Flower among the thorns

Lesson 14

YuXin

Xue Er immediately enveloped me into a tight hug with tears brimming in her eyes as she saw me at the gate of the dormitory. "Silly girl, I'm alright," I smoothed her hair tenderly.

"Mei mei, you made us so worried, its good that you're okay now," Shaking said as she hugged me from the back. "Yeah, are you hurt anywhere? Let me check," YuYan started examining my body and her eyes turned into a slit, seething with anger as she saw the bandages around my wrist. "This is just superficial injury, it will get better," I held on to YuYan's hand trying to calm her down. Her face softens as she sigh, "Are the guys around you useless? They can't even spot this batshit crazy dude and stop him?"

"Hey hey, let's go somewhere and talk instead, it's too open out here," Shaking mentioned as she pulled us away. We settled in a cafe that was a distance away from the school and Xue Er ordered my favourite bubble tea and matcha cake, "You need to eat more, how are you skinnier than before?"

I eyed the cake happily, savouring every bite of it with a satisfying smile. "The physical education instructor kept asking me to run and train," flexing my arm, I said, "Look, I've got more muscles now." YuYan grabbed my arm and touched it, grinning as she teased me, "You still got a long way to go to reach my level."

Sulking, I pouted my lips and concentrated on my cake instead, suddenly remembering the important question at the back of my head. "Xue Er, who's the one who told you I was in trouble?" She shoved me lightly, "It's your neighbor Wang Ziyi, who else would it be?"

"Ohhh... Are you guys getting together already?" I grinned at her, the thought of them being together made me chuckle. "He still got a long way to go," Shaking interjected, "Xue Er has been angry at him for not being able to save you in time."

"He did saved me though, along with Yibo senior, Kun, Xiao Gui and Zhen Ting... Without them I'd probably..." a shiver went down my spine and I trembled at the thought of drowning. "Ahh, let's not think about that anymore, what matters is you being safe," YuYan consoled as she pulled me in for a long hug.

That's right, even though it was scary, what matters most was me being able to survive the ordeal and getting away unscathed. I pushed down the negative thoughts and forced a smile on my face. "I should buy something for them to thank them," I said as I walked to the cashier, picking up different slices of cake for them. "Ziyi likes dark chocolate, I'll pay for his cake," Xue Er mumbled softly as she stood beside me. This girl is always saying critical stuff but deep down she's still a softie.

****

"Hey, servant!" I called out to Cheng Cheng who was walking in front of me heading to the form's entrance. He turned his head around with a sad frown etched on his face, looking as though he was about to burst into tears. "Hey, what's wrong?" I walked towards him with a concern look.

"I.. Just got jilted.. Me? Of all people? Getting jilted by a girl?" he shook my arm agitatedly, "Can you believe this pipsqueak?" "Calm down, what happened exactly?" I held his hand gently, trying to get him to chill.

"Well, the girl I was seeing told me she was gaining weight and became fat.." he looked at me with a confused frown, "So I told her my mom said, if you feel fat just go run three rounds around the track. The next thing I know she glared at me and stalked off."

"Hahaha, you did what?!" I burst out laughing at his explanation. He's lucky the girl didn't slap him for his callous words. "What's so funny? I was merely giving her a suggestion, was it wrong?" he commented with a sad glum. Placing my hand on his shoulder, giving him a light squeeze, "Girls are sensitive.. You should be comforting them instead, so it's not a good choice to agree when they say they're fat and give them solid advice." He turned to me a lamented, "Ahh, its too lateee... She was my type too.." I looked into my bag of cakes. There's an extra matcha cake that I've bought for myself. He looks like he needed it more than me. I took it out and handed him one, "Here, eat it and feel better."

He flashed me a sad smile, "Thanks pipsqueak.." "You're welcome, but you still have servant duty starting from Monday!" I teased as I got off the elevator. "Yah, wh-" he got cut off just as the elevator door closed.

****
Yibo

"Here Yibo senior, I got a cake for you to thank you for helping me out yesterday," Yuxi handed me a small box with a grateful smile on his face. "Ahh, there's no need for this, more importantly are you feeling alright?" he nodded and flashed a bright smile, "Yeah! I'm all good, I'm going off to give others their cake. See you on Monday!"

Closing the door to my room I sat down with the cake box placed on my table, recalling the memory of me pressing my lips against his while trying to resuscitate him. My heart started to thump wildly as the heat slowly rise up to my face thinking about his soft lips against mine. I wonder if that's his first kiss... Does it mean I'm the first guy to kiss him? My lips started to curve upwards at the thought and I quickly shook my head to come back to reality. Stop it Yibo, you're becoming weird. Am I really turning gay? I ruffled my hair roughly groaning at this dilemma. This can't be, I've got to make sure of my sexuality..

Ziyi

"Xue Er was the one who chose and bought the cake for you," Yuxi whispered to me as he handed me the cake with a grin. My face immediately lit up, she does care about me after all.

Ziyi: I received the cake, thank you for buying it. I will savor every mouthful of it.

Xue Er: You're welcome. Enjoy it.

"Bro, can I have some of yours too?" Xiao Gui reached out for my cake with his fork trying to steal a bite. Taking away the cake protectively from him, I shouted, "No way! Eat your own, this is precious to me." This is the first gift that Xue Er has bought for me, I must protect it at all cost. I smiled happily as I took a small bite of the decadent dark chocolate cake.

Kun

"Thanks for the cake," I thanked YuXin as she handed me the cake box, "You didn't get any for yourself?" I looked at her paperbag that was now empty. "Ahh.. I bought one for myself but gave it to Cheng Cheng. He was so upset about getting jilted so I thought it would cheer him up." A warm feeling enveloped my heart as I heard her reply. This girl is so kind and thoughtful it makes me want to protect her more.

"In that case, let's share this cake then," I offered. "It's okay, I bought it for you, you should just enjoy it," she smiled and shook her head.

Grabbing the fork, I cut out a bite size of it and placed the fork in front of her lips, "I insist." She glanced at me with her soft doe eyes and took a bite of it. Her face showing a blissful expression with a soft smile as she ate the cake deliciously. "Is it that good?" I chuckled softly upon seeing her expression. "Yeah, you should try it too!" She took the fork and cut out a piece, placing the fork in front me to eat it. Shit, I could feel my ears burning as she looked at me with her soft brown eyes with anticipation. I opened my mouth and ate the cake as my heart started to palpitate.

" Does it taste good?" she asked softly. I simply nodded my head, unable to truly taste the cake as my mind was overwhelmed with the buzz of emotions I was feeling. Am I falling in love with her?