SB-chapter 23

The lights in the theater dimmed.

A famished wolf was waiting for the right time to pounce when the rabbit suddenly stood up as the MAX effect was counting down. He called out, “Good  —”

Everyone glanced at the corner to hear Xiao Zhan said, “Good. It’s such a cool special effect…This is my first time watching it in an MAX theater.”

Wang Yibo’s heart skipped a beat as well.

He originally thought that it would be very exciting to kiss Xiao Zhan in the movie theater, but the latter’s response shocked him, causing him to sit back down.

There were people joking in the theater and it was unknown whether they were mocking Xiao Zhan’s lack of knowledge or laughing at how silly he was being.

Xiao Zhan looked down and secretly glanced at Wang Yibo. He wasn’t sure what happened to the latter, but he was silent and kept his head down.

“I want to sit in the center.” Xiao Zhan suggested in a soft voice.

There were many empty seats in the theater and Xiao Zhan had exposed the two of them. When people sat in those seats, it usually meant that they were doing bad things. He saw people shooting glances at them from time to time.

Wang Yibo closed his eyes for a second before he opened them, picked up his bag and stood up.

Xiao Zhan hurried to follow him and the two shifted towards the center.

Someone immediately looked at them and talked in a low voice towards their companion.

Thankfully, the movie was officially going to begin and Xiao Zhan wore his 3D glasses, focusing on the screen.

Yet, Wang Yibo was not interested in the movie at all. He turned around to look at Xiao Zhan.

Under the dim light, Xiao Zhan became the center of his attention and this made Wang Yibo’s heart pound quickly.

He shifted his gaze away and wore the glasses, but his mind was still on Xiao Zhan. He had been repeatedly recalling the times when Xiao Zhan ‘turned in his homework’ to him.

When he remembered how Xiao Zhan’s faint red lips could possibly turn deep red, he began to feel thirsty and his heart felt clenched.

When the movie was over, Xiao Zhan carried his backpack over his shoulder, not wishing for it to end. “Are we going home now?”

Wang Yibo was dissatisfied and unhappy, grabbing a cigarette from his pocket and slowly walking towards the bathroom.

Xiao Zhan hesitated and followed along, saying, “Didn’t you say you’re not going to smoke anymore?”

“You said you would turn in your homework on time in the future too. Did you ever turn it in?”

Indeed, Xiao Zhan hadn’t been turning in his homework for a few days, so he said without confidence, “Um, there are people around.”

Wang Yibo stopped by the bathroom and turned around to look at him, saying, “Do you not want to hand in your homework?”

The people going in and out of the bathroom stared at the two.

For a second, it felt like Wang Yibo was the one who did his homework while Xiao Zhan hadn’t, acting like a bad kid. He even seemed shocked.

Xiao Zhan moved to the side and what Wang Yibo said was true. But, Wang Yibo seemed to be very angry, so Xiao Zhan said, “Didn’t I come and watch the movie with you?”

Wang Yibo glanced at him and said, “Shouldn’t you watch a movie with me too?”

Actually, he didn’t have to.

Xiao Zhan reached over and pulled on Wang Yibo, saying, “I should. Tell me, where do you want to go? I’ll accompany you.”

Wang Yibo coldly shook Xiao Zhan’s hand off and he said, “If you want to go home, you can.”

Xiao Zhan couldn’t tell if it was words of impulse or anger, but from his expression, it seemed to be impulsive.

Xiao Zhan was ill at ease and said, “Before going home, I will definitely hand in my homework, ok?”

Wang Yibo was more and more displeased, asking, “Why does it seem like I forced you to do so? Did I force you?”

Xiao Zhan tugged on his backpack, clearly nervous as if he was scared.

Wang Yibo placed the cigarette away and felt that he had been too narrow-minded.

“You want to go home? Let’s go. I’m going to bring you home.”

It was already 4 in the afternoon and the weather was getting very cold, not to mention how today was a cloudy day. It seemed like it was already 6-7 at night and it was getting dark.

The moment Xiao Zhan walked out, he placed his hat on, wanting to comfort Wang Yibo. He even reached for the hat and Wang Yibo allowed Xiao Zhan to take his hat off and wear it on himself.

Wang Yibo found it to be funny and asked, “You don’t want to go anywhere else to play tonight?”

Xiao Zhan obediently said, “I want to go home before 6:30 pm, please?”

When he asked for Wang Yibo’s answer, it was difficult for the latter to reject him.

Wang Yibo felt as if he was going to lose to Xiao Zhan, so he said, “In order to thank you for watching the movie with me, I’ll go to the library with you.”

Xiao Zhan nodded, feeling at ease since he believed Wang Yibo wasn’t angry at him anymore.

“We have a monthly exam next Monday. How do you feel about it?”

