Chapter 6
Chapter 6
A person can be a pervert.
But a pervert cannot be lame.
At the very least, I couldn’t let Xie Yu think
that I was the kind of person who coveted money.
…Fine. Actually, I was.
But I didn’t want to covet his money.
The next day,
I handed the pendant to Xie Yu. “You dropped this yesterday. I picked it up.”
Xie Yu looked at my palm, and his expression paused.
Only for a very brief instant.
Before I could make sense of it, he had already gone back to looking gentle and harmless.
His eyes curved as he smiled. “Thank you, Xiaocui.”
“But I’ve already bought a new one.”
He showed me his schoolbag.
Hanging from it was an identical leaf.
Brand-new.
I froze for a second and said instinctively, “But this one is still new too…”
“Oh.”
Xie Yu froze as well, then smiled and said,
“If you don’t mind, Xiaocui, you can have it. Otherwise, it would be such a waste.”
His eyes were curved in a smile.
“Maybe you and it are fated.”
Fated.
He said fated.
Xie Yu and I were fated.
I thought about it all morning.
During the lunch break,
Xie Yu fell asleep with his head on his desk.
His arms were folded on the tabletop, his face turned in my direction.
His breathing was light and even.
The afternoon sun fell across his face through the curtains, filtered soft and warm.
His lashes cast a small shadow beneath his eyes.
A high bridge of the nose, pale lips, a gentle line to his chin.
I couldn’t help touching the pendant in my schoolbag.
My fingertips brushed against that little leather leaf, smooth and faintly cool to the touch, but my heart was burning with fire.
A token of love.
Silently, in my heart, I gave it a new name.
It had to be.
If not, why would he give it to me?
I put down my pen and turned my head to look at him.
Greedily.
Again and again.
My gaze slid from his brow bone to the tip of his nose, from the tip of his nose to his lips, from his lips to the line of his jaw, then down along his neck-
The collar of his school uniform had fallen slightly open, revealing a small curve of his collarbone.
The boy slept quietly, completely unguarded around me.
I stared, utterly entranced.
Then those closed eyes suddenly moved.
His eyelids trembled lightly, like the faint flutter of butterfly wings.
Xie Yu woke up.
He was still a little dazed.
A thin mist filmed his amber pupils, like a lake in the morning fog.
He looked in my direction, his gaze slowly coming into focus.
Our eyes met.
Then the corners of his mouth slowly curved upward.
His voice still carried that special softness of someone who had just woken up. “What is it? Is there something on my face?”
I smiled too.
“No.”
But what I was thinking was:
You don’t know a thing.
How cute.
-If one day,
you found out everything.
If you found out that the person by your side harbored such unspeakable thoughts toward you, what would you think?
Xie Yu.
Would you tell me to go die with a look of disgust on your face?
Would those beautiful eyes of yours fill with disappointment and loathing, revealing an icy expression you had never shown before?
I thought about all of that in my heart.
My heartbeat grew even faster.
My blood felt as though it had been set on fire, rampaging through my body, bringing with it an excitement so intense it almost hurt.