204 Teddy bear
As Lu Xuan had expected, Han Zixin and Lu Mingze began bickering the moment they saw each other. He was holding a big bowl of popcorn, enjoying the drama. He had one rule in his life– Never say no to free drama or gossip.
“Oh, so you invited yourself again?” Lu Mingze sarcastically said as he glanced at Han Zixin sitting on the couch. They all were gathered in the cinema room.
“Oh, the exiled idol is talking to me?” Han Zixin retorted. Who didn’t know that Lu Mingze was put on a hiatus as he had a fight with one of his bandmates and he couldn’t participate in any activity for a year. Therefore, he was forced to attend school back and then appear for the College entrance test. He hated management and his fate!
“Do not talk to me, ” Lu Mingze stomped on his feet. He wanted to run his hand through his slightly long lavender hair but then he recalled how he was forced to cut his precious hair and dye it black.
“Then, put a don’t talk to me sticker on your face, ” Han Zixin said in a snarky tone.
“What is your problem, boy?” Lu Mingze said as he tried to scare Han Zixin with his height but the latter didn’t show any expression.
Before Han Zixin could punch his obnoxious face, they heard a melodious voice ringing in the room.
“Idol! Cheat prince! You can’t fight, ” An Xiulan ordered. “Be good boys and take your seats.” And look who I brought?”
Shen Yue appeared as she waved at them. Her mom had to come here to get her boss’ signature on some files. When she heard that her mom was coming to An Xiulan’s house, she tagged along.
“Hi, everyone, ” Shen Yue greeted them. Everyone was nice to her here.
“Teddy bear, are you ignoring me?” Lu Mingze narrowed her eyes at him. “I saw you at school but you pretended as if you didn’t even know me.”
Shen Yie lowered her head in embarrassment. She clenched her hands. It was not like she was ignoring him. She just didn’t want this perfect idol to be associated with someone as imperfect as her. She was fat and ugly and her idol was the most handsome boy in the world. She just didn’t want to cause more trouble for him at school. What if someone leaked to the press that he was associated with someone like her?
The reason why Lu Mingze called her Teddy bear had nothing to do with the fact that she was as round as a teddy bear but because she was as cute as one. Even though he was this old, he loved to hug teddy bears. Sometimes, he wondered how she could not see that she was such an adorable being.
“Bad girls should be punished, ” Lu Mingze said with a huff.
Shen Yue’s eyes teared up. He was going to stop being her friend, right?
“Since you ignored me all day, you will be punished with the task of tutoring this year, ” Lu Mingze announced. “All the student tutors are annoying and dumb. I can’t trust them but I trust you. So, teddy bear, be my tutor, okay?”
Shen Yue looked at him with bright eyes. She liked him so much. She knew that she should maintain her distance from someone as perfect as him. But she could not. So, she would get close to him in the only way she knew. She would be his tutor and they could spend a lot of time together, right?
“Okay, ” Shen Yue agreed instantly.
Meanwhile, An Xiulan was coaxing the angry Buddha. She was doing ups and downs holding her ears. She had done more than twenty ups and downs holding her ears but he wasn’t melting at all. Her cuteness trap was not working on anyone at all.
“Zixin, I’m sorry. I will never do this again, ” An Xiulan pouted.
Han Zixin ignored her. He was scolded by the principal in front of everyone in the morning assembly. How could he forgive her just like this? Not only this, she forgot him in school after meeting that stupid idol of hers! As if God couldn’t be any more troublesome, He has to send that stupid idol to their section.
From today onwards, the idol was the last scorer in the entire grade. Thankfully he and An Xiulan had improved their scores by leaps and bounds. They improved by a total of five ranks. It was not an easy feat for the two of them.
“I baked cookies for you, ” An Xiulan tried to invite him. “You know how difficult it was for me to make cookies from scratch? I almost burned my precious hands. How could you still be angry at me?”
