1 The Heartbreak

The chirps of cicadas grew madly as summer approached, and soon, the moral degradations of the past had long been forgotten.

The heat's dust washed the classroom as the loudjeers of the lively students running to their classroom swept across the corridor.

Time slipped through from their fingertips, like cascading waterfalls crashing onto their bare palms, only to silently watch that one droplet that remained on their palm to dry out.

Before they knew it, the seasons continued to repeat, and the students who were once second years now emerged into their final years of high school.

Behind Building A at the side gate, the typical routine of Gu Xiao began. The sunlight drenched the sky, shimmering down on the surface that he didn't dare to raise his eyes. Some said that at this age of eighteen, the peak of joy and most of one's youthful days drifted past.

However, there were some who, at eighteen, became listless. Their senses rotted, their visions became blurred, their muscles no longer had energy, and soon, they became fatigued.

As they slowly decayed, steadily and gradually, from their bones to the depths of their heart, this degeneration devoured them. Over time, they lost their passion, and the flickering light within their energetic eyes gradually dissolved. Yet, it was through this concealment that they continued to tread through time.

Zhang Yongyin:

- [Did you do the homework that was due three months ago? Or was it four?] 06:32

- [Are you skipping chemistry?] 08:01

- [How could you miss the first two periods?] 09:50

- [Mr. Shen is at the front entrance. Come through the side gate] 10:02

- [You told me you would come early, so I did. Didyou get hit by a car?] 10:02

Gu Xiao:

- [It's only first break right now so it doesn't matter. Also, we haven't even completed the papers that were due one year ago.] 10:16

The side gate was merely a rustic wall that required more polishing. If the two student council students guarded the main entrance, Gu Xiao and his friend, Zhang Yongyin, would just head through the front.

If Mr. Shen was on watch, there was no way they would head straight to their death. Gu Xiao quickly slipped his phone back, took a deep breath, and exhausted every drop of his efforts once again.

Gu Xiao managed to maintain on the surface of that same careless smile that gradually merged with his skin, oppressing and digging, until it began taking its own definite form.

With each progression up the wall, his sweating palms met the rough surface of the bricks placed in a disorderly manner. Just as his head perched slightly over the edge, he immediately froze when he saw the back of a familiar-looking boy.

It was their student president, Lan Yuning.

The way he wore the uniform always differed from others. Although it was the same cobalt blue and white jacket, white t-shirt, and blue pants, it always produced the impression that the principal hired him to act as a model for the school uniform.

"What do you want?" Lan Yuning asked, talking to the person over the phone.

Seeing Lan Yuning hide in this shady area where only delinquents came to secretly smoke, just to make a phone call, surprised Gu Xiao. Perhaps the golden boy wasn't all that innocent, though this was none of his business.

Yet, the voice from the phone spiked his interest. The clear distinction of the voice from the other side reverberated loud and clear. It was overpowering and nasal, as though a wet ball was clogging their throat.

The voice was a girl's, possibly around the same age. It was like she was eating a sandwich, and she failed to swallow the bread properly. Then, she started crying because of how miserable she was, but remembered she had to make a call before a deadline or else she would get fired. That was the impression given by her voice.

After blanking out, Gu Xiao realised he was still hanging on the wall while the student president was right in front of him.

Getting caught by golden boy Lan Yuning was way worse than getting caught by those two student council servants.

He held no sour feelings towards Lan Yuning personally—he actually never spoke to him even once—but everyone from the student council was the same.

They were all one species bred by the game's mini-boss, the teachers. And all their faces spelt out 'I was born to sell my soul for the school'.

"So, you're deciding to end this now?" the girl asked from the other side of Lan Yuning's phone.

At that moment, Gu Xiao had been wholly absorbed in his own confusion that his body had lost all desire to proceed above the wall. He never knew this rich stone-faced boy who had no time for social life since he needed to keep his first rank streak would have some cards up his sleeve for dating.

Lan Yuning sighed. "Please stop contacting me."

"Then let me make this clear. I am the one who is breaking up with you, alright? Your father—"

He ended the call without saying anything more and ultimately hung up on the girl, who didn't even get to finish her sentence. What brutality.

The only thought that lingered in Gu Xiao's mind was that he must crawl down safely before this golden student president even turned his head around.

