Ke Bu saw Xiong Le Le again much sooner than he had expected. He hadn’t imagined the transfer procedures would be completed so quickly.
Xiong Le Le carried the halo he had enjoyed at his previous school straight into Sheng Jie Academy. Within only a few steps through the gates, that halo stopped shining. None of the girls passing by turned their heads to look at him. Nobody whispered about him. Xiong Le Le found it unbelievable. Friends who had heard of Sheng Jie Academy had warned him not to transfer there, but he hadn’t taken them seriously. He first reported to the class adviser handling his registration and proudly handed over his transcript. Every school treasured exceptional students, after all. The adviser set the transcript aside. “Class 1. Find it yourself.”
“Um, sir, could I go to Class 2 instead?” Xiong Le Le decided to try his luck.
“Hey, he wants to go to your Class 2.”
Xiong Le Le looked in that direction. A woman in a suit raised a hand and waved dismissively. “Class 2 isn’t taking anyone else.”
“Actually, one of my really good friends is in Class 2. Couldn’t you make an exception?”
“No. Class 2 already has enough trouble.”
“My friend is Ke Bu. I really want to be in the same class as him.” Xiong Le Le put on the expression that had never failed him with women.
Only then did the woman turn to look at him. “Ke Bu’s friend?”
“Mm. More than a friend, actually. We might become brothers soon.”
Out of the corner of his eye, the registration adviser spotted Su You Yan coming down from the Chancellor’s office and called out to her. “You Yan, this student wants to join Class 2 because of Ke Bu. Your name is Xiong Le Le, right? If the Chancellor’s daughter agrees, we’ll let you into Class 2.”
The adviser had cleanly thrown all responsibility and future trouble away. He watched Xiong Le Le hurry after Su You Yan with the air of someone waiting for a good show.
“Hi, I’m Xiong Le Le.” Xiong Le Le held out his hand.
“Don’t ask me. I don’t have that authority.” Su You Yan was cold, trying to throw the responsibility straight back.
“How could you not? I’m surprised the Chancellor’s daughter is this beautiful. I’m not a bad person. Are you in Class 2 too? Ke Bu and I are close. I’m new here and don’t know anyone, so having someone familiar around would make me feel more at ease. You’re not really going to leave my hand hanging here, are you?”
Xiong Le Le’s hand moved closer to Su You Yan’s.
She shoved it away and pressed her palm against his chest. “There’s always something about your scent that makes me uncomfortable. Don’t come any closer.”
She left the stunned Xiong Le Le behind.
Then his expression suddenly brightened with delight. “This school is more interesting than I expected. I think I’m going to love it here.”
Ke Bu had been completely right to call him a chameleon. It took Xiong Le Le only half a day to adapt to the school and get close to the people in Class 1. He wasn’t in any hurry to find Ke Bu.
Not yet.
From inside the classroom, Ke Bu occasionally saw Xiong Le Le passing by, but Xiong Le Le never spoke to him, acting as though they didn’t know each other. Even so, Ke Bu sometimes had the strange feeling that someone outside the classroom was watching him.
“Zhi Li, you forgot your phone again. What was even the point of buying one?” Ke Bu walked out of the classroom and slipped the phone into Zhi Li’s pocket.
“You told me to buy it.”
“You make it sound like this is my fault. If you buy a phone, use it properly. It’s supposed to make it easier for people to reach you.”
“Why should I make it easy for other people to find me?”
“So I can contact you if I ever get ganged up on and beaten.”
“So you really are that easy to hate.”
“Pay attention to the important part of what I said!” Ke Bu pushed Zhi Li from behind. “If we don’t hurry, we’ll be late getting to the multimedia classroom. Do you know how horrific my final-exam grades were? If I don’t drag myself back up to my old average level, I’m going to become even more degenerate.”
“I can tutor you.”
“Thank you for your kindness, but our thought processes don’t exist on the same level. If you tutor me, my grades will only get worse.”
“Incorrect wording.” Zhi Li had already started tutoring him. “It’s our IQs that don’t exist on the same level.”
“See? I knew this was how it would turn out. I’d be better off asking You Yan.”
Ke Bu looked over his shoulder.
The strange feeling had disappeared.
“What is it?”
“Nothing. I’m just being paranoid.”
Zhi Li’s eyes flicked quickly to the side, catching the figure hiding around the corner. “Is that so? What does the son of that man your mother is seeing want by transferring here?”
“You mean Xiong Le Le? Who knows what’s going on in his head? I’m already getting a headache wondering how I’m supposed to deal with him. My mom might end up marrying his dad, which would make us family in name. If I completely fall out with him, it’ll put my mom in an awkward position. I’ve already become the selfish, immature kid in the eyes of all those meddling relatives. I caused a scene at Dad’s wedding. If I clash with Xiong Le Le too, they’ll probably say I’m deliberately trying to ruin my mom’s happiness this time.”
Ke Bu sounded helpless.
Zhi Li bent a finger and flicked Ke Bu between his furrowed brows. “You care too much about what other people say. I’m going to get jealous.”
“I really can’t do anything with you!”
Zhi Li hadn’t comforted him. He hadn’t offered any encouraging words.
And yet this particular method had hit Ke Bu straight in the center of the target.
A few more days passed.
Ke Bu had just reached the classroom door when someone called out to him. His pupils widened slightly. What shocked him wasn’t that Xiong Le Le had finally taken the initiative to speak to him.
It was Xiong Le Le himself.
His hair had been dyed back to black.
All of his previous distinguishing features were gone.
Xiong Le Le walked past Ke Bu and stopped beside Zhi Li behind him.
“Zhi Li, I’m Xiong Le Le.”
He produced two ice pops from behind his back and held one out to Zhi Li. “It’s the flavor you like. One and a half yuan. We split the cost.”
Zhi Li lowered his eyes to the offered ice pop, then looked at Xiong Le Le’s bright expression.
Ke Bu was staring at Xiong Le Le too.
Xiong Le Le had cut his hair exactly like Ke Bu’s. He was wearing the kind of clothes Ke Bu often wore. His expression, his mannerisms, his tone of voice—they were almost identical to Ke Bu’s.
Maybe even better.
Ke Bu had once imagined some flawless person appearing and trying to steal Zhi Li away.
What he had never imagined was another version of himself appearing to steal Zhi Li.
When an imitator repaired the original’s flaws and surpassed the original, the feeling was almost impossible to describe. It was like someone stealing the characters and plot you had created, then writing them better than you ever could.
But none of that was what hurt Ke Bu the most.
What hurt the most was that Xiong Le Le had stolen one of his memories too.
That had been the first conversation between Ke Bu and Zhi Li.
That memory belonged to the two of them.
Only to them.
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