Chapter 1
Edward Quan ·
I forgot to mute myself during an online class.
Watching the campus bad boy do push-ups on-screen, I got a little too bold.
"Still wearing clothes? Can't handle it?"
"And those aren't even grey sweatpants. I'm not interested."
He stepped out of frame, changed into grey sweatpants and returned to the camera.
"Interested now?"
Uh...
Wait.
Was my mic still on?!
Shen Jiayan, the campus bad boy in question, wasn't actually in my class.
We'd just signed up for the same PE elective.
There wasn't much exercise you could do in an online PE class, so our instructor decided to give us a little entertainment and told the guys to do push-ups.
I pinned Shen Jiayan's video to my main screen.
He wore a white long-sleeved shirt and black sweatpants. As he lowered himself, I caught glimpses of his trim waist. The taut muscles in his neck were ridiculously attractive.
His movements were firm and quick.
I suffered from an inability to look handsome men in the eye. Normally, I wouldn't even dare glance straight at him.
But this was different.
"Still wearing clothes, Shen Jiayan? Can't handle it?"
Not only was I looking, I was offering commentary.
"Tsk, tsk. Why aren't those grey sweatpants? I'm not interested."
Shen Jiayan suddenly stopped.
He stood and walked out of frame.
"Hey, don't go! What am I supposed to watch if you leave..."
When he returned, he'd actually changed into grey sweatpants.
His cool, dark eyes looked straight into the camera.
As though he was looking straight at me.
"Well? Interested now?"
My brain froze for a full three seconds.
Then it hit me.
I HADN'T MUTED MYSELF.
My face went up in flames.
My hands were shaking so badly I had to click twice before I managed to turn the mic off.
When I opened WeChat, I discovered my best friend Song Xiaoxiao had been frantically warning me for ages.
"Girl. Emergency. MUTE YOUR MIC!"
"You've got some nerve saying that stuff with your mic on!!"
She'd even called.
Unfortunately, my phone was on silent.
I hadn't heard a thing.
In the online class group chat, everyone was enthusiastically answering Shen Jiayan's question.
"VERY interested!!!"
"Type 1 if you're interested. I'll go first: 1111111..."
I thought it over.
There were so many people. Surely he couldn't tell who'd said it.
We didn't even know each other.
That thought let me breathe again.
Heh. Nothing scares me.
Having escaped disaster, I messaged Song Xiaoxiao.
"Girl, wasn't I brilliant? He definitely doesn't know it was me!"
The very next second, a little red dot appeared on WeChat.
Huh?
My smile froze.
The friend request read, plain as day:
"I'm Shen Jiayan."
His profile picture was an adorable golden retriever puppy. It didn't match his too-cool-for-you image at all.
Trembling, I accepted.
He sent a message almost immediately.
"Nothing to say now?"
"No, no. That wasn't me. You've got the wrong person."
Shen Jiayan: "Still playing innocent?"
I surrendered at once.
"I'm interested! Very interested!"
I looked up at my computer screen.
And met his gaze straight through the camera.
My heart began to pound.
My phone buzzed.
Another message.
"As for your problem with me still wearing clothes... why don't you come over and see for yourself whether I can handle it?"
Meanwhile, Xiaoxiao was still bombarding me.
"You're a genius!!"
"Long live grey sweatpants! Thank you for sacrificing yourself for the rest of us!"
"A true pioneer. An example to us all. Respect!"
I didn't have time to answer. I was busy dealing with Shen Jiayan.
"I'm not coming to your place."
"Need me to pick you up?"
"I was only kidding."
"You're the first person who's dared say I can't handle it."
Clearly, he was competitive.
I gave it some thought.
We were safely separated by the internet. He couldn't actually do anything to me.
So I got bold.
"You know I can't come over to check, but you keep telling me to. Doesn't that prove you can't handle it?"
Shen Jiayan: "..."
Me: smug-villain-grin.jpg
He didn't reply for the rest of class.
Hmph. From behind a screen, I feared nothing.
The next second, my phone vibrated furiously.
Shen Jiayan was video-calling me.
I nearly dropped it.
Was he going to yell at me?
Yes.
I was scared.
I couldn't do face-to-face confrontations.
"Scared to answer?"
"Just wait until we're back on campus."
After that, I tiptoed through every online class. I checked my mic three times each lesson before I could relax.
I couldn't risk another disaster.
A lifetime...
No. A semester was short.
I could grit my teeth and get through it.
Nothing to fear. Nothing to fear.
Then, a week later, I stared at the university's notice announcing our return to campus.
Was this moral decay? The collapse of human decency?
Who could issue such a heartless notice?
Shen Jiayan might have seen me on video, but I'd changed my hairstyle.
I'd even asked Song Xiaoxiao to assess my disguise.
She guaranteed it.
"Don't worry. I almost didn't recognize you at first glance. No way Shen Jiayan will. I promise."
At last, the day of PE arrived.
I approached the basketball court with dread.
Quite a few guys were already playing.
I stood at the entrance, furtively scanning the court like a thief.
Then I heard footsteps behind me, accompanied by the bounce of a basketball.
"You're blocking my way."
I turned.
And came face-to-face with Shen Jiayan's infuriatingly handsome, arrogant face.
His hair was dyed a deep red. He spun a basketball in one hand, his pale wrist exposed, swagger radiating from him.
While I silently worried about my miserable fate, he merely gave me a sideways glance.
Then he went in with his friends.
I froze.
Then grinned.
Heh.
My hairstyle had worked perfectly.
Shen Jiayan hadn't recognized me.
I drew in a breath of fresh air and marched onto the court, greeting everyone with renewed confidence.
Someone brought up the unmuted-mic incident.
I raised a hand.
"Please. I've retired from that life. Let us never speak of it again."
Just then, a new message from Shen Jiayan popped up.
"Where are you?"
What?!
Was he really going to prove himself?
Or settle the score?
I glanced nervously at him in the distance.
"Um... I didn't come today. I took the class off."
Suddenly, someone called my name.
"Jiang Luo."
My hand shot up on reflex.
"Here!"
I.
Was.
Dead.
Shen Jiayan had played me!
He strode over on those long legs and gave a low scoff.
"Jiang Luo, you didn't think sweeping your bangs up and hunching your shoulders would stop me recognizing you, did you?"
Don't panic. Don't be a coward.
With that thought, I straightened my neck and stood up.
Only to discover that I came up to his chest.
You don't hit a smiling person, right?
So I looked up and gave him what I considered my brightest, friendliest smile.
"Yes, it's me. Such sharp eyes you have, Shen Jiayan."
He looked down at me, cool and clearly unmoved.
"Always have."
Damn it. Even proverbs were useless.
"You took the class off?"
"Ha-ha. I was just kidding..."
And while I was at it, I tried to explain the online class too.
"That was a joke as well. Just a little joke."
But under his gaze, my voice grew smaller and smaller.
He laughed.
"You call that a joke? I'd say you took it a little far."