OHD Chapter 20: Just a Foolish Dream

Chapter 20: Just a Foolish Dream

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

As the bell for the end of morning self-study rang, and just before the homeroom teacher walked out the classroom door, Zhou Kai pulled his phone out of his pocket.

Bending his back, his forehead resting on the edge of his desk, he unlocked the phone, silenced it, turned off the vibration, turned on the data, dismissed the pop-up ad notifications, and opened WeChat—all in one smooth motion.

Zhou Kai saw a red dot on the class group chat, which he had set to mute notifications for. The latest message was a red reminder that someone had @-mentioned him, and the gray text directly displayed his nickname.

Zhou Kai thought the message would be from the class president, the physical education committee member, or maybe someone else in the class, but certainly not from He Ye—the cold, aloof jerk.

With this thought in mind, Zhou Kai clicked on the message, and then he froze in shock—the person who had @-mentioned him was exactly the one he had excluded from his guesses: He Ye.

Surprised? You bet.

Staring at the default avatar that WeChat assigns to users, Zhou Kai’s heart was pounding, so fast it felt like it might burst out of his chest, and it hurt a little.

He held the phone with one hand, quietly placed his other hand over his chest, and took a few deep breaths. He went back and reread the message He Ye had sent to @-mention him, only to realize that it had been sent at just past four in the morning.

It wasn’t even dawn yet, and He Ye was already awake?

Well, if he was awake, fine, but why randomly @-mention him in the class group?

After all, He Ye was the only person in the class who hadn’t ever spoken in the group, acting like he didn’t exist. He only joined the group because he had to, to receive notifications from the homeroom teacher.

Zhou Kai, still shocked, pleased, and confused, scrolled down through the chat to make sure he didn’t miss anything. He read through the messages one by one until he reached the emoji he had sent before going to bed the night before, confirming that He Ye really only sent that one @-mention.

Still puzzled, Zhou Kai scrolled up through the messages until the screen wouldn’t go any further. He stared at the message from He Ye, utterly baffled and a little disappointed.

What did it mean? He just @-mentioned him and didn’t say anything else?

What was the point of that?

Zhou Kai’s finger tapped the screen, and he bit his lip, feeling a bit frustrated.

He had been so anxious, so desperate to check his phone. And what did he find? He Ye just sent an @-mention?

Damn, he might as well not have bothered. He spent the whole morning self-study session waiting for something, and all he could do was waste time thinking about this. He couldn’t even focus on memorizing his vocabulary.

The reason the whole class was staring at him was just because He Ye had randomly @-mentioned him?

He was jolted from his thoughts when his shoulder was grabbed, and he quickly dismissed the phone and sat up straight, his face sour and irritated.

When the class president saw the phone in Zhou Kai’s hand, he thought Zhou Kai was upset over He Ye’s provocation.

To the class president and physical education committee member, He Ye’s actions looked like nothing but a direct challenge. Last night at the roast chicken place, he had pulled Zhou Kai aside, and then he had @-mentioned Zhou Kai in the class group—it was downright provocative.

The physical education officer asked Zhou Kai, “Did you see the message?”

Zhou Kai mumbled an annoyed “Hmm,” and put his phone back into his pocket.

The class president cursed under his breath. “What’s He Ye’s deal? He’s not trying to challenge you to a fight, is he?” Then he asked, “Did he message you privately?”

Zhou Kai shook his head.

The class president was confused. “Then why did he @-mention you?”

Zhou Kai made an irritated face and sighed, clearly bothered by the question. “Who knows what he’s up to? It’s early in the morning, and he can’t just leave people alone, can he?”

The physical education committee member and class president murmured to each other, “I think he wants to fight. He probably still holds a grudge after the way Zhou Kai embarrassed him the other day.”

The class president nodded, speaking quietly. “I think so too. Just look at him—he’s the kind of guy who looks like a troublemaker.”

The physical education committee member frowned. “What should we do? We can’t just let him actually beat Zhou Kai up.”

The class president murmured something back, the two of them continuing their discussion while Zhou Kai zoned out, his thoughts elsewhere.

He just couldn’t understand what He Ye was trying to do. He’d warned him not to mess with him, and Zhou Kai had backed off. But then He Ye went and @-mentioned him in the group chat, without saying anything else. What was the point of that?

If he had pressed the wrong button, He Ye could’ve just unsend the message. But He Ye didn’t, so it couldn’t have been a mistake—he’d deliberately sent that message.

Frowning, Zhou Kai wanted to turn around and see what He Ye, that cold jerk, was up to. He almost felt like standing up, walking over, grabbing He Ye by the collar, and demanding to know what the hell he meant by all this.

But no, that wouldn’t work. Not here, not in class. He felt guilty, like he couldn’t do it.

Ugh, this was so frustrating. Why did everything have to be so complicated?

He let out a deep sigh, his body slackening as he lazily leaned back against the class president’s desk, unable to stop his mind from swirling with thoughts.

The class president, having finished talking with the physical education committee member, slapped Zhou Kai on the shoulder. “It’s settled.”

Zhou Kai looked up, seeing the class president and physical education committee member both with a look of determination on their faces. He was confused. “What’s settled? What are you talking about?”

He hadn’t even figured out what was going on, and they were already making decisions?

From He Ye’s seat, he could clearly see Zhou Kai with his phone. After waiting for a moment, his mood darkened, and He Ye took his phone out from his desk.

He opened WeChat, clicked on the chat with the black-and-white profile picture, and stared at the reminder asking him to send a friend request. After a while, he pressed his lips together and typed a tentative message.

“Let’s talk.”

He clicked send, and immediately saw the reminder pop up: “You’re not friends yet… Send a friend request.”

Gripping the phone tightly, He Ye shoved it back into his bag. He looked up at Zhou Kai, who was now leaning against the class president’s desk, chatting with the physical education officer and not paying attention to him at all. He Ye felt his patience running thin.

He Ye told himself: If revealing the truth isn’t the end, then let the story play out.

It was just a foolish dream, so what did it matter?

Whenever Zhou Kai saw through him, grew tired of him, woke up, and moved on—so be it.

After all, he had no heart. Nobody took anyone seriously. Wasn’t that better?