Chapter 4: His Warmth

The morning's biting wind made Lucas hunch his shoulders, timidly nibbling on his piece of bread.

With his eyelashes cast downward, it was hard to tell whether he was looking at the road or his breakfast as he walked beside Ethan in his usual lazy, effortless manner. They walked with just enough space between them to avoid brushing against each other, yet not enough for a third person to squeeze in. One side of Ethan’s earphones hung loosely around his neck, swinging slightly with his movements, making it particularly eye-catching in Lucas’s peripheral vision.

Underneath an exterior that looked perpetually sleepy, timid, and listless, Lucas’s heart was enduring a brutal stress test. Ever since he caught sight of Ethan walking past his front gate, his heart rate had been racing out of control, unable to settle down for a long time. Just seeing the earphones made him recall the escalator at the mall; remembering the escalator reminded him of how they had sat together in the movie theater with almost zero distance between them... Lucas’s imagination only ever took such wild leaps when it came to Ethan.

This had to be fate.

If he had slept two minutes longer or woken up two minutes earlier, he would have missed Ethan completely.

Even though this was the shortest route to school from their direction and all students had the exact same start time, Lucas was still convinced that this was purely fate at work.

They walked silently toward the school like this for a short while, Lucas’s nose quickly turning red from the cold. After devouring his bread in a few quick bites, he yanked up his jacket collar, burying his lower face inside to shield it from the chill.

—*No, I have to find something to say.*

—*What if Ethan finds this awkward and chooses a different route next time?*

Lucas: "You..."

Ethan: "You..."

To his surprise, Ethan spoke up at the exact same moment he did.

Lucas tilted his head slightly, looking over at Ethan’s usual nonchalant, calm face. "...What is it?"

"Aren't you wearing a bit too little?" Ethan said. "Are you cold?"

"A little."

"Here then." As Ethan spoke, he suddenly began unwinding his scarf. It was the same black knit scarf—the very one Lucas had secretly sniffed before, carrying Ethan’s distinct scent. Ethan's long, slender, well-defined fingers looked strikingly pale against the black wool, drawing Lucas's gaze.

Lucas's mind briefly wavered between "politely decline" and "accept," but soon, too tired to overthink, he reached out and took it. "Thanks... Aren't you cold?"

Ethan’s Adam’s apple was exposed to the crisp air, but he didn't offer any extra elaboration, simply saying, "I'm fine."

"Oh... Thanks then."

"Don't say it twice."

The scarf, still carrying Ethan's body heat, settled gently over his skin. Lucas carefully wrapped it around his neck, letting Ethan’s scent envelope him from every angle.

*Ah, I'm truly done for.* Walking side by side with Ethan earlier hadn't bothered him much, but breathing in the scent on this scarf made his throat tighten irresistibly. Yet, Lucas concealed his chaotic thoughts impeccably well. Ethan didn't seem to notice his wild inner monologue at all, smoothly following up: "What were you going to say earlier?"

"...I forgot," Lucas admitted truthfully. Realizing right after that this might kill the conversation, he quickly added, "Do you usually leave for school at this time? I thought you'd be going much earlier..."

"Around this time, yeah. Going too early doesn't make much sense."

Which meant—as long as he left at this time tomorrow, he would likely bump into Ethan again. Lucas secretly pressed his phone screen inside his pocket, covertly glancing at the time. 7:43 AM... Tomorrow, he would stand outside waiting at 7:35 AM sharp.

The walk to school felt drastically shorter because he was in Ethan’s company; before they knew it, they had arrived.

Inside the classroom, students were scattered about chatting in small groups. Ethan and Lucas entering one after another didn't attract much attention, but Lucas removing the scarf and handing it back to Ethan was caught right in the eyes of Leo, who entered right behind them.

"Morning, Bro Ethan... Huh? Did you two walk here together?" Leo was holding a bag of steamed pork buns, the savory scent drifting over along with his words.

Lucas mumbled a quiet "Morning" before quietly retreating to his seat and slumping down. Meanwhile, Ethan pulled out his chair and replied, "Yeah, bumped into each other on the way..."

