Early the next morning, as soon as Yu Ting entered the classroom, he was horrified to discover that the dark circles under Shen Shi’s eyes had grown even heavier.
He already had a handsome, aloof look; when he hadn’t slept well and kept a cold face, it only added a few more layers of gloomy, repressed attractiveness— like a vampire on a nighttime patrol in the Middle Ages, oddly compelling.
“Are you okay?” Yu Ting pulled out a chair and asked with concern.
Shen Shi didn’t open his eyes. Wearily, he replied, “I’m fine.”
On the podium, the subject reps from each class began collecting homework, their calls ringing out one after another.
“Math papers, hand in issue 3-1. If you haven’t finished 3-2 yet, hurry up and write it, the teacher’s going to go over it in class.”
“Physics workbook pages 13 to 15. If you haven’t done them, make it up quick, the teacher’s checking in class.”
“And chemistry too. I’m handing out the papers now, turn them in after morning self-study. Only do the multiple-choice… only the multiple-choice!”
Yu Ting had wanted to ask what Shen Shi had been up to last night, but now he instantly lost the mood. He could only stare at the list of homework on the blackboard in despair. “F*ck… do they think we’re pack mules or what?!”
Assignment after assignment, wave after wave, there was no end to it.
In desperation, he went around borrowing homework from classmates. The boys in the back row were all poor students; not only had they not done the homework, they couldn’t even find all the papers. One by one, they sighed in distress.
Just then, as despair set in, someone else came in through the back door.
The figure hurried in, wearing a clean, tidy school uniform. His build was like a willow branch just beginning to grow tall, and as he moved he brought with him a fresh, gentle breeze. He carried his backpack neatly on his back, one look and you could tell he was a good student.
Ye Ran’s cheeks and temples were damp with sweat from the heat. He’d lingered in bed a bit this morning, and when he finally opened his eyes, a lot of time had already passed, Shen Shi had long since left.
Now that he was in the classroom, he relaxed, stuffing his backpack into the desk.
Yu Ting asked with hope shining in his eyes, “Ye Ran, did you do the homework?”
Ye Ran froze for a moment. Following his gaze, he looked up, and after seeing how much homework was on the blackboard, he solemnly pulled open his backpack zipper. “Wait a sec, let me check.”
Yu Ting: “?”
What did that mean, had he forgotten whether he did it or not?
In the shadowy corner of the back row, Shen Shi lifted his eyelids at the sound, glancing at Ye Ran as he lowered his head to rummage through his bag.
His body tensed unconsciously.
Holding his breath, focusing.
A few seconds later, Ye Ran successfully found a stack of neatly piled test papers.
He opened them and gave them a quick scan. Sure enough, when it came to doing homework, there was such a thing as professional specialization.
Shen Shi had only helped him with the basic questions, and had even deliberately imitated his handwriting. From the math paper to the physics paper, even Ye Ran himself couldn’t spot any flaws.
Yu Ting was still anxiously waiting for his homework. Ye Ran suppressed the guilt in his heart and handed all the papers to him. “Here, take a look.”
“Good brother, thanks!” Yu Ting said gratefully.
“No problem.”
Ye Ran accepted the thanks with a guilty conscience. Without drawing attention, he glanced at Shen Shi. Shen Shi was propping his chin, eyes lowered; sensing it, he looked back at Ye Ran as well. His gaze was deep, with noticeable dark circles beneath his eyes, he’d probably stayed up until two or three in the morning catching up on homework.
Quietly, Ye Ran reached out and poked Shen Shi’s knee under the desk.
Shen Shi’s eyelids fluttered at once. He shot him a warning look, but didn’t move his leg.
The chemistry rep came over to hand out papers. Ye Ran looked at her blankly.
“This is…?” He’d arrived late and hadn’t heard what the rep had said earlier.
The rep was a girl. She explained, “This paper is only multiple-choice. We’re collecting it before self-study ends, the teacher’s going to go over it in class.”
Ye Ran unfolded the paper. It was filled with rows of English letters and experimental diagrams.
He looked at it until his head hurt, and nodded: “Okay, I got it.”
The class rep quickly handed out all the papers, and then repeated the instructions again on the podium.
The classroom instantly filled with wails.
While Yu Ting was scribbling furiously, his mouth wasn’t idle either: “When will these days ever end, I swear I can’t survive another second!”
“F*ck!” He looked toward Shen Shi with jealousy and envy: “You’ve got it good.”
Say “slack off” and you slack off, say you’re not doing homework and you don’t do homework.
On normal days, when he said these sour words, Shen Shi wouldn’t even lift an eyelid. But today he suddenly let out a snort. He leaned back, relaxing his tired wrist, and said lazily, “Who said I don’t need to write it.”
