Chapter 16
Proofreader: Akimi
No matter how slow Zhen Yuanbai was, he knew what was happening right now.
The hand holding the cotton swab trembled and he pretended to confidently avoid Shi Bufan’s gaze. He was incredibly shocked and surprised by this.
At this time, the doctor came back from eating and Zhen Yuanbai finally found a reason to hand Shi Bufan over to the doctor. Then, he ran out.
He walked back to his cla.s.sroom in a gaze, recalling the little details whenever he was with Shi Bufan. He realized something, but this made him afraid.
How could Shi Bufan be like this?!
Why is he like this?!
Since when did this start?
When did he start to…be like that to himself?
When Shi Bufan walked in the cla.s.sroom with gauze wrapped around his head, Qiu Jing and the others immediately stood up and walked over, frantically asking, “Brother Shi, what’s the matter?”
“Was it the people from Shengsan again?”
“d.a.m.n! They dared to stir up trouble while you’re by yourself! Let’s sneak attack today and teach them a lesson!”
Zhen Yuanbai buried his head down and silently looked at his book. Shi Bufan explained what happened this morning to them and then sat behind Zhen Yuanbai.
Right then, Zhen Yuanbai was extremely nervous. While they were in cla.s.s, he was still overly immersed in this unbelievable discovery; his mind wandered about frequently and it wasn’t just for one cla.s.s. It was for consecutive cla.s.ses and the teacher couldn’t help but report this situation to Ji Yanping.
Zhen Yuanbai didn’t talk to Shi Bufan the entire morning as he didn’t know how to respond to him anyway. He either remained quiet or casually answered, feeling embarra.s.sed the whole time.
Shi Bufan couldn’t help but laugh. He pondered over their relationship and wondered why Zhen Yuanbai was still shy and bashful.
When Teacher Liang grabbed the paper b.a.l.l.s that Shi Bufan tossed, he had been thinking that Zhen Yuanbai was probably lying to him about their relationship. Seeing how guilty and frightened he acted the day, and also not daring to kiss or hug him, Zhen Yuanbai probably did it to make himself look nice in front of him since he lost his memory. He decided to give Zhen Yuanbai some time to adjust to this surprise. After all, it may be too much for him to digest the fact that he went from one-sided love to two-way love.
Ji Yanping taught the last cla.s.s and she glanced at the absent-minded Zhen Yuanbai. She knitted her eyebrows and walked out of the cla.s.sroom, giving Zhen Pingjin a call. She told him about the situation and then said in consideration, “I don’t think he’s in the right state of mind. Did what happened this morning frighten him? Why don’t you come and pick him up from school, so he can take a day off to rest?”
Zhen Pingjin knew Zhen Yuanbai’s personality and felt the possibility of him being scared was very big. He hurried to school during lunch break while Ji Yanping especially reminded, “We can’t blame Zhen Yuanbai today. The people from Shengsan were the ones who stirred up trouble first, so please be careful when you’re talking to him. Don’t be too fierce.”
Zhen Pingjin nodded repeatedly and thanked, “Sorry for the trouble.”
Zhen Yuanbai kept his head down while eating in the cafeteria when Song Mo suddenly tugged him. “Isn’t that your father?”
Zhen Yuanbai immediately looked up and the pupils of his eyes slightly dilated. His father waved at him and Zhen Yuanbai immediately placed his chopsticks down, walking out. Zhen Pingjin pulled him to a side and asked, “Are you hurt anywhere?”
Zhen Yuanbai hurriedly shook his head.
Zhen Pingjin looked him up and down. Although he was comforted after observing him, his face didn’t look that good. “If you’re not in the right state of mind today, I can take you back home and you can come back later for cla.s.s.”
Zhen Yuanbai rushed to say, “I’m fine.”
“If you’re fine, how come the teacher said you were absent-minded in cla.s.s?”
