Sean Parker has known him for so many years, but they've only met a handful of times in total. Henry Howard's attitude is the type that's ridiculously chill—you're mad, but I'm not. In a way, Vincent Smith really is quite a character.

"Let's go, Vincent Wright, come on." Vincent Smith wanted to court death, but his group of friends definitely didn't, so they hurriedly dragged him away.

Sean Parker really wanted to roll up his sleeves and go at it directly, but considering Henry Howard's current special situation, if anything else happened, those rumors would really be confirmed: "Bro Henry, calm down—seriously, calm down. If we want to beat him up, let's find a dark, deserted alley some night, throw a sack over him, and beat him however we want."

Only when Vincent Smith was out of sight did Sean Parker let go.

"That was Vincent Smith?"

"Huh?" Sean Parker turned around and saw the emotionless killer standing beside him, and replied offhandedly, "Yeah, Walter Smith, that's him."

Ethan Young had been thinking for a while just now, feeling that face looked familiar. When he finally remembered, and matched the name to the face, he said expressionlessly, "Oh. Isn't that the idiot who sexually harassed girls?"

Henry Howard: ""

Sean Parker: "How do you know?!"

"Bro, let's talk?" Sean Parker snapped out of his shock, "How did you know about this? Do you know Lily Morgan? Damn, I always thought only me and Bro Henry knew about it in the whole school."

Ethan Young just said three words: "I saw it."

That was back in their first year of high school.

The signal in the west building was always bad. Usually, if anyone wanted to use their phone, it all depended on luck, or they'd have to walk around holding their phone looking for a signal.

At the time, Ray Jones was doing a game livestream. His career had just started and he wasn't popular, so he told Ethan Young to be sure to watch on time and give him a click. Ethan Young ended up finding signal in the bathroom. The signal there was good, but the environment was really hard to bear.

"Boss Young, I believe your love for me can overcome pee and poop," Big Ray said while gaming, "Really, now's the time to show how much you love me."

Love your ass. Damn.

Ethan Young sent Big Ray some gifts and wanted to leave, but Big Ray was super chatty and insisted on keeping him to chat, saying that without audience interaction it was too lonely, and he needed The Boss to liven things up.

That livening up lasted until the end of evening self-study.

Big Ray: "Anyone want to send a little gift to the streamer? No one? Am I that unpopular?"

Ethan Young was typing: Go be lonely by yourself, I'm leaving.

He hadn't even sent it yet when the bathroom door was suddenly kicked open with a "bang", followed by the sounds of shoving and a girl's faint cries.

------------

17. Chapter Seventeen

They found a secluded spot—there was a patch of grass near the equipment room, with a big rock on it, looking like a fake mountain. The three of them squatted together by the "mountain".

Ethan Young tried to stand up, but Henry Howard pushed him back down: "Sit tight. Talk, keep going."

There wasn't really much to explain.

Ethan Young didn't know any Lily Morgan, he just remembered the girl kept her face buried in her hands, squatting on the ground crying.

Vincent Smith was a total coward, didn't even dare to face him, took two hits and turned tail to run. Ethan Young didn't feel like squatting down to comfort the girl either. He felt he'd done enough, tossed aside the wooden stick he'd grabbed from the bathroom stall, and was about to leave.

Just as he stepped out, a hand grabbed his pant leg, and he heard the girl weakly say, "Don't tell anyone, please."

"Yeah, that's her," Sean Parker said, "Super timid, would rather be bullied than speak up."

Sean Parker added, "So you chased off Walter Smith back then?"

Henry Howard couldn't really get it either: "Then why does that idiot only have it out for me? Jealous of my good looks?"

Ethan Young said calmly, "I was wearing a mask."

The bathroom didn't smell that bad, but the disinfectant was enough to make you uncomfortable. He'd grabbed a mask on purpose when he went in, never thought it would come in handy.

Henry Howard made an "ah" sound, looking thoughtful.

Sean Parker directly shot down his unrealistic ideas: "Stop dreaming, Bro Henry, wearing a mask won't help—you know Big Young just beat him up, but think about what you did?"

"What did I do? I didn't even hit him," Henry Howard said, "I was merciful."

If pulling down someone's pants, standing by and mocking the size of their dick, and making them streak for two or three hours counts as merciful, Vincent Smith would probably rather have been beaten up.

