The Heat of the Bench and the Ice-Cold Confession

There was a hint of pitiful, lingering pleading in Ji Yanli’s voice.

Chu Ci’s reflection was mirrored in those clear, dark pupils. Feeling uncomfortable under the gaze, he silently looked away, turning his head slightly—unaware that he had accidentally exposed his burning red ear tips to the open air.

“I… I get it.” He quietly pulled his wrist free from Ji Yanli’s grip, awkwardly raising a hand to cover his mouth, as if trying to hide the turbulent emotions swirling within him.

Ji Yanli looked down at the conspicuous flush on Chu Ci’s skin. His empty heart seemed to be filled by something in an instant, and the curve of his lips deepened uncontrollably.

He didn’t say anything more and turned back to his own seat. As Ji Yanli left, the gazes gathered on Chu Ci vanished with him, allowing Chu Ci to finally let out a sigh of relief.

He could never get used to that feeling.

The morning classes were dry and boring. Chu Ci propped up his head, nodding off. When he finally endured until noon, he was pestered by Lin Yu to go to the cafeteria for lunch, shattering his plans for a nap once again.

“Chu Ci!”

Lin Yu’s voice pulled Chu Ci back from his chaotic thoughts. Chu Ci forced his eyelids open, blinking blankly. Lin Yu, sitting opposite him, frowned slightly and asked with concern, “Are you okay? Your head almost slammed into your rice bowl.”

Chu Ci felt his eyes were incredibly dry and instinctively shook his head a few times, then used his chopsticks to aimlessly poke at the rice on his tray.

He ate the meal without tasting it, listlessly listening to Lin Yu’s gossip. Chu Ci let out a silent yawn, his heavy eyelids dropping again.

The scene before him began to blur, and Lin Yu’s voice grew distant. Chu Ci’s head nodded lower and lower. Just as his forehead was about to have an intimate encounter with the metal tray, a warm palm suddenly reached out and caught his head.

Chu Ci snapped awake and looked up. Ji Yanli had appeared in front of him at some unknown moment. The tall, thin youth stood out even in a simple school uniform. Chu Ci could clearly feel that from the second the other person stopped there, the surrounding gazes began to cluster on him.

Here it came again—that discomfort of being the center of attention.

Enduring the awkwardness prickling his skin, Chu Ci, with his red-rimmed eyes and a raspy voice, asked, “Do you need something?”

Ji Yanli’s gaze flickered between the seat beside Chu Ci and Lin Yu across from him, eventually giving up on the idea of sitting down.

“No.” He uttered the single word, then carried his tray past Chu Ci’s seat toward the other side.

Lin Yu, however, hadn’t taken his eyes off Ji Yanli since he appeared. It wasn’t until Ji Yanli’s figure vanished from view that Lin Yu seemed to finally wake up, saying to Chu Ci in a daze, “How strange. I feel like Ji Yanli always has a charm that attracts me. Every time he appears, I can’t help but stare.”

Chu Ci didn’t react much to this. His chopsticks poked at the cold rice as he answered nonchalantly, “Hasn’t he always been charming?”

This was the passive mechanism the original plot set for supporting characters. To manifest Ji Yanli’s “everyone loves him” setting, everyone who saw him would involuntarily be attracted.

This included Chu Ci, though because the original character’s setting was so faint, the effect was far less intense than it was for the other supporting characters.

He put down his chopsticks and stood up, finding an excuse to separate from Lin Yu. After leaving the cafeteria, he drifted back to the classroom.

The first class of the afternoon was the rare Physical Education. As luck would have it, the sun outside was scorching. In the past, Chu Ci could have easily skipped this class to slack off in the classroom, but now, perhaps because Ji Yanli was always hovering around him, his visibility had skyrocketed. Not only did he lose the chance to skip, but he also became a target of the teacher’s special attention alongside Ji Yanli.

When the blistering sunlight enveloped Chu Ci, he felt like he was dying.

The high temperature seemed to clog every pore on his body. A restless irritability scurried through him, and the heat absorbed by the center of the track made the soles of his feet burn.

Chu Ci raised a hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead. When he lifted his eyes to see the straight figure standing next to the PE teacher, he felt a sudden urge to kill him.

The youth at the front of the line tilted his chin up slightly, the sunlight making his fair skin look dazzling. He stood with a straight back, thin lips pursed as he obediently listened to the teacher explain the semester’s exam rules. The noisy line would always fall into a synchronized silence the moment he looked up.

Consequently, in the quiet air, only Chu Ci’s inner voice was jarringly loud.

‘Damn Ji Yanli.’

Ji Yanli raised his eyes, his gaze instinctively drifting toward the middle of the line. The boy hidden among the taller students had flushed cheeks, and the black hair on his forehead was soaked with sweat. His thin figure swayed slightly, looking as if he might collapse at any moment.

Sensing the gaze, the boy lifted his head and met Ji Yanli’s eyes. Their gazes quietly met in the air. In the next second, Ji Yanli felt as though the air was filled with the sound of crackling sparks.

‘What are you looking at! Are you satisfied seeing me like this?!’

