"Alright, everyone, settle down," the lecturer said, adjusting his glasses as he clicked to the next slide. "Today's topic — Bioelectrical Signaling and Neural Interfaces."
The room barely stirred. Half the students weren't even pretending to take notes anymore.
In the middle row, Yè Yī sat slouched, earbuds in. The screen of his laptop glowed with notes so well-organized it looked like an AI made them. His eyes were open but distant — calm, sharp, unreadable.
A few seats away, Qiū Huà Bǐ rested his chin on one hand, one headphone covering his right ear. His hair half-shadowed his face. He looked asleep, but somehow his notebook already had every key formula written down in clean, straight lines.
Around them, their classmates whispered and snickered.
> "There's no way he's actually listening."
"Both of them, man — top of the class and still act like we don't exist."
"You mean Ice Prince One and Two?"
"Nah, more like the corpse and the ghost."
Someone tried waving at Qiū Huà Bǐ from the back. No response.
Someone else threw a paper ball toward Yè Yī. It missed, landing on his desk. He didn't even glance at it.
The lecturer sighed.
"Now, as I was saying — if the brain can be mapped like a circuit board, then technically—"
Thunk.
Qiū's pencil dropped. He bent down, muttered something under his breath, picked it up, and went right back to doing nothing.
From the side, Yè Yī's gaze flicked toward him, just for a second. Their eyes met — and held.
Silence.
Then, all at once, the projector screen glitched — static flickering for a split second before returning to normal.
The lecturer frowned.
"Must be the wiring again…"
No one else noticed that both Yè Yī and Qiū Huà Bǐ were staring forward now, alert. The air felt different — colder, heavier, like the temperature had dropped a few degrees.
But just as quickly, everything went back to normal.
"Alright," the lecturer said, tapping the board. "Let's continue. The midterm will cover chapters four through seven, so I suggest—"
Half the class groaned.
Qiū Huà Bǐ leaned back, one eye open, and muttered, "Great."
Yè Yī, almost under his breath, replied without looking, "You're not the only one."
Neither realized the other heard.