Fu Yuhan’s movement paused briefly. The mineral water he was about to swallow rolled in his throat, and the next second he began coughing violently.
“Cough, cough cough…”
He turned his head, veins faintly appearing on his elongated neck due to the coughing.
Wen Yu: “…”
Wen Yu: “Is this question that hard to answer?”
“No… cough cough…” Fu Yuhan turned back. “What kind of weird nickname is ‘Old Fu’?”
Wen Yu was slightly stunned, lowered his gaze, and smiled softly: “Just thought of it and called you that. What, can’t I call you that?”
“…Not really.” Fu Yuhan coughed a few more times, his breathing gradually calming.
He had coughed severely, a layer of red appearing on his neck, and his eyes also looked somewhat red.
Wen Yu’s habitual smile suddenly faded, and he said softly: “You still haven’t answered—are you injured?”
Fu Yuhan frowned: “No.”
After he said this, he suddenly heard Wen Yu make a very disgusted “tsk” sound, and immediately after, the sunlight beside him dimmed.
Fu Yuhan looked up and found that the other person had actually walked over.
“What?”
A beam of sunlight fell from the side of Wen Yu’s face. Fu Yuhan instinctively squinted.
Against the backlight, he couldn’t see Wen Yu’s expression clearly, but after two years of bickering, Fu Yuhan instinctively felt that Wen Yu wasn’t in a good mood right now.
“Holy shit, Wen Yu!” At this moment, the sports committee member standing below the stands happened to turn around and cried out in horror, “Sit down! You can’t stand up in the stands! Points will be deducted!”
His voice was extraordinarily loud, and people around all looked over. Fu Yuhan turned his head and glanced at the sports committee member with cold indifference.
That gaze carried habitual coldness. The instinctive “fear” of Fu Yuhan was like a basin of cold water that woke him up. Only then did the sports committee member belatedly realize that the positions of these two big brothers weren’t quite right.
Fu Yuhan was sitting, looking up; Wen Yu was standing, bending down.
The sports committee member suddenly had some bad suspicions in his heart.
And at this moment, the standing Wen Yu suddenly reached out his hand toward Fu Yuhan—
“Holy shit, you two big brothers calm down! If you fight in the stands, our class will lose today’s merit qualification!!!” He screamed out.
When merit was mentioned, the Class 6 students who were holding their breath wanting to surpass Class 2 all became anxious. Those who hadn’t been looking back initially also turned around.
The sports committee member jumped three feet high, leaping toward the stands, trying to prevent an imminent physical collision.
Then he saw Wen Yu’s hand touch Fu Yuhan’s waist.
The sports committee member’s steps froze halfway: “?”
Fu Yuhan’s entire face twitched strangely, his body instinctively shrinking back. Wen Yu smiled at him gently: “Not injured?”
“…” Fu Yuhan pinched his palm, barely managing to recover. “When will you change this bad habit of undermining people?”
“Probably not this year.”
Wen Yu reached under Fu Yuhan’s armpit and pulled him up. The movement affected his waist, and Fu Yuhan frowned, supporting himself with one hand: “What are you doing? Trying to kill someone?”
“Going to the infirmary.” Wen Yu’s other hand twisted and turned, actually skillfully neutralizing Fu Yuhan’s strength and pulling him up from his seat.
Only then did the sports committee member come to his senses, hurriedly running up to the stands: “What are you two doing?”
“Fu Yuhan pulled a muscle,” Wen Yu said. “I’m taking him to the infirmary.”
“Oh oh… huh? When did Brother Fu get injured? During high jump? Damn, is it serious? Can you still compete later? Should you rest? Should I find someone else to replace you?”
“I’m fine.” Fu Yuhan frowned and struggled, but couldn’t break free.
Wen Yu’s earlier technique for neutralizing his strength was very skillful, and his grip strength was considerable—completely unlike someone who had never fought before.
To be honest, Fu Yuhan was somewhat surprised. Before today, he had never thought that he might lose if he and Wen Yu got physical.
But as soon as they made contact, he knew that Wen Yu wasn’t as “weak” as he appeared.
