On Friday afternoon, the first and second-year students of high school were released for the weekend. To avoid traffic congestion at the school gates, the first-year students only had two afternoon classes, while the second-year students had to wait until the third period to be dismissed.

As for the third-year students, a Saturday break was no longer a luxury they could afford.

After the second period ended, Xu Xing went to the restroom and, upon returning, saw Tang Mian standing in the hallway. He walked over to her and followed her gaze down the school road.

Tang Mian leaned against the railing, watching the underclassmen laughing and joking as they passed by below. She sighed enviously, “I miss being a first-year student. Do you remember? Back then, after school on Fridays, our class would go kite flying together.”

Xu Xing didn’t have any strong memories of Friday afternoons in his first year, but he did recall that last year in the second year, the third-period geography class on Fridays had the highest truancy rate. It wasn’t just because the geography teacher was lenient with classroom discipline, but also because the first-year students were dismissed early, making it easy for the habitual truants from the second year to slip away among them.

Xu Xing and Tang Mian stood in the hallway for a while. When the bell for the next class rang, they returned to the classroom.

Xu Xing’s eyes immediately landed on the back corner, and he frowned slightly—Lu Che and Zou Mang’s desks were both empty.

The last two periods on Friday afternoon were combined for self-study, usually with a science test based on previous years’ college entrance exams prepared by the teachers.

The homeroom teacher came in with a stack of practice papers to distribute. After handing them to the students in the front row to pass back, she walked to the back of the classroom and asked Xu Xing, “Where are Lu Che and Fu Dai? Did they not show up for class this afternoon?”

Hearing this, Xiong Huan, who sat in front of Xu Xing, paused in her writing and couldn’t help but glance back.

Xu Xing replied, “They were here for the first two periods.”

The teacher hadn’t asked about Ke Di and Zhou Mang because the sports students had training during the last two periods of the afternoon.

Flipping through the class log that Xu Xing managed, the teacher chuckled, “Lu Che made it for almost half a month without skipping. Today’s his first time, so I guess that’s progress.”

Xu Xing: “…”

Isn’t that setting the bar a bit too low for Lu Che?

The teacher handed the log back to Xu Xing, saying, “I’ll contact them. You just focus on the test.”

Xu Xing nodded. After the teacher left, he stored the logbook and hesitated for a moment. His hands reached into his desk, where he could feel the shape of his phone through his bag. Fingering the logo on the bag, he remained undecided.

Xu Xing glanced again at Lu Che’s empty seat, then out at the cloudy sky, feeling a bit uneasy. After a moment of hesitation, he looked around the quiet hallway. Feeling somewhat guilty, he pulled his phone out of his bag for a quick look. As soon as he turned on the screen, he saw two new WeChat messages—

LC: Class Rep, I had something to take care of, so I had to leave. Can’t have dinner with you tonight. See you tomorrow~

LC: [animated emoji]

Xu Xing couldn’t help but click into the chat to view the details. The emoji Lu Che sent was an animated one of a little girl blowing a kiss at the screen. Xu Xing frowned with mild disdain after seeing it.

Tossing the phone back into his bag, Xu Xing folded the test paper in half and picked up his pen to start answering questions.

By evening, it had started to drizzle outside, the sound of raindrops harmonizing with the ringing of the bell.

With Wang Zicong off to find his girlfriend, Xu Xing finally had the chance to head to the cafeteria alone. The rain had started unexpectedly—after all, the overcast sky from the morning had cleared up in the afternoon. Many classmates hadn’t brought umbrellas, but fortunately, there were covered walkways from the school buildings to the cafeteria.

With only the third-year students left on campus, the cafeteria felt particularly empty that evening.

Xu Xing didn’t even need to wait in line, as usual, picking out three dishes and grabbing a tray. As he went to get utensils, debating whether to rinse the chopsticks and spoon, Tang Mian and Liu Peilian happened to walk by.

Seeing Xu Xing, Tang Mian glanced behind him and asked curiously, “Are you alone? Where are Zhong Zhong and Lu Che?”

