Although she had spoken confidently earlier, when it came time to actually face the homeroom teacher, Chen Cheng started feeling nervous.
After evening self-study, she quickly dragged An Yuan to the office door. The two exchanged glances, but neither had the courage to go in and talk to the teacher.
An Yuan was indecisive, and Chen Cheng was simply afraid of their homeroom teacher.
"Phew~ You're useless!"
Chen Cheng let out a long breath, knocked twice on the wooden door, paused for a moment, then pushed it open and pulled An Yuan inside.
It was a small, private office. The homeroom teacher was busy with something, but when she heard the noise, she looked up and smiled kindly. "Do you two need something?"
"Teach—uh, Miss..." Chen Cheng switched to a more familiar address, fidgeting in front of the desk. "Uh... An Yuan wants to change seats. He doesn't want to sit with Li Wanyi anymore."
"Oh? Did you two have a falling out?"
The homeroom teacher looked at the tall figure behind Chen Cheng.
"Li Wanyi has bad intentions toward An Yuan!" Chen Cheng declared righteously. "I suspect she likes him, and it's affecting their studies!"
For seniors, studies were the ultimate priority.
"No, actually, I'm certain she likes him!"
"Really now?"
The homeroom teacher glanced at Chen Cheng's hand, which was still clutching An Yuan's arm, and her expression turned slightly puzzled.
She wasn't sure if Li Wanyi liked An Yuan, but… these two didn't seem all that normal either?
"Where does An Yuan want to sit?"
"Behind me, maybe?" Chen Cheng asked hopefully.
With their height difference, being desk partners wasn't possible, but sitting front and back would make it easier to slack off and pass notes during class.
The homeroom teacher shot her a look. "I'll make arrangements tomorrow."
An Yuan was tall, handsome, a good student, and got along with everyone. Sitting next to a girl might indeed stir up feelings in a teenager's heart.
But Chen Cheng wasn't much better—whoever sat next to her, boy or girl, would definitely see their grades drop.
And now these two wanted to sit together?
Seeing that the teacher wasn't saying anything more, Chen Cheng grew even more nervous. She hid her hands behind her back, her eyes darting around anxiously.
"Uh, can we go now?"
The homeroom teacher waved them off. Chen Cheng took it as a great relief and dragged An Yuan out of the office.
The moment they stepped outside, she immediately became smug. Throwing an arm around An Yuan's shoulders, she grinned. "Look at you, all scared! You didn't say a word. Don't tell me you're still thinking about that bad woman?"
An Yuan turned his head slightly and gave a wry smile. "No, it's just… I feel kind of empty."
He wouldn't say he loved Li Wanyi, but after spending so many years together, whatever romance there had been had already turned into a kind of familial bond.
Losing that still left a sense of loss.
"I think you should hurry up and find a new girlfriend."
He shook his head again. "Forget it."
Chen Cheng stood on her tiptoes, leaning in even closer. An Yuan could almost feel the warmth of her face against his.
"How about a drink? You must be in a bad mood and want to drink, right? I'll drink with you!"
"You just want to drink yourself. What, you're not scared of the pain anymore?"
At that, Chen Cheng immediately lost all interest in drinking. She let go of his neck, stuffed her hands into her pockets, hunched forward slightly, and deliberately walked with an exaggerated, outward-turned gait.
"Can't drink alcohol, can't drink Coke, can't even drink cold water in this damn heat... Damn it, how's a person supposed to live?"
An Yuan took a step back and watched her walk. "Did you sprain your ankle?"
"What are you talking about! Don't you think I look really manly walking like this?"
"You look like an idiot."
"You're the idiot!"
Chen Cheng scowled and cursed at him. Then, after thinking it over, she realized that she probably did look like some dumb kid trying too hard to act cool.
So, she straightened her back and tried to walk with the swagger of a true badass.
As soon as the cool evening breeze hit her, Chen Cheng's stomach reacted immediately. She clutched her lower abdomen and hid behind An Yuan. "When is this gonna get better? I think the medicine's worn off—it's starting to hurt again."
