Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Until I met Xie Yu.

The boy stood beside the podium.

He looked like someone shaped from gold, jade, brocade, and silk.

Like a little bodhisattva carved out of white jade.

Gentle.

Yet distant.

He walked toward me, soft as willow branches in the warm March sun.

“Xiaocui.”

His eyes curved with his smile.

“From now on, we’re desk mates.”

For the first time, the boy’s clear, melodious voice broke the curse that made my name sound hopelessly rustic no matter who said it.

In that single instant,

Pandora’s box opened all on its own.

Thoughts like calamities spilled out uncontrollably.

One after another.

Dark.

Sticky.

Greedy.

…

Only then did I realize.

Oh.

So I was a pervert.

I opened the app on my phone and connected to the camera, hoping to catch a few frames of Xie Yu in the hallway.

My crappy phone lagged for half a minute before it finally loaded.

The image was blurry.

But it wasn’t the hallway.

It was a bedroom.

A bedroom that felt about as big as my entire home.

There wasn’t much in the room, so it looked a little empty and cold.

The camera was pointed directly at a door.

I scratched my head.

Then I heard a soft click.

The door opened.

Hot, damp steam billowed out from behind it.

Xie Yu appeared on the screen.

His wet hair hung down, droplets sliding from the ends.

A fine mist still clung to his lashes.

For some reason, it made him look a little sharp.

But only for an instant. It was as if he remembered something.

The corners of his mouth curved, and he returned to his usual soft, harmless expression.

So this was his room.

Had the servants moved the flowers in?

Xie Yu took two steps toward the camera.

He was wearing a bathrobe, hanging loosely off his body.

The sash wasn’t tied, only casually pulled together.

The collar gaped wide, revealing a large expanse of porcelain-white chest.

Water droplets slid down his chest, glittering under the light.

A young body.

Thin muscle covering smooth, graceful bones.

Clean, beautiful, pure.

Heaven was always so partial to him.

But that was only natural.

There was a faint red mark beneath his collarbone. I didn’t know if he’d scrubbed too hard in the bath, or if it was something else.

Uselessly, I swallowed.

My eyes followed that bead of water downward-

Ribs. Waist. Abdomen…

Faintly visible.

My breathing grew ragged.

And then-

The screen went black.

A notification popped up on my phone: Device offline.

-The camera’s battery had died.