I didn't sleep.
Not because of math. Not because Shen Que was snoring through the wall like a broken lawnmower. Because of three words: `Don't be late.`
At 7:12 AM I was already at Yunjiang High's front gate. Hair down. No hair tie. Because I wasn't about to make it easy for him.
The gate was empty. Too early. Even the security uncle wasn't at his booth yet.
7:20. Still nothing. Maybe he slept in. Maybe last night was all talk. Maybe—
The rumble hit first. Low, mean, vibrating up through my shoes before I even saw him.
Lu Jingchen turned the corner on his Ducati. Black, glossy, illegal on school grounds before 8 AM. He wasn't wearing his uniform jacket. Just the white T-shirt, black helmet under one arm, and that cut on his eyebrow looking worse in daylight.
He saw me. Stopped the bike ten feet away. Engine still growling.
"You're early," he said, flipping his visor up.
"You said don't be late."
"I said 7:40." He checked his phone. "It's 7:21. You're nineteen minutes early, Top Student. Eager?"
My face went hot. "I had to— I was—"
He laughed. Not a smirk. A real laugh, short and surprised. "Relax. I'm early too."
He killed the engine. Silence rushed back in, except for birds and Tang Tang's gasp from behind me.
"SHE SHOWED UP! WITH HER HAIR DOWN! I TOLD YOU STEP SIX WAS MOTORCYCLE!" Tang Tang was behind a tree with her phone out. Of course she was. "Good morning, brother-in-law!"
Lu Jingchen didn't even look at her. He swung off the bike, helmet dangling from his fingers, and walked to me.
"You listened," he said, stopping way too close. He reached out, and I flinched. His hand paused, then just tucked a piece of hair behind my ear. Fast. Gentle. Gone.
"I didn't listen," I lied. "It was windy."
"Sure." He pulled my black hair tie from his pocket. My hair tie. Held it up between two fingers. "Yours. As promised."
I reached for it. He pulled it back.
"Uh-uh. Debt's not paid yet."
"What debt? You stole it!"
"You texted 'Try it'." He stepped closer. "So I'm trying."
Tang Tang was wheezing. "KISS HER ALREADY—"
The school gate beeped. Security uncle finally showed up, saw the Ducati, and bellowed, "LU JINGCHEN! No motorcycles past the gate! How many times!"
Jingchen didn't panic. He just grabbed his helmet, swung back onto his bike, and looked at me. "Get on."
"What? No!"
"Coach Lin says you're my ride to responsibility. So ride."
"That's not what he—"
"7:40," he said. "You're late if you walk. Detention again if I'm late. You want that?"
I looked at Tang Tang. She was making aggressive 'get on the bike' gestures. I looked at the school. At the security uncle marching toward us. At Lu Jingchen holding out a spare helmet. Black. With a tiny wolf sticker on the back.
I took the helmet.
The second I put it on, the forum exploded. Tang Tang wasn't even subtle anymore. She was live.
I climbed on behind him. Nowhere to put my hands. The seat was small. Too small.
"Hold on," he said.
"To what?"
He reached back, grabbed my wrists, and put my hands around his waist. His shirt was warm. He was warm.
"To me," he said. "Unless you want to fall off and die. Then Shen Que will actually murder me."
The bike roared to life. Security uncle was yelling. Tang Tang was screaming. And Lu Jingchen peeled out of the school gate, turned hard, and drove us away from Yunjiang High.
"Where are we going?!" I yelled over the engine. "School is that way!"
"Detour!" he yelled back. "Coach said I had to get you to school safe. Didn't say which route!"
We flew down the street. Yunjiang in the morning was quiet, shops just opening, old ladies staring at us. My hair was whipping everywhere. My arms tightened around him without permission. He didn't speed. Not really. Just fast enough that everything blurred, fast enough that I had to press my forehead against his back.
He smelled like soap and leather and trouble.
Five minutes. He pulled into a tiny park by the river. Cut the engine. Silence again, except water and my heart trying to escape my ribs.
He took his helmet off first. Then turned to help with mine. His fingers brushed my chin on the strap.
