Desk-mate, Do You Like Me? - Chapter 44

Chapter 44

The residual glow of the setting sun, filtering through the gently swaying classroom door, tinted the floating dust motes in the air a golden powder.

Xu Qing’s fierce “Get it now?” and Li Mo’s bold follow-up, “Didn’t get it. How about you demonstrate again?” still hung in the air, mixed with the “Holy sh**…” and sharp intakes of breath from Tang Dawei and Yang Di outside the window, sounds they were trying desperately to suppress.

The vocabulary book, splayed open on the floor, with the newly added line “I’m such a fool for you” quietly exposed to everyone’s view, like the embers of a tender bomb.

Xu Qing’s earlobes were so red they were nearly translucent. He bent down abruptly, almost snatching the vocabulary book from the floor, and stuffed it haphazardly into the bottom layer of his backpack without looking, the zipper screeching.

He kept his head down, avoiding Li Mo’s eyes, which were brimming with barely suppressed laughter, and also avoiding the two petrified human backdrops at the doorway.

“Demonstrate my ass,” Xu Qing’s voice was muffled, carrying an almost imperceptible tremor, sounding less like an insult and more like a muffled grumble of extreme embarrassment.

He casually tossed the items in his hand back into his desk, and tried to squeeze through the narrow gap between Li Mo and the door frame.

Li Mo reacted swiftly, enduring the slight sting on his lips, and gently pulled Xu Qing’s wrist. The force was light, but enough to make Xu Qing stop.

“Wait for me, Qingqing,” Li Mo’s voice softened, carrying a hint of coaxing, yet his eyes shone with surprising brightness, “Walk with me for a bit?”

“Who wants to walk with you…” Xu Qing subconsciously retorted, but his voice trailed off, and he didn’t struggle to pull away.

He quickly glanced at Tang Dawei and Yang Di, who were still standing there with their mouths open, and frowned, “Move.”

Tang Dawei and Yang Di woke up as if shocked by electricity, instantly yielding the passageway in unison, their eyes filled with utter awe and shock.

Xu Qing walked out, his steps almost awkward, his back stiff, suggesting a hasty retreat.

Li Mo chuckled softly, his mood soaring as if he could fly. He rubbed his still-tingling lips, then lifted his feet to follow the already descending Xu Qing.

As he passed Tang Dawei and Yang Di, he paused, raised an eyebrow, and pressed his index finger to his lips in a “shush” gesture, his eyes filled with smugness that screamed, “See that? Jealous? But all of you shut up for me.”

Tang Dawei and Yang Di nodded frantically, making a zipping motion with their fingers across their lips.

Only then did Li Mo smile in satisfaction and quickly chase after Xu Qing.

At the back door of the classroom, Tang Dawei and Yang Di’s heads were stacked together, their mouths wide enough to fit an egg.

“Did… did my eyes just deceive me?” Tang Dawei muttered, “They… just now… they were mouth-to-mouth?”

Yang Di pinched his own thigh hard, crying out: “Ouch! Holy crap! It’s not a hallucination! They really kissed! Di Renjie’s judgment is godly! I knew there was something going on between them!”

“In broad daylight, in the sacred place of the classroom…” Tang Dawei lamented, “They just… just… disregarded our very existence!”

The teaching building gradually quieted down after school, with only the sounds of the students on duty cleaning. The setting sun stretched their shadows long, sometimes overlapping, sometimes separating.

Li Mo walked shoulder-to-shoulder with Xu Qing, glancing at him from time to time. Xu Qing kept his gaze fixed forward, his lips pursed, with only his slightly flushed profile and still red earlobe betraying his agitation.

The sound of footsteps going down the stairs echoed in the empty corridor. Li Mo intentionally slowed down, maintaining a distance of half an arm’s length from Xu Qing, but his eyes never left his flushed profile.

When they reached the ground floor lobby, Xu Qing suddenly stopped, turned to look at him, his tone still tinged with unvanished embarrassment: “Stop staring at me.”

“It’s not my fault you look good,” Li Mo smiled cheekily, deliberately leaning closer, “I didn’t see clearly in the classroom, let me look twice more?”

Xu Qing reached out to push him away, but the force was as light as a tickle: “Li Mo, try teasing me one more time?” Although his words were harsh, the coldness in his eyes was gone, replaced by a softness he himself hadn’t detected.

Li Mo seized the opportunity to grab the hand that pushed him away, his fingertip lightly tracing the warm palm, his triumphant smile deepening: “If you insist.”

Xu Qing recoiled as if shocked, the blush on his ear tip quickly spreading to his neck.

