Don't go crazy, okay?

Lu Ziyi tilted his head, straightening his torn collar, but his eyes remained locked on his face. He turned and pushed open the compartment door, and before leaving, he turned back and added, "Don't have any thoughts about Lin Wanqing."

The door slammed shut, and Cheng Xiaorui finally slid to the ground, exhausted, his fingertips trembling uncontrollably. He raised his hand to wipe the corner of his mouth, and the back of his hand was a glaring red.

"……asshole."

He cursed softly, but he didn't know whether he was cursing Lu Ziyi or himself...whose heartbeat went out of control because of that kiss.

The moment he left, Cheng Xiaorui's vision was suddenly flooded with blinding white light. The corridor had suddenly become crowded with people. Zhao Dakun's cigarette had fallen to the ground, and Zhou Mingxuan's phone was still lit up with his WeChat Moments screen.

"He looks so scary."

"I guess you got taught a lesson by Brother Lu."

“…”

The chatter surged in like a tide. Cheng Xiaorui tried to take a step, but found his knees shaking uncontrollably. The pain in his stomach began again, and he didn't know if it was nausea or something else. He saw his cold sweat dripping onto the marble floor, creating a small splash of water.

The last thing he was aware of was Lu Ziyi's suddenly outstretched arm as he leaned forward, and the piercing scream of a girl in the distance, "He's fainted, call the school doctor!"

Cheng Xiaorui's eyelashes fluttered a few times, and the smell of disinfectant first penetrated his nose. The infirmary's ceiling light cast a hazy halo on his retina. He tried to raise his hand to block it, but found that there was an IV needle connected to the back of his hand, and the cold liquid was flowing through his blood vessels into his elbow.

"woke up?"

A deep voice came from the left. Cheng Xiaorui turned his head sharply—Lu Ziyi was sitting in the accompanying chair, legs crossed, his black school uniform jacket casually draped over his shoulders, revealing his shirt underneath. He twirled an unlit cigarette between his fingers, the tobacco shimmering an eerie golden hue in the light.

Cheng Xiaorui's Adam's apple rolled, and he tried to prop himself up, but the other party pushed him back onto the pillow.

"Acute gastritis." Lu Ziyi tapped his cheek with the cigarette case. "The school doctor said that if it was half an hour later, you would be able to greet the morgue."

The wind blew a corner of the curtain up, and Cheng Xiaorui realized it was already midnight. Moonlight filtered through the blinds, casting a shadow like prison bars on the back of his hand as he received an IV.

"Stop disgusting me." Cheng Xiaorui closed his eyes and uttered these words in a hoarse voice as if he had exhausted all his strength.

Lu Ziyi paused. He suddenly leaned forward, his shadow completely covering the bed, bringing a tremendous sense of oppression. "You think I want to come?" His voice lowered, carrying a cold mockery.

"You fainted at the perfect time, right in front of me. You've been reported, and now everyone knows that I was the one who ended up with you." Lu Ziyi's thumb pressed hard on the dark bruise on his collarbone, inflicting pain. "Then, I was 'invited' here." He deliberately emphasized the word "invited," as if it was a huge insult to him.

At this moment, the door of the infirmary was suddenly pushed open.

"Brother Lu! The dean of studies is checking the dormitories--" Zhao Dakun's shouting stopped abruptly. His eyes looked back and forth uncertainly between Lu Ziyi's hand pressing on Cheng Xiaorui's collarbone, the resistance on Cheng Xiaorui's pale face, and the IV stand next to him that seemed to have been kicked a little bit crooked. His mouth was open, and he forgot to close it.

Lu Ziyi straightened up almost instantly, distanced himself from the bed, and resumed his aloof and indifferent look, as if the aggressive approach just now had never happened.

Cheng Xiaorui turned his head and stared at a winding crack in the ceiling, listening to Zhao Dakun's clumsy footsteps hurriedly fading away, and listening to Lu Ziyi seem to chuckle. Then there was the crisp "click" sound of a metal lighter sliding open and closing, accompanied by a faint smell of tobacco.

"The photo," Lu Ziyi suddenly said in the silence, his voice emotionless. "I deleted it."

The smell of cigarette smoke suddenly approached again. Lu Ziyi tilted her head and slowly blew a pale smoke ring into his sensitive ear, admiring the pale earlobe with almost malicious intent. A sickly blush instantly appeared on her face. "But if you do that again..."

Before he finished speaking, the IV tube beside him suddenly shook violently! Cheng Xiaorui burst out with strength from nowhere, suddenly raised his hand, and ripped the needle off the back of his hand! Several bright red blood beads immediately gushed out from under the punctured skin, leaving a striking mark on the dazzling white sheets.

He was panting heavily, his chest heaving violently, his red eyes staring at Lu Ziyi intently, every word coming out as if crushed from between his teeth: "Then you'd better just kill me!"

Lu Ziyi looked at the blood oozing from the back of his hand, his eyes suddenly becoming dark and unfathomable. He was silent for a few seconds before he slowly spoke, his tone strange: "...I haven't even finished what I was saying."

"I don't want to listen!" Cheng Xiaorui almost roared, his voice trembling with weakness and excitement, but with a sense of resolute collapse.

