Ethan Young thought he had just lost a game, so he leaned in for a look and saw that on the phone screen, among the two characters, one was a long-haired female character in a skirt.

Henry Howard had earphones in his ears, and it looked like he had team voice chat on. Ethan Young reached out and pulled out one side, putting it in his own ear, and heard a soft girl’s voice: “I’m not very good at this, can you protect me later?”

Ethan Young twirled the earphone cord around his finger, and upon hearing this, drawled, “Life’s pretty sweet for you, bro, carrying girls now.”

Henry Howard was at a loss for words.

Just now, Sean Parker had invited him to join the team, asking him to help carry someone, saying it was a matter of lifelong happiness, but at that moment he had a stomachache and needed to rush to the bathroom to take care of business.

Before Henry Howard could refuse, Sean Parker directly pulled the girl into the team and ran off.

“Come on,” Ethan Young said, his tone obviously sour. Although seeing his boyfriend jealous was quite enjoyable, Henry Howard still immediately muted his mic and explained, “I don’t know her, she’s someone Sean Parker brought in. I really don’t know her.”

Ethan Young said, “If you don’t know her, why did he ask you to carry?”

“He went to the bathroom, just needed someone to fill in for a bit.”

Ethan Young added, “Of all people, he asked you, so you must be pretty experienced, huh?”

Henry Howard was left speechless.

Ethan Young didn’t really hold onto this issue.

He just saw Henry Howard explaining so seriously, so he went along with it for a few more lines, and after that didn’t even make him leave the team. Instead, he actively pressed start: “Hurry up and carry, class is about to start.”

The girl was still talking, but Henry Howard didn’t really hear what she was saying.

All he could think was: Damn, my boyfriend is usually so aloof, but when he gets a little petty, he’s just too damn cute.

The girl’s game ID was a string of emoticons, and it was obvious she was quite interested in Henry Howard, even though Henry Howard hadn’t said much the whole time.

Emoticon: “Hey handsome, are you from No. 2 High as well?”

Emoticon: “Do you have a girlfriend?”

After being with Ethan Young for so long, Henry Howard had picked up a thing or two, but he still couldn’t be as blunt as Ethan Young, who would just say “none of your business” right off the bat, so he said, “I have a boyfriend.”

“”

When it finally ended, Henry Howard immediately quit the game, afraid the emoticon girl would drag him into another round.

Ethan Young lay on the desk watching him: “Aren’t you afraid she’ll tell Sean Parker?”

Henry Howard put away his earphones, checked the class schedule, and saw there was only one period left: “No need for her to tell, Sean Parker already knows.”

The classroom was noisy.

Luke Carter and Wanda were horsing around, and as they passed by, Luke Carter bumped his waist on Ethan Young’s desk corner, making the desk shake slightly, the vibration reaching Ethan Young’s ears.

Ethan Young blinked: “He knows?”

“During the field trip when we were playing games,” Henry Howard said while scrolling through his texts, “Let me find it, want to see for yourself?”

Ethan Young took the phone and glanced at it, seeing several anxious messages from Sean Parker, and also saw the line Henry Howard had replied.

Very firm, and even a bit proud between the lines.

One Ethan Young, my boyfriend.

Ethan Young hadn’t expected Henry Howard to be so direct.

Their relationship wasn’t something they could just announce like others, or like other couples who started dating early, as long as they avoided the teachers, they could walk around school hand in hand without a care.

Ethan Young thought for a while, then figured, if it were him, he’d do the same.

— Henry Howard, this dumbass, my boyfriend.

After finishing in the bathroom, Sean Parker swung by Class 3 on his way back to his own class to check in. He slipped in through the back door and patted Henry Howard on the shoulder: “So, did you finish carrying?”

“Carry my ass,” Henry Howard kicked him directly, “I have a boyfriend, and you’re pushing me into the fire pit.”

Sean Parker dodged and said, “That’s exactly why I asked you, because you have a boyfriend. I wouldn’t trust anyone else.”

Henry Howard threw a water bottle at him in return.

“Fine, I won’t ask you next time.”

