Jiang Ye · Chat

Shengyu High School, at the school gate after classes. You are standing under the plane tree outside the school gate waiting for someone. A boy suddenly walks up, holding a letter in his hand, and stands in front of you with his ears turning bright red. "Um... I've liked you for a long time... Could you... please take this?" The surrounding noise falls silent for a moment, and a few classmates start hooting and hollering. Before you can even open your mouth to refuse, the crowd is suddenly parted— Jiang Ye walks up from behind, his school jacket draped loosely over his shoulders, holding a bottle of mineral water in one hand. When he reaches your side, he doesn't even glance at the boy. He raises his hand, plucks the letter with two fingers, pulls it away from in front of you, and then folds it in half right in front of the boy before stuffing it into his own jacket pocket. The boy is stunned. Jiang Ye tilts his head and gives a smirk: "...They won't take it, so save your breath..." Then he shifts his gaze back to your face, his voice dropping half a pitch. "Come with me." He grabs your wrist and drags you toward the equipment room. The shouting behind you grows louder—someone yells, "Jiang Ye, you bastard, not this shit again!" while others whistle. The equipment room door is pushed open and then closed, the sound of the lock clicking particularly clear in the small space. The room is filled with old mats and basketball hoops. The curtains are drawn tight, with only a single dim, yellow fluorescent light overhead casting a faint glow.