Leo immediately launched into a noisy conversation with Ethan, his loud voice almost drowning out the rest of the chatter in the room. Lucas couldn't clearly hear what Ethan was saying. As he lay on his desk, drowsiness washed over him again, and he half-closed his eyes to play dead.

—

"Studying is the single most important task for you at this stage! Time flies in the blink of an eye, and the college entrance exams will be here before you know it. This is your very first chance to shape your own future through your own hard work..." The homeroom teacher preached passionately in a raspy, screeching voice while students below lazily passed back the graded monthly exam papers.

The student in the front row tossed the papers back without looking, landing one squarely right on top of Lucas’s sleeping head.

Lucas's desk mate was Nina, a girl with good grades who was always helpful. Seeing this, she nudged his elbow a couple of times.

"Mm...?" Lucas yawned as he sat up, pulling the test paper down. He glanced at his score and immediately shoved it into his desk drawer. The papers weren't handed out by subject individually; instead, on test result days, all subjects were handed out together.

*Chinese: 40. English: 92. Math: 37...* After this monthly exam, he would officially drop out of the middle-tier rankings and join the bottom dead-enders.

Before all the papers were finished being distributed, Leo’s voice—attempting to whisper, yet failed miserably at keeping it quiet—suddenly reached his ears: "Whoa, bro! You're insane! Perfect scores in three subjects... You're definitely number one in the whole grade this time!"

These words were undoubtedly directed at Ethan. No one else could achieve such monstrous results.

Lucas instinctively turned his head to look back. Ethan was looking down, reviewing his rare mistakes on the test paper. At that moment, Lucas’s gaze felt almost tangible; the very next second, Ethan sensed it, looked up, and caught his eyes.

"...How did you do?" Unexpectedly, Ethan asked.

"...Ah, I... just the usual... Ouch!"

Before Lucas could finish his sentence, a piece of chalk thrown by the homeroom teacher struck his forehead with pinpoint accuracy.

"Lucas Tong! You still have the nerve to chat in class?" the homeroom teacher barked. "Look at your test results—third from the bottom! You used to sit comfortably in the middle tier, so what happened this month? Every single subject teacher reported to me that you didn't write a single word besides answering the multiple-choice questions!"

"..." Lucas rubbed his forehead and collapsed back onto his desk, feeling his embarrassment peak.

The homeroom teacher cleared his throat and continued, "This is our class's average score. Do the math yourselves and see if you dragged us down. Ethan placed first in the entire grade this time, yet our class's average is still ranked fourth! What does that tell you? Is one Ethan not enough to carry the rest of you?"

After lecturing the class for a while longer, the teacher finally called Ethan and a few other top performers out into the hallway, allowing a semblance of self-study atmosphere to return to the classroom.

Lucas propped his chin on his palm, tilting his head to stare out the window. From his angle, he could clearly see Ethan’s face as he spoke with the teacher. He tried to mimic the movements of Ethan’s lips as he spoke, trying to guess what was being said. But lip-reading proved far harder than he had imagined; he couldn't decipher a single word.

How could someone be so perfect? Excellent grades, handsome looks, great at sports, and even a impressive height.

While his mind was entirely occupied with Ethan, Nina placed her own test paper on Lucas’s desk. "Correct your English paper first; you missed fewer points on that one... Lucas?"

"Ah? What?"

"I said, use my paper to correct yours," Nina said patiently. "I've already finished mine. If the teacher checks later and sees yours uncorrected, you'll get scolded again..."

However, Lucas didn't respond, nor did he shift his gaze away from Ethan outside the window.

"Lucas Tong, if you don't want to copy, at least say something!"

"If he doesn't want to copy it, I will," the male classmate sitting in front, who wore glasses, suddenly turned around and spoke rudely. "Why bother talking to him? He's always like this—ignoring everyone, acting like some cold cool guy. It's childish as hell..."

"..." Only then did Lucas snap his thoughts back, saying softly, "Oh, I'm not copying..."