“Do you want me to buy a prep book and do some problems for Teacher Xiao to check?”

Xiao Zhan was happy at Wang Yibo’s awareness but also felt very shy when Wang Yibo called him Teacher Xiao. “I’ll try my best to help.”

When Wang Yibo mentioned going to a theater, it felt as though a knife was placed to Xiao Zhan’s throat. But when Wang Yibo mentioned doing practice exams, Xiao Zhan was so happy as if they were going to a carnival, making Wang Yibo extremely confused by Xiao Zhan.

Wang Yibo didn’t dislike the library, but he didn’t like it either.

However, Xiao Zhan was completely adjusted and comfortable in his environment, skillfully picking out a practice exam for him to do.

He flipped to a part and said, “If you can get everything right, you will make it into at least the top 5.”

Wang Yibo looked at him and said, “Of the class or the grade?”

“Obviously the class.”

Class 1 and 2 were elite classes and there were countless top students there. If Wang Yibo could get into the top 5 within the class, then he would be making a vast improvement within the grade, making the others admire him.

Xiao Zhan gave Wang Yibo the new pencil and said, “The seat arrangement must be decided based on the monthly exam’s grades again. If you can get 2nd place, we can sit together then.”

Wang Yibo took the pencil and said unresigned, “I think that the last place should sit with the first place, so it can balance the class’s ability.”

Stupid logic.

Xiao Zhan focused on completing his own exam, refusing to acknowledge him.

After spending a while together, Wang Yibo was really able to complete a few questions and he was quick, completing the easy ones first. He left the difficult ones empty and then went to ask Xiao Zhan about those questions.

When the latter saw it, he said, “Do you want to try it first?”

“It’s a waste of time. Just explain it to me right away.”

Since the student refuses to think, Teacher Xiao worked hard without complaint and took out his pencil and paper to explain.

Happiness was only temporary and to Xiao Zhan, it became 6:30pm in the blink of an eye. He glanced at the 2 questions that he hadn’t finished explaining and took out his phone to shoot his mother a message, before continuing.

If they were doing something else, Xiao Zhan would have complained about going home.

Wang Yibo glanced at Xiao Zhan’s profile and had a plan in mind.

After Xiao Zhan explained each question to Wang Yibo, he found a few questions from each type of question on the exam for Wang Yibo to complete. The latter was quite smart, so he mastered the different types of questions in little time.

Quickly, it was 7:30pm and Xiao Zhan’s stomach rumbled while Wang Yibo’s phone rang. He stopped writing and called out to Xiao Zhan before going out to answer the call.

When he came back, Xiao Zhan then realized and said, “You ordered takeout?”

“Our Teacher Xiao has been hard at work today, so I obviously have to treat you.”

Fine. Xiao Zhan’s dinner time was taken by Wang Yibo as well.

After Yu Ziyuan called a third time, the two finally left the library.

Wang Family’s driver had been waiting for a long time and in order to prevent Wang Yibo from dragging him back home and forcing him to wear an animal onesie, Xiao Zhan got in the car and told the driver his address immediately.

Meanwhile, Wang Yibo was observing Xiao Zhan and laughing.

Because of the driver, Xiao Zhan didn’t hand in his ‘dating homework’ again.

After all, he owed Wang Yibo many times, so he stopped placing it in his heart.

Xiao Family’s parents knew that Xiao Zhan had been working hard and since he went to the library, they had said nothing.

However, Xiao Cheng had a strange look and when Xiao Zhan walked out of the bathroom after he finished showering, he heard Xiao Cheng asking, “Did you go to the library by yourself?”

“I went with a friend.” Xiao Zhan replied vaguely and then scolded, “Kids shouldn’t mind so much.”

***

On Monday, Xiao Zhan led the class to criticize their own faults during the flag-raising ceremony.

With Wang Yibo’s reminder, Xiao Zhan ended up sharing the study plan of the class during the second half of the self-criticism and this led to a series of applause and great comments.

Xuan Lu nodded pleasingly and after all the classes were done with their self-criticism, the white-haired principal walked over and expressed his attitude against creating a competitive atmosphere in the school.

Then, he softened his tone and praised the classes for admitting their mistakes and ended the ceremony in a very rigid tone.

The monthly exam that  Xiao Zhan had been talking about arrived and like usual, Xuan Lu had everyone get up from their seats.

Then, she passed the exams down each row and once the students each received a test, she said meaningfully, “Seat arrangements are still decided by this month’s grades and if some students want the best seats in class, they would have to rely on their abilities…”

She recalled what Wang Yibo had done last time and paused, before continuing, “Your grades determine your place! Don’t think about threatening students into accepting unfair conditions!”

