Let Me Sink - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The next day, when I arrived in class, Shen Qi and I tacitly said nothing to each other.

Maybe he knew the rest of the class didn’t like him, so he deliberately kept his distance from me, afraid I would be ostracized along with him.

He still kept his head down, silently trying to make himself seem as small and invisible as possible. It obviously didn’t help.

After class, a few rotten boys in the class tossed his homework back and forth, even mocking him as they did.

“Man, it’s bad enough Shen Qi looks like a girl. How is his stamina worse than the girls in our class too? He barely ran at all in PE last period before he got tired and had to ask the teacher for a break halfway through.”

“No stamina. Weak, that’s all.”

“His face is so pale. Did he put powder on?”

“Who knows?”

They laughed among themselves, bullying him with their words.

The boy quietly lowered his eyes and worked on his problems. The knuckles gripping his pen had gone white, and he was biting hard on his crimson lips.

“Tch. Useless.”

Cheng Yu, with his flashy red hair and ear studs, leaned back against the desk behind him like some spoiled rich kid. He lifted his eyes toward Shen Qi, a roguish smile on his face, and sneered, “With a body that weak, what girl would ever like you?”

“One look at Shen Qi and you know he likes guys.”

The others beside them started jeering.

Cheng Yu raised a brow, got up, and moved closer to Shen Qi. Lowering his voice, he said, “How about you get with me? I’ll pay you…”

There was a loud bang.

Everyone in the classroom turned to look.

I had just filled my cup with warm water and come back to the classroom when I saw desks knocked askew and the red-haired boy clutching his bright red left cheek with one hand, struggling up from the floor.

“You hit me?”

Cheng Yu gritted his teeth. Class was about to start, and more and more people had returned, all looking his way.

He grabbed the school uniform in front of Shen Qi’s chest and yanked him out of his seat. His other hand had just clenched into a fist, about to swing, when I stopped him with a book before Pei Huai could take a step.

“Class is about to start. Everyone sit back down.”

I stood in front of Shen Qi and pulled his clothes free from Cheng Yu’s hand.

Cheng Yu looked at me coldly.

“Stay out of it.”

Unafraid, I met his gaze and said calmly, “This counts as bullying a classmate.”

He gave a derisive laugh and seemed about to say more.

The class bell suddenly rang. He glanced at Shen Qi and me, then kicked his chair with a clang before returning to his seat.

“Thank you.”

The boy lowered his head and tugged at the hem of my shirt.

I gave him a slight nod.

“It’s fine.”

When I returned to my seat, the teacher arrived late.

My deskmate, Pei Huai, was handsome, with a gentle, refined air. He propped his chin on one hand, his long, elegant eyes leisurely studying me as he stated, “Jiang He, you have a lot of free time today.”

“Do I?”

I glanced sideways at him and smiled. “I’ve always had a lot of free time.”

He let out a soft laugh, sat up straight, took out his pen and book, and once again became the image of a model student listening attentively in class.

I felt a gaze clinging to my back.

When I turned around, it was gone.

In that direction, there was only Shen Qi.

A thick stack of books sat piled in front of him.

He had his head lowered, taking notes on the lesson.

Again… was it just my imagination?