Having his lazy, laid-back attitude misinterpreted as "acting cool" was nothing new to him. Back in middle school, it had even caused trouble: after he ignored a girl's confession, she recruited several upperclassmen to give him a hard time. Luckily, he didn't end up getting beaten up—perhaps because seeing his completely indifferent, unbothered expression drained all their motivation to fight.

Unsurprisingly, upon hearing his quiet response, the guy with glasses flared up. "Nina was nice enough to lend it to you, couldn't you at least say thank you? What's with that attitude..."

"Forget it, it's fine," Nina hurriedly mediated. "Hey, you go ahead and copy it then, I'll keep revising mine..."

Lucas pursed his lips and said helplessly, "Thanks, but I won't copy. I just didn't catch what you said earlier."

The moment the words left his mouth, he realized that in other people's ears, this explanation probably sounded equally terrible. Just as the classmate in front was about to start an argument, the top students who had been called out began filing back into the classroom. The homeroom teacher's smiling face instantly turned stern, and his sharp gaze locked straight onto Lucas: "Lucas, step outside!"

"Ugh..."

—*Looks like a scolding is inevitable. If I knew this would happen, I would've written a few more answers.*

Thinking this, Lucas stood up sluggishly and dragged his feet out of the classroom with slumped shoulders. Outside, the cold wind howled furiously. Hunching his neck to make himself look as small as possible, he hung his head before the homeroom teacher, braced for the lecture.

"...Is your mind actually on your studies or not? Do you want to graduate? Do you want to go to college? Be honest with me," the homeroom teacher demanded, throwing a barrage of questions right at him. "If you don't want to, I won't bother wasting my energy."

"...Wasting what energy?" Lucas blurted out offhandedly.

"Having poor grades right now can easily be turned around with two years of hard work. Plenty of students make a late push and end up in top-tier universities... The main question is whether you *want* to learn yourself. Do you understand? I even called your parents—what is going on with your family? When I raised concerns about your academic performance, your mother just told me to speak with you directly! That is utterly uncooperative..."

Lucas apologized silently in his head: *Sorry, my whole family is pretty much like this.* But aloud, he remained silent, looking quite obedient as he listened to the teacher's long-winded rant.

"...As long as you're willing to learn, I'm willing to help you, and your classmates will be willing to help you too," the teacher finally reached the core topic after taking a long detour. "The top students in our class are willing to tutor those of you at the bottom. But it all depends on whether you actually want to put in the effort. If you don't, forcing a one-on-one tutoring setup on them will just be a waste of their time..."

"Who's willing to tutor me?" Lucas suddenly perked up, cutting in eagerly.

"Ethan is willing to tutor you. It just depends on whether you're willing to take it seriously—"

"I am!" Lucas's eyes widened, shining with a glaring, undisguised passion. "I'll study!"

The homeroom teacher nearly wept with relief internally—*Has this bottom-ranked slacker finally seen the light and decided to study? I sure hope the other struggling students snap out of it too.*

Chapter 5: His Eyelashes

The homeroom teacher certainly loved to lecture and scold, but few students in the class actually hated him. Much like the idea of having top students lend a hand to those at the bottom—once the teacher brought up a plan like that, everyone usually went along with it, willing or not. Still, the homeroom teacher was thoughtful enough to ask for the top students' input first before calling the struggling students out one by one for heart-to-heart talks.

Returning to his seat, Lucas couldn't resist pulling out his phone.

Lucas: *[The homeroom teacher said you're going to tutor me.]*

Slumping over his desk, his gaze secretly drifted toward the back, locking onto Ethan's profile. Ethan was currently correcting his test paper, while Leo was busy copying his answers. Suddenly, the pen in Ethan's hand stopped moving, and he lowered his head to glance down.

So even the top student secretly checked his phone during self-study, looking no different from anyone else. Lucas couldn't help thinking to himself, the corners of his mouth curling into a faint, uncontrollable smile—*a top student sneaking a peak at his phone is actually pretty cute.* But less than two seconds later, his phone buzzed with Ethan's reply.