"Why are we here?" I asked, voice shaky. From the bike. Definitely from the bike.
He didn't answer. He got off, then held a hand out to help me. I ignored it and slid off, legs wobbly.
He walked to a bench. Pulled two things from his bag. Breakfast. Steamed buns. And my coffee. Black. No sugar.
"You didn't eat," he said, sitting down. "You never eat before school. Your mom told Coach. Coach told me."
"My mom— you talked to my mom?"
"She likes me now." He took a bite of his bun. "Said I was 'less of a delinquent than she thought' after I passed the water to Yanze instead of dunking it."
I sat. Slowly. Took the coffee. It was still hot. "You planned this. I told my mom that you bully me and she doesn't like you, so do I. Don't dream about that again."
"I plan everything." He looked at the river. "You hate me in the morning. You're easier to deal with after caffeine."
"Yes I hate you because you are rude," I said before I could stop it.
He went still. Then looked at me. Really looked. No smirk. No mask. Just Lu Jingchen, seventeen, with a butterfly bandage and my hair tie in his pocket.
"Don't say that," he said quietly. "Unless you mean it."
"I—"
His phone buzzed. Coach Lin. He answered, put it on speaker.
"WHERE ARE YOU?!" Coach roared. "Yanze said you kidnapped my tutor!"
"She's safe," Jingchen said. "Eating. Drinking coffee. Hair down. As requested."
There was a pause. Then, "...Hair down? It worked?"
"Get to school," Coach said, and hung up.
I stared at him. "As requested? You told him—"
"He said 'make her listen to you'. This is me. Making you listen." He stood, crumpled his wrapper. "We're late now. For real."
We got back on the bike. This time I held on before he told me to.
At the school gate, 8:02 AM, every student was waiting. Tang Tang, Shen Que, Gu Yanche with his violin case, Jiang Wanyue with her thermos, Lu Yanze with his arms crossed.
Lu Jingchen pulled up, cut the engine, and flipped his kickstand.
He took my helmet off first. Again, fingers on my chin. Then he handed me my hair tie.
"Debt's paid," he said.
I looked at it. Then at him. Then tied my hair up. Tight ponytail.
His jaw ticked.
"Let's go, Top Student," he said, grabbing his bag. "We're late for class. Because of you."
He walked in. Didn't wait.
Tang Tang ran up. "You rode the Ducati! With the Devil King! And your hair was down! Then up! The symbolism! I can't—"
Gu Yanche was quiet. He looked at the empty spot where the bike had been. At my ponytail. Then walked past me without a word.
Lu Yanze passed me last. "He didn't eat breakfast yesterday," he said, low. "Or the day before. Until today."
Then he was gone too.
I touched my ponytail. My hair tie. His fingerprints on the helmet strap.
I shoved the thought down. The 'enemies' part was _not_ over. It couldn't be. Not when he just used Coach Lin to blackmail me onto his bike. Not when he called my mom which I think it's a lie.
The first bell rang. Students scattered. I stormed past Tang Tang's phone, past Jiang Wanyue's bad stare, and into the building.
Lu Jingchen was already at our desk. Feet not up, for once. Instead, my calculus textbook was open. To the page I'd dog-eared last night. With a note in his handwriting: `You missed step 3. Again. – LJC`
"You went through my stuff," I hissed, dropping my bag.
"Checked your homework," he said, not looking up. "Coach said I'm responsible for your grades. That includes making sure you don't fail because of me."
"That's not—" I snatched the book. "Stay out of my things."
"Stay out of my bike, then," he shot back. "But you got on anyway."
Shen Que slid into the seat in front of us and turned around. "If you two don't stop fighting, I'm telling Mom. And she'll tell his dad. And then we'll have a family war before lunch."
Lu Jingchen's pen stilled. "Don't bring family into this, Shen Que."
"Don't touch my sister's hair, then."
The air went cold. Enemies. Definitely still enemies.
The second bell rang. Class started.
But I could still feel his fingerprints on the helmet strap.
And I hated that I didn't hate it.