Fake Slackers

Chapter 42: Forst place for sure

He Zhao held the half-cigarette between his fingers, the smell of smoke all around him. For some reason, he felt as if he had been caught doing something bad. After a second of silence, he said, "You haven't been good... you're not asleep yet?"

Probably because he had been smoking, He Zhao's voice sounded very hoarse. Pitched low and deep, even his tone descended as he spoke.

As he finished speaking, he let go and the cigarette fell onto the floor. Then he went quiet again.

This was the first time Xie Yu was seeing He Zhao do this. Or, should he say, this was his first time seeing He Zhao in this state.

When he met He Zhao, the idiot had already quit smoking. He ate lollipops all day and kept the stick in his mouth. Now Xie Yu smelled the nicotine in the air and wondered, what had the Big Bro of the East Building whose name struck fear into people's hearts been like?

Had he been like this?

His spirits seemed low, but he still had a strong presence, even an air of tyranny. He seemed a little tired, as if he was in a bad mood.

"I'm going to the bathroom." Xie Yu used He Zhao's excuse from before, but a stronger version of it. He turned around and said, "You, damn it, stay right there and don't go anywhere."

He Zhao made an "Ah" of acknowledgement. Only after Xie Yu had walked past him did he wonder out loud, "Why did you come all this way to go to the bathroom?"

Everything else aside, Erzhong's dormitories were famously good. All the dorm rooms had their own thermostats and private bathrooms, and the rooms themselves were spacious.

Xie Yu's voice came from far away. "Leaking pipe. Reported to maintenance."

He Zhao sat on the stairs and didn't move.

He had gone to bed very early. He had gone to his room, showered, and lain down, but then he had jolted awake from a dream covered in a cold sweat. And then, on this beautiful autumn night, he'd tossed and turned, unable to go back to sleep.

Ringing in his ears were the words Lei Jun had suddenly bent down and said into his ear at the restaurant. "He Zhao, you left Erlei in such a state. Why haven't you killed yourself?"

Even in his dreams he felt an invisible hand at his throat, choking him so he couldn't say a word.

He Zhao glanced down and toyed with the lighter in his hand. With a click, a small flame shot out.

He released his thumb. The spot where his thumb pressed down felt slightly warm, like a fire was burning upwards from his fingertips.

Lei Jun was now Ji-ge, a fourth-year at the Information Technology school. He had been held back one year. He couldn't be considered a school tyrant, but he'd attended the school long enough that the previous Dian Ji 'big bros' had pretty much all left, so the burden now fell to him.

Although they were enemies now, before... they had been as thick as thieves.

In junior high, He Zhao had been popular and made many friends, but had only a few close friends. He had met Lei Jun at a concession stand where Lei Jun was drinking a bottle of soda, as if it were alcohol, after going through a breakup. Another boy stood beside him, consoling him. "Girls come and go, but I, your bro, will always be here."

Lei Jun said, "Erlei, you like me? But I don't like men."

That was how they met.

Lei Jun and Fang Xiaolei both got such bad grades that the teachers stopped bothering about them. As long as they weren't a bad influence on the other students, the teachers closed one eye and let things slide.