Bone-Attached Disaster - Chapter 7:

Chapter 7: The Deskmate

Fu Jia’an was sick for half a month after he returned, and the matter of changing seats was dropped. Jiang Yan told Lu Jie several times, “While the kid’s away, why don’t you just move your seat? All the teachers clearly favor you, Lu Jie, so what’s the big deal if you act on your own initiative once in a while?”

Lu Jie waved his hand, casually kicking the basketball back and forth between his feet. “Forget it. What if he comes back, finds out he’s been abandoned, and starts crying? I’m not good at comforting kids.”

Jiang Yan sighed, “He’s bound to get a new deskmate anyway.” Then he recalled the time when he and Lu Jie were suddenly separated. “But, changing someone’s seat without notifying the person is really a dishonest thing to do.”

Lu Jie grunted. He called this repaying evil with good. A real man never does things behind people’s backs.

When Fu Jia’an returned to school, two weeks had passed. The temperature had suddenly dropped, and the rain that had lasted for half a month finally stopped. The brilliant sunshine shone through the golden-brown branches, and the breeze felt cool and comfortable running through one’s hair.

It was morning. Fu Jia’an walked through the corridor, noticeably a head shorter than many of the third-year boys, skinny and small, and one of the few boys who had already switched to the long-sleeved school uniform. When he reached the door of Senior Year Class 1, he saw two people by the window sill, leaning against the narrow sill, talking over a notebook with great effort.

It was Lu Jie, with another tall, pretty girl next to him.

Lu Jie seemed to have been stopped by the girl right at the classroom door, so his backpack was still slung over one shoulder as he explained a problem to her.

“…Can you understand it when I explain it this way?”

The girl nodded, seriously circling a formula in her notebook, her eyes shining as she looked at Lu Jie. “It’s very clear, thank you, Senior Lu.” She smiled sweetly. “Then I’ll head back now, so I don’t disrupt your morning study.”

She closed her notebook, about to leave, then suddenly tilted her head, looking brightly over Lu Jie’s shoulder to the back: “You are…? Fu Jia’an?”

Lu Jie didn’t turn his head, a ridiculous feeling suddenly arising in his heart. The last time such a widely known figure appeared was probably Harry Potter.

“Hello.” The voice that came from behind was unfamiliar, not belonging to anyone in the class. If it wasn’t Fu Jia’an, who else could it be?

Tang Ningxue’s eyes curved in a smile, also showing that kind of irresistible expression like when seeing a cute small pet. She slightly lowered her head. “Did Teacher Mo tell you? You’re also coming to the Physics Olympiad class this Saturday.”

Fu Jia’an didn’t speak, likely just nodding his head.

Then Tang Ningxue waved her hand. “See you Saturday.”

Lu Jie didn’t want to engage with his new deskmate at all. He didn’t believe that Fu Jia’an had passed the small test for the Physics Olympiad class during his half-month absence. It was clearly a special arrangement, just air-dropping him in!

“Lu Jie.”

That unfamiliar voice was calling his name.

Lu Jie turned his head somewhat impatiently. “What do you want?”

“Your backpack zipper is open.”

“…”

Lu Jie, with a dark expression, pulled the gaping opening of his backpack closed. A notebook fell out in the process because of his large movement. Suppressing his anger, he picked up the notebook, and stumbled a couple of steps when he walked into the classroom door, almost hitting the door frame.

Fu Jia’an walked past him from the side with his backpack on, as calm as if he hadn’t seen anything. Lu Jie looked at the whorl of hair on the child’s head, thinking he was truly short enough. His hair was soft and fine, his bangs slightly long, almost covering his eyebrows, giving him a fragile feeling, as if he would fall over with a gust of wind, let alone being bullied.

Today, Fu Jia’an finally looked like he was attending school, setting out his thermos, textbooks, and notebooks from his backpack in a proper manner, although they were all brand new. The morning study was for classical poetry. Lu Jie was never a particularly obedient student. He casually flipped through his book, skimming through the knowledge points he wasn’t very familiar with.

