Chapter 12: Absolutely Not Needed!
It was easy to talk big, but when it came to actually facing the homeroom teacher, Chen Cheng started to hesitate.
After evening self-study, she quickly dragged An Yuan to the teacher’s office. The two of them exchanged nervous glances, but neither had the courage to go in and talk.
An Yuan was indecisive, while Chen Cheng was just straight-up scared of their homeroom teacher.
"Ugh, you’re useless!"
Chen Cheng took a deep breath, knocked twice on the wooden door, hesitated for a moment, then pushed it open and pulled An Yuan inside with her.
The office was a small, private room. Their homeroom teacher was busy with something but looked up when they entered, smiling warmly. "Do you two need something?"
"Uh… Old… I mean, Teacher…" Chen Cheng tried to sound friendly but still felt awkward as she stopped in front of the desk. "Um… An Yuan wants to change seats. He doesn’t want to sit with Li Wanyi anymore."
"Oh? Did you two have a fight?"
The teacher glanced at the tall boy standing behind Chen Cheng.
"No! Li Wanyi is up to no good!" Chen Cheng declared righteously. "I suspect she has a thing for An Yuan, and it’s affecting his studies!"
For seniors in high school, "studies" were the ultimate priority.
"Actually, forget suspecting. I’m sure she likes him!"
"Is that so?"
The teacher glanced at Chen Cheng’s hand, which was still holding onto An Yuan’s arm, and her expression became a little… confused.
She wasn’t sure if Li Wanyi really liked An Yuan, but judging from how these two were acting… their relationship didn’t seem all that simple either.
"Where does An Yuan want to move to?"
"How about sitting behind me?" Chen Cheng asked eagerly.
They were too different in height to be deskmates, but if they sat front and back, passing notes and chatting during class would be so much easier.
The teacher rolled her eyes. "I’ll arrange it tomorrow."
An Yuan was tall, good-looking, academically strong, and easygoing, it was natural for teenage girls to have a crush on him.
But Chen Cheng wasn’t much better. Anyone who sat with her, boy or girl, would see their grades drop.
And now these two troublemakers were teaming up?
The teacher didn’t dismiss them right away, making Chen Cheng feel even more uncomfortable. She clasped her hands behind her back, her eyes darting around nervously.
"Uh… can we go now?"
The teacher waved them off, and Chen Cheng bolted out the door, dragging An Yuan with her.
As soon as they stepped outside, she immediately switched back to her usual cocky self. She threw an arm around An Yuan’s shoulder, laughing.
"Look at you! Not a single word back there. Don’t tell me you’re still thinking about that awful woman?"
An Yuan turned his head, gave a bitter smile, and shook his head. "No… it just feels kind of empty."
He didn’t love Li Wanyi, but after spending so much time together, that love had long turned into familiarity, almost like family. Now that he was cutting ties, there was still a sense of loss.
"You need to hurry up and find a new girlfriend."
He shook his head again. "Nah, I’m good."
Chen Cheng stood on tiptoe and leaned in a little closer. An Yuan could practically feel the warmth of her face.
"How about a drink? You’re definitely feeling down and wanna drink, right? I’ll drink with you!"
"You just want an excuse to drink. Didn’t you say alcohol makes you sick?"
Hearing that, Chen Cheng immediately lost interest. She let go of An Yuan’s neck, stuffed her hands into her pockets, bent forward slightly, and started walking with an exaggerated swagger.
"Can’t drink alcohol, can’t drink soda, can’t even have cold water in this heat… Man, how am I supposed to live like this?"
An Yuan fell half a step behind her, watching her exaggerated steps. "Did you twist your ankle?"
"What? No! Can’t you see I’m walking like a real man?"
"You look like an idiot."
"You’re the idiot!"
Chen Cheng shot back without hesitation. But after thinking about it for a moment, she realized… she really did look like a little kid trying way too hard to act cool.
So she straightened her back and started striding more confidently, like a true boss.
Just as they stepped out of the school building, a cool evening breeze hit, and her stomach immediately reacted. Clutching her lower belly, Chen Cheng hid behind An Yuan.
"When will this get better? I think the medicine's wearing off, my stomach is hurting again."
"If you took the pain reliever capsules, they last about half a day. So yeah, the effect is probably gone."
"Ugh… I just wanna go home…"
Chen Cheng hadn't brought her bike today. She did bring the bicycle lock key when she left home, but now that her period had hit, she had absolutely no desire to ride a bike.
Besides, having An Yuan give her a ride wasn’t a big deal.
As soon as she got on, she rested her head against his back, pressing her hands against her stomach, whining softly.
An Yuan pedaled steadily, the evening wind brushing past them. Under the streetlights, their shadows stretched along the road.
With Chen Cheng’s forehead against his back, he could feel her shivering from the pain and hear her faint groans drifting in the wind.
"You could just hold onto—"
An Yuan was about to say that his body temperature was warmer, so maybe hugging him would help ease her cramps. But before he could finish, he swallowed his words.
He was a seventeen years old guy, and having Chen Cheng's soft embrace around him was… dangerous. And besides, this kind of thing was crossing the line for two best friends. It would definitely feel a little too intimate.
"What?" Chen Cheng's voice was a little hoarse than usual.
"Drink more lava."
"Screw you."
In just over ten minutes, they reached their neighborhood, and An Yuan stopped the bike in front of the bike parking.
Chen Cheng got off, still holding her stomach, and stood to the side. She glanced at the dimly lit stairwell, shifting her weight uneasily.
"Uh… you’re not meeting up with your friends to game tonight?"
In reality, they were all just going home. Where An Yuan went had nothing to do with her, yet for some reason, she felt like she was being left behind.
It wasn’t logical, but that didn’t stop the dull, stuffy feeling in her chest.
"No, I’m just gonna sleep early."
Chen Cheng’s eyes lit up. She enthusiastically helped push An Yuan’s bike into the bike parking, even though it was completely unnecessary.
Once they were done, they headed into the stairwell. The sensor light in the corridor was broken leaving everything in complete darkness. They could barely see each other, only hearing their footsteps in the silence.
Chen Cheng’s breathing grew heavier, her footsteps slower. Noticing this, An Yuan turned around, switched on his phone’s flashlight, and looked down from the stairway landing. She had fallen behind by an entire floor.
"You can’t walk anymore?"
"Not exactly… Just… need to take it slow…" she panted.
"Why are you pushing yourself when you’re having cramps?"
Leaning against the railing, Chen Cheng took a few deep breaths before stubbornly saying, "My grandma can climb up seven floors in one go! Don’t help me! I’ll do it myself!"
An Yuan sighed and walked back down.
"Hey! I said don’t help me! Why are you so stubborn?!"
"I’m fine, I can still walk!"
Despite her protests, she clung to his shoulders, shifting her weight onto him. Then, instead of taking a step, she just let him drag her forward.
"Are you serious? You’re making both of us stop now?"
"Yup! Because I have cramps." Chen Cheng said, completely justified.
As a true best friend, when she couldn’t walk, it was only fair that she found a way to slow him down too.
Otherwise, if he walked ahead so easily, could they even still call themselves best friends?
But then, An Yuan suddenly crouched down.
Chen Cheng yelped in surprise as she lost her balance and toppled onto his broad back.
Before she could even react, his hands grabbed her thighs, lifting her off the ground. Panicking, she instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck.
"What the hell are you doing?!"
"Carrying you up. Otherwise, are you planning to just stay here all night?"
"I absolutely do NOT need this!"