Chapter 16

Meanwhile, no matter how fast Bai Jiajia hurried, she still couldn’t catch up to Yun Zhuoqing.
Bai Jiajia stopped at the intersection, crestfallen. She knew she was a coward and hated that about herself, but that fear stuck to her like a bad shadow. What happened today had cracked her protective shell, and for once, she’d steeled herself to apologize to Yun Zhuoqing. But in the end, she couldn’t say the words out loud.
Why was it so hard to speak? They were still classmates, still going to see each other Monday morning in the same classroom. Yun Zhuoqing wasn’t going anywhere. Just because she missed her chance today didn’t mean she’d never get another. There’d be so many more chances to say “sorry.”
But instead of feeling relieved that she could put things off again, this time, an itch of impatience spread through her, she couldn’t wait for Monday to come.
Just the thought of seeing Yun Zhuoqing again, of being able to apologize properly and thank her, made Bai Jiajia feel jittery with anticipation. She wished it was already Monday.
She had no idea that, right then and there, she’d made a choice her old self would never have even considered. Or that, at this very moment, the path of her life had quietly started to veer off course.
Maybe, as time went on, this one detour would pull her far, far from where she’d thought she was going.
But for now, all Bai Jiajia knew was that her heart was pounding with excitement at this small, brand-new decision.
Sure enough, Monday morning found Bai Jiajia doing exactly as she’d planned: she walked up to Yun Zhuoqing, held her breath, her face flushing scarlet as Yun Zhuoqing looked up. “Y-Yun Zhuoqing, I just wanted to say… what I did before was wrong. I shouldn’t have let Xiaoxue pressure you into following her plan. I’m sorry!”
Afraid her nerve would give out, she blurted the rest in a rush, like tipping marbles from a jar: “And also, about what happened the other day, thank you, really. I heard about it later. If it weren’t for you, I probably would’ve gotten expelled. Thank you, truly. I know I shouldn’t have treated you so horribly before, I was wrong.” Her eyes shone red as she fought back tears. The last thing she wanted was for Yun Zhuoqing to think she was trying to win sympathy with a crying act.
Yun Zhuoqing wordlessly handed her a couple of tissues.
Jiajia fumbled for them, flustered. “I-I’m fine, really, I’m not crying…” Even as she said it, tears were brimming in her eyes.
“…Oh.” Yun Zhuoqing replied, sounding pretty stiff.
Seeing she really was about to cry, Yun Zhuoqing frowned, racking her brains before awkwardly offering: “…It’s okay?”
Is… is she crying over this?
Yun Zhuoqing, who’d never had a girl cry in front of her before, kept her face blank but her mind was spinning in panic.
Bai Jiajia sniffled, her voice muffled: “It’s fine if you can’t forgive me. I was really awful. But, but could you, could you maybe give me a chance to make it up to you? I just…” I just want to be your friend.
“I’m not mad at you,” Yun Zhuoqing said seriously.
Seeing it was pointless to stay vague and let Jiajia keep misunderstanding, Yun Zhuoqing finally relented, exasperated: “I was never angry with you. And you never actually hurt me. So don’t cry.”
Somehow, Jiajia’s tears only came faster after that. “Waaah… But, but before, I kept blaming you, I thought you were awful, I…”
The more she thought about it, the more she felt like she was the real jerk. And yet Yun Zhuoqing had still helped her, who on earth was this nice?
Yun Zhuoqing stood there, unable to do anything as the situation spiraled, a wad of tissues stuck awkwardly in her hand.
But after crying a little, Jiajia started to calm down. She looked up at Yun Zhuoqing, eyes still red but her tone earnest. “So, is it… okay if I still talk to you from now on?”
“Sure,” Yun Zhuoqing replied, truthfully, she was tempted to ask, "Why wouldn’t you?" But she wisely kept her mouth shut, less said, less chance to screw it up.
And just like that, Bai Jiajia composed herself. She’d made up her mind to change; there was no way she could keep expecting other people to comfort her.
