That night, Ye Xi kept Li Rui over.
Because of his abstinence order, nothing indecent could happen anyway, so he simply hugged his pillow and insisted on sharing a room with Li Rui.
Bai Yue wasn’t too happy about that.
He lowered his lashes, smiling on the surface, but his gaze stayed fixed on Ye Xi, trying to soften his lover’s iron will.
But Ye Xi was completely serious: “But once Li Rui and I go to college, we can’t be roommates anymore. I’ll really miss him.”
If Li Rui ended up in a university far away, they might only see each other during winter and summer breaks.
The thought alone made him sad.
So he figured it was okay to abandon his boyfriend for one night.
Still, Ye Xi thought for a moment, then rose on tiptoe and kissed Bai Yue on the cheek.
“This is interest,” he whispered. “I’ll pay the rest later.”
Well, alright then.
His cheek wet with a kiss, even Bai Yue couldn’t help but smile.
In a low voice, he said, “Then I’ll remember that.”
Oh yeah.
Ye Xi immediately grabbed his pillow, bounded happily onto the bed with such force it shook, and rolled around with Li Rui.
But the consequence of two best bros “reuniting after a long time” was that they spent the whole night gaming and chatting.
From gossip in their class, to the teacher next class having a baby, then to how unbearable the recent e-sports matches were. A few sips of water didn’t stop them—soon they were discussing which CP in the latest anime was the best, only to discover, tragically, that once again they were on opposite sides.
They chattered on and on all night, their mouths never resting. Only when morning came and they couldn’t keep going anymore did they finally fall asleep, heads leaning together.
The next day, Bai Yue knocked on the door for a long time but couldn’t wake them. All he got was a sleepy voice message from Ye Xi:
“Let me sleep, Bai-ge… I’m so tired. I’ll skip breakfast, maybe even lunch. Same with Li Rui. Bye-bye.”
And before Bai Yue could even respond—click—he hung up.
Bai Yue let out a helpless laugh, shook his head lightly, and went to eat breakfast alone.
Fortunately, this upside-down day-and-night routine didn’t last long. Li Rui only stayed two days before he very sensibly took his leave.
It wasn’t that he was worried Bai Yue might karate-chop him out of jealousy for hogging his boyfriend. His own body gave out first.
After two days of nonstop talking, even his lips were breaking out.
But just a few days after Li Rui left, the college entrance exams results were released. Once scores were out, every graduate had to return to school for the graduation ceremony and to collect their paper transcript.
This would be their very last high school transcript.
Ye Xi sat in the sunlit classroom, staring at the thin sheet of paper in front of him.
Total score: 527.
Without question, this was his best result in all of high school. Their school’s exams were tough, the overall scores were high, and in the past, even if he ranked at the bottom, he would just barely cling to the cut-off for a regular university. With luck, he could still find a school.
But after a year of hard work in senior year, he had made it above the first-tier line.
Since middle school, he hadn’t achieved a score like this in years.
He had almost forgotten the last time he’d had a transcript on the desk, with a teacher smiling beside him, saying he’d done well.
Just now, when homeroom teacher Old Wang handed out transcripts, he had stopped by Ye Xi’s desk and said: “Great improvement, really impressive, Ye Xi.”
Really impressive.
Two simple words, light as air, yet compressed with the weight of an entire year, landing heavily in front of him.
Ye Xi drew in a quiet breath, lifted his head, and gave Old Wang a smile.
“Thank you, teacher,” he said softly.
Apart from Bai Yue, his teachers had also helped him a lot.
In the last two months, he’d signed up for the school’s crash course classes. The teachers worked around the clock tutoring students like him, exhausting themselves.
Old Wang chuckled, rolled up Ye Xi’s transcript, and tapped him gently on the head.
Ye Xi carefully folded the page and tucked it into his backpack.
The classroom buzzed with noise: everyone talking about scores, some wailing or sighing, others laughing with excitement.
Each person carried their own joys and losses.
Ye Xi glanced to the side. He and Li Rui had already exchanged scores yesterday.
But nothing compared to seeing the paper transcript in person, its impact so real.
Li Rui had done well too—499. Just one point shy of 500.
Maybe not a top score to outsiders, but it fully met his brother’s requirements: he could now choose among the eight schools his brother had listed.
So Li Rui was chatting animatedly on the phone with his brother: “Yeah, that’s right, this is the score. Didn’t you check it yourself yesterday? If you won’t praise me for working hard, fine, but how can you just call it dumb luck? Just wait! Remember you promised me a sports car? If you don’t buy it, I’ll tell Mom right away!”
Ye Xi couldn’t help laughing while listening from the side.
Yesterday he had checked his own score together with Bai Yue. He was sitting on Bai Yue’s lap, face buried in his shoulder, too scared to look at the screen.
If he had still been the old him, the careless slacker, he could’ve brushed off the results.
But now, he couldn’t anymore.
He desperately, anxiously wanted to deliver a satisfying answer sheet—not just for himself, but also for Bai Yue.
Thankfully, the result was good.
