Chapter 30: Getting Closer

Ling Wu replied: "It's nothing, I'm just a little drunk."

"That's good then." Bai Yinan felt relieved: "When Young Master Yin is angry, he doesn't want anyone to plead for mercy; once someone does, he punishes them even more severely."

"A Special Student fell for it just like that before, I heard they are still lying in the hospital now."

He spoke to himself, not seeing the unnatural flash in Ling Wu's eyes.

"........"

"Are you listening?"

"Ling Wu, are you listening?"

"...... I'm listening." Ling Wu smiled slightly: "Continue."

Bai Yinan gave an "um," then said slowly: "I really didn't expect you to participate in the Art Association too."

"What are you performing?"

Ling Wu: "Piano, I suppose."

Just as Bai Yinan was about to speak, a pair of slender hands descended from behind and took away the registration form Ling Wu had filled out, followed immediately by a cold voice: "Ling Wu, even if you really like Young Master Jing, there's no need to copy others by performing a piano piece, is there?"

Shen Zhaojue's tall and upright figure sat on the desk, his handsome silhouette illuminated by the mottled tree shadows, which neutralized some of his sharpness, and his narrow, long eyes creased at the corners.

He saw the youth in the front row turn his head to the side, his skin as white as snow, completely devoid of any flush, like a bubble that had left him only in the past...

Perhaps Shen Zhaojue himself didn't notice that his gaze was so scorching and explicit, like a ferocious beast ready at any moment to use sharp claws and teeth to slice open its prey's belly and swallow it whole.

But Ling Wu, who was extremely good at observing, discovered this handle.

He smiled: "Is that so?"

"I don't know if I've attracted his attention."

Ling Wu stood up, reached out his right hand to pat Shen Zhaojue's shoulder, his cool fingertips tracing down his neck and pressing against his distinct and warm collarbone; the sensation was like being lightly scratched by a cat.

Immediately following, Shen Zhaojue saw that vivid, beautiful face lean in, whispering close to his ear: "But I should have attracted yours."

Shen Zhaojue's eyes widened abruptly, his heart feeling as if it had been struck hard twice.

"Thump!"

"Thump!"

His heartbeat was like a drum.

"Shen Zhaojue, don't pay too much attention to me." Ling Wu pinched a fallen leaf off his shoulder and held it up before his eyes: "Look, you didn't even know a leaf had landed on you."

However, when Shen Zhaojue came to his senses, Ling Wu had already taken the registration form from his hand at some point and handed it back to Bai Yinan: "I'm leaving first."

Ling Wu walked out of Class A.

It took several seconds for Shen Zhaojue to chase after him.

"Ling Wu."

"Ling Wu."

"Stop right there!" Shen Zhaojue blocked his path like a human mountain, asking with a straight face: "What did you mean... just now in the classroom?"

Ling Wu: "What do you think I meant?"

Shen Zhaojue saw a trace of mockery in those calm eyes, and his tone was very cold: "Are you playing me?"

Ling Wu calmly bypassed him: "Your reaction time is a bit long."

This seemed to be one of the few times Shen Zhaojue had seen the good-tempered Ling Wu reveal such a sharp side; it was so glaring—was it just because he had made things difficult for him in the WiltedMirage private room?

Regardless, Shen Zhaojue did not like Ling Wu's needle-in-silk attitude; he preferred to see the other party's obedient, gentle-as-water appearance.

Seeing Ling Wu about to leave again.

Shen Zhaojue dragged him back fiercely, slammed him against the wall, and gripped his jaw from above, forcing him to tilt his head up stubbornly.

"Bang!"

The dull sound of flesh hitting the wall.

"Ling Wu, I advise you to learn to be obedient." Shen Zhaojue's fingertips pressed small pits into his face, squeezing those crimson lips until they puckered, his eyebrows raised provocatively: "You've already offended Young Master Yin; it's best not to try to provoke me again."

"Do you know what Young Master Jin said?" His expression carried a bit of sympathy and pity: "Although I don't know how you provoked him, I heard him tell Young Master Yin that no matter how he deals with you, he won't stop him."

"If you had just softened your stance, why would it have come to this?"

Shen Zhaojue looked at Ling Wu; this posture of being under someone's control was another kind of breathtaking beauty, the coldness in the youth's eyes turning into icy, sharp glints.

His heart stirred, his gaze falling on those lips, and he was about to lower his head to kiss them.

Ling Wu pushed him away with all his might, raising his hand to slap Shen Zhaojue's face to the side.

"Slap!"

Shen Zhaojue pressed his tongue against his numb cheek.

Ling Wu's stunning face was always overly calm, yet occasionally, when being bullied, it would reveal a momentary, strange expression that easily stirred up a perverse sense of excitement.

Just like now.

He looked exactly like a piece of extremely exquisite, precious, and fragile porcelain.

Ling Wu said with disgust: "If you're sick, go get treated! Don't go crazy here."

"Going crazy?"

Shen Zhaojue was completely enraged by these words: "Saying I'm going crazy, are you? Then I'll go crazy for you to see!"

He wrapped his long arm around Ling Wu, imprisoning his slender waist in his embrace, opened the door to the empty classroom next door, shoved him inside, and locked the door: "Get in!"

"Click!"

Ling Wu only heard the sound of wind whistling past his ears, followed by his feet tripping; he fell half-prostrate onto the podium, his ribs aching from the impact, and with red eyes, he grabbed the blackboard eraser from the podium and smashed it at Shen Zhaojue.

The wooden blackboard eraser hit his head, and blood appeared quickly.

"Do you have manic disorder?"

Ling Wu took a deep breath, clutching his ribs and leaning against the edge of the podium, staring at him with sharp eyes: "You really should find a doctor to treat you properly!"

"Listen to me," Shen Zhaojue said, enunciating each word, "I was the one fanning the flames in the private room yesterday; how about we call our two previous grudges even?"

"I won't cause you any more trouble from now on."

"Perhaps we could become friends."

Ling Wu sneered: "Ha."

Shen Zhaojue was unhurried: "If you don't agree, I'll have no choice but to go and cause trouble for Qi Yu. Ling Wu, you treat him as a friend, surely you wouldn't want that, right?"

"Our grudges are between us, what does threatening him have to do with anything?" Ling Wu only felt it was unreasonable: "Can you be any more despicable and shameless?"

Shen Zhaojue stared at his indignant expression, finding it vivid and interesting.

"Despicable and shameless? I've always been that way."

"Tsk, it seems your relationship with Qi Yu isn't that good either."

Shen Zhaojue said, weighing his words: "Or is it that you are deliberately getting so close to this Special Student, Qi Yu, just to make Jing Du jealous?"

Ling Wu: "Do you think everyone is as filthy as you?"

"Of course not." Shen Zhaojue shoved his hands into his pockets, lifted his chin slightly, his whole demeanor radiating a devil-may-care attitude: "Our A-Wu is the most pure and unsullied."

The cicadas chirped in the height of summer, and the sound of violins from the outdoor music room in the distance mingled with the flow of the fountain, arriving from afar, faint and unreal.

Ling Wu sighed, as if he had compromised.

His tone softened considerably, and he beckoned to Shen Zhaojue with his finger: "Then come here."

Shen Zhaojue hesitated for two seconds, but still moved.

He heard that voice on the other end, coaxing him step by step:

"Walk closer."