It was hard to say what Fu Yuhan was feeling at this moment. The young man’s self-esteem and that stubborn refusal to admit defeat were like abundant bubbles in a soda can, constantly colliding in his chest.
He couldn’t help but use more force—even though normally Fu Yuhan would never be so harsh with a classmate—he gradually pried open Wen Yu’s fingers, his voice suppressed in his throat: “My waist is injured, not my legs. Why are you supporting me?”
“If I don’t hold onto you, will you obediently go to the infirmary?” Wen Yu looked at his hand that had been pinched red and smiled. “Repaying kindness with ingratitude… little ungrateful wolf.”
“…” Fu Yuhan turned his head and cursed quietly.
His voice was very small, and Wen Yu didn’t hear the content clearly, so he didn’t pursue it.
Since they were already standing, to avoid point deductions they could only go down. Fu Yuhan had injured his waist and wanted to maintain his usual pose, so his movements going downstairs were inevitably slow.
Only then did he notice that the classmates looking up at him had somewhat strange expressions, as if they had eaten something bad.
Generally, he didn’t like meddling in others’ affairs, so even though he was puzzled, he said nothing and continued walking down on his own.
The infirmary was located below the stands on the west side, very close to the corner where they had changed clothes in the morning. Fu Yuhan walked forward for a while, and from the surrounding noise and commotion, he heard different footsteps. When he turned back, he discovered Wen Yu was following behind him.
He was stunned: “What are you following me down for?”
“To check the situation.”
“What’s there to check?”
“Don’t you still have the relay later?” Wen Yu stared at him. “Can you run with an injured waist?”
The waist was a connecting part of the body. Usually you don’t notice it, but when it’s injured, you discover that any movement affects it.
No matter how much Fu Yuhan could endure, it was impossible for him to run 100 meters without affecting his speed with a waist injury.
Speaking of this matter, Fu Yuhan was also somewhat annoyed. There weren’t many fast runners in Class 6, so even though Fu Yuhan considered his track performance not particularly excellent, he was still in the first tier in Class 6.
When the sports committee member asked him to sign up that day, he had habitually refused, not expecting to actually set up a flag for himself.
He rarely felt disgusted with his own big mouth.
“If I really can’t run, I’ll switch with Li Wei.”
“Will that work?” Wen Yu asked. “I mean… can he beat that Class 2 or whatever?”
“Maybe if he has a breakthrough.” Fu Yuhan tugged at the corner of his lips. “Our class relay lineup hasn’t changed in three years, because except for the sports committee member, everyone else is mediocre at running.”
Wen Yu made an acknowledging sound. “Let’s accompany you to the infirmary first.”
This person was quite self-directed. Fu Yuhan walked down from the stands, and his originally vaguely painful injury began throbbing. Sweat beaded on his forehead, and he really didn’t have extra energy to argue with Wen Yu, so he let him follow.
The two walked silently along the edge of the plastic track. The competition was ongoing, the audience was cheering, and no one noticed that two campus celebrities were passing by below the stands.
Fu Yuhan didn’t look back; he knew Wen Yu was following behind.
Looking back would be like losing.
But strangely, today’s air seemed inexplicably hot.
He initially thought Wen Yu had come to watch him make a fool of himself, but unexpectedly this person remained quiet as a chicken the entire time.
He walked into the infirmary and told the duty doctor about his symptoms. The doctor pressed a few spots on his side waist and below his ribs, determined it was just a simple strain, and took out some Yunnan Baiyao spray for him.
Strains weren’t like fractures—aside from Yunnan Baiyao, there wasn’t a better treatment method. This was why Fu Yuhan hadn’t wanted to come in the first place.
He felt it wasn’t worth the trouble of going all this way… it was just Wen Yu being meddlesome.
The meddlesome person went forward to ask the doctor for a roll of bandages.
Since there was nothing wrong with him, the doctor initially didn’t want to give it to him, but couldn’t withstand Wen Yu’s good looks and sweet talk when he put on an act.