He glared at Li Mo, but it held no deterrent power, instead, it was like light shattered by the sunset, dazzling and captivating.

The two walked out of the teaching building, one following the other. The noisy sports field and the subtle, quiet atmosphere between them created an invisible boundary.

The thud of basketballs, the faint sound of a whistle in the distance, the laughter of students in small groups… all seemed muffled and unreal, as if behind frosted glass.

Li Mo quickened his steps to walk side-by-side with him, his shoulder occasionally and accidentally, or rather, deliberately, brushing against Xu Qing’s backpack strap.

“That word,” Li Mo suddenly spoke, his voice lower than usual, “When did you write it?”

Xu Qing’s body subtly stiffened. He kept his eyes forward, his tone curt as he tried to evade the question: “What word? I don’t know.”

“Oh—” Li Mo drew out the sound, his voice rising at the end, carrying knowing teasing, “Then should I go back and ask Tang Dawei and Yang Di? They have good eyesight, they must have seen it clearly.”

“Li Mo!” Xu Qing sharply turned his head, a hint of frustrated embarrassment in his eyes from being exposed, “That’s enough.”

The sunset happened to brush past his slightly trembling eyelashes, casting a small shadow beneath his eyes.

Li Mo’s heart felt as if it had been lightly tickled by a feather, an intense itch. He put away his playful expression, his gaze settling, focusing intently on Xu Qing.

“I’m very happy, Qingqing,” he said.

Xu Qing froze, all his feigned anger leaking out like a punctured balloon. He uncomfortably shifted his gaze, his Adam’s apple bobbing slightly, not responding.

The camphor trees by the roadside rustled in the evening breeze. Li Mo’s hand inadvertently, or rather, deliberately, touched the back of Xu Qing’s hand again. Where their skin met, the temperature immediately climbed.

This time, Xu Qing’s fingers curled slightly, but he didn’t pull away.

That subtle, almost imperceptible acquiescence was like a pebble dropped into a calm lake, sending ripples through Li Mo’s heart.

He held his breath and, very slowly, hooked his pinky finger around Xu Qing’s.

Xu Qing stopped abruptly as if a pause button had been pressed, his breathing even becoming heavy.

He looked down, his gaze fixed on their gently intertwined pinky fingers, the golden sunset outlining the careful curve of their fingertips.

Li Mo’s heart drummed in his chest. He slowly tightened his grip, completely enclosing the slightly trembling pinky in his palm. The moist, warm touch was close and secure, impossible to tell whose sweat it was.

Xu Qing finally looked up, his eyes filled with shimmering, fragmented golden light and a hint of panic he couldn’t hide in time. He tried to pull his hand away, but Li Mo held him tighter.

“Just for a little while,” Li Mo’s voice was a low whisper, with a hint of barely perceptible plea, his gaze firmly locking onto him, “No one can see.”

Most students leaving school gathered at the front gate. The back path they were taking, next to the basketball court, was relatively quiet. Only a few figures hurriedly ran past, none noticing the intertwined fingers in the corner.

Xu Qing remained silent, his gaze moving from their clasped hands to Li Mo’s face.

The eyes that usually held a playful smile were now incredibly serious, clearly reflecting his own flushed appearance. He felt burned by that gaze, and finally, he let out a tiny sigh, turned his head, and let his eyes drift towards the bouncing basketball in the distance.

—But he didn’t let go of his hand.

Li Mo’s mouth curved up uncontrollably, a huge, surging joy washing over his body. He adjusted his grip to a tighter, fully interlaced hold, his fingertips squeezing into Xu Qing’s gaps, fitting perfectly.

Palm to palm, their pulses beat against each other through the skin, making it impossible to distinguish which beat was his own and which belonged to the other.

The setting sun stretched their shadows long, and it wasn’t just the shadows that were overlapping.

The school gate was just around the corner.

Xu Qing’s fingers moved, seemingly wanting to end this overly adventurous intimacy prematurely. Li Mo, however, pretended not to notice, even gently shaking their clasped hands.

“Tomorrow,” Li Mo began, his voice laced with a smile, “Can you explain the last reading comprehension question on the English paper to me again?”

Xu Qing glanced at him, his tone attempting to revert to his usual coldness, but rendered unconvincing by their clasped hands: “…Didn’t you understand it?”

“Nope,” Li Mo nodded, completely unapologetically, “Didn’t understand it. Maybe I need… to be a little closer to understand.”