Zhen Yuanbai recalled his parents telling him to stay away from Shi Bufan and the latter’s feelings towards him. Zhen Yuanbai felt shameful and his guilty expression made Zhen Pingjin angry again. Thankfully, he still remembered that they were in school, so he said coldly, “Don’t go to the afternoon’s cla.s.ses. Go back and take your backpack. You’re coming home with me.”
He didn’t give Zhen Yuanbai a chance to reject him as he turned around and walked off. Zhen Yuanbai didn’t even get to respond when he was forced to take his backpack and got on the car driving him back home.
The entire time, Zhen Pingjin had a gloomy face and he wasn’t comforted even when he brought him to the neighborhood. He stubbornly took him back home and then he said, “You’re not allowed to go anywhere this afternoon. Think carefully. What are you going to do if that stone had hit you? You’re always with Shi Bufan, but what happens if people catch you alone in the future? If you can’t make up your mind, you don’t need to go to cla.s.s tomorrow either. I am paying your tuition, so you can go to cla.s.s, not to be scared and frightened for you every day!”
Zhen Pingjin looked at the time and hurried back to his company, slamming the door on his way out. He didn’t even have time to eat lunch.
The room instantly quieted today. Zhen Yuanbai stared blankly and sat for a while. Then, he walked back to his room and threw himself on the bed. He buried his head in the blankets and repeatedly recalled things that happened after Shi Bufan lost his memory. He felt a headache rising at the thoughts.
He rolled over and then went to sleep. After he woke up, he suddenly thought that he should wash his face and prepare for the afternoon’s cla.s.ses. But glancing at the familiar room, he remembered Zhen Pingjin’s words: if you can’t make a decision, you don’t need to go to cla.s.s tomorrow either!
He enjoyed going to school, especially going to cla.s.ses. He liked how everyone sat in the wide and bright cla.s.sroom, learning. When he thought of how he was part of the group, he felt a sense of pride and divineness.
If he couldn’t go to cla.s.s tomorrow…Zhen Yuanbai couldn’t help but feel wronged. He didn’t even do anything, so why was he locked at home? Even though he knew that his father meant well for him, he still couldn’t help but feel upset.
The doorbell interrupted his grieving. He thought that someone came back home for something, so he went over to open the door for them. Unexpectedly, he met a pair of familiar eyes. Shi Bufan tilted his head and asked, “I sent you messages, but you didn’t respond…hey, why’d you cry?”
Zhen Yuanbai felt his tears surging down his eyes again. He pursed his lips with teary eyes and choked, “Why, why did you come?”
“I came to visit you.” Seeing that he planned to close the door, Shi Bufan hurriedly stuck a foot in between the door and asked through the crack of the door, “What’s the matter? Did your father hit you?”
“It’s worse than him beating me.” Tears fell down and Zhen Yuanbai loosened his grip on the door. Shi Bufan took this chance to slip inside and close the door. He asked worriedly, “Something happened to your family?”
“Something happened to your family!” Zhen Yuanbai instinctively scolded him. In the end, Shi Bufan was the reason why he couldn’t go to cla.s.s in the afternoon. Zhen Yuanbai resented him and thought even more that Shi Bufan was a bad influence. Tears fell down quickly and he said in an upset tone, “I can’t go to cla.s.s today. It’s all your fault.”
Sigh.
Shi Bufan said, “It’s not even that big of a deal. Isn’t it that you can’t go to cla.s.s? Well, that’s fine. I’ll take you out to play and relax.”
Zhen Yuanbai looked at him as if he was a monster. He told Shi Bufan the other piece of sad news, in order to emphasize the seriousness of the matter. “I might not be able to go to cla.s.s tomorrow either.”
“Then lucky you.” Shi Bufan walked over and wiped his tears for him, saying, “Stop crying. I’ll take you to the amus.e.m.e.nt park tomorrow, as compensation.”
