The others clapped and cheered, then asked, "But do we have any prizes to give out?"

Even though there were no prizes, Class Three's karaoke party was still in full swing.

Actually, no one could really sing, and most of the time it was just ear-piercing noise, but the singers were all very into it. Old Thompson was especially absorbed as he sang "Unforgettable Tonight".

Henry Howard was very supportive—no matter how anyone sang, he would shamelessly cheer them on: "Great! That was amazing!"

Yeah, right.

Ethan Young couldn't understand this behavior. He moved his fingers, and his fingertips happened to touch Henry Howard's prominent knuckles. "Is this sarcasm?"

Henry Howard: "No, it's called encouragement."

Old Thompson was a little embarrassed by Henry Howard's praise, but after that, he waved his hand and decided to sing another song: "Since you all like listening, then I'll..."

Henry Howard never expected that their class's Old Thompson would turn out to be a mic hog. "Huh?"

A few students in the front row were so annoyed they threw water bottles at him.

After Old Thompson finished singing, the other students changed tactics and started to heckle: "Bro Henry, sing one! Otherwise, you'll be letting us down!"

Henry Howard agreed quickly: "Sure, I'm really good at singing. Hearing me is your gain—Old Young, what song do you want to hear?"

Ethan Young had never heard Henry Howard sing before, and he had a vague feeling that Henry Howard's confidence was a bit off. Mainly because this guy often bragged about his own handwriting too, hyping it up as if it was out of this world, but in reality, it was so messy it could fly to the heavens.

But Henry Howard's eyes clearly said, "Whatever you want to hear, I'll sing it for you."

The words on Ethan Young's lips turned into, "Anything's fine."

The classmates all thought that, knowing Bro Henry's style, he would pick something a bit more intense.

Unexpectedly, Henry Howard ended up choosing a love song.

The original singer was a female artist, and the melody was gentle and slow.

The microphone was passed from the front row, and before the switch was even on, Ethan Young heard Henry Howard mutter softly beside him, "Guess they're lucky... singing this for my little one."

This was probably the only time Henry Howard wasn't exaggerating.

He actually sang really well, his low voice curling around Ethan Young's ear. The male voice sounded completely different from the original, but it was still gentle.

That kind of restrained gentleness unique to boys came through in the lyrics.

The car suddenly quieted down.

The two of them were still secretly holding hands where no one could see, hidden under the hem of their school uniforms, fingers interlaced. In this position, it felt like you could hear each other's heartbeat through their entwined fingers.

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64. Chapter Sixty-Four

When Henry Howard finished singing, as the last note faded, several minutes passed and no one spoke.

Unexpected. No one had seen it coming.

Quinn Shaw had been watching a video on her phone, but four minutes drifted by just like that, and she hadn't paid any attention to what the video was about.

"No way," Quinn Shaw said as she looked back, "Bro Henry is—"

She stopped mid-sentence.

Because she happened to see Henry Howard turned sideways, making eye contact with Ethan Young.

The class's untouchable Brother Yu was sitting by the window, the curtain not fully drawn, leaving a small gap. Sunlight streamed through that gap, shining on his hair.

It made his whole body seem to glow with warmth.

—Ethan Young, the kind of person who, when you first meet him, always seems cold.

Luke Carter was the first to react: "Love song prince, Bro Henry."

Wanda was holding a bag of chips, opened his mouth and said, "How about... another one?"

Henry Howard turned off the mic and passed it forward: "No more, gotta give you guys a break."

The others joined in the heckling for a bit, but Henry Howard really had no intention of singing again. After passing the mic back, he lowered his head and turned off the music player on his phone. When he looked up, he saw Ethan Young still staring at him: "Stunned? Was it so good that—"

It wasn't enough for others to praise him; he was ready to hype himself up again.

As Henry Howard leaned in, Ethan Young cut him off before he could finish bragging, smiled and said, "Yeah."

The real singer didn't want to sing anymore, so the Class Three students had to keep listening to Old Thompson. Old Thompson only sang nostalgic classics, the kind that made you feel twenty years older in an instant.