The blush that had just receded from Xu Qing’s earlobes rushed back. He tried to pull his hand away with force. This time, Li Mo knew when to stop, and let go with a smile.

The moment their fingertips separated, a slight, cool sense of loss arose. But the residual body heat and touch were clearly imprinted on their skin.

Xu Qing shoved his hand into his school uniform pocket and turned to walk towards the cafeteria.

Li Mo walked slowly towards the school gate, his gaze still following Xu Qing. Watching his slightly red earlobes and feigned composure, he chuckled softly to himself, in a voice only he could hear:

“Why run?”

“After all… there’s plenty of time later.”

Only after Xu Qing’s figure disappeared into the cafeteria doorway did Li Mo slowly withdraw his gaze, but the smile on his face couldn’t be suppressed.

He touched his lips, which seemed to still retain a faint prickle and soft texture, then looked down at his right hand—the one that had tightly held Xu Qing’s pinky, and later, interlaced fingers with him.

His fingertips still felt the slight warmth of Xu Qing’s skin and that trace of damp sweat.

He leisurely walked towards the school gate, feeling as though the ground beneath his feet was soft, like walking on clouds. All the sounds around him—the commotion of the basketball court, the distant honking of cars, the rustling of wind through the leaves—became extraordinarily pleasant.

He even felt that the stern face of the security guard at the gate looked benevolent.

Inside the cafeteria, Xu Qing stood at the end of the serving line, his mind restless.

His fingertips felt the lingering sensation of being tightly enveloped, the warmth of Li Mo’s palm, and the unsettlingly clear beat of his pulse, tapping repeatedly on his nerves.

He instinctively curled his fingers, trying to hide that strange, unnerving feeling.

“Student, what would you like to eat?” the server’s voice startled him.

He haphazardly pointed to two dishes, then carried his tray to the most secluded corner table.

He couldn’t taste the food. What was constantly replaying in his mind was the open page of the vocabulary book, Li Mo’s smiling eyes as he leaned in, the brief but burning touch on his lips, the intertwining pinkies, and the tightly clasped palms…

And that low voice saying, “I’m very happy, Qingqing.”

His earlobes started to burn again. He forcefully shoveled a mouthful of rice, trying to suppress those images.

“Brother Xu?” Lin Yi, carrying his tray, looked at him in surprise, “Why are you sitting here alone? Why is your face so red, are you feeling unwell? Do you have a fever?”

Xu Qing snapped his head up, instinctively raising a hand to touch his face, which felt warm. “No… I’m fine, it’s a bit hot,” he mumbled.

Lin Yi looked skeptically at the not-particularly crowded or stuffy cafeteria but didn’t ask further and walked away.

Xu Qing let out a sigh of relief but had no appetite left. He took out his phone, the screen lit up, then dimmed. His fingertip hovered over Li Mo’s chat window, hesitating, but ultimately not tapping it.

What should he say?

Question his audacity in the classroom? Or ask him… what that word meant?

He irritably shoved his phone back into his pocket. That word… Li Mo definitely saw it. In his panic, he only wanted to hide it, forgetting that this only made it more conspicuous.

I’m such a fool for you.

He didn’t think much of it when he wrote it, even seeing it as a form of self-deprecation and secret venting. But now, to have the person involved discover it in that manner…

Xu Qing buried his face in his hands, letting out a silent moan.

Li Mo’s phone vibrated just as he was about to reach the school gate.

He took it out and saw Tang Dawei spamming the 315 dormitory group chat.

Tang Dawei: [@Li Mo Brother Mo! Lord Mo! My real brother! What is going on between you and Brother Qing?! [kneeling][kneeling][kneeling]]

Tang Dawei: [Did you really kiss?! In the classroom?! Are you guys playing this big?!]

Yang Di: [ I told you, there’s definitely something going on between them. I bet a BBQ dinner that Li Mo made the first move.]

Tang Dawei: [@Li Mo Come out and confess! Otherwise, I’ll go to the broadcast station right now and dedicate “Today You’re Gonna Marry Me” to you two!]

Yang Di: [@Li Mo Details? Share the joy of victory, comrade!]

Shen Shuyi: [?]

Shen Shuyi: [Did they just go public?]

Tang Dawei: [What do you mean? You knew about this already, Shuyi!?!?]

Li Mo looked at the screen and couldn’t help but laugh out loud. His fingertip tapped the screen.

Li Mo: [[Smoking.jpg]]

Li Mo: [Basic operation, settle down, everyone.]

Li Mo: [Also, @Tang Dawei If you dare go to the broadcast station, you’ll be running naked on the sports field tomorrow.]

