Chapter 19: "Why do you like Lee Ya?"

Hearing this kid sing his heart out like a kpop idol, the teacher couldn't help but chuckle. Qie Xieling was indeed a troublemaker but without him, in his class, his job would be incredibly boring.

When the song finished teacher Wong looked at Qie Xieling and said, "Job well done. If you fail to go to university you might have a career as a music artist," tossing a chocolate bar at him.

Qie Xieling caught it with a smile and yelled at the back of the bus, "Thank you, Master Wong!"

He was about to sit down when a group of girls giggled while staring in his direction. They were egging on Lee Ya to say something and the girl shyly turned her head and said,

"Lin Lin, that was a good performance. Do you take requests for personal concerts?"

Her words were followed by the hollering of the rest of the bus. The boys sitting in the seat in front of Qie Xieling jeered him on but unfortunately, this music artist was too shy. He rubbed the tip of his nose with his finger and said, "I will think about it," with a bashful smile.

"Just because I commended your performance it doesn't mean you should give private concerts to girls Lin Lin," yelled teacher Wong and this time he tossed chalk over and it accurately landed on his face. Why did he even have chalk on a field trip?

"Ow!" yelped Qie Xieling as he sat back down. He didn't want to give private concerts also but who could say no to Lee Ya? It was very difficult to refuse directly.

Thinking that he had now gotten teacher Wong off his back and could relax he settled into his seat only for his lazy gaze to be met with Luo Muchen's intense stare.

"Shit," he swore under his breath almost frightened half to death. "What are you looking at?" he continued to ask and Luo Muchen looked away overwhelmed by an intense myriad of emotions that he couldn't process.

Qie Xieling let out a relieved sigh as he took out his cell phone to chat with Bo Ailun who was a few rows in front.

LinLin: I was wrong. I won't die in the woods.

LinLin: I will freeze to death sitting next to this glacier from the south pole.

LinLin: QAQ

Bo Ailun was very fast in his response. He was also suffering having been forced to sit next to the weird kid who only ever ate fruits. He kept judging him for having processed snacks making Bo Ailun very uncomfortable.

BoBo: Dad, come save me.

BoBo: I can't stand his preachings on eating meat.

BoBo: I am a carnivore for heaven's sake and I was born this way.

Qie Xieling, "..."

It seemed both of them needed saving. If only they could sit together and be camp buddies. Qie Xieling was very certain that Mr Wong did it on purpose. Separating the two would reduce the likelihood of starting shit.

With his tongue resting on the side of his upper lip he typed in a message selling even more misery when he heard Luo Muchen ask, "Why do you like Lee Ya?"

Qie Xieling was so startled that he dropped his cell phone. "Huh? Why the... damnit," he said as he picked it up and placed it on his lap before closing Luo Muchen's mouth or at least attempted to.

Luo Muchen held his wrist and said, "Your hands are dirty." After saying that he took out a hand sanitiser and squeezed some on Qie Xieling's hand.

Qie Xieling was befuddled at this point. His hands were just fine, okay? He washed them in the morning when he brushed his teeth. He just never thought he would meet another mysophobic person like his father though Luo Muchen's symptoms seemed mild at best.

He once licked the icing off a cookie when he was six and put it back. His father found out and he was lectured for days on cleanliness. The horror stuck with him.

While his mind was wandering off, Luo Muchen was rubbing the sanitiser on his hands carefully making sure not to miss a spot.

Having realised he was letting this person do as he pleased he took his hand back and said, "I will do it myself."

Luo Muchen didn't insist. He let him go and lay his head on the headrest of the seat his face turned in Qie Xieling's direction.

Qie Xieling finished rubbing his hands and said, "Will you stop looking at me? It's weird."

"You can pretend again that you can't see me," said Luo Muchen with a slight smile at the corner of his lips but his voice carried with it a little sullenness.

"How can I when you are staring at me like that?" he replied and when he realised he had admitted it for once he pressed the tip of his tongue on his cheek as he looked away.

"So you finally admit it?" said Luo Muchen with a slight quirk on his lips. Qie Xieling would always look at him with a silly expression when he asked him about it and he would never admit to it. Now he had accidentally admitted it.

Qie Xieling didn't respond. He just gazed out of the window while putting on his wireless earphones. If he was going to survive this bus ride he might as well listen to some music while playing games online with Bo Ailun.

But before he could put the second one in his ear, Luo Muchen said, "You haven't answered my question," his eyes still on Qie Xieling.

Qie Xieling sighed in exasperation before saying, "Why don't you like her? What's not to like? She is pretty and she smells nice. Now stop asking me silly questions."

After saying that Qie Xieling put on the second earphone and picked a song to play that was loud enough to clear his mind.

Luo Muchen didn't pursue it further not because he was satisfied with the answer but because it was just making him feel worse. The heaviness on his chest was unbearable and he just wanted to do some maths quiz to distract himself.

With his mind fully absorbed in algebra far beyond his grade he heard Qie Xieling cursing under his breath and almost throwing his cell phone on the ground.

He turned to glance at him and knew what had happened. The only time Qie Xieling cursed like this was when he had lost a mission.

Because he was still a little irritable he tried to ignore it and continued with his calculations. But how could he succeed? He couldn't stand seeing him that sad so he said, "Give it to me."

Qie Xieling glanced at his tablet screen which had gibberish symbols on it before glaring at him. How can someone who lived and breathed school and piano classes be good at games? What a joke.