GBROTAH CH61

During the break, the classroom wasn’t noisy. The fan whirred overhead, and rows of students slumped like wilted cabbages.

“Ugh, why is there still a month until vacation?”

Xie Yuanxing sat in the back row. Gao Yufei, next to him, lay on his desk, sighing weakly. “It’s so hot today.”

A month…

Xie Yuanxing was pondering when Gao Yufei suddenly turned to him and asked, “How come you don’t sweat at all?” Gao Yufei reached out to touch Xie Yuanxing’s face as he spoke. “Not only is there no sweat on your face, but you haven’t even gotten tanned.”

“So fair and tender, it’s like… if I didn’t know better, I’d think you were an Omega.”

Xie Yuanxing leaned back, frowning. “My body runs cold. I usually don’t sweat unless it’s exceptionally hot.”

“Just talk, don’t keep reaching out.”

Gao Yufei said casually, “We’re all guys, and you’re a Beta too. Aren’t these actions normal? You’ve moved dorms, you’re not living with the cold Senior Shen anymore, so you should see that everyone else acts like this—hugging, touching, it’s all normal.”

“I just find it strange that you don’t sweat.”

Xie Yuanxing nodded. “It’s normal, but I don’t like it.”

Before, he would just shy away without saying much. Perhaps being pampered had given him a bit of a temper, allowing him to directly state his dislikes, even if the actions were considered normal. Gao Yufei had no sense of personal space, but the upside was that he didn’t hold grudges. Hearing this, he chuckled awkwardly twice and said, “Alright, I’ll definitely remember that from now on.”

Having been gently rebuffed, Gao Yufei pulled out his phone. After scrolling for a bit, he spoke again: “Shi Tingting is posting about some iron-flower performance event. Don’t tell me, the preview pictures look quite good.”

“If I had a little Omega, I’d take them to see it.”

Xie Yuanxing: “You can go by yourself.”

Gao Yufei sighed: “That would be so boring. I don’t know how you live your life, always alone. These past few days, who knows what Fang Zhi is up to, but at least no one’s attending class with me. Other times, I have other bros, and even that makes me uncomfortable.”

Few people were lone wolves, because that feeling wasn’t pleasant.

Xie Yuanxing listened to Gao Yufei’s complaints, subconsciously looking at his phone. The dark screen lay silently, not lighting up with any incoming messages.

His pale lips pressed together, and his long eyelashes fluttered twice. It was hard to say if it was disappointment as he shifted his gaze away.

Just as he moved his eyes, the phone screen suddenly lit up in his peripheral vision. Xie Yuanxing picked up his phone and, seeing that it was a message from Shi Tingting, pursed his lips again.

Shi Tingting: “Xingxing! There’s an iron-flower performance outside the mall tonight, are you coming?”

“It’s so, so pretty! And it’s free!”

Last time, she couldn’t resist the temptation and went to play with Tangtang, but she always felt like she had taken advantage. She couldn’t repay such expensive things. When she took a part-time job hosting an event at the mall, she saw the iron-flower performance and thought of asking Xie Yuanxing if he wanted to come see it.

Shi Tingting sent several pictures of the iron-flower performance in one breath, trying her best to promote it to Xie Yuanxing.

Xie Yuanxing lowered his gaze, staring at the message for a while, then replied to Shi Tingting.

The scattered sparks in the pictures reminded him of the endless fireworks over A University’s engineering campus that day. Even without Zhou Chao telling him, Xie Yuanxing knew it was Shen Bianye who had set them off. He knew.

Shen Bianye was that kind of person. What he wanted to give, he would do so indirectly, and even if rejected, he would still deliver it to him. He had Shi Tingting ask him if he wanted to travel to a city known for fireworks. He refused, so Shen Bianye moved the fireworks to the sky above A University’s engineering campus.

Xie Yuanxing suddenly regretted not stopping then to properly admire the night sky filled with fireworks.

He hesitated, pondering his thoughts until the end of the break time, when the class bell rang.

During a meaningless lecture, Shen Bianye sat in the tiered classroom, flipping his thin phone in his hand. He handled it with effortless grace, like twirling a pen, and no one could see the irritation in his movements.

He wanted to send Xie Yuanxing a message. Very much.

But he was afraid his other account would also be blocked. X’s account had been blocked so readily. Even though he didn’t want to admit it, Shen Bianye didn’t dare to gamble on whether his real account would be blocked even faster.

Shen Bianye paused, picked up his phone, clicked on the calendar, and counted the days page by page. The specific exam schedule hadn’t been released yet, so he could only estimate based on past situations. No matter how many times he counted, it was at least a month until summer vacation. He had never felt time stretch out so long.

