Thomas Thompson held up the camera, standing at the classroom door, and cheerfully took a picture of them.

It wasn’t a formal group photo; no one lined up properly, everyone was scattered at the back of the classroom. Logan Wright had been crying for ages, Wanda handed him a mirror, and he couldn’t cry anymore, instantly making himself laugh. Quinn Shaw stood to the side with her phone, taking pictures, while everyone else was laughing so hard they couldn’t straighten up.

The scene froze at this moment.

This was a moment when everyone’s face was filled with smiles, brimming with boundless energy and youthful exuberance.

And the two boys in the last row.

Even though only their backs were visible, the two of them sat very close together, especially Henry Howard, who was sitting on the desk, looking relaxed and unruly.

Henry Howard’s body was tilted, showing half of his profile, his fingers resting on Ethan Young’s head, fingertips lightly threading through his hair, with a faint smile at the corner of his mouth.

As for Ethan Young, even the back of his head seemed to have the word “indifference” engraved on it.

Sunlight streamed in from outside the window, the nearly blinding light blocked by the curtains, and just as the wind lifted the curtain, the always-misaligned desks and chairs, the blackboard covered in chalk writing, and all the classmates in the classroom were bathed in a glowing light.

They were all wearing matching sweatshirts, with four big characters on the back: 爱与和平.

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40. Chapter Forty

“On this beautiful, pleasant day, we welcome the 67th Autumn Sports Meet of Liyang No. 2 High School. Students, as we say, moral, intellectual, physical, aesthetic, and labor development in all aspects—this ‘physical’ refers to sports.”

The sports meet hadn’t started yet, and there weren’t enough seats in the stands, so everyone was moving chairs from the classroom to the field, and the stairwell was packed with people.

The voice of Jensen·Director of the Broadcasting Department echoed throughout the school: “Strengthen your bodies, love sports, and feel the spirit of athletics. I know you’re all busy with your studies on normal days, but today, you can soar freely on the field and sweat to your heart’s content.”

“Why is it so jammed here, are we allowed to go or not?”

The eagles who were supposed to be soaring freely on the field were all stuck at the stairwell at this moment. Not just the stairwell, the whole corridor was filled with the clattering sound of dragging chairs, jammed just like the morning rush hour at seven, completely packed.

Class 3, Grade 2 had taken over the section of corridor at their classroom door, and the rest who couldn’t squeeze in were still in the classroom.

Wanda’s chair was at the door, but he was nowhere to be seen. After a few minutes, he squeezed through the crowd: “Wow, it’s jammed from the fifth floor all the way down to the first. Our old teaching building was even worse, the east and west buildings would crash into each other in a chain reaction.”

“You’re gossiping too? If you had time for that, you could’ve moved your chair down already,” Henry Howard dragged his chair to the back door of the classroom. Seeing the spectacular scene outside, he simply stopped moving forward, sat right at the back door, a candy in his mouth, and said, “Let’s just wait, it’ll be at least another ten minutes.”

After saying that, he turned to look at Ethan Young: “Old Young, coming over?”

Ethan Young didn’t move at all. He lay on the desk, eyes closed, and said, “Nope. What’s so fun about being squished by people?”

“Help me with my number tag, I can’t reach my back.” Henry Howard held the tag issued by the PE committee, just a piece of cloth, slightly yellowed from repeated use, with four digits printed on it. “Hurry up, I’m the hope of the whole village.”

Ethan Young didn’t respond.

Henry Howard kept talking, and finally Ethan Young sat up and said, “Wanda, go stick the tag on the hope of the whole village.”

Wanda, suddenly dragged into the conversation: “”

Wanda looked left and right, met Henry Howard’s gaze, and although Bro Henry didn’t say anything, his silence spoke volumes. Wanda could read a line on his face: Be smart, I only want my deskmate, just try coming over if you dare.

So Wanda turned his head away, selectively playing deaf: “Ugh, why aren’t we moving yet, how long is this jam going to last?”

Ethan Young: “”

Henry Howard mentally gave Wanda a point, then dragged his chair back, putting the pin and number tag on the desk: “Thanks, kiddo.”

Ethan Young held the pin, really wanting to just stab him with it.

Henry Howard sat backwards on the chair, back to Ethan Young. Wanda stood at the door and gave him a complicated look. Henry Howard grinned, even cockily flashing a “yeah” sign.

