Lemon Soda Candy - 4

He Hadn't Noticed

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The screech of chair legs against the floor cut through the classroom.

It was the class president, the only other person still in the room, getting up from his seat.

Zhou Anran snapped back to reality. What she was doing right now was eavesdropping, pure and simple. Not like this morning, when she'd just happened to be sitting there, close enough to hear his conversation. He'd known someone was in front of him then.

And Yan Xingxi was still waiting for her in the first-floor bathroom.

Zhou Anran pressed her lips together and forced herself to keep walking toward her desk.

Then, finally, that familiar lazy voice drifted through the open back door, still heavy with exhaustion.

"But Senior." He paused, the drowsiness in his voice even more pronounced. "You already disturbed my nap."

The long thread around her heart loosened, just slightly.

But it was still there, coiled and ready to tighten at any moments.

As she walked further away, the rest of their conversation faded, lost to distance.

Zhou Anran reached her seat, unzipped her bag, and pulled out what she needed, stuffing it into her jacket pocket.

As she zipped her bag back up, another chair scraped against the floor behind her and she froze.

After a few seconds, she stood up.

When she turned, she saw Chen Luobai was back at his desk.

He'd slumped onto the table again, this time he hadn't buried his whole face in his arms. The clean lines of his profile were visible, half turned toward the room.

For the first time, they were the only two people in the classroom.

But Zhou Anran couldn't bring herself to enjoy this rare, stolen moment of solitude. Her mind was still replaying the conversation she'd just overheard.

Was that girl the senior Zhu Ran had mentioned this morning?

But didn't he say she'd just asked him about a math problem?

And what he'd said just now…

Was that a rejection?

She hadn't heard the rest of their conversation, so she couldn't piece together the answer. All she knew was the bitter taste in her mouth.

Maybe the light was bothering him, sleeping on his side like that. The boy in the back shifted, burying his whole face in his arms again.

Zhou Anran slowly looked away. Not wanting to disturb him, she didn't take the back door this time. She went out the front, and as she passed the back door, she hesitated for just a second before gently, quietly, pulling it closed.

The wind that had been sneaking in through the back door seemed to stop all at once.

Chen Luobai lifted his head and glanced at the back door.

When he'd come in earlier, there was someone else in the classroom. He hadn't really noticed who.

He put his head back down.

But having been woken up mid-nap, the sleep he'd lost was hard to get back.

Five minutes later, he sat up again, running a hand through his hair in frustration.

He got up, pulled open the back door that someone had closed, and headed downstairs, all the way to the basketball court.

Zhu Ran and Zong Kai were in the middle of a one-on-one.

Seeing him approach, they both stopped.

Zhu Ran dribbled the ball over. "Well, well. If it isn't our Luo-ge. Thought you were staying in the classroom to catch up on sleep? I heard that Senior came back for round two. Got your heart fluttering you can't sleep? Weren't you telling me this morning she was just asking about a math problem?"

Chen Luobai started stretching out his wrists and ankles expressionlessly. He didn't even spare Zhu Ran a glance.

"It's not like you just met him yesterday," Zong Kai answered for him.

The three of them had all went to No. 2 High's middle school division, was in the same class from seventh to ninth grade. Zong Kai is in Class 4 now.

"He always lets girls save faces. With your big mouth, your whole class would know a senior confessed to him last week and got rejected. Give it two days and the whole school would know."

Zhu Ran grinned, hungry for gossip. "Yeah, but I bet the senior would rather have the guy than save face.”

Chen Luobai finished warming up at the three-point line and swiped the ball from Zhu Ran's hands. "You've been going on about this all day. If you're into her, just say so."

As he spoke, he jumped and took a three-pointer.

The orange ball arced through the air, slammed against the rim with a loud thud, and bounced away.

Chen Luobai clicked his tongue in annoyance.

Zhu Ran didn't have the mind to laugh at him, immediately retorted, "Don't put words in my mouth. My heart only belongs to your cousin Bingqin-jie."

Chen Luobai gave him a sidelong glance. "Say that to her face, if you have the guts."

Zhu Ran: "..."

Yu Bingqin was Chen Luobai's older cousin. She lived in the next city over, and is three years older than them. She was every inch the cool, untouchable queen her name suggested.

Zhu Ran caved instantly. "I don't have the guts."

Having conceded defeat, he sidled up to Chen Luobai, a currying look on his face. "So, is Bingqin-jie coming to your place for New Year's this year?"

Chen Luobai looked at him, a slow smile spread across his face. "You want to know?"

Zhu Ran: "Why else would I ask?"

Chen Luobai jerked his chin toward the far end of the court. "Go fetch my ball first.”

Zhu Ran scampered off, grabbed the ball, and presented it to Chen Luobai with both hands, sweetening the deal. "If you give me the intel, I'll pay you back for those sneakers next month, even if I have to skip meals."

The smile still played at the corner of Chen Luobai's mouth. "No rush on the money. I have a different condition."

Zhu Ran: "Name it."

Chen Luobai didn't answer right away. He just idly dribbled the ball a few times.

The silence stretched, and Zhu Ran felt like his heart was the ball bouncing on the court beneath Chen Luobai's palm.

His heart. No, wait, the ball. It was launched again. This time, it sank cleanly through the net.

Maybe making the shot improved his mood. Chen Luobai finally spoke. "Just shut up for a week in front of me."

Zhu Ran felt his heart drop right along with that basketball.

