It was already past eleven at night. Dark clouds shifted a corner, revealing bits of moonlight. Dead leaves blown by the cold wind fell, swaying and soundlessly drifting to the ground. Fu Xueli wasn’t tired at all. She stood on tiptoe, clinging tightly to Xu Xingchun. Like a little kitten, fawningly rubbing against him again.

“Xu Xingchun, your chest is so hot. Is something wrong with you?” Fu Xueli looked up, suddenly asking this question.

Silent for a long while, he leaned sideways, touched her hair, then said, “Irregular heartbeat, internal organs are displaced.”

“…….”

Worthy of someone who’d studied medicine—even accelerated heartbeat could be described so cultured.

“I want to sleep with you tonight. You haven’t agreed yet.” She stepped back a bit, repeating it again.

“Okay.”

Light snow drifted gently, seemingly continuous yet not. After getting an answer, Fu Xueli moved close to Xu Xingchun again, kissed his chin, and before he could react, immediately jumped away, boldly teasing, “Do you know you’re very good-looking?”

“…….” He kept watching her.

“Don’t come over, or I’ll kiss you again.” She threatened, half-serious, half-joking.

Xu Xingchun came over, held her wrist, patiently saying, “It’s very cold outside, go in first.”

“You don’t believe I’ll force a kiss on you?”

“I believe you.”

“Hmph.” Fu Xueli pouted, tilting her head, “You’re always so boring. I don’t want to kiss you anymore.”

On the way back to his room, she suddenly thought of something, fished something out from her pocket, “I have two candies. Just now when we were eating, the little boy from next door ran over and gave them to me.”

Fu Xueli opened her palm, face lowered, “I’ll give you one.”

One red, one green. Watermelon and lychee flavors.

She asked, “Which one do you like?”

“Lychee.”

This answer made Fu Xueli thoughtful for a moment. She turned to look at Xu Xingchun.

She still remembered once in middle school, Xu Xingchun suddenly had a moment during class and asked Fu Xueli if she wanted to be with him.

Being together meant dating.

At that time she was first shocked, her heart feeling like it had been pinched. More than that was bafflement. After a few seconds of stagnation, she ruthlessly rejected him.

Because at that time Fu Xueli was a rebellious beautiful girl. To her, this class president who was serious from the roots of his hair to the soles of his feet, even if handsome, couldn’t be her boyfriend.

After rejecting Xu Xingchun, he obviously became colder toward her. His gaze never actively met hers. During and after class he just kept his head down doing homework. But Fu Xueli, watching his indifferent appearance, inexplicably felt her desire to conquer swell.

In the following days, during breaks she played cards with a group of boys at the back of the class while he swept the floor at the back of the classroom. During breaks between rounds, Fu Xueli would see Xu Xingchun coldly glaring at her.

She wouldn’t back down, returning him a grimacing expression.

This stiff state of interaction lasted about a week. One day, Fu Xueli turned her head during class to talk to someone else. Xu Xingchun, having finished copying from the blackboard, came down from the podium. He stopped, furrowed his brows tightly, and with his chalk-dusted hand pulled up her t-shirt collar that had almost slipped to her shoulder, covering the exposed bra strap.

She froze.

In broad daylight, the action was completely subconscious. And the person Fu Xueli had been talking to, seeing this scene, had already formed their mouth into a small “o” shape.

When Xu Xingchun grabbed a bottle of mineral water from his seat to go outside and wash his hands, the person behind her nudged her with an elbow, suddenly realizing, “Tsk tsk tsk, who would have thought! So you and the class president have such an ambiguous relationship?”

Fu Xueli was actually also a bit embarrassed by his action just now. Rolling her eyes, she silently turned around, yanked out the pillow from her drawer and started pretending to sleep.

The two didn’t speak all morning.

When the first afternoon class ended, the physics teacher stood at the door shouting for the class representative to collect homework after the next class.

Xu Xingchun sat at his seat doing homework.

Pulling the window beside her closed, lying motionless for quite a while, Fu Xueli turned her face and asked, “Hey, for Christmas, what do you want?”

He said, “Nothing.”

She placed a lychee-flavored candy on his desk, thick-facedly saying, “Class president, actually I want your physics homework.”

“…” After a long while, he was still bought off by one fruit candy. He pulled out his homework notebook and handed it to her, “If there’s anything you don’t understand, you can ask me.”

After saying this, as if nothing had happened, he continued lowering his head to do his own homework.

His skin was fair and smooth. From the tip of his nose to his jaw, his features, though not yet fully matured, already showed their refinement.

Fu Xueli crossed her hands, folded them behind her head. Not knowing why her brain short-circuited, possessed, she teased, “Kiss you?”

His tone obviously changed.

Xu Xingchun seemed slightly surprised, his pen tip pausing. Slowly, his ear tips turned a bit red, lips pressed tight. Still not looking at her, his face remained very calm, “Mm…”

“Then I’m going to kiss you?” Still in brain-malfunction mode, she stared blankly at his profile, which even had a cute little dimple.

“Okay.” Xu Xingchun paused and paused again. The pen in his hand was already put down. He looked at the dazed Fu Xueli and said, “You can.”

Fu Xueli, accustomed to being wanton and free, looked around, seized the opportunity, leaned over and bit Xu Xingchun’s lips.

Soft, like jelly.

Sweet.

Giggling, Fu Xueli smacked her lips, savoring it a bit.

So, for the second half of that class period, Xu Xingchun left behind a pile of homework notebooks on his desk and disappeared.