The sound of Fu Jia’an reading the text always drifted into his left ear, a buzzing whisper like a mosquito, yet also like someone constantly poking his ear with a feather. Lu Jie was just about to turn his head and face the other way when a cross-breeze passed through the window, flowing towards the open classroom door.

That ‘feather’ landed on Lu Jie’s exposed elbow, as he was still wearing a short-sleeved shirt.

“What?” Lu Jie subconsciously moved his elbow inwards a bit.

Fu Jia’an withdrew his finger, his hand, almost transparently white, pressed against the stack of papers that had been messed up by the wind. He said very faintly, “Did you write my name on this for me?”

The background was a cacophony of reading voices, and even the sound of Jiang Yan and others loudly chatting and being warned by the class monitor, but perhaps because they were very close, their elbows almost touching, or perhaps because that not-yet-familiar voice was so abrupt, Lu Jie heard it very clearly.

“Yeah,” he raised his chin and said lazily, “Otherwise, with the window open and the wind blowing, your papers would be on the floor, and no one would know whose they were. You hadn’t even arrived, and there wasn’t a single word written on them.”

Fu Jia’an’s lips didn’t curve up, but subtly, Lu Jie just felt like he smiled: “Your handwriting is very nice.”

As he spoke, his index finger successively traced the three vertically written characters “Fu Jia’an.” The strokes, covered by the shadow beneath his finger, were individually illuminated by the transparent sunlight, making the casually written characters seem to have come to life.

Lu Jie didn’t have such a delicate feeling, only thinking that Fu Jia’an’s hand was too small and thin, just skin and bone, with protruding knuckles. It would definitely be uncomfortable to hold.

“Are you all better?” he asked.

Fu Jia’an thought for a moment. It was hard to say he was “completely” better, but as for the fever half a month ago, yes, it was gone. He nodded.

Then there’s no need to feel any remorse, right? Lu Jie stood up as the bell rang for the end of morning study. “Let’s go, time to switch seats.” He’d settle this during the ten-minute break.

On the way to the office, Lu Jie walked in front with his hands in his pockets, confirming that Fu Jia’an was following behind him by his subtle breathing sound. That kind of ethereal feeling, like a wisp of smoke or a soul, had a passive quality, like utter submission.

It was as if, if Lu Jie had said they were going to hang themselves instead of changing seats, he would have obediently followed.

As they passed the doors of the five Senior Year classes on the first floor, many students lingering outside couldn’t help but cast glances when they saw Lu Jie, a figure of prestige, and then they’d notice the small figure completely obscured behind him.

Lu Jie felt uncomfortable under the scrutiny. The current situation looked especially like he was dragging Fu Jia’an to settle a score. He had no choice but to grit his teeth, slow down, and wait for Fu Jia’an to walk beside him.

“Who will I sit with after we change seats?” The 16-year-old child looked at Lu Jie with clear eyes.

The wind messed up his bangs, revealing his forehead on his small, palm-sized face and highlighting his delicate features.

This question stumped Lu Jie for a moment. He choked, cleared his throat, and pretended to be natural. “There should… be someone. That, do you know Peng Yuan?” Sorry, class monitor, I’m going to throw you under the bus first.

Fu Jia’an’s expression changed very little, but one could see he was disappointed. He didn’t react further, his gaze lowered, walking in silence.

Lu Jie felt like he had just crushed a flower of the motherland, probably a very smart one at that. He thought, ‘It can’t be, can it? We only sat together for one class, and he’s already developed feelings for me?’

“But I still like the window seat.”

…So it was the cross-breeze he couldn’t bear to part with.

Lu Jie’s tone instantly plummeted to freezing point, losing all patience for coaxing. “You don’t need to move, I’ll move.”

The two were nearing the office when they heard a dispute outside the door. Lu Jie stopped behind the wall, and Fu Jia’an, puzzled, stopped too.

It was the voice of the class teacher, Teacher Dai, and another middle-aged woman, whose voice was louder and paid no mind to students walking around.

“…Sis, I can’t keep giving Lu Jie special treatment. Didn’t you say you didn’t want Lu Jie to sit with Jiang Yan? Now, sitting with a new student isn’t allowed either?”

