SBS chapter 16

The next day, thanks to Li Rui’s ice compress, the red marks on Ye Xi’s face had completely disappeared. His skin was still fair and clear.

He showed up right on time outside Bai Yue’s front door.

Bai Yue had already registered him with security, so the guard just confirmed his name and let him through.

While riding the elevator up, Ye Xi felt like he could hear the pounding of his own heartbeat.

Before he left, Li Rui had even sprayed a bit of perfume on him—Ye Xi protested fiercely, but it was no use.

They’d bought nearly twenty outfits over the past few days, but in the end, Li Rui stuck to the philosophy of “less is more” and picked something very simple for him.

A blue pinstriped shirt layered under a loose, light grayish-white sweater, paired with washed blue jeans. With Ye Xi’s clear and delicate face, the overall look was pure and innocent.

“I thought about it, and for a first date you should go with a clean-cut look. What guy can resist the first-love-from-campus type?” Li Rui spouted nonsense. “Just call him ‘senior’ once—with that sweet and obedient tone—you’ll have him completely charmed.”

Ye Xi was extremely skeptical about that.

If we’re talking about pure, nothing beats a school uniform. Bai Yue had looked at him in one for three years and never fell in love.

But Ye Xi had no sense of style anyway, so he just let Li Rui make the decision.

Ding—the elevator reached the floor, and Ye Xi walked up to the door. He took a deep breath and pressed the doorbell.

On the other side of the wall, Bai Yue had actually known the moment Ye Xi came upstairs.

But he paused for a few seconds, stared at Ye Xi through the video intercom, and asked in a low voice, “Who is it?”

Ye Xi opened his mouth, his throat tightening: “It’s me… Senior Bai Yue.”

Senior Bai Yue

Ye Xi thought expressionlessly: Damn it, Li Rui really did rub off on me.

But in the next second, like the password had been accepted, open sesame—the door in front of him swung open.

Bai Yue stood inside the doorway, looking at him.

. . .

A few minutes later, Ye Xi had changed into slippers and followed behind Bai Yue into the apartment.

It was his second time here, and nothing seemed too different from the last visit. Clutching his backpack, he followed Bai Yue closely and cautiously.

“You can sit by the table for now,” Bai Yue pointed to the round table in the living room before walking toward the kitchen. “What would you like to drink? Tea, coffee, milk, or soda?”

Ye Xi answered carefully, “Coffee, I guess.”

Even though he had just had a cup of milk tea earlier, he was worried about falling asleep during the tutoring session—he always got drowsy in class.

Bai Yue brought over two cups of coffee.

He was dressed in loungewear, and the curtains in the living room were drawn open. Bright sunlight poured in, softening the otherwise cool and minimalist interior.

As he set the coffee cup down on a wooden coaster, he noticed that Ye Xi had already obediently taken out all his homework.

This time, Ye Xi had really done his homework properly.

But being only semi-competent in the subject, there were still a lot of questions he didn’t know how to answer. Too embarrassed to cheat or fake his way through it, he had left many blanks.

Watching Bai Yue pick up his paper and examine it closely, Ye Xi wanted nothing more than to crawl into a hole.

Bai Yue’s lips gradually curved into a smile.

Truth be told, to someone like him—a born top student—papers like Ye Xi’s were actually kind of interesting.

They were full of… whimsical creativity.

Even the questions with obvious answers were covered in little dents and pokes, clearly caused by Ye Xi pressing the pen down in frustration. You could just imagine how angry he was while solving them.

Bai Yue chuckled. “I’ll look through your homework for this week. In the meantime, you do the set I prepared. Today we’ll just focus on math—I need to get a sense of your foundation.”

He handed over a test paper.

Foundation?

Ye Xi groaned inwardly. Practically nonexistent.

But he didn’t dare say that aloud. He quietly took the paper, pulled a pen from his pencil pouch, and started looking at the questions.

But as he read, his gaze unconsciously drifted over to Bai Yue.

Bai Yue was wearing a beige loungewear set and thin black-rimmed glasses that suited his gentle, refined demeanor. He looked… incredibly soft and handsome.

The moment Ye Xi saw him, he thought Bai Yue looked like one of those refined male leads from a drama.

But then, his eyes wandered to Bai Yue’s chest.

…No way a refined male lead would wear a deep V-neck like that.

Ye Xi was sure of it.

Bai Yue’s whole outfit was great—except for that shirt, whose plunging neckline dipped almost to his abs. The fabric was thin, and every slight movement caused the collar to shift and reveal a glimpse of toned, sculpted chest—smooth, defined, and striking enough for the cover of a risqué magazine.

Ye Xi couldn’t control his eyes at all.

While pretending to solve problems and scribbling on the test paper, he couldn’t answer even one question. His mind was full of wild, inappropriate thoughts.