Ethan: *[Yeah, he mentioned it.]*

Lucas: *[He asked you first? You didn't refuse?]*

Ethan: *[Nope.]*

Ethan: *[Do you not want to?]*

Lucas: *[It's not that. I just thought you were forced into it.]*

Ethan: *[I volunteered to tutor you.]*

When those words popped up on the screen, Lucas felt his heart pounding like a drum, as if translating those words directly yielded "I like you too." Just as he was completely flustered, unsure of how to reply to the message, his phone buzzed again.

Ethan: *[I'm not very familiar with the others.]*

*Ah, right. That makes total sense.* If he had to tutor a classmate, it was naturally better to pick someone he had at least interacted with rather than a complete stranger among the struggling students. Lucas let out a sigh of relief. As the tension and fluttery excitement passed, a subtle wave of disappointment filled his heart in their place.

He turned his head, not daring to look back in Ethan's direction. After replying with a simple "OK," he immediately pulled his abysmal test papers out of his desk drawer, flipping through his textbook to correct his answers problem by problem.

---

Very few students voluntarily stayed behind in the classroom to study after school; those who wanted to learn preferred studying at home, leaving only the students on cleaning duty in the room.

"Bro Ethan, let's go play basketball! Come on, come on!" Right as the bell rang, Leo grabbed his basketball and rushed over to Ethan excitedly. "Hurry up, before the court gets taken..."

Drawn by his voice, Lucas instinctively looked over at Ethan, catching him casually flipping through his textbook notes before saying calmly, "Can't make it today. The homeroom teacher asked me to tutor him." As he spoke, he gestured with his chin toward Lucas.

Caught completely off guard, Lucas's eyes locked directly with Ethan's.

"Uh..." Lucas stiffened. "It's fine if you go play basketball. I can just study on my own..."

"We already agreed on it, didn't we?" Ethan said simply.

"Hiss... Alright then, I'm heading out first! Hey guys, you coming to play ball or what?!" Leo slung his bag over his shoulder, holding the basketball as he walked out boisterously with a few other boys. Even though there were still classmates cleaning up in the classroom, Lucas somehow felt an eerie quiet settle around them, as if only he and Ethan were left in the entire room.

The top student acted completely nonchalant, casually flipping open his book. "Come sit over here. Bring your test papers."

"Oh..."

The two of them together really did make an unusual pair. As Lucas walked over with his stack of test papers, the two classmates on cleaning duty glanced over at them. But Lucas didn't have the mental space to pay attention to them. He tried his best to steady his breathing, making an effort to look completely normal as he pulled out Leo's chair and sat down next to Ethan.

The distinct scent on Ethan instantly drifted toward him—faint and subtle, hard to describe, but exceptionally pleasant to Lucas.

"...Did you fix any of your mistakes? Let me take a look first," Ethan said.

"Here." Lucas pushed the stack of test papers over, propping his chin up lazily. "I fixed the English ones, but not the others..."

"...Didn't write a single word besides the multiple-choice questions," Ethan murmured, his eyes lowered as he leafed through the papers attentively. "Are you truly unable to do them, or are you just too lazy to write?"

"A bit of both..." Lucas said guiltily.

—*He hadn't even flipped to the back pages or read the questions, so whether he knew how to do them was entirely out of the question.*

Fortunately, Ethan didn't press the matter further. As if accepting the explanation, he pointed his mechanical pencil at a wrong multiple-choice question, reading through the stem at a steady pace and lightly circling key words while explaining it to him.

Ethan's pronunciation when reading English sounded great, like a charismatic, highly intelligent male protagonist in a foreign film. As Lucas listened, his gaze uncontrollably drifted away from the test paper and landed on Ethan's face. The distance between desk mates was far closer than he had imagined; he could clearly see Ethan's long, delicate eyelashes. When Ethan looked down, his eyelashes shaded most of his pupils, adding a touch of softness to his usually aloof, hard-to-approach demeanor.

—*I want to touch them.*

—*Just once.*

"...So the answer to this question is C. Was that clear enough... Hm?"

By the time Lucas snapped back to reality, his hand was already reaching toward Ethan's eyelashes, his fingertip lightly brushing against them. After a brief moment of confusion, Ethan immediately leaned back, his brows furrowing slightly as he asked, "What are you doing?"

