Autumn arrived late, bringing with it a golden chill. Withered leaves struggled to cling to the branches before finally trembling to the ground. A week had passed since Chu Hao Yu and the others caused their commotion, and everything had remained peaceful. It was Sunday, and scarcely anyone could be seen around campus. Ke Bu zipped up his jacket as music flowed through his earphones and into his body. A white plastic bag swung from his hand, while his canvas shoes crunched the dry leaves beneath his feet. From far away, he had been about to call out Zhi Li’s name, but when he noticed how intently Zhi Li was drawing, he softened his footsteps and approached quietly before carefully taking a carton of milk and a bottle of cola from the bag.
Ke Bu sat down in front of Zhi Li with his chin propped on one hand and the straw caught between his lips. The brown liquid flowed into his mouth, making him frown. Iced cola was painfully cold in this weather. Still, it was thanks to the falling temperature that Zhi Li was finally willing to spend time outdoors again.
Whenever the young women passing by could not resist glancing at Zhi Li, Ke Bu shifted his position so that the back of his head blocked Zhi Li’s face. With the light falling across his sketchbook suddenly cut off, Zhi Li finally raised his pure, beautiful face and stared expressionlessly at Ke Bu. Ke Bu stared back before eventually mumbling, “If I’m blocking your view, then use me as the scenery instead.”
Zhi Li lowered his gaze and resumed drawing. “The artsy approach doesn’t work on me.”
“Oh, you’re awful~~ You don’t have a single romantic bone in your body~~”
“The flirtatious approach doesn’t work on me.”
“That was me acting cute!! What do you mean by that?!”
“The tsundere approach doesn’t work on me.”
“I’m talking to you normally now!! Are you deliberately picking a fight?”
“The dumbass approach doesn’t work on me.”
“Who are you calling a dumbass? I’m angry now.” Ke Bu folded his arms, planted one foot on the bench, and turned away. At first, he was only putting on an act, but Zhi Li looked as though he had no intention of coaxing him. With no graceful way to back down and the uncomfortable feeling of being ignored, Ke Bu became genuinely sulky. Sometimes emotions arrived for no apparent reason. He took out his phone and began playing a game. After a long while, Zhi Li poked his shoulder with a pencil. Ke Bu shrugged him off without looking up. “What?”
“Sharpen this.”
Ke Bu took the pencil. “Can’t you use a mechanical pencil? Your terrible drawings wouldn’t look any different even if you used a calligraphy brush.” As he spoke, he suddenly remembered that he was supposed to be angry. He threw the pencil onto the ground. “Who said I was going to sharpen it for you?!”
“The lead broke.”
“Serves you right. Pretending nothing happened won’t work on me.”
“Has it been too long since I dealt with you properly?”
“Threats don’t work on me.”
“Then what does?”
“Nothing works on me.”
Zhi Li lowered his head to look at Ke Bu, who was sitting with his own head bowed. He leaned over and kissed Ke Bu’s forehead. “Does this work?”
“N-No.”
Zhi Li kissed his cheek. “What about this?”
“Still no.” The tips of Ke Bu’s ears grew warm. His mind told him to push Zhi Li away, yet his hand could not bear to move. Zhi Li leaned closer again, his hair brushing over Ke Bu’s face, leaving him feeling ticklish and warm. This time, their lips met briefly before separating. “And this?”
“I-I already said it doesn’t work. Even if you kiss me one more time, twice, or a hundred times, it still won’t work.”
“Are you ever going to finish? How much of my time do you intend to waste?”
“Your tenderness has a ridiculously short shelf life!!”
Ke Bu snatched Zhi Li’s sketchbook and stuffed it inside his jacket. “Which is more important, your sketchbook or me?”
“Why ask such an obvious question?”
“I want to hear you say it.”
“The sketchbook, of course.”
“I knew you’d say that!!” Ke Bu collapsed weakly onto the reclining bench and threw the sketchbook back to him. He continued drinking his cola while bouncing one foot. “I never realized playing the clingy lover was this exhausting.”
“Are you an idiot?”
“Sometimes I want to try a different way of stirring up your desire for me.” The moment Ke Bu finished speaking, he saw the contempt in Zhi Li’s eyes and hurriedly explained, “Why is your mind so filthy? I don’t mean that kind of desire. I mean wanting to possess me more, stay closer to me, and like me so much that you go insane.”
“Don’t I spend plenty of time in that living room of yours?”
“That isn’t what I meant!! Wait—since when is my backside a living room? Are you saying I’ve already gotten loose?” How had the conversation veered in this direction?
“That’s the bathroom.”
“I don’t feel remotely pleased by that. Zhi Li, let me ask you something. What score would you give me? Don’t feel pressured. There’s absolutely no need to consider my feelings. I’ll humbly accept your answer.”
Zhi Li lowered his head and began flipping through his sketchbook. Ke Bu pointed at him. “Why did you suddenly look away? Is my score really that low?”
“One hundred.”
“I can hardly believe my ears. So I’m really that charming in your heart. What should I do? I’m suddenly feeling a little shy.”
“The maximum score is one hundred. Being a dumbass costs you twenty points, laziness costs you twenty, shamelessness costs you twenty, and being an idiot costs you forty,” Zhi Li said calmly.
“That subtracts the whole hundred!!”
“You managed to land yourself a boyfriend. Plus one hundred.”
“How do you have the nerve to call me shameless? How do you have the nerve?!” Ke Bu continued, “Guess what score I’d give you. Ninety-nine. Know why?” He vented as though taking revenge. “That face of yours is worth ninety-nine points. As for everything else, don’t expect to get even one point from me. You have no personality, no substance, and nothing else worth mentioning.”
Zhi Li regarded Ke Bu meaningfully. “So you like my face that much.”
“Please pay attention to the actual point of what I said.”
A muffled rumble of thunder interrupted them as dark clouds began gathering overhead. Zhi Li stood amid the sudden gloom. “Let’s go.”
Ke Bu climbed onto the bench and jumped onto Zhi Li’s back, wrapping both arms around his neck. “Carry me.”
Zhi Li hooked his arms beneath Ke Bu’s legs and hitched him higher. “Hey, Ke Bu.”
“What?”
“Something back there is really hard.”
Ke Bu’s face instantly turned bright red. “Impossible!! I’m still soft right now.”
“What are you talking about? I meant the milk.” The carton they had bought earlier was tucked inside Ke Bu’s bag. Ke Bu wanted nothing more than to crawl into a hole. “You said it that way on purpose, didn’t you?”
“What?”
“You absolutely did it on purpose.”
“What?”
As they approached the dormitory, Ke Bu suddenly rested his chin on Zhi Li’s shoulder. “Zhi Li, I love you.”
“Don’t bother. I’m not giving you any extra points.”
“What do you take my feelings for?” Ke Bu protested, while inwardly raising his middle finger. Tch~~ He saw right through me.
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