Extra 8: IF Childhood Friends (Part 2)

The two divisions of A High were not on the same campus, so at school, Zhu Zhixi and Fu Rangyi actually had very little substantial interaction, apart from the commonality of both being very famous among the student body.

But from that day on, Fu Rangyi’s pheromones were like a wandering spirit, attached to Zhu Zhixi, protecting him, and blocking all sorts of strange pursuers for him. This made Zhu Zhixi feel safe.

Until Fu Rangyi graduated from high school. The high school division had a tradition of holding a coming-of-age ceremony.

On this day, the graduating class students could shed their school uniforms for exquisite formal wear and invite a classmate to a dance, a ritual of leaving the campus and stepping into the adult world. It was obvious that Fu Rangyi was the most popular choice for a dance partner in this graduating class, bar none.

The night before the ceremony, Zhu Zhixi came to borrow pheromones as usual. But this night, he strangely had a sense of propriety. He sat on the edge of the bed, hands propped on the mattress, and stared at the back of Fu Rangyi at his desk, as if waiting for something.

Fu Rangyi finished all his schoolwork, turned around, and met his round eyes, feeling a little puzzled. But he couldn’t possibly say things like, “Why aren’t you hugging me tonight?” or “If you’re sleeping with me, get into the bed quickly.”

So he also said nothing, just tilted his head slightly and raised an eyebrow at him.

Zhu Zhixi was originally eating an apple. Seeing him like this, he understood and spoke up, “Alright, I was just wondering, what are you wearing tomorrow? A suit?”

Fu Rangyi took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes, his tone flat. “Haven’t thought about it. Whatever.”

But Zhu Zhixi said, “But when I came over just now, I ran into Uncle Fu in the living room. He said he ordered a particularly handsome white suit for you, but it’s a pity the school doesn’t allow parents in, so he can’t record it for you. He also said he had the sleeves specially widened a bit to make it easier for dancing.” As he spoke, he even made a gesture of raising his arms to embrace a dance partner. To be honest, it was a bit comical.

Seeing him make this gesture, Fu Rangyi’s single-minded brain began to imagine the scene of dancing with someone for the first time. Influenced by the questioner, that someone’s image naturally became direct and singular.

But when he spoke, he said, “You’re surprisingly well-behaved today, even using the main entrance.”

“Why is your focus always so off?” The topic having been changed, Zhu Zhixi pouted.

“You heard everything, and you must have been shown the clothes already, yet you still come and ask me,” Fu Rangyi pointed out directly.

Zhu Zhixi could only tell the truth now. He lowered his head, his calves stretching out straight before falling back to dangle at the edge of the bed. “Well, I want to see what you look like wearing it. Tomorrow you guys have that coming-of-age ceremony, but we still have math class, and it’s a test, so I can’t skip it.”

Fu Rangyi didn’t say anything.

“I wanna see, wanna see, wanna see, wanna see…” Zhu Zhixi started to whine.

Perhaps it was because his tone just now sounded truly regretful, or perhaps there was simply no one in this world who could sternly refuse Zhu Zhixi. Anyway, fifteen minutes later, Fu Rangyi took out the impeccably ironed suit, changed in the bathroom, and foolishly pushed the door open to show Zhu Zhixi.

“Wow.” Zhu Zhixi’s eyes lit up.

But in truth, his eyes were always bright, Fu Rangyi thought.

“So handsome.” Zhu Zhixi walked around the bed and stood in front of him. His gaze traveled from head to toe, then from bottom to top. The warm yellow light from the bathroom passed over the snow-white shoulder line, making his face look fluffy.

Finally, Zhu Zhixi looked up, gave him a silly smile, and said something silly, “It looks like what a groom wears at a wedding.”

Fu Rangyi didn’t respond, just stared quietly into his eyes.

Zhu Zhixi smiled again and said to him in a particularly innocent tone, “I feel like a best man right now.”

Fu Rangyi’s shoulders slumped. He felt an unprecedented discomfort in this perfectly tailored, high-end custom suit. “Is that enough? I’m going to change out of it.”

“Don’t. I want to take a picture.”

“No,” Fu Rangyi refused flatly.

Zhu Zhixi skillfully switched to a wronged expression. “Why? Don’t worry, I won’t send it to anyone else. Just one picture, please? Brother Nian Nian.”

This photo later became Zhu Zhixi’s best prop for deceiving others that he had a boyfriend.

“Really handsome,” Zhu Zhixi said after taking the picture. “Your dance partner tomorrow will definitely be the luckiest graduate in the entire venue.”

This was definitely a compliment. But Fu Rangyi didn’t feel happy hearing it. He just wanted to change his clothes, go to sleep, make Zhu Zhixi go to sleep too, shut his mouth, and be a quiet ‘A bei bei’. But he even overlooked one point: Zhu Zhixi hadn’t come in his pajamas today.

“Mm,” he replied perfunctorily, nodding.

But Zhu Zhixi didn’t let him off. “So who are you dancing with? Have you decided? On such a big day, a bunch of Omegas must have already invited you, right? Do you want me to help you choose?”

As he spoke, he leaned closer, lightly bumping Fu Rangyi’s arm, his tone very soft. “Got any pictures? Let me see. I remember you guys took graduation photos a few days ago, right? You haven’t shown me yet.”

