After going through four classes of pain, suffering, and torture, Gu Jing remembered that he was supposed to be a school tyrant, and could basically just bully someone into giving him their notes, as tyrannical and selfish as that sounded, could he help it? He sighed to himself. Being a bad person was difficult, but easy to imitate. Gradually, he found himself getting accustomed to the life of a raging homo.
Break-time commenced. Gu Jing found himself loitering at the entrance of the cafeteria. Some students who came earlier for the perk of getting the better parts of the lunch were already seated. They stopped in the midst of picking up their spoons and glanced at him with bleary-eyes like a deer in headlights. Gu Jing felt awkward under the intensity of their stares, as if he was the root of the reason why they couldn't eat. There was a hint of grudge in their gazes.
Gu Jing averted his eyes to look down at his shoes. He drew circles with the tip of his branded shoe similar to the movements of a ballerina, but because of him. The once graceful motion turned cumbersome, and out of place. Having enough of his self-antics, he broodily leaned against the entryway, somewhat disturbing the steady stream of students pouring into the canteen. They had to do their utmost best to avoid bumping into his well-built and lanky body unless they wanted to be targeted by the supposed boss of the school.
Imagine a food-chain. Gu Jing was the predator at the top. The principal and the teachers were one level below him, and of course, the students were at the bottom. Though, everyone secretly knew the undercover King of the school was the taciturn, but as deadly as he was silent, Lai Wenxing. Because he never acted out against Gu Jing, the students gradually accepted that there was nothing they could do about Gu Jing's haughtiness and overbearing ways. Here, Gu Jing's words were order.
But, now, the same 'haughty and overbearing' Gu Jing was tentatively looking over his shoulder, his eyes almost crossing side-ways from impatience as though he were waiting for someone. Everyone knew who Gu Jing was supposedly making a big show of waiting for. It was none other than Kuanlin, the soft, shy and angelic-looking male who was the best friend of Lai Wenxing. As effeminate as Kuanlin looked, he was not those type of pretty bottoms that went out of their way to highlight their prettiness, the ones that gave you the urge to coddle and protect.
Though as sickly pale and frail as Kuanlin seemed, the classmates of his knew that he was too good of a person to be bullied by. Besides, he rarely talked, making him appear gloomy to others. Other than Gu Jing and Lai Wenxing, no one really made an attempt to acquaint themselves with him.
Gu Jing felt an endless amount of pity towards the other. When he was back in his highschool years, he used to be the quintessential example of a student hated by all teachers; he was popular, loud-mouthed, a class clown and exceptionally great at sports, the kind of student girls would giggle at and all the boys would befriend. From the perspective of an out-going person, Kuanlin did seem a little pitiful with his only one friend and one wannabe friend trying to get into his pants.
Gu Jing scratched his head. The system had yet to come back, and the shou was nowhere to be seen. After a few more seconds, Gu Jing waited until his stomach started to gurgle loudly, attracting the attention of few students who had already finished with their lunch, and were more interested in fooling around with their friends. But Gu Jing was thick-skinned and he didn't grow embarrassed of his condition, though, on one hand, was more angered that Kuanlin was nowhere in sight, thus hindering his path to obtaining 100 misery points.
Finally having enough of starving himself, the fool begun to set out of his way to find the shou, before a hand reaching out to grab at his forearm practically making him jump out of his shoes like a cat meeting cucumber. When he turned back, he was greeted with the sight of Lai Wenxing's stone-like, Buddha face. Gu Jing immediately felt the hair at the back of his neck stand up.
Perhaps, he had been ranting on and on about bumping heads with the real male lead, and fighting to death for the fair hand of the dearest shou. But upon meeting the real deal, Gu Jing couldn't help but swallow a lump down his throat. He was supposed to be spouting lines to the shou, but the shou was nowhere to be found, then he had to meet the God of Hell himself. He cringed inwardly, but put his nonsensical philosophical skills to use. When he was young, he liked to write all bullshit kinds of stories. His acting skills shouldn't be underestimated at all!
Gu Jing puffed out his chest like a proud peacock and haughtily asked, "Where is Kuanlin?"