A single class, a single month, both were so hard to endure.

The phone’s buzzing vibration wasn’t out of place in the somewhat noisy and spacious tiered classroom. The anxiety in Shen Bianye’s eyes vanished almost instantly.

Xie Yuanxing hesitated for a long time, but finally, at the end of class, he sent Shen Bianye a message: “There’s an iron-flower performance at the mall today. I’ve never seen it before.”

Shen Bianye: “I’ll go with my darling.”

“If darling doesn’t want me to accompany them, can I drive darling there?”

“Can I, darling?”

Xie Yuanxing was in the middle of typing “Do you want to go with me?” in the chat box when several messages from Shen Bianye scrolled up.

…Why was he typing so fast?

Xie Yuanxing muttered to himself as he silently deleted the sentence character by character, replacing it with: “Okay.”

The iron-flower performance at the mall entrance didn’t start until evening. Before six o’clock, Xie Yuanxing began receiving messages from Shen Bianye.

Shen Bianye: “Darling, when should we go?”

Xie Yuanxing: “Eight o’clock, I guess.”

Shen Bianye: “Okay, I’ll listen to darling.”

6:10 PM—

Shen Bianye: “Darling, are you ready to leave? We can go to the mall and grab something to eat.”

Xie Yuanxing: “No, I’m eating at the cafeteria.”

Shen Bianye: “Okay, can I come to the cafeteria too?”

Shen Bianye: “Haven’t eaten at the cafeteria in a long time.”

Xie Yuanxing: “Suit yourself. I’ve already finished.”

Shen Bianye: “I was wrong, darling. I just wanted to see you.”

6:47 PM—

Shen Bianye: “Darling, if we drive over now, the timing might be just right.”

Xie Yuanxing: “Still early.”

Shen Bianye: “How can it be early, darling? From school to the city center, it takes at least an hour, darling.”

Shen Bianye: “Darling?”

Shen Bianye: “Okay, darling, maybe it is a bit early.”

7:10 PM—

Shen Bianye: “Darling, are you at the library now? Should I pick you up?”

Xie Yuanxing: “No need.”

Xie Yuanxing: “Still early.”

Shen Bianye: “I’m already at the library entrance, darling.”

Shen Bianye: “Does darling need to go back and put away their bag?”

The constantly lighting up phone screen made Xie Yuanxing look over several times. The sky outside was dark. The person sitting in the bright library finally couldn’t help but sigh helplessly. He packed his things and stood up, walking out of the library.

The library steps were long and high. Xie Yuanxing walked out of the door, stood on the topmost step, and looked at Shen Bianye: “Let’s go.”

The difference in height made him seem to be speaking with his chin slightly raised. Shen Bianye stood at the bottom of the steps, finding him both dignified and beautiful.

The summer weather was hot. Xie Yuanxing wore a simple short-sleeved shirt and casual shorts, revealing a pair of long, straight, white legs. His sneakers trod slowly down the steps.

Stepping down, one by one, Shen Bianye inexplicably thought of that night when Xie Yuanxing had kicked his calf. If he were to press Xie Yuanxing onto the bed, in a panic, he would probably extend his legs to kick. Would he step on his shoulders? Could he hold Xie Yuanxing’s ankles and prevent his darling from escaping?

His Adam’s apple bobbed slightly. When Shen Bianye spoke, his voice was surprisingly hoarse: “Darling.”

Xie Yuanxing glanced at him suspiciously, with a hint of imperceptible concern: “Do you have a cold?”

Shen Bianye’s voice would occasionally be low and hoarse, but that was during his susceptible period, or at certain special times. But now the situation was very normal, so Xie Yuanxing subconsciously thought of a cold.

Shen Bianye swallowed, his expression normal: “No.”

“Shall we go, darling?”

Xie Yuanxing nodded and followed Shen Bianye to where his car was parked. All the way there, Shen Bianye wanted to speak, but stopped himself under Xie Yuanxing’s indifferent gaze.

He thought for a moment, then turned and took out his phone to send a message to Zhou Chao.

Shen Bianye: “My voice is a bit hoarse, and Xie Yuanxing asked if I had a cold.”

Zhou Chao actually replied quite quickly this time, without Shen Bianye having to flash call him to find him. “And then?”

“Why is your voice hoarse?”

Shen Bianye thought, why my voice is hoarse is none of your business, and after sending that message with one tap, he typed out: “He cared about me!!!”

“I didn’t even need to fake being sick!!!”

“Xie! Yuan! Xing! Cared! About! Me!”

The phone went silent, no response. Shen Bianye scoffed, about to put it away, when it buzzed again.

