MNL Chapter 43
by VolareChapter 43: Imbalance: Can you stay away from me in the future?
Cha Fei’ang ran to the office six times in the morning, finally managing to get the scarf back from Liang Yin after much pleading. Just as he was excitedly about to praise Xu Jing for his effective idea, he realized that the young master hadn’t lifted his head since morning.
He didn’t know how Xu Jing managed to sleep through Zhou Yan’s class without getting caught, but he could sense that something was very wrong with Xu Jing today.
Although Cha Fei’ang had always felt that his relationship with Xu Jing was pretty good, he still felt a bit apprehensive and dared not ask what was going on at times like these. Therefore, he could only place his hopes on Shen Yan, who usually spent more time with Xu Jing.
Even though one of them was at the far left of the classroom and the other at the far right, Cha Fei’ang felt that Shen Yan had already noticed this and was fully aware of the cause of the matter.
“Yan-shen, you didn’t do something, did you?”
Shen Yan turned his head, and Cha Fei’ang immediately shut up.
“Never mind, I didn’t say anything. I’ll go.”
Just as Cha Fei’ang was about to leave awkwardly, he heard Shen Yan ask, “Did he have lunch?”
“…” Cha Fei’ang didn’t expect Shen Yan to ask this question and shook his head after a few seconds of stunned silence.
Shen Yan didn’t say anything else. Cha Fei’ang waited in place for a while before returning to his seat with a puzzled expression.
Because he hadn’t slept much last night, Xu Jing had been in a daze for almost the entire day. As soon as he closed his eyes, it felt like a gyroscope had been installed in his head, forcing him to constantly recall the things he had experienced with Shen Yan.
He even had a bizarre dream where everyone around him disappeared, leaving only him and Shen Yan. They were doing the most ordinary yet absurd things, and his heart was filled with unprecedented palpitations.
Perhaps, as he had told Yan Zhe, he really had fallen for Shen Yan.
He didn’t know what time it was, but a gust of wind suddenly blew in from outside the window. Xu Jing was awakened by a ray of slanting afterglow. He groggily raised his head, and saw large swathes of orange light shining on the open language textbook and the solid wood composite floor as the sun set.
The classroom was empty.
No.
Reality and dreams seemed to overlap. In the instant where space converged, Xu Jing saw that familiar figure in the corner.
So it was already the end of the fourth lesson in the afternoon, and everyone else had gone to dinner. No wonder the classroom was empty.
Xu Jing was wondering why Shen Yan hadn’t gone to the cafeteria when he looked down and found that there were many snacks in his drawer.
As well as that familiar English tutoring book.
Xu Jing’s gaze swept past Shen Yan and returned to the pile of snacks, his mood indescribable. He didn’t have much of an appetite and had a headache from sleeping. He took a few sips of water to feel slightly better.
Xu Jing found his phone in his bag and saw a screen full of messages. Apart from many friend requests, the rest were basically from Yan Zhe.
He remembered what he had sent last night, so he knew what Yan Zhe would say without even looking. Xu Jing was too lazy to reply and fiddled with his phone for a few minutes, but found it uninteresting.
Reality was ultimately different from dreams. At this moment, he only wanted to escape the place where he was alone with Shen Yan.
Xu Jing put down his phone and prepared to go to the water room to get some water. Before leaving the classroom, he couldn’t help but glance over there. At this moment, Shen Yan was propping his head up with his hand, reading a book. The slightly fluttering white curtains obscured half of his cheek, and the soft light added a touch of dreaminess.
The water room was relatively far from the 104 classroom. Xu Jing had something on his mind and didn’t notice anything unusual along the way. However, the moment he filled the water and turned around, he collided head-on with the person who suddenly appeared behind him.
Xu Jing raised his head in displeasure.
“Not feeling well?”
Shen Yan’s gaze was deep and powerful, and Xu Jing’s mind went blank. He tilted his head slightly and replied, “No.”
Shen Yan seemed to see through Xu Jing’s intention to leave first and said first, “Wait for me.”
Xu Jing held the water cup and didn’t agree, but his feet were honestly still rooted to the spot.
Shen Yan said almost affirmatively, “You’re avoiding me.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“What why?”
Shen Yan was quiet for a while, his tone somewhat hesitant, “Are you…”
“No.”
Shen Yan, who usually only knew how to retort at others, was silenced by Xu Jing’s rebuttal.
“Shen Yan.” Xu Jing suddenly stopped before entering the classroom.
Shen Yan’s premonition of bad things was always accurate. He hummed in acknowledgement, listening quietly to what Xu Jing would say next.
“Can you stay away from me in the future?”
Xu Jing’s voice was abnormally calm, as if he was talking about something insignificant, but they were still talking and laughing before last night.
Shen Yan didn’t say anything, fell silent for a moment and overtook Xu Jing to enter the classroom first, while Xu Jing stayed where he was, his head slightly lowered.
He felt like a dying fish struggling on the shore, careful and cautious, but still losing balance in this relationship. Only a few short months, he couldn’t even find the source.
Xu Jing smiled wryly. He actually had those kinds of thoughts about a boy. If he said it out loud, probably no one would believe him.
The classroom gradually became more crowded. Cha Fei’ang always ate quickly and saw that Xu Jing had already sat up when he came back. He jokingly opened his mouth, “Yo, Jing-ge, what’s wrong? Heartbroken?”
Xu Jing didn’t reply, and Cha Fei’ang instantly regretted it. He knew that Xu Jing was visibly upset today, but he insisted on walking right into the line of fire. Wasn’t that just courting death?
“So, what should I do?”
