Two hours later, Bai Yue’s first tutoring session finally came to an end.
When Bai Yue said they could take a break, Ye Xi collapsed into the back of the chair, his waist giving out completely.
He held his water cup, eyes blank, totally forgetting about maintaining his image in front of his crush.
Are you kidding?
It had been ages since he focused this intensely—two whole hours without drifting off even once.
Bai Yue had gone over every mistake in the worksheet, even highlighting his weak points.
Now Ye Xi’s brain was buzzing.
It felt like knowledge had drop-kicked him in the face.
He didn’t even find Bai Yue as overwhelming now. In fact, he was starting to feel like Bai Yue had the scholarly charm of… Old Wang.
Old Wang was their homeroom teacher.
Thinking of that, Ye Xi accidentally chuckled. Just a tiny laugh, eyes squinting.
Bai Yue walked over with a fruit plate and smiled when he saw Ye Xi like that. “What’s so funny?”
Ye Xi didn’t dare say what he was thinking and quickly shook his head.
“Nothing,” he said with guilty undertones.
Thankfully, Bai Yue didn’t press. He picked up the blueberries—still wet from being rinsed—and wiped them dry one by one before handing them to Ye Xi.
He knew Ye Xi liked blueberries.
Ye Xi felt a little embarrassed and insisted he could do it himself—but still accepted them, biting into one.
He ate blueberries like a parrot Bai Yue’s family used to have.
Popping them into his mouth one by one—not fast, but somehow the plate emptied quickly.
Bai Yue smiled and asked, “Did you get used to the tutoring today? Were you able to follow along? Was it too fast?”
Ye Xi looked up while nibbling a raspberry.
He quickly swallowed it and shook his head.
“No, I understood most of it,” he said honestly.
That was a pleasant surprise. Ye Xi hadn’t expected to understand anything.
Seriously—
His family had already hired three tutors, and all had been scared off by him. Even with Bai Yue’s patience, teaching him had always seemed like a fantasy.
His plan was just to pretend to study, maybe cop a feel of Bai Yue’s chest, “accidentally” lift his shirt, show off his waistline, seduce Bai Yue a little…
Maybe even end up in bed.
But he had actually learned something.
Bai Yue hadn’t gone over that many problems, but every single one had been carefully explained. He’d even found similar types for Ye Xi to practice, watching over him as he worked through each step.
Who knew how much it would help his test scores, but at least that day’s content had mostly stuck.
So now Ye Xi looked at Bai Yue with a new kind of reverence.
He blinked earnestly. “Maybe I learn a bit slower, but everything you taught me today—I remember it.”
“That’s good.”
Bai Yue gave a soft smile.
He picked up a slice of orange from the fruit plate, took a bite, and said casually, “Then if you’re free on weekends, come over. It’d be best if you came on Saturdays, so we have more time. What do you think?”
He looked to Ye Xi for his opinion, but as he moved, his deep V-neck shirt shifted again—his firm chest muscles were practically in Ye Xi’s face.
Ye Xi stared, completely dazed. Whatever Bai Yue said, he just nodded dumbly.
“As long as it’s not a bother to you,” Ye Xi said quietly.
“It’s not.”
Bai Yue smiled. “I usually stay home on weekends anyway.”
That surprised Ye Xi—he thought Bai Yue was super busy. He was vice president of the university’s archery club, constantly involved in extracurriculars, and according to Zheng Yang, even traded stocks in his free time. The guy already had a decent chunk of money in his account.
But Ye Xi didn’t have time to dwell on it.
He had to head back to school for evening self-study in an hour, so Bai Yue invited him to stay for dinner.
He had ordered delivery from a restaurant.
When Bai Yue picked up the insulated delivery box, Ye Xi noticed the familiar logo—it was his favorite restaurant.
When the dishes were laid out, Ye Xi realized… they were exactly the ones he usually ordered.
He gave Bai Yue a suspicious look.
