Lovey-Dovey
After school, Shen Wanying went to the general office to help Mr. Song print some worksheets to hand out to the class the next day. When she returned, she saw that the girl they had seen earlier with Huo Cheng had returned, and was talking to him again. They stood in the empty corridor, conversing inaudibly. From the way she looked at him, Shen Wanying could tell that she really liked him.
She lingered at the end of the corridor for a moment, before walking up to them. Huo Cheng had his back to her, so he didn’t see her coming, but the girl did, and instinctively stopped talking as she approached.
Turning, Huo Cheng saw Shen Wanying. He picked up his school bag and asked, “Are you done with what you need to do?”
“Mmhm.” She smiled at him.
“We’ll get going, then.” He replied.
“Alright, just give me a moment while I get my bag.”
“Mm.”
Seeing Shen Wanying disappear into the classroom, the girl chewed a lip. “Senior Huo Cheng,” she asked, “You… are you and the Lady Shen together?”
She had been watching him for a long time, and she knew of his proximity to Shen Wanying. But she had concluded, according to her observations, that they were not dating. And after a long period of consideration, she had finally plucked up the courage that day to confess her feelings to him.
And she had, for some reason, been rejected anyway.
She had somewhat prepared herself for it, her friends had all warned her that someone of Huo Cheng’s calibre wouldn’t be easy to land. But she had wanted to try anyway. If she couldn’t be his girlfriend, she didn’t mind just being friends. It would be a start.
But Senior Huo Cheng had been even more aloof than she had expected, and had refused even the offer of friendship.
Her question went unanswered as he simply stood in the hallway waiting for Shen Wanying. The girl watched him for a moment longer, and, unable to hold back her tears any longer, picked up her bag and left in a hurry.
Shen Wanying had emerged from the classroom in time to witness the whole thing. She watched the girl’s back as she ran away, and asked, “Did you make her cry?”
He stayed silent until he could trust himself not to blurt out, “the only girl I’ve ever made cry is you”.
“I didn’t say anything,” he said instead, “and she started crying.”
Shen Wanying didn’t retort. It was probably because you didn’t say anything that she started crying.
“What did she want with you?”
Huo Cheng smiled. “She wanted to be friends.”
“Oho, what kind of friends?”
“The normal kind.”
“Like how we are normal friends?”
Huo Cheng looked at her, before suddenly moving into her space, placing a kiss on her forehead. “Are we just normal friends?”
A deep flush covered her cheeks. Sure, she had bangs hanging over her forehead, but he had kissed her hair all the same. It was the first time he had ever kissed her… and it had been in the middle of the corridor.
Shen Wanying leapt away from him, placing distance between them. “Are you crazy? What if someone had seen that!”
“There’s no one around any more,” Huo Cheng retorted.
“The school is still no place to get all lovey-dovey!”
A hint of a smile crept into Huo Cheng’s eyes. “Then where is a good place to get all lovey-dovey?”
His question left her speechless. Is it a fact that when a man is in love, no matter how cold and aloof, he transforms into such a creature?
“Alright, let’s go.” She shot the last two words at him, before speeding to the stairs. Huo Cheng followed close behind, the smile still lingering in his eyes.
After they had left, Qiu Ziqing emerged from the classroom. What had she just seen? Huo Cheng kissing Shen Wanying? Were they dating?
Jealousy bloomed and spread in her chest, a wild and invasive weed. Fists clenched, she glared in the direction they had just disappeared in. She had to expose them. She would not let them carry on as they had been, for however long they had been at it.
And so from then on, she became preoccupied with finding an opportunity to secretly photograph the two being intimate with each other, so she could report them to the school and have them dealt with.
But this proved to be harder than she had anticipated; apart from that sudden kiss that day, the couple behaved as if they were simply classmates on friendly terms. There was not an affectionate gesture in sight.
She watched them like a hawk for a week, at the end of which, not only did she not have a single shred of evidence against them, but her actions had also been discovered by them.
“Qiu Ziqing, you’ve been secretly taking pictures of Huo Cheng and me lately; what are you trying to do?” Shen Wanying caught her after school to question her. She eyed Huo Cheng, who had been following Shen Wanying from a distance, and scowled. “I wasn’t taking pictures of you.”
“Then you were taking pictures of Huo Cheng?”
“… I wasn’t taking pictures of anyone.”
Shen Wanying seemed to murmur something to herself for a moment, then turned and flashed a smile in Qiu Ziqing’s direction. “Alright then, although you won’t admit it, I won’t check your phone. But if you secretly take pictures of us again, I’ll take out my phone and secretly take pictures of you.”
Qiu Ziqing made no reply. Having finished questioning her, Shen Wanying was followed Huo Cheng out of the classroom.
She watched them walk towards the door silently, then suddenly called out. “Shen Wanying, I know you and Huo Cheng are dating.”
The two of them stopped walking and Shen Wanying turned to look at her.
Qiu Ziqing smiled as she walked up to them. “That day. I saw Huo Cheng kiss you.”
Shen Wanying froze for a split second, then turned to Huo Cheng. It was like she had said, someone had seen them!
Huo Cheng, unperturbed, ruffled Shen Wanying’s hair, then he turned to Qiu Ziqing and said, “And?”
She was momentarily stunned by the unexpected question. “I’m going to report the both of you to the school.”
“Go ahead.”
He seemed so nonchalant about it, it made Qiu Ziqing uneasy. Humiliated, she gripped the phone in her hand tightly and stormed out of the classroom.
At that moment, she hated herself for not taking a photo of Huo Cheng kissing Shen Wanying. If she had, would he still have been able to slither out of the situation so easily? She didn’t care, she was going to tell the teachers about them the next day.
Seeing how angry Qiu Ziqing was, Shen Wanying couldn’t help but worry. “Huo Cheng, do you think she will tell the teachers?”
“Given her nature, probably.”
“What are we going to do?”
“Don’t worry.” Huo Cheng fixed her with a tender gaze. “I’ll take care of it.”
T/N: 1) I snorted at the “what kind of friends?” “normal friends” conversation. Huo Cheng is unbelievably exasperating, and I love the banter. 2) When did Wanying get so fierce? 3) QZQ needs to turn down the petty lol she’s gonna give herself high blood pressure. Have I forgotten what it’s like to be 17 and full of spite? Probably. I hope this ride was as fun for you as it was for me. See you in the next one!
E/N: Is everyone turning into a creeper now? How many people are gonna stalk our poor couple QAQ