Only one sentence.

Zhou Chao: “Love-struck fool, get lost.”

Heh.

Shen Bianye sneered, taking it as jealousy.

“Xingxing!” Shi Tingting, waiting at the mall entrance, waved at Xie Yuanxing. Seeing Shen Bianye accompanying him, she and Tangtang exchanged glances, both their eyes filled with surprise. They were surprised and curious, but both restrained themselves from asking.

Shi Tingting shoved a box into Xie Yuanxing’s hand. “Xingxing, this is for you, a lucky blind box, it has a doll inside!” After saying that, without waiting for Xie Yuanxing to refuse, she pulled Tangtang and walked away. “These are the front-row spots we saved for you. Since you’re here, we’ll go now.”

The sky grew darker, and as the time approached for the performance to begin, the crowd began to gather more and more. Xie Yuanxing had simply thought of the missed fireworks and had a sudden whim to come see a simple iron-flower performance at the mall entrance. Holding the lucky blind box, looking at Shen Bianye, who still stood out in the crowded area, he suddenly began to doubt his decision. Shen Bianye didn’t live this kind of life; why did he have to…

“It’s so lively, Xingxing. We should have bought some milk tea when we came. I see everyone around has something to eat.”

Shen Bianye’s voice interrupted Xie Yuanxing’s thoughts. He looked up, his gaze somewhat complex. The moment their eyes met, Shen Bianye’s tone immediately lowered, with a faint hint of grievance: “I know I shouldn’t call you ‘darling’ in public, but can I not even call you ‘Xingxing’?”

“Shi Tingting can call you that, X can call you that. Am I not as good as X, not even as good as Shi Tingting?”

Xie Yuanxing: …

What is this person thinking about all day?

“You can call me whatever you want. I can’t really tape your mouth shut.”

Shen Bianye raised an eyebrow. Surrounded by people, he spoke with absolute naturalness: “Okay, Xingxing, darling…”

Xie Yuanxing looked up, his gaze sweeping over with a cold indifference. Even though Shen Bianye hadn’t finished his sentence, he knew the latter half wasn’t appropriate to say in public. Shen Bianye’s words abruptly stopped, performing a one-second silence before the iron-flower performance.

Amidst the somewhat restless chatter of the waiting crowd, the iron-flower performers walked out from behind the fence. Thousand-degree molten iron was struck and splashed onto the flower shed, and in an instant, ten-meter-high, brilliant iron flowers bloomed across the entire open space.

Spectacular and scorching, it almost lit up the night sky. It was hard to describe its impact with words—resplendent and grand, like fireworks, a scene of fiery trees and silver flowers, blooming in an instant, only to be frozen for that brief moment. Xie Yuanxing’s dark eyes reflected the beautiful, dazzling iron flowers. His entire eyes seemed to light up slightly. As he watched the grand fireworks not far away, Shen Bianye tilted his head and glanced at him.

The atmosphere reached a climax with each strike of the flower stick against the molten iron. Children clamored about how beautiful it was, and applause and exclamations filled the crowd. More and more people gathered, and Xie Yuanxing was squeezed, bumping against the fence.

Just as he was about to step back, Shen Bianye was also pulling him. On the other side, a tall, chubby child pushed forward forcefully without looking, almost shoving him. Not far away, the iron-flower performer vigorously struck and threw the scalding molten iron he held.

The simple fence had already moved forward due to the constant pushing. Xie Yuanxing was forcefully squeezed by the child, and seeing the exploding iron flowers rushing towards him, he instinctively shut his eyes tightly.

In the instant darkness, he was pulled into a sturdy, hot embrace. In his ears were a muffled grunt and the screaming, noisy crowd. The staff rushed out to organize the crowd. Xie Yuanxing was firmly protected in the embrace, but his expression suddenly became flustered. “Are you hurt? Are you okay?”

A familiar voice came from above his head, now incredibly steady: “I’m fine, darling. I’m fine.”

Xie Yuanxing didn’t believe him. When Shen Bianye released him, he pulled Shen Bianye to look him over, up and down, his hands trembling violently, his expression panicked. “Where is it? Where are you hurt?”

His movements suddenly paused as he saw Shen Bianye’s shoulder.

Shen Bianye endured the pain and comforted him, even moving his shoulder. “I’m fine, darling, it was far away, only a little scalded. Just rinse it with water.”

“Wait for me, I’ll go to the restroom to treat it.”

Xie Yuanxing gritted his teeth. “Can you treat something like this in a restroom?!”

“Do you know your shoulder is bleeding?”

He turned to the mall staff who had come over. “Take us to the hospital, immediately.”

