Extra 2®

“Chaochen, wake up, stop sleeping on the desk!!” He Ze nudged the boy still sleeping on the desk, teasing all over his face.

“What’s up?” Qin Chaochen, half-asleep, slapped He Ze’s hand away in annoyance.

“It’s the class beauty Bai Zhenzhen’s birthday party tonight, what are you giving her?” He Ze whispered, winking.

“My family prepared some jewelry.” Qin Chaochen wasn’t worried at all.

Actually, he didn’t know what to give a girl. The Bai family had a good standing in City A. After he told his mother about it, she took care of it for him.

“What should I give?” He Ze scratched his head. “Help me think, buddy.”

“I think I heard Bai Zhenzhen mention wanting to travel to Yun Chuan Island. You could give her two tickets to Yun Chuan Island.” Qin Chaochen glanced at Bai Zhenzhen, who was surrounded by girls, chatting and laughing.

“As expected of you, always so observant.” He Ze was overjoyed, feeling like a burden had been lifted. The Bai family had high status, and Bai Zhenzhen was pretty, so He Ze had some teenage crush feelings.

“Then I’ll go back to sleep.” Qin Chaochen said drowsily.

Yesterday, the results of the monthly exam came out. He was always a student with strengths in certain subjects, but he could still make it to the top ten in the grade. However, his math was terrible, previously scoring fifty out of a hundred, barely making it with two digits. Now, he was working hard, and his math score doubled.

Last night, he worked on practice papers until two in the morning, and after class, he quickly lay on the desk to catch up on sleep.

Qin Chaochen felt a bit frustrated. According to some people, Fu Quezhi studied privately until four or five in the morning. However, when he secretly checked after class, the top student was still sitting straight, flipping through textbooks, without a hint of tiredness.

Was Fu Quezhi practicing some kind of cultivation at night?

…

“Let’s go, time for Zhenzhen’s birthday party.” Zhao Yuan pulled her girlfriends, giggling as they left the classroom.

“Tomorrow’s Sunday, we can have fun tonight.”

“My family’s driver is here, let’s go together.”

The boys and girls in the classroom were all pulling their friends to Bai Zhenzhen’s birthday party. Most of the students here were from wealthy families, and many had business dealings with the Bai family. Plus, Bai Zhenzhen’s pure and pretty looks made her a goddess among many boys.

Soon, only a few scattered people were left in the classroom.

Fu Quezhi frowned, and only after the noisy crowd left did his brows relax.

His phone vibrated.

It was a message from Fu Changtian, telling him to attend Bai Zhenzhen’s party tonight.

Fu Quezhi pursed his lips. He never liked socializing, and attending a party was less appealing than doing a few more practice papers.

“Chaochen, let’s go, why are you dawdling?!” He Ze shouted loudly from outside the classroom, his voice echoing in the hallway.

“I’m coming, stop rushing me, you’re like a nagging ghost.” Qin Chaochen rolled his eyes.

“Bai Zhenzhen’s party will be fun, and there’ll be pretty girls to see.” He Ze grinned. “Girls will definitely dress up beautifully for such occasions.”

“You’re not young anymore, but your mind is still full of mischief.” Qin Chaochen teased, tugging playfully at He Ze’s backpack from behind. “Brother He, have you forgotten about me now that there are pretty girls?”

“Brother He will never forget you.” He Ze, not angry at being tugged, slung an arm around Qin Chaochen’s shoulder, grinning mischievously. “Brother He will always pamper you.”

“Get lost.” Qin Chaochen immediately turned hostile, swatting He Ze’s backpack away.

The two gradually walked off into the distance.

Fu Quezhi’s fingers tightened around a pen. His usually cold face was expressionless, and now it was even more so, exuding a chill.

“Qin Chaochen and He Ze have such a good relationship.”

“Of course, they’ve been close since they were kids, practically growing up in the same pair of pants. How could they not be close?” a boy laughed.

“Speaking of which, Fu Quezhi and Qin Chaochen have been neighbors for many years, right?” The boy lowered his voice. “But it seems like their relationship isn’t that great.”

