Desk-mate, Do You Like Me? - Chapter 47

Chapter 47

The tranquility under the trees didn’t last long.

The sharp whistle signaling the end of the P.E. class sliced through the air, and students began walking towards the teaching building in small groups. Xu Qing stood up almost immediately, pulling back the subtle distance between himself and Li Mo, reverting to his usual aloof demeanor, as if the moment of ease just now was an illusion.

Li Mo watched the invisible barrier he instantly put up but didn’t seem bothered. He slowly stood up as well, brushing the grass clippings off his pants.

“The physics lab is this afternoon,” Li Mo drifted to walk beside Xu Qing, his tone as casual as if discussing the weather, “The group list hasn’t been posted yet, do you want to…”

“No.” Xu Qing interrupted before he could finish, quickening his pace, “By student ID or teacher’s arrangement.”

Li Mo raised an eyebrow: “What if we don’t end up in the same group? My hand is like this, I need a reliable partner.” He shook his right hand with the cast, his reason sound, and his expression innocent and pitiful.

Xu Qing glanced at him, his voice stiff: “I’m not the only reliable person in the class.”

“But I only want you.” Li Mo countered quickly, his gaze direct and honest.

Xu Qing gasped, nearly stumbling over his own feet. He clenched his back teeth, refusing any further communication with the person who constantly launched direct hits, and trudged forward with his head down.

Li Mo chuckled softly at his slightly awkward stride, his mood soaring.

Back in the classroom, as Li Mo had predicted, the physics representative was posting the lab group list on the blackboard. A crowd of students clustered around, buzzing with conversation.

Xu Qing stood on the periphery, his eyes scanning the list. Student IDs were sorted by surname, and his and Li Mo’s IDs were not close. Logically…

His gaze settled on a particular entry, his pupils widening slightly.

— [Lab Group Three: Li Mo, Xu Qing]

A small note was marked next to it in red chalk: (Li Mo has a hand injury and requires assistance).

Xu Qing: “…”

He abruptly turned, looking at Li Mo, who had just squeezed into the crowd and was now smiling with an “I knew it” expression at the list.

Li Mo felt his gaze, turned his head, winked at him, and silently mouthed: “Destiny, Qingqing.”

Xu Qing was almost certain this wasn’t mere “destiny.” He looked suspiciously at the physics representative who was currently wiping his hands. The representative felt his sharp gaze, guiltily looked away, and quickly returned to his seat.

Confirmed. Someone had definitely “made arrangements” beforehand.

Xu Qing’s temple started to twitch again.

The first class in the afternoon was the physics lab. The lab was filled with a faint scent of burnt circuits and alcohol lamps.

Li Mo followed Xu Qing closely, like a large, attached appendage. Xu Qing resignedly found their lab bench, put down his books, and began checking the equipment.

“Today we’re measuring the electromotive force and internal resistance of a power source,” Xu Qing took out the lab guide, opened it, his tone strictly professional, “You record the data, I’ll operate.”

“Yes, Group Leader,” Li Mo pulled up a stool and sat down, taking out his notebook and pen. He held the pen with his left hand, his posture looking surprisingly competent. However, his gaze barely left Xu Qing’s hands.

Xu Qing ignored the substantial gaze and focused on connecting the circuit. His fingers were long and flexible; he stripped wires, connected them, and tightened screws, his movements clean and efficient, with a cold beauty to them.

Li Mo was captivated.

“Voltmeter reading,” Xu Qing’s voice interrupted his staring.

“Huh? Oh!” Li Mo snapped back, quickly looking at the voltmeter, and reported a number.

Xu Qing recorded it, then adjusted the resistance of the rheostat, “Next one.”

After several attempts, Xu Qing frowned. The data points were strangely distributed, not matching the expected results.

“Are you sure you read the numbers correctly?” Xu Qing looked at Li Mo suspiciously.

Li Mo looked sincere: “Absolutely sure! My vision is 5.2!”

Xu Qing checked the circuit connections but found no problems. He pondered for a moment, deciding to re-measure a set of data.

This time, he paid extra attention to the meter readings. When he reported the voltage value again, his peripheral vision caught Li Mo tilting his head, his gaze not on the meter dial, but… on his opening and closing lips.

Xu Qing paused his movement and sharply turned his head.

Li Mo was caught red-handed but wasn’t embarrassed. Instead, he smiled and pointed to the corner of Xu Qing’s mouth: “Qingqing, you have… a bit of pencil lead on you.”

Xu Qing subconsciously raised his hand to wipe it.

“A bit to the left… no, to the right…” Li Mo said, then very naturally reached out his left hand and lightly brushed the corner of Xu Qing’s lip with his fingertip.

The warmth of the fingertip passed through the skin, accompanied by a subtle friction.

Although the lab was a bit noisy, the air in their corner seemed to freeze instantly.

Xu Qing completely froze, his heart felt as if it had been gently squeezed by that hand, pausing for half a beat, then drumming wildly.

Li Mo withdrew his hand, looked at his fingertip, and smiled like a cat that had stolen a fish: “All clear.”

Xu Qing’s ears turned red at a visible speed, and a light pink spread to his neck. He suddenly took a step back, bumping into the lab bench behind him with a considerable noise.

Students from nearby groups looked over.