After hearing the whole story, Ethan Young fell silent too.

Henry Howard said, "I really don't like violence. Usually, I choose to solve problems peacefully."

Peaceful, sure.

No wonder Vincent Smith can't let it go. It could go down as the most humiliating moment of his life, especially for someone like him, always so proud and top of the class—he'd never experienced anything like that. Once Lily Morgan transferred schools, he thought the evidence was gone for good, so he jumped out to stir up trouble.

What also made Ethan Young see him in a new light was his deskmate. For the girl's reputation and her plea, even when Vincent Smith was barking at his doorstep, he still held back and didn't say anything.

"Otherwise, how would he still be alive now?" Henry Howard casually picked up a small stone, tossed it forward as he spoke, hitting a piece of sports equipment. The stone rolled a couple of times and went farther away. He added, "It's so damn suffocating."

Sean Parker's class had to switch to boys' group practice for the second half of the period, lining up on the soccer field to practice dribbling. They hadn't chatted for long before he had to get up: "My class is gathering, I have to go. We'll talk later. Stay calm, Bro Henry, seriously, stay calm."

Henry Howard didn't even look up, just waved him off: "Get lost already."

It was thirty-two degrees Celsius outside, and Ethan Young really didn't want to sunbathe here.

Just as he was about to leave, Henry Howard suddenly pulled him down to lie on the grass together. The afternoon sun was so bright you couldn't open your eyes. Ethan Young squinted, hesitating, wondering if he'd been too easygoing these days and given his deskmate the wrong idea, when he heard Henry Howard say, sounding casual, "Anyone can be a teacher, huh."

A few clouds drifted by slowly.

Henry Howard instinctively reached into his pocket, only to find a single piece of candy. The weather was hot, so the candy was a bit melted, soft to the touch.

An indescribable feeling swept over him, and a few sentences kept circling in his mind, from Chelsea Shaw's nonsense all the way to Walter Smith's "your grades suck".

Henry Howard tilted his head and asked Ethan Young, "Got a cigarette?"

Ethan Young: "No."

Henry Howard reluctantly unwrapped the candy.

Ethan Young caught a whiff of the scent—damn, strawberry again.

The two of them lay on the grass for a long time without speaking. Just as Henry Howard was crunching on the candy, Ethan Young suddenly sat up and kicked him: "Let's go."

Henry Howard asked, "Go where?"

Ethan Young said, "If this teacher won't do, then let's get another one."

The weather was too hot. As Ethan Young spoke, he grabbed his collar and fanned himself.

From Henry Howard's angle, he could just see a large patch of skin flash by, the hollow at the collarbone dipping deep. Ethan Young had a great figure—not tall, but everything in the right place. When he lifted his shirt, he didn't look like those skinny kids. Boys at this age haven't fully grown yet—youthful, beautiful, and tough, with a hint of sharpness.

Henry Howard got a little distracted.

He wasn't sure if it was because of Ethan Young's inexplicably wild words, or the person in front of him.

Henry Howard and Ethan Young climbed over the iron fence outside the dorm building, bypassing the guard room and going in from the other side.

Because there were so many boarders, the school had special rules for students entering and leaving the dorms. Anyone returning to the dorm during class time, whether to get something or because they felt unwell and needed to rest, had to show a teacher's signed note and register at the guard's desk.

Although the iron fence wasn't hard to climb, no one really dared. The dean, nicknamed Mad Dog, had an office window facing the dorm area. If you were unlucky enough to be seen, you'd be dead meat.

"Bathroom, stall, phone." Ethan Young climbed over, hands on the ground, not even looking back, giving the keywords and then adding, "Think about it."

Henry Howard thought for a moment: "What, is this elementary school sentence-making?"

Ethan Young: ""

The two of them moved skillfully, climbing the fence with perfect form and speed, like they'd practiced.

Sean Parker was on the field and saw two figures climbing over from afar. They looked familiar, but before he could be sure, the two figures had disappeared.

"That's weird," Sean Parker scratched the back of his head, "Why did that guy look so much like Bro Henry?"

"You board too?" Henry Howard followed him upstairs, realizing they were getting closer and closer to his own dorm, until Ethan Young stopped right at the door across from his.