He giggled to himself on the inside. Yes, he looked so macho just now! If he were back in his world, all men and women would throw themselves at him like a pack of hyenas towards fresh meat. While he was busy praising himself to the point his ego shot through the roof, Lai Wenxing, on the other hand, smothered a complicated expression on his face.
Finally, the male lead sighed, and grabbed Gu Jing by his shoulders with a vice-like grip. Gu Jing was alarmed. He wasn't prepared to fight at all! If the male lead was looking for a duel, shouldn't he at least give his opponent some time to prepare their mental barriers?
"Gu Jing," Lai Wenxing said in all seriousness that made the other swallow a huge lump down his throat, "Are you that jealous of Kuanlin? I understand your envy towards him, but you are older than Kuanlin. You should look after him instead of treating him badly. I know that I can no salvage the friendship between the two of us, but don't bring Kuanlin into this. He's a boy who cannot speak his mind, and he's extremely introverted. If you want someone to vent to, you can come to me."
Gu Jing, who was preparing to bring up his fists: ...no violence, then?
He wasn't expecting to be lectured so seriously as an older brother would towards their younger sibling. That unexpectedly made him feel embarrassed, so the previously 'thick-skinned' Gu Jing, whose ego was as big as the cracks of the glaciers in Antartica, flushed a light red; so unnoticeable that if Lai Wenxing wasn't standing so close to him, he wouldn't have noticed it at all. That made Lai Wenxing, who at first thought as though Gu Jing were highly unreasonable, to revoke back his perception upon the youth. Gu Jing looked so obedient. Surely, he would stop bullying Kuanlin out of petty spite.
Suddenly, Lai Wenxing's adam apple rolled up and down. He went as far as to ruffle the stupefied youth's head, and felt as though the other's soft as silk hair was rather good to touch. Gu Jing was truly the son of the heavens, so naturally, he cared for his body extremely well from the tip of his toes to the single strand of his hair, everything was nurtured so meticulously. Lai Wenxing couldn't help but touch his head more, entranced by how the strands of pure, blond hair escaped through the gaps of his fingers.
Gu Jing laughed coldly, then grabbed Lai Wenxing by the collar, "If I want someone to vent to, I can come to you? Then, would you obediently bend over and let me fuck you?"
Lai Wenxing's face grew thundered. His large hands raised to grasp at Gu Jing's equally as big ones, the true hands of a person who was used to using violence to get what they want. Usually, he abhorred this type of person, but Gu Jing was a different case. No matter how you looked at it, Gu Jing was a sharp-tongued, but tofu-hearted person. He hadn't really seen Gu Jing kick up much of a fuss, nor was he like those delinquents who harassed their female classmates and smoked regardless of the prohibitions placed by teachers. Compared to those hoodlums, Gu Jing's only wrongdoing was playing with people's hearts.
"Gu Jing..." his voice softened by a noticeable degree, "I know you're a good person. If... if you wish to fool around with Kuanlin, do it with me instead. Vent onto me."
Gu Jing's three-dimensional facial features scrunched uglyly. Inwardly, he thought, 'Oh, the main gong loves the little shou so much he's willing to sacrifice himself to be played around with by the second scum gong! Oh gosh, this is so pitiful. But... why would I wanna fuck him? If I slept with 180 cm, tall and strong man like him, I think I would be the one on the bottom instead! No, no, this cannot happen. I'm also a gong. From gong to gong, this cannot work out.'
Though, what Gu Jing didn't notice was that he had been seriously considering it. Just a minor detail that was imperceptible, but could awaken a whole new door.
"Sure!" Gu Jing snarled, "If you grow 10 centimetres shorter and your facial features softer, then maybe I'll consider sleeping with you, Pei!"
Oddly, Lai Wenxing seemed a little hurt, but Gu Jing could care less about the tender feelings of the main gong. He released the student, and was about to grab another student who he didn't even know or recognize, to interrogate him on the whereabouts of Kuanlin. However, before he could do so, a voice broke through the quiet atmosphere, garnering their attention.
"There's a fight ongoing! Somebody call the teacher, Kuanlin is getting harassed by the delinquents!"