“Xu Qing, what’s wrong?” The lab teacher also noticed the commotion.

“…Nothing, teacher,” Xu Qing answered almost through clenched teeth, shooting Li Mo a fierce glare, the warning in his eyes almost solidifying into a demand—Try touching me again!

Li Mo immediately made a gesture of surrender, silently mouthing: “My mistake.”

But the sheer amusement in his eyes clearly read “I’ll dare again next time.”

Xu Qing took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. He realized that being around this guy meant his heart rate would constantly be exceeding its load.

He stopped relying on Li Mo to read the meters properly and simply operated and quickly recorded the data himself. Li Mo was quiet for a while, just watching him work, occasionally using his left hand to jot down the numbers Xu Qing reported. The handwriting was shaky but legible.

The experiment progressed to the latter half, requiring them to plot a U-I graph and analyze it. Xu Qing took out graph paper and skillfully plotted the points.

Li Mo leaned in, his chin nearly resting on Xu Qing’s shoulder, his breath softly brushing against his ear.

“This point here seems a bit off,” Li Mo pointed to a spot on the graph with his pen tip, his voice lowered, his breath warm.

Xu Qing flinched, avoiding the excessive proximity, his voice tight: “It’s within the allowable error range. Don’t stand so close.”

“Oh,” Li Mo verbally agreed, but his body didn’t move. Instead, he pressed his luck by asking, “The slope is negative, and its absolute value is the internal resistance, right? You’re so smart, Qingqing.”

His compliment was direct and generous, tinged with a sense of proud association.

Xu Qing’s fingers, holding the pen, tightened slightly. The frustration that had arisen from the unreliable experimental data was inexplicably soothed by that sentence. He even felt that… the warmth on his earlobes wasn’t so annoying anymore.

This guy… really.

The lab class finally ended, and Xu Qing quickly packed up the equipment, being the first to flee the lab.

Li Mo followed him unhurriedly, a satisfied smile constantly on his face.

On the way back to the classroom, they inevitably encountered the 315 group again.

Tang Dawei, looking at Li Mo’s triumphant expression and Xu Qing’s cold face but suspiciously flushed earlobes, couldn’t help but exclaim: “Brother Mo, the lab class was fun, huh?”

Li Mo raised an eyebrow: “Learning knowledge and enriching myself is, of course, fun.”

Yang Di: “I think your mind was elsewhere.”

Li Mo openly admitted: “I want both the wine and the scenery.”

Xu Qing: “…” He quickened his pace, wanting only to return to his seat and bury himself in a sea of problems.

However, as soon as he sat down, Li Mo handed him a neatly folded piece of graph paper.

“What?” Xu Qing asked irritably.

“Lab report,” Li Mo stated matter-of-factly, “My left hand writes slowly, so the data analysis part is up to you, Group Leader.” He purposefully emphasized “Group Leader,” with a hint of petulant coquetry.

Xu Qing opened the paper. On it were the familiar, shaky, left-handed experiment data written by Li Mo, but in the blank space in the bottom right corner of the graph paper, he had drawn a small, simple sketch with a pencil—

A pouting profile, simple in line but perfectly capturing the expression, with an arrow pointing to the profile, labeled “L’s Family Iceberg.”

Xu Qing stared at the small drawing for a full five seconds.

Then, he expressionlessly ripped off that corner with a sharp “rip,” crumpling it into a ball.

Li Mo dramatically clutched his chest, feigning distress: “My painstaking effort!”

Xu Qing ignored him, slapped the remaining graph paper onto his desk, and coldly said: “Write it yourself.”

Li Mo looked at the small crumpled paper ball tightly held in Xu Qing’s palm, then at Xu Qing’s tense profile and red ear tips, and suddenly laughed softly.

His Qingqing, how could he be so… adorable, even when angry.

The final bell for the day rang, and students flooded out of the classroom like a tide.

Xu Qing quickly packed his bag, intending to leave before Li Mo could latch onto him.

“Qingqing,” Li Mo’s voice still followed him, carrying a trace of imperceptible anticipation, “Tonight…”

“I’m going back to the dorm to study, don’t bother me,” Xu Qing interrupted, his tone harsh, and with his backpack on, he was ready to go.

Li Mo watched his almost panicked retreat, smiled, and didn’t press further, merely calling out: “What do you want to eat tomorrow morning? Red bean porridge or millet pumpkin?”

Xu Qing’s footsteps subtly paused, but he didn’t answer, his figure quickly disappearing at the doorway.

Li Mo wasn’t disappointed. He hummed an off-key tune, slowly packing his own things. He knew some boundaries needed to be slowly broken, and some icebergs needed patient melting.

Today was already huge progress.

At the very least, Xu Qing hadn’t actually thrown away the small paper ball that contained his “evidence of guilt.”

Li Mo slung his backpack over one shoulder, whistling as he left the classroom in high spirits.

The sunset stretched his shadow long, mirroring the soft yet burning expectation that was gradually spreading in his heart.

And at this moment, Xu Qing, who had long gone, stopped at an empty stairwell corner. He opened his palm, looking at the small, wrinkled paper ball.

After a moment of hesitation, he finally, carefully, placed it into the innermost pocket of his school uniform.

Tightly against the heart that was still beating with restless excitement.