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.

Chapter 7: His Palm

"...Why couldn't it be a girl sitting over there watching us?" Leo complained offhandedly as he caught the basketball and passed it to a teammate nearby. "It'd be great if Nina came to watch..."

Although he muttered the second half under his breath, everyone else heard it crystal clear. Someone teased, "What, you have a crush on Nina?" but Leo simply rolled his eyes in disgust, ignoring their gossip, and took advantage of the moment to slip past the defense and coordinate a play with Ethan.

Even while playing basketball, Ethan showed little expression, dribbling the ball nonchalantly while calmly scanning the court. Leo gestured to him that he was ready to catch the ball and make a breakthrough, but after Ethan shot him a glance, he suddenly lowered his stance, dribbling as if he were about to push past his defender. The opponent naturally anticipated his move, nervously guessing who he might pass to; to everyone's surprise, Ethan suddenly pulled back, leapt into the air, and released a graceful three-pointer beyond the arc.

With a *clack*, the ball bounced off the backboard and dropped into the net somewhat narrowly.

Under the dim winter sky, the boys were still playing with passionate energy, each wearing only a thin T-shirt with faint wisps of steam rising from their heads. Ethan tilted his head, wiping the sweat from his temple against his shoulder. As someone picked up the ball to restart the game, Ethan said, "I'm gonna rest for a bit and grab a bottle of water."

"Get one for me too!" Leo cheered with a grin. "Bring me a bottle."

"Yeah." Ethan nodded slightly, stepping off the basketball court. Glancing at Lucas, who was clutching a notebook on a nearby bench, he headed toward the school convenience store without saying a word.

By the time he returned to the court holding bottles of mineral water, someone else had already filled his spot, and the game was back in full swing. His gaze didn't linger on the ball for long before naturally shifting over to Lucas beside the court.

Today's after-school tutoring session had been moved to the basketball court, just as Lucas had suggested. A bunch of guys were playing on the court, and occasionally a few girls would stroll past, pretending to just be taking a walk when they actually wanted a few extra glances at the guys they liked; but hardly anyone sat right next to the court reading a book like Lucas.

He was wearing a puffy, bulky down jacket, holding a notebook with one hand and stuffing the other into his pocket. Curled up against the cold, his head was lowered so low that his mouth was completely hidden inside his jacket collar.

Ethan cleared away the jackets they had tossed on the bench and sat down next to Lucas, leaving a bit of space between them. Lucas didn't react at all, holding his pose as if he were reading with utmost concentration. None of the surrounding noise seemed to affect him; no matter where he was, Lucas always moved at his own pace—slow, lazy, and self-absorbed to a fault.

"...You can take a break, you don't have to rush through memorizing it all," Ethan said.

Yet Lucas didn't answer, nor did he budge an inch. Curious, Ethan turned his head sideways, only to see that Lucas's soft hair almost completely covered his brows and eyes, while the lower half of his face was hidden deep in his collar, thoroughly concealed.

"Lucas?"

Still no response.

Suddenly, Lucas's head bobbed forward with a tiny, feeble dip, looking identical to the way he dozed off in class. Ethan thought his eyes were playing tricks on him—after all, sitting on a bench in the middle of a sports field with nothing to lean on, he couldn't possibly fall asleep—but soon enough, Lucas's head wobbled forward again, on the verge of toppling over at any moment.

Whether out of instinct or something else, Lucas finally lifted his head slightly, allowing Ethan to catch sight of his closed eyes.

...He really had fallen asleep sitting right by the court.

Lucas's tendency to sleep was far beyond that of a normal person. Just as Ethan realized he was indeed asleep, Lucas began listing weakly to the side again—tilting precisely toward where Ethan was sitting.

Ethan couldn't help but widen his eyes, looking on in utter helplessness as Lucas leaned straight toward him, instinctively reaching out his hand.

—

Ethan looked great playing basketball, but memorizing notes was undeniably boring. Having slept too little the night before, Lucas had barely spent any time by the court before his eyelids began fighting a losing battle.

It was truly a contradiction: Lucas wanted to watch Ethan, but he also wanted to sleep, to the point where even when he shut his eyes and dozed off with his head hanging, his brain was cooperatively replaying Ethan's cool, handsome posture on the court.

He was jolted awake by a sudden feeling of weightlessness as he was about to fall over.

"Mm...?"

A warm hand pressed against the side of his face, catching his head just in time. Lucas opened his drowsy eyes, blinking a few times before clearly seeing that Ethan—who had been so cool and sharp on the basketball court—was somehow sitting right next to him.

And was holding him up with his hand.

Before Lucas could process what was happening, Ethan pulled his hand back first: "If you're tired, you should go home and sleep."

His brain finally snapped fully awake, and he immediately straightened his back to explain, "I just accidentally..."

Realizing he had promised to memorize his notes but ended up falling asleep right on the sports field—and getting caught red-handed by Ethan—Lucas cursed his past self from fifteen minutes ago ten thousand times in his head. His original intention was to obediently memorize the notes to earn a chance to invite Ethan out for dessert, while enjoying the handsome sight of him playing ball along the way. A lingering warmth still rested on his cheek; Ethan had let go so quickly that he hadn't even gotten a chance to properly feel the warmth of his palm, nor did he have time to blush over the physical contact.

"I get it," Ethan said, turning his head back around, leaning forward in a relaxed posture as he took a sip of water. "...Let's head back then."

