Chapter 153, Showdown (Two in One)

After washing, I returned to the classroom.

At the fixed time, the school bell rang on time and everyone went home.

I don’t know when Fengjian Liuli left.

Final exams are imminent.

Utsunomiya Shuo was still calm and unhurried. He had no intention of staying in school to study after school and went home early as usual.

At four o'clock in the afternoon, the weather was hot, but much cooler than at noon.

The sycamore trees on both sides of the road stood upright in the sunlight, like telephone poles that would never fall down.

"Telephone poles can fall down." Someone reminded from the direction of the road.

Another brand new silver-gray Aston Martin.

This is the third one.

I don’t know if she has a special liking for this car.

“We must trust the quality of the work done by our fellow workers.”

Zhuo talked as he walked.

Zero, who was sitting in the right driver's seat, stretched out his arm and pointed his index finger at the paulownia tree next to him. An extremely unscientific little flame jumped on his fingertips, and then it grew bigger and bigger like a vivid little snake... and then it was quickly pressed down by Utsunomiya Shuo.

"I'm showing you." Zero said calmly.

“It’s vandalism.”

"I'm showing you."

"Okay." After saying that, Zhuo stopped, stepped back silently, took out his mobile phone, and turned on the recording function.

Zero was silent for a moment, as if he had not expected Utsunomiya Shuo to change so quickly, so he had to withdraw his arm silently.

Then he continued to drive the silver-gray supercar, slowly following the roadside.

Zhuo put away his phone and continued walking.

The summer breeze blew gently, and the branches of the sycamore tree above his head swayed slowly, as if greeting him.

The cicadas in the trees were chirping weakly, as if their spirits were worn out by the hot weather.

Zhuo walked aimlessly, picked a withered yellow sycamore leaf from the treetop, stared at the hollow leaf in his hand, thought for a moment, and said, "Your Highness."

"What."

The windows of the sports car were left open.

"Isn't it hot if the window is open all the time?"

"It's not too hot."

"Oh," Zhuo thought for a moment and said, "You will affect traffic and cause trouble to others." Because Ling was driving very slowly.

"I will be careful and won't affect others." Ling controlled the steering wheel and looked at the road.

Zhuo looked back and saw that there was indeed no car waiting behind her... Perhaps they couldn't afford to offend, so they changed lanes in advance.

Zhuo continued walking and looked up at the setting sun that was like a fiery sunset.

"Your Royal Highness."

"...Can you please stop calling me that? It's a bit embarrassing." Zero's tone was flat.

Although it seems that there is never any expression on Zero's face, her inner world is actually no different from that of ordinary humans.

It just looks like a three-nothing.

But Zhuo didn't believe that she was shy because of the name.

This could be a joke.

Of course it's not that funny.

He didn't laugh.

After Ling's interruption, Zhuo forgot what he was going to say, so he shut his mouth.

Speechless all the way.

……

Zhuo returned home.

Aston Martin also arrived at the apartment at a turtle's pace.

As usual, we had dinner in the living room.

It's getting dark.

The stars are twinkling outside the window.

Zhuo lay idly in the old place, thinking about all sorts of things.

Zero is still a little different.

To be precise, although she was not as vocal as she was on the way back, and her face did not show any expression...but she looked a little stiff, as if she was wary.

She was clearly just sitting on the sofa in the living room three feet away, but there seemed to be an inexplicable atmosphere surrounding her.

Having said that, this atmosphere wasn't really meant to warn or distance herself from Zhuo. Perhaps it would be more appropriate to say that she was concentrating all her attention on Zhuo.

Whenever Zhuo tried to look over there, she would immediately look away, turn her head back, and pretend to stare at the table as usual.

Zhuo lay back down, and with the corner of his eye he discovered that she was looking at him again.

Maybe they were waging a guerrilla war.

When the enemy advances, we retreat; when the enemy is stationed, we harass; when the enemy is tired, we attack; when the enemy retreats, we pursue.

Why was she like this? Actually, if you think about it carefully, it's easy to come up with the answer: it should be the obvious question from the night before.

...I did something wrong.

Although the two of them don't pay much attention to distance between each other on weekdays and have a lot of physical contact, everyone knows the real situation and no one has any bad intentions.

They're all buddies.

But the problem that day was too obvious.