Fu Yuhan couldn’t stand him like this the most. Maintaining a bit of “humanitarian concern,” he didn’t expose him on the spot, but immediately couldn’t stand it after leaving the infirmary: “Don’t you feel disgusted talking like that?”
Wen Yu smiled with crinkled eyes: “Like what?”
“Just like now.”
“No,” he lowered his head, “I’m used to it.”
“…”
Fu Yuhan slowly walked back, passing the iron gate where they had changed clothes in the morning, and turned in.
This place seemed to be an alley leading to behind the stands, with two iron gates slightly ajar. No one came here, and there was only a bit of light. In broad daylight, this bit of light gave people a certain illusion of privacy, and the two iron gates could provide some cover.
Wen Yu instinctively followed in: “What are you coming in here for?”
“Since I got the medicine, of course I’ll spray some.” Fu Yuhan’s fingertips paused at the hem of his school uniform, his movement suddenly stopping as he turned back. “Can you go out?”
“We all saw each other when changing clothes this morning.” Wen Yu said. “Besides, don’t you still have another layer underneath?”
Perhaps knowing they’d need to change clothes today, Fu Yuhan had worn an undershirt underneath.
Wen Yu naturally knew why, but he really wanted to laugh. Although they had the same sexual orientation, Wen Yu was much more liberal than Fu Yuhan in this regard.
Rather, he hadn’t expected Fu Yuhan to be so “conservative.”
Fu Yuhan hesitated: “How is this the same as this morning?”
“How is it different?”
“…”
Fu Yuhan frowned, and just then a beam of light slanted through the gap at the top of the iron gate, falling on his brow.
Wen Yu looked at him and smiled: “Say it. If you say it, I’ll go out.”
“…It’s just the two of us now.” Fu Yuhan closed his eyes, seeming somewhat helpless. “And I need to apply medicine… who have you seen apply medicine while wearing clothes?”
“Isn’t two people better than a group?”
“If you were straight, I’d endure it,” Fu Yuhan said irritably. “Bro, can you have some self-awareness that you’re gay?”
With a “puchi” sound, Wen Yu lowered his head and laughed.
He laughed until his eyes crinkled, his shoulders shaking like a sieve.
Fu Yuhan looked speechless.
After a while, Wen Yu finally raised his head, his smile not yet faded: “Is it convenient for you to apply the medicine yourself?”
“No need for your concern.”
“Alright then, I’ll wait for you outside.”
Seeing him finally turn and leave, Fu Yuhan secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
He lifted up the school uniform he’d put on after the opening ceremony, held it with his arm, bit the plastic bottle cap with his teeth, and awkwardly used his other hand to pick up the medicine bottle, pointing the nozzle at his waist.
He didn’t dare twist his waist, so naturally couldn’t see the injured area. He could only spray by feel, and had to be careful not to twist too much to avoid re-injuring the affected area. After this whole process, Fu Yuhan felt like he had sweated another layer.
The covered passageway wasn’t ventilated and was stuffy inside.
He carefully lowered his clothes and walked out from behind the door with the medicine.
A cool breeze hit his face.
Then he saw Wen Yu sitting on a long bench by the door, having just put on his left shoe, with a section of white something visible from his exposed pant leg.
Bandages?
Fu Yuhan was stunned: “Did you sprain your foot again? Don’t you have no events?”
“Not sprained.” Wen Yu smiled. “Just in case.”
In case of what?
Wen Yu didn’t say, and Fu Yuhan didn’t ask.
But he soon found out.
When the two returned to the stands, the sports committee member ran over to ask about Fu Yuhan’s condition. He came partly out of concern for Fu Yuhan, and partly to confirm whether they needed to substitute someone for the relay race. There was still about an hour before the relay began, so they needed to apply to the podium in advance.
“Substitute.” Fu Yuhan said.
“What about triple jump?”
“We’ll see this afternoon. If I’m better, no need to substitute.” Fu Yuhan glanced at the sports committee member who was squatting on the ground to avoid point deductions. “I estimate you can’t find anyone else for triple jump.”
There were people available, but their performance couldn’t compare to Fu Yuhan’s. Substituting would be like voluntarily giving up points for this event, making the sports committee member’s heart bleed.
