Bone-Attached Disaster - Chapter 5:

Chapter 5: First Encounter

-12 Years Ago-

September. The weather was no longer as hot as the summer break. The slow drop in temperature brought with it an increasing pressure to study. Piles of newly distributed test papers sat in the senior-year classroom. Many students were reluctant to leave their seats for even a moment, eager to spend every break memorizing and practicing.

Meanwhile, on the basketball court by the track, two high school seniors mixed in with a group of juniors, sweating profusely.

At 4:30 PM, the sun was swallowed by thick clouds. The sky was overcast, and the weather was getting increasingly muggy. The long break was about to end. Lu Jie and Jiang Yan hurried across the entire track toward the senior teaching building. They had three minutes before the next Physics class. Both were tall with long strides, so making it into the classroom just before the bell was certainly no problem.

“By the way, Brother Lu,” Jiang Yan had just chugged half a bottle of water, wiping the sweat from his forehead. “I heard a new person is transferring to our class today?”

“Today?” Lu Jie checked the time on his watch. It was almost 5 PM. “Coming at this hour? A transfer student?”

Jiang Yan: “They just said he’s a late-entry student.”

Lu Jie wasn’t very interested in this gossip. Yaochen No. 1 High School was the best in the city, and it wasn’t uncommon for a student to transfer in during the last year before the Gaokao (college entrance exam). The next sentence, however, piqued Lu Jie’s interest—”I heard he’s someone who will threaten your position.”

Lu Jie tried to recall what his “position” was, looking down at the basketball he was holding. Captain of the school basketball team? But he’d stepped down before the senior year.

Since they entered their senior year, the entire grade had been relocated from the main academic building, away from the freshmen, sophomores, and the junior high section, into an isolated old building on a particularly remote corner of the campus. As the designated building for all previous Gaokao-preparing seniors, it wasn’t dirty or messy, but it had a distinct old-school feel.

The senior building was surrounded by a ring of lush trees, ostensibly so seniors could look far away and see greenery when stressed. But Lu Jie and his classmates strongly suspected they were being isolated—no different from a concentration camp.

Lu Jie and Jiang Yan, both tall, walked across the track, passing several classes heading to P.E.

Lu Jie had always been handsome since childhood. He was short in junior high and often spoke on behalf of the students at assemblies, earning him a reputation as the handsome little boy genius of the junior section. In his first year of high school, Lu Jie rapidly grew taller and his shoulders broadened. He was very upright and well-built. Now in his senior year, his demeanor was also more imposing than before.

The two walked past the younger students, arm-in-arm, drawing attention. Many lower-grade girls’ eyes lit up, their gaze glued to them.

As they neared the senior building, they saw Tang Ningxue walking out.

“Senior Lu Jie!” Tang Ningxue’s eyes brightened immediately, and she rushed over. “The teacher asked me to bring the Physics competition papers. He wants us to finish the problems beforehand; we’ll go over them on Saturday.”

Tang Ningxue was a sophomore in the science track and was in the school’s Physics competition class with Lu Jie, where they had class every Saturday. In Jiang Yan’s words, the girl’s eyes couldn’t hide anything—she clearly liked Lu Jie.

Lu Jie nodded. “Where did you put the papers?”

“I saw you weren’t there, so I gave them to a student in your class.” Jiang Yan’s guess was right; Tang Ningxue did like Lu Jie, or she wouldn’t have crossed the entire track just to deliver papers to the most isolated and oldest building in the school. Although Jiang Yan was also a famously handsome senior, when the two stood there, she only stared at Lu Jie, reluctant to blink.

“Then I’ll head back? See you Saturday.”

“Mhm,” Lu Jie smiled subtly, appearing calmer than his peers. The smile was flawless on his handsome face, making Tang Ningxue blush and her heart flutter as she walked away.

“Oh, Brother Lu, so gentle. Be careful not to charm her too much. Why lead her on if you’re not going to marry her, right?”

“You’re an idiot,” Lu Jie didn’t bother to engage with his annoying friend.

At 18, it was the age where one felt mature but still couldn’t avoid a bit of vanity. Lu Jie didn’t show it, but the phrase “the new person will threaten his position” suddenly popped into his mind.

What, is someone handsomer than me coming?

The bell rang just then. Lu Jie darted into the classroom like the wind to his seat, but he was immediately confused. Where was his seat???

“Damn, who’s pulling a prank! Where’s my Brother Lu’s seat!” Jiang Yan yelled.

The class monitor, Peng Yuan, adjusted his glasses, immersed in his studies and too lazy to look up, merely pointed to the back. In the last row by the window, a seat was vacant. The arrangement on the desktop looked familiar; Lu Jie recognized it as his desk.

“Why was it moved there?” Lu Jie frowned and asked.

The monitor said, “The teacher’s arrangement. You weren’t here, so two people helped move it over.”

“So I should say thank you?”

“You’re welcome.”

