My Brother's Arranged Marriage Partner Is My Boyfriend - Chapter 4

Afternoon.

During Physical Education class—

After the teacher shouted for the group to dismiss, Bai Nanxing found a spot on the steps in the gymnasium where there were fewer people and sat down.

Below, a group of students was playing basketball. Right next door was the swimming hall, where several classes were having swimming lessons. It was likely approaching exam week, as the P.E. teacher stood by the edge of the pool with a whistle in his mouth, directing the students. With every blast of the whistle, a student would dive in; they weren’t allowed to stop and rest until the teacher was satisfied.

Bai Nanxing felt bored, but he couldn’t leave the gymnasium for the time being. To prevent students from skipping class, the P.E. teacher had the class monitor conduct a head count every ten minutes or so. If he left now, the counselor would likely go frantic later.

He didn’t want his parents to be called, and he especially didn’t want to see Bai Yi’s nauseating face at school.

It was a bit annoying.

Bai Nanxing turned his head listlessly toward the basketball game. Just as he looked up, he saw Yan Mo walking toward him, his expression looking extremely excited. “Nanxing, so this is where you were!”

He remembered that just a moment ago, when the teacher shouted dismissal, Yan Mo had vanished in the blink of an eye. Now, he had popped up out of nowhere again.

“I’ve been here the whole time.”

Yan Mo felt a bit guilty. When he ran off, he had forgotten to tell Bai Nanxing. It wasn’t until later that he realized he had completely pushed the matter to the back of his mind, so he had hurried back to find him.

“Sorry, sorry, it’s all my fault.” Yan Mo pressed his hands together, his attitude of apology very sincere.

Bai Nanxing wasn’t actually angry with him. There was only one reason that could make Yan Mo abandon him, so he made a bold guess. “Is he in P.E. class too?”

Yan Mo looked shocked. “How did you know?!”

“Do you have a mirror?”

“I’m not a girl, why would I carry a mirror.”

“With that expression on your face, your thoughts are practically written all over it.”

“Is it that obvious?!”

Seeing that he didn’t believe it, Bai Nanxing stood up to leave.

Seeing this, Yan Mo hurriedly pulled him back. “Wait, wait, wait! Nanxing, where are you going?”

Bai Nanxing said calmly, “Since you don’t believe me, I’m going to find a female classmate to borrow a mirror so you can see for yourself.”

Yan Mo felt that Bai Nanxing was great in every way, except that his habit of being so literal was very “unfriendly” toward him. “Don’t, don’t, don’t! I believe you; I believe you!”

As the two were talking, someone below the steps suddenly shouted “Handsome guy!” The girls who had been focused on the boys playing basketball a moment ago were instantly attracted by the scenery over at the swimming hall, letting out sharp, excited screams.

Hearing this, Yan Mo didn’t have time to explain to Bai Nanxing; he grabbed his arm and dragged him toward the swimming hall.

By the time the two arrived, a circle of people had already formed around the swimming pool. Even standing on his tiptoes, Yan Mo couldn’t see the situation inside. After standing until his feet almost cramped, he simply gave up.

“Not watching him anymore?”

Yan Mo sat down dejectedly on a seat by the pool, sighing as he said, “Of course I want to watch, but do you think I can see him like this?”

Bai Nanxing sat down in the seat next to him. However, he didn’t respond to Yan Mo’s words, tacitly agreeing that there was nothing wrong with that logic.

Indeed, they had no way of seeing the person.

Both sides were packed so tightly that they could only vaguely see the top of a head.

Pale golden hair, slightly curly. From the gaps in the crowd, half a profile was revealed intermittently—the silhouette was smooth and flawless, with a high bridge of the nose. Although it was only half a face, one could conclude from it that even if the full face wasn’t breathtakingly beautiful, it certainly wouldn’t be bad.

It truly was the look of a mixed-race person.

The photos on the school forum were not “photo-frauds” this time.

Bai Nanxing opened his phone camera and held it up high. He originally intended to use the camera to capture the person’s face from a distance, but there were too many people surrounding him, and they kept moving around, making it impossible to get a shot.

Yan Mo asked in surprise, “Nanxing, are you secretly taking a photo of him?!”

Bai Nanxing really couldn’t get a clear shot, so he had to put his phone down. “Didn’t you want to see? I’m trying to see if I can catch his face.”

Yan Mo leaned in excitedly to look. “How is it, how is it? Did you get it?”

Bai Nanxing showed him the phone album. He had captured something, but because the onlookers were too numerous and the distance was too close, he could only barely capture the top of a head; everything else was a blur.

It was no different from not taking a photo at all.

Yan Mo lowered his head in discouragement. “I just want to find a man, why is it so hard? If this keeps up, I’m really going to be lonely for the rest of my life.”

Bai Nanxing was just about to comfort him and tell him to think positively when the surrounding crowd suddenly dispersed. A figure that was both familiar and strange walked out from the center.

And he walked straight toward the seats where the two of them were sitting.

Before Bai Nanxing or Yan Mo could react, the person was already standing in front of them. In a magnetic voice, he asked the two of them, “Excuse me, juniors, could you help me out?”

An aura of nobility instantly washed over them.

