It was just happenstance when Xing first met a boy who sat on her favorite bench. She thought she would only see him once. The second time she met him was probably because he had planned on his own to meet her at the same place. However, their third time meeting was at somewhere she thought would be the last place for him to be. The impossible becoming possible made Xing start to wonder whether they were bound by fate.
"Hello, my name is Lai Tianlang. I transferred from my previous school because I thought it would be nice to study with my friend here." He smiled at a certain someone after introducing himself.
Everyone in the classroom clapped their hands to welcome their new good-looking classmate, except Li Xing who gasped with incredulity of what she saw before her. Lai Tianlang standing beside her homeroom teacher and introducing himself as a transferred student was unbelievable. Why would Young Master Lai transfer to an unknown and small school like hers?
Xing started to feel agitated when she was the center of attention because some good-looking transferred student chose to sit on the empty seat behind her. He even greeted her with his boyish grin and acted close to her during the whole homeroom session.
Li Xing never felt this exhausted because of the looks she got from others before but today really took a toll on her mentally and physically. She had to sit straight and was on guard the whole time, until the first period ended.
"Tianlang, so the friend you mentioned is Xingxing?"
A classmate with cute bob hair who sat on the right side of Xing asked Tianlang. Her eyes were full of excitement. The boy who got asked glanced at his supposed-to-be friend but acting like she was not, then answered the question.
"Yes." It was soft and short but everyone in the room heard it.
"Oooh, Li Xing. You never told us you knew someone this handsome."
A girl in the classroom made the comment with a smirk. Xing left out a long sigh and ignored her. Replying to someone who liked to gossip like Yang Xiuling would only stretch the conversation more than it should be. She turned to the new student behind her and spoke to him in whispers.
"Let's talk after school."
The boy smiled and nodded. So, Li Xing finally talked to him face to face.
...
"Xing! Wait for me too! Li Xing!"
The class ended and Tianlang was walking in a fast pace after the girl who told him to talk to her after school. Why was she trying to walk away from him?
"Hey Xing, why are you walking so fast? Even though you have short le-…"
Tianlang shut up, not on his own, but because the girl before him suddenly turned back and covered his mouth with her small hand. She inched closer to him and whispered with a serious face.
"Can you not talk to me for a minute longer? Don't act close to me while we are in the hallway. I don't want to attract attention."
After her whisper, she signaled him to look around. Everyone was looking at them and there were also sounds of murmurs. Tianlang looked back at Xing. 'Hasn't she realized that she is actually the one who made them look this way? The one who got so close to him?' He thought and couldn't stop himself from smiling. Li Xing was just too cute.
"So, where are we going to talk?" He asked softly after she let go of him.
"Let's go to the music room. Follow me." Xing said and walked to the said room. Tianlang felt like he was being led with an invisible lease and followed her like a puppy.
Both of them arrived at the school's music room which had been rarely used. There was dust everywhere and broken instruments were stacked improperly on top of each other. It was almost like a haunted storeroom. Lai Tianlang took out a handkerchief from the right pocket of his jacket and handed it to the girl beside him for her to use as a mask. She smiled at him and reached her hand to receive it. She smiled. She freaking smiled after acting grumpy almost all day.
They settled themselves on the old piano benches after dusting them. The two middle schoolers sat face to face like they were in an interrogation room.
"So.., why did you act so distant from me? Do you not like it that we are classmates now?"
Tianlang finally asked although he hesitated a little. Xing shook her head.
"No, that's not it. It's just that the attention everyone was giving was overwhelming and I felt uncomfortable. I'm sorry, I was not acting myself today."
Xing decided it was her fault. She was being unreasonable when she tried to avoid talking to him because she was too conscious of herself. The pure young master must have been confused as to why she was acting like that. He must have had no idea that he became instantly famous after showing up as a cool transferred student on the first day of the new term and that the only friend he had would receive the same amount of attention-slash-jealousy.
"Is it because I'm famous? And being a close friend with a famous person is uncomfortable for you?"
Tianlang grinned at her after asking the question. He made it sound like a joke but there was a flash of sadness in his eyes. Xing wouldn't have noticed it if she was not watching him intently. Could it be…
"Did your friends at the previous school say that?"
The boy's smile faded and Xing regretted her choice of question. It was like she was pouring salt into his wound and what Tianlang said after that made her heart shrink even more.
"Yes. The schoolmates somehow found out that I am from the Lai Family and the few friends I had started distancing themselves. They said they couldn't afford being friends with a rich kid because they couldn't help but compared our lifestyles. I ended up being a loner. Haha…"
His forced laughter was painful for Xing to hear. She couldn't believe she almost hurt him again for the same reason as them. Li Xing looked straight into his eye for a few seconds which felt like a day. Tianlang thought he was being possessed by her. Her lips parted.
"Isn't it good that they didn't become your friends to take advantage of your wealth?" She asked but not demanding an answer.
"Let me take advantage of you then." She continued.