"Hey? Ye Xuan, what's up?" "Want to grab a meal?" "Alright, I'll go close the door to my practice room, you guys go ahead, I'll catch up later."
Outside the restroom on the third floor of the piano building, Chu Wannian hung up the phone and walked toward her practice room.
"..." "You're playing too hard, you missed some of the breaks, and you're using the pedal too much." "Alright, Xiao Nian, is that so?" "..." "Yes, that's the point."
Chu Wannian reached the door and first heard the conversation inside, followed by a pleasant melody. "Xiao... Nian?"
Recognizing the voices, Chu Wannian immediately realized who was playing the piano inside. She was about to knock on the door to remind them, as the piano inside was her personal property, brought from abroad. But as she raised her hand to knock, she overheard another conversation. "Xiao Nian, why aren't you playing?" "You play, I'll just watch you." "How can that work! We came to practice together! If I'm the only one practicing, what would that look like?"
Chen Anhe immediately took his hands off the keys and signaled for the person sitting beside him, Shen Nian, to play a piece. "Ah, I don't really need to practice." Shen Nian pretended to act casual, while subtly flexing his hand in the corner where Chen Anhe couldn't see. His right hand still ached.
"Don't joke around, how can a piano student not need practice?" Chen Anhe's tone turned serious, as he added, "You're not looking down on me because I entered as the last one, are you?"
"How could that be?" "You just said you wanted to practice, and last night you even asked me to teach you how to play Master Shen's piece."
The two were facing away from the door when suddenly there was a crisp knock on the door.
"!"
Chen Anhe was immediately surprised and shouted, "Professor Chu?"
Shen Nian slowly stood up and turned toward the door. The woman at the door wore a black trench coat over a white shirt, a short skirt, and long, exposed legs that looked almost impossibly slender.
"This piano is my personal property, so it's not open to others," Chu Wannian said, her tone neither too harsh nor too soft.
"Huh? Personal... property..." Chen Anhe swallowed nervously and quickly grabbed Shen Nian, pulling him toward the door, saying, "Sorry, Professor Chu, we'll leave right now."
Shen Nian felt a bit awkward and lowered his head. He had thought the piano belonged to the school, but it turned out it was someone else's private possession. He couldn't meet her gaze.
But the woman by the door kept staring at him, her gaze full of provocation, as if he had committed some unforgivable offense.
"Professor Chu, sorry, but why are you staring at me?" Shen Nian asked as he passed her by.
Even though he was 180 cm tall, and the woman was wearing high heels, they were almost eye-level. Yet he had a strange feeling, as if he were a few centimeters shorter than her.
"Ha, Xiao Nian, what are you saying?" Chen Anhe chuckled, then whispered to Shen Nian, "What are you looking at? Do you think she's staring at you? I'm way more handsome, and I don't feel her gaze on me."
Then he turned back to Chu Wannian. "Professor Chu, it's almost lunchtime, we'll just head out."
"How do you know I was staring at you?" Chu Wannian asked, folding her arms, leaning against the doorframe as she casually gazed at Shen Nian.
"Well, I..." Shen Nian was about to answer but was interrupted by her before he could finish his sentence.
"You've been staring at me since just now?"
"Alright, alright, Xiao Nian, let's go! Let's leave before Professor Chu says anything more!"
Chen Anhe forcefully pulled Shen Nian out of the room. He really wanted to crack open Shen Nian's head and see what was going through his mind.
What was Shen Nian thinking? You should've just slipped out! They had just messed around with someone's million-dollar piano.
As they walked down the stairs, Shen Nian couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. He could still feel Chu Wannian's gaze on him.
If Chen Anhe had turned around, he would've noticed the strange tension between Shen Nian and Chu Wannian, their eyes locking like they were pulling at each other.
Only after they reached the first floor did Chu Wannian look away. She went back to her piano, took a handkerchief out of her pocket, and began wiping down the black and white keys.
---
In the cafeteria:
"No, bro, what were you thinking back there? We should've slipped away, and you asked her why she kept staring at you?" Chen Anhe chewed his rice noodles, scolding Shen Nian as he did so.
"But her gaze was really strange... It felt like I had done something wrong," Shen Nian said, picking up a bite of noodles.
"Of course! We were playing someone else's piano without permission—she's definitely gonna care!" "That's a million-dollar piano! The maintenance alone costs a fortune!"
"If I were Professor Chu, and I saw two idiots messing with my piano, I'd definitely kick them out," Chen Anhe said, unashamed.
"No, I really don't think that's the reason... I just feel like her eyes were... odd," Shen Nian said, still lost in thought.
"Stop thinking too much. What could you possibly feel?" "Do you think Professor Chu likes you?" "If you really think that, then you better check if your ancestors' graves are smoking!"
Chen Anhe teased, but as he said this, he suddenly saw the very person they had just been talking about appear in his line of sight.