FANTASIA

Fantasia: a piece not adhering to any strict musical form; can also be used in con fantasia: with imagination.

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The school was finally over. It was already afternoon, and most of the students rushed to leave the school. There were still some students in the class, including Yang Liu and Fang Xing.

"Hey, Yang Liu," Fang Xing called out the student who was sitting behind his seat. He finished packing his belongings and now his body was facing the tall student. "I can't treat you to soup dumplings today. I forgot that I have an appointment with someone after school."

Yang Liu was also done packing his belongings and looked up at his friend. "I don't remember I agree to eat soup dumplings with you today. I helped you with the rat today just so you wouldn't pee your pants, not because of the dumplings," he replied.

Yeah, Yang Liu secretly helped Fang Xing to dissect the rat today despite being warned by their teacher to do the dissection by themselves without others helping. The pale-skinned young man apparently felt tired hearing his friend whining nonstop when his hands that holding the poor rat couldn't stop trembling. In the end, Yang Liu snatched the rat and use his scalpel to dissect the rat. He did that after he finished his own work.

Yes, after he went back from the washroom, he quickly finished his task. He decided to use a face mask to reduce the alluring blood smells in the laboratory.

That was a crazy experience for Yang Liu. He needed to hold himself and acted as normally as possible. His fangs were growing sharp again after he went back from the toilet, but he hid them safely behind his face mask. At least, he managed to hide his identity until they finished the practicum.

Fang Xing quickly shook his head and argued, "But, I already promised you! I'm not a man if I don't keep my promise!"

Yang Liu sighed and got up from his seat. "You are not a man if you keep your boyfriend waiting," he said while motioning to the front class where someone was standing there waiting for Fang Xing. "Just go with your boyfriend today. I don't even like dumplings, so stop acting like I'm bullying you." Without waiting for Fang Xing's response, Yang Liu started walking to leave the classroom.

Fang Xing could only sigh watching his friend's cold behavior. He then got up from his seat and walked toward a pretty boy who was waiting for him since ten minutes ago. The pair then left the classroom together.

Now, there were only two students in the classroom. Chen Guangli just left because he already had an appointment with someone—that someone was Fang Xing, of course. He didn't mention the name to his friends, but it was obvious since he left the classroom together with the tan-skinned boy.

Meanwhile, Ren Weisheng was forced to deal with the discipline teacher because he fell asleep during the last class. The chubby boy kept vomiting when they did the rat dissection practicum. Moreover, his stomach was empty because he skipped lunch thanks to the innocent Huang Bo and Zhou Yongliang. His friends told him to rest in the infirmary, but he refused and insisted on attending the last class today. In the end, he fell asleep and the teacher noticed it.

Now, Zhou Yongliang and Huang Bo were left in the classroom. It was an unusual scene since usually they were in a quartet formation with Ren Weisheng and Chen Guanli.

"Should we wait for Weisheng gege?" Zhou Yongliang asked Huang Bo who had just finished packing.

It had been a week since they knew each other, so they used a first-name basis to address each other.

"No need, Yongliang. At most, Weisheng will only be lectured and gets points deduction," Huang Bo answered calmly.

The answer didn't satisfy Zhou Yongliang. "But, Weisheng gege didn't feel well after the practicum. I worry he would faint if he didn't have proper rest and also didn't eat to fill up his empty stomach."

"You are right." Now, the blonde student seemed to contemplate Zhou Yongliang's argument. "But, we don't have to wait for him. His driver will take care of him if anything bad happens to him. Guangli has contacted the driver to explain Weisheng's current situation. We have to go home before it's getting dark. You still have a long journey to your home, Yongliang."

Zhou Yongliang contemplating Huang Bo's argument for a moment, but he finally nodded and immediately stood up. The two tall boys immediately walked hand in hand away from the classroom.

"Did your driver come to pick you up again today?" Zhou Yongliang asked as they walked down the hall.