“…”

Just as Lu Jie was about to ask more, the class bell rang. As he walked toward his “new seat,” he recalled his mother mentioning at home that she wanted him to change seats. Because Jiang Yan often got distracted and talked during class, his mother was afraid Lu Jie would be negatively affected by sitting with him and his grades would drop.

Lu Jie had clearly said he didn’t want to change seats.

The annoyance in his heart reached an unbearable level. He frowned, his fists clenched, and he stopped in front of his new seat, even feeling the urge to take his anger out on the desk and chair. Lu Jie took a moment, calming his breath the instant the bell stopped, suppressing the urge to vent.

Finally, helpless, he pulled out the chair and sat down.

Only after sitting down did Lu Jie realize his new deskmate wasn’t an original classmate. Not only were his hairstyle and figure unfamiliar, but his desk was also spotless, nothing like a typical senior student’s desk.

Must be the new transfer student. Lu Jie placed his wrist on the desk and tapped it three times with his knuckle.

Knock, knock, knock

“Hey, the teacher is about to come in, still sleeping?” Lu Jie’s mood hadn’t improved; in fact, his attitude was cold and arrogant. Since he couldn’t take his anger out on his long-time classmates, he decided to pick on the newcomer. In his eyes, this new student was essentially sent by his mother to annoy him.

The new deskmate slowly got up, revealing a small, palm-sized face.

This person could truly be described as “all bones”—so skinny and frail, with no flesh on his face. The only good feature was his eyes, but because he was so thin, they looked disproportionately large, taking up half his face. He was just an average looker.

This? Threaten my position?

As Lu Jie stared at the new student, he instantly forgot what had annoyed him earlier. He was less tense now and put on a welcoming air. “What’s your name?”

The new student opened his mouth, then closed his lips before making a sound. He turned to the side, took out a brand-new notebook from his desk, flipped to the first page, and started writing.

This is too cautious. The teacher hasn’t even arrived, is he that afraid of making noise? So he’s a timid one.

Lu Jie felt his arrogance swell. He unabashedly looked the person next to him up and down. This time, he noticed a small, faint mole on the bridge of the transfer student’s nose. Now that he looked closely, this face did have its merits, but it was far from threatening his position; he needed to gain some weight, he was as thin as a matchstick man right now.

After writing three characters, the new student turned and looked at him.

“Fu Jia’an?” Lu Jie read the name aloud. “Got it.”

He actually had a belly full of questions, like why are you coming to class so late, why is your desk bare with only one notebook and one pen, and why are you suddenly my deskmate…

But these were all interrupted by the sound of the Physics teacher entering. “Sorry, sorry students, I’m late,” Teacher Mo put his lesson plan on the desk, then scanned the classroom, as if looking for someone. When his gaze landed on the corner by the window, he smiled. “Fu Jia’an, right?”

Lu Jie’s new deskmate nodded.

For some reason, just hearing the name being called gave Lu Jie a strange feeling sitting next to him. It was as if Teacher Mo had long admired this Fu Jia’an, as if he were a big shot.

Before Lu Jie could think about it further, Teacher Mo, as usual, focused his attention on his favorite Physics class representative, teasing him wholeheartedly. “Lu Jie, playing basketball again?”

“Teacher, how did you know?” Lu Jie scratched the back of his head. “I hid the basketball well.” His tone was both honest and a little cowardly, drawing laughter from the class.

Teacher Mo pointed outside the window: “The office has a great view. I know exactly when you snuck back to the building. I’m telling you, it’s getting colder and colder. Be careful of catching a cold or fever after sweating and coming back into the wind. And you too, Jiang Yan.”

“We’re perfectly healthy.”

Both answered in unison, leading to another burst of laughter in the classroom.

After the lively moment ended, Teacher Mo told everyone to open the mini-quiz papers from two days ago and officially began discussing the problems. Lu Jie looked at the bright red ‘145’ written on his paper, spinning his pen lazily. The sound of the lecture went in one ear and out the other; for him, it was unnecessary information.

He openly let his mind wander, resting his chin on his palm and looking to the side. He saw Fu Jia’an sitting straight, quietly looking at the blackboard.

Is he a bookworm? What could he possibly gain from staring at the blackboard? There were no problems on it, only solution formulas.

Lu Jie considered that this guy was probably new and embarrassed to ask to borrow the paper. He took the initiative to lay his paper in the middle of their two desks, signaling for them to share it.

Fu Jia’an turned his head and looked at him with a very neutral gaze. Lu Jie noticed that his new deskmate’s eyes were light-colored, almost a grayish shade, giving him a cold tone that made him hard to read.

Thunder rumbled a few times, and it started to rain. The scent of damp soil and grass mixed in the air, and outside the window, the rain fell like broken strings of pearls. Lu Jie liked rainy days. Since this Fu Jia’an brought the rain, he could grudgingly pardon him for the sin of suddenly disrupting his life.

Fu Jia’an picked up his pen and started writing again in his blank notebook, which only had his name written in it. He then slid it toward Lu Jie for him to see:

「I want to close the window」

“…….”