Qin You's sudden outburst on the rooftop at noon made Su Junxin a little uneasy.
She had encountered such situations in the past, where people would suddenly become like irrational beasts in one moment while being fine the previous second.
Pale face, bloodshot eyes, loss of judgment, desire to vent anger... it was almost exactly like the Qin You who had lost his temper with her.
Suddenly, a pair of dark eyes looked over.
She startled, quickly averted her eyes, and stuffed the eraser she had gripped into two pieces into her palm.
Qin You blinked.
"Is it my imagination? Why do I always feel you have been stealing glances at me this afternoon?"
Su Junxin coughed lightly with guilt, "No, it's just that there was a bird outside the window just now."
"Is that so? I actually thought you were looking at me..." Qin You puckered his lips, revealing a somewhat disappointed expression, but quickly regained his smile, "However, my cat also likes to perch on the balcony and watch the birds."
Su Junxin had calmed down by now and she casually nodded.
"Do you like cats?" Qin You asked again.
Su Junxin looked at him and hesitated for a few seconds, "I... I'm not sure, I've never had one."
The only pet she had ever had was Xiaoyou.
Upon hearing her words, his face broke into an even brighter smile, "Can I invite you to come over to my house then? I really want to introduce you to my cat."
He wanted to introduce her to a cat?
Su Junxin thought she had misheard and, putting down her pen, looked at him in surprise.
Qin You seemed to realize this too and blinked, his eyes carried a hint of apology.
Just like a puppy that knows it's done something wrong.
He withdrew his body that had leaned towards her, lowered his eyes and his fingers were tightly entwined with unease.
"I'm sorry, I haven't been entirely truthful to you," He said softly, "I had social anxiety disorder when I was young, and sometimes I can't understand the social cues people give me, and I'm not good at handling my own emotions... I've never had a good friend like you before, I might have gotten too excited just now, did I... offend you?"
As he spoke, his thick eyelashes fluttered in the sunlight, like a pair of butterflies struggling to spread their wings from their cocoon.
Su Junxin held her breath.
She hadn't expected Qin You to have such a past, but it also explains why his behavior was so abnormal before.
The reason why Qin You harbored such hostility towards Li Weize was actually due to a psychological disorder...
Thinking about this, she couldn't help but feel a little sympathy for him.
Su Junxin gently laid her hand on his.
"No," she repeated firmly, "Qin You, you didn't offend me."
Qin You looked up at her, his eyes still filled with a hint of teardrops.
"So, you don't find me weird?"
"Even the moon has a side it doesn't want to show, let alone us? Everyone has something that makes them different from others, and it's because of those unique traits that we are able to be ourselves."
Qin You looked at her in a daze, "Do you also have 'weird' traits?"
After thinking for a moment, Su Junxin had a sudden idea.
"Of course, I'll show you during the physics experiment class next week."
Only then did Qin You show a smile.
"Alright, it's a deal!"
*
Su Junxin didn't know exactly what Qin You and Li Weize had talked about, but in the end they reached an agreement with Qin You providing lunch while Li Weize was responsible for dinner whenever Qin You didn't come for night self-study.
Su Junxin didn't like owing others, so she stuffed several red banknotes into Qin You's pocket since she had given Li Weize money for food.
However, less than half an hour later, the money was returned to her, with even more addition.
"You want me to be your English tutor?" Su Junxin looked at him incredulously.
Qin You nodded earnestly, "Yes, don't worry, I'm a quick learner and I won't take up much of your time."
She was somewhat amused, "But your English grades are clearly better than mine."
Qin You pushed the money back into her arms,
"You misunderstand. I just want you to teach me British pronunciation. After all, I can't find anyone in the entire school who pronounces it better than you."
"But everyone uses American pronunciation, why do you insist on learning British?" Su Junxin pressed on.
"Because that gives us more in common!" He replied with an innocent smile.
Su Junxin watched him for a moment, and for a time, she couldn't think of a reason to refute him, so she had to respond helplessly.
After the evening self-study, the two of them walked and discussed the specific time for "makeup classes," finally agreeing to meet before lunch every day.
After watching him get in the car, Su Junxin headed towards her home.
However, she quickly sensed something was wrong—someone was following her, and it wasn't just one person.
As she passed a street corner, she swiftly glanced back.
Behind her were four boys in their school uniform.
She quickly figured out their intentions.
*
Three kilometers is not far, nor too close, conveniently there is a small park near the villa area where Su Junxin lives.
The little park is deserted at night, eerily quiet, as if it were a horror movie filming location.
Su Junxin was stopped here by the four men.
Four unfamiliar faces, the leader was the one she recognized the most, he resembled You Biao, the guy she had kicked in the lower body days before.
She quickly remembered that he was You Feng, the notorious bully from her school— a tough guy who dared to tackle even the school's guidance director.
You Feng had a cigarette dangling from his mouth as he looked her up and down in a provocatively casual tone.
"Your name is Su Junxin?"
She looked at him expressionlessly, "Mhm, that's me."
"I heard, you're quite good at hitting people?"
He took a step closer to her, deliberately showing off the muscular contours of his arm.
As he moved closer, a strong whiff of cologne rushed at her face. Su Junxin grimaced slightly, instead of answering, she asked, "What do you want from me?"
"The other day, you beat my brother, You Biao, remember?" You Feng glanced at the three men behind him, "Originally, I wanted to see how tough you really are, but now..."
He turned his gaze back to her, revealing an ambiguous smile.
"Looking at your pretty little face, I won't hold your violent tendencies against you, as long as you accompany me into the woods, we can consider the past as water under the bridge, how does that sound?"
Su Junxin turned her gaze to the area he had gestured towards.
It was the darkest corner of the park, and two of the streetlights were conveniently broken.
Mhm, indeed a good place to get physical.
"So, as long as accompany you there, you'll let me go?" she asked calmly.
You Feng's eyes lit up, clearly never expecting that she would be so "cooperative", and readily accepted: "In addition, starting tomorrow, you'll belong to me, You Feng. In South City, no high schooler will dare lay a finger on you!"
Su Junxin lowered her eyes to ponder for a moment, and then her lips curled up into a faint smile.
"Alright."
As soon as her words fell, she turned and headed for the woods.
You Feng squealed with delight immediately, flicked the cigarette on the ground, and let out a laugh as he caught up with her steps.
The three men behind looked at each other in dismay.
One of them couldn't help worrying, "She agreed so easily, could it be a trap?"
Another slapped the back of his head, "Are you dumb? When has boss Feng ever taken a risk? And you're worried about this!"
The last one chimed in: "Boss Feng is a national black belt champion, what's there to fear about a little girl?"
"Right, right! With boss Feng's build, he could crush her just by lying on top of her, he would surely bend her to his will!"
However, as the trio prematurely celebrated You Feng's victory, from the dimly lit woods, several dull thuds resounded.
Su Junxin let out a long breath, leisurely smoothing her schoolblazer collar, then lifting a hand to tuck her somewhat messy hair behind her ears.
She turned around, smiling at You Feng.
He was lying on the ground, his body showing a twisted state—his legs were bent behind his head, and tied with his raised wrist, a shoelace connected his neck and wrists.
The shoelaces were taut, every time he tried to move, his throat would be choked tighter by the shoelace.
You Feng's face turned purple-red, his eyeballs slightly protruding.
He couldn't speak, only looking at her with a pleading gaze.
Su Junxin squatted in front of him, smiled, held up two fingers and began to speak softly.
"I'm going to give you two choices now, you better think it through before answering."