Of course, he was unfazed. He knew how protective her family was of her. If she entered the kitchen, he was sure that she would surely be user supervision. ‘Don’t melt, Han Zixi. Don’t forget how she got you punished. You had to clean the classroom alone for the whole week because of her.
‘Don’t you dare melt for those cookies!’ ρꪖꪕᦔꪖꪕꪫꪣꫀꪶ
‘But she made them herself. She was thoughtful enough to coax him with cookies.’
‘She is evil.’
‘Don’t fall for her tricks.’
“Don’t fall…’
He groaned in frustration as he glanced at her sweaty face. He could not get angry at her for long. He was so weak to her antics.
“Stand up, ” Han Zixin said and she stood up straight, not daring to breathe in his proximity. “You will clean classrooms with me. Since I got punished because of your action, you have to take responsibility.”
An Xiulan nodded her head like a good girl. “Don’t worry, Han Zixin. I, An Xiulan, will be responsible for you.”
Han Zixin froze. Why did her words sound so ambiguous? Oh god, what was wrong with his head.
“Now hand over my cookies to me, ” Han Zixin said. She ran to grab the cookie box and handed him the freshly baked cookies.
In the end, she was able to appease the Big Buddha.
Inside, Lu Xuan was staring at Song Xueyun who fell asleep as soon as the movie started. He gently placed her neck on his shoulder and let her rest there. He just felt bad for her and that’s why he lent his shoulder to her. She was his first friend. He couldn’t see her withering away.
He heard from her mom that she had been pushing herself too hard these days. She scored such good marks in final exams but she still was not satisfied with the result. He hoped that there was something he could do to take away her tensions.
Song Xueyun changed the day Han Nanxian left. Sometimes, he wondered if leaving a friend could change you so much. He didn’t think that if one of his friends ever left him, he would be like her. Sure, he would be sad but he would never stopped living like her.
He hoped that he could ask her when she would stop destroying hers for a boy who left her and never bothered to look back.
Han Nanxian made her sad. However, he would be lying if he said he wasn’t really when he heard that the topper was out of her life. He could have his friend all to himself without having to share her with anyone. He never liked Han Nanxian anyway.
Gu Shangyan was watching the movie with subtitles and so he didn’t mind the low volume. Shen Yue and Lu Mingze were discussing their study routine. Han Zixin and An Xiulan were outside resolving their fight.
So, Lu Xuan lowered the volume and closed his eyes with a happy smile on his face while she napped on his shoulder.
An hour later, when Song Xueyun opened her eyes, she gasped. Instead of watching the movie, she fell asleep here. She thought that he was going to be angry and as she looked at him, she found him fast asleep. His chest was going up and down as he exhaled and inhaled. His face was calm and peaceful. His long eyelashes that made any woman envious were fluttering.
It wasn’t the right time to say but Lu Xuan was a beautiful man. It was cringe to say but it was a fact. He was blessed with good genes shared by his mother. Although he was raised by his father, he inherited all of his mother. It was scary how genes work sometimes.
Song Xueyun lightly removed her head from his shoulder and slipped out of the room when no one was noticing. She believed that it was time to go home. When she reached the living room, she heard a peal of laughter coming from the other side. She couldn’t stop herself from checking what made An Qinyan laugh so heartily.
“Yanyan, how could you laugh at me?” Gu Yanxi complained as tears trickled down his cheek. He didn’t know that she would make the sauce so spicy that he wouldn’t be able to take it. “I told you that I can eat spicy food.”
“Yanxi, you can’t. Don’t eat it, ” An Qinyan said. “If you hadn’t distracted me, I wouldn’t have ruined the sauce.”
“As long as you let me distract you everyday, I can eat the ruined sauce, ” He winked at her.
Song Xueyun left their house with a hint of a smile on her face. An Qinyan and Gu Yanxi reminded her a lot of her parents. She was really really happy for Lu Xuan’s mama.
.