Fu Quezhi put his workbook into his backpack, yanking the straps heavily as if venting his frustration, then left expressionlessly with his backpack.

“Fu Quezhi seems even colder today,” a boy whispered.

“Young master, here’s the gift prepared by the old master.” The driver said as he saw Fu Quezhi get into the car.

Fu Quezhi sat in the back seat, and with a glance, he saw the beautifully wrapped gift. He responded indifferently, closing his eyes, lost in thought.

Soon, they arrived at the birthday party. Bai Zhenzhen’s party was held at Jinguang Pavilion, a famous hotel in City A, where reservations were hard to come by. Fu Quezhi walked into Jinguang Pavilion, handed his gift to Bai Zhenzhen, and casually found a seat. He wasn’t familiar with Bai Zhenzhen and didn’t have much to say.

“He Ze, hurry up.” This time, it was Qin Chaochen urging He Ze.

Bai Zhenzhen, hearing Qin Chaochen’s words from inside the door, covered her mouth and smiled, looking very pretty.

“Coming, coming.” He Ze replied casually.

“Zhenzhen, here’s my gift.” Qin Chaochen handed the gift box to Bai Zhenzhen, pulling He Ze along, who looked like he was about to collapse from exhaustion.

“Zhenzhen, here’s my gift too.” He Ze handed his gift box to Bai Zhenzhen with a grin.

“It’s all because you insisted on going there.” He Ze complained, seemingly mindful of others, his words incomplete.

“Didn’t you want to go too?” Qin Chaochen looked at He Ze with a pitiful expression. The two sat down, and Qin Chaochen picked up a glass of wine, ready to gulp it down.

“You can’t drink.” He Ze chuckled, swapping the wine for juice under Qin Chaochen’s speechless gaze.

“It’s so hot.” Qin Chaochen drank a few sips of juice, grabbed the hem of his shirt, and started fanning himself, revealing his well-defined abs with tiny beads of sweat rolling down.

At this moment, he leaned lazily on the sofa, his Adam’s apple moving up and down, his eyes hazy, and his lips redder than usual, making him look like someone you’d want to kiss.

Fu Quezhi’s fingertips turned white, his back still straight. When he heard He Ze’s “that thing,” he recalled that Qin Chaochen and He Ze had left earlier than him but arrived an hour later at Jinguang Pavilion.

His gaze fell subtly on Qin Chaochen’s face, noticing his lips were redder than usual, and he was sweating. Surprisingly, He Ze’s lips were also very red.

His cold face turned even colder, and images of Qin Chaochen and He Ze together flashed through his mind.

Fu Quezhi’s eyes hadn’t moved away when he saw He Ze leaning closer to Qin Chaochen, whispering in his ear, the two laughing and chatting.

“That was refreshing.” He Ze whispered.

“You didn’t believe me.” Qin Chaochen said proudly. “Now you know how awesome I am. Spicy hot pot is really delicious.”

He Ze exaggeratedly exclaimed, “Wow, Chaochen, you’re amazing, so amazing I can’t handle it!”

“Keep it down, it’s embarrassing.” Qin Chaochen punched He Ze a few times, looking awkward. Eating dinner before someone else’s birthday party was a bit inappropriate.

But birthday parties never filled him up, and Qin Chaochen always ended up hungry.

“Stop, stop, I know I was wrong.” He Ze laughed heartily, begging for mercy in a low voice.

Fu Quezhi suddenly felt suffocated. He drank a few glasses of wine and went to the balcony to cool off, trying to calm down, or else he didn’t know if he could control himself.

Because Fu Quezhi disliked noise, he sat in a secluded spot. When he walked onto the balcony, someone noticed him. After all, Fu Quezhi’s handsome appearance made him a heartthrob for many girls.

“Let’s play a game. What’s a birthday party without games?” a boy shouted.

“Bring it on, who’s afraid?” a girl said cheerfully.

