Lu Che stood on the chair and reached out to Xu Xing with the chalk, saying, “Class monitor, here.”

Xu Xing was already holding a small piece of chalk, but at that moment, it felt like a hot potato. He just wanted to turn the chalk to dust; when Lu Che urged him, he instinctively shrank the piece of chalk into his palm to hide it.

Xu Xing couldn’t explode in front of the homeroom teacher and other classmates; he held back his resistance and forced a smile, not wanting to be accused of being unable to take a joke.

Xu Xing raised his head, looking at Lu Che’s handsome face, which was carrying a smile. He tried to make his words sound pleasant: “Forget it, forget it! If you write your name, I’ll really be too embarrassed to show my face! I can’t tarnish your name with my terrible handwriting. I think you should write it yourself.”

Xu Xing’s implied message: Get lost, write your own name.

Xu Xing said that, but Lu Che still smiled shamelessly and said, “I won’t think poorly of you.”

Xu Xing’s smile froze at the corners of his mouth; he wished he could block out the teacher and classmates, otherwise, he really wanted to shout at Lu Che to shut up.

At that moment, Ke di, who was nestled in the corner by the window, chimed in, “Che Ge, could you sign my name too?” He paused briefly and didn’t forget to include his good buddy, “And write Zhou Mang’s name while you’re at it, muah.”

As soon as Fu Dai heard this, he raised his hand and joined in, “A Che, write mine too.”

Lu Che laughed at their requests, but before he could refuse, the homeroom teacher spoke first, chiding, “No! Fu Dai, Ke di, come here; you write it yourselves. Show some sincerity, okay?”

Xu Xing really wanted the homeroom teacher to give him a chance to prove his sincerity, but he was afraid the teacher might respond like she was possessed: “Just go write Lu Che’s name; it’s the same,”—that would make things even harder for him.

Ke di cheerfully stepped forward, only to have the teacher grab his ear and sternly remind him, “Now you know writing your name is embarrassing, huh? What were you doing in calligraphy class back in middle school?”

Ke di cheekily rubbed his ear and said, “Oh, I was busy dating. Others practiced calligraphy and achieved something; I’ve also made some small accomplishments.”

The teacher was both angry and amused, maintaining a stern face, “Go on, go write your names.”

With Ke di stepping forward, Xu Xing quickly took a subtle step back, leaving the focus of the crowd on him.

Xu Xing silently retreated to the sidelines, his gaze lingering mournfully on the lonely name on the blackboard. Honestly, Lu Che’s handwriting was indeed beautiful, but regardless of whether it was pretty or not, Xu Xing felt uneasy in his heart.

It was as if a small thorn was wedged between his teeth; though it didn’t hurt or itch, its presence made him extremely uncomfortable.

The class bell rang again, and the noisy crowd finally dispersed.

Xu Xing returned to his seat and didn’t pay any more attention to the signatures on the back blackboard.

After three or four classes, as soon as the school bell rang, students in the class hurried in groups to the cafeteria.

Tang Mian went to the restroom and called Xu Xing to wait for her to go to the cafeteria together. Xu Xing calmly organized his class notes. By the time he finished, he looked up and saw that only a few students responsible for cleaning remained in the classroom; everyone else had left in dribs and drabs.

Xu Xing brought his phone, meal card, and tissues, and strolled to the back blackboard out of boredom, only to see the reserved space filled with names—

Above “Xu Xing,” the name “Lu Che” was added.

The strokes were bold and powerful.

The arrangement was neat, eye-catching.

Xu Xing: “…”

With the comparison of other people’s handwriting, Lu Che’s stood out like the moon surrounded by stars, dazzling and impressive. Just like Lu Che’s appearance, even if he were lost in a crowd, his eye-catching looks wouldn’t fade away.

Some people are just like they come with a spotlight, always the focus of attention wherever they go.

Xu Xing stared for a while, his brows furrowing into a knot, and the more he looked, the more he felt that the two names stacked on top of each other were too jarring. It felt as if he could accept this situation, just like he was passively acknowledging he was gay.

He glanced over for a while, feeling guilty, then looked back to see no one was paying attention to him, and he secretly wiped off the name “Xu Xing” from the blackboard, picking up a piece of chalk to rewrite his name.