"If you took an extended-release capsule, it should last about half a day. So yeah, the effect is probably gone now."
"Ugh… I wanna go home."
Chen Cheng hadn't ridden her bike today. Even though she had brought the key to the storage room, she had no desire to cycle while on her period.
Besides, it wasn't like An Yuan couldn't handle giving someone a lift.
The moment she got on the bike, Chen Cheng rested her forehead against his back, hands pressed to her stomach, groaning softly.
An Yuan pedaled steadily. The night breeze brushed past, and under the glow of the streetlights, their shadows stretched along the road.
With her forehead against his back, he could clearly feel her trembling from the pain, and in the wind, he could faintly hear her soft whimpers.
"You should just hold on..."
An Yuan had intended to say that since his body temperature was higher, she could hug him for warmth—it might help ease the cramps. But just as the words reached his lips, he swallowed them back.
At seventeen or eighteen, his body was always restless. He wasn't sure he could handle Chen Cheng's soft, boneless embrace. Besides, something like that felt a bit too intimate for best friends—it might come across as ambiguous.
"What?"
Her voice was raspier than usual.
"Want to play some game first?"
"No, just take me back."
After about ten minutes, the bike rolled into their neighborhood and stopped at the storage room entrance.
Chen Cheng climbed off, still clutching her stomach. She glanced toward the stairwell, shifting her weight back and forth hesitantly. "So… are you still meeting up with your classmates to go online tonight?"
In reality, everyone was just heading home for the night. Where An Yuan went had nothing to do with her. But she couldn't shake this weird feeling, like she was about to be left behind.
It was stupid, she knew that. But she still felt suffocated by it.
"Nope, I'm just gonna sleep early."
Her eyes lit up, and she eagerly helped him push the bike into the storage room, even though it was kind of unnecessary.
Once they were done, they walked into the stairwell together. The motion-sensor lights were broken, leaving the entire place pitch black—so dark that they could barely see their own hands in front of their faces. The only sounds were their footsteps echoing in the silence.
Gradually, the sound of Chen Cheng's breathing grew heavier, and her footsteps fell farther behind. An Yuan finally turned around, pulled out his phone to use as a flashlight, and peered down the stairs—only to find her a whole floor below him.
"Can't walk anymore?"
"Not really... huff… I just need to take it slow."
"You're literally cramping. Why are you trying to act tough?"
Half-leaning against the railing, she took a few deep breaths before insisting stubbornly, "My grandma can climb seven floors in one go! Don't help me—I can do it myself!"
With a sigh, An Yuan turned back and walked down to her.
"Ugh, I said don't help me! Why do you always have to—"
Despite her protests, she grabbed onto his shoulders, shifted her weight against him, and—without even bothering to lift her feet—let him drag her along.
"Are you sick or something? You're just trying to make sure nobody gets upstairs, huh?"
"Yeah. It's called period cramps," she declared, completely justified.
As a good friend, if she couldn't walk, then she had to find a way to drag him down with her.
Otherwise, if he climbed the stairs too fast, was he even really her friend?!
But suddenly, An Yuan bent his knees.
Chen Cheng let out a startled yelp as she lost her balance and collapsed against his broad back. Before she could even react, she felt his hands grip her thighs—then her feet left the ground.
Panicked, she instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Holy shit! What the hell are you doing?!"
"Carrying you upstairs. Or were you planning to just camp out here?"
"THAT IS COMPLETELY UNNECESSARY, OKAY?!"
<+>
If you want to see more chapter of this story and don't mind spending $5 monthly to see till the latest chapter, please go to my Patreon[1]
Latest Chapter in Patreon: Chapter 57: Breaktime Exercise[2]
Link to the latest chapter: https://www.patreon.com/posts/128679946?collection=1362427[3]
https://www.patreon.com/collection/1362427?view=condensed[4]
[1] https://www.patreon.com/collection/1362427?view=condensed
[2] https://www.patreon.com/posts/128679946?collection=1362427
[3] https://www.patreon.com/posts/128679946?collection=1362427
[4] https://www.patreon.com/collection/1362427?view=condensed