Bone-Attached Disaster - Chapter 8:
Chapter 8: Pain
In mid-September, the weather turned cold, and Lu Jie dug out his long-sleeved jacket.
He wolfed down breakfast at the cafeteria, swallowing two steamed meat buns and an egg yolk shaomai, then walked towards the Senior Year teaching block, sipping soy milk through a straw. Jiang Yan rubbed his sleepy eyes and sighed, “Brother Lu, how do you manage to have so much energy? You only got back to the dorm after nine last night to tutor Fu Jia’an, and you were up until two finishing your own homework. How are you not tired this morning?”
Lu Jie’s canine teeth ground at the already battered opening of the straw. He replied, “Didn’t you play games until three in the morning?”
After escaping the bottom rankings in the first monthly exam, Jiang Yan’s dad, in a fit of joy, bought him the latest limited-edition sneakers and a new gaming console. If he lived with anyone else, Jiang Yan might be more restrained, but he knew Lu Jie’s ‘shielding system’ was incredibly effective—he could filter out anything unrelated to studying and had high-quality sleep—so he wasn’t too careful.
Hearing Lu Jie, Jiang Yan was a little surprised: “Did I wake you up?”
“No.” Just slept a bit lightly.
Lu Jie, who had always prided himself on his boundless energy, felt a smothering sensation for the first time recently, as if he was surrounded by dark clouds, his nerves restlessly agitated.
The door to Senior Year Class 1 was wide open. Lu Jie’s eyes would always sweep over the unobstructed seating arrangement at the doorway, past the desks, chairs, and mountainous piles of books, going straight to the window seat in the last row.
Like a hunter locking onto his prey, always precise, vicious, and hitting the bullseye.
“Lu Jie, you heard about Fu Jia’an representing our school in the competition, right?”
“There’s only one spot. I know you were the most likely person to go before, and you were the first choice in the teachers’ minds. But Fu Jia’an truly has extraordinary talent in physics, even beyond a high school student’s capability. The school wants to send him to try.”
“—Don’t worry, this physics competition is just an international friendly match. Winning might get a small bonus, but it doesn’t affect college entrance exam scores.”
“Fu Jia’an has a very high IQ, but he just transferred and doesn’t understand the answering protocol. I’ll be giving him some advanced practice problems lately. Since you sit close to him, can you help me teach him? Of course, you can refuse if you don’t have the time.”
He could have refused.
But because of the seating mix-up fiasco, to repay Fu Jia’an for the favor, Lu Jie had to accept the consequence of his impulsive decision and take on the task.
Tutoring Fu Jia’an wasn’t hard. He only needed to remind him to write his name on the paper and not to skip steps in his solutions—Fu Jia’an often arrived directly at the answer without using formulas, and when asked to explain his reasoning, he couldn’t, finding it as difficult as explaining why 1+1 equals 2.
Teacher Mo specially procured four university physics textbooks for Fu Jia’an’s self-study, and all the other teachers also gave Fu Jia’an the green light, allowing him to temporarily skip other subjects. In Jiang Yan’s words, Lu Jie was truly “accompanying the prince in his studies.”
They had been catching up for a week. By last night, Fu Jia’an could barely write a few formulas to just get by, but he omitted many intermediate steps, which would clearly cost him points.
The real reason for the slow progress was that Fu Jia’an kept suddenly falling asleep.
In fact, he had memorized almost the first two volumes of the university physics book within half an hour of flipping through them. But as soon as Lu Jie looked away, he’d look back, and the person next to him was already asleep! Lu Jie reasonably suspected that Fu Jia’an found learning this stuff too boring—so boring that it made him doze off… The thought that Fu Jia’an didn’t seem to care about the competition at all fueled Lu Jie’s unprovoked rage.
Lu Jie walked to the last row and kicked the corner of the desk, not too hard, not too soft: “No more sleeping! Did you come to school early in the morning just to sleep? Go home and sleep then. Stop wasting people’s time, will you?”
Fu Jia’an quietly rubbed his eyes as he sat up. The sunlight hit his transparent fingernails, casting a soft glow on his bloodless fingers. His squinted eyes struggled to open slightly, the corners stained with a rosy red, making him look innocent and pitiful.
Ye Mingyan, the girl sitting in front who had short, naturally curly hair, turned around and said to Lu Jie, “Don’t be so mean to him.” She then turned back to Fu Jia’an, her expression full of concern and worry, as if the latter were just a small, adorable creature who had wandered into the adult world.
Lu Jie’s mouth twitched. He thought, This guy is so good at playing innocent that the girl actually fell for it. What a strong cup of tea.
He tossed his backpack down and sat. Fu Jia’an softly said “Morning” to Lu Jie. Lu Jie ignored him completely, his face tight as he pulled out his practice books and notebooks from his bag.