Tang Dawei: [!!! He admitted it! He admitted it!]

Yang Di: [So you really forcibly kissed him? And Xu Qing didn’t flip your desk?]

Shen Shuyi: [Wow, is it forced love, then? Noted down in my little notebook.]

Li Mo: [Get lost, get lost, do you know how to use words? That’s called mutual affection, a natural progression.]

Tang Dawei: […I’m full, a dinner flavored with dog food.]

Yang Di: [@Li Mo So that sentence in the vocabulary book… Tsk, tsk, tsk, I didn’t realize Xu Qing was so outwardly reserved yet inwardly passionate.]

Li Mo: [Mine. [Smug]]

After sending the last two words, Li Mo contentedly put his phone away and walked out of the school gate. The sunset stretched his shadow long, and even the shadow exuded an air of triumph.

He thought for a moment, took out his phone again, and opened the pinned chat window with the simple note “Qing.”

He typed, deleted, and typed again.

Finally, he only sent one sentence:

[Do you want soy milk or porridge tomorrow morning? I’ll bring it for you.]

Successfully sent.

He imagined the expression Xu Qing might have upon seeing this message—probably first a moment of surprise, then a pursed lip, his earlobes quietly turning red, and finally, he might even fiercely reply, “No need.”

But Li Mo knew he would choose one.

Just as he knew that while Xu Qing had pulled his hand away, he hadn’t truly rejected him.

Li Mo hummed an off-key tune, his steps light, feeling that today’s sunset was exceptionally beautiful.

In the corner of the cafeteria, Xu Qing’s heart skipped a beat when the message suddenly popped up on his phone screen. His fingertip hovered above the screen, a flush of pink quietly creeping up his earlobes.

Soy milk, or porridge?

Xu Qing’s fingertip hovered over the cold screen for a few seconds. The cafeteria noise seemed instantly blocked out. The line of text was overly simple, yet it was like a key, easily prying open the door to his heart he had tried to keep shut.

He could almost picture the smile Li Mo was wearing—the kind that showed he got what he wanted and was still being cheeky—as he sent the message.

The heat in his earlobes intensified. He pursed his lips and his finger landed.

[Porridge.]

One word. Dry, without any embellishment, even stingy with a period. The moment he sent it, he seemed to regret it, quickly adding another sentence to try and reclaim some of his usual coldness:

[Soy milk is too sweet.]

Sent.

He flipped his phone screen-down onto the table with a slight thump, as if this could block any potentially heart-racing response from the other end.

He stared at the now slightly cool food on his tray, picked up his chopsticks, but didn’t move for a long time.

His heartbeat pounded in his eardrums, clearer than the cafeteria’s noise.

Outside the school gate, Li Mo’s smile completely blossomed, undisguised, as he watched the two messages pop up one after the other.

The solitary “Porridge” was enough to lift his spirits, and the hard-to-miss explanation that followed made him chuckle softly. His Qingqing was adorable even when making excuses.

He could almost see Xu Qing’s attempt at composure, even as his neck turned pink.

His finger quickly replied:

[Okay. Preserved egg and lean meat porridge, no green onion or cilantro, right?]

He knew all of Xu Qing’s preferences, remembering them even better than his own.

This time, the reply was not as fast. Li Mo waited patiently, his fingers unconsciously tracing the edge of his phone, his gaze fixed on the gradually sinking sun in the distance, feeling that the whole world was unbelievably gentle.

After about a minute, the phone vibrated again.

[Mhm.]

Still one word. But Li Mo felt as though he had received a lengthy, sweet confession, and he contentedly tucked his phone back into his pocket, hands in his pockets, whistling as he walked toward home.

In the corner of the cafeteria, Xu Qing felt his shoulders slightly relax once the “Mhm” was successfully sent, as if he had completed an extremely taxing task.

He put his phone away and finally began to mechanically eat his meal. He still couldn’t taste the food clearly, but a corner of his heart quietly softened and felt warm and content.

He finished his last bite, picked up his tray, and stood up to leave. As he reached the cafeteria door, the cool evening breeze touched his face, dispelling some of the heat.

He subconsciously looked up, toward the direction of the school gate. It was long empty, with only the streetlights gradually turning on, casting a dim, yellow glow on the ground.

But Xu Qing’s mouth curved into an extremely faint, soft arc, one that he himself didn’t notice.

The night slowly descended, enveloping the campus. The chaos and shy palpitations of the day settled down in this deepening twilight, transforming into a sweet yet slightly tart anticipation winding in his heart.

Their time had just begun.