I walked into the classroom feeling elated and happy.
Sitting down in my usual seat, my mind still lingered on his words, my heart fluttering uncontrollably.
While I was lost in my thoughts, a loud voice suddenly broke the silence:
"What's wrong with you, little cotton ball?"
The words made my head ache. I covered my ears, turned around, and, still somewhat annoyed, said:
"It's still early morning, Viễn Hàn, what's all this noise about?"
Ignoring my words, Viễn Hàn walked straight up to me, leaving me stunned. He pointed to the wound on my face, his voice full of worry, his eyes never leaving me for a second:
"What happened to your face? Did someone hit you?"
Before I could reply, he angrily rolled up his sleeves:
"Tell me, who dared to hit you? I'll teach them a lesson."
I frowned at Yuan Han, thinking to myself that he was resorting to violence to solve problems again.
"Don't always resort to your fists," I said, lecturing him, "Do you want to get disciplined?"
Yuan Han froze, his expression somewhat flustered by my words.
I sighed, pointing to the wound:
"This… it's just from a bike accident."
"A bike accident?" Yuan Han asked suspiciously.
I just hummed in response.
He frowned, his gaze sweeping down to my leg. Before I could understand what was happening, Yuan Han knelt down on one knee and decisively pulled up my pants leg.
I was startled by Yuan Han's sudden action and stammered,
"Hey! What are you doing...?"
But it was too late. The wound was right in front of him.
Yuan Han stared intently, his voice low:
"Why do you always have wounds on your body?"
Then he softly asked,
"Are you… hurt?"
I was both angry and embarrassed. There was no one else in the classroom, making the scene even more awkward and difficult to describe.
Suddenly, I felt like someone was watching me, so I turned around:
"Who's there?"
No one was there.
Yuan Han also looked up:
"Is something wrong?"
I looked outside for a moment, then shook my head:
"Nothing."
I thought to myself, "Maybe I'm being too sensitive…"
Then I dismissed the thought and playfully tapped Yuan Han on the head, saying,
"Stay away from me, don't do that again…it won't be just like that next time…"
Yuan Han clutched his head and groaned,
"You're so violent, little cotton ball."
I froze, only then noticing something was wrong. I pulled down my pants leg and asked suspiciously,
"Cotton ball?"
Viễn Hàn chuckled:
"That's right, it's the nickname I gave you. Do you like it?"
I turned back to my desk:
"No."
But inwardly I couldn't help but chuckle, thinking to myself, "That name…so familiar."
Viễn Hàn looked bewildered:
"Hey, did you just laugh?"
I turned back, my face expressionless:
"You must have misread it."
From then on, I ignored whatever Viễn Hàn said, paying no attention.
Before class started, a classmate approached:
"Hey, someone sent this to you."
I looked confused:
"For me?"
The other person nodded and left immediately.
Viễn Hàn glanced over:
"Who sent it?"
"I don't know," I replied, "probably someone sent it by mistake."
Viễn Hàn let out an "oh" and slumped back down, intending to go back to sleep.
I bent down to look at my bag and noticed a small rabbit. I pulled it out and saw it was a rabbit-shaped keychain, with a note attached.
I opened it out of curiosity.
"I bought you some medicine and a few other things. Remember to use them as instructed, don't throw them away."
My eyes widened in surprise at the note because...
This handwriting... it was Xie Junxing's.
I stared at the note, then Yuan Han pulled me back to reality:
"What's written in there that's making you stare blankly?"
I looked at him, hiding my previous expression, and coldly replied:
"Nothing."
Clenching my fist, I crumpled the note and turned back to focus on my studies.
Yuan Han, though suspicious, didn't ask any further questions.
After school, I went with Yuan Han to his house for tutoring as promised.
As I was wheeling my bike out the gate, someone gently tugged at my sleeve.
Thinking it was Yuan Han, I didn't turn around, only saying:
"You're so annoying, let go of me."
But then, Yuan Han ran up to me:
"Little cotton ball, where have you been? I've been looking for you."
I froze.
Yuan Han was here… so who was the person tugging at my shirt?
I quickly turned around, a bad feeling rising in my heart…
And just as I suspected…
it was Xie Junxing.