After thinking for a moment, he found it strange that the student president, such a quiet and unbothered person, could speak in such a tone.

Without warning, a familiar voice yelled. "Gu Xiao!"

With a nervous tremor, Gu Xiao's anxiousness didn't reach his friend Zhang Yongyin, who wore the most genuine, foolish smile.

"What are you still doing? Why are you still on the wall? They opened the basketball court today because of club activities, and we need someone to play power forward."

"It looks like my head will be the one bouncing across the court instead of the ball," he uttered to himself in panic.

When the two voices rang in the air, Lan Yuning looked back to the side gate, and their eyes finally met.

Something about Lan Yuning's hazel eyes pulled people in as if he were gently removing a layer that covered a person's heart—they weaved with elusive complexities that either forced one to doubt themselves the moment their eyes locked or feel a sense of comfort. There was never an in between.

Lan Yuning's naturally tinted lips slightly separated when he realised Gu Xiao had been hanging on the wall for who knew how long.

With the change of his enigmatic expression, Gu Xiao leapt over the wall with no sense of care—even though he had just recovered from a knee dislocation from his jiujitsu match—soaring through the sky as the wind brushed past his freshly dyed brown hair, his eyes radiating with such sharpness.

Then, his shoe got caught. He fell face flat onto the ground. And rolled into the bush.

Clearing his throat and brushing the leaves off his head, he slung his jacket over his shoulder and pretended nothing happened to achieve his stylish ending.

Zhang Yongyin dashed to his friend, but his face paled when he saw the student president. Gu Xiao slung his arm over Zhang Yongyin's shoulder and hurriedly dragged him away as the two friends started mumbling to each other with a smile still on their faces, their lips not moving at all.

"Why isn't Student President saying anything?" Zhang Yongyin asked.

"You wouldn't understand. It's called a heartbreak."

"Is he sick?"

"How is your ranking higher than mine while I'm last?"

If one watched these two third years from the outside, they would only see the two wiggling their brows so intensely and eyeing everything around them that they would be mistaken for dying fish if it weren't for their two feet.

Before they walked too far away, Gu Xiao turned back, only to see Lan Yuning, still standing on the same spot, looking at him with a distasteful expression.

However, Lan Yuning always had naturally bitter features that made it difficult to decipher his thoughts.

He might've not even been feeling angry, let alone annoyed. Instead, it was simply just his regular face which others always misjudged.

Though in the end, even if he was indeed feeling sour, no one could blame him. Gu Xiao, someone who was infamous for his poor grades and attendance, caught Lan Yuning in such an unexpected situation.

"Hey, Student President!" Gu Xiao called, waving his arm.

Lan Yuning snapped out of his thoughts, and the smiling boy gleamed, "Don't worry too much about it. I'm sure there are more options for you. Also, please don't tell Mr. Shen about this. I promise I won't skip again."

He noticed Lan Yuning was trying to tell him something; his lips slightly parted then closed, only to part again before swallowing back the words that hung from the tip of his tongue.

"Gu Xiao," Zhang Yongyin stammered.

"Wait, Student President is trying to communicate with me."

"Gu Xiao," he called again.

A soft sigh left Lan Yuning's mouth and simply looked at him with hopelessness slapped across his eyes. He walked away, leaving Gu Xiao to scratch his head in confusion.

"Gu Xiao." Zhang Yongyin's voice trembled and softened the more he called out his beloved friend's name.

"Tell me what? Being late or skipping? Or both?" a deep voice bellowed.

That familiar voice brought shivers down his spine, and he forced his stiff legs to turn around rigidly as though he was pondering on whether to run away at that instant.

A large man, broad shoulders, strong, enormous arms, and notably thick brows glowered down at him. Why was this man even a homeroom teacher? He should be a bodybuilder instead, with those arms that looked like he could crush a boulder. Though right now, instead of crushing boulders, it looked like he wanted to destroy someone's skull.

With a sinking heart and the narrowing of their dry throats, sweat dripped down the two's neck as they averted their teacher's gaze.

"Mr. Shen, you look extremely handsome today," he awkwardly laughed.

"Stop this nonsense. It's the first day after your two-week break, and you skip two periods?"