Xu Xing originally didn’t want to write his name next to Lu Che, but unfortunately, the signing area was already filled with other people’s names, leaving only the space below Lu Che’s name empty.

Xu Xing reluctantly wrote his name.

His handwriting, although not as free-flowing as Lu Che’s, was neat and elegant. At first glance, it was unremarkable, but the more you looked at it, the more pleasing it became, winning points for its tidiness and lasting appeal.

After rewriting his name, Xu Xing felt uneasy standing there, inexplicably guilty.

Just then, Tang Mian returned from the restroom and called out to him at the back door, “Xing Xing, let’s go, it’s time to eat.”

Xu Xing responded and silently brushed off the chalk dust on his fingers, heading to the cafeteria with Tang Mian.

Although Xu Xing and Tang Mian didn’t rush in with the first wave of students, when they arrived, the line to buy food was still long.

Xu Xing stood at the back of the line, chatting with Tang Mian about inconsequential topics while waiting. Tang Mian curiously asked him, “Xing Xing, does Lu Che really not have a girlfriend?”

Xu Xing looked at her with a face full of confusion, “Why are you asking me? How would I know?”

Tang Mian laughed, “Oh, it’s just because you seem close with him.”

Xu Xing retorted, “Close my foot.”

Tang Mian chuckled, “So what do you two talk about when you’re alone?”

Xu Xing had a complicated expression: “…”

He couldn’t exactly say that Lu Che complimented his butt, right?

Xu Xing vaguely hummed a couple of times just as he saw Lu Che and a few others finished buying their food, carrying their trays as they walked past.

Xu Xing instinctively glanced at Lu Che’s tray: it was expected that Lu Che didn’t order fried chicken wings, but it was unexpected that he didn’t order the braised fish either.

Xu Xing had originally thought that with Lu Che’s childish nature, he would surely swap the fried chicken wings for braised fish today and happily show off, but in the end—he was wrong.

Xu Xing couldn’t guess Lu Che’s actions; his first reaction was that they didn’t have fish at the stall today, and his second reaction was that the braised fish had already sold out.

However, just as these two thoughts crossed Xu Xing’s mind, he saw two girls chatting and laughing as they walked by, and one of them had a bright red braised fish on her tray.

Xu Xing let out a barely noticeable hum.

Tang Mian was looking at her phone and casually asked, “By the way, what gift should we give the teacher for Teacher’s Day?”

Xu Xing didn’t answer her. Tang Mian raised her head to glance at him and gently nudged him with her elbow, asking, “What are you looking at?”

“Ah?”

Xu Xing shrugged and explained, “I’m hungry, so I’m not focused.”

Tang Mian chuckled, following Xu Xing’s gaze to the two girls behind them, teasing, “Which little freshman have you got your eye on?”

Xu Xing was speechless upon hearing this; he was already used to Tang Mian’s knack for spreading rumors, saying, “I’m looking at her fish, okay?”

Tang Mian laughed, “Okay, I know you have high standards.”

Tang Mian’s offhand remark also hit a nerve with Xu Xing, who immediately retorted, “I don’t have high standards, thank you!”

The memory of Lu Che teasing him about having such high standards was still fresh, and now whenever he thought of anything related to Lu Che, he felt utterly uncomfortable.

Tang Mian clicked her tongue.

As Xu Xing’s childhood friend and classmate for twelve years, Xu Xing had no secrets in front of Tang Mian: back in elementary school, it was popular to write love letters, and by the time they graduated from sixth grade, Tang Mian had helped Xu Xing collect a whole bunch. Just a few days after Xu Xing got his phone in middle school, he complained to Tang Mian, “Don’t randomly give my phone number to others anymore, it’s so annoying.”

As for high school…

Tang Mian found it strange too; after they entered high school, Xu Xing’s looks hadn’t deteriorated, and his height wasn’t lacking either, but he suddenly had no market at all.

She attributed this to Xu Xing being hard to pursue. In the first year of high school, many girls inquired about him, but when they faced repeated failures, they naturally gave up.

After finishing their meal together, Tang Mian and Xu Xing did not return to the dormitory but went straight back to the classroom to prepare for evening self-study.

The small group responsible for the blackboard newspaper was already hard at work, but Lu Che was notably absent, which didn’t surprise anyone. If Lu Che had set aside his meal and eagerly come back to help, that would have been even stranger.