"..." Lucas withdrew his hand awkwardly. "Your eyelashes are really long."

"Did you listen to the question at all?"

"No..." Lucas answered honestly, finally bringing his focus back to the test paper. Looking at the key words Ethan had circled, he hazarded a guess, "Ah, so the answer is C? I didn't notice this word during the exam..."

"You actually know it, you're just too lazy to write," Ethan said, starting to pack up his textbook and papers. "Then you don't need my help. Just answer a few more questions on the next exam."

In that instant, Lucas acted completely out of character, pressing down on the book Ethan was about to close with surprising speed: "No, there's a lot I don't know! Teach me... I really just zoned out for a second because I was thinking about how long your eyelashes are... I promise I'll listen carefully this time."

Ethan stopped his hands, pausing for a moment before saying, "Read through the test paper first. Ask me if there's anything you don't understand."

"You're not going to teach me directly?"

"This way is faster."

"Oh..." Not daring to do anything out of line again, Lucas obediently took back his English test paper—the one he scored highest on—and began reviewing it question by question. Ethan pulled out his own notebook and started writing on his own. Lucas could hear the soft rustling sound of the pen tip gliding across the paper, carrying a unique sort of magic that made the test paper in front of him seem a little less dull.

Without them realizing it, the two classmates on cleaning duty had already left, leaving the large classroom so quiet you could hear a pin drop. The atmosphere felt strangely magical—his heart raced simply because Ethan was sitting within arm's reach, yet he felt immensely peaceful, influenced by Ethan's calm demeanor. It felt almost cozy.

After a long while, Lucas stretched his neck and glanced down at the sports field below. Leo and the others were sweating it out on the court, looking like they were having a great time. Normally, Ethan would play with them every few days. Lucas had secretly watched Ethan play basketball before; his sharp, energetic posture on the court was quite a sight to behold.

Lucas suddenly spoke up: "You don't actually have to stay and study with me on purpose. In the future, I can just ask you if I run into something I don't get."

"Hm?" Ethan responded without raising his head.

"Don't you usually play ball with them? It's fine if you want to go play."

Ethan still didn't stop writing, the rustling sound serving as a background noise: "Do *you* want to go play?"

"No, I don't," Lucas said. "I hate exercise."

"You're too lazy."

"...Plenty of people hate exercise, don't they?"

"But very few people give up on exams just because they're too lazy to answer the questions." Ethan glanced at Lucas's test paper. "You should get some exercise... Is there anything you don't understand?"

"Yeah... I marked them all. I was planning to ask you all at once."

Just as he finished speaking, Ethan suddenly handed an English textbook over to him. "I marked all the core knowledge points tested this time in the table of contents. There are notes for each of them, so cross-reference them while reviewing. And remember to memorize your vocabulary."

"When did you mark all this...?" Lucas asked, taking the book and flipping it open. On the title page, the name "Ethan" was written in a casual, flowing handwriting. They say handwriting reflects a person's character; while Ethan appeared cool and detached on the outside, his handwriting was bold and expressive.

"Just now."

"Oh..."

The more they talked, the more comfortable Lucas felt. Admiring his crush's beautiful notes, he accidentally blurted out what was on his mind: "If I do well on the final exam, will there be a reward?"

"A reward?"

Ethan suddenly looked over at him, but Lucas didn't notice, keeping his eyes lowered as he pondered: "Like..."

"Hm?"

Lucas pursed his lips, thinking to himself *'Like letting me kiss you once'*, but out loud he only dared to say, "Like buying me dessert."

"Isn't it the other way around?" Ethan said. "I'm tutoring you. If you make progress, you should be thanking me."

"Oh, right, that's true." Lucas stopped his pen, tilting his head to lay flat on the desk. He rested his cheek lazily against the English textbook, thoughtfully clicking the push button of his gel pen. "Then if I make it into the top twenty, I'll buy you dessert."

---

They ended up taking the same path home again, chatting casually along the way.

"Oh, I'm home now. Bye-bye," Lucas said, waving Ethan's English textbook. "I'll remember to bring it back to you tomorrow."