“Okay, okay, I’ll go confirm the relay with Li Wei first. You rest well at noon and try to recover by afternoon.”
Li Wei was sitting in the front row. After speaking, the sports committee member wanted to frog-jump to the stairs, but was stopped by Wen Yu halfway.
“Wait a moment.” He said. “I’ll run the relay.”
Fu Yuhan and the sports committee member both turned their heads.
The sports committee member asked puzzled: “Academic god, didn’t you say you weren’t physically active?”
“I can pass the 100-meter exam.” Wen Yu said. “Li Wei has two long-distance events today. Can’t you let him rest?”
“I want to too, but I’m worried about points!”
“I’m also a Class 6 person now. Don’t I want to win?” Wen Yu smiled. “I happen to be free anyway. I can’t guarantee anything else, but I can at least not fall behind.”
“Good, good, you said it yourself.” Having someone volunteer, the sports committee member was overjoyed and immediately said, “Then I’ll go report to the podium.”
He was as agile as a monkey and disappeared after speaking.
Only then did Fu Yuhan speak: “You bandaged your ankle for this?”
Wen Yu smiled and didn’t respond to him, as if acquiescing.
So Fu Yuhan was even more puzzled: “When did you become so self-sacrificing?”
In his understanding, Wen Yu was someone who seemed friendly to everyone but actually cared about no one—except Yang Fan and Chu Lei and their group. Sacrificing his own foot for class honor didn’t seem like something Wen Yu would do.
“You didn’t see how you got injured.” Although Wen Yu was asking, his tone was stating.
“Wasn’t it because that Ye Kai from Class 7 didn’t stand steady?”
“At that time there was someone from Class 4 who ran off course on the track and almost hit him, so he stepped back.” Wen Yu turned his head and lifted his chin toward the first row of the stands. “I was originally wondering if it might be an accident, but look.”
A large group from Class 6 had somehow gathered at the very front, surrounding Sun Wenrui who had just returned. The atmosphere around them was tense.
Fu Yuhan couldn’t conveniently go down to ask, so he frowned: “What happened to him?”
“When you went in to spray medicine, he was competing in hurdles.” Wen Yu said. “He got stepped on by someone from Class 4 on the track—wearing spiked shoes.”
“…Damn,” Fu Yuhan’s expression turned cold. “Are you sure?”
“Although I’m too lazy to remember people’s names, I’m not face-blind.” Wen Yu smiled. “Besides, athletes have their class numbers on their chest and back.”
Fu Yuhan said nothing more and tried to stand up while supporting himself on the chair back.
He was held down by Wen Yu who stepped over in one stride.
Across three chairs, he didn’t know how this person’s legs could be so long.
This thought inexplicably flashed through Fu Yuhan’s mind. He looked up to see Wen Yu smiling at him: “Can’t tell you actually care about your friends? You’re injured like this but still want to go console him.”
“…What’s wrong with me?”
“Back injuries are more serious, even if there’s no bleeding.” Wen Yu stood up. “Forget it, I’ll help you go ask.”
The hand on Fu Yuhan’s shoulder withdrew and naturally fell into his school pants pocket. Wen Yu walked to the side with his hands in his pockets. After taking two steps, he turned back.
“Oh, don’t misunderstand. I didn’t decide to participate in the relay for you.”
“…”
Do I fucking look that narcissistic?
Fu Yuhan wanted to ask, but didn’t voice it because Wen Yu had already walked away quickly.
His movement down the steps was very elegant, his chin always slightly raised, carrying a natural arrogance.
This kind of arrogance could be very attractive, but in the eyes of equally domineering teenagers, it could become a disgusting “pretentious attitude.”
Before, Fu Yuhan had always disliked him.
Wen Yu clearly looked down on everyone, yet hypocritically put on the appearance of a good gentleman, being kind and friendly to everyone, only being antagonistic toward him.
But now he inexplicably felt that Wen Yu… at least in some aspects, didn’t seem so bad.
This was probably the enemy’s conspiracy.
**Author’s Note:** Sports committee member: This is too hard for me.
##
