Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Day One of Going Bad.

I smashed Pei Yu’s bedroom window with a rock.

Then I climbed up to the second floor and crawled into his room.

Pei Yu had a serious case of morning grumpiness. “What is wrong with you?”

Anger simmered in his voice.

“Boyfriend, I’m here to go to school with you,” I said with a bright smile.

Pei Yu’s face darkened. He lifted his pant leg and let me see his amputated limb without the slightest attempt to hide it.

His hands braced behind him, his broad shoulders hunched, he looked at me with a provocative raise of his brows.

As if he were saying, Disgusting, right? Makes you want to puke, right? Then get the hell out right now.

There was a self-destructive air about him.

I stepped forward and rested my fingers on his residual limb, slowly sliding upward.

Pei Yu went scarlet in an instant. Even the tips of his ears looked like they were about to drip blood.

He jerked backward. “You, you, you, you…”

I curled my lips. “Boys in the morning all… I thought you were asking me to help you…”

The System was shrieking madly right then: [Yes, yes, yes! That’s exactly the kind of improper behavior we need! Make the aloof male lead utterly despise you, yet still be forced to get tangled up with you.]

Before I could finish speaking…

Pei Yu told me to shut up.

“You.”

“Me?”

In the end, he admitted defeat. His large hand covered my eyes, and he ordered me to face the wall and reflect on my actions.

“Pervert. You’re not allowed to look at me.”

I happily faced the wall.

“Fine.”

When I turned back around…

Pei Yu had already put on his prosthesis.

When he walked, aside from seeming a little unused to it, there was no difference from anyone else.

“So this is why you woke me up so early?”

Pei Yu had his eyes closed, clearly unable to accept this reality.

We were in a noisy internet cafe.

Smoke curled through the air, and the place was full of young men with bloodshot eyes.

Students from First High School arriving at six in the morning in school uniforms like us were genuinely rare.

There was nothing I could do about it.

I used to be a top student. Waking up at five thirty and getting to class by six was standard procedure.

Expressionless, I played Minesweeper. “Yeah. I needed you to pay for the computer time. I don’t have any money.”

I had opened a computer for him too.

After fiddling with it for ages…

I pursed my lips and offered a suggestion. “How about you play 4399?”

When it came to going bad, I was a beginner too.

Pei Yu was disdainful. “No.”

He even took out a familiar red-covered book.

Five Years of Gaokao, Three Years of Mock Exams.

I snatched it from him. “Hand it over.

“No studying. Teach me how to play Minesweeper!” I ordered him.

The System: [Li Xia, I knew I was right about you!]

Resigned to his fate, Pei Yu gave a light scoff. “Ridiculous.”

Thirty seconds later…

I stared at Pei Yu, who had lost in under ten moves, and fell into deep thought.

“Let’s just study. That seems easier.”

Pei Yu silently took out a pen. “Fine.”

While Pei Yu and I were battling hard in the ocean of learning…

An unharmonious voice came from beside us, belonging to Yellow Hair.

“Fuck, I hate show-offs the most!”

Pei Yu and I exchanged a look and ignored him.

Yellow Hair directly grabbed my wrist.

“Yo, good students come to internet cafes too?” His smoke-stained yellow fingers brushed across my face. “Then can this good student keep big brother happy for a bit?”

A sip of cheap booze and suddenly you don’t know the height of the sky or the depth of the earth.

Pei Yu stood up, pulled me over, and blocked me behind him.

His tone was dark. “You got a problem?”

Yellow Hair reached out and yanked at him. I wanted to step forward and stop him, but Pei Yu refused to let me.

Yellow Hair got ruthless and shoved Pei Yu down onto the table. The computer was swept aside, causing a huge commotion.

I cried out in shock, “Pei Yu!”

A boy who had been sleeping facedown clicked his tongue.

He stepped forward and kicked Yellow Hair to the floor.

“Get the hell out!”

Only then did I realize that the boy was the school tyrant of First High School, Jiang Yunbai.

Jiang Yunbai reached out and pulled Pei Yu up.

“Bro, you okay?”

“Jiang Yunbai?” I said.

“Li Xia?” Jiang Yunbai let out an amused yo.

The two of us were regulars at the weekly self-criticism sessions, so we knew each other well.

“Who’s this to you?” He lifted his chin toward Pei Yu.

“My boyfriend.”

Pei Yu pressed his lips together and said coldly, “I’m not.”

But there seemed to be quite a bit of grievance hidden in his voice.

I said firmly, “You are.”

“I’m not.”

“You are.”

After a long moment, a crack appeared in his cold expression.

His ears turned red too.

“Mm. I am.”

I didn’t hear him clearly.

So I asked, “What?”

“Nothing.”