Finally, Fu Rangyi’s patience reached its limit. Between getting angry and kicking Zhu Zhixi out and sullenly going into the bathroom to change, he chose a third method of revenge.

“I didn’t take ballroom dancing as an elective in middle school. I don’t know how to dance at all. I’ll only make a fool of myself if I go tomorrow. Didn’t you take it as an elective this semester? You teach me.”

After speaking, he added enticingly, “Whether it’s for the sake of our childhood friendship or as compensation for lending you my pheromones, it’s very reasonable, isn’t it? Teacher Zhu.”

While listening to this, Zhu Zhixi’s lips were slightly parted, his white, smooth teeth peeking out a little. His expression wasn’t human; it was like a small animal’s.

He stared at Fu Rangyi’s outstretched hand and blinked. It was unknown what he thought in those few seconds, but in the end, he gently placed his hand on top, saying “Alright” in a light, almost nonchalant tone.

So that night, Fu Rangyi in his white suit and Zhu Zhixi in his childish hoodie and jeans shared a clumsy dance. There was no music, no other guests. The only witness to it all was the half-eaten apple that Zhu Zhixi had been nibbling on.

At the beginning, Fu Rangyi deliberately pretended not to know how to dance. The later clumsiness, however, was not under his control. He simply couldn’t control it. When it was over, Zhu Zhixi said with a grin, “Quick, say thank you, Teacher Zhu!”

Fu Rangyi looked at him and repeated, “Thank you, Teacher Zhu.”

That night, Zhu Zhixi didn’t stay over. He left through the garden, looking back every few steps. When he was almost under the pomelo tree, he stepped on the fallen, withered flowers on the ground and shouted at him in a hushed voice, “You did great on the mock exam. Good luck tomorrow, classmate Fu!”

But what he didn’t know was that classmate Fu skipped the exam the next day.

Standing at the school gate, after watching his family’s driver drive away, he hailed a taxi while carrying the heavy suit. Not sure where to go, Fu Rangyi randomly gave the address of the middle school division. He wandered around the area, found a coffee shop, took a day off citing a severe cold, and took out his books to review for the whole day.

Only when the middle school let out did he look up, gaze out the floor-to-ceiling window, and relax for a while.

In the evening, when he got home, Zhu Zhixi hadn’t arrived yet, but his message came first.

[Bad Rabbit: How did it go today? Did you take pictures? Show me your dance partner, is she pretty?]

[Fake Boyfriend (One-Day Rental): Not great. No pictures. Very pretty.]

The usual Zhu Zhixi-style follow-up questions were late to arrive.

[Bad Rabbit: Really? How pretty?]

[Fake Boyfriend (One-Day Rental): The prettiest in the whole venue.]

After that, he didn’t bother him again. He didn’t come to borrow pheromones that night either. After Fu Rangyi got home, he hung the clothes back in the closet and closed the door.

He, who had not attended the coming-of-age ceremony, felt a sense of complete fulfillment instead.

First, he was only 17, not yet an “adult” anyway, so there was no need to join the crowd. Second, he had worn the suit, and he had danced the dance, and his partner was the one he truly wanted to invite. Third…

He could also be barely considered Zhu Zhixi’s first dance partner.

His real eighteenth birthday coming-of-age was also very fulfilling. Zhu Zhixi made a special trip to S University to celebrate with him. They shared a cake on a large lawn behind the Mingde Building at S University. Perhaps it was because he had smeared cream from his finger onto the tip of Zhu Zhixi’s nose, a spot of white, that he found himself inexplicably imagining the scene of Zhu Zhixi appearing here when it snowed.

It was just after the summer vacation, the weather was still hot, and the cream had mostly melted. Zhu Zhixi’s forehead was also covered in sweat, but the cake still tasted very good, and the birthday song was also very pleasant. Even though Zhu Zhixi later inexplicably sang it a second time at the top of his lungs, attracting many other strange students who, like him, lacked a sense of propriety to say “Happy Birthday” to him, Fu Rangyi, despite his discomfort, still felt very happy.

That lawn was nicknamed “Lover’s Slope,” a detail he didn’t mention to Zhu Zhixi. Later, Zhu Zhixi went there many times—for picnics, to drop things off, or just to lie there and sunbathe, complaining to him about the heavy coursework and lack of time to go out and play.

Every time he came, he would drag Fu Rangyi all over S University. Whenever they reached some dim, deserted corner, he would reveal his cunning rabbit’s tail and accomplish the true purpose of his trip—to borrow pheromones.

Sometimes Fu Rangyi would deliberately refuse, and only after hearing Zhu Zhixi frown and say, “How can you be like this?” would he put on a helpless expression and let him continue.

But for the vast majority of his time at S University, Fu Rangyi spent it alone. When he was in class, eating, or studying, passing by these secret spots, he would reflexively think of Zhu Zhixi’s soft embrace and the faint fragrance on him that was different from pheromones.

This continued until he graduated from his undergraduate studies and became a graduate student. He waited for Zhu Zhixi’s sudden arrival, waited to be taken to these corners, letting Zhu Zhixi mortgage some happiness to borrow his pheromones and his reluctance to part.

“Fu Rangyi, you even wear your bracelet in the shower? People on the forum were discussing the scent of your pheromones before.”

“Mm.” Fu Rangyi was never very interested in the banter inside the dorm.