Lai Wenxing paled. And he immediately dashed off. Gu Jing, who found competition in everything and was also unwilling to lose to the main gong out of self-expectations, gritted his teeth and also trailed hot on the other student's tail. The remaining students who were left back at the scene looked back at his each other in confusion. Even the student who originally broke the news turned to look at other people in surprise. No one knew what was going inside of the two school tyrants' heads, while some girls in the corner giggled. Perhaps, they might have grasped a clue to the tyrants' outlandish behaviour, but of course, they would never tell anybody!
They arrived just on time as one of the yellow-haired unbuttoned the second button of Kuanlin's shirt, revealing a strong and sharp clavicle so deep you could practically drink water out of it. One fat delinquent, and the other, a tall and lanky one held the struggling youth down, snickering to themselves. This event was occurring at Gu Jing's class.
Lai Wenxing rushed into the classroom, and drop-kicked the yellow-haired delinquent onto the floor. The other held onto his cheek painfully, and cried like a dog getting kicked. Afterwards, the main gong beat down the other two students as easily as he did with the first one, and soon enough, the three of them scrambled into one corner, looking at Lai Wenxing tearfully as if they were the ones being wronged. When Gu Jing arrived at the scene, he was already panting and half-dead. Apparently, the original body only did superficial exercises that made one body's look appealing, but didn't strengthen it. He hunched over, his hand clutching the sliding door as if his life depended on it.
He panted like a dead dog, "Who said that the shou was a mellow student who couldn't be bullied by others, huh? HUH? Of course, he'll be bullied! What is this nonsense!? Quick detour...ha.."
"I'm here!" Gu Jing swallowed his spit and shouted hoarsely. But upon lifting up his head, he found that the three hoodlums were already beaten black-and-blue. As if he couldn't accept this result, Gu Jing glowered at Lai Wenxing and slipped into the classroom through the crowd of students piling up at the entrance. As soon as they noticed him, none of them dared to block his way.
"W.. We just wanted to check whether he was a girl! He looks so feminine, Pei! He's surely a girl cross-dressing as a boy!" The yellow-haired one, who seemed to be the leader of the trio squeaked out as though Lai Wenxing would accept his reason, bat his back and apologize to him. But, of course, Lai Wenxing wasn't someone nice like that.
He breathed in air heavily through his nose, his teeth gnashed together like a bloodthirsty hound. And the rest of what happened afterwards could only be censored due to the story being pg-13 and child friendly.
Gu Jing paid no attention to the student who was currently beating the three dogs like he wouldn't be able to do so tomorrow, or the day after, and placed a hand upon the shou's shoulder. Kuanlin's shirt was wrinkled with the signs of having been tampered with. He was shuddering, trembling under the heat emanating from Gu Jing's sweaty palm. His eyes were bottomless as he looked up at Gu Jing, a hint of youthful fear being the tiny buds of tears gathering at the corners of his eyes.
Gu Jing felt sorrowful in place of Kuanlin. Kuanlin on the verge of tears didn't correlate to him being weak, or dependent on others. He was held down by two people, and was being undressed in front of a crowd of students who were scared to interfere as well. No matter how old, how young, gender or age the victim was, this must surely be traumatic for them. Inwardly, Gu Jing encouraged Lai Wenxing on beating up the three hoodlums even more than they were being hit.
"+10 misery points!"
"Gu Jing," Kuanlin's voice was weirdly soft. His small hands reached out to clutch at the bigger student's sleeve as if seeking for solace or mercy. The fabric of the white shirt was clenched so hard that Kuanlin's knuckles turned white from the force being used. He whispered lowly, "Am I that effeminate? Am I that girly? Do I look like a girl, Gu Jing? Should I just put on a skirt, huh? Why... why do they wish to humiliate me like this... why...why can't I be like you and Lai Wenxing? Why was I born with this face!?"
Gu Jing felt his heart ache. His deft and slender fingers slowly buttoned up Kuanlin's shirt gently.
He found himself saying in a quiet voice amidst this pin-drop silence, "It's not your fault that you were born this way, Kuanlin. It's not your fault that they treated you this way. It was them who bullied you. It was never your fault."
