SB-chapter 22

“Didn’t you say your brother is taking you?”

Xiao Zhan shocking retorted, “Are you 18 yet?”

“Almost.” Wang Yibo curled his lips and patted the seat behind him. “Is this motorcycle cool?”

“…” Cool, but this is a motorcycle! Can a minor like you drive a motorcycle?!

Wang Yibo tossed Xiao Zhan a helmet and said, “Get on.”

“No.” Xiao Zhan rapidly rejected him and the helmet felt like a hot potato. The moment it touched his hand, the helmet bounced off.

Xiao Zhan said in horror, “I refuse to sit in unlicensed vehicles.”

Wang Yibo made a tsk and he slowly drove the motorcycle, following Xiao Zhan. He said, “What unlicensed vehicle? Do you know what that means?”

“Your motorcycle is an unlicensed vehicle.” Xiao Zhan reprimanded, “You will be arrested!”

“We’ll be in school in 10 minutes.”

Xiao Zhan was afraid that Wang Yibo might pull him on. If the police had caught him, Xiao Zhan would definitely slap Wang Yibo a few times.

He sprinted and he clutched the straps of his backpack, preventing it from bouncing up and down as if he was chased by a ghost. “Don’t follow me.”

“I only have class this morning and it’d be done this afternoon.”

Xiao Zhan clearly knew and he had no time to comprehend what Wang Yibo meant by that. He continued to run ahead and was incomparably afraid.

“I’m not going on the motorcycle. Stay away from me.”

He passed the green bushes and ran inside, making it hard for Wang Yibo to follow.

He had to start the engine and turn a corner in the front, waiting for Xiao Zhan. The latter ran near the bricks in the interior road and this was a place for pedestrians to walk.

Right now, Wang Yibo really couldn’t follow him anymore. He wanted to laugh. “I won’t force you on the motorcycle. Come closer.”

“I won’t believe you.” Xiao Zhan said, “It’s one thing to violate the school rules, but do you know what you’re doing now? You’re breaking the law!”

Wang Yibo was convinced by him, saying in a helpless tone, “I’ll park the motorcycle in front of the supermarket and we can ride the bicycle to school, ok?”

Xiao Zhan stared at Wang Yibo in doubt and said, “Then go park first.”

Wang Yibo cupped his fist in the other hand as a sign of respect and drove the motorcycle ahead.

After Xiao Zhan saw Wang Yibo taking the keys out of the motorcycle and exchanging it for a bicycle, he finally sighed.

While Wang Yibo grabbed the bicycle, he gave Xiao Zhan a mocking smile. But the latter pretended he didn’t hear it.

When they arrived, and walked.

Xiao Zhan asked him, “Why’d you bring that over?”

“Bring what?”

“The motorcycle.”

“Oh.” Wang Yibo reached over and hugged him, casually saying, “Don’t we only have half a day’s worth of class today?”

Wang Yibo had said this before too.

Xiao Zhan was confused and asked, “What’s the matter?”

“I wanted to drive the motorcycle over and take you out for fun after class is over.”

Xiao Zhan thought he had heard wrong and he slightly stiffened, saying in an alarmed tone, “What are you saying?”

Wang Yibo tightened his grip on Xiao Zhan and purposely threatened him, chuckling and saying, “I said that after class is done, I will snatch you out, so we can fool around.”

“You promised me that you were going to study.”

Xiao Zhan wanted to swat Wang Yibo’s hand away but to no avail. Instead, the latter chuckled and said, “Am I not listening to you and studying now?”

“You promised me that you weren’t going to smoke, drink, or fight…” Xiao Zhan regretted his decision. “I should’ve never believed you!”

Wang Yibo wasn’t a good person!

Wang Yibo glanced over to see Xiao Zhan’s face pale from distress. He suddenly rubbed his face against Xiao Zhan’s intimately and the latter immediately pushed Wang Yibo’s face to the side.

With an angry and scared tone, he said, “We’re by the school door now. What do you want to do?!”

Wang Yibo enjoyed scaring Xiao Zhan and making him on the verge of crying.

However, he kept his boundaries and knew that it wouldn’t be fun if he actually made Xiao Zhan cry.

Therefore, he let go of Xiao Zhan and said in a proper manner, “I couldn’t control myself before, but I will pay attention to it in the future.”

Pay attention my stupid butt!

Xiao Zhan scrunched his face up like a bun and walked into the room with an aggressive aura.

However, his mind wasn’t on the morning study session anymore. Instead, his mind kept on replaying the scene where Wang Yibo had violated the rules.

He must stop Wang Yibo from doing this in the future, otherwise, he would be exposed before they even break up.

In class, Wang Yibo had actually listened and studied, not disturbing Xiao Zhan either. But the moment class was over, he exposed his true self and always wanted to be close to Xiao Zhan.

Xiao Zhan decided that they needed to set up some basic rules and if Wang Yibo didn’t agree, Xiao Zhan could take this opportunity to break up with him.

When class was over, Wang Yibo kept his promise and pulled Xiao Zhan into his arms.

