School life remained unchanged, one day passing after another. The steadily rising temperature was becoming irritating even to ordinary people. Fewer and fewer students could be seen around campus, with most hiding wherever there was air-conditioning and nobody willing to go outside. In previous years, Sheng Jie Academy’s suburban location, backed against the mountains, had kept the dormitories shady and cool enough that there hadn’t been much of a problem. But this year’s abnormal heat couldn’t even be suppressed by a gloomy place that felt like some ghostly realm. The school administration had said they would install air-conditioners, but whenever something required the school to spend its own money, the administration always moved extremely slowly.
More than ten minutes had passed since the end-of-class bell rang, and most of the students had already gone to the cafeteria. No matter how hot it was, people still had to eat. Chu Hao Yu, sitting beside Zhi Li, kept checking the time while waiting for the girlfriend he had met on the night of the music concert. Ke Bu didn’t particularly have anything against Chu Hao Yu’s girlfriend. It was Chu Hao Yu’s business, after all, and Ke Bu had no place interfering. But that girlfriend really did like asking him for things.
“Yu-Yu~ Have you been waiting long?” The sickeningly sweet doubled nickname made Ke Bu want to shudder. He truly hated that baby-talk habit of repeating words—turning “drink water” into “drink drink” and “eat” into “eat eat.” Was that genuinely supposed to be cute? If anyone ever called him “Bu-Bu,” Ke Bu was certain his first reflex would be to punch them.
“No, no. It’s only natural for a man to wait for a woman. Come on, let’s go eat together.”
“Mm.” The girl took out her phone. “Look, my screen is all scratched up. I want a new phone. I’ve wanted the latest iPhone forever, but my parents refuse to give me the money.” She was clearly hinting at something.
“Oh, I see.”
“Buy me one. My roommate’s boyfriend bought one for her, and it’s so annoying. She keeps showing it off in the dorm like my boyfriend isn’t as good as hers.”
“That’s only because your roommate hasn’t seen me. If she did, she’d definitely fall for me.”
“You’re awful. So will you buy one for me?”
“I will. Of course I will. Once I have money, I’ll buy you one.”
“When will you have money?”
“I’ll have money when I have money.” Chu Hao Yu brushed her off while wrapping an arm around his girlfriend’s shoulders and walking away with her.
Only after watching Chu Hao Yu leave did Ke Bu look at the completely motionless Zhi Li. “You’re not planning to leave?”
“It’s too hot outside.”
“You still need to eat no matter how hot it is. Besides, the classroom air-conditioning gets turned off at night too.”
Zhi Li stared at the sunlight streaming through the classroom windows. “Ke Bu, let’s take a leave of absence and come back after summer.”
“Don’t take a leave of absence over something this trivial!” Ke Bu softened his voice and comforted Zhi Li as though soothing a child. “I admit this summer is really hot, but grit your teeth and it’ll pass.” Zhi Li gritted his teeth, then said, “Why hasn’t it passed?”
“Of course it won’t pass if you take me literally!” Ke Bu pulled Zhi Li to his feet. “Didn’t You Yan get a fan for your dorm? A calm heart naturally feels cool.”
The moment they opened the classroom door, a wave of heat slammed into them. Zhi Li allowed himself to be dragged for a few steps, then stopped. After that, Ke Bu couldn’t move him another inch.
“Hot.”
“It’ll cool down in a little while.”
“I said, it’s hot.” Hearing something wrong in Zhi Li’s tone, Ke Bu immediately shoved him back into the classroom. “You know, there’s actually nothing wrong with staying in the classroom a little longer. Why go outside? We can do plenty of things in here too.” Ke Bu’s attitude changed instantly. He carefully checked Zhi Li’s expression. Thank goodness—he hadn’t undergone his dark transformation. Ke Bu picked up a piece of chalk from the teacher’s desk and put it into Zhi Li’s hand. “Your sketchbook is in the club building, right? Why don’t you draw on the blackboard to pass the time?” Zhi Li didn’t say anything. He stood in front of the blackboard, while Ke Bu found himself a seat in the first row. Resting his cheek against one hand, he began thinking. Should he calculate exactly when Zhi Li’s dark transformation was triggered? At what temperature, and after how much time standing in the sun? But figuring it out would require experiments, and those experiments would be extremely dangerous. Ke Bu hesitated, trying to think of a way to minimize the risk.
The sunlight stopped several steps away from Zhi Li’s feet. One hand rested in his pocket while the other was raised toward the blackboard. His neat hair lightly covered the attractive back of his neck. His shirt shifted slightly with each movement of his arm. His jeans were neither tight nor loose, flattering his long legs, and his canvas shoes were so clean they looked new. The beautiful sight reflected in Ke Bu’s pupils interrupted his thoughts.
“Can I choose what you draw?” When Zhi Li didn’t answer, Ke Bu continued anyway. “Draw whatever you’re best at and let me see?” Zhi Li turned his head and glanced at Ke Bu before facing the blackboard again. Ke Bu remained quietly seated in the first row, never changing his position, one hand supporting his cheek. He was too busy watching Zhi Li to spare any attention for what Zhi Li was drawing.
It didn’t take long before Zhi Li tossed aside the chalk. He slowly turned to one side, and as he moved, the drawing on the blackboard gradually came into view within Ke Bu’s clear eyes. Immediately afterward, Ke Bu’s expression softened and brightened. Whether his heart had skipped faster or slower, Ke Bu didn’t have time to count.
The person on the blackboard was Ke Bu himself. This was what Zhi Li was best at drawing. The answer should have been obvious from the beginning. The person Zhi Li had drawn most often, and spent the longest time drawing, had always been Ke Bu.
“I kind of hate to erase it, but it’ll be embarrassing if other people see it during class tomorrow.” The moment Ke Bu finished speaking, Zhi Li wiped the drawing away with the blackboard eraser. Ke Bu pushed both hands against the desk and shot to his feet. “I was still considering it!”
“You looked conflicted, so I kindly helped you. Now you don’t have to be conflicted anymore.”
“You really are…” Ke Bu pointed a finger at Zhi Li. “You really are completely unromantic.” He had even thought Zhi Li might have drawn him specifically to move him, but apparently Zhi Li had genuinely only been demonstrating what he was best at drawing. Ke Bu looked regretful. “I didn’t even take a picture.”
Zhi Li picked up another piece of chalk and quickly drew another one. “Take your picture. I’ll draw as many as you want.”
Ke Bu badly wanted to ask Zhi Li one question: Are you really sure you’re not deliberately trying to move me?
He didn’t ask because he already knew the answer. Zhi Li genuinely wasn’t doing it deliberately. Whenever Zhi Li deliberately tried to be romantic, all he ever did was borrow excessively cheesy lines from romance novels.
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