Gu Jing's fingers lightly skimmed over the soft features, the apricot red cheeks, the rounded nose, and wiped the pearl-like tears clinging on Kuanlin's thin and long eyelashes which trembled beneath his rough finger-pad, tickling the thin skin on it.
Slowly, he enunciated, "Your face isn't a defect, nor is it holding you back, or is it to blame onto. There were times when I wanted to rip off my face and think, 'ah, isn't it hard being too good-looking?' But, I realized that not many people are going to be born with a face like mine. You're handsome, Kuanlin. You're very good-looking. Many entertainment companies would kill to have you. You should be proud of this face. This is your face, and you should cherish it. I am such a terrible human being. Do you wish to be like me? Do you want to have my face, Kuanlin?"
"...I don't," Kuanlin replied softly. But, what he omitted saying was: Because, I would rather see it on you.
Gu Jing sighed woefully as though he were ruefully right. When one of the students hiccupped, and thus, destroying the peaceful and warm ambience, everyone turned to look at them, and shrunk back in embarrassment. Only then did Gu Jing realize he had greatly deviated from his lines and coughed to himself. He rose to his feet and slowly strolled over towards the beaten up gangsters as if he had all the time in the world; appearing very languid.
He laughed, a chirp somewhat similar to the song-birds, but instead of making one feel relaxed, it only left a bad taste in the mouths of those who heard it. He was clearly mocking the three who couldn't even muster the strength to scramble to their feet and run away by laughing in their black-and-blue faces.
"Lai Wenxing, why dirty your hands when you can pull strings behind their backs?" Gu Jing raised his eyebrow cockily, snobbishly sparing Lai Wenxing a glance. He raised his foot and slammed it on the wall right beside the yellow-haired kid's head, barely missing the other's head to crush it. He pulled the kid by the collar, getting up close and personal in their face.
Lai Wenxing, on the other hand, gave up on reasoning with Gu Jing, and closed his eyes only to reopen them shortly afterwards and smirked at Gu Jing, "Only those who have done it before will know how to."
Gu Jing ignored Lai Wenxing, and peered down at the three delinquents who were cowering under his scrutinizing gaze.
"Your mind hasn't graduated from kindergarten thinking, huh? Shall I do you a favor and get you back to elementary school?" Gu Jing stooped down onto his legs, and caressed the trembling facial features of the leader of the lackeys, the yellow-haired kid who was quivering like a temperature fan rotating in the harsh winds.
Inside of his head, the star of the show rambled on, "Oh, cannon fodder, you're working so~ hard~ to make Gege's manliness shine through. You're so cute! Aiya, keep working hard, extra no. 1~"
Because of his weird thought process, affection was practically leaking out from the gentle, azure, bottomless eyes. When Gu Jing looked upon someone with this kind of ardent gaze, it was enough to raise someone to the heavens. However, the yellow-haired student didn't think it was the latter. He was practically pissing his pants from this fierce stare! It was as though Gu Jing wanted to dissect him from his head to toes. Surely, being appreciated by the school tyrant was a terrible, terrible thing!
"H...Have m..mercy!" The leader of the delinquents screeched like a banshee, doing his utmost best to evade Gu Jing's fingers.
As a result, Gu Jing's constant feathery touches on the delinquent's face grew even more vehement as if he wanted to tear the other's face off.
Suddenly, a hand latched onto his wrist, stopping him mid-action. Gu Jing's face crinkled annoyedly, and he snapped his face up to leer unconsciously at the intruder only to find out that it was none other than Kuanlin, whose face was dark and broody, his emotions open for everyone to read. One could tell his dissatisfaction just from the downturn of his soft features.
As if Gu Jing had two faces, his thundered mien suddenly grew amicable. His eyebrows curved, and his lips upturned. His whole expression shifted like the sun coming out on a rainy day, as though dark clouds evaporated into mist, and the sun's radiance shone through.
"Ah, Kuanlin," a sickly sweet voice fell from those pale thin lips, "Why are you stopping me? Didn't you want to see these fools suffer? Isn't that the way of life?"