The middle-aged woman said, “Our Lu Jie’s grades are so excellent, what do you mean by special treatment? This is a reasonable guarantee of an excellent student’s learning quality! Didn’t you say that transfer student missed so many classes and hasn’t even opened the high school textbooks? Are you going to let Lu Jie sacrifice his own time to look after him? Don’t blame me for being selfish, the college entrance exam is a lifetime matter, and we can’t afford to take this risk. How about this, if you don’t agree, I’ll go to the grade director, or maybe even the principal.”

Teacher Dai’s voice sounded troubled: “Sis, you tell me, how many times have you come to school to interfere since Lu Jie started high school? That one time you found a love letter a girl wrote to him in his backpack, and you insisted he was dating early, rushing to the office and making all the teachers in the grade aware… Lu, Lu Jie?”

Lu Jie stood next to Fu Jia’an. The tall, eighteen-year-old boy was like a wolfdog whose fur had been raised in a challenge, his face grim, his chest rising and falling. He stared at Dai Mengshu for a while, then coldly shifted his eyes.

He said to the class teacher, “Teacher Dai, I plan to sit with Fu Jia’an from now on. Don’t change my seat again.”

Dai Mengshu: “Xiao Jie…”

“Mom,” he said in a low voice, “I want some peace and quiet until graduation. Just this once, okay?”

The son who had always been filial and sensible because he pitied his mother raising him alone, spoke words of defiance in a cold, distant tone for the first time, leaving Dai Mengshu speechless.

Lu Jie frowned, his whole demeanor radiating low pressure. He pulled Fu Jia’an and turned to leave, behind them were the sounds of Dai Mengshu calling his name, and the argument between the class teacher—Lu Jie’s uncle, Dai Xin—and Dai Mengshu.

As they walked, the surrounding noise was finally left behind. The September sun was clear and bright, the autumn wind rustled the leaves, and a fresh coolness blew into the hem of his short-sleeved shirt, accompanied by the chirping of birds. The person Lu Jie was holding actually couldn’t keep up with his pace, but didn’t struggle, almost needing to take short, quick steps mixed with a slow jog to keep up.

It seemed he was finally starting to calm down a little.

Lu Jie slowed his pace, as if he’d suddenly remembered something. He looked at the person beside him, belatedly asking for his opinion.

“I forgot to ask, are you willing?” he asked with a slight nervousness, his spirited eyebrows half-lowered, strangely solemn, as if asking for some profound vow.

“I am willing.”

Fu Jia’an thought, whether he was willing or not, Lu Jie had already said so in front of the teacher and his mother.

Lu Jie sighed in relief. He suddenly felt that Fu Jia’an had become his comrade-in-arms.

But that lasted only for a second.

As soon as they stepped into the classroom, Fu Jia’an slowly returned to the last row of the classroom.

In Lu Jie’s eyes, Fu Jia’an was no longer an unrelated person, but a deskmate with whom he would share his days. He couldn’t help but ponder why a sixteen-year-old child could be so mature for his age.

Fu Jia’an hadn’t even asked about what had just happened, remaining indifferent the whole way.

How could he do that, maintain such a superior composure…

Lu Jie looked thoughtfully at Fu Jia’an’s profile as he gazed out the window, and was suddenly pulled over by Jiang Yan. “Bro, I heard you and Fu Jia’an made a private pact?”

“Don’t speak such nonsense,” Lu Jie slapped away the hand on his shoulder. “Say it properly.” It’s all to rebel against my mom.

“Alright, alright, I’ll use a different description. Are you two reconciled now?”

“We never had a falling out,” Lu Jie stretched out his long leg, leaning lazily on Jiang Yan’s desk. “We’ve only met twice in total.” And about what just happened, he was actually quite grateful to Fu Jia’an in his heart. The kid’s just a child, he decided not to hold a grudge anymore, and to be a good senior, a good host, a man of broad mind…

“But did you hear the news?” Peng Yuan glanced at Fu Jia’an and said to Lu Jie, “That kid is going to represent our school in the international physics competition—the internal school selection has been canceled.”