Flower among the thorns

Lesson 10

Yuxin

*Splash* Liu Ye tripped on his shoelaces as his cup of drink splashed straight on my shirt and face. "Oh no, I'm sorry.." Liu Ye exclaimed as he tried to wipe my shirt with his napkin.

"I-It's alright, don't worry. I'm going back to my room now anyway," I held his hand back, trying to avoid him from wiping my shirt. "You stay on the 6th floor?" I asked and he nodded with a tight lipped smile. "Uhh.. I'm going to go, see you around." I walked off to the lift, feeling a little uneasy with his weird behavior.

"Hey, what happened to you," Kun stood up from his desk when I returned, using his towel to wipe my face and hair that's dripping with coke. "Someone accidentally tripped and splashed his drink on me, it's okay I need to take a shower anyway." I walked into the shower with my new clothes and washed off the sticky soft drink.

The next day

"Yuxi, you are the last in running again. Go take all the cones used and put it in the storage room. You need to train up your muscles," The physical education teacher instructed. Kun stood up and tried to help but the teacher interjected, "If anyone helps you, you'd get double duty." I looked at Kun and gave him a reassuring smile. This small task won't kill me.

I switched on the lights of the storage room that was situated outside of the door and used every ounce of my strength to carry the cones in, huffing as I tried to place them in the corner of the room. Bang. The door slammed shut and the lights went off as the room fell into pitch black. No no no, this can't be happening.

"Hey! I'm still in here!!" I shouted, slamming my hands on the door to signal my presence. "Heyyy someone!! Help!!" my heart started to thump hard and my breathing quickened. "Helppp" I can feel my breathing becoming irregular as I fight to calm myself down but I could feel my tears starting to fall uncontrollably as I started to hyperventilate. It felt like I was suffocating from my own fear. "Someone, help me.."

Kun

"Why isn't Yuxi back yet?" I stared at the front door of the class, waiting for him to come back. It has been 15 minutes and there was still no sign of him. "That little guy probably fainted while carrying those cones," Cheng Cheng joked. I stood up and walked straight to the storage room, "Hey, I was just kidding!" Cheng Cheng shouted. Somehow, there was a sense of uneasiness within me, something must be wrong. Running to the storage room, I saw the door closed shut. Yuxi left already? But I didn't see him anywhere while running here. "Help..." I heard a faint cry coming from the storage room. Pulling the door handle, I realised it was locked and quickly unlocked it. Yuxi was lying in the corner of the room in a foetus position, crying softly. "Brother.. help me..." I ran towards him and knelt down, "Yuxi," I patted him gently, trying to get him out of his delirious state.  He turned towards my direction with his eyes closed and relaxed his muscles, "Brother... I can't breathe.." 

"Yuxi!" I pat his shoulders gently but he remained unconscious. He can't breathe, was his shirt too tight? I untucked his shirt from his shorts, pulling it up and noticed a white bandage tied around his ribcage. What's this? Was he injured? I pulled the rest of his shirt up to his chest, noticing how the bandage was covering his chest too. How could anyone breathe like this, I pulled the bandage down for him to be more comfortable. That's when I noticed how his chest.. That's not chest.. those are two soft round mould peeking through the bandage. I hurriedly pulled his bandage up and pulled his shirt down. Fuck, what have I done. I glanced around to make sure no one was around us and hurriedly carry Yuxi to the infirmary, cursing myself for touching her so carelessly as a small sense of elatedness crept up. It's a good thing that she's a girl, at least I know that I'm not turning gay. 

Upon seeing Yuxi in my arms, Doctor James rushed towards me with a worried look, "Yahhh, what happened to this guy again?" I placed Yuxi gently on the bed and wiped the tear that was running down his face. "He got accidentally locked up in the storage room and I found him in this state 20 minutes later." Sighing loudly, Doctor James said, "Thank you, you can go off now. I will take care of him." Yuxi started to stir from his unconsciousness, groaning a little just as I stepped out of the infirmary. I stood behind the door, trying to eavesdrop on their conversation.

"YuXin, how did you ended up being locked in the storage room?" Doctor James asked. So her real name is YuXin. "I don't know uncle, I was just packing up some stuff and then the door closed.. The next thing I know I was hyperventilating." YuXin replied.

"YuXin, you're still afraid of dark spaces?"

"I can't help it. Ever since that incident in elementary school where the boys locked me up in the cupboard as a joke I've been afraid of dark spaces. Luckily Yuxi found me and gave the boys a good thrashing." YuXin said.

"Sigh, at least your twin brother did something to protect you. Are you sure you want to continue with this? You looked like you've been through hell here." James commented softly. "That's not true, my friends are very helpful, especially Kun and Yibo senior. They even helped me with my work." YuXin said brightly.

"The two most popular boys in the school? Did you charm them or something?" James quipped jokingly. "N-No of course not, I treat them like my bros." Great, I've been bro-zoned. I stepped away from the room, gathering the information I've needed. So this person here is YuXin, and she's a girl while the real Yuxi is somewhere else. No wonder she looks so feminine at times. How am I supposed to live with her in the same room now though?

****

YuXin

"Kun, I heard you're the one who helped to rescue me from the storage room. Thank you," I placed a drink on his desk as he mumbled "It's nothing" while concentrating on his work. Yibo senior walked up to us and placed his arms around my shoulder, "Yuxi, are you being bullied by someone?" Kun immediately looked up and stared at both of us, "I.. Don't know. But why would someone bully me?"

"Because you're an easy target little pipsqueak," Cheng Cheng chipped in. "I'm not!" I retorted and Cheng Cheng grabbed my arm, "This looks more like a twig than an arm, I could even wrap my finger around it so easily and your arm feels so squishy and soft, do you ev-"

Kun slammed his table, "Enough Cheng Cheng. Let Yuxi go." He glared at Cheng Cheng coldly and the latter immediately let go of his grip. Yibo senior pulled me closer to him adding, "Yeah you womaniser, don't touch Yuxi with your dirty hands."

"Hey the two of you, what's with the obvious biasness here?" Cheng Cheng confronted the both of them, darting his eyes between Kun and Yibo senior. Li Nong smacked his head playfully and replied, "Because you are annoying and we are late for duty. Let's go."

****

Kun

"Yuxi, I've something to discuss with senior, can you head back to the dorm on your own?" I said while averting my eyes away from her. "Yeah sure! I will see you back in the room," she smiled cheerily. Great, now I definitely can't see her as a guy.

"What's up Kun?" Yibo tilted his head up. "Someone is definitely out there trying to go against Yuxi. He was locked in the dark storage room alone and he hyperventilated till his passed out." Hearing my explanation, Yibo's face turned dark and ominous, clenching his fist tightly. "Who the fuck did that."

"I don't know, but we should just try to sort this out before he gets hurt... After al-" I pondered over whether to tell Yibo about YuXin's real identity. Better not, he'd probably rage if he knows YuXin is a girl in a boy's school. "After all, we don't know what the person could do next..."