"..." Kuanlin's pursed his lips, and gently pulled Gu Jing up to his feet. In a low voice, he murmured, "Please don't touch them. You... You'll only s..stain your hands."
Gu Jing furrowed his eyebrows, lips parting open with a 'You' when an arm encircled around his waist and a hard chest pressed onto one side of his shoulder. Gu Jing twisted his neck at once, and his forehead hit the soft nose bone of Lai Wenxing who hopped back like a jester on one foot, holding his nose, tears pricking at the corners of his eyes from the hard impact.
"What the hell, Gu Jing!?" Lai Wenxing voiced his complaints nasally.
Gu Jing's thick eyebrows pulled together even more. He glowered in Lai Wenxing's direction, too distracted by the searing palm holding his wrist that he couldn't form a response to the other's silly antics. There was another tug on his hand, and Gu Jing had no choice but to cater to Kuanlin first before solving his own problems.
"Kuanlin, if anything happens to you, you can ring me. Here's my number," Gu Jing fumbled about with his trousers until he felt a bulge in one of his pockets. Magically, like doraemon, he pulled out a handy pen and pulled Kuanlin's forearm. He faltered for a split second when he saw the whiteness of Kuanlin's arm. It was like a porcelain kith, the first snow of winter, a plain sheet of white sky. It was just so white that Gu Jing was blinded.
Apparently noticing Gu Jing's intense stare, Kuanlin awkwardly covered his arm, a faint blush dusting his originally and equally as pale cheeks.
Gu Jing snapped out of his trance, lowered his eyes perfunctorily and quickly sketched out seven numbers on the white arm. Kuanlin, though, was only staring at the gentle expression on Gu Jing's face, enthralled by how a usually fierce person could look so magnanimous. For a selfish reason, he wondered whether that gentleness was directed towards him. But, he paused, labeling it as his own wishful thinking.
Gu Jing retracted back his pen with a twinkling smile. Lips parted out to say, "You—" but once again, his 'you' was interrupted by the monstrous sound of his own stomach growling, begging to its equally as ghastly owner for a piece of solid, be it meat or vegetables, it was starving to the point that it could eat anything. Gu Jing's left eyebrow twitched, while an affable smile still hung on his lips everlastingly. Kuanlin didn't laugh, no, of course not. He looked at Gu Jing with concern, and a trace of guilt, for, because of him, Gu Jing starved himself.
Gu Jing was a 6 foot tall male, muscular and juvenile. How could a growing boy his age starve themselves? Kuanlin was about to tear his own hair out in worry. But, before he could speak, he was intercepted by none other than his friend, Lai Wenxing, who playfully nudged Gu Jing in his sharp ribs, now considering the playboy his friend. It seemed to others that he had forgotten all about his previous disputes with the other male.
"Is that thing in your stomach a monster, Gu Jing? Is it gonna devour me out of sheer hunger? Go ahead!" He dramatically shoved his arm into Gu Jing's face, and pitifully whimpered, "Eat my arm. I'm willing to sacrifice it to the monster inside your belly."
As the saying go, fighting really did bring two enemies together.... I was joking. The saying never existed in the first place. Gu Jing only made it up inside of his head just now. He wondered how his circumstances led to him befriending both Lai Wenxing, and Kuanlin, but he supposed that was killing two birds with one stone. Whoever heard of two enemies turned into friends fighting for the love of the main shou? Those stories were more heartbreaking than the cliche ones between two enemies and one main love interest!
Gu Jing could only resign to his fate. Out of defeat, he grabbed Lai Wenxing's arm and sank his teeth into the other's skin, a gloomy expression plastered on the handsome face.
Lai Wenxing shrieked out like a pig in a slaughterhouse and repeatedly hit the back of Gu Jing's head with his free hand, spewing out colorful cusses the others had never even heard of.
However, as this brawl-to-death was ongoing between the two, Kuanlin stood in the shadows, no longer the one in the spotlight. A dark expression smothered his soft features, and the clearness of his eyes reflected the tangled bodies of the two classmates.
"+5 misery points."