Xu Xing furrowed his brow slightly and replied, “One went to see his girlfriend, and the other skipped class.”

Xu Xing was used to people asking about Wang Zicong when they saw him since they were often together, but why was Lu Che being brought up? They weren’t that close, were they?

Tang Mian: “Oh, oh, let’s go eat together then. It’s been a while since we’ve had a meal together.”

Xu Xing: “Mm.”

·

During evening self-study.

The light drizzle outside gradually turned into a steady downpour, the sound of the rain becoming a loud and constant rush, even drowning out the bell.

Many classmates hadn’t brought rain gear, and despite the rain slowing, they remained anxious as they gazed at the steady rain outside.

Xu Xing had just finished packing his bag when he heard someone at the back door ask, “Where are Xiong Huan and Xu Xing sitting?”

The classmates pointed to the fourth group.

Hearing this, Xu Xing turned his head to see a tall, dark-skinned boy walking over. He held a wet umbrella in his left hand and two neatly folded umbrellas in his right. As he walked, the tip of his umbrella left a wet trail on the floor.

The boy looked at Xu Xing and asked, “Are you Xu Xing?”

Xu Xing responded with a startled “Ah,” then said, “Yes.”

The boy placed an umbrella on the desk behind Xu Xing and said, “Lu Che asked me to bring this for you. Where’s Xiong Huan?”

Xu Xing: “…”

Xiong Huan, who was sitting in front of Xu Xing, turned around. The tall boy handed another umbrella to her, saying, “Fu Erdai asked me to give this to you.”

Xiong Huan took the umbrella with a somewhat dazed expression, while the boys sitting in front of them had already started teasing her.

No one around found it strange that Lu Che had asked someone to bring an umbrella to Xu Xing. At most, they thought the two had a good relationship. However, the teasing laughter directed at Xiong Huan also reached Xu Xing’s ears. While everyone’s attention was on the gossip about Xiong Huan and Fu Dai, Xu Xing’s mind was occupied with Lu Che’s name.

Xu Xing held the umbrella; it wasn’t heavy.

But the weight it placed on his heart was not light.

Next to him, Wang Zicong cheerfully said, “Ah, we’ve got umbrellas to get back to the dorms now. I won’t need my girlfriend to bring me one!”

Xu Xing absentmindedly smiled at him. “Mm, let’s go then…”

Wang Zicong eagerly took Xu Xing’s backpack, carrying both of their bags together.

The two of them went downstairs and walked to the end of the covered walkway by the teaching building. There was still a long way to the dorms. Xu Xing opened the umbrella, and they walked through the pouring rain together, sheltered in a small, bright world under the umbrella.

Back at the dormitory, Xu Xing and his roommates took turns showering. When it was Xu Xing’s turn to bring the basin to the balcony, his gaze fell on the umbrella leaning against the outside.

Xu Xing placed the basin aside, hesitantly walked over to the umbrella, paused for a moment, then picked it up and left the dorm, heading to room 311. He knocked on the door.

“The door’s unlocked, come in—”

Xu Xing opened the dormitory door and scanned the room but didn’t see Lu Che.

The boy closest to the door, with a towel around his neck, spoke before Xu Xing could. “Class monitor, Lu Che isn’t back yet.”

Xu Xing responded, “Oh…”

Subconsciously, he hid the umbrella behind his back, awkwardly asking, “Where did he go?”

The boy shrugged and said, “I don’t know. Fu Dai, Ke Di, and Zhouu Mang haven’t returned yet either. They’re probably out having fun.”

Xu Xing frowned slightly at that, already backing out the door. “I’ll head back then.”

“Alright.”

Xu Xing closed the door and brought the umbrella back to his own dorm.

That night.

Xu Xing sat on his bed with a small table, doing his homework, keeping his phone at the edge of the table. Every time he finished a problem, he’d glance at the phone, but it remained silent even after lights out.