Yu Ting: “?”
The next second, a blank test paper was passed back from the front.
He lifted his head in confusion and saw Ye Ran’s face.
Before he could ask, Shen Shi raised his hand, took Ye Ran’s test paper, and calmly pulled out a pen to start writing.
The way the two of them passed papers back and forth, smooth movements and natural expressions, completely stunned Yu Ting.
Yu Ting: “……”
Yu Ting: “???”
What, are you two filming a sci-fi movie here?
He was dumbfounded for a full minute before he looked incredulously toward Ye Ran. Ye Ran felt his gaze, let out a guilty cough, and said, “…Um, I’ll let you copy later.”
Yu Ting stared blankly, then turned to look at Shen Shi again.
Shen Shi silently worked through the questions, not saying a word, tacitly acknowledging Ye Ran’s words.
Yu Ting: “……”
Yu Ting: “…………”
Yu Ting was falling apart.
For the rest of the day, Yu Ting was in a dazed, foggy state.
At first, Jiang Yun didn’t understand and even took a few embarrassing photos of him. Until during math class, he saw Ye Ran confidently throw his unfinished homework to Shen Shi, and Shen Shi barely even looked before quietly helping him write it then he was stunned too.
Unlike Yu Ting, whose brain worked normally, Jiang Yun tested things out during physics class by also tossing his paper to Shen Shi. After being expressionlessly beaten up, he tearfully understood one thing.
“I suspect…” Jiang Yun said in anguish, “Shen Shi has been KFC-ed by Ye Ran.”
Yu Ting: “No.”
Yu Ting: “He’s been CPU-ed.”
As they finished speaking, nearby, Ye Ran, lying on Shen Shi’s desk, brightened his eyes and lowered his voice on purpose: “Wow, Shen Shi, you know how to do all these questions? You’re amazing!”
The boy who was always indifferent to praise kept his head down, his pen never stopping, and said flatly, casually, “They’re not hard.”
Ye Ran: “But I don’t know how to do any of them.”
“It’s fine,” Shen Shi said. “I’ll write them for you.”
Ye Ran smoothly handed over the matching exercise booklet: “…I don’t know how to do these either.”
Shen Shi didn’t even lift his head: “Put it on my desk.”
“Got it.” Ye Ran set the booklet down and continued happily showering him with compliments.
Watching Shen Shi’s expression grow more and more relaxed, the corners of his mouth even faintly curving up, Yu Ting and Jiang Yun: “……”
He’s definitely been KFC/CPU-ed!!!
The two stared at Shen Shi with bitter disappointment, about to speak, when Ye Ran holding several finished papers turned toward them, blinked, and asked, “Want to copy?”
Yu Ting: “……”
Jiang Yun: “……”
D*mn it. We’re being controlled too.
The entire morning passed in a blur.
During the lunch break, Yu Ting and Jiang Yun didn’t see Ye Ran or Shen Shi. The two had clearly been talking at their seats a moment ago, and now had disappeared.
They glanced at each other but didn’t think much of it.
……
Right now, at the end of the hallway, in the bathroom, Ye Ran lowered his gaze, suppressing his shaky breaths.
He stared blankly at a point in the air, and at some moment suddenly hissed in pain, his eyes rimmed red with moisture. In a husky voice, he said, “Shen Shi… don’t bite.”
His fingertips were soft and delicate as he gently stroked the back of Shen Shi’s neck, coaxing him like a greedy, unruly wolfdog. “Yes, you can kiss, but you can’t—”
Before he finished, Ye Ran’s eyes trembled violently.
“We need to set some rules,” the boy said in a low, rough voice, squeezing Ye Ran’s waist. His eyes were dark and heavy. Even though he was the one below, his gaze was cold, fierce, and overwhelmingly forceful. “I’ll do whatever I want.”
“That stuff other people taught you, I don’t need it.” Shen Shi let out a gloomy laugh and lowered his head again.
This time, no matter how gently Ye Ran coaxed him, the little wolf cub, now completely rebellious, wouldn’t let go. He grabbed a piece of meat and viciously devoured it.
Ye Ran finally curled into his arms, held by the jaw and kissed urgently.
There was no technique, no strategy.
When the little wolf felt good kissing him, he’d hum softly; when he felt Ye Ran pulling away, he’d frown impatiently, clamp down harder on Ye Ran’s hands to stop him from moving, and keep tangling with him however he pleased.
Raw, direct, unrestrained.
Ye Ran endured for a while. When he caught sight of the boy’s eyes growing darker and more possessive, his heart trembled. In the end he softened his voice, wrapped his arms around Shen Shi’s neck, and coaxed him gently.
“…There’s no one else, really, only you.”
