WAYCAV Chapter 54

The counselor approved three days of leave for Shen Nianjing, so he could rest at home properly for those three days, but he still came to campus.

Not for his own classes, but to attend Su Zhiyan’s.

On Tuesday morning at 8 a.m., Su Zhiyan entered the classroom and immediately spotted Shen Nianjing sitting beside his usual seat.

He wore a cap and mask, this hide-and-seek look was something Su Zhiyan used to do when he would go to elective courses to block Shen Nianjing. He never expected the roles to be reversed this time.

Su Zhiyan stood at the doorway, hesitating a bit.

He had no idea Shen Nianjing would attend his lecture. Shen Nianjing hadn’t told him in advance, but directly sat next to his usual seat.

So he came here specifically to find him, to stop him from having dreams?

The thought made Su Zhiyan’s heart clench.

As if sensing his gaze, Shen Nianjing, who had been looking down in a daze, raised his eyes toward the doorway.

Su Zhiyan froze.

The brim of Shen Nianjing’s cap was pulled very low, probably because he didn’t want the professor to recognize him as a student who was currently “on leave,” but Su Zhiyan still saw those eyes under the shadow.

Calm yet turbulent, filled with complex emotions he couldn’t decipher.

The two stared at each other wordlessly across half the classroom for a full half minute.

Shen Nianjing was dressed warmly. Su Zhiyan walked over and roughly glanced around. This guy didn’t bring anything, as if he didn’t originally come to attend class.

Taking a steadying breath, Su Zhiyan sat beside him and casually asked while organizing his materials, “Shouldn’t you be resting at home? What are you doing here?”

“What do you think?” Shen Nianjing murmured.

Hearing Shen Nianjing’s counter-question, Su Zhiyan’s movements paused. His nose immediately stung with emotion.

So, he really did come for him.

For a moment, guilt and unease filled Su Zhiyan’s chest. He took a deep breath, trying to adjust his emotions.

Shen Nianjing studied Su Zhiyan’s profile beneath his cap brim.

He wanted to understand how different dreams were from reality.

What exactly was the connection between the current Su Zhiyan and the Su Zhiyan in his dreams?

Were his emotions all real? Was he even real?

Shen Nianjing’s eyes tightly focused on Su Zhiyan, not wanting to miss even the slightest reaction or expression on his face.

However, whether Su Zhiyan’s expression management was too good or he really had no emotional fluctuations at all, he couldn’t see any ripples in his eyes.

Disappointment flashed through Shen Nianjing’s heart, and he looked away.

After processing his emotions, Su Zhiyan glanced sideways.

Since realizing his feelings for Shen Nianjing, he believed that the dream at the hot spring hotel last time wasn’t because the contact time wasn’t long enough.

That was probably because he had read that comic, so his subconscious brought out the emotions from deep in his heart, creating a dream mirroring that tormenting scenario.

So the content was related to the comic.

One corner of his mouth lifted in a half-smile.

He never thought there would be a day when he could wrongly blame that damn dream.

Just as he thought this, Shen Nianjing lightly touched the back of his hand, his voice tense, “What are you thinking about?”

Su Zhiyan instinctively withdrew his right hand. His chest felt swollen with emotion. “I’m thinking about… that dream.”

Damn.

Why did I say that?

Su Zhiyan pressed his lips together, his right hand nervously curling up.

He was afraid Shen Nianjing’s next sentence would directly be “Okay, we’ve made contact today, so I’ll leave first.”

That would really give them both a way out.

“That…” Su Zhiyan suddenly spoke up hesitantly.

Only then did Shen Nianjing notice that Su Zhiyan’s eyes were slightly red, not sure if he had rubbed them or what.

His heart suddenly felt full and uncomfortable, like being twisted by a pair of hands. It was very annoying. He wanted to sprint ten laps around the track until he collapse on the ground drenched in sweat.

Or jump into the lake outside and swim for an hour or two, anything to make him exhausted and sweaty without the energy to think about things.

Su Zhiyan fell silent for a moment, lowering his head to avoid Shen Nianjing’s gaze.

“Can we… have contact for a longer time today?”

Shen Nianjing’s heart clenched as he frowned.

Su Zhiyan rarely took the initiative to ask for things that would trouble others. For him to request this with him in such a humble way now, his dreaming situation must have become serious enough that he couldn’t control it.

Shen Nianjing instinctively wanted to blurt out “okay,” but when the words reached his lips, he still held back.

He thought uneasily that actually coming to school today was wrong in the first place.

He should have gone to check on Senior Xia Shi’s situation first, to confirm the difference between dreams and reality.

Instead of acting on impulse, going to campus and coming to the classroom where Su Zhiyan was preparing for class, sitting dazedly next to his seat.