Lying in bed, Xu Xing rolled over and looked at the phone screen, now dimmed to its lowest brightness.

He stared at Lu Che’s WeChat chat window, dazed. When he got back from Lu Che’s dorm, he had wanted to message him, to ask where he was. But his pride got in the way—he kept waiting for Lu Che to message him first, worried that Lu Che would tease him for being overly concerned.

In the end, he waited the whole night. The time on his phone screen read 12:47 AM—very late. If he sent a message now, Lu Che would definitely tease him the next morning for worrying all night.

Xu Xing was inexplicably angry, frustrated that Lu Che hadn’t sent him a single message. But as soon as the thought appeared, he scolded himself: Why would Lu Che have to send you a message to let you know he’s safe? He clearly told you, “See you tomorrow.”

Xu Xing’s eyes fixated on the message Lu Che had sent him that afternoon, with the words “See you tomorrow” and a playful wavy line at the end.

“….”

Annoyed, Xu Xing placed his phone by the bed, closing his eyes, silently struggling with himself: He wasn’t worried about Lu Che. Not at all.

It’s just that, even though he usually turned off his phone before bed, tonight he hadn’t even put it on airplane mode.

The next morning.

The first thing Xu Xing did when he woke up was check his phone. But apart from a weather report from QQ, there were no other notifications.

Frustrated, he tossed his phone aside, got up, and went to wash up before heading to class.

Xu Xing spent the entire morning under a cloud. The homeroom teacher informed him that she had spoken with Fu Dai and the others, and that they would submit their leave notes on Monday. But Xu Xing waited until after the fifth period to finally log in the class attendance: Lu Che, Fu Dai, Ke Di, and Zhou Mang, absent for periods 1-5.

After completing the class log, Xu Xing half-heartedly pulled out his phone from his bag. When he pressed the screen, his previously dim eyes lit up at the sight of a WeChat message—

LC: Class monitor, I can’t have lunch with you today either.

LC: I suddenly realized I won’t see you until next Monday. I miss you.

LC: Class monitor, when you see this, could you reply to me with just a word or two?

Lu Che’s message was sent more than half an hour ago. Xu Xing scrolled up and realized that most of the chat consisted of Lu Che talking to himself.

Lu Che’s messages from last week went unanswered. His messages from yesterday were ignored too. By now, Lu Che must think that Xu Xing was completely indifferent.

Xu Xing was just about to type a reply when another message popped up—

LC: If nothing else, could you just send an emoji?

Xu Xing’s fingers paused over the screen, his gaze shifting between the two messages.

A word or two would do?

Even an emoji?

Xu Xing suddenly wondered what kind of spell fate had cast on Lu Che. In Lu Che’s eyes, what kind of person was he? What kind of person was worth Lu Che constantly lowering his pride, worth Lu Che thinking about him not having an umbrella even when out of school, worth Lu Che shamelessly begging for his attention?

He wasn’t worth it. He didn’t deserve it.

Xu Xing couldn’t give Lu Che the response he wanted, but before severing their connection, he hoped Lu Che wouldn’t be left too embarrassed.

Xu Xing bit his lip, trying to find the right words.

Frowning, Xu Xing finally replied, “Where are you?”

Feeling the message was too short, he added, “I wasn’t ignoring you. I just got out of school and saw my phone.”

As soon as the message was sent, a playful emoji of a little girl puckering up for a kiss popped up. Lu Che, afraid of not replying quickly enough and being ignored again, quickly followed up: “I’m handling some stuff off-campus. I probably won’t be back until this afternoon.”

Xu Xing figured it must be some personal matter.

Having asked, he almost inquired if Lu Che was hurt, but thought it was too awkward and held back. He was about to put his phone away when he hesitated, then sent an extra message: “Alright, I’m going to lunch now.”

---

The author’s note: Some readers mentioned that Lu Che doesn’t have much opposition, but Lu Che’s greatest obstacle is Xu Xing himself—so tsundere! Thousands of rivals have fallen, but Xu is still in denial [covering face].