The boys’ bathroom on the school’s second floor.

Water gushed from the sink. Xu Xingchun lowered his head, both hands braced on the washbasin.

His face was flushed, forced to pant slightly, breathing ragged and rapid. Water droplets dripped down from the corners of his forehead and brows.

Dazed for quite a while.

Looking at the cold black-gray wall. Slowly, Xu Xingchun came somewhat back to himself. He raised his right hand—also wet. With the back of his hand, with a bit of carefulness, he gently touched his own lips.

Thinking of these past events, she suddenly felt somewhat nostalgic.

Fu Xueli put away the watermelon-flavored one, peeled open the lychee-flavored candy wrapper, pinched it and put it in her own mouth, then grabbed Xu Xingchun’s neck, pinched his chin, closed her eyes, and pressed lip to lip.

A soft little tongue extended halfway out, sliding across the seam of lips. With deliberate seductive intent.

His lips were like scorching winter snow, like cherry red, carrying moist cool air, soft and sweet between lips and teeth.

A bit bad.

Liking seemed to be mutually contagious.

Had long thought she’d already become a worldly-wise adult, annoyed by everyone she met, treating love plainly without raising any ripples. But Fu Xueli increasingly felt she was… addicted to Xu Xingchun.

“You’re getting aroused, Xu Xingchun.”

“Mm.”

“What should we do?” Her head was foggy. She leaned close to his ear, “Should we go into the room? I’ll help you take care of it?”

“No need.” Xu Xingchun’s voice was already hoarse. He changed position, gripped the back of her head and pressed it into the hollow of his neck. Holding the person solidly, airtight.

His breath was hot. The two were at a distance where a slight tilt of the head could lead to a kiss.

“Look at you, being fake-proper again.” Fu Xueli hummed and whined, “Do you know what Song Yifan said about you before?”

His assessment of Xu Xingchun had a very funny passage that she’d always remembered:

“Class President Xu, let me tell you this. From a man’s deep soul-level understanding of another man, the class president is even more colorful than you imagine. On the surface all proper, but actually super lustful!”

In the end she still couldn’t help him take care of it. Xu Xingchun went alone to the bathroom to shower, leaving Fu Xueli by herself in the room, clutching her little belly, rolling around on the bed.

Staring at the lampshade by the bed for a while in a daze, it glowed with a dim light. Fu Xueli had just felt her throat somewhat dry and hot when she saw Xu Xingchun walk past the window.

He held a glass of water in one hand, closed the door with his other hand.

“I suddenly felt a bit scared just now.”

When Xu Xingchun came closer, Fu Xueli knelt up, hand touching his waist.

He bent down to embrace her, close to her ear. In the deep quiet of night, his voice had a low gentleness, “Drink some warm water.”

Turning off the light, the room fell into darkness and silence.

Fu Xueli’s hand slowly groped from under the covers to the hollow of his neck, then slid to his chin, “Actually these past few years haven’t been good for me either. Filming always reverses day and night. Sometimes in hotels I dream of you, and when I wake up I feel very disappointed. When spacing out I also feel very guilty.”

These words were said somewhat insincerely.

Though very heartless, actually these past few years, Fu Xueli didn’t dare think about Xu Xingchun much. Because as soon as she thought of him, as soon as she thought of things related to him, she was surrounded by intense guilt, mixed with indescribable regret. Her heart was twisted and couldn’t get past it.

Too uncomfortable.

Fu Xueli would rather forget the pain once the wound healed.

She’d never been a saint. Clearly knowing she’d done much evil, occasionally she’d despise herself too.

She couldn’t control the thoughts that occasionally surfaced in her heart.

—These past few years without her, Xu Xingchun lived very lonely and dull. Every deep night he could forget her bad points and remember her good points.

Now reunited, she could still fill his cracks with tenderness.

After mumbling these words, Fu Xueli wanted to kiss him but couldn’t reach, so she was somewhat annoyed and also a bit guilty, “Xu Xingchun, you’re so cold. You don’t say anything to me. Bottling things up inside will make you sick. Or is it that you don’t feel sorry for me at all?”

“Feel sorry for you about what?”

“What?!” Fu Xueli pushed him away, demanding, “Why are you so heartless?”

Unfortunately, before her delicate temper could fully flare, someone turned her face and Xu Xingchun forcefully pressed down another kiss. One after another.

More fatal than intertwined tongues.

Her heart trembled wave after wave. Pressed down by his single hand, a half-forced taste. Fu Xueli couldn’t break free from the restraints, making muffled sounds, legs kicking chaotically.

His thumb caressed her lips. Xu Xingchun bent his elbow, bowed his head and kissed Fu Xueli’s eyelids. The room was quiet. He listened to her self-abandoning, intermittent murmuring.

“Actually… I think I’m very selfish. I’m afraid you haven’t been well these past years, but also afraid you’ve been too well. Though I know I’ve wronged you, I also don’t want you to be very happy without me.”

Been happy?

Xu Xingchun felt somewhat self-mocking.

After leaving Fu Xueli, he had no choice but to try every means to disguise his utterly disastrous self.

The first few years, life was terrible. Time passed too slowly.

Knowing she’d become a star, he didn’t dare watch TV, didn’t dare watch entertainment news.

Didn’t dare touch anything related to her.

Countless deep nights thinking.

Hide a gun in his coat.

Then take the train to find her.

Because Xu Xingchun couldn’t stand himself like that anymore either.

That version of him that loved her completely.

Desire approaching obsession.

Every moment, about to drive him crazy.