He shouldn’t have… really shouldn’t have…

Shen Nianjing had to admit that he was really confused about some things, being led around by a dream, but he couldn’t find proof and didn’t dare make any moves.

He couldn’t even tell if his own feelings were real or fake.

Seeing his silence, Su Zhiyan knew the answer.

Surprisingly, the congested emotions in his chest actually eased a bit, but not because he found an outlet, but because those emotions were no longer necessary.

With no landing point and nowhere to store them, they might as well disappear.

Su Zhiyan lowered his eyes, preparing to withdraw his outstretched hand.

His right hand brushed across the cold desk surface, then was caught by another warm skin.

Shocked, Su Zhiyan watched Shen Nianjing’s left hand press against his right.

He turned his head. Shen Nianjing’s eyes were calm, his gaze falling on where their skin touched.

Su Zhiyan looked deeply at Shen Nianjing, wanting to know what exactly he was trying to do.

The next second, his right hand was suddenly held, fingers interlocked.

Su Zhiyan was stunned. Shen Nianjing’s palm burned. He instinctively wanted to pull his hand back, but couldn’t break free at all.

His hand was gripped tightly with heavy force, as if they could never be separated.

He felt his heart race. His eyes looked at Shen Nianjing, but he felt like all the blood in his body was concentrated in his held right hand.

“No…” he protested weakly, “you don’t need to do this.”

“Just touching is enough.”

He felt Shen Nianjing’s thumb slowly rubbing against his, leaving a trail of shivers where their skin brushed.

In this cold winter weather, holding hands felt wonderfully comfortable.

The two were like sharing body temperature, one person’s warmth passing to the other through their touching skin.

Su Zhiyan saw Shen Nianjing’s mask shift, his voice coming out muffled from behind the fabric, “But I prefer it this way.”

“Su Zhiyan.” His tone was very serious, “You can’t just use me without letting me have opinions, right?”

This didn’t look like giving opinions at all, but clearly forcing him to follow the “rules” he had set.

Su Zhiyan turned his face away, smiled slightly, and suddenly felt that this Shen Nianjing resembled the domineering one in his dreams.

They held hands through the entire class. Whenever there were notes to take in between, Shen Nianjing would directly grab Su Zhiyan’s book and pen to write them for him.

After finishing one class, Su Zhiyan was absent-minded.

A full hour and a half of interlocked fingers left him somewhat dazed. His originally clear thoughts seemed to disappear all at once, collapsing like a steel framework that had already been built.

Shoddy construction, Su Zhiyan complained internally.

“Zhiyan!”

A clear and pleasant female voice called from behind.

Su Zhiyan turned around and saw Qin Yuxue walking toward him with a large stack of materials in her arms, then shoving the materials into his arms.

Her manner was extremely practiced. Shen Nianjing frowned, watching the two of them.

Su Zhiyan looked at the stack of papers and smiled helplessly, “Shijie¹, I could have gone to print them this afternoon. You didn’t need to make an extra trip.”

Qin Yuxue smiled, “I was going to the print room anyway, so I brought your materials along to save you the trouble this afternoon.”

She dressed extremely simply, prioritizing comfort like Su Zhiyan, but couldn’t hide her naturally excellent temperament. Her whole body carried a bright confidence, and when she stood gracefully by the roadside, many people turned to look.

“Hey!” An acquaintance passed by, patted Shen Nianjing’s shoulder, and asked quietly, “Who’s that senior? She seems to have a good relationship with Su Zhiyan.”

Shen Nianjing had taken off his mask after leaving the teaching building, so he was easily recognized.

Shen Nianjing turned his head and saw his eager expression, “Are they a couple? If not, I’m going for it.”

Hearing this, Shen Nianjing’s expression turned cold. He glanced at him lightly and said coldly, “They’re not.”

After speaking, he thought for a moment and added, “Even if they’re not, it’s not your turn. Stop fantasizing.”

This damn guy with relationship-obsessed brain, thinking everyone’s a couple.

This damn guy was also overconfident. He failed two courses last semester but still fantasized about a senior who’s about to start her PhD. Really more ridiculous than him.

The acquaintance left awkwardly. Shen Nianjing quietly watched Su Zhiyan chatting and laughing with his senior, finally saying goodbye with smiles.

After Qin Yuxue left, Su Zhiyan lowered his head to organize the things in his arms, neatly placing them in his backpack, then turned to look at the nearby parking area, precisely finding a shared bike that hadn’t been taken yet.

He breathed a sigh of relief and walked over.

He patted the invisible dust on the seat and took out his phone to scan the code.

Suddenly a shadow fell over his head. Su Zhiyan looked up and made eye contact with the silent Shen Nianjing.