"Yeah, bye." Ethan nodded, shifting his gaze away with a slightly peculiar expression before turning to leave. Lucas stood at the entrance of his apartment building, watching Ethan's back until he disappeared around the corner. The joy he had suppressed all day could no longer be contained, and his eyes crinkled into a smile.

Speaking of which, he really had to thank his homeroom teacher. If the teacher hadn't cared so much about his grades, he wouldn't have gotten the chance to stay behind in the classroom alone with Ethan to study... Maybe he'd get the teacher a nice gift on Teacher's Day next time.

Thinking this, Lucas was just about to turn around and go upstairs when someone grabbed his shoulder from behind. "Standing here giggling all by yourself... do you like that boy from just now?"

"..." Surprised, Lucas turned his head, only to see his sister's lazy face. "...When did you..."

"It was my turn to take out the trash today, so I happened to see you two," Chloe said. "...Who would've thought? Our little Lucas has reached the age of having a crush."

"Chloe, don't talk nonsense..." Lucas pouted, uncomfortably slipping away from his sister's grip. "I'm going upstairs."

"Wait up, let me throw this out and we'll go up together," Chloe said. "Don't worry, I won't tell Mom. I'm not a gossip... Is he your classmate? He looks older than you. How are his grades?"

"...And you call that 'not a gossip'..."

"Have you confessed yet? Does he like you back?"

"...Chloe!"

"So that's a no," Chloe tossed the trash into the bin, turning around to link arms with him as they walked up the stairs, smiling sweetly. "Do you want your big sister to give you some pointers? I've written tons of romance stories about secret crushes—want me to lend you a few books for reference?"

Chapter 6: His Smile

"I have good news to announce!"

It was dinnertime, and the Tong family was gathered at the dining table, each holding their bowl of rice. Chloe suddenly spoke up with a solemn tone. Setting down her bowl and chopsticks, her dark, striking eyes darted around, scanning the faces of her family members before revealing her big secret with an air of mystery: "I have a boyfriend."

Lucas's father: "That's nice."

Lucas's mother: "Don't bring him home until you're sure about getting married, alright? Hosting guests is such a hassle. Same goes for you, Lucas—don't bring anyone home unless marriage is on the table..."

Lucas: "...Congratulations."

Their calm, muted responses were entirely within Chloe's expectations. Finding nothing unusual about it, she picked up her bowl and chopsticks after her announcement and resumed eating. "Speaking of which, Lucas is also—"

"My test results from the monthly exam came back!" Lucas interrupted hastily before his sister could blurt anything out. "I placed third from the bottom."

His mother looked over at him in surprise. "...In that case, I won't be attending the next parent-teacher conference."

"The top student is tutoring me, so I'll do better on the finals," Lucas said guiltily. He knitted his brows tightly and shot his sister a meaningful glance, hoping she would catch his drift. "It's my turn to do the dishes tonight, right? I'm full, so I'm heading back to my room to study..."

Fleeing the dining room like a fugitive, he quickened his pace to his bedroom and only let out a long, heavy sigh of relief once the door was firmly shut.

—*If he ever started dating the person he liked, he would definitely tell his family directly just like his sister did. But he couldn't say a word—not only because his crush was another guy, but also because there wasn't even a single hint of mutual romance yet.*

The sensation of having a crush was undeniably sweet. Just the thought of Ethan brought him a subtle sense of fulfillment, as though his entire heart were filled to the brim by something intangible. Yet, the hidden nature of a secret crush added a layer of thrilling suspense and lingering heartache to this sweetness. Even without Ethan doing anything to draw a clear line between them, the mere realization that they were the same gender made Lucas feel that the ultimate destination of this love could only be a lifelong friendship.

Not that he cared about his own sexual orientation, but he didn't want to force a change on anyone else's either.

As his thoughts drifted uncontrollably toward the negative side, Lucas felt a sudden wave of gloom. He leaned against the door, lost in thought for a while, before reaching out to flip on the light switch and heading over to rummage through his bookshelf cabinet. Less than half a minute later, Chloe—who had also eaten in a rush to dodge dishwashing duty—knocked on his door and pushed it open before he could even answer. "Lucas... What are you looking for?"

