Chapter 2

Xie Xishu stood there for a brief moment before turning to leave—he was not so foolish as to ask Qi Wu if he had seen his school uniform jacket.

After that, until Xie Xishu's new school uniform jacket was finally issued, Qi Wu and his gang of lackeys never bothered him again.

So at the time, Xie Xishu truly believed that the matter had passed.

Until one day, nearly a month later, while Xie Xishu was engrossed in studying exam papers he had obtained from other schools, he suddenly felt Cheng An nudge him gently with his elbow.

"Hey, Xie Xishu..."

Xie Xishu knitted his brows slightly.

"Hmm?"

He stopped his pen and turned to look at Cheng An.

Cheng An didn't speak immediately. Instead, he stared at Xie Xishu for a few seconds. That scrutinizing gaze made Xie Xishu feel a bit annoyed.

"What is it?" Xie Xishu asked, his voice slightly stiff.

"Ah, nothing, I just wanted to ask... did you accidentally offend Qi Wu at some point?" Cheng An asked as if joking. He paused, then added with a grin, "Seriously, only someone like you could be so focused on studying. Haven't you noticed our 'King of Hell' has been staring over here these past few days? It's making me not even want to come to school. Some people in class have even started a betting pool on when he's going to make a move on you, hahahaha."

Cheng An laughed a few times, a dry, hollow sound that carried little weight.

Though it was framed as a joke, Xie Xishu was sharp enough to detect a trace of anxiety beneath it.

At the mention of Qi Wu's name, the hairs on the back of Xie Xishu's neck stood on end... as if an invisible finger had traced a path straight down his spine.

Before Cheng An could speak again, Xie Xishu instinctively turned around.

And then, he saw Qi Wu.

And indeed, Qi Wu was looking at him.

The center of gossip at Nanming No. 3 High School, the uncrowned king, was currently slouched at the very back of the classroom.

The desk chair, which was more than spacious enough for an average person, looked ridiculously small beneath Qi Wu, like a kindergarten chair that couldn't possibly accommodate his overly tall, athletic frame. Perhaps because of this, his posture was crooked and slouched, with his legs sprawled out into the aisle between the desks.

He rested an arm on the shoulder of a fawning lackey, his posture relaxed, but his face devoid of expression.

The cronies surrounding him didn't seem to notice his cold expression. Just like always, they huddled together, trying their best to crack jokes and keep him amused. As a result, the back of the classroom was a chaotic, noisy mess.

Qi Wu's face was turned straight ahead, his dark eyes locked onto Xie Xishu's direction.

The moment their eyes met, Qi Wu's gaze seemed to flicker slightly.

Then, the boy with the irritable, hostile expression casually looked away, lazily chatting with the crowd around him.

...

As if his stare at Xie Xishu had merely been a figment of Cheng An's imagination.

A few seconds later, Xie Xishu withdrew his gaze and spoke to Cheng An in a flat tone, "You're overthinking it."

Then he resumed solving his problems.

But Cheng An was clearly still uneasy, muttering incessantly in Xie Xishu's ear.

"...I mean, you just turned around like that? Aren't you afraid of actually crossing Qi Wu?"

"...But I really feel like Qi Wu has been looking over here. Everyone else noticed it too."

"...Sigh, do you think he wants our seats because they're in a good spot?"

"...Seriously, Valedictorian, you really didn't offend that lord, did you? To be honest, sitting next to you right now is putting a lot of pressure on me."

Cheng An's rambling was highly annoying.

"If I had really offended someone like Qi Wu, he wouldn't need to stare at me for so long. Given his temper, if he were unhappy with me, he would have just beaten me up directly, wouldn't he?"

Xie Xishu suddenly cut Cheng An off, his voice kept very low.

Cheng An froze for a moment, then, as if finally understanding, let out a long sigh of relief.

"Oh, right."

Xie Xishu did not reply.

Cheng An glanced at him and saw that Xie Xishu had already buried his head back in his studies as usual, looking completely focused and undisturbed. However, his profile seemed a bit pale, and he looked even more fragile and thin than before.

But to Cheng An, this wasn't something he cared about. With the alarm cleared, he yawned, slumped onto his desk, and went back to sleep.

Naturally, Cheng An didn't notice that while Xie Xishu appeared to be reading intently, the hand holding his pen hadn't moved in a long time.

It was the gaze.

The gaze coming from behind made it impossible for Xie Xishu to concentrate.

Actually, Xie Xishu had occasionally felt something was off before this, but since no one had pointed it out, he hadn't paid much attention to that vague sensation of being watched.

Until Cheng An brought it up...

Once he realized someone was constantly watching him from behind, Xie Xishu could no longer ignore it.

Perhaps it was because the rumors about Qi Wu were too terrifying, or because Qi Wu himself possessed a genuinely hair-raising aura, or maybe it was just Xie Xishu's naturally overthinking nature. Whatever the reason, Qi Wu's gaze made him feel as if he were sitting on pins and needles.

