Yu Deng's hand was smaller than Lu Yan's by a circle, and much fairer. When their hands were placed together, there was an unspoken intimacy.
Yu Deng made a gesture similar to holding hands, maintaining it for a moment. Their body heat quickly transferred to each other.
The atmosphere in the auditorium was filled with excitement, as the students shouted slogans, but Lu Yan didn't notice at all. He almost forgot how to breathe as he fixed his gaze on their hands touching.
After demonstrating, Yu Deng, like a little teacher, asked, "Got it?"
Yu Deng's hand had been squeezed painfully, the corners of his eyes still a bit wet, and his voice was soft and gentle.
Lu Yan looked at Yu Deng.
In that moment, it felt like they were truly a couple, with Yu Deng teaching him things only boyfriends would do.
"...Got it." Lu Yan's voice was hoarse, reflecting on his earlier actions, "I used too much strength just now."
Very good, the child is teachable.
Yu Deng reluctantly forgave Lu Yan, "That's more like it."
"Anyway, I've already demonstrated it for you. Don't do it like that next time."
With that, Yu Deng quickly pulled his hand back, as though he had already forgotten he had bitten Lu Yan earlier.
After feeling satisfied, the unreasonable little bully immediately stopped caring about his tool-like boyfriend.
A sudden sense of inexplicable loss surged within Lu Yan.
Their arms were still close, but the intimacy from earlier was gone. The fleeting moment when it seemed like they were in an equal relationship made him feel absurd... everything was just an illusion.
Lu Yan turned his face away, feeling a bit uncomfortable.
He lowered his hand, and under the blue-and-white school uniform jacket, he nervously fiddled with the fingers that had touched Yu Deng's.
[ Tsk tsk tsk, seeing this Lu surname bad dog easily controlled by the baby, who's enjoying it? I am! No one can get away with anything in front of the baby! ]
[ The baby actively gave him a title and let him touch his little hand. Lu Yan is already very lucky! ]
[ Exactly, did he really think he could get his wife so easily? Not possible! ]
On the stage in the auditorium, the student speeches had ended, and the school leader who spoke first stood up again.
However, this time, the school leader's expression was much more serious. He wasn't motivating the students; he began reading a list of reprimands.
"I'm sure everyone is aware of the results of last month's monthly exam. The following students have shown significant regression, and some have not made any progress at all. These students have ranked among the bottom thirty and need to reflect on themselves."
The school leader proceeded to announce the names of the students. The auditorium's big screen displayed their scores.
— In Yu Deng's opinion, these scores were already quite high. At least he would need to be dragged by his brothers to intensive tutoring just to maintain such scores.
The students in the audience seemed accustomed to this and listened in silence. The students whose names were called lowered their heads, unsure if they were embarrassed or feeling some other emotion.
Yu Deng furrowed his brow, confused as he looked at the stern leader on stage.
Although he used to secretly nap during these meetings in high school, he never remembered seeing a school leader call out students' poor performance at a big meeting.
After all, in every grade, there are always a small number of students at the bottom. What's the point of calling them out in front of everyone?
"...These are the students who showed significant regression or are ranked at the bottom in the last exam. I hope you will work hard in the upcoming time," the school leader paused for a moment, flipping to the next page of his list and continued, "Additionally, some students violated school rules last month. I will now announce the names of those who are being reprimanded."
Yu Deng perked up his ears and listened carefully.
The leader listed five students who were punished for violating school rules, including specific regulations for certain areas.
"These students have violated school rules. Their usual points will be deducted, and this will be reflected in their final grade."
Yu Deng froze for a moment.
Wait, violations could lead to a drop in final grades... So the two requirements of the mainline mission actually affect each other?
Yu Deng was lost in thought when he suddenly felt a chill on his back. He cautiously turned around.
Behind him, just a few meters away, was the back door of the auditorium, slightly ajar, with no one standing there.
Subconsciously, Yu Deng moved closer to Lu Yan, leaning against his shoulder, feeling a bit more at ease.
