Adjust seats
The bell rang, as if to lift some kind of seal, and the classroom erupted in activity. The shoving of tables and chairs, the sounds of shouting and laughter, all blended together.
Lin Xiyan sat quietly in a corner, slowly tidying up the books on his desk. His fingertips brushed across the pages, his movements somewhat slow. His gaze drifted uncontrollably toward the back door of the classroom again and again.
Jiang Yibai said...wait for him after class.
These words were like a pebble dropped into the lake of his heart, sending tiny ripples through it, leaving him feeling uneasy for the entire afternoon. Anticipation mingled with a hidden unease.
Time passed by. People came and went at the door, noisy and bustling, but there was no sign of that familiar figure.
The people around gradually left. The noise faded away like the tide, and the classroom gradually became quiet. Only a few students on duty were still slowly cleaning.
Lin Xiyan's desk had already been packed up. He sat there alone, his fingers unconsciously picking at the straps of his schoolbag, like a forgotten sculpture.
Is he... not coming?
This thought was like an icy vine, silently wrapping around me and tightening more and more.
Maybe it was just a spur-of-the-moment feeling this morning? Maybe... seeing him walking with someone else really bothered me, or... regretted it? Someone like him didn't deserve such warm and direct treatment. After a brief moment of warmth, things would eventually return to normal.
His heart felt like it was being slowly tightened, a sharp, dull ache rising from it. The light in his eyes dimmed bit by bit. He lowered his head and looked at the tips of his shoes, which had been washed white.
As expected...it still doesn't work.
He took a deep breath, trying hard to suppress the unnecessary expectation and disappointment. Just as he was about to pick up his schoolbag and leave alone——
“Squeak—”
The sound of the back door of the classroom being pushed open was somewhat abrupt.
Lin Xiyan suddenly raised his head, and his heart seemed to be lifted into the air by that hand without warning.
Jiang Yibai stood at the door, beads of sweat on his forehead, and his breathing was a little rapid, as if he had run. His purple eyes quickly scanned the slightly empty classroom, accurately locking onto Lin Xiyan in the corner.
Seeing that the person was still there, he was obviously relieved, and then a brilliant arc appeared on the corner of his mouth, and he walked in with big strides.
"Have you been waiting for a long time?" He walked over to Lin Xiyan's desk in a few steps. His voice was slightly breathless after exercise, but still clear and pleasant. "I just went to the teacher to discuss the seat. It took a while."
As he spoke, he looked at Lin Xiyan with shining eyes, as if he had just completed a very ordinary little thing.
Lin Xiyan stared at him, stunned, taking in the sweat on his forehead, his chest rising and falling slightly from his rapid breathing, his expression that said, "I'm here!" The tension in his heart suddenly loosened, and with it came a huge, almost nose-tingling sense of relief.
So... it's not that he's not coming. He's going to... change seats?
Before he could recover from this huge change of emotions, Jiang Yibai had already bent down very naturally, picked up his schoolbag on the table with one hand and threw it over his shoulder, then reached out with the other hand and gently held his wrist.
"Come on, I'll show you your new seat." He said with a smile, his fingers warm, his strength gentle but irresistible.
Lin Xiyan was practically half-led by him to a group in the middle back of the classroom. There were two empty seats side by side, and the desks were clean.
Jiang Yibai placed his schoolbag on the window seat, then plopped himself down in the aisle seat next to him, his long legs casually stretched out. He patted the empty table next to him, then looked up at Lin Xiyan, who was still standing there in a daze, his eyes curved:
"You'll just sit here from now on."
Lin Xiyan looked at the two seats side by side, then at Jiang Yibai's smug expression that said, "Praise me!" Her mind was a little confused. Change seats... and sit with him?
"Why...why?" He asked subconsciously, his voice still a little confused.
"Why?" Jiang Yibai raised an eyebrow, as if he had asked a very strange question. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on Lin Xiyan's new desk, looking up at him, and said confidently, "It's convenient."
"convenient?"
"Hmm," Jiang Yibai nodded and began counting on his fingers, looking very serious. "It's convenient for explaining the problem to you, convenient for feeding you, and convenient for...keeping an eye on you." When he said the last sentence, his voice lowered a little, and a cunning glint flashed in his purple eyes. "To prevent some people...from accidentally discussing the problem with others."
He brought up what happened in the morning again, his tone sounding deliberately sour, but his eyes were fixed on Lin Xiyan, as if observing his reaction.
Lin Xiyan's cheeks instantly became hot. She felt at a loss as to what to do when he looked at her. She subconsciously wanted to lower her head, but she heard two extremely exaggerated, uncontrollable coughs coming from the side.
It was Lu Panji and He Yunling who were sitting in the back row.
Lu Panji choked on his saliva, beating his chest and stamping his feet, making faces. He Yunling, with his head down and shoulders shaking violently, pretended to be frantically flipping through a book, the pages rustling.
Jiang Yibai glanced over coldly, with a silent warning.
The two men immediately sat up straight, looked up at the sky, and looked like "I heard nothing and saw nothing", but the crazy and crazy upward curves at the corners of their mouths betrayed them.
Lin Xiyan was made even more embarrassed by this little episode and curled up her fingers.
Jiang Yibai, however, seemed completely unaffected, his attention immediately returning to Lin Xiyan. He reached out his hand, not touching her, but lightly hooking the cuff of Lin Xiyan's school uniform with his fingertips and shaking it.
"Okay?" He started again with that irresistible, soft tone, his eyes twinkling, "Sit next to me. Otherwise, my neck will get sore from constantly wanting to look back at you during class."
This reason is ridiculous and clingy.
Lin Xiyan looked at his eyes that were filled with anticipation and a little bit of cheating, and listened to the laughter of the two guys in the back row who were trying hard to suppress it but still leaked out. Her heart felt like it was soaked in warm water, warm and swollen, with a little helpless embarrassment.
What else can he say?
He took a very light breath, avoiding Jiang Yibai's burning gaze, and nodded imperceptibly. His voice was as light as a feather falling to the ground: "...Yeah."
Jiang Yibai smiled instantly, as if he had found the candy he wanted most in the world. He stood up with satisfaction, and rubbed Lin Xiyan's head with his big hand very naturally: "Be good."
The movements are quick and gentle, and they separate at the touch of a button.
Lin Xiyan seemed to be frozen, her whole body stiff in place, only the part of her scalp that had been rubbed felt a slight, electric-like numbness, which quickly spread and even burned her ears.
He...he rubbed my head?
"Let's go, school's over!" Jiang Yibai was in a good mood, as if he wasn't the one who acted like a spoiled brat just now. He stood up neatly, picked up Lin Xiyan's schoolbag again, and stretched out his hand to him, "Let's go home."
Lin Xiyan was still immersed in the sudden head rub, and reached out her hand in a daze.
Jiang Yibai held his hand, and his fingertips slid into the gaps between his fingers, forming a tight clasp of ten fingers.
"From now on," he announced as he led him outside, his voice tinged with laughter, "you have to wait for me. You are not allowed to run away on your own."
Lin Xiyan was held by his hand, feeling the warmth and strength of his palms pressed tightly against hers, listening to the low giggles of Lu Panji and the others behind her who finally couldn't hold back, and looking at the tall and smiling silhouette of the person next to her.
The icy, lonely fortress in my heart seemed to have collapsed again.
The sunlight slanted in through the window, stretching the two people's clasped hands and their shadows standing side by side very long.
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