A Thousand Thoughts

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In order to help He Zhong with his revision, Tang Cuo found an empty classroom at night and went through the knowledge points for the next exam from beginning to end.
After finishing the whole book, it was already 10 o’clock.
Tang Cuo looked at his phone and found a missed call from Tang Xu.

 

“You can go over the material yourself.
I’m going to make a phone call,” he said, and then walked to the hallway with his phone.

 

“Finished studying?” Tang Xu asked on the other end.

 

“Yeah, it’s time to go back.”

 

“How was the revision?”

 

Tang Cuo lowered his head and stepped on the cracks in the floor with his feet.
“It’s okay…”

 

Tang Xu’s laughter came from the phone, low and captivating.

 

“I just graded the paper.
Do you want to know your score in advance?”

 

“Already graded?” Tang Cuo was surprised and then thought about the score, feeling a rare sense of unease.
“How many points did I get?”

 

In fact, during the exam, he checked it several times; even the simple calculations were carefully calculated twice on the draught paper.
It can be said that this was the most serious exam he had taken since he was a child.

 

He was feeling extremely anxious, but Tang Xu kept him in suspense, “You guess?”

 

“Did I get a perfect score?” He hesitantly asked after a long pause.

 

Tang Xu didn’t answer him; instead, he asked, “Where are you studying right now?”

 

“In Building Seven…”

 

“Where in Building Seven?”

 

“Room 301 on the east side of the third floor.”

 

Tang Xu said, “Wait for me at the east staircase of the third floor.”

 

After hanging up the phone, Tang Cuo stood at the east staircase and was momentarily stunned when he realised that Tang Xu was coming over.
He anxiously fiddled with his phone and, while looking down at it, noticed a black ink mark on his right hand that he didn’t remember getting.
He tried rubbing it off, but it wouldn’t come off, so he quickly ran to the nearby restroom to wash his hands.

 

When Tang Xu appeared on the staircase with his hands in his pockets, Tang Cuo was still standing on the staircase, shaking his wet hand.
Seeing him come down, he stopped shaking and quickly turned around to rub his hand dry on his back.

 

The grey and white intertwined sweater had a few water stains on it, which were barely noticeable on the white parts, but on the grey parts they were deep and shallow, like an abstract painting drawn casually to express one’s mood.

 

“Are you tired from studying?” Tang Xu asked as he stepped down the last few steps.

 

Tang Cuo shook his head, “Not tired.”

 

After he said this, the air around them suddenly quieted down.
Tang Xu was standing in front of him, and the silence made Tang Cuo’s heart feel somewhat uneasy, so he took the initiative to break the silence and asked, “What’s my score?”

 

“Full marks.”

 

The gaze of Tang Xu had been stuck to Tang Cuo’s face like strong adhesive since a moment ago.
After saying those two words, he lifted one of Tang Cuo’s hands and stretched out his fingers, placing his palm in front of him.

 

Tang Cuo was puzzled, looking at his own hand and then back at Tang Xu.

 

Tang Xu smiled and lowered his head.
In the dimly lit hallway, his eyebrows and eyes were shining with a dazzling golden border, making Tang Cuo mesmerised.

 

His hand felt itchy and tingly.
Curiously, he looked down, and the next second, he froze in place with his shoulders burning.

 

In that out-of-body moment, Tang Xu stopped drawing on his hand, but his fingers still felt warm.
He was still holding Tang Cuo’s hand.

 

“Here’s a little red flower for you,” Tang Xu said.

 

Tang Cuo pulled his hand away from Tang Xu’s fingertips and looked at him hesitantly.

 

Tang Xu still smiled, tilted his head forward, and leaned towards him.
Their noses were almost touching.
“Do you want a hug as well?” he said. 

 

Although it was a question, it was a question that didn’t wait for him to answer.  When Tang Xu hugged him, he didn’t even have time to loosen his half-clenched fist.

 

“Good luck with tomorrow’s performance and the exams.”

 

His shoulder was still hot, and so was his palm.

 

Tang Cuo held onto the empty little red flower in his palm, carrying the residual warmth of Tang Xu as he walked back to the classroom with a fluctuating and inexplicable sense of urgency in his back.

 

Tang Xu watched him turn the corner and disappear completely from his sight before turning his gaze to the empty corridor and raising an eyebrow lazily.
“Come out,” he said in a nonchalant tone.

 

Almost ten seconds later, He Zhong timidly peeked out half of his body from the restroom and greeted him with a sheepish smile and raised hand, “Hello, Teacher Tang… Brother Xu.”

 

Since there was no one else outside the classroom, He Zhong automatically changed his way of addressing him.

 

After walking out of the restroom, he touched his nose and coughed twice, then looked at Tang Xu, who moved his lips and made some meaningless sounds in a fawning manner.

 

He scratched his head.
“I didn’t mean to peek.
Oh, I don’t know how to say it, but I’m a bit…shocked.
Don’t worry, I won’t go around blabbering about it!”

 

“It’s just a glance; it’s fine.” Tang Xu didn’t mind and laughed lightly, looking at him with a raised eyebrow.
“We’re together now, but don’t tell Tang Cuo, okay?”

 

Zhong was a little confused.
“What do you mean?”

 

Tang Xu said, “He probably doesn’t know yet.
I’ll tell him later.
You just keep it to yourself.”

 

After saying that, Tang Xu patted his shoulder twice as if nothing had happened, told him to study hard, and left.

 

He Zhong was still in a daze, watching Tang Xu’s back as he leisurely walked up the stairs.
He took a deep breath.

 

So he knew about their relationship before one of the parties involved did?