Accompanied by a polite smile, it was enough to make one fall for him instantly without any defenses.

Of course, this only applied to Yan Mo, who had never interacted with the person before and had already started fangirling based purely on looks.

Bai Nanxing only felt a slight sense of incredulity.

But it wasn’t because the person was exceptionally handsome—he had seen plenty of handsome people while working at the bar—it was because those blue eyes were truly beautiful. He had never seen such beautiful eyes before.

Like precious gems, they made it impossible to look away.

“Junior, can you hear me?” Mo Leyang asked again with a smile.

Bai Nanxing had long since snapped out of it, but he really liked those blue eyes and couldn’t help but look for a few more seconds. “Senior, is something the matter?”

Mo Leyang pointed toward the equipment room nearby. “The teacher asked us to help fetch some equipment, and we’re a bit short-handed. I wonder if you juniors would be willing to help out?”

Bai Nanxing didn’t believe for a second that they were short-handed. With so many people watching, getting help would be as simple as waving a hand. Was it because of the photo he just took?

Seeing that he remained unmoved, Mo Leyang issued the invitation again. “Don’t worry, it won’t take up too much of your time, ten minutes at most. Is that okay?”

Bai Nanxing was about to say something when Yan Mo volunteered, raising his hand. “Se… Senior, I-I-I can!”

But Mo Leyang was clearly uninterested in Yan Mo. After brushing him off with a few perfunctory words, his gaze returned to Bai Nanxing.

The meaning was clear: he insisted that Bai Nanxing come along today.

Internally, Bai Nanxing wanted to refuse, but if the other person was really looking for him because of the secret photo, he couldn’t guarantee that the guy wouldn’t just call him out on it right there in front of everyone if he refused.

He didn’t care about himself, but he couldn’t bring Yan Mo into it. He was the one who did it, and he had to take responsibility; he couldn’t let Yan Mo be criticized by everyone alongside him.

“Senior, I can do it.”

Mo Leyang felt satisfied. He turned around and took a step first. “Then hurry up, junior. I’ll be waiting for you there.”

Bai Nanxing didn’t linger. He stood up to follow. Seeing Yan Mo’s dejected look, he explained briefly, “He saw me taking the photo just now.”

“Ah?!”

Yan Mo instantly understood why Mo Leyang had been so insistent on picking Bai Nanxing specifically to go with him. “Then, what should we do? It’s not like we took a private photo or anything. If he doesn’t believe us, we can show him the phone!”

Bai Nanxing wasn’t sure either, but his intuition was usually accurate. Besides that, he couldn’t think of any other reason why the other party would insist on him coming along. “It’s fine, I’m just going to take a look. I’ll be back soon. If the class monitor does a head count, just tell him what I’m doing.”

Yan Mo originally wanted to follow along, but after hearing Bai Nanxing say that, he could only nod. “Then if anything happens, you must call me. Or just send a text or something, just let me know he isn’t bullying you.”

“Okay.”

The equipment room was about a hundred meters from the pool. Usually, except for fetching equipment during class, almost no one passed by this place.

To avoid any awkward situations, Bai Nanxing politely called out before entering, “Senior, I’m here. Are you there?”

The equipment room was empty. No one responded; only his voice echoed back.

Bai Nanxing stood outside and waited for five minutes. Seeing that there was still no response, he felt something was strange and walked inside to see what was going on.

The moment he stepped into the equipment room, there was a click—the door was silently locked from behind him.

Bai Nanxing whipped his head around. Mo Leyang was standing right behind him.

“Senior, I’m here. Didn’t you want help moving equipment?”

Mo Leyang saw the panic on his face, yet found it strangely interesting how he chose to remain calm. He curled his lips into a smirk and slowly walked over. “I do need help moving equipment, but before that, I have one thing I need to ask the little junior.”

Bai Nanxing instinctively backed away. “Senior, go ahead.”

Mo Leyang pinned him into a corner, staring straight into his eyes without saying a word. Instead, he reached down toward Bai Nanxing’s pocket and used two fingers to lightly pinch and lift the phone out. “Little junior, I’m right in front of you. Are you sure you don’t want to take another one?”

It really was because of the secret photo.

Bai Nanxing avoided his scrutinizing gaze and admitted his fault. “I’m sorry, Senior. I shouldn’t have done that.”

After saying this, Bai Nanxing looked up again to meet his eyes and explained, “But please rest assured, Senior, I’ve deleted all the photos I took, and I haven’t shown them to anyone else!”

“The classmate beside you hasn’t seen them either?”

“He…”

He certainly had.

There was nothing to hide about such a thing. Bai Nanxing gave a small, obedient nod. “He saw… but that photo didn’t capture your face, Senior. If you don’t believe me, I haven’t permanently deleted it yet. I can prove it to you right now!”

Mo Leyang leaned his face even closer, until the two of them could almost feel each other’s breath.

Bai Nanxing wasn’t used to such ambiguous behavior with a stranger and instinctively moved his head to the right.

But Mo Leyang seemed to do it on purpose. Seeing him turn his head, he leaned his head toward Bai Nanxing’s left earlobe, even blowing air into his ear from time to time, making Bai Nanxing feel as if his whole body was about to catch fire.