During break time, Yu Guang stealthily took out half a pack of cigarettes and escaped to the restroom as if fleeing.

Ye Si didn’t follow him out, which gradually calmed Yu Guang’s nervous heart.

He locked himself in the innermost stall, trembling as he pulled out a cigarette, tore open the rolling paper, and chewed on a small amount of tobacco.

The taste wasn’t too strong, and the consolation of nicotine wasn’t enough to suppress his current anxiety.

He suddenly realized that he had switched cigarettes; the one in his hand was a strawberry-flavored women’s cigarette with popping beads, naturally not as strong in flavor.

But it was better than nothing, at least it was soothing.

Taking a deep breath, Yu Guang leaned weakly against the stall door.

He thought of Jiang Xiyue.

She was a pure and beautiful girl, as passionate as the sun, always dressing up and approaching Ye Si.

Like a butterfly, her fluttering was too proactive, but it was indeed hard to refuse.

Did Ye Si gradually open up his territory under such passionate and intense attacks? Or was his lack of refusal also tacit approval?

Yu Guang was stunned for a moment, and the first thought that came to his mind was not one of blessing.

The restroom on the secluded top floor was relatively clean, but he suddenly saw a cobweb formed in the corner.

The rice-sized spider was trapped in its own trap, its life or death uncertain.

Covered in dust, gloomy, and stiff.

The semi-enclosed restroom stall made it hard for him to breathe. Yu Guang coughed a few times, then unlocked the door and stepped out.

He spat out the chewed tobacco, rinsed his mouth with tap water, and gargled.

There was a lingering smell of alum sediment in the water, like diluted disinfectant, like the white walls in a hospital.

Ptui, ptui, ptui.

He spat out the water again, pressed his tongue against his palate, and finally bit into the strawberry-flavored bead in the cigarette filter, letting the sweet and greasy strawberry aroma spread in his mouth. Compared to inhaling through the filter sponge, the fragrance was more intense.

In his mouth, it was extremely sweet.

But at least it covered up the smell of tobacco and alum.

He had lingered in the restroom for too long and only realized it was time for class when he checked the time.

He hurriedly ran back to the building across the way, barely making it in time, and stepped into the classroom as the bell rang.

He immediately saw Ye Si, his tall figure standing out among the students.

It seemed that Ye Si heard the movement from the back door, but didn’t turn around. Yu Guang only saw Ye Si’s pen pause slightly on the paper.

After intense running, he struggled to catch his breath, and cautiously sat back down next to Ye Si.

Before he could recover, the piece of paper was pushed to his desk.

Different from what Yu Guang had glimpsed at the beginning, what was now in front of him was a finished piece—

A half-body figure sketch.

Yu Guang was stunned for a long time, dumbly turning his head to look at Senior Ye Si.

He pointed to the drawing, then pointed to himself.

“Is this… me?” he asked incredulously.

“Doesn’t it look like it?” Ye Si countered.

Yu Guang couldn’t fault Ye Si’s drawing skills; even a simple sketch displayed profound artistic talent. Even for someone like Yu Guang, who didn’t understand art, just looking at it was a delightful experience.

But he truly didn’t know how to evaluate how much the drawing resembled him.

The person in the drawing was too beautiful, seemingly worlds apart from him.

The tousled hair on the forehead was slightly shorter on the sides, revealing a pair of moist and sparkling peach blossom eyes, slightly curved, a smile that reached the depths of his eyes, something he had never seen on his own face.

Yu Guang stared at the paper for a long time, feeling as if he were looking at another parallel self through the thin paper—a stranger. Yet, the facial features of the person in the drawing were indeed quite similar to his own…

He hesitated, carefully raised his eyes to glance at Ye Si’s expression, and pointed to the paper.

“Senior Ye Si… my bangs should be longer.” His voice was somewhat hesitant.

He couldn’t describe his current mood.

He was both happy that Ye Si had drawn him and suspicious that what Senior Ye Si liked wasn’t really him.

The person in Ye Si’s drawing didn’t look like him at all.

Not like the timid and withdrawn facade he put on, nor like the gloominess of his true soul.