Comparing a person of the opposite sex with another person who is very important to them is probably a problem, even if it is simply out of jealousy or curiosity.

Ling is not a fool, she can definitely see it clearly, so she is observing him now.

But based on my understanding of Zero, it seems that he is not being hated or being guarded against.

If Zero really hated him or was wary of him, he wouldn't have come here again, cooked as usual, and sat on the sofa right next to him.

I really don't know what she thinks.

This feeling is really bad.

This kind of constant entanglement and seriousness was something he tried to avoid in the past...but now he was often in this state. He didn't know when or where he was, but he would suddenly feel irritated and frustrated from nowhere.

It really drives people crazy.

Yet there is no relief.

At this point, even if Zhuo didn't want to admit it, he couldn't—he did care about Ling too much.

Maybe you can say I like it.

It's hard to tell when this concern started. Maybe it was from the beginning, maybe when I heard Zero's footsteps coming back when I was sick, or maybe it accumulated bit by bit in daily life... Zero's behavior has no purpose at all, just for him. It's just this kind of straightforwardness, like a slow poison, he has nowhere to escape.

But what's the point of this love? There are so many boys in school who like her. This is meaningless.

Zero doesn't need anyone's likes.

No one can compare to the devil.

Including him.

Zhuo, with an escapist mentality, suddenly sat up... Ling, who had been "secretly" observing him, obviously tensed up a little, and it seemed that she was indeed on guard.

"...How about I stay away from it?"

"No, it's not." Zero slowly avoided his gaze and looked at the table: "...That's not what I meant."

After all, Zhuo's transformation has been discovered, and his previous behaviors that were somewhat excessive are no longer appropriate now.

Maybe it would be better to keep some distance and wait until both parties calm down.

That's why Zhuo made this suggestion.

However, Zero refused.

"I'm just..." Ling frowned, looking at the table, hesitant to speak. She rarely does this, "...I'm worried about your injury. If you sprain your ligament, you should avoid exercise. Your sleeping position is not suitable."

"Oh...I see." Utsunomiya Shuo nodded seriously, looking as if he had suddenly realized something.

In my heart: I don’t believe you!

My wrist has been injured for several days. It's just that I sprained it due to the wrong shooting method and excessive recoil. You have applied ice to me for the past two days, and you stopped applying ice today. Why are you still bringing this up?

But Zhuo wouldn't be so tactless as to expose her.

“It’s already healed~”

"There's still a chance of getting injured again, so ask for leave from tomorrow's physical education class."

"As for..."

"It was my fault for not considering it carefully. That gun is not suitable for you. This is my responsibility." Ling raised his head and looked at him. "I will explain the situation to the teacher."

Originally, he was just following Ling's excuse to chat... But now, seeing Ling was about to use her signature skill again—seriousness. Or stubbornness! Extremely stubborn! She took all the responsibility on herself. Zhuo quietly watched her eyes when she spoke, and her expression when she frowned and thought.

Her delicate and fair face was not like that of ordinary girls, which had a healthy pink glow. Her face was as white as jade and like a piece of ice.

Only then did I realize that every time I looked at Ling's face carefully, I actually had the illusion that time was slowing down. It was as if the moon was quiet and peaceful, and all the colors of the world seemed meaningless under her beautiful face.

Zhuo sighed and put his hand on Ling's forehead.

Before she could make the appropriate sensitive reaction, Zhuo had already pressed his fingertips on her brows, gently smoothing out those wrinkles... and what came to her was the watery, slippery, soft, frictionless feel of white jade.

Slightly cool.

Ling didn't take it seriously at first, but then he obviously came to his senses and stared at Zhuo with wide eyes.

Then, her eyes became sharper and she stared straight at Zhuo.

"what are you doing."

she said coldly.

Zhuo tilted his head and looked back without showing any fear: "What are you doing?"

He asked back.

Zero didn't answer.

Zhuo blinked, retracted his hand, and said, "Okay, I admit that I was wrong this time. You can see it too, so there's no need to hide anything."

Zero looked up into his eyes.

"But you don't have to be like this. What can I do to you?" Zhuo shrugged and continued, "Anyway, there is only more than a year left. During this time, I haven't thought about doing anything with you. Don't be afraid that I will pursue you or something. There will be no such thing... I swear on my kidneys."