Wanda shook his head, couldn’t bear to look.

Ethan Young pinned the four corners of the number tag to his clothes, and after finishing, mercilessly kicked Henry Howard’s chair, telling him to get lost, his tone perfunctory: “Done.”

Henry Howard reached back and felt it, realizing he’d done it quite carefully. Just as he was about to praise him, Ethan Young kicked him again.

Class 3 was unlucky; their assigned spot was a tiny corner directly opposite the stands, right under the blazing sun.

Then each class marched in formation. Logan Wright changed clothes in the gym bathroom, holding the class sign at the front, with Henry Howard and Ethan Young flanking him, leading the rest of the class.

In Quinn Shaw’s words: Henry Howard and Ethan Young are the faces of our class, we’re all relying on them.

Quinn Shaw meant they were handsome, but students from other classes didn’t see it that way.

Watching Class 3’s formation, all they felt was shock. Even though the background music was the March of the Volunteers, with the two former big shots of the east and west buildings leading over thirty classmates, it always felt like they’d roll up their sleeves and start a fight at any moment.

Wild as can be.

So even though Logan Wright was dressed so outrageously, no one dared laugh at him.

“What’s with these people,” Henry Howard tilted his head slightly and said, “No one’s laughing? Isn’t it funny? When the cross-dressing guy from the next class came out, it was a huge deal. Are we not as good? Did our class lose?”

Ethan Young: “Maybe it’s just too ugly.”

Logan Wright, stabbed in the heart: “Have you ever considered my feelings?”

The sports meet lasted two days. The long-distance run was tomorrow afternoon; today, they only had one event: push-ups, held in the gym.

Even though it was already autumn, the midday sun was still blazing.

Henry Howard took off his jacket and draped it over his head to block the sun, looking down at his phone, and saw that Wanda had sent him a forum link ten minutes ago.

Title: Live broadcast, our school’s two so-handsome-it’s-unbelievable big shots—doing! push! ups! I’ve already exploded like fireworks!

The thread already had over a thousand replies and was trending on the school homepage.

Henry Howard scrolled through a few photos. His first reaction was to close the browser, as if he’d picked up a hot potato. He couldn’t tell if it was the sun that was too hot, or if he was suddenly burning up for no reason.

After a while, Henry Howard opened the post again and, as if possessed, saved the pictures.

There were only three photos in total. The indoor lighting was bad, and the person taking them was too nervous to shoot openly, so the pictures were blurry, hazy, and ambiguous.

Even though it was hard to see clearly, it was still obvious who the two main characters were.

Knowing Wanda’s big mouth, there was no way he’d only send it to him—he’d probably sent it to the whole class.

Henry Howard nudged Ethan Young with his elbow and asked, “Did you see it?”

“What?” Ethan Young squinted, looking a bit sleepy.

The field was bustling, with student volunteers riding bikes around and others warming up—like their class’s 100-meter runner, Liam Harris.

Quinn Shaw and the others had already started writing radio submissions, the girls brainstorming together.

Henry Howard thought, what else could it be, obviously our CP thread, but he couldn’t say it outright, so he hinted: “That one.”

Ethan Young looked at him: “Which one?”

“”

In the end, Henry Howard crooked his finger at him, and Ethan Young reluctantly scooted over.

Henry Howard held up his jacket, signaling for him to come under. The two of them were practically head to head, squeezed under one jacket. The phone was on Henry Howard’s lap, so Ethan Young had to lean down to look.

Ethan Young looked very seriously.

Meanwhile, Henry Howard stared at the back of Ethan Young’s neck, his impossibly soft hair, and the slight bump of his vertebra, feeling a bit of regret.

Why did he show him? Or maybe, did he want to see his reaction?

Henry Howard wasn’t sure what he was trying to test.

Ethan Young scrolled down a few pages. The comments were all pretty much the same, full of shipping. As he scrolled, his fingertip paused on the 52nd comment, which read, “Damn, I want to push their heads together! Kiss! Kiss already!”

“”

Ethan Young blinked slowly, then Henry Howard heard him say in a flat tone, “Oh, I see it now.”

Henry Howard hadn’t figured out what to say when suddenly the whole of Class 3 started screaming like they were on a sugar high: “Ah—go for it!”