God, he’s so attractive.

“Given that the domain of the function f(x) is R…”

Damn, his chest is huge.

“f(x) > f(x-1) + f(x-2)…”

It looks so good. I wonder what it feels like to touch…

He couldn’t stop himself from fantasizing. He even swallowed involuntarily.

Especially when Bai Yue picked up his glass of lemon water and took a sip.

Behind his glasses, Bai Yue’s eyes were focused and serious. He held a pencil in his right hand, jotting down a few solution strategies on Ye Xi’s paper. His expression was all business—even with that distracting neckline—radiating an aloof yet refined sexiness.

It was like a sniper shot to Ye Xi’s exact preferences, shattering every last line of his psychological defense.

Ye Xi unconsciously bit his lip.

He really was doomed.

He already knew Bai Yue had a great body.

Before he got into archery, Bai Yue had trained in tennis and horseback riding since childhood. He was also an excellent swimmer—his athletic ability matched his academic brilliance.

Ye Xi used to drag Li Rui to sneak peeks at Bai Yue’s swim classes all the time.

In the pool, Bai Yue was so pale he practically glowed—like a merman blessed with an enchantment aura. Not only was he handsome, but his physique was flawless: sculpted abs, broad shoulders, and a muscular back. When he emerged from the water, droplets rolled down his back in a way that captured everyone’s attention.

Even now, if Ye Xi closed his eyes, he could replay that scene. Poolside Bai Yue had a rare wild, magnetic aura. But today’s Bai Yue, sitting beside him in glasses and loungewear, radiated a restrained, scholarly charm—with just a hint of seductive danger.

Ye Xi had to admit—

One Bai Yue, two distinct flavors.
Each irresistible in its own way.

His pen stabbed into the paper again.

There’s no way I’m finishing this test.

He thought despairingly.

Even if he had committed heinous crimes in a past life, surely the punishment didn’t have to be this—using Bai Yue to test his willpower?

Someone like him, with no self-control, couldn’t handle it.

But he had to stop looking.

Ye Xi sighed internally. He hadn’t even solved a single problem yet.

Bai Yue had given him an hour and a half. If he didn’t finish, there’d be no excuse.

So he summoned every last bit of willpower and forced his attention back to the questions.

After just two lines, his face scrunched up in pain.

Ugh.

Math.

How disgusting.

As the sound of Ye Xi’s writing finally filled the room, Bai Yue’s eyes drifted over from the paper he was grading.

Taking advantage of Ye Xi’s focus, Bai Yue quietly studied him in the early autumn sunlight.

From the moment Ye Xi walked in, he had noticed—Ye Xi had dyed a bit of silver into his hair.

It was subtle, barely noticeable unless the light hit it just right.

But the silver really suited him. Ye Xi was already pale and gentle-looking. The hint of color gave him a playful edge, making him look even more like a high schooler.

If he wasn’t afraid of scaring Ye Xi off, Bai Yue would’ve reached out to touch it.

That slightly longer fringe—was it as soft as Ye Xi’s personality?

He also caught a faint whiff of perfume from Ye Xi—a gentle botanical scent, tinged with a bit of lemon tartness. It reminded him of a green fruit plucked from a sun-drenched garden, laced with the softness of blooming flowers.

It wasn’t strong or luxurious, but on Ye Xi, it felt just right.

Irresistibly charming.

Bai Yue let out a soft sigh in his heart. Immersed in Ye Xi’s scent and presence, while still needing to grade his test paper…

Truly a difficult task.

. . .

An hour and a half later, Ye Xi finally finished the test.

He couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Thank goodness.

He had been terrified he’d hand in a completely blank paper—after all, geniuses like Bai Yue probably couldn’t even comprehend how the academically hopeless thought.

But surprisingly—

The test wasn’t actually that hard. At least, it was much easier than the ones from school. Ye Xi racked his brain and actually managed to complete about 70–80% of it. He felt a huge weight lifted off his shoulders.

Only the last two long-answer problems stumped him, where he could only scribble a sad little “Solution:” at the top.

When Bai Yue saw that, he chuckled softly and smiled.

At least the attitude was solid.

Ye Xi heard the laugh and felt his ears burn. He lowered his head, fidgeting with his pen in embarrassment.

Bai Yue took twenty minutes to grade the paper.

Of course, the test he gave Ye Xi had been deliberately simplified. Their school usually issued difficult exams—even though it was a private institution, it had excellent faculty and sent a large number of students to elite universities every year.

Kids like Ye Xi, who were barely scraping by, typically entered through hefty sponsorship fees. The school didn’t expect them to achieve anything academically, and the curriculum often left them behind.