"My glasses..." he replied without turning around. "Don't tell Mom and Dad about that stuff."

"What do you need glasses for? Don't tell me you're actually planning to study," Chloe said. "Ah, I get it. Is that boy the top student in your class? No wonder you're so motivated."

Eventually, he dug out his long-unseen glasses case from the deepest corner of the cabinet. Squatting there, Lucas opened the case, pulled out the glasses, and slipped them on. Back in middle school, there was a period when Lucas was utterly obsessed with reading web novels. After stubbornly reading in bed for a straight month, he successfully made himself mildly nearsighted. His mother had picked out this pair—gunmetal wire-rimmed frames with delicate, vintage engravings along the temples. He looked left and right, then turned his head to ask, "Does this look ugly?"

"It's fine, pretty average," Chloe said, sitting on his bed and idly flipping through an English textbook. "'Ethan'... This is his book, isn't it?"

Lucas rolled his eyes, took a rapid stride toward his sister, and snatched the book away. "Did you come in here for something?"

"Mom and Dad said we're taking a family trip during winter break. They asked me to check where you want to go so we can book the hotels early."

"Are there options?"

"Sanya, the Maldives, or our hometown."

"...I don't have a preference," Lucas said, nudging her toward the door. "Get out now, I need to study."

"Ha! If you want your big sister to keep a secret, shouldn't you adopt a better attitude?"

"Please go back to your room, I really need to study," Lucas pressed his palms together, bowing his head in plea. "Pretty please."

After finally ushering his sister out, Lucas grabbed Ethan's English textbook along with his own paper—which was horribly covered in red pen corrections—and sat down at his study desk. Putting on his glasses to seriously study a textbook was a first in his life. Ethan's handwriting carried a unique sort of magic, enticing him to bring out a full hundred percent of his focus to examine every single note Ethan had written in mechanical pencil.

Lucas wasn't stupid; he simply tended to doze off during class and was too lazy to read questions thoroughly or write out complete answers during exams. However, just sitting in the classroom day after day meant he naturally absorbed a fair amount of knowledge. Ethan's notes were remarkably concise and clear, complete with explanations on tricky points that were clearly added later that afternoon—written specifically for him.

Because of this, those handsome strokes of handwriting seemed inexplicably adorable to Lucas.

Wearing his glasses, he kept his head lowered, cross-referencing his incorrect answers against Ethan's notes. For a fleeting moment, it felt as if Ethan were sitting right beside him, reading those English lines softly into his ear.

—

The next day, 7:00 AM.

*“Beep-beep-beep-beep, beep-beep-beep-beep…”*

The alarm clock buzzed loudly on the nightstand. The blanket on the bed formed a messy mound that barely outlined a human shape. After a long moment, a messy, mop-haired head poked out from the gap. Lucas couldn't even open his eyes, his head throbbing from the sharp noise of the alarm. Reaching out, he fumbled uselessly around the nightstand several times without finding the off button. In the end, he scooped up the entire clock, dragged it into his blanket, and smothered it, hoping to muffle the sound.

To his dismay, less than two minutes later, his phone under the pillow began to vibrate in tandem with the alarm.

"Ugh..." Lucas let out a frustrated, low groan and finally pried his eyelids open.

He grabbed the alarm clock and held it in front of his eyes, blinking hard several times to bring his vision into focus. The hands pointed straight to 7:05 AM. The moment he processed that signal, Lucas shot up like a leaping fish—past seven o'clock! He had to be out the door by 7:35, or he wouldn't run into Ethan!

Lucas was naturally a heavy sleeper—his daily sleep regularly exceeded ten hours, not to mention his frequent naps in class. Having stayed up reading until past midnight, forcing himself out of bed right now felt almost lethal.

Yet, the power of a crush erupted at that very moment. With slumped shoulders, Lucas dragged himself off the bed like a walking corpse, shuffling in his slippers toward the bathroom. He swiftly washed up, changed his clothes, and dashed to the fridge at top speed to grab some toast to heat up.

