Xu Yan had barely stepped through the front door when his phone started buzzing.He pulled it out, frowning. "Who's texting me this much?"
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"Did the school catch fire?"He opened it. The top post wasn't about yesterday's fight, or the fake photo everyone had been arguing about that morning.
🔥 Has Anyone Noticed Lu Yichen's Been Hanging Around a Freshman?
Xu Yan froze.The first photo showed Lu Yichen waiting outside the convenience store, with Xu Yan standing in front of him holding a bag of snacks. The second was the two of them on a bench yesterday. The third was just their backs, watching Gu Chen and Qin Yu argue.
He covered his face with both hands. "Do these people not have homework?"
He scrolled down anyway.
27L: wait is that really Lu Yichen
41L: no way, I never seen him hanging out with anyone
68L: the freshman's cute ngl
93L: they actually look good together.I lowkey ship the.
He locked the phone. Unlocked it again.
"...Maybe if I close it, the comments go away."
They didn't.
He dropped onto the sofa. The villa was quiet. The housekeeper had gone home after preparing dinner. His parents were still overseas. The big empty living room made it feel even more silent .
He stared at the ceiling. "Why am I the gossip now. I'm supposed to watch it, not be it."
His stomach growled.
"...I'll panic after dinner."
He was halfway through eating when a new message popped up.
Lu Yichen: Have you seen the forum?
Xu Yan almost dropped his chopsticks.
Xu Yan: Unfortunately.
Lu Yichen: They're bored.
Xu Yan: Very.
There was a pause. Then -
Lu Yichen: Don't mind them .
Xu Yan looked at those two words for a while.
"...He's nicer than I thought," he said out loud.
The next morning he got to campus early, with one simple plan: avoid gossip, avoid Lu Yichen, avoid becoming today's headline too.
He made it through the east gate before the plan fell apart.A crowd had gathered around the announcement board. He told himself one look wouldn't hurt and pushed in close enough to read it.
Campus Cultural Festival — Club Registration Now Open
Two girls nearby were already talking. "I heard the student council president is running it." "Then Lu Yichen will probably help. They're close." "Maybe."
"Makes sense," Xu Yan muttered, nodding along without thinking.Then it hit him.
The cultural festival. The anonymous confession post. The fake photos. In the original story, that's where everything went wrong. But the timing was off — the festival wasn't supposed to be announced for another month.Someone had moved it up.
"Xu Yan."
He turned around . Lu Yichen stood a few steps away, . A few people nearby were already looking over.Then at him.
[ Don't look at me. I don't know him. I absolutely don't know him.]
Lu Yichen walked closer. "What are you looking at?".
"The festival," Xu Yan said, pointing.
"Joining?"
He shook his head fast. "No. I like being alive."
"What does that have to do with a festival?"
Xu Yan realized he'd almost said too much. He coughed. "Crowds. I don't do well with crowds."
Lu Yichen didn't push. After a moment, he said, "The student council needs volunteers."
Xu Yan's smile disappeared.That's exactly where things go wrong.
"I'll think about it," he said, in a tone that meant no.
"Good," Lu Yichen said, and walked off.
Xu Yan let out a breath once he was gone.
"...That was close."
He didn't notice the phone pointed at them from somewhere in the crowd. Five minutes later, a new post hit the top of the forum.
🔥 Is Lu Yichen Chasing the Literature Department Freshman?
It reached the front page in under a minute.
This time, Xu Yan couldn't laugh it off.
"...This is slander." He kept staring at the post. "...Or is this just how rumors start?"