Logan Wright rushed over from the other end of the track, boldly taking off his jacket as he ran and tossing it onto the grass beside him. With a leap, he landed squarely on top of Luke Carter: "If you two don't make things clear, neither of you is getting away today."

A few boys, like stacking blocks, piled on one after another, pinning the two of them firmly to the track.

It was noisy all around.

Ethan Young lowered his head, and what he saw first was his boyfriend's prominent Adam's apple. Following that bulge downward, he saw the open collar of his school uniform.

Henry Howard wanted to say, "Enough, stop piling on," but before he could get the words out, he met Ethan Young's eyes.

They were way too close.

The two of them stared straight at each other for a few seconds, caught off guard.

Luke Carter had originally wanted to keep these two big shots in check, but then Logan Wright, the heavyweight, pounced over and nearly crushed him too: "PE rep, how much do you weigh? Can we switch to someone else?"

Logan Wright complained, "Haozi, are you looking down on me?"

Ethan Young and Henry Howard stared at each other for a while. No one knew who smiled first, but then the smile seemed contagious, spreading with the vibration of their chests, little by little.

Ethan Young smiled and looked away, bracing his palm on the rubber track, and without turning his head, said to the guys behind him, "Are you guys nuts? Get off already."

A few sharp whistles interrupted the "stacking" game.

The PE teacher, holding a stats sheet, walked out of the office: "That pile over there—that's you guys. Line up. What are you still doing over there?"

Hearing this, Logan Wright and the others quickly got up.

The weight on Ethan Young was suddenly gone. He was about to get up from Henry Howard, but before he could push himself up, he heard Henry Howard call his name: "Ethan Young."

"Yeah?"

Henry Howard didn't say anything.

He propped himself up, and as he moved, his school jacket slipped down a bit, making him look a little disheveled. His lips brushed past Ethan Young's cheek, lingering near his ear.

It was subtle, a little ticklish.

Several classes were already on the field, along with a few groups who hadn't left after playing ball last period.

Henry Howard leaned back, and while no one was looking, he pulled away again. He smiled and said, "Give me a kiss."

Once everyone was lined up, the PE teacher flashed the stats sheet and said, "This period we're testing long-distance running. I saw you guys warming up with a few laps from the window earlier—good, very proactive. So we'll start the test right away. Boys, follow me."

A thousand meters.

Everyone groaned.

They'd already used up too much energy during the break, so when the PE teacher shouted, "Ready—go," no one had any energy left. They jogged forward slowly, and their final times barely scraped the passing line.

After two and a half laps, except for a couple of guys with exceptional stamina, everyone else collapsed on the ground.

The PE teacher finished timing them and let them lie there, then went to the other side to time the girls' 800 meters: "Ladies, get ready."

Ethan Young bent over, hands on his knees, breathing heavily.

Henry Howard sat at the edge of the track and was poked from behind.

"What happened to you guys?" Wanda weakly withdrew his hand, sat up for two seconds, almost fell back down, and then got to the point, "I really want to know the secret to improving my grades."

Henry Howard motioned for him to come closer.

Wanda used up his last bit of strength to scoot a few centimeters toward Henry Howard.

"Super brain supplements, boost your memory, no matter how complicated the formulas or theorems, just one look and you'll never forget," Henry Howard's voice got lower and lower as he spoke, and for a second it almost sounded convincing, "Search tb shop xxx, leave a good review with a photo, and you can get a one-yuan cash coupon."

Wanda secretly memorized the Taobao shop name: "Really, Bro Henry?"

Henry Howard: "You actually believe that?"

Wanda: ""

Ethan Young was close by and thought to himself that Henry Howard's ability to talk nonsense with a straight face had improved again.

After two laps, aside from being tired, Luke Carter and the others were surprisingly clear-headed.

It wasn't really something they could ask about, and whatever the reason, it wasn't like someone would mess with them for no reason. Plus, after all the commotion earlier, they'd pretty much let off steam.

