Chapter •I•

"God is the only truth you need"

This sentence, YìChén grew up with. It was everywhere around him. However, even though he saw it more than he saw his parents, he never believed it. Growing up in a very religious and narrow-minded family, the Bible is what he spent the most time with. Nonetheless, he isn't religious. His parents are aware of it but they prefer to stay in denial. YiChen doesn't talk about it either, knowing he will be punished if he does. For this reason, he just pretends, waiting for 18th birthday to be able to leave them. YiChen doesn't have any ties with them. Apart from going to Church or taking him to his religious classes, they never did anything together. At home, his parents would spend their time listening to songs about God, praying or reading the Bible, leaving him alone in his room or in their garden. For this reason, he doesn't have any strong affection for them.

"YiCheng, breakfast is ready! Your father will begin the prayer, come down now!" He heard his mother and finished buttoning his uniform. Today is his first day at his new highschool and he knows how important the first impression is. YiCheng went downstairs to sit with his parents around the table filled with different dishes. His dad did the prayer and they all ate in silence, as always. Breakfast done, he didn't help his mom clean the dishes, knowing full well she would chase him out of the kitchen. In their house, it's not laughs and smiles that predominate. It's prayers and seriousness. Actually, YìChén doesn't like his family. His father is working in an important company and they moved here because he got a higher job in the company which is implanting in the city. Meanwhile, his mother is a housewife. He hates it, knowing full well that his mom's condition is only because of her and his father's narrow-minded spirits. In their minds, the man should work while the woman would stay at home to take care of the chores and the children. He is ashamed of that. Because of this mindset, he never had the courage to invite some of his friends. He was ashamed of his parents.

"I'm leaving, see you tonight." YìChén shouted from the entrance, putting his shoes on.

"I have to go too. Do you want me to drive you to school?" Asked his father. He was putting on his tie and checked the presence of his Bible in his bag.

"Thanks dad but I'll just take my bike. No need to take me there. I'll also come back with it so it's fine."

"Ok but don't forget to be here at 7pm, we need to introduce ourselves to the Church of the neighborhood."

"Mhm." YìChén didn't want to go but he knows he doesn't have the choice. He has to go and pretend to be interested in everything they will say. He hates it but has to support it.

"Good then. Have a good day and may God bless you." He didn't reply to his mother. He left the house, put his AirPods in his ears and started riding to school.

They are in March, which is the beginning of Spring with average temperatures of 10 to 16°. It's cold but still fine. YìChén has never been someone sensitive to the cold. He actually likes it. Late autumn, early winter are his favorite seasons while Spring and mostly Summer are synonyms of terrible for him because of how hot it is.

His new school is a private one with a pretty good reputation. Most of the students graduating from it are usually scouted by famous universities such as Peking U, Tsinghua or Zhejiang. The top 3 Universities of the country. His parents are well off thanks to his father's job, which allows him to go there. Of course, his grades are also the top, earning him a place of choice.

The high school he is now enrolled in has a system of rankings. For the last year, there are 6 classes. From 1 to 6. The first one is for the best last year's students and it has 30 places. Then, there is Class 2, Class 3 and that, until 6, the class where the students with the worse grades are in. After every midterm session, the ranks would be posted on the school board. At the end of every semester, there would be a change of students in classes. They could improve and be placed in a higher class, be downgraded or they stay in their classes. It's a ferocious competition but YìChén isn't scared of it. Now, the more challenging thing will be to hide his family.

After 20 minutes of biking, he finally arrived in front of his new school. There were a lot of students and some of them stared at him, whispering between them. He overheard a firm saying to what he assumed to be her friend that she finds him gorgeous.

"Stupid" he thought. It's nice of her to think he is beautiful but did she really have to blush like this? YìChén never understood why some people would become like this at the mere view of something or someone they find beautiful. He never acted like this which is why he doesn't understand it. And it might sound rude but he really doesn't care. He has always been kind of a loner. The first reason is related to his parents. When you're young, people want to go to your house to play but he never introduced any of his friends to them. Thus, they started to think he was strange and cold. It continued and rumors started to appear. People were imagining a lot of things about his family but he never addressed it, he never refuted it either because what would be the point of it? It's funnier for them to find a nobody like him and bully him. For those reasons, at 17, he doesn't give a damn about it.

YìChén isn't someone you can bypass in the street and act like nothing happened. Since young, he had always attracted attention because of his good looks. He is tall, around 180 centimeters, knows how to dress and has this confidence only one with a really good self-esteem has. If he was to be described with an adjective, it would be "male god".