“Truth or dare, but no truth, because we can’t tell if you’re lying. Only dares, and you can’t drink to avoid it.” The host boy’s eyes gleamed mischievously.

“Bring it on, it’s not like we can’t play.” Even those who weren’t interested became intrigued. Young people loved thrilling games like this.

“Here we go.” The boy spun the bottle.

He Ze wasn’t lucky; the bottle pointed directly at him.

“No way.” He Ze was dumbfounded.

“Pinch your nose with one hand, put the other behind your back, and spin fifteen times.” A boy said with a cheeky grin.

“You’re really not holding back.” He Ze smiled wryly.

After fifteen spins, He Ze collapsed onto the sofa. “I’m done, I’m done.”

“You can’t be done, you’re too much fun to lose.” A boy laughed.

The bottle spun a few more times, landing on different people. The most daring was making one boy hug another, teasing a couple in the class.

“Last round, let’s make it exciting.” The host boy grinned wickedly. “Go to the balcony and kiss someone of the same gender, not too much to ask, right?”

“Same gender, no big deal.” He Ze said nonchalantly. “But I’m still a first kiss.”

No one objected.

The bottle spun, and everyone’s eyes were on it. It spun a few times and slowly stopped in front of Qin Chaochen.

Qin Chaochen looked surprised.

“Chaochen, go on, no cheating.” The host boy winked. “Go, go.”

“Hahaha, Chaochen’s first kiss too!” He Ze suddenly revealed, grinning like he deserved a beating.

The balcony breeze was cool. Qin Chaochen stood there, feeling pitiful. On the balcony, mostly girls from school were enjoying the breeze, while the boys were inside. He couldn’t find a single guy.

He hadn’t seen Fu Quezhi at Bai Zhenzhen’s party. Fu Quezhi never liked attending parties, and as far as he knew, he probably left after giving his gift.

These days, finding a guy on a balcony was tough. Qin Chaochen drank several gulps of mint juice in frustration.

If he found a guy, he could just lightly touch faces and complete the task.

He walked into a corner of the balcony, already a secluded spot, but still no guys. He sighed in disappointment.

Suddenly, he heard a rustling sound behind him, and a large hand covered his eyes, pulling him into an embrace.

“Who is it?!” Qin Chaochen asked in surprise.

He could sense the person meant no harm, but he still wanted to break free. Unexpectedly, both his hands were grabbed by one hand. In the dim corner of the balcony, Qin Chaochen’s eyelashes fluttered, and the person, after observing the balcony’s light, released his hands.

A kiss, carrying the scent of alcohol, landed on him.

“Mm…” Qin Chaochen wanted to struggle.

The kiss wasn’t gentle; it was filled with a strong sense of possession and a hint of biting.

Kisses landed on Qin Chaochen’s eyes, nose, and lips.

The person was strong, seemingly familiar with Qin Chaochen’s martial arts, having just subdued him.

The person was breathing heavily.

Qin Chaochen’s eyelids had a thin layer of moisture, his eyes flushed red. His tear glands were sensitive, and tears fell easily.

Tears dripped onto the floor.

The kiss became gentler, yet not entirely gentle, kissing away the tear stains on Qin Chaochen’s face.

A low voice said, “Why are you crying?”

“You look beautiful when you cry.” Fu Quezhi chuckled.

“Are you a pervert?” Qin Chaochen recognized Fu Quezhi from his voice and stopped crying. But his face was still flushed.

“Since you helped me complete the truth or dare, I won’t hold it against you for sneaking up on me.”

Qin Chaochen guessed Fu Quezhi knew about the truth or dare game, which was why he came from the living room to the balcony. He didn’t expect him to be so considerate, though he did give him a scare.

Fu Quezhi’s expression was strange. “?”

“…Truth or dare.”

“It’s mint-flavored.” Fu Quezhi said out of nowhere.

“What, what?” Qin Chaochen was puzzled.

Fu Quezhi didn’t answer.

He touched his lips, a mix of alcohol and mint.

▍Author’s Note

Fu Quezhi: He ate mint candy again.