SWTHTC - 14

Chapter 14: “I Like You”

[“But I already have someone I like.”]

When Yuan Jiahui walked into the classroom, only Hou Zihao and Zhou Leqi remained. She had returned with her backpack on, meeting their curious gazes.

It felt as if she were an outsider intruding.

Yuan Jiahui’s heart squeezed painfully, a dull ache settling in.

But showing weakness was not an option. She forced a smile and greeted Hou Zihao as naturally as possible. It had been days since they last spoke.

He returned the greeting but quickly followed up with a question that stung her pride: “Why are you here?”

The pain in her heart intensified. To hide her vulnerability, she busied herself by taking off her backpack and said with a laugh, “I’m here to help you with the blackboard newspaper. Ge Ao and the others said your drawing skills are awful. I didn’t want you to leave it unfinished.”

Though her teasing tone helped ease some of the awkwardness, the tension in the room was so thick that her efforts barely made a dent.

Zhou Leqi felt the most awkward. From her perspective, Yuan Jiahui’s arrival felt like that of a betrayed wife catching her partner in an affair. Their innocent collaboration on the blackboard newspaper suddenly seemed tainted and suspicious.

This association was absurd, of course—there was nothing inappropriate between her and Hou Zihao—but Yuan Jiahui’s presence made everything feel delicate and uncomfortable. Zhou Leqi began to feel uneasy, as if burdened with an undeserved sense of guilt.

Hou Zihao hadn’t expected Yuan Jiahui to pull this stunt. He fell silent for a moment, just as Zhou Leqi stood up from her seat and slung her backpack over her shoulder.

She looked at him, expressionless, and said flatly, “Since someone’s here to help you, I’ll leave first.”

Her tone was calm—not angry, but distant, a stark contrast to her carefree demeanor from last Friday.

Alarm bells rang in Hou Zihao’s mind.

He knew she already harbored some misconceptions about his relationship with Yuan Jiahui. If he didn’t clear things up now, there could be trouble later.

As soon as he saw her heading toward the door, he hurriedly started packing his bag to follow her. Unfortunately, Yuan Jiahui stopped him before he could move.

She grabbed his arm, her face filled with委屈 (grievance), looking as though she might cry. “Monkey… I need to talk to you.”

Zhou Leqi had already left the classroom.

Hou Zihao watched her disappear, his heart twisting into a tangled mess.

He had no intention of lingering here and dealing with Yuan Jiahui. He quickly pulled his arm free and said hastily, “We can talk tomorrow—I need to go…”

Without hesitation, he brushed past her.

“I like you!”

Yuan Jiahui suddenly blurted out loudly.

Her voice rang through the room, her face flushed red, her hands clenched tightly into fists from nervousness. She didn’t dare turn around to look at him, delivering those four words with her back still facing him.

She heard his footsteps stop.

They fell into silence.

A brief yet seemingly endless silence.

“Thank you,” he finally replied after a moment. His voice lacked its usual nonchalance, carrying instead a serious and solemn tone. Her heart raced wildly, pounding almost out of her chest.

Summoning all her courage, she turned to look at him. He was still facing the direction of the door.

“But I already have someone I like,” he added.

________________________________________

That day, Zhou Leqi walked alone to the Cultural Palace bus stop.

Recently, Hou Zihao had accompanied her home every day. Today, however, she was alone. She didn’t feel particularly out of place, but the driver of Bus 301 seemed surprised. Smiling, he asked, “Your boyfriend isn’t riding with you today?”

Zhou Leqi was taken aback.

Confused, she wanted to explain that he wasn’t her boyfriend, but it felt strange to say so much to a stranger. So she simply forced a smile and said nothing more.

Once on the bus, she spotted the middle-aged man again. He noticed her too and suddenly smiled at her. A chill ran down Zhou Leqi’s spine. She quickly averted her gaze, scanning the bus with her peripheral vision until she spotted an empty seat next to an auntie. Without hesitation, she moved to sit beside her.

The middle-aged man glanced back at her. Zhou Leqi nervously clenched her fists.

They silently faced off for a while, until the man eventually withdrew his gaze. Only then did Zhou Leqi slowly exhale in relief, realizing she had broken out in a cold sweat.

Sitting quietly, she pulled out her vocabulary book after a while.

By the time she reached the fifteenth word, the bus arrived at a stop. Unfortunately, the auntie sitting next to her needed to get off. Before the bus came to a complete halt, the auntie stood up and said, “Excuse me, young lady, I need to get off.”

The middle-aged man heard this. Zhou Leqi was certain—he had glanced back at her earlier.

She felt her hair stand on end.

