Love Me in Another Universe

Chapter 60. A Rift (Part 1)

October 15, 1997, Wednesday. Gao Xinglang and Guan Xuchen were walking to school. Gao Xinglang smiled at Guan Xuchen and said, "By the way, Soupy, we don't have training for the basketball team today. How about we go and play table tennis together during the fitness training sessions this afternoon?"

"That's great, Lang. After that, we can go home together!" Guan Xuchen replied cheerfully.

The two entered the school, walked to the teaching building, and took the stairs to the fourth floor. At that moment, Guan Xuchen noticed that there seemed to be some dirt on Gao Xinglang's right ear. He smiled and said, "Lang, there's some dirt on your ear."

As he spoke, he took out a tissue and carefully wiped the dirt off Gao Xinglang's right ear, and then showed the tissue to Gao.

Gao Xinglang shrugged and laughed heartily, saying, "A leaf fell on my ear just now. As long as it's not bird droppings."

"Wow, so gentle and so sweet!" A familiar voice came from behind. It was Ao Feifan from Class 2, Senior Two.

Guan Xuchen blushed upon Ao Feifan's words and remained silent.

Gao Xinglang, however, retorted boldly, "Bro Feifan, did you forget to brush your teeth this morning? Why does your mouth smell so much?"

"Prince Lang, I was just complimenting your Soupy for being gentle. Why are you getting so upset?" Ao Feifan continued to tease with a playful smile, "You two are in different classes, but you're always sticking together, just like a couple. It's really enviable."

At that moment, some students passed by. When they heard what Ao Feifan said, they all glanced at Gao Xinglang and Guan Xuchen and then walked past them, chuckling softly.

"You don't have the right to envy us. Anyway, I'm a man, and that's all," Gao Xinglang retorted with somewhat strange words. Then he said to Guan Xuchen, "Soupy, let's go. Don't mind them."

After that, he just ignored Ao Feifan and walked away quickly with a hint of anger on his face.

Guan Xuchen kept his head down, his face turning bright red, and trailed behind Gao Xinglang. He accidentally bumped into a student who was coming out of the classroom. Guan Xuchen quickly apologized. But when he looked up, he found the student unfamiliar. Only then did he realize that he had walked into Class 4. He saw many students in the classroom were either laughing or snickering, and he felt extremely embarrassed. So he quickly stepped back and returned to Class 5 next door.

After the first period Chinese class, Guan Xuchen wanted to fetch some water. He picked up his cup, walked out of the classroom, and made his way towards the water dispenser. However, after just a few steps, he saw Gao Xinglang, Ye Songshan, and Xin Chaoyu ahead of him, chatting and laughing merrily. Guan Xuchen had intended to go up and greet them. But he remembered Ao Feifan's words and Gao Xinglang's angry look from earlier. After a moment of hesitation, he turned around and went back to the classroom.

After the second period politics class, it was time for recess exercise. Guan Xuchen tried his best not to look at Gao Xinglang, who was just two columns away. But he couldn't resist stealing a couple of glances. After the break-time exercise, he clearly heard Gao Xinglang calling him. However, he kept his head down and quickly walked in the direction of the teaching building.

After the third period English class, Guan Xuchen thought about Gao Xinglang calling him earlier and wondering what it was about. So he picked up his cup and planned to find Gao Xinglang to get water together. But as soon as he stood up, he saw Gao Xinglang holding an exercise book, chatting and laughing with Guan Muxue, the English subject representative of Class 4, as they passed by outside the classroom. Guan Xuchen felt a strange sense of jealousy welling up inside him.