Sean Parker picked up the bottle and put it back: “I’ll ask your old Young, I trust your old Young too.”

Henry Howard: “You must have a death wish.”

Maybe Sean Parker had already digested everything over the past few days, because he didn’t react strangely to the two of them at all.

Totally natural.

“What do you want from me,” Ethan Young said, “to experience duo queue?”

Sean Parker: “” He almost forgot this guy is a lone wolf type.

After messing around for a while, when the bell rang, Sean Parker finally rolled back to Class 8.

Before leaving, Sean Parker paused and finally noticed the red strings on both their wrists. He looked at them for a moment, then blurted out, “That’s nice, really, and I’m honestly not surprised at all.”

After all, with his bro Chao’s legendary single-dog EQ, this was already a miracle.

Henry Howard just smiled and said, “Get lost, hurry up.”

After the last period, those rehearsing for the show stayed half an hour in the evening to keep practicing the dance.

Most people had left the classroom, only a few on duty remained.

Emily Shaw played music from the classroom computer. There was a part that needed two people to cooperate, so they split into pairs, two by two, with some pretty ambiguous moves, including one where you had to hold the other’s waist.

Emily Shaw and Quinn Shaw demonstrated once.

Henry Howard stood at the back, hand on Ethan Young’s waist, pulling him into his arms, and once he was holding him, he didn’t want to let go: “Are you going to evening self-study later?”

Ethan Young was still thinking about that move just now, and reflexively asked, “Aren’t you going?”

“Go to class for what,” Henry Howard said, “I want to go back to the dorm and do something else.”

“”

Ethan Young realized Henry Howard had gotten better and better at making dirty jokes lately.

Logan Wright was big, and was being held by another boy about his size, which looked especially odd. Emily Shaw had wanted to give them some pointers, but ended up almost laughing herself to tears.

Logan Wright sighed stiffly: “Jingjing, you never said there was a move like this before.”

Emily Shaw: “Relax a bit, look at Chao and Yu, how natural they are.”

Wanda waved his hand, already seeing through it all: “They’re different.”

When it was all over, a few people made a group chat called Galaxy Dreamboys, to share instructional videos and rehearsal times.

All the way until evening self-study ended, the group chat never quieted down, everyone acting like pre-debut trainees, notifications constantly buzzing.

Everyone was hoping to show off on stage and become famous in one dance.

[Logan Wright]: Last year, someone from the class next door played guitar on stage, and a bunch of girls added him as a friend.

[Logan Wright]: I don’t need that many, just one is enough.

When Ethan Young came out after showering and drying his hair, the messages had already hit 99. He casually scrolled a couple of times, his fingertips still damp, when he saw a familiar green icon notification at the very bottom of the notification bar.

Quiz Masters Clash.

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

70. Chapter Seventy

Knowledge Orb icon.

The notification was brief and to the point: Dear user, your wait was not in vain, we’re back!

Ethan Young was stunned for a moment.

Back? Wasn’t it dead?

He’d always forgotten to uninstall it, left it in a corner, never expecting it to come back to life one day. Ethan Young stared at the notification for a long time, and remembered that stupid thing he did over the summer—staying up all night competing for first place with some lunatic.

Ethan Young hesitated for two seconds, but finally clicked in.

Updating, please don’t exit~

They must have found a new investor, because the game had even updated its question bank, adding new test questions from major universities over the past few months, even including the latest midterm exam questions from No. 2 High.

Ethan Young skimmed through and found that the quiz mode had changed, now dividing players into bronze, silver, and gold ranks, and answering questions could randomly drop items, like some hidden test papers not available to the public.

These little details made the app much more fun, and if you didn’t know better, you’d think it was some kind of online game.

The Quiz Masters Clash player chat area was still the same, with the same few active IDs practically setting off fireworks in celebration.

“I Love Studying”: I knew it, the passion for learning will never die!

“For a Better Tomorrow”: Without Quiz Masters Clash, I could only do practice papers alone, so many lonely nights, with no one to keep me company.

“Top Ten in Grade”: English class rep, I’ve already mastered level 8 vocabulary, come PK.