“Eighty points—not bad,” Bai Yue announced. He smiled encouragingly. “This was out of 100, and mostly basic questions. The fact that you could answer most of them shows your foundation isn’t as bad as you think.”

Ye Xi was so flattered he began swinging his feet under the table.

In truth, since the beginning of sophomore year, he had barely paid attention in class and was just coasting by on what he remembered from before.

“Come a little closer. I’ll explain the ones you got wrong.” Bai Yue gestured.

Ye Xi looked at the not-so-large gap between them, a little confused.

But as always, he was obedient. He nodded, dazed, and scooted his stool slightly closer.

The moment he did, Bai Yue’s scent became even more noticeable.

He had switched fragrances today, and the soft smell lingered lightly on his beige loungewear.

Ye Xi inhaled subtly—it was Roja’s Blue Island. He’d seen the bottle on Li Rui’s shelf.

A citrus-based scent, like sunlight flooding a tropical island—relaxing and warm, with a sea breeze that instantly made one feel lazy and carefree.

Then Bai Yue placed one hand on Ye Xi’s shoulder, guiding him to look at the test paper, while his other hand traced a line across the sheet.

“Look here, this one’s actually simple—it’s the same question type as the previous one. Just a minor change and you couldn’t solve it…”

From the moment Bai Yue’s hand touched his shoulder, Ye Xi’s brain short-circuited.

He was sitting in Bai Yue’s scent, breathing it in deeply. His mind filled with images of ocean winds, tart bergamot, and lemon fruits falling from branches—his thoughts utterly scrambled.

He stared, dazed, at Bai Yue’s lips moving as he spoke, and watched every last bit of knowledge he had quietly slip out of his head.

What was Bai Yue even saying? Ye Xi hadn’t caught a single word.

But his mind wandered—what had his seduction mentor said again?

Something like… if you’re sitting close to your crush, you can try brushing your knee against theirs.

Especially in hot weather.

Wearing a short skirt, bare knees lightly brushing against the warm skin of your crush—subtle and suggestive. Just a touch, then pull back. If you add an innocent look afterward…

It’s like you had no idea anything happened.

Because skin is the most sensitive organ—it can convey endless ambiguity.

S-Should he try it?

Ye Xi, dazed, entertained the thought… but quickly felt embarrassed—and a little conflicted.

He was wearing long pants that day! His knees weren’t even exposed—how was he supposed to brush anything?

Would it even work through denim? What if Bai Yue thought his leg just itched?

Ye Xi mentally drifted off, seriously pondering the logistics.

But just then, his back stiffened and he gripped the innocent pen in his hand.

Because—he felt someone brush against his ankle.

He was wearing short gray socks—modest, boring, and safe. But the other person’s foot was bare, and it had casually touched his ankle. A faint warmth passed over his skin.

Their skin lightly touched.

Even though it was already early autumn, that patch of skin felt hot, like it was being teased by a feather, making his heart itch.

Ye Xi froze.

He clenched the pen in his hand, completely flustered, and looked helplessly at Bai Yue sitting beside him.

But Bai Yue was still seriously explaining the problem: “Look, here you should draw an auxiliary line…”

Bai Yue looked totally focused, the eyes behind his cool glasses stern and serious—like a strict, no-nonsense teacher who wouldn’t tolerate even a second of distraction.

He even handed Ye Xi a new problem to work on. “Here, try solving one with a similar format.”

Solve what?!

Ye Xi was about to lose it.

His hand trembled as he held the pen, staring at the question with a blank mind.

Bai Yue’s leg was still touching his, and worse—Bai Yue shifted slightly while still looking at the problem.

Ye Xi swore he felt the top of his foot get brushed by Bai Yue’s toes.

His hand involuntarily twitched, drawing a jagged, squiggly vertical line on the worksheet.

He looked at Bai Yue in panic, his cheeks heating up uncontrollably, his eyes shimmering with unshed tears—yet he couldn’t say a word.

Bai Yue, completely missing all signals, looked puzzled. He even asked with concern, “What’s wrong? Still having trouble?”

Ye Xi couldn’t explain even if he tried.

He could only shake his head weakly.
“No…”

Resigned, he gripped the pen, took a deep breath, and prepared to face the familiar-looking question head-on.

What auxiliary line?

What multiple approaches?

To him, the most incomprehensible thing in the world right now… was Bai Yue.

……

While Ye Xi struggled through the problem, Bai Yue’s lips curved ever so slightly.

He finally, mercifully, moved his ankle away from Ye Xi’s.

As he calmly went over the mistakes on Ye Xi’s worksheet, he thought without an ounce of guilt—This isn’t really my fault, is it?

When the person you like is this cute—and right next to you…

Who wouldn’t want to tease them a little?

Well, he certainly couldn’t resist.