He was a talker. He even muttered to himself in class. Going a week without speaking would be harder than paying Chen Luobai back right now.

"Damn it! Fine, don't tell me. You're just messing with me."

Zong Kai was shaking with laughter on the side. "You know he gets like this when he doesn't get enough sleep. And you just had to poke the bear."

Zhu Ran's gaze drifted to the edge of the court, noticing the cluster of girls that had gathered. It was obvious who they were there for. He shook his head. "Too bad the girls at this school are blinded by someone's pretty face. They have no idea this guy's heart is black as ink."

Chen Luobai fetched the ball himself. Hearing that last remark, he nodded, face blank. "Heart's black as ink, huh? Sure. Don't come asking about my cousin again."

Zhu Ran immediately pointed at Zong Kai. "I was talking about him."

Zong Kai laughed despite himself. "Zhu Ran, have you no shame?"

A school bus rolled past the cluster of girls in their uniforms. Zhu Ran's sharp eyes caught a glimpse of someone on board.

"Looks like the school team." He turned to Chen Luobai. "You regret it? If you'd said yes to the coach, you'd probably be on that bus right now."

Chen Luobai glanced over, his voice flat. "What's there to regret?"

Zhu Ran: "The high school league. It's once in a lifetime."

Chen Luobai tossed the ball again. "A hobby isn't the same as a dream.”

The bus carrying the team was now long gone.

Zhu Ran looked away, his voice deliberately dramatic. "True. What was I thinking? Our young master Chen here has a billion-dollar empire to inherit."

"Idiot." Chen Luobai laughed as he said it, the irritation from his interrupted nap finally easing.

Zong Kai: "A-Luo probably wants to be a lawyer like his mom."

Chen Luobai didn't respond to that. He just tilted his chin toward the court across from them. "Call them over. Let's do a 3v3."

---

Zhou Anran didn't find out until she got back to the classroom that Chen Luobai had played a 3v3 game that afternoon against some guys from Class 6.

Yan Xingxi didn't get cramps. Her period wasn't slowing her down one bit.

They'd eaten rice platters off campus, then Yan Xingxi dragged her to buy milk tea and wander around the stationery store nearby. Completely missing the game.

Zhou Anran would learn later that the 3v3 was a half-court game, the format China's national team would one day stand on the world's highest podium for.

That night, listening to her classmates talk about how Chen Luobai had sunk six three-pointers, how he had led Zhu Ran and Zong Kai to a complete victory over the boys from Class 6, all she felt was a deep, aching regret that she hadn't been there to see him play. To see the boy she liked in his element.

He must have been so brilliant. So full of life.

But the afternoon's game wasn't the only thing people were talking about. Just as hot a topic was the senior who'd come to find Chen Luobai.

It wasn't discussed as openly as the game, though. It was mostly whispered in small groups of girls huddled together.

The girls sitting across the aisle from Zhou Anran were one of them.

"I did some digging," said Cai Yue, one of the girls in Zhou Anran's class. "I think her name is Xie something. She's from Grade 11, regular class. So brave, showing up at our classroom door like that."

Another girl, Zhang Shuxian, chimed in. "Xie Yufei? That last name's pretty rare. I remember she's the Grade 11 beauty."

"Grade beauty." Cai Yue nodded knowingly. "No wonder she's got the guts."

"I've seen her. I think she's pretty average, actually," Lou Yiqi, the entertainment committee member, cut in.

"Average? I'd be over the moon if I looked like her." Zhang Shuxian glanced at Lou Yiqi, a teasing note creeping into her voice. "You know, you bring up Chen Luobai an awful lot. You wouldn't happen to like him, would you? Is that why…"

Before she could finish, Lou Yiqi clamped a hand over her mouth.

Her face was burning red. "Oh my god. Say another word and I'm never telling you guys anything ever again."

Zhang Shuxian's muffled voice came through. "Sorry, sorry."

Lou Yiqi finally let go, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "I'm just saying, every girl who's brave enough to confess to him is gorgeous. This senior Xie doesn't really stand out in that crowd."

Cai Yue nodded. "True."

Lou Yiqi twisted her fingers together. "So. Did he say yes? Did he agree?"

Cai Yue: "I checked. He didn't."

Zhou Anran bent her head over her math homework.

The hand gripping her gel pen finally relaxed.

He Mingyu, who sat behind her, tapped her shoulder lightly with his pen. "Zhou Anran, can you tell me what this sentence means?”

She turned.

He Mingyu pushed his book toward her, pointing at a English line that was underlined. "This part."

Zhou Anran straightened the book and looked down.

He Mingyu's gaze lingered on her eyelashes, fine and dense like butterfly wings, then looked away.

Zhou Anran pointed to a word in the sentence. "'Black' here means angry or full of hatred."

He Mingyu looked down again. "Thanks."

"No problem."

When Zhou Anran looked up, her gaze drifted, almost unconsciously, toward the sixth desk of the second row.

Still empty.

She'd heard that after the 3v3, he'd taken Zhu Ran and Zong Kai out to eat, and invited the three guys from Class 6 along.

But evening self-study was about to start. If he didn't get back soon, he'd be late.

She slowly turned back around.

Lou Yiqi and the others had moved on to gossiping about some new TV drama, but from another corner, other girls had picked up the topic of the afternoon's confession.

His name drifted into her ears, again and again.

Now, Zhou Anran thought she knew why he'd lied to Zhu Ran this morning about the math problem.

What she didn't know was that a lie he'd tossed out so casually would soon start a new trend at school.

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