Chapter 23 Numb.23 My earlobe got bitten...

The minute hand of the clock stopped at the Arabic numeral eight, meaning there was still one hour left before evening self-study ended.

The club's door was open for ventilation, but the rustling sound of the treetops swaying in the wind outside was blocked by the tightly closed glass windows, and not a single sound could get in.

Xu Wu casually walked to a red plastic chair and sat down. He unscrewed the bottle of mineral water he was drinking halfway through and tilted his head back to drink a third of it. The water was so crowded that it blocked his cheeks, making them bulge.

Jie Ying was still standing in the position he had just rehearsed, his eyes under his bangs were gloomy and heavy. Apart from the heat emanating from his body from the dance moves, his gaze naturally fell on Xu Wu's slightly puffed cheeks.

Xu Wu always liked to take a big gulp of water, then hold it in her mouth and swallow it little by little until she finished the whole mouthful. After exercising, her face was flushed, and her eyes were bright and sparkling.

Jie Ying's throat tightened, and he turned his face away as if trying to cover up his mistake. He had always known that Xu Wu was beautiful, but she was obviously even more beautiful now, making his heart tremble with pain as her hand gripped it tightly.

He understood that he had lost control of his heart.

"Do you want to turn on the fan if it's hot?" Fu Xi hooked a chair with his foot and sat down next to Xu Wu. Seeing the almost empty bottle of mineral water in her hand, he still asked.

"No need, get out of class is almost over." Xu Wu didn't seem to care.

"How was your partnership tonight?" Fu Xi nudged her arm and asked with a smile.

Upon hearing this, Xu Wu subconsciously looked up in the direction of Jie Ying, only to find that he also seemed to be looking over because of Fu Xi's words.

The two looked at each other, but said nothing. Those deep eyes, barely visible thanks to his bangs, were like the most inconspicuous stone by the roadside, yet they inexplicably hurt.

Xu Wu unconsciously clenched the mineral water bottle until it made a squeaking sound, which brought her back to her senses and made her relax.

I don't know what's so good about it, but she and Jie Ying have absolutely no chemistry.

Not only did he lose his rhythm and stumble over his steps several times, but even the hand he placed on her waist was clenched into a fist, trying not to touch her directly. He even avoided her gaze, only looking at her chin or collarbone.

She knew Jieying was also waiting for her answer, and her ears twitched.

"Not so great," Xu Wu replied calmly.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that Jie Ying's fingers, hanging by her side, trembled slightly.

"Really?" Fu Xi teased in a low voice, "I thought you were really enjoying it."

Xu Wu remained silent, her face cold as she squeezed the empty mineral water bottle, making an even louder sound.

His gaze was so cold it could kill. Fu Xi shrank back and made a gesture of zipping his mouth shut with his fingers, indicating that he would stop talking.

The next second, there was a knock on the door.

QQ—

The group looked toward the source of the sound and saw Shang Xu carrying a bag on his left shoulder with one hand, half of his body almost leaning against the door, his index finger slightly curled, lazily raising an eyebrow at Fu Xi as a greeting, and glancing sideways at Xu Wu without leaving a trace.

"I thought you weren't coming tonight," Fu Xi said in surprise.

"I was supposed to come with you, but the teacher called me to grade papers at the last minute, so it's been delayed until now," Shang Xu explained briefly, then walked in, casually tossed his backpack aside, and asked, "Is it finished?"

"Not yet, she's not very familiar with Xu Wu's dance yet..." Fu Xi explained the situation briefly, but then paused abruptly, her voice gradually softening, as two pairs of eyes fell on her simultaneously, carrying a hint of warning.

A wisp of mist came from behind.

Another one came from Jieying, filled with a desolate and indifferent atmosphere, icy cold.

Fu Xi's heart skipped a beat, and his hair stood on end. He broke out in a cold sweat and wisely chose to shut up and say nothing more.

"Not very skilled yet." Shang Xu clearly understood the unspoken meaning behind Fu Xi's words, ignoring her frantic winking at him, and turned his gaze to Xu Wu's face, smiling at her.

In that instant, he felt a chilling, terrifying gaze fixed on him, as if it were lurking in every crevice and corner, harboring malice towards him.

However, Shang Xu didn't care, and the smile on his face never faded because of it.

Xu Wu glanced at him a few times, and then inadvertently glanced at Jie Ying's clenched fist. The veins on the back of his pale hand were bulging. People really can't say anything when they are angry, although he was a man of few words to begin with.

She said calmly, "It's alright, I'll get the hang of it sooner or later."

“Sometimes a lack of skill has nothing to do with oneself,” Shang Xu smiled, his face exuding an undeniable confidence, and pointedly asked, “Have you considered that it might be the other side’s problem?”

Silence fell over the room after he said that.

Fu Xi opened his mouth, his face full of "Are you crazy?", which was practically a direct accusation that it was all Jie Ying's fault.

She turned to look at Jie Ying again, but found that his expression did not change significantly; he remained cold.

Xu Wu, unusually, looked up and asked him with interest, "The question on the other side?"

"This problem can be solved by changing partners," he said meaningfully.