[ First-person perspective now, I felt the chills just like Baby did earlier. ]
[ By the way, Baby's livestream lasted for a while last night, it was pretty scary. But it didn't last long, and after that, we were just watching Baby sleep. Heh. ]
[ Someone is actually willing to stay in Baby's livestream even if it's black-screened? Afraid of missing any moment of Baby's sleeping face, huh? Baby's livestream is full of perverts. ]
[ No wonder this is a B-grade dungeon, it's a difficult variant. We're already on the second day of the dungeon, but I still haven't figured out what's going on with this place. (Drama party's big failure.jpg) ]
[ Has this dungeon been open before? Huh, I don't think I've seen any livestream records. Did Baby pull a new dungeon? ]
Yu Deng didn't open the livestream chat and didn't know what the viewers were discussing. Leaning against Lu Yan, he struggled to stay awake, listening to the grade director's summary speech.
Lu Yan glanced at him and, for once, took the initiative to speak, "What are you thinking about?"
Yu Deng murmured lazily, "I'm thinking about the final exams."
Lu Yan was a bit surprised. The semester had just passed the halfway mark, and his little boyfriend was already thinking about the finals?
Lu Yan pondered for a moment. "You seem to be looking forward to the final exams."
"Well, you could say that..."
Once the final exams were over, he would be able to leave this copy. Although he wasn't sure if he could make it into the top three in the grade.
"The finals are still far away." Lu Yan stood up. "Let's go to PE class first."
"Okay..."
...
Their PE class was held in the sports field behind the teaching building. When Yu Deng arrived at the field, two classes of students were already there, with the other class on the other side of the field.
Before Yu Deng could make out which class it was, the bell rang. His classmate started running two laps around the track.
Yu Deng, confused, was dragged along by the crowd for a few steps, quickly falling behind. He slowed down more and more, and finally just stopped and started walking.
Lu Yan glanced at him a few times. "If you're not feeling well, you can go to the school infirmary."
Yu Deng, exhausted, shook his head and didn't speak.
The students who finished running had already scattered. Most of them began using the remaining PE class time to study, while only a few continued exercising.
For the senior students, it seemed like a normal routine.
Yu Deng was very tired, so he could only slowly walk along the track, trying to regulate his breathing. Lu Yan quietly followed beside him.
As Yu Deng walked ahead, his gaze fell on the other side of the field, where more than twenty tall, long-legged students were doing strength training.
Huh, the one in the front seems to be Zhuang Lin?
Yu Deng looked for a few seconds, then turned to ask Lu Yan, "Why are they training? We're just free to do whatever we want."
Lu Yan glanced indifferently at the boys in the distance and replied, "Those are the students from Class 10. They are in the athletic special class."
I see, so Zhuang Lin is an athlete as well. No wonder his muscles are so obvious.
[Ding. Triggered Zhuang Lin's side mission (2): Publicly question Zhuang Lin's abilities and humiliate him. ]
[ Time limit: 40 minutes. ]
Another mission triggered? Yu Deng stared blankly at the athletes training on the field.
How is he supposed to question him? Zhuang Lin clearly looks very capable. This strange mission is also so short in time.
Yu Deng thought for a moment, then lifted his leg and started walking toward the sports class.
"Are you going to find someone?" Lu Yan asked.
"Sort of," Yu Deng nodded, pointing with his chin. "The one at the front, he's my roommate."
Yu Deng casually waved at Lu Yan, "I'm just going over to check. You don't need to follow me."
After saying that, Yu Deng left his boyfriend, Lu Yan, behind and walked ahead.
Lu Yan stood still for a few seconds in silence, not using the PE class time to study as usual. Instead, he followed at a distance, pretending to take a walk nearby.
At the sports field.
The students in the sports special class seemed to be more energetic. When they looked up and saw Yu Deng walking in their direction, they froze for a moment, then started discussing among themselves.
"Hey, look, that's probably the school beauty from Guihuai, right? This is the first time I've seen a male school beauty."
"Yeah, it's just been confirmed today. Even though I don't like boys, he really is prettier than anyone else."
"Is he coming toward us? Who is he looking for?"
Some of them got more fired up in their training, even loudly comparing how many sets of exercises they would do next.
