To My Youth [BL]

[8] To Lie to Yourself (2/3)

The first thought Gu Xiao had when he saw Lan Yuning's cheek, and his request for strawberry milk, was that his ex-girlfriend must have slapped him.

When they finished eating, they walked past an empty park as the lights flickered at irregular intervals.

The white lights from apartment buildings shone like stars from a distance, littering the warm night with a soft yellow glow. It was a clear night. No clouds hung in the sky, even with the breaths of the wind brushing past the two figures in their blue school uniform.

Lan Yuning slowed down and eventually stopped walking. Gu Xiao, who was sucking on a lollipop, noticed the absence of Lan Yuning's steps and turned around in confusion.

"I'm tired," Lan Yuning said.

Gu Xiao gaped at his words that his lollipop almost fell out of his mouth, but he ensured they stayed in his mouth or else it would have been a waste.

He had never seen the student president complain, even slightly, but he couldn't blame him. Getting slapped by an ex-girlfriend must have been extremely traumatising, not to mention the argument they probably had.

Nodding firmly with complete determination, Gu Xiao's face beamed with goodwill. As a good deskmate, he must help the student president go through this traumatic experience.

At once, he faced his back towards Lan Yuning and bent down on one knee. Lan Yuning, who was completely confused by what this boy was doing now, stared at him as Gu Xiao slapped his back twice.

"Don't fear, Student President! Sit on my back. I will carry you," Gu Xiao proclaimed with full confidence.

"...What... are you on about?"

He stood back up and rubbed his head. "Was that not it?"

Not saying anything once again, Lan Yuning sat himself down on the bench.

The light under that bench was the only one that didn't constantly flicker like it was on the verge of blacking out.

Gu Xiao followed him and flung his body down onto the seat, which instantly shook the entire bench from his aggressiveness. He peered at him, but Gu Xiao just responded with a laugh, leaving only a brief sigh to escape his lips.

"You're not going to go home?" Lan Yuning asked.

"No. You're not going home yet, so why should I? Don't you know how many burglars and kidnappers there are now? What would happen if our school's top student got kidnapped? Our school's ranking would immediately hit rock bottom. And then, I will need to go to the police station as a witness, but if they can't find any clues, I will be on the suspect list for murder because your blood will be on my hands. And the headlines would be something like 'School's dropout murders first rank student from jealousy.'"

Lan Yuning was completely speechless that all he could do was let out a shallow exhale and sit silently beside him, like always. In silence. Though that silence was soon broken when he spoke up.

"... It's not too late to study a bit."

"Are you going to nag me again?"

"What you wrote in the presentation... I think you did a good job," Lan Yuning said, lowering his gaze to his hand.

Gu Xiao's finger flinched, and his expression slightly froze. What strange words.

"I just copied it off the internet," Gu Xiao joked, but in his cheerful tone, something faltered.

He discerned that Lan Yuning had suspicions and speculations raising in his head. Though he might have been overthinking, those words prompted him to let out a chuckle. Good job? Surely, what a joke it was.

Everyone knew that there was one way to get Gu Xiao to do something, almost anything, and that was through bribery. He could never refuse any request if there was something in it for him. So, Lan Yuning used this knowledge, and tried his luck.

"If you pass 70% on any subject at the end-of-semester exam, I'll grant you a wish."

Gu Xiao's lips separated in shock, and he whipped his head around, shock replacing every emotion within him.

Seeing how Gu Xiao's eyes were sparkling, a sense of displeasure and hopelessness washed past Lan Yuning, unsure if he should be glad those words drew his interest.

"Anything?" Gu Xiao repeated as he peered in suspicion. "Really? How can you grant me anything?"

Lan Yuning wanted to take his words back. In the end, all he could do was nod. A long silence befell their conversation as Lan Yuning drowned in his thoughts.

Gu Xiao thought he must already be regretting what he said, but instead, he blurted whatever came to his mind.

"I... just can."

Upon hearing those three words, Gu Xiao let out a long burst of laughter, almost till tears escaped from the corner of his eyes.

Shades of red flushed throughout Lan Yuning's ears and neck as if he couldn't believe he would ever say those three words that he hated so dearly.

"That is true. That is true. You could probably get anything. What if I want a computer?"

"Ok."

Gu Xiao widened his eyes and pondered.

"A boat?"

"Ok."

It wasn't the fact that Lan Yuning agreed so easily, but the fact that he could probably actually get those for him scared him.

"The highest I've gotten is around 52%, and you want me to get 70%?"

"If you get above 70%, Mr. Shen might move Zhang Yongyin back next to you if I convince him," Lan Yuning said.

"But I am stupid."

"Then study."

After a momentary silence filled the gaps of their speech, a laugh left Gu Xiao's mouth, and it echoed down the empty park.

A chill travelled down Lan Yuning's spine as he peered at Gu Xiao, eyeing him from head to toe. He definitely had a bad feeling, but it was too late to take everything back.