Since Lu Jie learned that Fu Jia’an was directly selected for the competition, a strange atmosphere had settled between them. On the surface, there was no conflict, but undercurrents surged. Lu Jie actually wanted to be more generous, but whenever he saw Fu Jia’an, that urge to compete and find fault would return.
Fu Jia’an was completely used to Lu Jie’s intense, almost hostile gaze. He twisted open his thermos to drink the daily Chinese herbal medicine his family prepared, but when he opened the lid today…
The hot herbal medicine had turned into ice-cold beer.
Fu Jia’an stared blankly at the chilling mouth of the cup for a second, then calmly picked up the thermos. Just as he was about to take a sip, the thermos was snatched away by a hand.
“Drinking beer first thing in the morning? You… you run a pretty wild life.” I wasn’t wrong, there was a sudden smell of alcohol around me. Lu Jie was dumbfounded, momentarily forgetting their lukewarm stalemate. He sternly said, “How old are you? You’re binge drinking.”
Fu Jia’an’s upper eyelids were half-lowered, identical to his usual lifeless look, and he didn’t seem afraid of being caught. “My brother probably mixed up our thermoses when he put them in my bag this morning. This one is his.”
“Your brother? You have a brother?”
“He’s in college. Oh, not a biological brother. Just a brother I live with. His family adopted me when I was very young.”
“……” Lu Jie forgot to close his mouth, feeling like he’d been struck by lightning.
No way. Holy, holy, holy, holy, holy crap. He just casually revealed a massive secret like that?
Lu Jie immediately glanced around alertly. The students in front and to his right were all reading classical poetry and dozing off messily, as usual.
He just let out a sigh of relief, but the next second, he thought, How can a secret this big be known only to me!
It’s too lonely… It could literally suffocate a person… Dammit!
“Do you want some?” Fu Jia’an looked at Lu Jie with his clear, untainted eyes.
Lu Jie frowned, handing the confiscated thermos back to Fu Jia’an. “You’re going to drink it?”
“I feel a bit thirsty.”
“…….” Lu Jie was utterly speechless. “You’ll drink whatever people give you? Aren’t you afraid of being poisoned?” He truly felt he couldn’t see through Fu Jia’an. Sometimes he thought he was full of schemes, and other times he seemed so pure that anyone could trick him.
“It’s alright.”
Fu Jia’an only answered with those three words, faint, carrying a melancholy that shouldn’t belong to a sixteen-year-old. Then, with a hint of a smile, he seriously blew on the chilling mouth of the cup twice and slowly took two sips.
Lu Jie: ……
Forget it, he doesn’t want to interfere. The boy is sixteen, he has self-care abilities. He’s not Fu Jia’an’s nanny. Let him do whatever he wants.
As it turned out, Fu Jia’an slept straight until the end of the last class in the afternoon.
“Lu Jie, coming to play ball?” Outside the window, the sunset was a mix of red and gold. Jiang Yan held a basketball in his arms. “The weather’s so great today. Even the class monitor, whose butt is permanently glued to his seat, said he’s going to play. Seriously not coming? It’s no fun without you.”
Lu Jie sat in his seat without moving, his broad shoulders squared, the lines of his maturing body making his school uniform jacket taut across the chest. He crossed his arms, his face a picture of suppressed fury right before an eruption.
“You guys go,” Lu Jie ground out. “Close the door on your way out.”
Jiang Yan patted Lu Jie’s shoulder, tutting and shaking his head: “There are no cameras in the classroom. If you’re going to commit murder, clean up afterwards. Don’t leave any bloodstains.”
In the blink of an eye, the classroom was empty of everyone else. Those eating dinner and those playing ball had all scattered.
Lu Jie’s gaze fell coldly on Fu Jia’an.
He’s so damn peaceful.
The sunset, like a luxurious blanket, heavily draped its color over Fu Jia’an’s shoulder. The leaves rustled, shadows swayed on his chin, and Fu Jia’an’s eyelashes fluttered. He supported his heavy head and awoke from his deep sleep. In front of him was the empty classroom and the person sitting beside him, still as a statue.
The light was dim, and he couldn’t see Lu Jie’s expression. But Lu Jie never looked at him so silently, it felt unreal.
Lu Jie saw Fu Jia’an’s confusion and scoffed: “Did you sleep yourself stupid?”
Fu Jia’an was always incredibly slow to react to Lu Jie’s insults. He seemed fully awake now and felt a little hungry. There were two small pieces of bread on the desk. He grabbed one, tore open the package, and swallowed it, his mouth full as he asked Lu Jie, “Did you buy this for me?”
Lu Jie was utterly shocked by his naive thought. “Me, buy you bread? I wish you’d starve to death! This is from the girl in front of you. You didn’t go to lunch, so she kindly gave you some snacks.”
The bread was small, and even both were tiny, barely a pre-meal dessert for a large teenage boy like Lu Jie. But after slowly eating the second one, Fu Jia’an seemed full. He straightened up and continued flipping through the physics book spread on his desk.
