chapter five

Warning: this chapter contains scenes that include bullying and mildly graphic descriptions of wounds and blood.

When Luo Zhicheng ran into Gu Zhen in the toilet, the latter didn’t even spare him a second glance, only walking past him. He grabbed Gu Zhen and smiled lightly. “Hey there, little mute. Remember me?”

Gu Zhen almost stumbled in his steps. After regaining his balance, he looked at Luo Zhicheng with that same, emotionless look.

Here it comes again. The same look that was the root of it all.

Luo Zhicheng grabbed him by the collar and forcefully pulled Gu Zhen forward to the front of his face. When the people around them saw that Luo Zhicheng was there, they all hurried out, fearing that he might hurt them next if he found them unpleasant to the eye, too.

What the hell did Gu Zhen spray himself with? He smells too fragrant, is this person a little girl?

Luo Zhichen inhaled lightly, then pushed Gu Zhen into the bathroom cubicle, picking on the doorway behind them as he said to him, “I won’t hit you this time. Just don’t mess with your classmate, Li Xiran. Don’t touch her things.” Honestly, the reason why he just chose to do this was because Luo Zhicheng felt that there was no point beating someone up who had little to no reaction.

This time, though, Gu Zhen reacted. Luo Zhicheng looked at his expression. Although it was subtle, he felt as though Gu Zhen had no idea who Li Xiran was. He’s been classmates with her for a year or two now, but there didn't seem to be any trace of recognition in his face when he heard the name Li Xiran.

In that case, Gu Zhen probably didn’t remember anyone at all. The pressure in No. 1 Middle School in City A can only be so high that perhaps there had already been several people who came to him to bully him so they could relieve some of the tension. He was the perfect punching bag: he couldn’t speak, couldn’t scream, couldn’t call out to anyone.

Luo Zhicheng suddenly felt a little angry, though he didn’t know why. He proceeded to get out of the cubicle to close the door, then he locked it from the outside.

“You sit still inside there and remember well who the fuck I am.”

He realized that the first time he beat him up, after walking out the bathroom, he remembered that he didn’t tell Gu Zhen who he was. It would be better if people remembered who he was if he wanted to get a reaction out of them. After thinking about it, he turned around and went. back to the door of the cubicle where Gu Zhen was locked in and said in a vicious voice: “The name’s Luo Zhicheng,” before going out.

When he walked down the corridor, he recalled this series of actions and felt extremely stupid.

It was already very late by the time Li Yuechen stepped out of the gym after playing basketball. When he and Song Yan walked out of the playground in the school’s backyard, he saw that the light in the fourth floor toilets was still on. It was a light that stayed on as long as there was sound. The whole building was dark and nearly empty at this hour, so what could've been the sound that kept that light on? Thinking about Gu Zhen’s empty seat, Li Yuechen’s heart surged with unease.

Song Yan was walking along and continued to do different basketball shooting actions, and was in the middle of posing when he heard Li Yuechen say, “You can go ahead first, I forgot something in the classroom.”

Before Song Yan could react, Li Yuechen had already made his way to the school building’s stairway with fast footsteps. Song Yan yelled out, “What is it, I’ll go with you!”

From afar, he only saw Li Yuechen waving his hand at him. Recently, Li Yuechen was acting as though he had a secret to keep, and was being really mysterious at times. He only hung out with that little mute guy for some time, then what? He finally became just as strange as Gu Zhen. Song Yan grumbled beneath his breath before leaving.

Li Yuechen rushed to the fourth floor, and before he could walk into the toilet, he heard a bang! as though something heavy had just hit the ground. He quickly ran inside and saw that one of the toilet cubicles was locked from the outside. He opened his mouth and called out, “Gu Zhen?”

The sound of two taps on the door came from inside the cubicle. “Is it you?” His mind was heavily ridden with anger and anxiety. He looked around and found that there was nothing he could use to pry the door open.

“Stay away from the door’s entrance, I’ll try to kick it open.” Li Yuechen took two steps back and asked: “Are you ready? When you’re ready, knock twice.” Listening to the sound coming from inside the cubicle, Li Yuechen raised his long leg and kicked the locked door with an unusual ferocity, and with two consecutive kicks, the door was completely scrapped.

Li Yuechen saw that Gu Zhen was standing against the wall next to the toilet inside the cubicle, his knees were dirty, and his head was wounded, a stream of blood flowing out and sticking to the hair that curtained down his forehead. His entire person looked miserable, having been beaten up into such a state. Li Yuechen gasped and looked at Gu Zhen fixedly, not knowing if he felt angrier at the sight in front of him or if he felt more tired after kicking down a door open.

