They had gym class in the afternoon, so Luo Wenqiang said, "Sorry, sorry. I got too excited there. Let's talk during gym class, then. If you want to participate, just come find me anytime."
Xie Yu was a light sleeper. He heard someone talking, but he wasn't listening closely.
Right before class started, Wu Zheng passed by their classroom and handed the homework to the class rep, who distributed it to the class. He was very energetic about handing out the papers, and even though people asked if they could help, he didn't let them.
"Xie, Xie Yu..." The class rep read out the name, then looked up and locked eyes with his target.
The next second, an exercise book crash-landed next to Xie Yu's head.
Xie Yu opened his eyes.
The class rep made a 'Sorry' hand motion. Xie Yu didn't say anything and didn't look at the exercise book before stuffing it into the desk drawer.
He Zhao was looking down at his phone to the side. He was wearing his earphones in, the cord winding out from his pocket.
When the class rep got to He Zhao, he called out, "Zhao-ge!"
He Zhao obligingly raised his hand to catch the 'ball.' After he caught it, he exclaimed in English: "Wo-ow, nice."
"You're awake?" After catching the exercise book, He Zhao turned to Xie Yu and asked, "...Where's your homework?"
Xie Yu said, "What do you need it for?"
He Zhao was good at taking what he wanted, and now he leaned right over to Xie Yu's side of the desk and looked in the desk drawer. "Just taking a look."
Xie Yu didn't stop him and didn't hit his head with anything. He took the exercise book and slammed it onto the desk. "Take it and admire it and scram."
On both his and He Zhao's exercise books, from start to finish, there weren't many big red checkmarks.
He Zhao flipped to the questions from this weekend and verified that Xie Yu hadn't done a single one right, either, then contentedly closed it and put it back for him. "When I see how you're doing I feel reassured."
Xie Yu was still lying down, half his face obscured with his sleeve so that only his eyes showed. The warm breath he exhaled landed on the fabric of his sleeve, and he looked like a little animal that one wanted to reach out and pet. Of course, before one did so, they'd have to prepare to die. "What's up with that?"
He Zhao pointed at a line of text on the blackboard: Wu Zheng's writing, neat and boisterous.
—The two students who got everything wrong, go to the office during gym class. Be there or else.
"......"
"It happened when you were sleeping." In the end, He Zhao couldn't resist reaching out and ruffling Xie Yu's hair. "Life's like that. An endless amount of surprises."
Xie Yu didn't really mind and made a noise of assent. Really, he still seemed quite cold: from his expression to his voice, he was, all 360 degrees of him, cold. But He Zhao thought he must have been possessed—or perhaps it was just that Xie Yu's hair was so soft. He actually thought that the emotionless killer, when he had just woken up, was just a little bit cute.
He Zhao continued, "Don't worry. I'm here for you."
At this point Xie Yu couldn't continue agreeing.
The notice stayed on the blackboard through the next two class periods. Even though it didn't mention their names directly, everyone knew who it referred to.