“Huh??” Cha Fei’ang walked to his seat, looked at Xu Jing, and made sure that no one was around before replying with a hesitant expression, “This… just find something else to distract yourself, or meet new people.”
After Cha Fei’ang finished speaking, he also carefully examined Xu Jing’s expression. From that solemn face, he could almost confirm that this was real.
“Damn, Jing-ge, you!” Cha Fei’ang’s excited voice was suppressed by Xu Jing’s cold gaze. He still couldn’t calm down, leaned on Xu Jing’s desk, and said with a flamboyant expression, “You actually got dumped?!”
Xu Jing said irritably, “If you can’t talk, then shut up.”
“No, when did you even start dating?”
Xu Jing remained silent.
“You’re too unkind. I even told Yan-shen…”
“What did you tell him?”
Xu Jing’s tone was as if he was about to swallow Cha Fei’ang whole. He was always afraid of tough people, so he shrank his head at this time and whispered the rest of the words.
“I said you were acting strange today and wanted him to ask you what was wrong.”
Xu Jing suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, then warned, “Don’t tell him about my business in the future.”
Cha Fei’ang was quick-witted and even more convinced that Xu Jing’s abnormality today was inextricably linked to Shen Yan.
“Xu Jing, are you free now?”
The sudden female voice made the two of them turn their heads at the same time. Xu Jing hummed in acknowledgement. Lin Xiyan looked a little nervous and asked softly, “I want to ask, are you interested in the New Year’s Eve gala?”
Xu Jing didn’t hesitate: “No.”
A few glimmers of disappointment flashed in Lin Xiyan’s eyes. She looked very well-behaved and rarely communicated with others, so she was inevitably a little at a loss in the face of Xu Jing’s straightforward personality.
Sensing that the atmosphere had changed, Cha Fei’ang smiled and broke the awkward silence, “Hey, Lin Meinv, someone like Jing-ge obviously isn’t suitable for performing on stage. How about me?”
Lin Xiyan pursed the corners of her lips and said, “I think he’s more suitable than you, comparatively speaking.”
“…”
Cha Fei’ang was hurt by this honest expression.
“So, what programs are you planning to prepare?”
“The class monitor and I have learned Latin dance, so we have prepared a duo Latin dance performance. We also plan to arrange a song.” After speaking, Lin Xiyan looked at Xu Jing.
“I’m tone-deaf.”
Cha Fei’ang laughed unkindly.
“I saw in your personal information form that your specialty is playing the piano, so you don’t need to sing.” Lin Xiyan looked very persistent.
Only then did Xu Jing remember that when school started, Liang Yin had asked everyone to fill out an information form that included hobbies, specialties, and family situations in order to better understand the students’ situations.
He didn’t think much about it when he filled it out and handed it in after writing it in a perfunctory manner.
Xu Jing was thinking about how to refuse when he turned his head and found Cha Fei’ang desperately winking at him.
Meet new people, shift your focus…
Shen Yan certainly wouldn’t want to perform on stage. Although he didn’t like it either, this was the best way at the moment.
Perhaps it was because he had been spending too much time with Shen Yan recently that some ideas that shouldn’t have been generated had also sprung up. Xu Jing thought with a touch of luck that these small flames that had ignited for no reason could be extinguished before they burned to the ground.
“Okay.”
“You agreed?” Lin Xiyan’s tone was full of surprise, “Thank you!”
Cha Fei’ang looked at Lin Xiyan’s slender back and muttered, “That’s strange. How do I remember that she used to like Yan-shen?” The next second, he saw a book flying over. Cha Fei’ang quickly reached out to catch it, but because the movement was too large, the whole person fell back to his seat in a panic.
“Damn, Jing-ge, what are you doing!”
Xu Jing opened the English tutoring book on the table, didn’t even lift his head, and coldly spat out three words, “Go back.”
Cha Fei’ang’s liver hurt from anger. He cursed, complaining that one or two of them were mentally unsound today!
·
As soon as the school bell rang this day, Xu Jing didn’t wait for anything, picked up his schoolbag and walked out, but he was suddenly stopped halfway.
“Friend, do you have time?”
Xu Jing was a bit face-blind and only realized after a while that it was Lu Haichuan. This time in the geography competition, because the questions were too tricky, apart from Shen Yan, who won first prize, only he and this person won second prize.
“What is it?”
Lu Haichuan was good at reading people’s expressions and said with a smile, “You seem to recognize me?”
Xu Jing said directly, “I don’t.”
“Alright.” Lu Haichuan shrugged indifferently and said, “I’m looking for you because I want Shen Yan’s contact information.”
Xu Jing frowned, “Why don’t you ask him for it?”
“I did.” Lu Haichuan sighed helplessly, “Several times already, and he refuses to give it to me.”
“Then I won’t give it either.”
Xu Jing was about to leave when Lu Haichuan quickly grabbed him and pleaded, “Give me one, I don’t mean any harm.”
Xu Jing turned his head to look at Lu Haichuan, and his eyes made the latter feel inexplicably uneasy. He quickly let go of his hand and said, “Sorry, then can you help me talk to him about it?”
How could a normal person be so persistent in getting to know someone of the same gender? Realizing this, Xu Jing suddenly became vigilant, “What do you want to do by adding him?”
“Ah?” Lu Haichuan was stunned for a moment and said, “I just think he’s pretty awesome and want to make friends with him.”
Seeing that Xu Jing didn’t reply, Lu Haichuan asked again, “Can you?”
Xu Jing scanned Lu Haichuan from top to bottom, then snorted coldly, turned his head, and left.
“……?”
So cocky?
Two seconds later, Lu Haichuan thought, that’s not right, this look is not normal at all. Contemptuous and with a bit of curiosity, it’s exactly like looking at a love rival.