“Who did it?” Li Yuechen didn’t pull him up, nor did he move.

The silence was suffocating. The sound-sensor light soon dimmed, and in the darkness, the only things they could hear were each other’s heavy breathing.

There was a stalemate, one that lasted as long as none of them move, and in the end, it was Li Yuechen who acted first. He was defeated; he couldn’t compete with Gu Zhen, of all people. He sighed as if he had accepted his fate, then he stomped on the ground loudly to turn the sound-sensor lights on. He looked back at the other boy and said gently, “Let’s go.”

He lifted his feet and took two steps, then he heard Gu Zhen silently following him behind. When he reached the stairway and went down the stairs, the light that was turned on before had already gone out, and he was afraid that they would be locked in the school if he didn't continue walking quickly.

Suddenly, someone tugged on the hem of his clothes from behind. Li Yuechen paused, and asked, “Are you night blind?”

Facing the moonlight, Li Yuechen saw Gu Zhen nod his head lightly, and the hand on the hem of his clothes didn’t move, only continuing to hold onto the fabric tightly.

He turned around and reached out a hand to hold Gu Zhen’s wrist. It was so thin. His other hand, meanwhile, clutched his almost-fully charged phone in his pocket, his palms sweaty, and said: “My phone is dead. I’ll walk with you for now.”

The two of them walked down the stairs carefully and slowly in silence. Li Yuechen thought of how dirty Gu Zhen’s knees had been and wondered what kind of fall he had to endure to have made it look like that. Thinking about it, Li Yuechen walked more slowly.

When they walked out of the school building, Li Yuechen still didn’t let go of Gu Zhen’s wrist. Gu Zhen struggled a little, and Li Yuechen said in an indisputable tone: “Stop struggling. Let’s go to the hospital, your forehead’s bleeding.”

Suddenly, Gu Zhen stood still. Li Yuechen’s learned enough to know it meant refusal.

Li Yuechen squatted down in front of him, reaching out to pull Gu Zhen’s pant leg, and Gu Zhen took a step back.

“Let me take a look.” Li Yuechen raised his head and looked at Gu Zhen worriedly. Under such a gaze, Gu Zhen pursed his mouth, but he didn’t move away anymore. Li Yuechen gently rolled up his trouser legs and pulled them up to his knees. Fortunately, there was no broken skin, which meant that bruises were less likely to form. He accidentally touched Gu Zhen’s calf, which was pale and thin. Gu Zhen’s trouser legs were pulled back down, while Li Yuechen rubbed his fingers casually as a distraction.

He stood up and gently pushed the hair on Gu Zhen’s forehead to one side, revealing the small cut on the originally unblemished forehead, and the stream of blood from earlier had already dried.

“There’s a clinic in front of the school. If you don’t want to go to the hospital, let’s go there to treat that wound on your forehead, then I’ll take you home.” Li Yuechen may have sounded as though he was only giving suggestions, but he was prepared to resort to pulling Gu Zhen along if he still didn’t go.

Gu Zhen reached out and grabbed his hand. Holding his palm face-up, he wrote down one word.

Why?

(t/n: it’s actually three words in chinese bcs it’s originally 为什么 but since the word ‘why’ is only one i decided to translate it that way)

What do you mean ‘why’? “You’re hurt,” Li Yuechen answered patiently.

Then Gu Zhen shook his head and repeated the question on his palm again.

Li Yuechen felt the touch of Gu Zhen’s fingers on the palm of his hand and looked at Gu Zhen, who slightly raised his pointed chin at him, waiting for his answer.

Only then did Li Yuechen understand that he wasn’t asking him why they had to go to the clinic. He was asking him why he went through all that effort just to treat Gu Zhen, of all people, like this.

Why? Even Li Yuechen wanted to ask himself why he was acting like this. Gu Zhen managed to stump him for a while, and he truly didn’t know how to respond, but right now, in front of Gu Zhen, he didn’t want to show his embarrassment at having interpreted the question wrongly and at not having anything to answer him with.

He thought about it for a while, and then he replied, “Because you’re my friend.”

Gu Zhen looked indifferent on the surface, but the finger he used to write on Li Yuechen’s palm was slightly trembling, even as he continued to write on it.

Really?

Li Yuechen resisted the urge to just close his hand and wrap his fingers around the thin, white hand that was writing on his palm and said calmly, “Of course.”