Located at the end of the hallway, Class 12's Lu Mingxuan was once again staring at his phone with an expression that could only be described as… confused and mildly betrayed.
It had been nearly two weeks since Lu Qingyan last messaged him. No weather updates. No unsolicited fashion advice. Not even the occasional "Don't stay up too late, big brother."
His WeChat and QQ notifications had plummeted from their usual 99+ to a desolate zero, leaving his inbox as dry as the school cafeteria's steamed buns.
He scrolled back through their message history in a daze. It read like the diary of an overly-concerned mom disguised as a teenage girl.
She used to remind him when the weather dipped below 10°C. Told him to bring an umbrella when it drizzled. Even warned him when the school cafeteria changed their supplier for soy milk.
Now? Nothing.
Not even a passive-aggressive sticker.
Lu Mingxuan didn't realize silence could be this loud.
Seated beside him, Gao Jing had been observing his brooding seatmate with increasing concern — and disdain.
Honestly, Gao Jing had only one conclusion:
Lu Mingxuan was a scum.
When Lu Qingyan buzzed around him like an overexcited squirrel, calling him "Big Brother" and sending messages like her fingers were possessed, Lu Mingxuan scoffed, ignored her, and acted like her concern was a nuisance. But now that she'd gone radio silent?
Now he missed her?
Typical.
Pathetic.
Scummy.
An unparalleled scum.
'If Lu Mingxuan was going to act like this,' Gao Jing thought darkly, 'he should at least have the dignity to own it and not look like a depressed extra in a tragic love drama.'
But the worst part?
If he were a scum, it would be better if his skin was a little thicker.
Lu Mingxuan wasn't even thick-skinned enough to reach out to her.
No "hey," no "yo," not even a fake accidental message like "Wrong person, sorry lol." Nothing.
However, Lu Mingxuan was obviously not thick-skinned. It would be impossible for him to take the initiative to find Lu Qingyan.
Which meant the situation was only going to get worse.
And the longer it dragged on, the more Lu Mingxuan turned into a black hole of moodiness. A black hole that Gao Jing, poor unfortunate soul, was trapped next to.
Gao Jing let out a sigh and stared at the ceiling.
Why did I ever become friends with this idiot?
After he thought to this point, Gao Jing felt especially regretful, regretful that he became friends with such an idiot back then. It was all because he was previously deceived by Lu Mingxuan's appearance, deceived by his story of lacking friends and suffering loneliness. He was cheated onto this boat.
Gao Jing had felt sorry for him. Befriended him.
Thought he was saving a social stray.
He now knew he had adopted a problem child.
But it was too late to jump ship now. Since they were both sinking on the same boat, Gao Jing figured he might as well try to fix it.
So he came up with a plan.
***
Lu Qingyan was called out of class when she was working on questions during break. They said that someone was looking for her.
The people Lu Qingyan currently saw the most of were the courageous girls who gave her seatmate things with a red face. They were later rejected by her seatmate without any emotion.
Lu Qingyan wondered who would look for her.
When she walked out of the doorway, she saw two boys.
The two boys appeared shy as they had a you-push-me, I-push-you attitude. When one of them noticed her coming out, he immediately turned his head aside.
Lu Qingyan: ??
What was this situation?
She took a closer look and realized that the two of them looked a little familiar, as if she had seen them before somewhere.
At this time, Gao Jing was just as confused as Lu Qingyan about what was happening.
These past few days, he had been racking his brains trying to find a way to ease the relationship between this pair of brother and sister. He even came up with several hero saves the beauty scenarios, but he ended up rejecting them one by one.
In the end, he chose the most old-fashioned method—sending gifts.
He knew it was absolutely impossible to persuade this bastard Lu Mingxuan to send a gift personally, so he had to find a reason for him.
So Gao Jing had no choice but to bite the bullet and said to Lu Mingxuan, "When I was ordering takeaway, I ended up ordering too much. These milk teas and cakes should be liked by girls, we might as well send them to your sister."
When Lu Mingxuan heard that it was related to his sister, he deliberately pretended to be disdainful at first and said, "None of my d*mn business."
But after a moment, he pretended to pass by and casually said, "If you intend to send it then send it."
Gao Jing laughed in his heart, I knew it.
"It's not good for me to go alone, let's go together."
So now there was this awkward situation of several pairs of eyes staring at one another, quietly staring because they didn't know what to say. The situation was embarrassing to death.