Fu Xi didn't dare to look at Jie Ying's expression. He resigned himself to his fate, sat in the chair, and silently turned away, hoping not to get caught in the crossfire.

"It's your turn."

"I think I can do a pretty good job, don't you think?"

Xu Wu smiled, his expression one of complete ease.

Compared to her aloofness, she actually smiles most often on her face, in all sorts of ways. For example, a smile when she joins in a conversation, a smile when she hears a joke, or a smile of helplessness.

Every smile that appeared on her face was a visual treat, so even though he knew it was just a smile she was putting on an act, it didn't stop Shang Xu from staring at her intently and feeling pleased with himself for it.

At 9:00 PM sharp, the bell rang to signal the end of evening self-study, and the topic was dropped.

As the club was disbanding, after most of the members had left, Fu Xi deliberately walked slowly until only she and Xu Wu remained.

“Xu Xiaowu.” Her expression was serious.

"Hmm." Xu Wu, with her back to her, put the red plastic chairs back in their original positions in the corner, not forgetting to ask, "What's wrong?"

Fu Xi hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Did you really take Shang Xu's words seriously?"

“Doesn’t what he said make a lot of sense?” she replied casually.

"......"

What's the logic behind this?

Fu Xi had a headache: "He said he was in the same class as you in the first year of high school, do you remember that?"

"Really?" Xu Wu asked in surprise. "Is that so?"

"......"

I knew she had no idea such a person existed.

“I advise you to think it over,” Fu Xi said earnestly. “Tonight, Jie Ying only filled in for Zheng Liangwen, but do you really think Shang Xu is more suitable for the role of a knight than Jie Ying?”

"Perhaps we can't say for sure," Xu Wu said lightly.

"...Are you serious?"

Xu Wu smiled, giving an irrelevant answer: "Alright, I'm going to lock the door in a bit, give me the key."

The duty roster for the club has always been rotated, and this week it's Xu Wu's turn. The key has always been kept by the club president, Chu Lian, but he's not coming tonight and, finding it troublesome, had given it to Fu Xi a long time ago.

Seeing this, Fu Xi pursed his lips, ignored her, handed over the key, and then told her to come downstairs early, otherwise the locks would be locked after a certain time.

Xu Wu nodded and watched Fu Xi leave.

Then she turned around and checked the doors and windows again. After making sure everything was okay, she locked the back door first, then turned off the lights and went out through the front door. Just as she was about to close the door—

Just as the gap was about to close completely.

Suddenly, a pair of hands reached out from the darkness, slammed the door that was not yet closed open again, and grabbed Xu Wu's arm.

Xu Wu's pupils widened, and before she could react, she was staggered and suddenly pulled into the classroom.

-Bang!

The door closed, and the person who entered pinned her against it.

The room was completely dark, with only a sliver of light filtering in from the glass window, which barely touched the floor. Fortunately, this small glimmer of light allowed Xu Wu to make out the gaze of the person in front of her.

Xu Wu's heart, which had been pounding wildly with shock, suddenly calmed down and slowly returned to normal after she smelled the familiar scent on the other person.

“…Jieying,” she asked in a low voice.

Nobody knows when they appeared here.

The environment was too dark, and she wasn't used to it. Rather than saying she couldn't break free, it was more that she could only think within the constraints created by the shadows.

She was so familiar with the smell that she knew who it belonged to without even looking.

Jie Ying was still looking at her; in the dim light, his gaze was undisguised.

Naked, greedy, and blatant, he lowered his head and approached her neck. Strands of hair brushed against her skin, causing a slight itch, which made Xu Wu instinctively move away.

Her gaze was completely filled with Jieying, and she could no longer smell her own scent. This feeling was terrible.

It was as if she was immersed in the river that belonged exclusively to Jieying, and her whole body, inside and out, could no longer escape.

As Xu Wu felt suffocated and dizzy, she heard Jie Ying whisper in her ear, "Wu, you're lying."

His voice was so close, so close that it bounced back and forth inside her ear canal, echoing and striking her heart. The tingling sensation made Xu Wu unconsciously straighten her back and tense up.

His warm breath brushed against her ear as he spoke, light as a feather. Xu Wu pursed her lips, suppressing the urge to kick him away.

"What lie?" she asked, feigning composure.

"You chose him," he said in a low voice, his words filled with barely suppressed anger and grievance.

He was so jealous, the rage of jealousy threatened to consume him.

Are you interested in that guy?

Why should I smile at him?

He watched coldly, a detachment born from a petty, jealous detachment that had reached the point of utter death.

He's gone mad; he wants Xu Wu to go mad with him.

Even when on the verge of burning or in a sick state, it is an insatiable hunger.

"Jie Ying," Xu Wu said softly, "but I never said I would choose you."

As soon as she finished speaking, she felt Jieying freeze.

Immediately afterwards, her earlobe was bitten hard by sharp teeth, causing her to gasp in pain and groan softly from the dense, stinging sensation.

Xu Wu unconsciously gripped Jie Ying's clothes tightly.

Author's Note: Hooray! Resurrected! [Owl emoji]

Big Eyes will occasionally post commissioned drafts, and sometimes she might draw her own.

Like emojis or GIFs, hehehe