Walking in the hallway to reach his class, he heard the students around him again and to stop their voices to annoy him, he turned the volume of his music to the max, drowning their words in the noise of his playlist, stopping his steps in front of the staff room to knock on the door.

A teacher opened the door the next second and looked at him, examining his outfit. Surely to see if he was wearing it correctly. "Yes, can I help you student?" He asked with a small smile.

"Yes. I just transferred here and they told me to go to the staff room to have my timetable and to be introduced to my new homeroom teacher." His voice wasn't very deep and it even held a soft tone. It made him immediately earn the sympathy of the teacher.

"Oh, right. Please wait here, I'll call him." He disappeared behind the door and YìChén waited again with his music, quietly looking around him and scanning the crowd of students. The door opened after 5 minutes and a woman who seemed to be in her early forties came out.

"Hello, are you Li YìChén?"

"Yes, teacher. I am." He politely bowed and took out his AirPods to put them back in their case.

"Very well. Follow me please." She took him to his new class and on the way, she explained to him the way of doing things in this school. He pretended to listen but only to be polite because he had already gotten information about the school when he registered. "And here is your new classroom. I'll now introduce you to the class, please wait here." The bell rang at this moment and the remaining students hurried in their classes, not wanting to have points deducted because of their lateness.

"Students, your attention please. Today we welcome a new student. Please, introduce yourself." YìChén nodded and took place at the center of the stage.

"Good morning. My name is Li YìChén and I just transferred. Nice to meet you all." He bowed, and waited 3 seconds before raising his head again and looking at the students, studying their faces. Most of them were looking at him.

"Good. Now, go to your seat. It's the one in the middle rank, the seat beside the window. Your deskmate isn't here because he had something to do this morning but you will meet him when he comes back."

"Thank you miss." YìChén went to the seat she showed him and took out his books, organizing them neatly on his desk and letting the cross his parents gifted him on his 10th birthday in a front pocket of his bag. He doesn't believe in God, wearing something representing it is just pure blasphemy in his opinion. He grabbed one of his pens and began writing what his new teacher was saying. When the bell rang, some students came to his desk to introduce themselves. Most of them were girls.

"Hi YìChén! I'm Mei Lin. I know, it's not really original but it seems like my parents didn't have any ideas for my name." She rolled her eyes and sighed. "But people call me MeiMei or Xiao Mei. Feel free to call me like this if you want. I'm also the class representative so don't hesitate if you have any questions or problems, it will be my pleasure to help you!" She was smiling, her eyes forming two little crescents. She was really cute with her pigtails tied with red ribbons and her uniform. She wasn't tall but YìChén thought that her size added to her cuteness.

"Thank you Mei Lin. I'll remember it then." She seemed content with his answer and went back to her seat in the front row, leaving him with the other students. YìChén was calmly chatting with a boy from his class when loud squealings were heard.

"Oh, it seems like it's the moment." The boy, Wang Shao said.

"What 'moment'?" Asked YìChén at loss and a little bit annoyed at the noises.

"You arrived today, right. That 'moment' always happens. At least twice a day. You see, in this school, we have a sort of Prince. Almost all the girls are in love with him. Also, he is our age and hm… He is your deskmate, congrats!" YìChén wanted to smack his head. Great. "You don't look happy, are you ok?"

YìChén sighed, "you know, I'm not the one to idolize a 'male god' or something. I dislike being under the spotlights."

"Really? Then I'm sorry for you but unless you succeed in switching your seat with someone, you're doomed."

"It shouldn't be too hard to find someone, right? I'm sure at least one of the girls squealing is in our class and would die to have my seat, no?"

"Of course. It could even cause a fight." He chuckled. "The problem isn't with the person you'll switch seats with but with our home room teacher. She is very strict and unless you have a very good reason, she will not allow you to do so."

"Even if I tell her that sitting beside a so-called Prince who must be a true narcissist plus asshole? Sounds like a pretty good reason for me." Wang Shao laughed at the joke he just made but someone else cleared his throat. Raising his head, YìChén saw a boy his age. He was handsome, it was obvious. Tall, almost 6'1 he would say, his hair was a dark brown with eyes as black as obsidian. He had a square face and had no right to have such a disarming smile. YìChén lifted his head and met the guy's eyes for a short moment before averting his gaze.

"Well, I'm glad to discover something I didn't know about me. Much thanks, stranger." And the smirk this handsome man just gave him was the beginning of his fall…