Utsunomiya Shuo raised his hand seriously.

Jokes are jokes.

After saying the joke, Zhuo made a quick move, and while Ling was still pondering his words, he caught him off guard and attacked again.

He tightened his fingers and flicked her forehead.

This damn "man harm" is really uncomfortable——Zero's defensive reaction.

It's been a long time since I've felt anything like this from her, and now it seems like it's Zero who's paying attention to these aspects.

However, at this point, Zero suddenly discovered that the pig he raised actually liked him, so he transformed into a hedgehog again and started an unconscious range attack.

So Zhuo's sneak attack was just a small revenge on her.

……

Ling's reaction surprised Zhuo—his hands suddenly covered his fingers.

soon.

So fast that he didn't have time to retract his fingers.

Utsunomiya Zhuo laughed awkwardly, then withdrew his fingers and stood up: "Okay, I'll go wash the dishes, and this matter is over. I will adjust myself and not disturb you; similarly, don't act like you're on guard against perverts, [beep——]"

Zhuo said this and walked around the table.

Zero didn't say a word from beginning to end, his eyes following Utsunomiya Shuo's back, and no one knew what he was thinking.

……

After a while, the relationship between Ling and Utsunomiya Shuo really returned to the old pattern. All the things they had said, asked, and done seemed to be ignored by them.

Life began to return to a familiar state. Except for Ling occasionally giving Zhuo overtime tutoring, it was almost exactly the same as before, as if everyone had forgotten those things.

In the last month of July, apart from occasionally tossing and turning and unable to sleep at night, Zhuo finally began to study actively.

In addition to these, Zhuo also began to pay attention to the distance between him and Ling, and no longer took the initiative to have physical contact with her.

Self-adjustment is something that cannot be just talked about.

Let’s start with the distance between the two of us, and then restore it little by little.

Physical contact between men and women will cause the body to secrete hormones and must be avoided.

According to the current progress, he will be able to adapt when Ling leaves in more than a year.

This deliberately busy life can also alleviate the sudden loss in his heart and suppress his wild thoughts.

sometimes.

Zhuo would wake up in the middle of the night for no reason and then never fall asleep again.

That was a very difficult time.

Because when it’s late at night and everyone is asleep, that’s when humans are most pretentious.

In order to prevent himself from getting sick, Zhuo would curl up in bed and silently read gossip on his phone... Every time this happened, he was very grateful for the backwardness of the times.

If he were given a circle of friends at this time, he wouldn't dare to imagine what kind of socially unacceptable remarks he could write.

In the news, someone kissed a stranger in a bar because of a game; someone showed affection with someone they had only known for two or three days; someone made a grand confession to someone they had only known for a few days...

Under the fluorescent light of the mobile phone screen, there was no expression on Zhuo's face.

He watched everything that happened to others without making any comments.

I just think it’s so weird.

it's wired.

Everyone seems to be living at eight times the speed, but I am like a wax figure, burned to half, and my remaining thoughts are still lingering on the moment when those eyes lit me up.

Then I deliberately closed my eyes and waited for sleep to come.

The next day, he would take the initiative to talk to Zero as usual, and felt impatient to communicate with Kanda.

If a person has no dreams, what is the difference between him and being carefree?

He didn't fantasize that Zero would fall in love with him...because if he put himself in his shoes, he wouldn't either.

Zero is a person with almost no shortcomings. He works hard, is loyal, values ​​his promises, etc...

Zhuo is a bit like her opposite—he has nothing but disadvantages except for his advantages.

……

Time passed quickly, and soon it was summer vacation. According to what Ling had said before, the day for the two of them to go to Zhuo's hometown together was coming.

"You can sleep a little longer," Ling Zheng buried his body, folded his clothes neatly one by one and put them in the closet.

— Dividing Line —

(Sleepy.)
(It's so difficult to write these chapters, so I'll try to fast forward. This book is meant to be sweet, but it's a novel after all, so there are bound to be related problems. This is inevitable, unless you really travel through time as a certain brother said.)
(But in my opinion, saying it is time travel is actually deceiving oneself and is selfish. I like Zero's growth but I am unwilling to take responsibility. I don't!)

(pps: This passage is free of charge, including the word count. The writer’s word count has reached the limit, so there is nothing we can do.)
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(End of this chapter)