‘I could have been hiding in the classroom taking a nap, not standing here being grilled like a barbecue!’

‘So annoying, annoying, AN-NOY-ING!’

These voices jumped around Ji Yanli. He lowered his eyelids and couldn’t help a soft chuckle. Then, Ji Yanli took a step forward and pointed toward Chu Ci. “Teacher, that student looks unwell. Can he go to the side to rest for a while?”

The PE teacher turned his gaze and happened to see Chu Ci’s ghastly complexion. He frowned. “Then you help him over to a shaded spot to sit down.”

Ji Yanli nodded in agreement and, under everyone’s watchful eyes, walked to Chu Ci’s side and grabbed his arm without a word.

Chu Ci blinked blankly. Before he could react, he was pulled out of the line by Ji Yanli.

Ji Yanli led him to the shade of a tree far away. Just then, a breeze swept by, brushing the hair away from Chu Ci’s face. His dark pupils reflected Ji Yanli’s back as the youth turned around, placed both hands on Chu Ci’s shoulders, and sat him down on a bench.

Mottled sunlight spilled over their heads, and the sound of the wind was laced with the faint chirping of cicadas. Ji Yanli looked down at Chu Ci, his gaze sliding from the corner of the boy’s eye down to his flushed cheeks.

Chu Ci looked back at him, somehow forgetting to look away. Ji Yanli, standing before him, perfectly blocked the stinging sunlight. He raised his hand, brushing away soft strands of hair, his cool fingertips lightly touching Chu Ci’s forehead.

The boy’s high temperature transferred through the thin skin. Ji Yanli quickly withdrew his hand and said in a low voice, “You seem to have heatstroke.”

Chu Ci was dazed. The hazy voice hovered in his ear, the volume so light he couldn’t catch what Ji Yanli had said. He could only tilt his head and frown muddledly. “What?”

“Wait here for me.”

That was the only sentence Chu Ci heard clearly.

The gentle tone vanished into the air. Chu Ci kept his eyes half-open, his gaze lingering on the retreating back of Ji Yanli as he ran off. In his stupor, Chu Ci felt he could almost hear the sound of the other’s school uniform rustling against itself.

The wind around him picked up, whisking away a drop of sweat from his temple. Chu Ci leaned the back of his head against the bench. It was uncomfortable, but his body was limp and lacked strength; he couldn’t find a better position.

A tide of exhaustion nearly swallowed him whole.

His eyes were irritated by the sun and hard to keep open. Chu Ci felt his senses suddenly magnify. A sharp whistle in the distance cut through the wind, accompanied by the sound of hurried footsteps.

Until a strong white light was blocked by a black shadow, Chu Ci didn’t have time to open his eyes before a cold sensation pressed against his burning cheek.

He shivered reflexively and snapped his eyes open. Ji Yanli stood before him, panting in small breaths.

He was holding an ice-cold bottle of mineral water against Chu Ci’s cheek. His fingers were red from the ice, and melted droplets rolled down his pale wrist onto Chu Ci’s shoulder.

He leaned over slightly, one hand resting on his knee. He seemed out of breath from running so fast. Ji Yanli caught his breath and asked, “Do you feel any better?”

Chu Ci stared at him blankly, not fully conscious yet. One side of his face was wet from the condensation. Ji Yanli’s curled knuckle touched his earlobe, and the flush remaining on his skin seemed to dye Ji Yanli’s finger red as well.

“Your temperature was very high just now,” Ji Yanli said softly. “Fortunately, there’s a small shop near the field.”

Even though the weather was hot, the ice in his hand made his palm numb, yet Ji Yanli maintained the posture until Chu Ci’s body temperature dropped a bit.

His chaotic thoughts finally cleared. Chu Ci came to his senses, his lips moving. After a long moment, he whispered two words: “…Thank you.”

He lowered his eyes, his long lashes trembling, unable to hide the panic deep within. Seeing how flustered he was, Ji Yanli let out a soft laugh and sat down beside him.

“You didn’t even know you had heatstroke.” He paused deliberately, briskly unscrewing the bottle cap. “You really are a dummy.”

Then, Ji Yanli brought the water bottle to Chu Ci’s lips, cutting off any attempt at a rebuttal.

“Drink some.”

His soft lips brushed against the bottle’s rim. Chu Ci stole a few glances at him, his expression still awkward, but he obediently took the water Ji Yanli handed over.

‘What do you mean “dummy”… you just can’t be comfortable without insulting me, can you.’

Chu Ci grumbled in his mind. Then, under Ji Yanli’s watch, he tilted his head and took a sip. The ice-cold liquid slid down his throat and into his stomach, instantly dispelling the heat clinging to his body.

His pale fingers squeezed the plastic bottle, the “crackle-crackle” sound tapping lightly against his eardrums.

Chu Ci stole a quiet glance at Ji Yanli, then quickly looked away the moment the other looked back.

He bit his lower lip, unaware that his inner thoughts were completely exposed to the person beside him.

‘Fine, I admit it.’

‘Ji Yanli is actually… pretty good to me.’