Even though Xie Xishu had stubbornly insisted to Cheng An that it was just an illusion and gave a logical reason, and even though Qi Wu had indeed looked away when he turned around, Xie Xishu was absolutely certain that his intuition was correct.

Qi Wu was indeed staring at him.

Constantly...

Constantly.

From the beginning of class to the end.

Even after school that day, as Xie Xishu packed his things and walked home, he could feel that gaze following him like a shadow, practically palpable against his back, during the short walk from the classroom to the school gate.

Upon realizing this, Xie Xishu's pace quickened almost involuntarily. By the end, he was practically jogging—though he didn't even know what he was running from.

"Xie Xishu? *Cough, cough*... What's wrong? Are you okay?"

When he reached the school gate, he was stopped by a female teacher in a suit.

"M-Ms. Li."

Only when she grabbed him did Xie Xishu suddenly snap out of that nightmarish tension. Panting, he lifted his head, his face pale as he looked at the worried Ms. Li.

Ms. Li was a new English teacher this year. Quite young, she had been assigned to Nanming No. 3 High School right after graduation. Because of her youth and this being her first time teaching, she was unlike the cynical veteran teachers who had long given up and just went through the motions. Ms. Li still held high hopes for her students' grades. Even though she had caught the flu and was coughing so hard she could barely speak, she remained dedicated to her post and had never missed a day.

Naturally, Xie Xishu, the only promising academic prospect in the entirety of Nanming No. 3 High School, was the apple of Ms. Li's eye. She watched over him constantly, terrified that he might somehow ruin himself in the quagmire of this school.

"I-I'm fine," Xie Xishu murmured, catching his breath. "I just wanted to get home early."

Ms. Li looked him up and down, her expression turning grave. "Then why are you in such a frantic rush? The school rules clearly state that running and roughhousing are forbidden on campus, don't they?" As she recited the rules that absolutely no one followed, she craned her neck to look behind Xie Xishu. However, just as he had implied, the other students of No. 3 High School were simply walking out of the gates on their own. It certainly didn't look like anyone was giving him trouble.

The young teacher relaxed slightly. She coughed a few more times, pulled a tissue from her pocket, and wiped her nose.

"It's good that you're fine, *cough*... Remember to tell me if you run into any trouble." Recalling some of the rumors she had heard recently, Ms. Li couldn't help but add a few more words, though her voice was heavily nasal due to her cold.

"Oh, by the way, Xie Xishu. I know it's inconvenient with your parents being abroad, but I still need to confirm with them regarding the early admissions program. I haven't been able to reach them. How about this: tell them to contact me directly."

"...Okay," Xie Xishu replied in a muffled voice after a slight delay. "They are quite busy, so they might not have had time to check their phones."

"Yes, but you must remember to have them contact me. *Cough, cough*... This concerns your future. No matter how busy they are with work, they can't be careless about this."

"I understand."

Xie Xishu finally managed to placate Ms. Li and took the opportunity to leave quickly.

Admittedly, with the teacher's interruption, the sense of oppression and fear that had been lingering in Xie Xishu's heart dissipated quite a bit. On his way home, he found his earlier panicked flight somewhat ridiculous, unable to comprehend why he had been so terrified. After all, no matter how he looked at it, Qi Wu couldn't possibly turn into a lingering ghost and follow him everywhere... right?

Xie Xishu suddenly stopped in his tracks.

As if possessed, he suddenly turned around and looked up, casting a glance toward the corridor of Senior Class 1.

Leaning against the railing of the school building's corridor was a tall silhouette.

It was Qi Wu again.

At such a distance, Qi Wu's figure was nothing more than a dark silhouette in the twilight.

Xie Xishu couldn't even make out his face.

Yet, strangely, he could indeed feel that gaze.

Strange, intense, and greedy.

Xie Xishu's intuition was not wrong at all.

During that walk from the classroom to the school gate, Qi Wu had indeed been watching him the entire time.

Leaning against the corridor railing, Qi Wu kept his eyes lowered, staring at the figure he had traced in his mind countless times as it dashed out of the school gates in fright.

Only after the boy had completely vanished from his sight did Qi Wu involuntarily furrow his brows.

"Boss Qi?"

It wasn't until a lackey behind him uttered a cautious, tentative call that Qi Wu slowly snapped out of it.

"Your cigarette..."

Met with Qi Wu's dark stare, the lackey couldn't help but shudder. He swallowed hard and pointed gingerly at Qi Wu's hand.

Qi Wu followed his gaze down, only to realize that the cigarette between his fingertips had burned down to the butt, almost scorching his fingers.

Yet, Qi Wu realized he hadn't felt a thing.

"U-Um, Boss Qi, it's about that time. Shall we go now?" The lackey asked, looking at Qi Wu with trepidation. By all accounts, Qi Wu shouldn't have been showing up to this godforsaken school every day at all. Yet, as if possessed, he had somehow started checking in at No. 3 High School day after day.