"No," Huang Huang Bo quickly answered, making the brown-hair student frowned, so he continued, "Today, my brother comes to pick me. I'll introduce you to my brother later. It's not every day that he's free to pick me up at school. Usually, he only dropped me at school in the morning and would only go back home at night. He's a busy student."

Zhou Yongliang seemed to unsure about Huang Bo's idea. "Is that okay?" He asked carefully. "What if your brother has an objection? You said he's busy, it can be he doesn't have time to meet me."

Zhou Yongliang was not ready to meet his friends' family. He was afraid if their families were not as kind as them and would look down on him because he was just a poor student coming from the village. He wasn't ready to be humiliated by others in this big city.

The blonde student shook his head and answered, "My brother is very kind and friendly. There's no way he would object. You also won't object, will you?"

Hearing Huang Bo's reassuring words, Zhou Yongliang finally smiled widely. "Of course I won't object!" He then replied excitedly.

And finally, the pair of close friends walked quickly while laughing happily. No one knew what made them laugh like that, though. Those innocent boys seemed to have their own little bubble. Their characters were quite similar, both of them were pure and innocent. That made them feel comfortable with each other and became close friends in no time.

No need to wait long for them to get to the front yard. Huang Bo immediately dragged Zhou Yongliang's arm to approach a black luxury sedan. Zhou Yongliang was certain that the car belonged to Huang Bo's brother.

As soon as he got to the side of the car, Huang Bo knocked on the side window, and before long the car door opened, revealing the figure of a tall, fair-skinned, and very handsome young man. The young man who was wearing a different school uniform briefly grumbled, but afterward, he smiled kindly and lightly ruffled Huang Bo's hair.

"I have been waiting here for quite a while. Where have you been, Ah-Bo[1]?"

"Sorry, gege. I wanted to introduce you to Zhou Yongliang, but he was hesitant so I had to force him before he agreed with me."

From that interaction, Zhou Yongliang knew that this slender man was Huang Bo's older brother, even though the two of them were not similar in appearance.

The stranger had black hair while Huang Bo had blonde hair. The stranger had an angelic face with a pair of almond eyes with double eyelids, a straight nose, and a pair of thin lips. He was tall—even taller than Zhou Yongliang, his shoulders were broad, his body looked sturdy and proportional, just like a model.

"Zhou Yongliang, this is my brother Hwang Jihyuk. And, gege, this is my new friend Zhou Yongliang."

The smile of the tall man named Hwang Jihyuk suddenly vanished, replaced by an indefinable look when his eyes stared at Zhou Yongliang. "Zhou Yongliang?" The young man asked carefully.

Zhou Yongliang noticed the change in Hwang Jihyuk's expression, but he decided to nod and still kept his friendly smile. Maybe it was just his imagination.

On the other hand, Hwang Jihyuk was still staring at Zhou Yongliang with an incomprehensible gaze, a gaze that made Zhou Yongliang uncomfortable.

"Gege, the introduction section is enough, isn't it? We better go home now. I'm so tired."

Huang Bo's whining was able to make Hwang Jihyuk looked away from Zhou Yongliang and turned to his younger brother. "Yes, it's enough. Let's go home," he said patiently, then he turned back to look at Zhou Yongliang. "We'll go home first, Zhou Yongliang. It's nice to meet you," he politely said goodbye to the new student. A friendly smile was engraved on his thin lips again, making Zhou Yongliang erase his strange feeling earlier. That was indeed just his imagination.

Zhou Yongliang nodded, and the two brothers immediately got into the car and the car started moving out of the school area.

Now only the man with round glasses standing in the schoolyard. His eyes were still glued to follow Huang Bo's brother's car until the car was no longer visible to his sight. His expression was unreadable, but there was a slightly confused expression on that smooth fair face.

"Hwang Jihyuk? Is he not Chinese?"

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[1] Ah-Bo: a Chinese prefix used with a shortened form of people's given names to express familiarity.