But even a fast sloth is still a sloth. Half an hour later, Lucas was frantically lacing his shoes at the entryway with a piece of toast hanging from his mouth. Before he could even sling his backpack properly over his shoulder, he grabbed the strap and sprinted downstairs.

*Dead dead dead, it's already 7:40.*

*Dead dead dead, Ethan must have left already.*

*Dead dead dead, I missed him...*

Inside the dim stairwell where daylight couldn't fully reach, Lucas couldn't help but feel pessimistic as he ran down the steps. By the time he reached the final flight, he almost felt there was no point in rushing anymore. He should have just asked Ethan directly if they could head to school together, or grab breakfast together in the morning... Anything was better than playing this silly game of pretending it was all chance.

"Hah, hah, hah..." Panting heavily, Lucas stepped out of the stairwell entrance, and the morning light suddenly poured in—

"Morning." Ethan still bore that same expressionless face. Wearing a fluffy scarf, he was leaning against a utility pole, looking over at him. "I thought you overslept."

"Huh?" Lucas froze. "Did we agree to go to school together?"

Ethan held a cup of soy milk in his hand. Seeing Lucas come down, he handed it straight over. "No. Don't we just happen to take the same route? I figured you'd come out around this time... I was going to leave in another five minutes."

"For me?" Lucas took the soy milk hesitantly, his hurried breathing still not fully settled.

"Yeah." Ethan withdrew his hand and shoved it back into his jacket pocket, turning nonchalantly to walk toward the school. "Eating dry bread makes you thirsty. I bought it on the way. If you don't like it..."

"I love it!" Lucas blurted out instantly. As if worried Ethan wouldn't believe him, he bit into the straw and took a huge gulp.

He glanced up at Ethan, who happened to be looking down at him from the corner of his eye, and their eyes locked unexpectedly.

A rapid chain of surprises had happened so fast that Lucas even forgot how awkward it was to stare directly at another guy like this. Just at that moment, the corners of Ethan's lips suddenly curled upward into a soft, subtle smile as he shifted his gaze away.

"So you actually know how to smile..." Lucas's brain completely went blank, and the thought in his mind spilled out of his mouth verbatim.

Ethan pressed his lips together, reverting to his usual calm expression. "Coming from you, that's not very convincing."

It was true. From the perspective of smiling and talkativeness, he and Ethan probably looked quite similar in other people's eyes. Lucas quickly took another sip of soy milk to cover up his embarrassment, swiftly adjusting himself back to his usual lazy, natural composure. "Is that so...? Oh, right, the money for the soy milk—"

"Don't worry about it," Ethan said. "Or you can just chip in when we grab lunch together at noon."

"OK."

The hot soy milk spread a rich, rich sweetness across his tongue as it went down, sending a wave of warmth through his body. A winter morning no longer felt quite so cold. The unstoppable joy Lucas felt was written all over his face. Taking alternating bites of toast and sips of soy milk as he walked beside Ethan, he realized he truly was ridiculously easy to satisfy.

It was just ordinary classmates walking to and from school together; just buying him a cup of sweetened soy milk in passing... just flashing him a quick smile.

Yet coming from Ethan, every single gesture carried an unimaginable level of charm, as if no moment in the past dozen years of Lucas's life had ever felt more fulfilling than right now.

"Finished reading the English notes?" Ethan asked casually.

Lucas nodded. "Yup."

"Then we'll go over Chinese today."

"Sure," Lucas said. "You're not gonna make me write an essay for you to review, are you...?"

"No need. Mainly memorization."

"Then you can go play basketball today... I can just memorize it myself."

Ethan looked sideways at him. "Don't want to memorize?"

"No, do you want to keep an eye on me?" Lucas chewed on the straw and finished the last drop of soy milk, crushing the disposable plastic cup until it made a squeaky noise. "...Then you can play ball, and I can just sit on the sidelines and memorize."

He lowered his eyelids, pondering the idea so intently that he completely missed the slightly deep, intense look in Ethan's eyes as Ethan looked down at him.