"Huh? You're not playing anymore?"

Ethan had already capped his mineral water bottle, standing up to put his jacket back on before calling out to Leo, "I'm heading back first, left the water here."

"Oh, OK!" Leo shouted back, only to have someone immediately break past his defense with the ball. "Ah... taking advantage of my distraction, you snake..."

Lucas hurriedly shoved his notes back into his bag and jogged a few steps to catch up with Ethan, walking shoulder-to-shoulder with him toward the school gate. "You're really done playing? They're not even finished yet..."

"They have enough people."

Over the past few days, they had been spending a lot of time together. With the homeroom teacher's order in place, coming and going together felt all the more natural. At first, some people were surprised that the top student would suddenly get so close to the aloof, bottom-ranking slacker, but perhaps after Leo said something, everyone gradually stopped being curious, accepting as fact that "Ethan and Lucas are good friends."

Even Lucas himself shared that illusion—that he and Ethan were friends, strictly speaking the very first friend he had made in high school who he could meet up with outside of school to grab ice cream.

His crush was a secret known only to himself.

His earlier drowsiness had completely vanished. Lucas walked beside Ethan with his neck hunched into his collar, squeezing out a sentence after a long pause: "I'm pretty much done memorizing it, really. You can pop-quiz me."

Ethan shot him a side-glance: "The next exam is a month away, you don't need to finish memorizing it right this second."

"Ah, is that so?" Lucas exhaled a cloud of white mist, his lips curving into a soft, gentle smile toward Ethan. "Maybe it's because I really want to eat dessert?"

"Go to sleep earlier at night, don't sleep during class—that'd be more useful."

"Mm, got it," he nodded obediently, then asked, "So can we take a detour to McDonald's later? I kind of want ice cream."

Ethan looked sideways at him, a half-smile on his face: "You're so cold you can barely stand up straight, yet you still want ice cream."

"Feeling cold is one thing, eating ice cream is another."

"If you're so sensitive to the cold, why aren't you wearing a scarf?"

"I didn't buy one, too lazy to go pick one out..." As Lucas spoke, his eyes naturally landed on Ethan's scarf. "Is that one... a gift from a girl? It looks hand-knitted."

—*Please don't let it be a gift from a girl, or else this would be way too embarrassing. He had even secretly sniffed it before.*

"No," Ethan said. "My mom knitted it... Here, you can have it. I have others."

Ethan's movement came abruptly; Lucas watched as he neatly unwrapped the scarf, revealing his neck and the earphones hanging around it. The soft scarf was thrust right in front of his eyes, and Lucas hesitated, not taking it: "That's not great, it was made by your mom..."

"I have a few other similar ones," Ethan said indifferently. "My mom really likes knitting scarfs."

For the very first time, Lucas wished Ethan wasn't so completely poker-faced.

Or rather, he wished Ethan possessed a bit more emotion, like Leo, who wore his heart on his sleeve.

Whether it was reaching out on the bench by the court to catch him as he almost tumbled over in his sleep, or casually giving away his scarf right now, if Ethan had shown even a shred of shyness or embarrassment... Lucas could have allowed himself to imagine that this secret crush was a mutual romance.

But it just had to be Ethan. He had handed over the scarf with a deadpan expression and caught him without saying a word, handling everything with absolute cold indifference, leaving no room for delusional hope.

Lucas finally reached out and took it: "Thanks then. Is there anything you want? I can buy you a gift too."

"No need."

Wrapping the scarf around his neck and taking in Ethan's warmth, he followed the topic down: "Then when's your birthday? I'll get you a present then. How about headphones?"

"My birthday is still a long way off, in the summer."

"Oh, I was born in winter," Lucas said. "Around Chinese New Year."

"I know."

The response came quickly—a bit too quickly, in fact. Lucas asked softly, "How do you know...?"

"..." Ethan paused, seemingly considering his answer. "Heard someone mention it."

"Who?"

"Don't remember."

"Huh..."

Ethan suddenly shifted the topic: "Are you free next weekend? I want to watch a movie, wanna come along?"

"Sure!" Lucas snapped up the offer instantly, his attention immediately pulled away. "What movie? I really like watching movies, do you?"

"Yeah," Ethan nodded. "*Pulp Fiction*. Always wanted to watch it, never got around to it."

"Ah, I've seen that one!" Lucas said. "I love that movie... Is it playing in theaters recently? No way, right?"

"No," Ethan said, looking subtly in another direction as he spoke, hiding his expression at an angle Lucas couldn't see. "You can come over to my place to watch it, and do some studying while we're at it."

Just then, a gust of cold wind blew past, turning Lucas's nose and cheeks red. Even though they were in the dead of winter and the wind was biting cold, he somehow felt as if a gentle spring breeze had mustered all its strength to sweep past, blowing an entire season's worth of birdsong and blossom fragrance straight into his heart.

Lucas couldn't help but curl his eyes in a smile. He opened his mouth to say something, but his breath trapped inside the scarf only made his face feel warmer.

Tucking the scarf down to reveal his full lips, he said, "Sounds great! I'll bring snacks over then. Do you prefer Pepsi or Coke?"

"I don't really like carbonated drinks."

"Then juice or milk?"

His straightforward, honest questions had an indescribable cuteness to them. Ethan pressed his lips together into a gentle smile, his eyelids drooping slightly, making his long eyelashes stand out: "Just get whatever you like to drink. I'm not picky."