“Mhm, mhm, I know… you’re straight, super straight, yes, it’s a deal… ah—don’t bite… it’s not a deal, right, I deliberately approached you.”
“That’s right, I thought you were handsome the moment I saw you… Beijing? What does any of that matter… mm… none of them are as handsome as you, don’t, don’t bite.”
“I’ve never had anyone else do my homework, only you… w-wait, kiss later, Shen, Shen Shi, let me finish talking—”
Shen Shi, dizzy from Ye Ran’s coaxing, only kept clinging to him. Whenever Ye Ran moved even slightly away, he stared directly and impatiently at Ye Ran’s lips, clearly wanting more.
Ye Ran had no strength to resist.
Young Shen Shi was lean but solid with muscle, his body full of youthful power. He looked slender, but one hand was enough to pin down all of Ye Ran’s resistance. As expected, Shen Shi was never easy to fool, no matter the age.
Sweat gradually dampened Ye Ran’s cheeks and temples, his black hair sticking to his face. He panted against Shen Shi’s firm shoulder, and before long, the wolf cub, drawn by his scent, latched onto him again, kissing and nipping.
….
When everything was over and they returned to the classroom, Ye Ran’s eyes were still a little wet.
He must have washed his face; the bangs on his forehead were damp, and his lips were an unusual, swollen red.
Shen Shi, who came back with him, looked completely satisfied, relaxed, and casually started spinning his pen as he wrote Ye Ran’s homework.
Yu Ting: “……”
Jiang Yun: “……”
The two exchanged a glance.
It’s over.
They definitely fought.
As expected, Shen Shi was still Shen Shi.
It was Friday.
The evening self-study session had no classes, just study time.
Shen Shi slept all afternoon. When he woke up, the sky outside was glowing with sunset. He lazily spun his pen, and when he looked up, Ye Ran was gone.
His pen stopped. He narrowed his eyes and stared darkly at Zhang Xuyang, who had called Ye Ran out.
Zhang Xuyang had gone back to a solo desk.
No one in class wanted to share a table with him; everyone treated him like he was invisible. Only Ye Ran, with his good temper, would say a few words to him.
Thinking of that, Shen Shi’s eyes cooled noticeably.
He put down his pen, stood up, and walked straight toward Ye Ran. Halfway there, Ye Ran sensed it and turned his head slightly, signaling him with a look.
Shen Shi paused, lips tightening unhappily.
Ye Ran gave him another helpless look.
Only then did Shen Shi frown, swallow his irritation, and walk back to his seat.
Cold-faced, he thought about how to set new rules with Ye Ran tonight.
Since they had made a deal, Ye Ran had to stay away from other guys.
This wasn’t about being straight or not, it was about contract spirit.
Ye Ran naturally didn’t know what he was thinking. Seeing Shen Shi obey, he relaxed slightly and answered Zhang Xuyang with a somewhat distant expression.
“About your parents’ divorce, I’m an outsider. I can’t comment. Instead of crying here, I think you should go home and talk to your mom…”
……
The back door of the classroom was suddenly pushed open.
A figure rushed in.
Yu Ting was writing his paper when Jiang Yun startled him. Annoyed, he glared: “What the h*ll are you panicking for? I heard you yelling from miles away!”
Jiang Yun shook his shoulders in despair: “F*ck, I’m screwed!”
“How screwed?” Yu Ting shoved him away impatiently. “Don’t delay my homework.”
Jiang Yun looked helpless: “I f*cking forgot that the day after tomorrow is Yuanyuan’s birthday! Holy sh*t!”
“I didn’t buy her a gift, didn’t write her a card… no wonder she’s been giving me dagger eyes lately!”
Yu Ting perked up. “Oh, you’re done. Xu Yuan will kill you.”
Jiang Yun: “Don’t talk sh*t! Hurry, come with me to Huating to pick a gift!”
“No,” Yu Ting said, unmoved. “She’s your girlfriend. You handle it yourself.”
“I want to handle it myself, but you’re better at choosing gifts than me. Bro, my real bro, help me out, I’ll buy your lunch for the next month.”
“Huating Jewelry has a bunch of new stuff, but I can’t tell the difference between any of it. Why is buying a gift this hard? Bracelets, anklets… they all look the same!”
Just as Jiang Yun was about to keep begging, in the dark, Shen Shi’s voice suddenly sounded.
“Huating got new stock?”
Jiang Yun froze, not expecting him to reply. “Yeah, Huating Jewelry is your family’s company, isn’t it?”
Shen Shi nodded carelessly. “Just remembered. I’ll go too.”
Jiang Yun: “?”
Jiang Yun: “Why are you going?”
Shen Shi: “Inspection.”
Jiang Yun: “……”
Yu Ting: “……”
Bro, you’re really milking this one.
Ye Ran, please come deal with him!
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