A commanding tone, a calm voice. Xie Yuanxing thought he was composed, but the hand he reached out to grasp Shen Bianye’s left hand was trembling subtly. More than grasping, it was more like stuffing his hand into Shen Bianye’s large palm. Shen Bianye squeezed back forcefully. “It’s nothing, darling, just a little blood.”

A little blood…

Xie Yuanxing closed his eyes, his voice lowering: “Does it hurt?”

“No, it doesn’t.”

Shen Bianye said this, and even when his wound was being treated and dressed at the hospital, he only said it didn’t hurt. But how could it not hurt? Xie Yuanxing knew better than anyone the extent of pain that burns could inflict.

Annoyance and regret filled Xie Yuanxing’s heart. He didn’t understand why he had suddenly decided on a whim to go see that iron-flower performance. If he hadn’t suggested going, Shen Bianye wouldn’t have come, and wouldn’t have been hurt. If he hadn’t been pushed forward, Shen Bianye probably wouldn’t have been so disheveled, standing in a crowded area with a bleeding shoulder, in his entire life.

Xie Yuanxing hadn’t said a word since arriving at the hospital. He watched the nurse apply medicine to Shen Bianye’s wound, unconsciously digging his fingernails into his palm. His fingertips dug deep into his flesh, forming crescent moon shapes, as Xie Yuanxing’s spirits dimmed, and the wound on his back also seemed to burn.

Fortunately, it wasn’t too close. The scalded area on Shen Bianye’s shoulder wasn’t large. The nurse applying the medicine instructed, “Don’t let the wound touch water these next few days. If it’s not taken care of properly, it might leave a scar.”

Xie Yuanxing, standing nearby, spoke his first words since entering the hospital: “Can it be removed?”

The nurse nodded, “It should be possible. Small scars can be removed without leaving a trace.”

After the nurse left, silence fell in the ward. Shen Bianye held Xie Yuanxing’s hand, his thumb tenderly rubbing the small, protruding bone on Xie Yuanxing’s wrist, and gently said, “Don’t cry, darling.”

Xie Yuanxing blinked, his eyelashes trembling, “I’m not crying.”

Shen Bianye chuckled softly: “But darling looks like they’re about to cry.”

“My shoulder isn’t so ugly that it would make darling cry, is it?”

Xie Yuanxing pursed his lips. “No, the injury on your shoulder isn’t severe.”

“I just don’t want you to have a scar.”

Shen Bianye: “Why?”

Xie Yuanxing bit his lip hard. “Your body… is beautiful. It shouldn’t have scars.”

And certainly not scars that would remain forever because of him.

Shen Bianye gently tugged Xie Yuanxing to sit beside him, his fingers lovingly caressing the small, raised bone on Xie Yuanxing’s wrist. “If it’s not too ugly, I don’t mind keeping it.”

Xie Yuanxing stared at him, his lips tightly pressed together. Shen Bianye suddenly leaned in, pecking Xie Yuanxing’s lips lightly. “Darling has a scar on your right shoulder, and now I have one on my left shoulder too.”

“Isn’t that a coincidence, darling?”

Xie Yuanxing’s eyelashes trembled, moist, like the wet wings of a black butterfly. “What’s coincidental about that…?”

“Did the pain make you stupid?”

Shen Bianye chuckled softly: “It’s quite a coincidence. Maybe heaven saw that we were both alone, too pitiful, so it left a mark on us, hoping we wouldn’t miss each other.”

Xie Yuanxing knew Shen Bianye was comforting him, yet he still looked slightly dazed.

Soon, Shen Bianye added, “Of course, if it’s too ugly, let’s get surgery to remove it.” As if remembering something, he quickly added, “Darling, don’t worry, the scars on darling’s body aren’t ugly.”

Xie Yuanxing: “…I wasn’t thinking about that.”

His fingertips twitched. He wanted to touch Shen Bianye’s shoulder but didn’t dare, only lightly touching the outside of the wound. “Scar removal surgery will also be very painful.” Shen Bianye didn’t have to endure any of this.

Shen Bianye: “Don’t be afraid, darling.”

Taking advantage of the lingering heartache in Xie Yuanxing’s eyes, he leaned in and kissed him several times, speaking in a light tone: “Mainly, this is all the capital I have to entice darling. It wouldn’t do if darling didn’t want to look at me because of a scar.”

Shen Bianye had never thought of listening to Zhou Chao’s advice, never thought of faking illness, never thought of intentionally getting hurt, yet he ended up getting injured by accident. But he had to admit, being able to kiss his darling after being injured, without being dodged or rejected, and without having to pretend to be X in the dark, still made him feel great.