3. Sprout
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Shu Fei stared down at his handwriting, trying to recall what on earth had been going through his head when he took the Physics notes. Half a page was all indecipherable scribbles and doodles.
"Are you taking the science test soon?" Shu Fei hid his surprise when he saw An Cheng walk to the table and set down his tray. The cafeteria was as loud and crowded as ever, but Shu Fei never drew much attention wherever he sat.
"Mhm," Shu Fei said, biting his lip. "Next class, actually."
"I did mine yesterday. It wasn't too bad," An Cheng said, taking a bite of rice. "You're smart, from what I've heard. You'll do fine."
Shu Fei wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry. "Well…"
Well, he may have been trying to be reassuring, but that opinion wasn't much considering it came from Mr. Top-of-the-Class!
A few days had passed since Shu Fei had come across 'hanahaki disease.' He decided to observe himself and his thoughts carefully around people he regularly came into contact with. Hopefully, this would narrow down the list of individuals that he could possibly have fallen head-over-heels for. However, he wasn't entirely sure how he would know in the end. Doing something felt better than nothing, though.
"Aren't you hungry?" An Cheng asked, jolting him back to the present.
A reasonable question, seeing as he was studying in a cafeteria without even a water bottle on the table.
"Uh. I don't eat lunch," Shu Fei replied bluntly, crossing off some redundant sentences.
The truth was that he didn't want to wait in line, where there always seemed to be at least one person from Xiao's group who would recognize him. Also, cafeteria stuff was expensive.
He yawned and felt that cursed tightness settle in his throat. Shu Fei wrestled with it futilely and started to cough. He turned his head so he didn't have to look at An Cheng. Oh god, he could feel it in his chest now, too. The shameless petals slipped past his lips, discreetly landing into his elbow. He was painfully aware of An Cheng's keen gaze piercing the back of his head.
An Cheng got up and set a bottle of water down in front of him.
"You should take better care of yourself," An Cheng noted. "Or maybe get your cough checked out. Just saying," he shrugged.
"I…thanks." Shu Fei couldn't help but be touched. He couldn't remember the last time someone had given him anything.
They sat in silence, just Shu Fei fixing his notes and An Cheng reading something on his laptop.
When the bell rang, they got up and left for their respective classes. Before leaving, An Cheng smiled that cool smile of his and waved, saying a quick 'good luck.'
Shu Fei's breath caught in his chest.
That 'good luck' replayed in his mind during the entire walk to the science classroom.
The classroom was silent as test papers were passed out, but Shu Fei couldn't get his thoughts straight. He skimmed through the questions. His brain short-circuited when he couldn't figure out how to even begin answering that long-answer question on the last page, but future him could worry about that.
It wasn't as easy as An Cheng had made it out to be of course, but Shu Fei thought he did okay. For that last question, he'd scrapped together some desultory explanation that had some random vocabulary and a vague conclusion thrown in. Like everyone else, he got up and packed as quickly as possible when the class ended. He stretched his wrists and smiled, thinking about the upcoming weekend–maybe he'd try out that oil painting idea he saw last night, or ask Ningning if she wanted to play some tennis– small things like that. There were only two classes left, and he'd be free.
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When the final bell rang, Shu Fei had just finished helping clean the art classroom and started to pack up his own things. He took a step back and bumped against something solid – someone solid. He would've fallen backward if not for a pair of firm hands grabbing his shoulders. He blinked up and met An Cheng's gaze.
An Cheng looked just as taken aback as he was. The silence stretched for a second, both parties realizing how their positions looked.
"Oh, sorry…," Shu Fei said stupidly, straightening up. An Cheng didn't take an art course, so what could he be here for? Also, why was his grip so hard?
"Don't worry about it," An Cheng said, his demeanor no different from his usual cool-older-brother tone. "So. Art is your last class?"
"Yeah…AP art."
"Nice," he commented. "I just need to pick up some markers for an English project," the corner of his mouth twitched.
"Oh. Sounds fun."
"Heck, no. Not to be that person but…English projects are awful. You know how it is–70% visuals, 30% knowledge, too many freeloaders." An Cheng opened one of the many drawers and picked up the first set of markers, then closed it.
Even his bad-mouthing sounded polite! Shu Fei wanted to throw something. At least he was being relatable.
"I get you."
Ugh," he sighed distastefully. "Sorry, I needed to get that off my chest."
"Mmm," Shu Fei replied insightfully.
He went over to the teacher's desk, near the door of the classroom where Shu Fei was. An Cheng bent over, signing his name on the 'borrowed materials' sheet.
"Shu Fei."
"Hm?"
There was a pause. "You seem a little different lately."
"Oh–um. I'm just more tired recently, I guess." Shu Fei forced a chuckle. Then he coughed.
An Cheng straightened up, neatly placing the pen on the clipboard. "Take it easy. Even though it's almost mid-terms, it's not good to study until you're exhausted."
Oh right. Shu Fei almost forgot it was exam season. Screw his weekend plans, he was going to study and review. Maybe he could ask Ningning to help. He thought hard. He had his first one…in nine days?
"Oh. Okay. Thanks."
Was that even the right reply? Shu Fei was a little worried. Internally, he felt a little warm, even though he wasn't sure why. He briefly closed his eyes, clearing his head. Crap, that guy had a way with words that'd make anyone pleased. No wonder why he was voted for class president.
There wasn't anything else to be said, so they left the classroom together.
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