She pulled out a bag of cookies and held them out to Yun Zhuoqing. “These… these are homemade. Would you, would you take them? Everyone says they’re good, so, um, I hope they are…”
Yun Zhuoqing promptly took the bag. Noticing Jiajia glancing back and forth between her and the cookies, looking anxious, she quickly promised, “I’ll eat them. Don’t worry.”
Bai Jiajia pressed her lips together and gave her a shy, warm little smile. “That’s great.”
At last, Bai Jiajia walked away, leaving Yun Zhuoqing to breathe a massive sigh of relief.
Of course, none of this escaped the watchful eye of Yue Hao, ever alert to Yun Zhuoqing’s every move.
And when he saw Bai Jiajia leave Yun Zhuoqing’s desk only to head straight toward them, Yue Hao hurriedly nudged Chen Huo. “Bro, Bai Jiajia’s coming over. Is she here for you?”
For some reason, Chen Huo suddenly couldn’t bring himself to glance Yun Zhuoqing’s way, not that he could do much about it with Yue Hao right beside him. Ever since Yue Hao had come clean, he didn’t bother hiding anything. Chen Huo just had to tough it out and pretend he wasn’t listening.
Honestly, this whole “Bai Jiajia” thing confused him, what did he have to do with her, anyway?
He’d practically erased the memory of ever sticking up for Bai Jiajia. These days, there was only one person on his mind.
“Chen Huo.” Bai Jiajia’s voice was still soft as ever. She handed him another bag of cookies. “Thanks for helping me out that day. These are homemade.”
Chen Huo accepted the cookies halfheartedly.
Yue Hao assumed Bai Jiajia was interested in Chen Huo and inwardly braced for his bro to break another girl’s heart. But Bai Jiajia just left after Chen Huo took the bag, looking utterly unbothered, like she was just ticking something off a list.
The giver didn’t care, the receiver didn’t care, what should’ve been textbook pink-fuzz romance instantly turned into a cold, perfunctory exchange.
Yue Hao was baffled.
Curious, he leaned over. “Bro, what exactly did Bai Jiajia mean? When did you help her?”
The question sent Chen Huo’s thoughts back to that day in the café, but when he pictured the scene, the main character wasn’t Bai Jiajia at all, but someone taller, draped in a baggy hoodie.
Chen Huo snapped back to himself, and for some reason, he instinctively didn’t want to tell Yue Hao what had really happened. “It wasn’t anything,” he hedged.
Yue Hao could take a hint and let the matter drop.
But just because he stopped asking didn’t mean everyone would.
“Cousin, when did you start working your charms on girls in our class? Come on, spill, let your big cousin in on the gossip.” Huo Jing’s lazy drawl cut in from nearby. He’d chased off the guy beside Chen Huo and stolen his seat, now fixing Chen Huo with an expectant grin.
Chen Huo shuddered. “Huo Jing, you’re disgusting. You’re literally only, what, two weeks older than me? And you still insist on acting like the elder?”
“Two weeks is still older, or you could always call me ‘little cousin’ in front of Auntie next time. I wonder if she’d let it slide.”
Not a chance, she’d probably smack him upside the head! Huo Jing was always the darling child around adults, charming everyone into submission, while Chen Huo was the poster boy for what not to do. No surprise they barely got along on the surface.
“C’mon, cousin, tell me your little story!” Huo Jing pressed, not letting go.
Chen Huo’s annoyance was rising. Why did Huo Jing suddenly care so much? Still, the guy never backed off once he got interested. At last, Chen Huo said irritably, “What story? There’s nothing to tell. I just happened to see someone hassling her the other day and stepped in, that’s all.”
But the memory of that day made Chen Huo squirm. The more he thought about it, the more he realized he hadn’t really helped at all. In the end, the creep only backed off thanks to someone else, Yun Zhuoqing. She’d even been the one to stop the guy from leaving.
And he… had just stood by and watched.