The champagne Bai Yue had prepared didn’t go to waste.
Thinking of this, Ye Xi pulled out his phone again. Bai Yue had also come to school that day, though not to his class.
Just then, Old Wang tapped on the podium and told everyone: “Get ready, tidy yourselves up, we’ll head to the auditorium soon. It’s your last graduation ceremony—look sharp.”
The classroom instantly grew louder with excitement.
After that day’s ceremony, they’d truly be done with high school.
Following the dress code, everyone wore summer uniforms: white shirts and black trousers for the boys, and for the girls, either a gray pleated skirt or dark gray trousers with their white shirts.
At eighteen, on the day of their coming-of-age, everyone had shone brightly. But on graduation day, they returned to simplicity.
The students poured out of the teaching building. Sunlight filtered through the trees, landing on faces still tinged with youthful immaturity.
Ye Xi only had time to send Bai Yue a quick message before following the crowd out.
But as the students filed toward the auditorium, he spotted Bai Yue in the waiting area among the parents.
Bai Yue wore a loose, gradient gray-white shirt. His tall figure stood out like a crane among chickens. Shadows of leaves danced across his shoulders in the wind.
Under the blazing sun, he found Ye Xi immediately, and smiled, raising his hand in a small wave.
Ye Xi smiled back, but before he could say anything, the current swept him into the hall.
The ceremony itself wasn’t long.
The student representative giving the speech was their student council president, Yan Jiangbai.
Ye Xi had once bumped into him on a date with another boy during the cultural festival with Bai Yue—so, half an acquaintance.
But now, he couldn’t focus on the strikingly handsome president’s speech.
Not even when Li Rui, next to him, gasped like a fangirl.
His gaze kept drifting to the back of the hall, where Bai Yue was chatting with his old homeroom teacher.
Last year, Bai Yue had stood on that very stage giving his own graduation speech.
At that time, Ye Xi had snuck into the hall. Not wanting to disturb anyone, he had hidden in the very back row, silently watching Bai Yue on stage.
Back then, he had listened to every word Bai Yue spoke.
Hidden in the shadows, he stared in a daze, feeling like it was a one-sided farewell.
He had thought that once Bai Yue graduated, he’d never return to this school.
That his bitter, hopeless crush would finally end.
That Bai Yue would walk further and further away, while he remained the ordinary junior, and Bai Yue would shine even brighter in college, loved by everyone, maybe even finding his true love among his admirers.
Even as he forced himself to accept it, his chest had hurt so badly it was hard to breathe. Yet still, he’d clapped along with everyone else.
But…
Ye Xi blinked, his gaze still fixed on Bai Yue.
In the blink of an eye, a year had passed.
His story with Bai Yue had turned out completely different from what he once feared.
That untouchable flower on the high peak had fallen willingly into his palm.
Bai Yue had become his boyfriend—kissing him, holding him, living with him day by day.
And now, he had come to celebrate his graduation.
It felt like a dream.
And not just Bai Yue.
Ye Xi’s eyes flickered to Zheng Yang, seated a few rows away, yawning with boredom.
A year ago, he’d never have imagined that he would even mend his relationship with Zheng Yang.
Everything had arrived so unexpectedly, veering completely off the path he once imagined—yet in the best possible way.
Ye Xi was dazed until Li Rui nudged him. It was time to go on stage one by one, to receive the graduation corsage directly from the principal.
When Ye Xi got his corsage, a butterfly orchid, he hesitated. Instead of pinning it on himself, he ran straight from the front rows to the very back.
Bai Yue was waiting there, and caught him when he stumbled forward without slowing down.
Ye Xi steadied himself, lifted the flower for Bai Yue to see.
Looking up, his cheeks pink in the air-conditioned hall, sweat just forming at his temples, he smiled and asked:
“Senior Bai, can you put it on for me?”
He was Bai Yue’s lover—but also his junior.
A year ago, he had stood here to congratulate Bai Yue’s graduation. Now, it was Bai Yue’s turn to congratulate him.
Bai Yue smiled, accepted the corsage, and carefully pinned it to Ye Xi’s chest.
In the noisy auditorium, he gazed at Ye Xi, who to him seemed like the jasmine on his balcony—pure, soft, innocent under the shade of green leaves.
Softly, he said: “Happy graduation, Xixi.”
Then he embraced Ye Xi—openly, generously, like it was nothing more than a senior congratulating his junior.
But Ye Xi froze only for a moment before hugging him back.
Not far from them, other students who had received their flowers were busy taking photos with their friends.
Li Rui grabbed Zheng Yang and forced him to make a peace sign with him.
Zheng Yang looked utterly lifeless—already upset that Bai Yue was secretly hugging his younger brother, and now being forced by Li Rui to smile at the camera. For a moment, he seemed extremely busy.
The auditorium echoed with shouts of “Happy Graduation,” and the clicking of phone cameras rang out one after another.
This was their last summer of high school, their graduation ceremony at eighteen.
From today onward, a brand-new chapter of life would begin.
