Two fair fingers were held out.
The corners of Ryder's mouth twitched uncontrollably.
If someone didn't know better, they might think she was making a "V" sign.
The roommates also thought that two laps was really too few.
Even their morning exercises before breakfast started with five laps. What were two laps? It probably wasn't even enough for a warm - up.
Aria pursed her lips and looked at Ryder with her almond - shaped eyes.
"All right," he covered his face and laughed, his voice low and lazy, with a tiny, barely noticeable tremor in his shoulders.
"Go ahead."
"Thank you, Chairman. Goodbye, Chairman!" The roommates quickly reacted, pulling Aria with them in a hurry to bow and say goodbye, afraid that he would change his mind.
"Darling, tell us the truth. Are you and the Chairman actually secret lovers?"
"Quick, tell us. When did you two get to know each other?"
"You pretended not to know each other on the first day of school. You really fooled us all! Running a few laps is up to you. You call this not knowing each other??"
"Not only that, listen to that tone. 'Are you angry?' So doting. I can't believe there's nothing going on between you two!"
"Come on, tell us..."
"Confess and be lenient -"
Even after they had walked far away, bits and pieces of the interrogating voices could still be heard.
Ryder lazily placed his left hand on his forehead, his eyes loose and lazy, with a faint smile floating on his face.
He seemed to think of something. After a while, he let out a soft chuckle.
Soon, it dissipated in the air.
By the plastic track, as Aria passed the other end of the podium, her body tensed up sensitively. She pursed her lips, couldn't help but look back, and met those smiling eyes.
"..." She quickly turned her head and started running faster.
The roommates behind her didn't react in time. Looking at her back, they shouted "Hey, hey, hey" and chased after her, "Why are you running so fast!"
"Slow down a bit. It would be best if we finish running just as their military training ends, and then we can go straight to the cafeteria to eat."
Aria ran even faster. Whether it was because her body was overloaded or not, her heart rate increased, and the pounding made her a little dizzy.
Ryder hooked the corners of his lips, pulled down the brim of his baseball cap to cover his eyebrows, tilted his head back, and closed his eyes.
The sunlight after the rain passed through the cold air and shone on his jaw.
The halo was dazzling.
Aria started running fast, so she got tired even faster. Her physical fitness was particularly poor. Running slowly was okay, but after just two hundred meters, she was exhausted, and her running turned into fast - walking.
As the roommates passed by, they were very perceptive and took out their phones to dub for her: The sound of crows drifted by.
Caw - caw - caw -
The roommates laughed like crazy as they passed her.
Aria: "..."
The corners of her mouth twitched. She resisted the urge to gather her strength to catch up and kick them a couple of times, and continued to move forward with heavy steps.
After two laps, Aria still felt like she was going to die.
When she said two laps, she really wasn't being lazy.
Rather, she was genuinely not very good at it.
Running those two laps was killing her.
When she gasped for breath, pressing the left side of her lower abdomen, and stepped onto the podium, her roommates had already escaped and left to return to their own classes one after another.
As they passed Aria, they didn't forget to wave and cheer her on.
Aria: You guys are really mean.
She didn't even have the strength to wave. Her fair face was slightly red from panting, and her small nose and plump, fair forehead were covered with fine beads of sweat.
She took off her military training hat to fan herself, dragged her steps onto the podium, and the person who should have been closing his eyes to rest opened his eyes.
Ryder's eyes unabashedly scanned her up and down.
Aria paused slightly, then slowly walked not far from him and stopped, her eyes fixed on the chair beside him.
The man let out a snort of laughter.
"Are you this tired after just two laps?"
He leisurely picked up the chair, as if without much effort, and placed it in front of her, then jerked his chin, motioning for her to sit.
At this moment, Aria didn't care about anything else. She slumped into the chair, weakly hugged the back of the chair, and gasped for breath in small, rapid pants.
After about five or six minutes, her breathing finally calmed down. She probably knew she had made a fool of herself, so she buried her face, not daring to look up at Ryder for a while.
"Do you want some water?"
Aria looked up.
A lean and powerful wrist stretched out, a fair section of it, with a small red mole on the inside of the wrist. His long - fingered hand was holding a bottle of mineral water and offering it to her.
She hesitated slightly.
Ryder snorted with a laugh, "Don't worry, it's unopened."
As he spoke, he used only one hand.
His thumb and index finger grasped the connection part of the bottle cap and exerted force.
A soft "click" sounded faintly in the air. It was the sound of the bottle cap being twisted and the connection breaking. gōΠb.ōγg
How did he manage to open a bottle of mineral water with the same air as opening a can!
His hands were really nice - looking...
Aria's eyelashes trembled, her face felt a bit hot. She took the bottle in her hand. The bottle cap was already loose. She opened it, raised her head, and took a few sips. Her dry lips and tongue were moistened.
She let out a sigh of relief, licked her lips, and whispered her thanks.
"Thank you."
"Yeah." Ryder smiled, "I knew it would be this again."
Aria blinked.
He said again, in a teasing tone, slightly drawn - out, deliberately slow, and lazily lifted his eyelids, "Little classmate, do you like to say thank you to everyone you meet?"
Aria: "..." "No."
"Oh." He smiled, leaned back, casually, "Is that so."
"Yeah."
Aria fell silent.
She rarely had such bad luck that she always made a fool of herself in front of him.
She didn't like owing people favors because they were hard to repay. But it seemed that the favors she owed this person in front of her could never be repaid.
Just those years of him silently following her, like a guardian, sending her to the bus terminal and watching her get into a taxi countless times - she couldn't repay that.
What was this self - indulgent unrequited love of hers?
She didn't know if he was like this to everyone, seemingly lazy and indifferent, but actually extremely considerate and gentle.
If so, she...
would feel a little bit of uncontrollable disappointment and sadness.
In fact, many times, the happiness and joy in her heart would settle down and finally turn into irreversible sadness. It was really inexplicable.
But the happier she was, the sadder she would feel after this emotion was transformed. She would inevitably fall into a huge, empty, and at - a - loss strange space.
After an unknown period of silence.
Ryder suddenly asked her, "Are you going back to the team?"
"Eh?" Aria didn't react.
Ryder twitched the corners of his lips, and his gaze turned to the classes lined up for training on the playground, the meaning was obvious.
Aria hesitated. She actually didn't want to go back to the team.
Military training was really tiring.
Even though she had followed Ryder's advice and put... sanitary pads on the soles of her rubber shoes, after all, she was still standing, and after a long time, her feet still hurt, and her knees were tired. The intensity of the military training at Harvard University was much stronger than that in high school. Every time she turned over or moved a little while sleeping at noon or at night, it hurt like hell.
Even when she didn't move, it hurt.
And the nearly ten laps they had to run before the morning and noon training.
Just thinking about it made Aria's nose feel sour with repulsion.
When she was tired to a certain extent, she really couldn't help but want to cry.
"Can I not go?"
The voice is small, with a hint of exploration.