Chapter 18

“Bro, what do you think about me getting her a gift? What kind of thing do you think she’d actually like?”
“……”
“Flowers? Clothes? Jewelry? All those girls seem to love that stuff. D’you think she would?”
“……”
“I bet she’d look amazing in a dress. I doubt she's ever had a really nice one. Should I just, ”
Chen Huo finally snapped. “Yue Hao, are you a perv or what?”
Called out by his full name, Yue Hao looked wounded. “How is that pervy, bro? It’s just clothes! Ask Huo Jing, he's definitely bought clothes for his girlfriends before.”
Chen Huo glared at the other headache in the room, anger flaring hotter by the second. “Huo Jing, are you out of your mind? Why are you here getting in my way instead of off somewhere romancing your girlfriend? Since when were we this close?”
Huo Jing sprawled back in someone else’s chair, lazily saying, “Oh, come on, cousin, don’t break my heart, we’ve always been tight, haven’t we?”
Chen Huo was about to blow and order Huo Jing out of his sight, but Yue Hao grabbed his sleeve just in time.
Chen Huo paused and glanced over at the other cause of his fury.
Yue Hao tried a placating smile. “Heh, bro, let Huo Jing stay. Huo Jing, you’ve got all that experience chasing girls, teach me your ways?”
Inside, Chen Huo scoffed. Teach you? You’re lucky he doesn’t just beat you up. The girl you want? He’s after her too. Right now he probably hates you even more than he hates me.
But to his shock, Huo Jing actually got up and offered some seriously earnest advice. “Chasing someone down is all about catering to what they want. But honestly, as long as your gift is expensive enough, and something she can show off to her friends? You’ll never go wrong.”
Yue Hao suddenly understood. “Ohhh, so that’s how it works. I’ll go study up on it, thanks, Huo Jing!”
He grabbed his bag and dashed out, actually leaving his big brother behind without a thought.
As soon as Yue Hao left, Chen Huo couldn’t help but frown at Huo Jing and say, “Are you out of your mind? You seriously just told him how to win her over?”
Huo Jing glanced away, answering with exaggerated nonchalance: “Yeah, so what if he gets her? Good for him.”
“No, hang on, you like her too, don’t you? You’re just gonna hand her over? When did you become so generous?” Chen Huo snapped. As kids, even if Chen so much as touched one of Huo Jing’s toys, he’d get an earful, he definitely didn’t buy this whole “sharing is caring” act.
And Huo Jing wasn’t just stingy, he held grudges forever. Chen Huo knew this all too well, he was usually target number one.
But Huo Jing just laughed at that, turned to Chen Huo, and said, “You really don’t know me at all, cousin. I’ve always been this magnanimous.”
Chen Huo scowled. What was wrong with Huo Jing today? Had he hit his head?
“Come on, she’s just a special-admission student.” Huo Jing’s tone was flippant as usual. “It’s not like she’s some heiress. She doesn’t have the looks or the background, I’m only interested because she’s new and a bit different. Once that novelty wears off, why would I still care? And it’s not just me, Yue Hao’s the same. People like us just aren’t in her world. If she really says yes to Yue Hao? She’s just in it for his money.”
The most gutting words always get said in the lightest tone. At the door, a hand paused on the handle, then slowly fell away.
Chen Huo stared at Huo Jing in disbelief. “You actually think that? Don’t tell me all your exes were heiresses too? Didn’t you date that girl from our middle school who was flat-out broke? Was that what you were thinking then?”
He remembered that girl because he’d once saved her from some thugs, but after she started dating Huo Jing, even the worst bullies stayed clear, and, breakup or not, that never changed.
Huo Jing hesitated, then remembered who he meant. “Oh, her. I only dated her because I felt sorry for her, wasn’t serious. She switched schools, that’s why we broke up. It’s not like I dumped her or anything.”
“...Huo Jing, you really are a piece of trash.” Chen Huo was half convinced Huo Jing had lost his mind.
Huo Jing let out a cold laugh. “Chen Huo, since you’ve never actually dated a girl, you wouldn’t know, they’re not as innocent as you think. Especially these poor girls, you think they hang around for fun? Spend some time with them and you’ll see they always want something. Everyone’s greedy, everyone wants something…” So, in the end, I never actually dated any of them for real. They thought they were fooling me, but all I saw were outstretched hands, demanding more.
The last part never left Huo Jing’s lips, because suddenly, outside, Yue Hao’s voice rang out, delighted: “Yun Zhuoqing? What are you doing here? You headed inside? How come you're just standing here?”
Inside the classroom, it was so silent it felt suffocating. Even the dust motes seemed to hang motionless above the two boys’ eyelashes.
The sound of the door finally creaked, a guillotine coming down.
“Just came back for something.” Yun Zhuoqing’s cool voice was perfectly calm. Yue Hao, oblivious to any tension, beamed at her. “Oh, I see! Ha ha ha ha ha.”
Ignoring Yue Hao’s needless laughter, Yun Zhuoqing didn’t so much as glance at the two frozen at the back. She strode straight to her seat, picked up the homework she’d forgotten, and slipped it into her bag.
With the zipper shut, Yun Zhuoqing looked up at them. Huo Jing turned his head, staring at the hem of Chen Huo’s jacket; Chen Huo, eyes wide, stared unblinkingly at Yun Zhuoqing, his face turning all kinds of awkward when she met his gaze.
Before he could blurt anything out, Yun Zhuoqing spoke first. “I have no interest in you. You don’t need to worry.”
Huo Jing’s hands tightened, veins popping, but he was frozen in place.
