Chapter 3
The note that read "Keep your mouth shut. Don't cause me any trouble" was like a piece of ice that would never melt, sticking tightly to Su Rui's heart, emitting a chill all the time.
But strangely, the chill did not completely freeze his pitiful mind. Instead, it intertwined with the faint sweetness represented by the candy wrapper in the interlayer of the pencil case, forming a torment of ice and fire.
While he felt stung and ashamed by the contempt and warning in Ling Yao's words, he also morbidly and repeatedly chewed over the scene - Ling Yao discovered him. Ling Yao's eyes had briefly, truly fallen on him. Even if it was an impatient, warning glance.
This perception is despicable yet irresistible. He even draws a bit of perverse nourishment from this kind of "attention" (even if it's negative). See, he's not completely blind to you.
He became more silent but more observant.
He discovered that Ling Yao wasn't always the effortlessly bright figure in the crowd. Sometimes during breaks, he'd lean against the window at the end of the hallway, expensive headphones on, his gaze fixed on the playground below. His profile was taut, revealing a sense of detachment and... an indescribable weariness that seemed at odds with the clamor around him. That expression was always fleeting, so fleeting it made one wonder if it was an illusion, only to be quickly replaced by his usual, nonchalant smile.
Whenever he caught this scene, Su Rui's heart felt like something was gently tugging at him. He vaguely felt that beneath that seemingly all-powerful and omnipotent appearance, there might also be an unknown burden.
This discovery was like a tiny crack, which allowed his admiration, which had been trampled into pieces, to secretly seep out a little bit of tenderness.
He even began to make ridiculous excuses for Ling Yao: someone like him, living in such a dazzling position, perhaps there was a reason he had to be indifferent. Was his ridicule that day just some kind of performance to maintain his image in front of his friends?
Look, people can always find the most humble way to get rid of the obsession they cannot quit.
The turning point happened during a physical education class.
During free time, Ling Yao and several other boys ran and jumped on the basketball court. His movements were fluid and explosive in the sunlight, and every shot elicited suppressed screams of excitement from the sidelines. Su Rui sat in the farthest, almost unnoticed corner of the stands, her gaze drawn, as if by the strongest of threads, firmly fixed on that figure.
During a fierce scramble under the basket, Ling Yao jumped up to grab the ball. When he landed, his ankle twisted at an unnatural angle, causing him to lose balance and fall heavily to the ground.
There was a sudden cry of surprise from the sidelines.
He was helped to sit on the sidelines, his hair soaked with sweat, his brows knitted together, his lips pressed into a line, clearly badly injured. The ankle that had touched the ground was swelling at a visible rate.
Just then, the bell rang sharply, signaling the end of class. As if a switch had been flicked, the crowd erupted in excitement, calling their friends and running towards the assembly point. The friend who had been surrounding Ling Yao patted him on the shoulder and said, "Brother Yao, hold on! Let's go take roll call first, or Old Wang will start nagging me again!" With that, he joined the crowd and ran off.
Suddenly, Ling Yao was left alone on the bustling court, with his rapidly swollen and painful ankle. He cursed softly and tried to stand up, only to fall back down in pain again. A look of embarrassment and frustration crossed his face.
Su Rui's heart suddenly rose to her throat and beat wildly in her chest.
He stood up almost subconsciously. His mind told him to follow the crowd to the gathering, but his feet seemed to be nailed to the ground.
An opportunity. A chance to get closer to him, even... to help him, right before her eyes.
Fear and desire battled fiercely in his mind. Ling Yao's warning hung like an icicle over his head—"Don't cause me any trouble."
If he went there now, he would undoubtedly be asking for trouble and hitting that iceberg.
But... he looked at Ling Yao sitting there alone, frowning in pain and revealing a rare vulnerability because no one paid attention to him. All of this combined into a huge force that instantly overwhelmed all of Su Rui's rationality and cowardice.
He clenched his fists, his nails digging deep into his palms, leaving crescent-shaped white marks. Then, as if rushing to a trial, he lowered his head and walked quickly over.
He didn't dare to look Ling Yao in the eye. He squatted down, his voice trembling from excessive nervousness: "Are you...are you okay? I...I'll help you to the infirmary..."
He stretched out his hand, wanting to support the other person's arm, but his hand remained suspended in mid-air, not daring to actually touch it, as if it were some fragile treasure or a burning flame.
Ling Yao raised his head at the sound. Beneath his sweat-soaked bangs, the pair of eyes that always seemed to be shrouded in a haze of indifference now glared at him with a sharp, razor-sharp gaze, filled with undisguised surprise and deep scrutiny.
Su Rui was so nervous that she almost suffocated, waiting for a cold expulsion or ridicule.
Time froze in silence for a few seconds.
Just when Su Rui thought she was about to collapse under this heavy pressure, the sharp scrutiny in Ling Yao's eyes slowly faded. Instead, a complex look, a mixture of obvious pain and some kind of...quick calculation, appeared.
He suddenly laughed very lightly, almost inaudibly. There was a hint of amusement, a hint of helplessness, and a meaning that Su Rui could not understand.
"It's you."
He paused, his gaze lingering for a moment on Su Rui's tense, pale face. Finally, as if he had made some kind of decision, he lazily and with a hint of alms stretched out an arm towards Su Rui.
"Okay. Troublemaker."
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