Xu Xingye stared at Lu Siting's hand on his desk and felt his entire understanding of the world begin to wobble.
What did he mean?
He could only lend them to him?
The guy scored thirty-seven in math. What would he even do with the notes? Take them home to ward off evil?
Worse still, Lu Siting looked as though he had come to collect protection money, while inside his head all hell had broken loose.
[He hasn't refused.]
[Round that up, and he's agreed to lend them to me. Round it up again, and he's willing to entrust me with his most important possession.]
[How is that any different from exchanging tokens of love?]
Xu Xingye had no intention of listening to another word. He fumbled with his bag's zipper, not even bothering about the half sheet of paper caught in it, yanked it hard, and stood up.
“Borrow someone else's notes. I've got things to do.”
With that, he rounded the desk, slung his bag onto his back, and bolted toward the classroom door.
He moved so fast that it looked less like leaving school and more like being chased by three vicious dogs.
Lu Siting froze for a few seconds.
[Is he angry?]
[But he's so good-looking when he's angry too.]
[Wait. He's running.]
Xu Xingye had only made it past two rows of desks when Lu Siting reacted.
Making full use of his long legs, he reached the front door in a few strides. His tall, broad frame planted itself in the doorway and blocked the exit completely.
The classroom's front door went from a two-way passage to Lu Siting's private tollbooth.
Xu Xingye stopped, then turned to make for the back door.
But he had barely turned sideways when his schoolbag tightened behind him. A tug pulled him half a step backward.
Lu Siting had one hand around the strap, his fingers clenched tight and his face dark.
“Did I say you could leave?”
Xu Xingye's temple twitched. He reached for the strap. “Let go.”
“No.”
“Lu Siting, get this straight. It's my bag.”
Instead of releasing it, Lu Siting gave the strap another tug toward himself. Looking thoroughly irritable, he said, “I know. I never said I was stealing it.”
[He's been carrying this bag for ages. Does the strap smell like him?]
[Does holding it like this count as holding hands indirectly?]
Xu Xingye's hands stiffened for a moment. Then he pulled even harder.
This was no longer about whether the bag was being stolen. The problem was far more serious.
He honestly suspected that if he waited another two minutes, Lu Siting would enshrine this strap in a safe like some priceless treasure.
“What exactly do you want?”
“Give me your notes.”
Lu Siting sounded perfectly entitled, but his left hand unconsciously touched his earring, and his eyes slid awkwardly away from Xu Xingye's face.
[Once I've borrowed the notes, I can ask him questions every day.]
[One problem a day. With a whole notebook, I could keep that up for at least half a year.]
[After six months, things between us will definitely be different. We might even be dating by then.]
Xu Xingye took a deep breath and kept hauling on the bag. “With your grades, maybe learn your times tables first.”
Lu Siting's expression instantly darkened. “Who do you think you're looking down on?”
[He might have a point.]
[Maybe I should hire ten tutors tonight. With any luck, I'll understand the first problem in his notes by tomorrow.]
[He can teach me math, and I'll earn the money to support our family. Yeah, that's a pretty sensible division of labor.]
Sensible, my ass.
Xu Xingye clenched his jaw, seized the strap with both hands, braced a foot against a nearby desk leg, and pulled back with everything he had.
Lu Siting held the bag steady with just one hand. He even had the leisure to look down at him.
At that moment, the difference in their strength seemed particularly unfair.
Xu Xingye struggled for ages without reclaiming so much as an inch. All he achieved was working up a sweat. Even his silver-rimmed glasses slipped a little down his nose.
Lu Siting kept watching him, his expression growing fiercer and fiercer.
[His face is red.]
[There's sweat on his forehead.]
[How is he even cute when he's fighting over a schoolbag?]
[I'll have to put everything up high at home. Then he'll come to me whenever he can't reach it.]
Xu Xingye stopped.
At home?
What home?
Before he could even put himself on guard, more thoughts burst forth, well beyond anything a normal person should have under control.
[Our place definitely can't be too small. Somewhere near the school would be best.]
[The living room doesn't matter much, but the main bedroom has to be big. Should the bed be three meters wide or four?]
[Four. If he rolls around in his sleep, he won't fall off so easily.]
Xu Xingye's fingers slowly tightened until the veins stood out on the backs of his hands.
They weren't even friends yet, and this guy had already planned exactly what kind of bed they would sleep in together.
“Let go.”
Xu Xingye's voice had gone stiff. Sweat from his temples slid down his cheeks.
Lu Siting raised an eyebrow and deliberately lowered his voice. “Give me the notes, and I'll let go.”
[If he'd call me his husband right now, I wouldn't even need the notes.]
Xu Xingye: “...”
Telling him to seek treatment early had been far too restrained.
A regular hospital probably couldn't handle this case. Someone needed to contact a specialist institution and have him taken away on a stretcher.
Xu Xingye could no longer bear the mental torture. He suddenly released the strap.
Lu Siting had not expected him to let go. His arm jerked back instinctively, and his whole body swayed.
Seizing that opening, Xu Xingye spun around, grabbed the bag that had been pulled away, and snatched it back into his arms.
Lu Siting froze.
[He just touched my hand.]
[Actually touched it this time.]
[Round that up, and we held hands.]
Xu Xingye did not dare look back to see his expression. Hugging his bag, he squeezed past Lu Siting and rushed out of the classroom, practically brushing the doorframe.
He wanted nothing now except to go home.
Whether this was a side effect of rebirth, a hallucination left by the accident, or something wrong with his own brain, he needed to get home and work out what this bizarre ability to hear thoughts was.
Especially why he could only hear Lu Siting's.
At this rate, before he even had a chance to avoid the death that had ended his previous life, the outrageous things in Lu Siting's head would send him straight to the next one.
Behind him came the clatter of someone bumping into desks and chairs, followed by Lu Siting's furious shout.
“Hey! What the hell are you running for? I wasn't done talking!”