Lu Ziyi: “…”

Silence spread between the two of them, leaving only suppressed breathing and the endless sound of wind outside the window.

------

Chalk dust drifted slowly in the sunlight. Teacher Li tapped the blackboard, emphasizing, "The midterm exam is next Wednesday. Some students had better pay attention." Her gaze lingered for a moment at the back of the classroom.

Cheng Xiaorui's pen hovered above his notebook, the ink dripping into a small black dot. His thoughts uncontrollably drifted back to yesterday—the suffocating sensation of Lu Ziyi's cigarette-scented lips pressing against his Adam's apple, and another wave of nausea.

"This question..." Teacher Li suddenly called on someone, "Cheng Xiaorui, tell me how to solve it."

The classroom was completely silent. Cheng Xiaorui's chair scraped harshly as he stood up. He felt over thirty gazes piercing his back like needles. His Adam's apple rolled, but only a dry cough escaped.

A muffled laugh came from the back row: "Could it be that you can't even understand the question..."

Cheng Xiaorui's gaze fell on the blackboard, where the mathematical symbols twisted into Lu Ziyi's sneering face. He unconsciously scratched the old wound on his palm with his nails until he could smell the faint scent of rust.

"I..." His voice was hoarse, unlike his own, "I need to think about it again."

Teacher Li frowned and said, "Pay attention in class." When she turned to other students, Cheng Xiaorui slowly sat down and found that he had pinched the corner of his notebook to make a crack.

At exactly two o'clock in the afternoon, the shrill ring of the radio broke through the classroom's silence. "Attention all classes! We are now dividing into groups for general cleaning."

Teacher Li, the homeroom teacher, said, "Divide the students into two groups according to their odd and even numbers. The odd students will clean the windows, and the even students will mop the floor."

Cheng Xiaorui stared at his name, circled in red on the duty roster. His student number, 17, and Lu Ziyi's, 18, were roughly connected, with a crooked heart drawn in the middle. From the back row, Zhao Dakun's nose pinched as he jeered, "Princess Cheng is so lucky!"

"What the hell…"

"Quiet!" Teacher Li slammed the podium vigorously, but ignored the loving heart. "Lu Ziyi is responsible for keeping the key. Cheng Xiaorui, help him check the blind spots."

Lu Ziyi leaned against the window, spinning his keychain, the metallic gleam dancing between his fingers. When Cheng Xiaorui walked over stiffly, he suddenly tossed the key over to him.

Cheng Xiaorui didn't catch it. The key hit the tip of his shoe and bounced under the podium. Amid the laughter of the whole class, he bent down to pick it up.

The afternoon sun slanted through the classroom window, bringing a hint of warmth. Dust drifted slowly in the beam of light. Cheng Xiaorui's fingers tightened slightly around the rag.

He squatted in the corner, wiping vigorously at an old stain on the floor. In his peripheral vision, he saw Lu Ziyi tidying up the chalk box on the podium, with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, revealing his well-defined forearms.

They were the only two left in the classroom. The surveillance camera, which had been removed a few days ago, left a circular shadow in the corner of the wall, like a hollow eye.

“Crash—”

Suddenly, a basin of cold water poured down from the podium. Before Cheng Xiaorui could react, the icy water had already flowed down the back of his neck and into his collar, instantly soaking his school uniform shirt and sticking to his back.

"Oh... sorry, I accidentally knocked it over." Lu Ziyi's voice came from above his head, with an insincere and frivolous tone.

Cheng Xiaorui looked up suddenly, water dripping down his eyelashes. "...Psycho." He gritted his teeth and cursed, trying to stand up, but stumbled due to the slippery ground.

Lu Ziyi suddenly reached out and grabbed his wrist with such force that it almost crushed his bones.

"The clothes are wet." He whispered, his eyes glancing at the shirt that revealed Cheng Xiaorui's skin, and his Adam's apple rolled slightly.

"Let go!" Cheng Xiaorui struggled, but Lu Ziyi pinned him against the wall. The soaked fabric pressed against his back, a mixture of cold and heat assaulting his senses.

He lowered his voice, his breath brushing against Cheng Xiaorui's ear, "Cold?"

Cheng Xiaorui suddenly raised his knee and hit him in the abdomen. Lu Zi also groaned, but instead moved closer and trapped him completely between the wall and his body.

"Lu Ziyi!" Cheng Xiaorui's voice was filled with suppressed anger. His wet hair stuck to his forehead, and water droplets slid down his jaw like a wet tear. "Don't rely on your strength to always touch me!"

Lu Ziyi stared at him, disapproving, and hooked his fingers around his soaked collar, slowly pulling it open.

"If you move again, I'll tear this dress off."

Cheng Xiaorui became quiet instantly.

Suddenly, footsteps were heard outside the classroom, accompanied by the laughter of the students on duty. Lu Ziyi paused, finally letting go and taking a step back.

"Remember to stay away next time." He said this, turned and walked towards the door, his back straight as if nothing had happened.

Cheng Xiaorui stood there, his wet shirt sticking to his skin, freezing cold. He stared at the direction Lu Ziyi had left, his mind full of

--Neuropathy.