After enduring two songs, they really couldn't take it anymore, but didn't want to hurt Old Thompson's confidence.

So on the surface, everything was calm, but in the class group chat, undercurrents were swirling.

[Luke Carter]: Can someone please stop this?

[Quinn Shaw]: I can't find a good excuse, next person please.

[Logan Wright]: Out of my league, next.

Ethan Young watched them discuss for a long time, and in the end, they really did find a weird excuse as a breakthrough.

Luke Carter raised his hand and said, "Teacher, I think we should be a bit quieter so we don't distract the driver."

The driver: ""

Ethan Young had been typing one-handed, but it was uncomfortable, so he just exited the chat and pulled a pair of earphones out of his pocket: "Wanna watch a movie, love song prince?"

This freshly minted nickname always sounded a bit embarrassing.

Henry Howard took one earbud and said, "Come on, you're making it sound like I sing love songs to flirt with people all the time. I've only ever sung for you. What movie?"

Just something random.

Who knows how long this movie had been on his phone. Ethan Young never had much patience for this kind of thing—he'd only watch to kill time, never with any real emotion, and often fast-forwarded.

There was a small theater in the Blackwater Street district. Back in the day, whenever Big Ray and the others had a bit of spare cash, they loved to go there.

Ethan Young had gone once—an hour and twenty minutes, went in expressionless, came out the same way.

Big Ray and Belle walked behind him, both crying their eyes out, completely absorbed, sobbing all the way: "It was so sad, they were separated by a terminal illness—"

Ethan Young put up with them for a whole street, then finally couldn't take it anymore: "It's just a script."

Henry Howard glanced at the opening credits—nonsensical comedy style, the leads looked familiar, and the plot seemed like he'd seen it somewhere before. After thinking for a bit, he remembered: "I've seen this one, it's pretty good."

Before he could finish, Ethan Young had already hit the exit button in the top right corner.

"—Why'd you turn it off?"

Ethan Young exited, then hooked his finger around the earphone cord, trying to pull the earbud back from Henry Howard's side: "You already saw it."

"Yeah, I did," Henry Howard held it down so he couldn't pull it away, smiled and said, "But I didn't watch it with you."

Luke Carter was sitting nearby, and he couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. Ever since Henry Howard sang that love song, there'd been an indescribable atmosphere surrounding him.

He looked around, and his gaze landed on the two big shots watching a movie together, and he felt like he'd found the source.

Finally, Luke Carter patted Wanda, hesitantly asking, "Don't you think there's something going on with those two?"

City C wasn't far, just a forty-minute drive.

They'd only watched half the movie when the bus pulled into the parking lot near Beihu Park. Everyone packed up their things and started getting off one after another.

Ethan Young waited until most people had left before getting up, holding onto the seat in front as he walked forward.

Henry Howard let go of his hand, and while no one was looking, casually rested his hand on Ethan Young's waist for a moment. Through the fabric, he felt that familiar warmth and, almost involuntarily, asked, "Are you going back this weekend?"

Ethan Young had been about to squeeze through the gap between Henry Howard's knees and the seat in front, but paused when he heard this, looking at him with a half-smile: "Boyfriend, what are you thinking about?"

What else could he be thinking?

They both knew.

"We'll line up to go in. After I take you all around Beihu Scenic Area, you'll have free time," the tour guide called out with a loudspeaker, "Free time is until two in the afternoon, please make sure to gather on time."

The scenic area was by the lake. After walking around Beihu once and listening to the guide tell three different versions of the local legend, everyone split up into small groups for free time.

One group of six gathered by the roadside.

Henry Howard asked, "Where do you guys want to go?"

Logan Wright thought for a while, interested: "The theater, let's go see what shows they have."

Luke Carter wasn't interested in the theater, and pointed to the top right corner of the map: "If you're a man, go to the shooting range."

"No! Theater!"

"Logan Wright, you're not a man!"

Ethan Young didn't care where they went—he wasn't interested in any of it anyway.