The latter pushed and said, “Stop hugging me. I’ll go with you.”

Wang Yibo raised his brows and replied, “You’re willing?”

“Where do you want to take me? And where are we going?”

Wang Yibo smiled and shoved his hands into his pockets, saying, “I bought some movie tickets, so we’re going to watch a movie.”

“Sure.” Xiao Zhan answered straight away, making Wang Yibo not accustomed to this.

He believed that Huihui must be planning something. As expected, when Xiao Zhan was following him to the supermarket to grab a shopping cart, Xiao Zhan hugged a white birch tightly and even wrapped a leg around it.

He stared at Wang Yibo in seriousness.

Wang Yibo looked left and right, seeing that this was outside the neighborhood. In front of them was a mechanics shop and no food was sold there, so no students would walk by.

This made Wang Yibo confused and he asked, “What are you doing?”

“I want to talk to you.”

“Can’t you just hug me while you’re talking? Why must you hug a tree?”

Xiao Zhan pursed his lips. It was because the other trees were too sturdy and he couldn’t hug it with his arms. He heard that this tree was newly planted as the previous one had snapped under the tornado’s force during that time. He was only able to hug this one anyway, but he didn’t want to argue with Wang Yibo over this.

He revealed his attitude regarding the matter and said, “I won’t go and fool around with you.”

“So, you were just lying to me before?”

“Watching a movie isn’t fooling around.” In the end, Xiao Zhan was still afraid of him and he said, “But, I’m going home after the movie is done.”

Wang Yibo pinched his earlobes and he thought for a few seconds, smiling. “Is that it?”

“I won’t go on your unlicensed vehicle either.”

“And then?”

A few students walked by and Xiao Zhan placed the leg wrapped around the tree down and pretended to admire the scenery.

Once the students left, he wrapped his leg around the tree again and said with a straight face, “In the future, whether we’re outside the school or inside, you can’t hug me in public, or rub your face against mine, or act intimate with me.”

“Then, can I do anything as long as we’re not in public?”

Xiao Zhan’s heart thumped rapidly and he hurriedly added, “You must get my permission first.”

So troublesome.

Wang Yibo walked over in a good mood and Xiao Zhan seemed to be scared that Wang Yibo might forcibly drag him away, so Xiao Zhan immediately tightened his grip on the white birch.

Wang Yibo mocked and continued, “What else?”

“And, you can’t violate the school rules in the future, and even more; you can’t implicate me.”

Wang Yibo leaned against the tree and looked down, making Xiao Zhan slightly raise his head. His hands held onto the tree, appearing to be very alert.

“Ungrateful thing. I was just going out to buy food for you.”

“I won’t die from just starving during the lunch period.”

“But, I can’t bear to see you starving.”

Xiao Zhan’s face slowly flushed and he couldn’t keep up with the seriousness. He forced himself to stay calm, but it failed.

“You, you don’t need to feel bad for me.”

Wang Yibo had a smooth tongue and he said, “How can I just stop myself from feeling bad for you? Can you just stop yourself from liking me all of a sudden?”

Xiao Zhan’s eyelashes flickered, thinking: I actually don’t like you.

He said, “In the future, I will make sure to eat. No matter what, you need to stop casually buying food for me.”

Wang Yibo supported his forehead with his hands and thought about it for a while. “Fine, as long as you eat on time, I won’t buy food anymore. Anything else?”

Xiao Zhan emphasized again, “You can’t casually hug me in the future, whether it be in school or in class, or in any public places…”

Wang Yibo suddenly kissed him and Xiao Zhan was like a cat whose tail got stepped on.

He suddenly let go of the white birch and jumped a few steps back, looking left and right to see if anyone was passing by. His curly hair was about to turn straight from shock.

He angrily glared at Wang Yibo while the latter said, “You said I just can’t hug you, but you didn’t say I can’t kiss you.”

“I wasn’t done!” Xiao Zhan scolded in a loud voice but was afraid that someone might’ve heard. Tears formed in his eyes and he was about to sob, saying in a soft voice, “You can’t kiss me either.”

Wang Yibo raised his hand in surrender and he said, “Ok, I will remember this. Can we watch a movie now?”

“I’m not going anymore!”

When Xiao Zhan pondered over the possibility that a stranger might’ve seen them kissing, his heart pounded quickly in alarm. Wang Yibo was too annoying. He didn’t care about his feelings at all and he didn’t want to care about Wang Yibo anymore.

Therefore, Xiao Zhan said, “I don’t want to be with you anymore. I want to break up.”

Wang Yibo raised his brows in surprise and reached over to grab Xiao Zhan’s arm, tugging him over and asking softly, “What did you say?”

Xiao Zhan said in a soft but determined voice, “I don’t want to date you anymore and I want to break up with you.”

“I didn’t hear it clearly.” Wang Yibo tilted his head and asked, “Why don’t you try saying it again?”

“…” Xiao Zhan looked down and said unhappily, “Stop bullying me.”

Wang Yibo licked his lips and said, “Ok, I won’t bully you. Was I not listening to you? See how I’m not even hugging you?”