The one at the front, Zhuang Lin, couldn't bear to look at them and scolded, "Stop embarrassing yourselves here."
After saying that, for some reason, he added, "He's my roommate."
...So, he must be coming to find him, right?
The physiques and presence of the athletes looked a bit intimidating, but in front of Zhuang Lin, they still behaved quite obediently. Upon hearing his words, they quieted down and waited for the "school beauty" to approach.
Yu Deng walked slowly, taking several minutes to reach the sports class students.
"Zhuang Lin," Yu Deng called out.
Zhuang Lin dusted off his sportswear and cleared his throat. "What are you here for?"
Yu Deng didn't answer immediately.
He was supposed to question Zhuang Lin, but would he get beaten up after saying it... Yu Deng looked up at Zhuang Lin, who was almost a head taller than him, and then at his muscular arms.
"System, will I get beaten up later..."
System 01 responded confidently,[Don't worry. According to system calculations, the likelihood of this outcome is zero.]
Yu Deng felt reassured.
He cleared his throat and, under the watchful eyes of all the athletes, said to Zhuang Lin, "I saw you doing push-ups just now."
"Mm?" Zhuang Lin, hearing this, suddenly became curious about what kind of evaluation he would receive from Yu Deng.
Yu Deng spoke softly, "You only did a few dozen, right? Is that all the strength you have? Not that impressive."
The athlete who had just scolded the entire group of sports students was publicly questioned by the delicate, beautiful boy.
The students around them exchanged glances, too afraid to speak, each secretly observing Zhuang Lin's reaction.
Zhuang Lin's hidden expectation was shattered. He clenched his fists, his eyes dark and brooding.
Whether it was his competitive desire or some other subtle emotion he couldn't quite grasp, one thing was certain: Zhuang Lin did not want to be looked down upon by Yu Deng.
His tone grew a little heavier, "I'm not just capable of doing push-ups."
Yu Deng seemed skeptical, "Really?"
"Of course," Zhuang Lin held his breath, speaking quickly, "I can do one-handed push-ups, and even with added weight, I can still manage. I can perfect all sorts of strength training exercises."
At that moment, Zhuang Lin resembled a male eager to prove his strength, trying to win back the attention of his mate.
Yu Deng tilted his head and glanced at Zhuang Lin.
Is that so?
Yu Deng thought for a while, coming up with a brilliant way to humiliate Zhuang Lin.
He stood in front of Zhuang Lin, his voice light as he ordered, "Then do another push-up."
Zhuang Lin didn't know what his unreasonable, beautiful roommate was planning, but still, he instinctively obeyed and got into position.
Just as Zhuang Lin was about to ask what Yu Deng wanted to do, he felt a weight settle on his back.
—Yu Deng had directly sat on Zhuang Lin's waist.
Yu Deng had learned his lesson from yesterday and didn't wear jeans today; instead, he chose a pair of light, comfortable leisure pants. Zhuang Lin, on the other hand, was in thin sportswear.
Therefore, Zhuang Lin could clearly feel Yu Deng's soft, firm buttocks pressing against his back.
Zhuang Lin slightly turned his head and could still see Yu Deng's long, straight legs hanging relaxed in front of him.
Although they had no direct skin contact, the posture was undeniably ambiguous.
Zhuang Lin's heart suddenly raced. For a few seconds, he forgot to breathe, his voice becoming hoarse.
"...What are you doing?"
Yu Deng looked down at the task target, feeling a small sense of pride inside.
He was so clever! By sitting on Zhuang Lin's back, he not only added pressure to his training but also questioned Zhuang Lin's abilities.
And, in this position, he was basically treating Zhuang Lin like a chair. Zhuang Lin must surely feel humiliated!
Yu Deng spoke slowly, "Didn't you say you can handle weight training? Then, with my weight added... you should be able to do it, right?"
Zhuang Lin, carrying Yu Deng on his back, remained motionless, his breath heavy.
Yu Deng's palm rested on Zhuang Lin's shoulder, feeling the hot yet stiff muscles beneath, and he curled his lips into a smirk.
Hmph, he really was clever. See? Zhuang Lin was completely thrown off by him.