It was always like this. No matter how harsh or nasty the words, Fu Jia’an accepted them all. He didn’t get angry, nor did he show much joy. Sometimes he was like a lump of dark matter absorbing all negative energy, more like a pool of stagnant water where nothing made a ripple.
The gradually darkening light gathered all the brilliant, gentle colors. Even the tiny mole on Fu Jia’an’s nose was barely visible. Lu Jie inexplicably felt uncomfortable and went to switch on the classroom lights. When he returned, Fu Jia’an had already flipped to the last volume of the physics book.
His head tilted slightly to the side, then lost its balance and slumped a bit further.
“Knock, knock, knock.”
Lu Jie tapped the desktop three times, his forehead throbbing: “I said, you’re not getting sleepy again, are you?”
At that, Fu Jia’an decided to just give up, slumping down. He curled into a small ball on the desk, his voice muffled and hoarse from under the table: “I want to sleep for a bit more… can I continue in fifteen minutes?”
Who is he trying to flirt with?
Lu Jie mercilessly grabbed his collar and pulled him up, rolling up Fu Jia’an’s sleeve. His large hand gripped the slender wrist, which was little more than a handful of bone, and squeezed hard. Its fragile size felt like it could be broken with a little more force.
“Time is limited, I’m only staying with you for one last hour,” Lu Jie snarled, shaking the pale wrist. Fu Jia’an didn’t struggle. His controlled right hand hung limply, and he merely looked at Lu Jie with a faint expression.
Lu Jie continued, “If you don’t fully memorize the necessary formulas and steps today, I’ll write them on your wrist as a cheat sheet for you to take to the States tomorrow. How does that sound?”
The red oil-based pen in his left hand clicked audibly, clearly a threat.
Writing on the skin with such a pen would be hard to wash off; even with vigorous scrubbing, it would leave a red mark for a day or two, enough to be ruled as cheating.
Fu Jia’an seemed to be startled by the proposition. He finally became much more obedient, holding back yawns and keeping his eyes open to honestly flip through the book. Around 9:30 PM, Fu Jia’an finally completed a full page of problem-solving steps for a major physics question for the first time.
To be honest, Lu Jie couldn’t solve the problem himself, but following Fu Jia’an’s steps, he could fully understand the process; the logic flowed perfectly, and the answer was correct. What Lu Jie most genuinely felt at that moment was a “Holy crap, that’s amazing.”
But for some reason, he just couldn’t say it aloud. Lu Jie held the paper, reading over the formulas again.
Just then, Fu Jia’an answered a call.
“Brother, you’re at the school gate already? Teaching block? Yes, it’s Block E, but the Senior Year building is very far from the main gate…” Halfway through, Fu Jia’an turned to look at Lu Jie, seemingly asking for his opinion.
Lu Jie nodded and gave an OK gesture.
“I’m all set here, I can go home. I’ll walk out, don’t come in. Mm. Okay.”
Fu Jia’an hung up and began packing his bag. He glanced around; he hadn’t brought any textbooks, only zipping up his pencil case and dropping it into his empty backpack.
In the car ride home, Shen Rufēi was in the driver’s seat. Fu Jia’an opened the passenger door, buckled his seatbelt, and held his backpack in his lap. Streetlights shone through the car window onto the cuff of his school uniform.
“Hurry up and sleep when you get home,” Shen Rufēi said. “You have to catch a flight in the middle of the night. Your physics teacher is going with you, right?”
“Mhm,” Fu Jia’an nodded, not seeming to care much about the matter. “Brother, are you going to start your internship at the Second City Hospital soon?”
“That’s right,” Shen Rufēi started the car, observing traffic with one hand on the steering wheel. His loose white shirt was casually buttoned with only a few buttons, giving him a lazy, dashing air. The dim light outlined a face that was completely opposite to Fu Jia’an’s in temperament: his almond eyes slightly upturned, a striking beauty that was hard to forget.
“Don’t you dare sneak a drink at the hospital,” Fu Jia’an said with a helpless look, pulling out the mixed-up thermos from his bag. “I don’t want to visit you in prison after you’ve caused a wrongful death.”
“Relax, I only drink a little when I’m bored in class,” Shen Rufēi squinted happily. “So, did you try it? It’s my favorite brand.”
“I took a sip. Tasted bad.”
“Tch, a kid’s taste. I’ll brew your herbal medicine when we get home,” Shen Rufēi sighed with a laugh. Before turning a corner, he glanced at the rearview mirror and saw Fu Jia’an staring blankly at his sleeve, so he asked, “Is something on your wrist?”
Fu Jia’an looked up. “Nothing.”
He stared at the tree shadows flashing past the car window as usual, like an empty sack devoid of a soul, with no sorrow or joy. But today was different. In the darkness obscured by the shadows, Fu Jia’an’s hands were clasped, and as he felt them, he recalled the rough, burning friction.
It was the only place on his long-numb body that currently felt pain.