She was rather considerate and in order to prevent Wang Yibo from threatening the class in advance to leave the seat next to Xiao Zhan empty, she specifically added, “From today, the first and second place will always sit together. If you guys want to sit with the first place, then get second place!”

The class wasn’t stupid and it was clear who she was talking about.

After what happened last time, even if they picked seats according to grades, no one would dare to sit next to Xiao Zhan. In the end, Wang Yibo would definitely sit next to him.

Everyone glanced at Wang Yibo while the latter’s eyelids twitched. People would always find a loophole around the rules.

Wang Yibo had seen through this and he raised his hands, trying to argue, “I think this is unfair.”

Unbelievable how he, Wang Yibo, was arguing about how it was unfair.

Xuan Lu asked, “You want to talk about fairness? Sure. You guys can leave the elite class and go back to an ordinary class. Come back to the elite class based on your final grade.”

In other words, she wanted to kick these underachievers out of class already. It was the bottom line for her when Wang Yibo was hell-bent on sitting next to Xiao Zhan since the latter was her treasure.

A child with such good grades could score first in the college entrance examination and she would feel guilty if the kid was dragged down by Wang Yibo.

Seungyoun, Zhou Yixuan, and Li Wenhan felt their faces hurting.

Wang Yibo thought about it and felt as if he was quite shameless talking about fairness with the teacher in charge as well.

He glanced at Xiao Zhan and believed even more that he had lost face in front of his boyfriend, so he tried to explain.

“If the first place sits next to the last place, they can help one another.”

“Help one another” In order to protect Xiao Zhan and Peng Chuyue, Xuan Lu said rudely, “Xiao Zhan helps you to study, but what have you helped him with? Help him fight? Or help him stand outside of class? Or help him read the self-criticism letter during today’s flag raising ceremony?”

Everyone’s hearts thumped rapidly and it felt like Xuan Lu knew what was the deal with the perfume from last time.

Wang Yibo immediately looked at the other students, but Xuan Lu pointed behind him and said, “There’s a security camera there. We normally don’t use it, so you guys must’ve forgotten about it, right?”

The students all sighed and Wang Yibo looked at his ‘little boyfriend’ again, while the latter quietly kept his head down.

It was clear that he was embarrassed and he was wondering how the principal had known about the competition. As it turned out, the principal had kept quiet to protect Xiao Zhan.

Since the old principal had helped his little friend to this point, if he kept on being rude, there would be gossip about Xiao Zhan eating dumplings in class.

Wang Yibo rubbed his nose in embarrassment while Xuan Lu continued, “If you sit next to Xiao Zhan, you guys won’t be helping one another. To you, you would be soaring through your classes and earning top grades. But to Xiao Zhan, he would be carrying a burden!”

The whole class wanted to laugh but felt as if Teacher Lu had been too harsh. Would Wang Yibo beat her?

In the end, Wang Yibo actually didn’t have a bad temper, smiling instead and said, “Teacher Lu knows quite a lot.”

Xuan Lu glanced at him and said, “Fine, stop arguing with me. The test starts now, so stop talking.”

The class became silent and Peng Chuyue took out his pencil, glancing secretly at Wang Yibo and feeling strange in his heart.

If it were in the past and Xuan Lu picked a quarrel with Wang Yibo, he would’ve flipped the table over and left the class. Yet, Wang Yibo wasn’t angry and even started to do his test.

Did Wang Yibo change?

Seungyoun and Zhou Yixuan started to murmur as well, while Li Wenhan lied on his desk and choked with laughter.

Soaring through the classes and earning top grades while the other carries a burden. Teacher Lu’s description was very accurate.

But what was most hilarious was not the demeaning words against Wang Yibo, but his attitude.

If Teacher Lu wasn’t comparing him to Xiao Zhan, Wang Yibo definitely would’ve dragged her out and beat her up. In addition, Xuan Lu would never have the guts to say that to him.

But that person was Xiao Zhan.

Wang Yibo was disdained but not only was he not angry, but he felt a sense of glory.

F*ck.

Li Wenhan banged on the table in laughter.

Wang Yibo who had his ears on the conversation suddenly turned around and kicked the table.

Xuan Lu immediately looked up and said, “Li Wenhan, quiet.”

Li Wenhan hurriedly became quiet while Seungyoun and Zhou Yixuan each bit on a pencil, scratching their ears as they looked at the test.

Wang Yibo concentrated on the test and began to answer the questions.

After the test was over, Xiao Zhan asked Wang Yibo, “How do you think you did?”

“I answered everything that I knew how to do.”

“Did you know most of the questions?”

“Eh.” Wang Yibo pinched his earlobes and pondered before saying, “I think I got everything right.”

Xiao Zhan was stunned and he stared at Wang Yibo’s calm face as if feeling like the latter had threatened his position as first place.

This…shouldn’t be true.

***