There was nothing she could do but shift to let the auntie pass, all while scanning the bus for another available seat near a female passenger.

…None were left.

Feeling lost, the bus doors opened, and the stop remained empty—no new passengers boarded, only a few alighted. Zhou Leqi watched as the doors closed again. Just as the bus began moving, she vaguely sensed the man starting to rise.

Her heart leapt to her throat.

But then, the driver suddenly hit the brakes, and the doors reopened. Puzzled, Zhou Leqi turned her head to look—

—and saw Hou Zihao.

He was slightly out of breath, but upon seeing her, he seemed to relax. The boy’s gaze was unwavering and clear, as if she were the only person in his line of sight.

Zhou Leqi’s heart skipped a beat.

He approached her and naturally took the seat beside her, blocking the unsettling, prying eyes of the middle-aged man.

Zhou Leqi barely registered the man anymore. She was still astonished to see Hou Zihao boarding the bus here—shouldn’t he have stayed behind to finish the blackboard newspaper with Yuan Jiahui?

What she didn’t know was how much effort Hou Zihao had put into catching up with her. First, he sprinted out of school at a speed fit for a 100-meter dash. Realizing he wouldn’t make it to the Cultural Palace stop in time, he flagged down a taxi to the next station. When he arrived, Bus 301 was just about to leave. Thanks to the driver recognizing him and holding the bus briefly, he avoided having to hail another taxi to the following stop.

Fortunately… he had made it.

Still stunned, Zhou Leqi looked at him and asked, “…Why are you here?”

Her eyes were wide with surprise, resembling a lost little bird in the forest, exuding an adorable charm.

Hou Zihao’s heart softened as he gazed into her eyes and countered, “Where else would I be? Didn’t you say last time that you’d wait for me in the future?”

His tone was both assertive and tinged with委屈 (a sense of being wronged).

Caught off guard, Zhou Leqi was momentarily speechless. But recalling the awkward scene in the classroom earlier, she found her voice again.

“That was a special situation,” she murmured, pressing her lips together. “Besides, don’t you still need to finish the blackboard newspaper today?”

Hou Zihao’s brows furrowed. “Yes, I need to finish it, but how can I finish without you?”

Zhou Leqi’s brows knit together as well. “But the class monitor went to help you, didn’t she?”

He fell silent, his expression complex—part frustration, part resignation.

“It’s not the same,” he said after a long pause. “I only draw the blackboard newspaper with you.”

…

Zhou Leqi was baffled. Without thinking, she blurted out, “Why?”

The word “why” was simple enough, but to Hou Zihao, it eerily overlapped with Yuan Jiahui’s question just minutes ago.

Back in the classroom, she had cried and shouted at him: “You have someone you like? Who is it? That repeater who failed twice?”

“Why? What do you like about her? Am I not good enough?”

“Hou Zihao, I’ve liked you for two years!”

She had collapsed emotionally, pouring out her heart. Yet the person she loved so deeply never once looked back at her.

He only said one thing to her:

“I’ve liked her for two years too.”

Now, the two “whys” overlapped in his mind. Hou Zihao wanted to respond with the same answer, but he knew confessing everything outright would only leave her feeling startled and flustered. After all, she had never known how long—or how secretly—he had harbored feelings for her.

After a brief silence, Hou Zihao settled on a lighthearted response: “Because you’re good at drawing, and I like to latch onto talent. Is that okay?”

Zhou Leqi: “… “

This answer reeked of playful evasion. Finding it exasperating, Zhou Leqi decided not to engage further. She opened her vocabulary book and resumed studying.

Seeing her ignore him made him anxious. Sitting beside her, he frequently glanced her way. After a while, he tried probing her mood: “Let’s continue working on the blackboard newspaper tomorrow. I’ll treat you to dinner, okay?”

Zhou Leqi silently flipped a page in her vocabulary book, still ignoring him.

But out of the corner of her eye, she caught his reflection in the bus window. Through the mirrored surface, she saw his frustrated and worried expression. For some reason, her mood lightened a little.

She didn’t feel as weighed down as before.

________________________________________

The next day was overcast—the first gloomy day since the start of the school year.

Summer rain brought an oppressive humidity, making everyone feel sluggish. Even the students of Class One lacked their usual energy, even copying homework with less enthusiasm than usual.

On top of that, Teacher Pan hadn’t shown up during morning reading or checked for latecomers. This unusual freedom left the students uneasy, suspecting he was plotting something big—a surprise exam, perhaps.

The more perceptive ones also noticed that Class Monitor Yuan Jiahui wasn’t at her seat, fueling suspicions of an impending event.

Their instincts proved sharp. Something significant did happen that day.

It just wasn’t quite what they expected.