But Bai Yue seemed unaware, arranging the food on the table as he casually explained, “Since I didn’t ask you ahead of time, I just ordered from a place I usually like. Hope it suits your taste.”
Ye Xi paused—then shook his head. “I like this place too.”
He hadn’t expected Bai Yue’s taste to be so similar to his.
Relieved, he sat down to eat with Bai Yue.
But something strange happened—this restaurant’s food was pretty spicy. Bai Yue had to take sips of water between bites, and his lips turned noticeably redder than usual.
When Ye Xi looked at him, Bai Yue smiled sheepishly.
“I can’t really handle spicy food… but I crave it anyway, so I always end up ordering it.”
That was just too cute.
Ye Xi burst into laughter, though he tried to hide it—keeping his mouth straight, but his eyes crinkling into half-moons.
Still, he said seriously, “It’s okay. You can build up your tolerance.”
He gave an example. “I couldn’t eat spicy food when I was little either—but I got used to it after eating it enough.”
His childhood nanny was really good at making spicy dishes, and his mom liked them too. He was just a kid—he didn’t have a choice.
Eventually, after a few stomachaches, he adjusted.
As Ye Xi carefully picked out the peppercorns and delicately ate slices of black fish, Bai Yue dabbed at the corner of his sore mouth with a napkin.
That night’s spice level had nearly exhausted his whole month’s quota.
He was pretty sure he was going to get a canker sore.
At that moment, he even felt a bit of admiration for Ye Xi.
Ye Xi popped a fiery piece of rabbit meat into his mouth without so much as blinking. His pale face, slightly flushed lips—he looked like an ice-cold beauty, perfectly composed and elegant.
Bai Yue took another sip of iced water.
Then, noticing Ye Xi casually tucking back a strand of hair—the silver ends flashing for a second—he asked softly, “Did you dye your hair yesterday?”
Ye Xi paused mid-bite, a chicken wing still in his mouth.
Bai Yue chuckled, pointing at the tips of Ye Xi’s hair.
“When I saw you the day before yesterday, this part was still black. Now it’s silver.”
Ye Xi hurriedly wiped the corner of his mouth with a napkin and discreetly spat out the chicken bone.
He felt a bit embarrassed for some reason—if Li Rui were here, he’d definitely scold him.
“Who eats chicken wings in front of their crush? Are you a weasel or something? What happened to keeping up appearances?”
“It was dyed yesterday,” Ye Xi said, uncertain of what Bai Yue meant. He sounded hesitant—after all, the school rules did state that dyeing or perming hair was forbidden. But nobody really took that seriously. Even most teachers just turned a blind eye—as long as you weren’t walking around with an explosive hairstyle, no one would make a fuss.
But Bai Yue had been the student council president of the previous year.
Ye Xi wasn’t sure if Bai Yue would care about things like that.
But in the next second, he heard Bai Yue say, “Looks good. Really suits you.”
Ye Xi froze.
Bai Yue added, “Your black hair was nice too, but this new style isn’t bad.”
He smiled at Ye Xi. “Actually, back in my second year of high school, I dyed my hair grey once. But my mom caught me, and within two days, she made me dye it back. So you never saw it.”
He shrugged at Ye Xi.
Ye Xi really couldn’t picture it.
He imagined Bai Yue with gray hair, standing at the school gate, enforcing school rules with righteous authority.
He couldn’t help but laugh at the thought.
He lowered his eyes and said softly, “Bai-ge, I bet you looked great with grey hair.”
Even though he hadn’t seen it himself, with Bai Yue’s striking features, a different hair color wouldn’t make him look strange—it would only bring out a new kind of charm.
“You wanna see?” Bai Yue asked, tilting his head slightly, eyes narrowing with a lazy kind of smugness.
Ye Xi was caught off guard—he hadn’t expected such a treat.
Without thinking, he said, “Yes.”
So Bai Yue got up from his seat, resting one hand lightly on the back of Ye Xi’s chair. He bent down slightly and held out his phone to show him the screen.
