this universe, tutoring classes are not banned! The length of the story won’t be long, and … Continue reading