Luke Carter smacked Wanda's head, trying to change the subject: "Do you guys think Class Four should get down on their knees and call us daddy this time?"

"I almost forgot about that," Logan Wright gulped down some water and said, "After class, I'll stand at Class Four's door and strut around a couple of times, drop a hint. Anyone want to come with me?"

Like hell. Ethan Young couldn't even imagine what it would be like to "strut around at Class Four's door."

Are you stupid or what.

Ethan Young: "Don't look at me, I'm not going."

Ethan Young and Henry Howard used to be the faces of Class Three, and now they're the academic stars too. Even if they didn't want to go, they still got dragged along to pace back and forth in front of Class Four's door.

"Think about how you guys treated us," Logan Wright said as he walked, "You really think you can skip this?"

"Of course I can."

""

Leonard Brooks and the others had been trying to process this since noon, but even now they hadn't gotten over it. They couldn't focus in class at all, their minds full of that insane "744."

Then, as soon as class ended, they turned around and saw all the Class Three people lined up in the hallway, peering into their classroom through the window.

In that line, only Ethan Young was expressionless; the others all had very animated faces.

Each one looked down on everyone else, acting all high and mighty.

Especially the class president from Class Three, who practically looked at him down his nose.

From the time the scores came out at noon until school let out in the evening, the hottest posts on the school forum were no longer about the two big shots' CP, but about two unbelievable report cards.

All sorts of rumors started flying, everyone had their own theory.

After evening self-study.

Ethan Young had showered, came out of the private bathroom, and heard his phone ringing on the desk. He dried his hair as he walked over to check the notifications.

In the notification bar was a post link from Wanda, with a big headline: —Shocking! Two school bullies suspected of brain damage after a car accident!

""

[Wanda]: Right now, this is basically how you and Bro Henry look.

[Wanda]: They even hope you guys will go to the hospital for a brain scan

Ethan Young glanced at it and saw the thread was getting more and more ridiculous, talking about high-tech brain transplants, gene mutations, and even adding in the latest trends like "time travel" and "rebirth" plots.

When Henry Howard came in with a stack of test papers, Ethan Young had just closed that wildly imaginative post.

The kid was only wearing a thin sweatshirt, loose-fitting, with his hair still dripping.

He'd mostly dried off, pulled the towel off, and ran his fingers through his hair, pushing it back. When he brushed all the bangs off his forehead, his features stood out even more, his eyes and brows cold and sharp.

Henry Howard had come over with questions, but now that he saw him, he forgot all about them: "What were you looking at?"

"Idiot posts."

"Wanda sent that one?" Henry Howard closed the door behind him and said, "The novel in there is actually pretty well written. Did you read it? Something like 'Rebirth of the School Bully at No. 2 High.'"

Ethan Young: "Like hell I'd read that."

Henry Howard put the test papers on the desk, then sat on the bed for a while, watching Ethan Young bend over to tidy up his clothes.

Ethan Young tossed his dirty clothes into the laundry basket, then thought for a second and reached for the jacket at the corner of the bed. As soon as he touched the fabric, Henry Howard pressed his whole hand down.

"Stop tidying up," Henry Howard said. "How about tidying me up instead?"

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

103. Chapter 103

"You need to be tidied up?"

"Depends on how you plan to do it. Like, wrestling on the bed or something."

Ethan Young didn't pull his hand back, just let him hold it like that.

Then he lowered his eyes and, without another word, leaned in—unlike that secretive kiss on the field earlier, this one was almost fierce, kissing him openly and without restraint.

The rest of their words were swallowed up in the tangle of lips and teeth.

Ethan Young opened his mouth again, showing a small row of teeth, and bit Henry Howard's lip in retaliation.

Henry Howard was so worked up by him that he lost all reason, his hand sliding up from the other's waist under the sweatshirt, and when he got bitten, he couldn't help but let out a hiss.