Chen Huo had nothing to say either, and Yun Zhuoqing clearly had no intention of talking to them, she slung her bag on her shoulder and walked out.
Yue Hao, still clueless, turned and asked, “Bro, what did she mean by that? Did you guys say something just now?”
No one answered him.
Yue Hao fell silent too, because Chen Huo’s face was, frankly, terrifying.
After a long while, Chen Huo couldn’t take it: “Shit!”
He pressed his lips together, then said to Huo Jing, who just kept staring at the floor, his face hidden, “She… She just cleared it up for you. You’ve got it all wrong, so stop bothering her.”
Then, sounding like he was trying to convince himself, he muttered, “That was all you, man. None of that’s what I think.” He didn’t even want to contemplate the idea of being lumped in with Huo Jing.
Dragging a still-bewildered Yue Hao with him, Chen Huo hurried out. He needed out, since the moment Yue Hao spoke, the suffocating air hadn’t left the classroom, and one more second inside and he truly might’ve stopped breathing.
Huo Jing remained, alone in the empty classroom. He lost all sense of time. Darkness started to fall outside, and the only thing that snapped him back was the sound of his driver calling.
“I’m on my way out.” Only once he'd spoken did Huo Jing realize how raw and parched his own voice was, like he’d trudged through the desert for three days without water.
He hung up, and his phone slipped from his hand, thudding dully to the floor. Hugging his head, Huo Jing curled up on his chair.
His vacant gaze locked onto the ground. His mind was in shambles.
“What… did I just say…?”
The next morning, when Yun Zhuoqing entered the classroom, someone’s breath caught, just for a moment, before they forced it back to normal.
“Bro, I asked around. Turns out, giving clothes is way too forward. Everyone says it'll never work.” Yue Hao chirped in Chen Huo’s ear.
“Maybe I should just give her flowers. Girls like flowers, right? What kind do you think? Roses?”
Normally, Chen Huo would have snapped at Yue Hao for being annoying, but today he was strangely silent.
Yue Hao didn’t seem to notice, carrying on: “Maybe I’ll just ask Huo Jing, he’s got way more experience, he must know what kind are best.”
At last, Chen Huo moved, letting out a bitter laugh. Whether at himself or Huo Jing, even he wasn’t sure. “Yeah, he’s certainly got plenty of trash-boy experience.”
That scene yesterday, where Yun Zhuoqing had caught them, kept looping in Chen Huo’s mind. Even if those words hadn’t come from him, his face still burned with shame. He couldn’t even look Yun Zhuoqing in the eye, and didn’t dare speak to Yue Hao either.
Shame and fear, a taste no one could want. Chen Huo felt like he'd gotten smacked upside the head by life. He should’ve dragged Yue Hao out right away. Why’d he even stick around to listen to Huo Jing’s crap? Dammit!
He slammed his fist onto the desk.
Meanwhile, the instigator didn’t seem to be suffering at all. Cool as ever, Huo Jing was surrounded by girls, handling the flirting like it was nothing. Their darting glances and bashful giggles proved only Chen Huo felt like dying.
Trash man, Chen Huo fumed inwardly.
Sure enough, Huo Jing was expertly turning down yet another invitation from a girl in another class.
“Sorry, I’m already booked this weekend. If only I’d gotten your invite a little earlier.” His tone oozed politeness and regret.
The girls honestly believed him, all sighing with mock disappointment. One didn’t give up, though: “Huo Jing, who could be so important? Is it your girlfriend?”
Huo Jing didn’t answer right away, his eyes glazing over and unfocused somewhere far away.
“Huo Jing! Are you listening? Don’t ignore me!” the girl protested, annoyed.
He finally snapped back, flashing a perfect, flawless smile. “Sorry, didn’t sleep well last night. I zoned out. Could you say that again?”
Her irritation vanished, replaced by concern. “Huo Jing, are you okay? Try not to dwell on stuff that brings you down. Think happy thoughts instead, okay?”
His mind ambled as he mustered another gentlemanly smile. “Thanks. I feel a lot better already.”
No, he didn’t. Not one bit. What he really wanted to know, was she mad at him now? Would she stay away from him forever? Would she ever trust him again?
His tangled thoughts piled up, making even his body feel out of sync, without realizing, he kept glancing in her direction.
The watching girls all noticed this little move.
Someone snuck a glance the same way, only to see a plain girl, face hidden by hair, radiating ordinariness, and frowned in confusion.
They exchanged looks.
After class, Chen Huo, having learned his lesson this time, bolted from the room, and Yue Hao, who’d wanted to stick around and talk “strategy”, was forced to hurry after him.
Meanwhile, Huo Jing took his time for once. He brushed off several classmates asking why he was still lingering until, at last, the classroom was empty but for him.
He sat alone as the sun slowly set, trapped in yesterday’s suffocating classroom all over again.
Suddenly, Huo Jing shot to his feet and rushed out, not even noticing when his chair toppled over behind him.
He darted across the now-deserted campus, the wind roaring in his ears, his own breath coming fast and ragged.
He knew the route she took back to the dorm. He knew she liked to spend half an hour in the little pavilion memorizing vocabulary after class, every single day. Which meant, if he hurried, he could find her there!
At that moment, he was determined, he would explain everything to her, no matter what…
“Hey, are you the one who put Huo Jing in a bad mood today?” A girl’s brash voice reached Huo Jing’s ears, one he found vaguely familiar.
Normally, Huo Jing never bothered to remember the voices of girls who tried chatting him up. But today, the familiarity came from the fact he’d met the owner of this voice just that morning.
A chill ran through Huo Jing’s veins, his blood turning to ice.