Xiao Zhan looked at him and endured the sadness in his heart and asked, “Will you listen in the future too?”

“I’ll listen, I will listen in the future too.” Wang Yibo let go of him and indicated, “You don’t need to go on this unlicensed vehicle too. How about we hail a taxi there?”

Since Wang Yibo surrendered, Xiao Zhan couldn’t really keep up the tough act, so he said, “Then, I’ll pay.”

Wang Yibo led him and said, “Why would you need to pay when I’m with you?”

Xiao Zhan responded, “You gave me $384 last time.”

Wang Yibo felt he had lost his face and became uncomfortable. “I only gave you $384 last time?”

Then, he suddenly remembered that he forced Xiao Zhan to take all the cash he had on him that day. Xiao Zhan ended up returning the rest of the money that he had transferred over.

He looked at Xiao Zhan and the latter’s eyes were still red, but he said, “In the beginning, you gave me $314 and then you decided to give me $384 instead. You gave me a $10 bill, a $20 bill, a $50 bill, three $100 bills, and 4 pennies, so a total of $384…”

“Stop.” Wang Yibo interrupted and felt he was losing face more and more. Just how stingy was he?

Xiao Zhan remembered each of the bills so clearly and this made Wang Yibo scrunch his eyebrows, saying, “Keep that money.”

“I didn’t plan on getting money from you.”

“I know. You just want me.”

“…” No, I don’t want you either. Xiao Zhan was upset and said, “Either way, I have your money, so I’m going to pay.”

Wang Yibo said nothing and Xiao Zhan continued, “Don’t transfer money to my account in the future. I’m not lacking money.”

“Does it matter whether you’re lacking money or not?” Wang Yibo said, “I just have too much money, but I have no use for it.”

Xiao Zhan closed his mouth.

He couldn’t believe that his first time on a movie date was with Wang Yibo and Xiao Zhan had a heavy heart as he got into the car. Wang Yibo had to remind him to shove the school uniform into the backpack.

Wang Yibo made plans with Xiao Zhan to watch a newly released domestically produced cartoon which obtained countless positive comments on Weibo.

Supposedly, Wang Yibo had figured out Xiao Zhan’s hobbies and they decided to go eat first.

As they passed the stationary store, Xiao Zhan went in to pick a few pens, since he didn’t know where they went after letting others borrow them. His pens required ink and a week’s worth of notes amounted to 20-30 pages of a lecture.

Wang Yibo was behind him and said, “Do you like fountain pens?”

“As long as I can write with it.” Xiao Zhan picked a few and pointed at the cartoon figure on top and said, “Cheng likes him a lot.”

“Do you like any cartoon figures?”

“The one I like is a bit old.” Xiao Zhan went to pay and it seemed like he was buying that pen for Xiao Cheng.

Wang Yibo continued to follow him and ask, “How do you like ‘to live’?”

Xiao Zhan’s ears turned red and he said, “None of your business.”

“You are indeed quite old.” Wang Yibo held in his laugh and this made Xiao Zhan glare at him.

Wang Yibo continued to ask, “Do you like that cat or rabbit? Or that poor squirrel?”

Xiao Zhan walked out of the door and Wang Yibo continued to probe, “Or that bouncing monkey or that silly puppy? Who else…”

Xiao Zhan couldn’t hold it in and blurted, “I like the black tiger!”

****

Wang Yibo grabbed their tickets at the automatic ticket machine and bought popcorn as well as coke along the way.

Xiao Zhan looked at the tickets and realized that Wang Yibo had gotten the first and second seats of the 13th row. He confusedly thought about it. Where was the first and second seat? In the middle?

Right now, it wasn’t the rush hours for the theater, so the MAX theater room wasn’t full. The majority chose seats in the center.

Xiao Zhan grabbed the tickets and when he finally found the seats, he suddenly turned around to look at Wang Yibo, only to be pushed down by him. “Sit down.”

Xiao Zhan sat in the corner and his eyes widened, saying, “Why, why didn’t you choose the middle?”

The corner of Wang Yibo’s lips curled up and said, “Have you seen anyone dating and sitting in the center? This seat is good and no one can disturb us from here.”

The screen started to talk about firefighting knowledge and Xiao Zhan clutched his backpack tightly like a rabbit.

Yet, Wang Yibo reached over and plucked the backpack out of his hands, saying, “Put it here. Otherwise, it’s going to get in the way later.”

In the way of what? Xiao Zhan sat in the first seat, like a little animal squished in the corner with no help.

Wang Yibo glanced at the firefighting knowledge on the screen and said impatiently, “It’s so slow.”

“You, you know that there are cameras in the theater right?”

Wang Yibo thought about it and turned to the side, saying, “You already placed your school uniform away, so what are you scared of?”

Xiao Zhan squished a piece of popcorn, praying that the ad play slowly. The same ad time, in Wang Yibo’s eyes, was incredibly slow, but was done in the blink of an eye in Xiao Zhan’s perspective.

The lights in the theater dimmed.

****