Xu Xing sat at his desk, comfortably stretching his legs, with his head down, playing on his phone. When Wang Zicong returned to his seat, he inadvertently glanced over and caught sight of Xu Xing’s WeChat chat list, asking, “Your sister is concerned about your studies?”

Xu Xing, without looking up, grunted, “Concerned my ass. She’s just looking for labor; she wants me to go home on Sunday to send something for her.”

A boy sitting behind Xu Xing asked, “The class monitor has a sister?”

His desk mate laughed, “I’m more curious about what the class monitor’s sister is called.”

Xu Xing replied, “My sister’s name is Xu Yin.”

Wang Zicong added, “Yin as in ‘cause,’ I think it sounds nice!”

Hearing this, the boy behind them chuckled, “Good name! I guess the class monitor’s parents originally wanted to name him Xu Kun, but then thought that wouldn’t do; if he were as the name suggests, what would that be like? So they changed it to Xu Xing.”

A girl is “Yin,” a boy is “Kun,” and with that little twist, it’s both charming and memorable.

The two at the back didn’t mean any harm; their wordplay was just for fun, and they laughed heartily.

Xu Xing chuckled along, “Get lost.”

Xu Kun never became Xu Xing’s name, but it became Xu Yin’s online name.

Suddenly, Xu Xing’s phone beeped with a new message—

He looked down and opened the chat window titled “Xu Kun Kun.”

Xu Yin sent him a picture with her neat handwriting listing a long string of items she needed Xu Xing to send to her school.

Xu Xing replied with an “OK” emoji.

Just as he was about to put his phone away, he pressed the power button, and the screen lit up again with another notification from Xu Yin.

Xu Xing glanced at it, instantly dumbfounded.

He unlocked his phone and switched out of the WeChat chat, staring at the message from his sister—

“About Lu Che… how is it?”

“???”

Xu Xing sent several question marks in response.

Xu Yin rarely used ellipses when chatting with him, which indicated that she was hesitant while carefully choosing her words and tone.

At that moment, Xu Xing heard the voice of the biology class representative saying, “Hey, Lu Che, you’re here~”

The girl’s voice was gentle and cheerful.

Xu Xing instinctively looked up—

Lu Che had just walked in through the back door. Yu Zanchun greeted him with a smile, naturally striking up a conversation while helping with the blackboard newspaper, “We’re almost done with the blackboard; you should be able to finish it tonight.”

Lu Che turned his head slightly to glance at Yu Zanchun, his thin lips moved slightly as he said, “I’m not in the mood; I’m not doing it.”

Yu Zanchun was taken aback for a moment before understanding and said, “It’s fine; you can write it tomorrow, no rush.”

Others nearby murmured in discontent: the blackboard newspaper team had just reached a consensus to use tonight’s self-study time to complete everything. Although Yu Zanchun was just the second-in-command helping the activity committee, she was used to issuing commands; just earlier, a girl said she wanted to finish her homework first, only to be lectured by Yu Zanchun.

However, Lu Che was a special case; he was someone Yu Zanchun treated differently, so she could afford to give him more time.

Lu Che said, “I only agreed to help write a few words; the rest is up to you all.”

His tone was cold, leaving no room for negotiation. When he was expressionless, he always gave off a sense of unreachable distance.

With those words spoken, Yu Zanchun awkwardly looked at him.

Lu Che indifferently returned to his seat, his gaze unintentionally meeting Xu Xing’s without any ripple. Just as Xu Xing averted his gaze, Lu Che turned to look out the window at the night sky.

Xu Xing: “…”

His phone beeped, interrupting his thoughts. Xu Yin sent another message: “Forget it, I’ll head to the gathering first.”

Xu Yin was still participating in military training for college.

Xu Xing replied with a long string of ellipses, asking, “You need to clarify that first!!!”

But Xu Yin didn’t respond.

Xu Xing: “…”

The question Xu Yin asked was baffling.

Lu Che’s attitude was equally perplexing.

That night, Xu Xing felt irritable and tossed and turned, unable to sleep well.

---

Author’s Note: Lu Che: Do you see me looking angry? Want me to go back and write the blackboard newspaper? Do you think calling the class monitor to comfort me would help? : )