Brian Cooper usually has a cold, ascetic demeanor, but if his classmates saw the way he was sitting on the bed right now, they might start questioning their entire worldview.

What the other classmates would think if they saw this, Brian Cooper didn’t know, but he himself couldn’t stand it: “Button up your shirt.”

Samuel Clark had always been easygoing, doing whatever he wanted: “Don’t you feel suffocated buttoned up like that all day?”

Brian Cooper repeated himself for the second time: “Button up.”

Samuel Clark clicked his tongue and reluctantly fastened the second button: “Let’s make a deal, this is as far as I can go. Any higher and I can’t take it.”

From climbing over the wall to falling unconscious, and then finishing the self-reflection, it was already ten at night. There was no point in worrying about the current supernatural problem anymore—there simply was no answer. Rather than overthinking it, it was better to hope that after closing their eyes and sleeping, they’d wake up to find they’d switched back.

Fortunately, the dorm building only required check-in when entering or leaving; after lights out, the dorm supervisor wouldn’t do any more rounds. The two decided to stay in their original dorms.

When Brian Cooper was heading out, Samuel Clark leaned against the doorway and suddenly had a thought: “Are you taking a shower tonight?”

As soon as the question was out, both of them froze.

After Brian Cooper left, Samuel Clark turned off the lights and groped his way into the bathroom in the dark.

He didn’t know what was going on with Brian Cooper right now. Even though he knew he couldn’t avoid this forever, he still decided to put it off as long as he could. He undressed with his eyes closed, pushed open the glass door with his eyes closed, reached for the shower knob by feel with his eyes closed… and then, when a torrent of scalding hot water poured down on him, he couldn’t help but curse and snapped his eyes open: “Shit!”

Taking this shower was truly a struggle.

Samuel Clark felt like he was about to lose his mind.

On the verge of a breakdown, Samuel Clark hurriedly rinsed the foam from his hair, and only then belatedly noticed that his back hurt a little.

He turned off the shower, shook the water from his hair, grabbed a towel and draped it around his neck, thinking maybe he’d scraped his back on some gravel when he fell earlier, and then the hot water had made the pain worse.

By the faint light coming in from the window, Samuel Clark leaned in front of the bathroom mirror to take a look.

Because of the body’s limited flexibility, Samuel Clark twisted his neck almost to the breaking point but could only see half of his shoulder—honestly, Brian Cooper’s physique was pretty impressive, everything in the right place, even abs. Still just seventeen or eighteen, so having some muscle wasn’t over the top, and there was a youthful energy about it.

Shoulder blades prominent, lean and…

And…

Samuel Clark suddenly got stuck on the next adjective.

He paused, then leaned closer to the mirror. Although the angle made it hard to see clearly, and his neck was already sore, if he wasn’t seeing things, there was definitely a tattoo on Brian Cooper’s shoulder blade.

Linjiang No. 6 High was a very traditional academic school, full of strict rules. The things Samuel Clark usually did were already considered “serious offenses,” but even ten of those together probably couldn’t compare to this one: students were strictly forbidden from getting tattoos while enrolled.

Brian Cooper always acted like a member of the discipline committee, could recite the school rules backwards, and yet he had a tattoo?

Samuel Clark was stunned for a moment, didn’t look any further, and only then realized he might have stumbled upon a secret.

Brian Cooper wasn’t doing much better.

He closed the door; the dorm was just as it had been yesterday, the freshly completed “Gaokao Mock Exam” spread out on the desk, nothing had changed.

A few minutes later, he was shirtless, unable to move on to the next step. In the stalemate, he finally noticed something around his neck, cold against his chest. Looking down, he found it was a key.

Who would have thought the school tyrant would wear a key around his neck?

For a moment, Brian Cooper thought of those pitiful homeless kids, but looking at the face in the mirror—one that practically screamed “troublemaker, don’t mess with me”—he quickly pushed that thought out of his mind.

This night was destined to be sleepless.

Both of them were hoping that maybe after a night’s sleep, everything would be back to normal, and when they opened their eyes in the morning, they’d still be…

Samuel Clark and Brian Cooper both lay awake until midnight before finally falling asleep, only to be woken one after another by sunlight streaming in through the window. They raised their hands to shield their eyes, took a moment to recover, and then got up.

Facing the mirror again while washing up, it was still that same despair-inducing face staring back.

So they had to admit a harsh reality:

Samuel Clark was still “Brian Cooper.”

And Brian Cooper was still “Samuel Clark.”

By this time, the campus was already lively in the morning light, with students finishing up their grooming and heading out of the dorm building one after another: “See you at the cafeteria.”

“Hey, did you do your homework? Lend it to me to look over later.”

“Look over? You mean copy!”

“Come on, what’s the point of drawing lines between brothers? Your homework is my homework.”

“…”

Samuel Clark splashed some water on his face, buried his face in his hands, and realized that after a whole night, he didn’t really have any more thoughts about the situation.

Sometimes people’s ability to adapt is just that strong.

He believed that no matter what happened today, he’d be able to handle it calmly and without a ripple.

With that in mind, Samuel Clark finished washing up and opened the door—just as, by coincidence, the door to the dorm across the hall opened as well, and then he saw “Samuel Clark” standing in the doorway in a school uniform.