It was something entirely unfamiliar, unattainable even in ideals.

Yu Guang felt the substantial gaze of Ye Si.

“The bangs should be trimmed,” Ye Si’s fingertips moved slightly, but he just tapped on the desk, “such beautiful eyes shouldn’t be covered.”

His tone was casual, with a hint of a refined gentleman.

This was the second time Ye Si had praised his beautiful eyes.

These eyes, which were full of mistakes in the eyes of his parents, were actually receiving praise.

The overly sweet taste of the strawberry flavor in his mouth suddenly became less unpleasant.

But at the same time, Yu Guang began to wonder—

Why would Senior Ye Si say something so easily misunderstood?

Yu Guang lowered his head, silently touched his eyelids, and for a moment, didn’t know what to say.

He caught a whiff of the faint woody scent emanating from Ye Si, and his nostrils flared slightly as he asked softly:

“Is the perfume you’re wearing called ‘Road to Hades’?” Even though he already had an answer in his heart, he still asked. He didn’t have any other purpose; he just wanted to talk to Ye Si a little more.

Yis raised an eyebrow, “Hmm,” he said, “How did you know?” He deliberately asked.

“Uh…” He remembered the elongated, diamond-shaped eyes under the golden-masked mask, then glanced at Ye Si, and simply said, “I have a friend who also wears ‘Road to Hades,’ and it smells good.”

Ye Si didn’t say anything else, just raised an eyebrow with a deep and unfathomable gaze.

Presumably, their little actions were too obvious, and the beautiful teacher who had been ignoring them on the platform looked straight at them.

“The student next to Ye Si seems to be new? Can you answer the teacher’s question?” She asked.

Yu Guang:…

He silently stood up, nervously grabbed his sleeve, rubbed the cuff with his fingertips, exerting a bit too much force, making his knuckles turn white—

Actually, Yu Guang wasn’t as nervous as he appeared. Answering the question, right or wrong, wouldn’t affect him in any way, and no one would care.

He was just deliberately hoping that Ye Si would see his anxious, tight grip, hoping that Ye Si would have some compassion.

The beautiful teacher with golden curls quickly asked the question: “Earlier, the French film clip showed this sentence. Can you repeat it in French?”

The PPT on the projection screen flipped to the next page, with black text on a white background displaying a sentence, with the words ‘grave’ and ‘burial’ bolded, indicating the focus of this French lesson:

In everyone’s heart lies a grave to bury a loved one.

—Stendhal, “The Red and the Black”

Yu Guang had read Stendhal’s “The Red and the Black,” but he couldn’t read French.

Swiftly skimming over the line of text, he pursed his lips and lowered his head slightly, discreetly glancing at the man beside him.

Yu Guang was gambling—betting whether Ye Si would help him out of this situation.

Luckily, he won the bet.

Yis stood up, smiling faintly. “I’m sorry, Ms. Lin. This is my younger brother who came to class with me. He doesn’t understand French very well, so I’ll answer this question for him.”

Ye Si was indeed tall; Yu Guang’s head only reached his shoulder. Broad shoulders, narrow waist, upright posture—just standing next to him gave a sense of security.

Yu Guang stared blankly at the person beside him, dim sunlight streaming into the classroom through the window, casting a glow on the man, outlining his perfect facial contours against the light.

Like a masterpiece shrouded in heavy mist, with a low saturation of beauty.

Ye Si’s deep voice seemed to come from the water: “Au fond du cœur de chacun se trouve un tombeau pour enterrer un être cher.” It was the chant of a sea demon.

Before the tone fell, Ye Si suddenly turned his head towards him, staring straight at him. Yu Guang couldn’t avoid his gaze in time, caught off guard as their eyes met.

They say sailors shouldn’t hear or see, but Yu Guang broke the rule.

In an instant, it seemed like the deep sea in Ye Si’s eyes began to rise, and the tidal effect locked onto by the moon caused towering waves to surge.

Yu Guang fell headfirst into the sea.

He thought, if there were also a grave in Ye Si’s heart, he would be willing to be buried there forever.