The Protagonist Only Thinks About Falling In Love

thought as he looked at the message displayed on the screen.

System, [Fu Yuhe’s younger brother is in the same class as you.]

SLAM –

The door of the men’s bathroom made a loud noise when it was kicked open.
The people inside were stunned and froze momentarily, looking at the tall figure standing in the doorway.

The young man was already good-looking with his wide shoulders and long legs when he wore an ordinary school uniform, and it was still the end of summer now, when students were required to wear summer uniforms.
The youth standing at the door was no exception, and he even seemed to have a little devilish handsomeness when wearing the short-sleeved shirt.

Shen Yi scrutinized the faces of the people crowding the bathroom one by one.
At a rough glance, there seemed to be five people in total.
One of the little gangsters with a flattop* still had a somewhat arrogant expression, but the tone he spoke to Shen Yi in was rather familiar, “Fuck me*, do you want to die, so fierce.”

This was precisely the Xu Fanchao who had send those messages to Shen Yi before.

Shen Yi’s gaze rested on the boy who stood in the middle of the crowd with his head bowed.
His expression couldn’t be seen clearly, but his bearing seemed different from those surrounding him, which only made Shen Yi more sure of his conviction that he was probably the kid named Fu Cheng.

That frail and pitiful little white flower of a younger brother.

“Sorry to bother you all.” The corners of Shen Yi’s lips rose as he spoke, and his handsome face lost some of its sharpness, making him appear a little harmless, “But…”

He closed the door conveniently and walked closer as he spoke.
When he reached Fu Cheng’s side, he rested a hand on the boy’s shoulder in a casual manner.
Fu Cheng felt his shoulder sink, and he could see the bright and affectionate smile on the youth’s face, “He still has to help me write my homework.
Or did you guys have something else in mind?”

Fu Cheng knew who Shen Yi was.
The other was in the same class as him, but he had also seen Shen Yi with these people before, so when the youth approached him, his brows tensed unconsciously, and his tightly pursed lips turned a little whiter.

’

Xu Fancaho saw Fu Cheng’s frown, and his agitation turned into enlightenment.
He gave Shen Yi a meaningful glance, “Fine, for the sake of your face, I won’t care about this kid.”

Shen Yi looked at him with the same smiling expression as before.

Those people left shortly afterwards, and in a few moments, only Shen Yi and Fu Cheng remained in the men’s bathroom.
After making sure that the little gangsters were really gone, Shen Yi took back his hand resting on Fu Cheng’s shoulder.

Fu Cheng had a slender frame and stood 1.78 metres tall, which in itself couldn’t be said to be short, but somehow, standing next to Shen Yi, he still appeared a little too thin and pitiful.

With Shen Yi’s shadow shrouding him, he felt as if he was being subjected to a great sense of pressure.
Just as his shoulders tensed, Shi Yi turned around and walked towards the cubicles.

For a while, only the sound of water could be heard.
Then the toilet was flushed, and Shen Yi walked over to the sink, turning on the faucet.

“What were they doing just now?”

It took a while for Fu Cheng to realise that he was asking him.
He muttered, “Nothing.”

Those people just now asked him if he smoked, and when he said no, they mocked him for being overly pretentious.
They stuffed a lit cigarette into his hands and said that they would teach him how to smoke.
This happened right before Shen Yi arrived and kicked the door in.

Shen Yi shook off the water from his hands and walked over to him.
Fu Cheng was roughly half a head shorter than him, so he had to bend down when he leant closer to him, “You smell of smoke.
I’m fairly sure that smoking is prohibited here.”

“I didn’t… Didn’t smoke.” The last two words lacked confidence.

Shen Yi pinched the collar of Fu Cheng’s uniform between his slightly wet fingers.
Fu Cheng wanted to lean back subconsciously, but he couldn’t dodge the hand.
The cold fingers skimmed over the skin above his collarbone, and the touch felt strangely distinct.

Fu Cheng couldn’t help swallowing.

The hand felt like a soft knife hanging above his head, but fortunately Shen Yi took it away a few moments later.
Fu Cheng watched the fingers beautiful like a work of art stretch in front of his eyes.
“Ash.
Your clothes are burnt.”

Fu Cheng lowered his head and saw an inconspicuous small black spot on his neckline that had probably been burnt by the sparks of the cigarette.
He pursed his lips.

Hearing the school bell’s echo from the hallways, the boy leaning in front of him straightened up, “Let’s go.”

Fu Cheng was stunned.

Was that it? Would he simply just… let him go like that?

Shen Yi smiled.
He couldn’t help thinking that this last assignment wouldn’t be too difficult to complete after all, and he would probably be finished by the time of graduation… a year later at the very latest.

Since the origin of Fu Yuhe’s blackening was the death of his younger brother, for the time being, it would be more than enough to simply take care of this younger brother.

’

During math class, the classroom was quiet.
Other than the drawn-out words of the teacher, only the occasional sound of pages turning could be heard, and many students were in a daze.
Shen Yi played with a pen while listening to the class curiously.

Only when the two of them returned to the classroom did he realise that Fu Cheng’s seat was not far from his.
The boy sat in front of him with a straight back, listening attentively.

What a well-behaved little student.

Fu Cheng felt that he was really unlucky.
He didn’t know why, but he kept feeling that he was being watched by Shen Yi, who he didn’t even know when he had provoked.

He felt as if he was sitting on pins and needles throughout the morning classes, and the other’s gaze was like a thorn pricking his back.
From time to time, he couldn’t help pretending to turn his head casually, but whenever he tried to glance back from the corner of his eye, he could only see Shen Yi looking out the window in a daze.
It was as if the previous sensation had been but an illusion.

When it was finally time for lunch break, only a few students stayed in the classroom, and most of them left to go to the cafeteria.
Fu Cheng touched the meal card in his pocket as he stood up, intending to follow the others.

Shen Yi also got up, “Are you going to eat? Let’s go together.”

“Oh.” Fu Cheng pursed his lips.

It seemed that it hadn’t been an illusion after all.
There indeed was someone watching him.

“Do you have some time to spare afterwards?” Shen Yi asked him.

Fu Cheng’s fingers clenched around the meal card unconsciously, “Is there something wrong?”

Usually, when people like the youth looking at him questioningly told him that they wanted to take him somewhere to ‘talk about something’, their real purpose was never pure, and he would often end up being forced to do all sorts of things he didn’t want to do.

“Mn.” The corners of Shen Yi’s lips rose as he nodded, and the smile on his face made him seem rather warm and harmless, “There were a few questions today that I didn’t understand, and I was wondering if you could help me with them? Classmate Fu.”

“I… ah?” Fu Cheng was stunned.

“Would that be alright?” Shen Yi’s smile seemed to be the type that made others want to trust him subconsciously, and his clear eyes didn’t hold even the slightest trace of the malice usually attributed to bad students.
“I’ll be troubling you.”

_________________

notes

*變成了豺狼虎豹.
I was going to look for definitions but got distracted by entertainment news.
the meaning is pretty evident though, I think. Also, now I’m thinking about ham sandwiches. don’t ask me how I got there.

*平頭 refers to those haircuts where the top is a straight line, usually paired with a fade.

*我靠, homophone to 我肏