This time, Bai Yue wasn’t quite as close, and he kept his hand properly in place.
Ye Xi was quickly captivated by the photo.
In the picture, Bai Yue looked a few years younger—not fully grown yet, still retaining a bit of boyish softness, but his features were already striking.
He stood on a winter street, dressed in a long black coat. Slim and tall, his silver-gray hair was cut in soft layers with a slightly messy look.
A light drizzle fell from the sky, making the photo look misty. He held a black umbrella, and the picture was taken from outside the umbrella.
Bai Yue happened to glance to the side at that moment—his expression detached and cool, his pale face and slightly red lips framed by his dark clothes. The snowflakes drifting around him made him look like a ghostly figure standing in a snowy landscape—haunting, yet stunning.
Ye Xi was momentarily speechless.
Of course he knew Bai Yue was good-looking. He had watched Bai Yue grow up from a teenager into an adult, like an invisible camera silently observing from the shadows.
But he had never seen this version of Bai Yue before.
Cold.
Indifferent.
Yet somehow still dangerously captivating.
“Still think it looks good?” Bai Yue asked softly.
“Yes,” Ye Xi replied blankly.
He looked up—and saw the now adult, more handsome and mature Bai Yue looking down at him.
They were just inches apart.
Bai Yue’s eyes were like a deep lake, the corners tilted slightly upward, still holding the shadows of his younger self.
“If you like it,” Bai Yue said with a gentle smile, “I can dye it again just for you.”
….
Half an hour later, sitting in Bai Yue’s car on the way to school, Ye Xi’s heart was still pounding.
Nothing particularly special had even happened—they’d just looked at an old photo, and Bai Yue had joked about dyeing his hair again for him.
But Ye Xi’s heart just wouldn’t stop racing.
Before long, they arrived at school.
Ye Xi hadn’t noticed until Bai Yue hit the brakes, pulling him back to reality.
“Thanks, Bai-ge,” he said, unbuckling his seatbelt.
“Mhm. Don’t forget to come over again next Saturday,” Bai Yue reminded him.
Ye Xi nodded quickly.
He glanced at Bai Yue—there was a bit of reluctance in his heart, but he couldn’t find a good excuse to delay any longer. He just smiled at him.
But as he opened the car door, he suddenly felt Bai Yue grab his wrist.
He turned around in confusion.
Bai Yue, still in the driver’s seat, looked him up and down. Tilting his head slightly, eyes narrowed, he asked, “Did you grow a little taller this month?”
He’d actually noticed back when Ye Xi was changing shoes at the entrance.
Compared to the last time they met on the basketball court over a month ago, Ye Xi seemed to have grown a little taller.
Back when Bai Yue graduated, Ye Xi had only reached up to his lips. Now, he was already at nose-level.
Bai Yue gestured with his hand, “Last time I took you to the hospital, you were around 172 cm. Looks like you’ve grown a bit more.”
Ye Xi was stunned. He hadn’t expected Bai Yue to notice.
He tightened his grip on his backpack straps.
“Yeah,” he said hoarsely. “In the past two months, I’ve grown another two centimeters.”
He was in the middle of a growth spurt—his height was going up almost monthly.
“Then I wasn’t imagining it.” Bai Yue chuckled softly. He thought to himself, Next time I buy him clothes, I should size up a little. He let go of Ye Xi’s wrist. “Alright, go to evening study. I won’t tease you anymore.”
Ye Xi finally stepped out of Bai Yue’s car without issue.
He blended into the stream of students walking toward the classrooms. The streetlights turned on one by one, casting a shimmering glow on the ground like rippling water.
He walked across it like a little swan, stepping into rings of ripples that seemed to catch him.
Ye Xi stared blankly at the ground.
He thought of the last time he saw Ye Shuyue—it had been over six months, and she hadn’t noticed he’d grown taller.
But Bai Yue had.