Chen Huo couldn’t even name his feelings, just that it felt like his heart was being wrung out in a canvas sack.
“Oh, that’s all?” Huo Jing replied nonchalantly, then smoothly added, “So… what did that have to do with Yun Zhuoqing?”
Chen Huo snapped his head toward Huo Jing.
Suddenly it hit him, Huo Jing had seemed awfully interested in Yun Zhuoqing before. But lately, he’d acted like he’d lost all curiosity, not even saying a word to her. Chen Huo had been so thrown off, he hadn’t realized it until now.
With a small, sly curve to his eyes, Huo Jing asked again, “So this whole thing has to do with Yun Zhuoqing too, right? What actually happened?”
If it were just the two of them, Chen Huo would’ve stubbornly clammed up forever. But right now, Yue Hao was right next to him, practically breathing down his neck. Chen Huo didn’t have to look to feel Yue Hao’s burning stare.
In the end, Chen Huo had to give in. “...She was there. She helped out too.”
Huo Jing clearly wasn’t satisfied with that. “That’s it? You haven’t even told us what actually went down.”
But Chen Huo suddenly shot to his feet, tossing out a quick, “I’m going to the bathroom,” and bolted out of the classroom without so much as a backward glance.
Huo Jing and Yue Hao locked eyes. Yue Hao stammered, “M-maybe he just really has to pee?”
Huo Jing’s gaze darkened.
Chen Huo was definitely acting off. Huo Jing had thought, after that little chat the other night, Chen Huo wouldn’t be the least bit curious about Yun Zhuoqing anymore. But it seemed he’d overestimated Chen Huo, and underestimated Yun Zhuoqing.
And honestly, Chen Huo wasn’t the only one being overrated here.
Huo Jing gave a self-mocking little smile.
By the time Chen Huo came back, Huo Jing was already gone. Yue Hao was practically wagging his tail at Chen Huo, who had no idea how to start the conversation.
In the end, Yue Hao piped up first: “Bro, I get it, you just didn’t want to spill the intel to Huo Jing, wanted to let me have it all to myself. I’m so touched, man.”
Yue Hao looked at Chen Huo with puppy-dog eyes, practically shooting heart beams at him.
Chen Huo froze for a second, silent, but what Yue Hao said gave him an idea.
“Hey… Yue Hao, I never told you this, but Huo Jing might be kind of into Yun Zhuoqing too.” He tried to sound casual as he dropped the bomb.
But Yue Hao didn’t even look surprised. “Please, I figured that out ages ago. Dude’s not subtle.”
“…”
“But come on, you can tell he’s not serious. If Yun Zhuoqing actually dated him, she’d be in for a world of pain. Huo Jing’s such a player, there’s no way he’d ever treat her right. Which is why I, ” Yue Hao’s resolve only strengthened, “, I have to protect her from getting hurt by that guy.”
Chen Huo felt a migraine coming on, but he sucked it up and did what he’d always thought was beneath him: tried reasoning with Yue Hao.
“Listen… Huo Jing, he’s the territorial type. Anyone he wants, they never get away. Just sayin’.” Chen Huo was trying to warn Yue Hao, but even he looked annoyed as he said it.
“So really, think it over. He can be super petty, if you get in his way, he’ll come after you.” Slandering Huo Jing didn’t weigh on Chen Huo’s conscience at all. In fact, he regretted not paying more attention in Chinese class, or he’d have had even more savage things to say.
He wasn’t even lying. Huo Jing really was pettiness incarnate, nothing but needles in his heart.
“Doesn’t matter, bro! I’m not afraid!” Yue Hao puffed up, totally unbothered. “Plus, I’ve got you in my corner, right? He’s your cousin, he has to give you some respect. And if he really comes at me, I know you’ll have my back, right, bro?”
Chen Huo: “…”
No, I’ll probably just help him bury the body.
Yue Hao was still looking at him all expectant, so Chen Huo just forced a weak, “…Yeah.”