Su Zhiyan: “!”

He was shocked, “You haven’t left yet?”

He had just stood by the roadside chatting with Qin Yuxue for a long time and thought Shen Nianjing had left already.

Su Zhiyan was just surprised, but that tone sounded a bit like impatience to Shen Nianjing’s ears.

Impatient that he kept following him around.

“You really want me to leave?” His voice tightened as the corner of his mouth curled up in a mocking smile.

Yeah, he should have left long ago.

Su Zhiyan looked much happier chatting with his senior than with him. Why should he worry about his mood?

Anyway, everything around him was illusory. Even a light, fleeting dream could reflect so much reality.

All his avoidance, guilt, and affection had been nothing but illusory bubbles.

All of it was preset.

Although Shen Nianjing looked like he was smiling, his eyes were full of sadness. Su Zhiyan was stung by his gaze and opened his mouth to argue, “No—”

However, Shen Nianjing directly grabbed his hand and forcibly pulled him away without giving him any chance to explain.

They rushed through the campus, passing through the side staircase of the teaching building, climbing six floors to reach the spacious, empty rooftop platform.

Su Zhiyan yanked his hand back and leaned against the wall, breathing heavily.

He had been gasping for cold air the whole way up, unable to keep up with Shen Nianjing’s pace at all.

After this walk, he was also annoyed.

What was wrong with Shen Nianjing?! Getting angry for no reason, being cold for no reason, holding hands for no reason!

No matter how strange and wonderful this person’s thought process was, he couldn’t torture him like this!

“What’s wrong with you?!” He shook off Shen Nianjing’s attempt to hold his hand again, his eyes red as he said, “If you’re angry about something, just say it directly. At worst, beat me up!”

Why torture him like this?!

“Why do you always think I need to beat you up to solve problems!” Shen Nianjing snapped back, his tone instinctively became anxious too.

Then he suddenly went quiet, staring blankly at Su Zhiyan.

He was panting so hard that cold sweat appeared on his forehead, his face pale, looking like he might faint at any second.

The anger in Shen Nianjing’s heart disappeared instantly, replaced by endless heartache and guilt, “…Sorry.”

“Who wants to hear your sorry!”

Su Zhiyan’s anger hadn’t subsided yet, but he didn’t want to stay frozen here anymore. He turned around to go downstairs.

But Shen Nianjing suddenly said, “I once had a dream.”

His footsteps stopped abruptly. Su Zhiyan grabbed the door frame to steady himself.

What?

The anger in his chest hadn’t had time to fade before it was completely covered by another layer of shock.

His throat felt uncomfortable, his ears ringing. He opened his mouth but couldn’t hear his own voice, “What did you say?”

He turned around ad looked at Shen Nianjing.

He lowered his head, his guilty expression flashing past Su Zhiyan’s eyes.

“I said I once had a dream.”

This was too absurd. Su Zhiyan smiled faintly, his pale face gaining a bit of color from exertion, but he still looked like he might faint at any moment.

Shen Nianjing stepped forward and steadily pulled him close, looking at him seriously.

“I’ve been avoiding you because of this dream.”

“Because…” He closed his eyes and said softly, “In the dream, you were a ruthless ruthless villain without any moral boundaries.”

“And you killed me.”

The information overload left Su Zhiyan’s mind spinning in circles, unable to make sense of it all.

Who?

Who killed whom?

He breathed lightly, feeling like he still wasn’t quite awake.

Seeing Shen Nianjing’s extremely guilty expression, his eyes slowly curved into a smile.

This world was really too interesting.

Seeing his eyes filled with amusement, Shen Nianjing suddenly felt all sorts of emotions blocking his chest, bitterness rising in his mouth. All the speech he prepared dissolved into bitter silence.

He felt powerless.

Maybe he should just let Su Zhiyan leave first, at least he could go back to his dorm and rest properly.

And he also needed to calm down now.

Shen Nianjing frowned, then heard an amused voice in front of him—

“Idiot…”

Su Zhiyan suddenly spoke.

Shen Nianjing was slightly stunned, staring at him with wide eyes.

He saw real amusement floating in Su Zhiyan’s eyes, as if everything just now was very interesting.

Su Zhiyan reached out his hand, his cool fingers brushing against his fingertips, and said, “In a society ruled by law, you actually don’t trust our country’s legal system and core value education.”

“Also…” He sighed and chuckled softly, “What’s even more idiotic is…”

“You pervert, you actually call me the villain?”

The last sentence was said very softly. Shen Nianjing didn’t hear it clearly, but he couldn’t care about that anymore.

Because the next moment, Su Zhiyan slowly raised his head, his warm lips blocking all his unspoken questions.