OHD Chapter 5: He Ye Didn’t Need It

Chapter 5: He Ye Didn’t Need It

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

“Let’s go to the cafeteria, Zhou Kai!”

Placing his pen between the pages of his book, Zhou Kai closed it and took his meal card from his bag. Standing up, he walked toward the front door, smiling as he asked the group of people waiting for him, “What do you want to eat?”

“Anything, doesn’t matter what, as long as there’s food.”

“Hey, what you’re saying…”

“You’re calling us pigs, huh?”

“Shut up, you’re talking about yourself. Look at our class president, is there such a handsome pig?”

“Exactly, can you speak properly?”

Zhou Kai laughed, and as he approached, the class president hooked his arm around Zhou Kai’s neck and pulled him close. Zhou Kai instinctively looked down at his collar, checking that the buttons on his school uniform T-shirt were done up.

Hmm, can’t see anything.

The group of seven people made their way down the stairs, lively and noisy. Even though the stairs weren’t crowded, they insisted on crowding together, stepping two or three people on each step.

Zhou Kai couldn’t agree with this. He grabbed the class president’s wrist, freeing himself from his arm and stepped back up two steps. “Stop crowding, or you’ll trip and fall.”

The class president was the only one who listened. Zhou Kai didn’t bother anymore and let them have their fun.

On the way to the cafeteria, Zhou Kai was already planning his lunch. What should he have? Fast food? Or fried rice noodles? Fried noodles would be good too.

Today, his Chinese teacher had praised him in class, even reading his composition as an example for the whole class. Zhou Kai had been in a great mood all morning because of that, a bit of vanity driving him.

Fried noodles would be fine. They were filling and delicious. As long as his mood was good, he’d have a good appetite and could probably finish the whole portion. Zhou Kai had made up his mind.

That is, until he passed by two girls from a neighboring class and overheard them excitedly talking about “He Ye and that second-year guy, Bei Bei, are having a date behind the library.”

Leaning against the wall, He Ye looked at the person in front of him, speaking indifferently, “I’m not gay, you’ve got the wrong person.”

He Ye was actually a bit annoyed, though he didn’t show it. He had thought that after saying that one sentence, the person would understand. But it had only been three days, and now this person was showing up around him again, like some kind of stalker.

Bei Bei was nervous, sweating in his palms, and a little scared under He Ye’s cold gaze. But his fear didn’t outweigh his desire to confess his feelings. Ignoring He Ye’s “I’m not gay” statement, he still said, “I like you.”

After confessing, Bei Bei’s face turned a little red, but he smiled sweetly, showing two big dimples that made him look especially adorable.

He Ye looked at him, his eyes still cold, not a single ripple stirring in his heart.

Bei Bei wasn’t the first. Back in his first year, when fewer people knew about He Ye’s family situation, there had been other people who confessed their feelings for him. But they were all girls. Bei Bei was the first guy.

He didn’t count the one who harassed him.

He Ye was busy—busy working and learning skills. As for other people’s feelings for him, he chose to ignore them. His life had been about being heartless, almost like living without love. Even when he grew up, when desire came, he couldn’t be bothered to do anything about it because it seemed meaningless. He’d rather use that time for extra sleep.

Making money, paying off debts, surviving—these were the most important things.

What was love? Like friendship, He Ye didn’t need it at all.

“You guys eat, I’m feeling a bit unwell, I’ll head back to class,” Zhou Kai said as he put down his chopsticks and picked up his meal card.

The class president, sitting next to him, stared at his plate of fried noodles in shock. “No way, you’ve barely eaten a few bites? What’s wrong with your stomach?”

It wasn’t that his stomach hurt, but rather that his heart did. Zhou Kai couldn’t explain it. He shook his head and patted the class president’s shoulder. After giving the others a small nod, he turned and left.

Behind the library building, there were two abandoned ping-pong tables. Beside them stood a tree that was about two stories tall, providing perfect shade.

Zhou Kai knew that He Ye, that bastard, often went there after lunch. He’d lie on one of the tables and sleep. He wasn’t afraid of mosquitoes and could sleep until 1:30 p.m., only heading back to class when the self-study bell rang.

Standing in the middle of the playground, Zhou Kai looked up at the library.

“I saw it! It really is He Ye from next door and that Bei Bei. They’re behind the library!”

“Wow, is what was posted on the forum true? Are they a couple?”

“Oh my god, were they on a date just now?!”

“Ah, do you think they… you know… kissed?”

“Ah, maybe…”

Grinding his teeth and clenching his fist, Zhou Kai raised his foot and walked toward the library building. Once inside, he didn’t go to the reading room to study. Instead, he directly walked toward the inner staircase and quickly climbed to the third floor, then walked to the far end, reaching the boys’ bathroom.

His breathing was quick, his heart pounding.

Zhou Kai forced open a slightly ajar window. With the cover of tree leaves, he leaned out, peering down. When he finally saw He Ye and Bei Bei standing close to each other, facing each other in the shade, Zhou Kai felt his eyes sting, and he couldn’t hold back.

“…Damn it!” With a snap, he slammed the window shut, gasping for air. His trembling hands reached into his pants pocket and pulled out his phone. After unlocking it, he tapped on a folder on the home screen, long-pressed the WeChat account labeled “Him,” and then clicked the “X” that appeared.

As the folder disappeared, Zhou Kai felt an emptiness inside, still clutching his phone as he stood there. It wasn’t until the screen went black that he grabbed the collar of his school uniform T-shirt, wiped his eyes, and left the bathroom.

Since Bei Bei had said, “I like you,” the moment had fallen into silence. For about five minutes, Bei Bei occasionally glanced up at He Ye, likely beginning to understand.

In fact, when He Ye had said he wasn’t gay, Bei Bei had already known his hopes were dashed. But he couldn’t help himself and confessed his feelings anyway. After saying it, when he looked at He Ye again, facing the same lack of reaction, no—still indifferent He Ye, Bei Bei felt strangely calm, or perhaps it was that a sense of loss filled his heart.

He apologized to He Ye, telling him that he’d caused trouble for him these past few days.

It really was trouble. He Ye clearly stated again, “Don’t follow me anymore.”

Bei Bei obediently nodded. “I won’t.” He smiled at He Ye again, as if saying goodbye to a relationship that hadn’t even begun. “I’m leaving now… Goodbye, senior.”

He Ye watched him walk away. After Bei Bei turned the corner and disappeared from view, He Ye finally looked up. He glanced at the windows several stories above, narrowing his eyes slightly. Just now, if he wasn’t hearing things, someone had opened and then closed a window.

Why open and close it? What for? Did they think they saw something they shouldn’t have? Sweeping the fallen leaves off the ping-pong table with his hand, He Ye lay back down, resting his arm behind his head, and closed his eyes, letting out a slight chuckle.

So what? There was nothing to see. Anything that shouldn’t be seen was already stored on his phone. He Ye thought to himself, those messages that person sent him were truly things he shouldn’t have looked at.

Too provocative… He Ye didn’t know that, for the next two weeks, the person who had been sending him inappropriate photos would suddenly stop.

It was as if they had disappeared completely.