Shi Bufan couldn’t relate to his pain. Zhen Yuanbai felt extreme despair and he said angrily, “My father won’t let me be with you. Do you understand this or not?!”
Shi Bufan finally reacted and he stared at Zhen Yuanbai’s red face from crying. He paused and then said softly, “You, you can’t bear to be away from me?”
“…” Zhen Yuanbai was mute.
Shi Bufan’s heart pounded rapidly and he licked his lips, feeling his heart tingling. He softened his tone and said, “Why doesn’t he want you to be with me?”
The moment Zhen Yuanbai thought this, tears fell down even more. On one hand , he thought that his parents were restricting his freedom to make friends and disrespecting him; but on the other hand, he thought that Shi Bufan didn’t live up to his expectations. He couldn’t help but complain, “Who let you have bad grades?”
Shi Bufan said helplessly, “But am I not starting to learn now?”
Zhen Yuanbai agreed but blamed him again. “My father saw you smoking.”
“I won’t smoke in the future.”
“You fight.”
“I won’t fight in the future.” Shi Bufan reached over to wipe his tears, saying, “Anything else?”
Zhen Yuanbai’s eyelashes were wet as well as his eyes. Even his face was wet. He stared at Shi Bufan because of his straightforward and instant answers. “Really?”
“Of course.”
Zhen Yuanbai pursed his lips. He didn’t really want to be friends with Shi Bufan anymore since the latter held some feelings for him. He wanted to distance himself from Shi Bufan, but he didn’t know how to initiate this when Shi Bufan genuinely wanted to start fresh. Zhen Yuanbai said stiffly, “Then why aren’t you going back to cla.s.s?”
“Why don’t I start tomorrow?” Shi Bufan held his hands and Zhen Yuanbai immediately dodged it, knitting his eyebrows. He complained, “I knew you were lying to me.”
If only Shi Bufan can actually learn in cla.s.s. If he was engrossed in studying just like himself, Shi Bufan probably won’t have the time to think about nonsense.
Shi Bufan had no choice but to withdraw his hands. He said, “Then should I go back to cla.s.s? I’ll try my best to get second place, so I can sit with you.”
Zhen Yuanbai didn’t believe that he would get second place, but he said, “Yes.”
Shi Bufan turned around and was about to leave, when he came back again. He reached over and leaned his hand on the wall Zhen Yuanbai was leaning against. The latter immediately glanced over nervously and Shi Bufan pinched his earlobes. He propped his other hand on the wall, completely trapping Zhen Yuanbai in his arms. “You’re not going to encourage me?”
Zhen Yuanbai paused and said, “Good luck!”
Who the f*ck wants this kind of encouragement? Shi Bufan moved closer and his nose was almost touching Zhen Yuanbai’s. His voice was also a bit hoa.r.s.e, saying, “Give me some substantial encouragement, like…”
Zhen Yuanbai immediately kneeled down and Shi Bufan looked over, hearing him murmur, “Good friends, don’t, don’t do that.”
Shi Bufan thought that he was probably frightened by his parents, so he didn’t dare to be with him. He also kneeled down, saying, “Then, I’ll hold onto today’s encouragement. When I improve my grade, I’ll come seeking for my reward.”
Zhen Yuanbai really wanted to say: Do you like me? But I don’t like you anyway. He didn’t have the guts to though, he kept his head down and remained silent. Shi Bufan took it as him agreeing. He said, “I’m going now.”
Zhen Yuanbai immediately nodded. His eyes turned slightly red.
Shi Bufan really wanted to bully him, after seeing how shy and frightened he was.
Shi Bufan didn’t want to leave, moving towards Zhen Yuanbai. He said softly, “I think that I may not be able to understand what the teacher is teaching me. Since you’re not going to be in school, why don’t I stay here in the afternoon to accompany you? That way, you can tutor me?”
He didn’t forget to promise, “I’ll definitely leave before your parents come back home.”
Once he finished, he felt his heart pounding and was full of excitement.