In an instant, the morning chaos of the classroom died down. All eyes, one by one, found their target, finally settling on Kai.
The mystery man, who had been gone for over two months, the center of a storm of rumors and gossip, had just waltzed in on the day of the exam.
The teenagers couldn't hide their curiosity. The silent air was thick with it.
From across the room, you could see Wang Lin, his expression arrogant and provocative, his nostrils flared, glaring at Kai.
Basking in the stares, Kai, who still looked half-asleep, his eyes barely open, gave a small wave. "Hey everyone, I missed you all so much."
Boom!
The room exploded. Laughter, jeers, and eye-rolls. The class was a pot of boiling water.
A few people immediately crowded around his and Song Bo's desk, dying to know what had really happened, rattling off the most ridiculous rumors for him to confirm. The sight of Kai holding court, however, was too much for Wang Lin.
He shoved his way into the crowd. "Kai, the rumor is you were in jail for two months. Is it true?"
Song Bo shot him a weary look. "The rumor is your IQ is in the negative. How do you respond to that?"
Wang Lin was about to start a fight, but Kai's lazy voice cut in. "Yeah. It's true."
Silence.
Song Bo stared at Kai, but he caught the glint in his friend's eye and obediently shut his mouth.
Wang Lin, however, couldn't contain his excitement. "Ha! You really were! I knew it! I told you guys!"
But all eyes were still on Kai.
He still looked half-asleep. "Actually, I snuck off to Rome, just to hang out. But I was at the Pantheon and I found a body. The local police, since I was the one who found it, held me for questioning. Then they detained me as a suspect."
"Those few days... I don't even want to talk about it."
"To get out, I had to prove my own innocence."
"I remembered seeing some symbols near the body, clues left by the deceased. I started analyzing them and discovered they all pointed to the works of Botticelli. We had to go see the original paintings to find the next clue."
"I convinced them, and we all went to the Uffizi Gallery in Florence..."
It was a story full of twists and turns. Kai was a master storyteller, and his dramatic, hushed tones had the entire class hooked, hanging on his every word. They were all holding their breath.
Finally, someone's brain caught up. "Wait... isn't this the plot of The Da Vinci Code?"
The spell was broken. People were about to complain, but then they froze.
What?
Wang Lin was the first to realize. "Yeah! That's it! That's The Da Vinci Code! I knew it sounded familiar!"
"Hey!" he shouted, "If you're going to make up a story, at least make it believable! Why don't you just say you're Harry Potter?"
Caught in his lie, Kai showed zero embarrassment. He just smiled. "Because I was worried you'd actually believe me and go to South Station looking for Platform 9 3/4."
"By the way, Wang Lin, J.K. Rowling got it wrong. The real platform is 7 1/4. That's the correct entrance."
He said it with a completely straight, serious face, as if he were revealing a state secret.
Wang Lin just stared at him.
But Song Bo couldn't hold it in. A pfft of laughter escaped, and he completely lost it, doubling over, tears streaming down his face.
The rest of the class finally caught on and erupted in laughter.
Wang Lin just sputtered. "You... you..."
Kai tipped his chin toward the door. "Teacher's here."
The next second, the homeroom teacher's voice cut through the room. "Sit down. All of you. What is this? Don't you need to review before the exam? Or are you all so confident? Since you're so ready, we can just start the exam right now."
A collective groan of despair filled the classroom.
Song Bo ducked his head, his shoulders still shaking, and gave Kai a celebratory high-five under the desk, his eyes shining. He had been wondering how to convince everyone, since the truth was just as unbelievable as the rumors. He should have known Kai wouldn't take the normal path.
After that, though the curious stares continued, no one bothered Kai again. They were afraid they'd get suckered into another ridiculous story and end up looking like a fool. And besides, the exams had begun.
In what felt like a blur, the entire exam period was over.
"...The last multiple-choice question, was it C or D?"
"That last big question was insane, right? I just skipped it."
"How should I know? Old Man Foggy said every topic was 'guaranteed to be on the test.' I didn't even review this one! I'm dead... What am I going to do at the parent-teacher conference?"
The hallways were buzzing.
Normally, this was when Kai would be surrounded by the top students, all cross-checking their answers. He was a guaranteed top-five in the class, a regular in the top-ten of the whole grade.
But today, his desk was a ghost town.
In the second year of high school, missing even a few days of class could set you back. Kai had missed over two months. The reality was cruel.
Forget checking answers with him; most of the looks he got were full of pity, as if they were all anticipating his spectacular fall from the top of the rankings.
Song Bo was worried. He knew Kai's situation at home. He glanced over at his friend, who caught him staring.
"So, how'd you feel?" Song Bo asked nervously.
Kai shrugged, his face a mask of mock-seriousness. "I'm a little scared."
Song Bo stared at him for a second, then burst out laughing. Kai joined in, the two of them cracking up like a pair of lunatics.
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