Give Me Heartthrobs 23

Chapter 23: Ambiguity

Ye Qizhen looked at Wen Yu. Hearing Wen Yu say this, she was also a bit dazed, but not for long, because she was slightly sensitive to the issue of sexual orientation.

She remembered Wen Yu flirting with her more than once, and being so considerate to her. Could it be…

After the boy left, Wen Yu looked at Ye Qizhen, who had been staring at her silently. What she said just now was the truth; up until now, she really had no interest in boys, not even a little bit.

Seeing Ye Qizhen silent for a moment, Wen Yu asked leisurely with a smile, “What’s wrong, afraid I like you?”

In just a dozen seconds, Ye Qizhen’s brain processed a lot of information and finally concluded that Wen Yu was obviously joking. It was just an excuse to reject that boy just now. If Wen Yu really liked girls, how could she say it so casually and lightly? Looking at Wen Yu’s casual smile now, she was even more certain.

Ye Qizhen was familiar with Wen Yu’s routine of teasing her. This time, she didn’t want to let Wen Yu succeed. She could take a joke. Staring straight at Wen Yu’s face, she smiled and vowed, “Who’s afraid?”

Seeing Ye Qizhen’s smile, Wen Yu leaned closer sideways, her gaze lingering in the other’s eyes. After deliberately watching for a while, she asked softly, “Then do you want to consider me?”

Another close-range eye contact. Ye Qizhen felt she should be blushing again. She stared at Wen Yu’s smile absent-mindedly and whispered a complaint: “…You say it as if it’s true.”

Wen Yu pursed her lips in a smile, saying nothing more, lost in thought again. She hadn’t realized before that she had such a hobby, flirting with girls so enthusiastically. She found teasing Ye Qizhen quite interesting and liked seeing Ye Qizhen blush from teasing. It was the same that night on the playground.

Ye Qizhen picked up the camera beside her and fiddled with it, casually taking pictures of the scenery in front of her. There was still time, and Wen Yu planned to draw another sketch.

One taking photos, one drawing, both fell silent. Occasionally, the sound of footsteps on the bluestone road and chatting in local dialects came from beside them. All was peaceful.

Returning at 4:30 PM, expected to arrive at school around 6:00 PM.

After a day of fun, everyone was quite tired. On the return bus, some dozed off, some listened to music, some stared blankly; the liveliness of the morning departure was completely gone.

Ye Qizhen was a professional at dozing off in vehicles. She could get sleepy on the bus last time, let alone on this kind of long-distance coach. Wen Yu knew Ye Qizhen would doze off in the car. Before they even got on the highway, she said to Ye Qizhen, “You can sleep on my shoulder.”

Leaning on Wen Yu’s shoulder last time was purely accidental. Ye Qizhen felt embarrassed this time. Most people on the bus were napping with their eyes closed. She asked Wen Yu, “Aren’t you sleepy?”

“Not sleepy.” Wen Yu lacked a sense of security and couldn’t fall asleep outside. Even if she was tired and exhausted, she would hold on. She saw that Ye Qizhen seemed embarrassed, so she reached out and pulled Ye Qizhen’s head to lean on her shoulder.

By the time Ye Qizhen reacted, her head was already lightly resting there. She subconsciously looked up at Wen Yu and found Wen Yu was also looking at her.

The light coming through the window was a bit glaring. Wen Yu casually took off her baseball cap, gently placed it on Ye Qizhen’s head, and whispered, “Sleep.”

When Wen Yu helped her put on the hat, Ye Qizhen’s heart was a bit chaotic. Perhaps because of what Wen Yu said in the afternoon, she couldn’t help overthinking, even feeling that the look in Wen Yu’s eyes was ambiguous… It seemed ambiguous jokes shouldn’t be made too often, even between girls.

“Carsick?” Wen Yu looked at Ye Qizhen’s face half-covered by the baseball cap.

“No,” Ye Qizhen responded.

“Lending you my arm too.” As Wen Yu spoke, she extended her arm towards Ye Qizhen, signaling she could link arms with her.

Ye Qizhen looked at Wen Yu, hesitated for a moment, then unceremoniously linked arms with Wen Yu. She thought, Intimacy between girls is nothing to begin with. Deliberately avoiding it would make it seem like something’s up. Might as well be generous.

Seeing Ye Qizhen shamelessly clinging to her, Wen Yu smiled and quietly let Ye Qizhen lean on her.

Ye Qizhen closed her eyes, but her mind was clear at this moment, with absolutely no intention of sleeping. She was quite puzzled about one thing: Wen Yu was lukewarm to everyone, so why was she so good only to her?

Because she could understand her grievances? Perhaps that was it. She was also willing to be good to Wen Yu. Her intuition told her Wen Yu was someone who understood her, and being with Wen Yu felt very comfortable.

The bus drove onto the highway, getting closer and closer to the destination.

Ye Qizhen eventually couldn’t resist the drowsiness, sleeping comfortably holding Wen Yu’s arm and leaning on her shoulder. Wen Yu was bored and occasionally glanced at Ye Qizhen’s face.

Two girls in the row diagonally behind were chatting. Seeing Wen Yu’s side, one girl nudged the other with her elbow and whispered, “…Seems to be bent.”

The other girl: “Holy crap.”

…

Arriving at school past six o’clock, it was completely dark. Ye Qizhen and Wen Yu ate a lot of snacks while strolling around the small town in the afternoon, so their stomachs were full, and they had no plans to eat dinner.

Before returning to the dorm, Ye Qizhen said to Wen Yu, “I’ll send you the photos after I edit them.”

Wen Yu nodded.

Ye Qizhen said “Goodbye” and was about to leave.

Wen Yu called her back and handed her a drawing.

Ye Qizhen looked; it was the sketch Wen Yu improvised for her in the afternoon. “Isn’t it homework?”

Wen Yu poked through Ye Qizhen’s thoughts. “Saw you wanted it quite a bit, giving it to you.”

“I didn’t.” Ye Qizhen denied it to the death.

“If you don’t want it, then forget it,” Wen Yu said.

Ye Qizhen reacted quickly this time, snatching it from Wen Yu’s hand, smiling and muttering, “How can you take back something you gave away?”

“I’ll draw for you again next time,” Wen Yu said with a smile.

“Mn, I’ll remember that.” Ye Qizhen was quite willing. Someone drawing for her for free, and getting to look at a beauty—killing two birds with one stone.

After showering at night, Ye Qizhen organized the photos taken during the day and picked out a few to post on Moments. She actually had a rule for posting on Moments: she only posted when she was in a good mood. She specifically included the sketch Wen Yu drew for her, liking it more the more she looked at it.

Soon, notifications trickled in. Wen Yu, as usual, coldly gave her a like, no comment.

Ye Qizhen clicked into Wen Yu’s Moments casually. Unbelievably, she saw Wen Yu had posted on Moments around five in the afternoon. Just one landscape photo, no caption. The photo was taken by them at the mountain peak.

Ye Qizhen liked and commented in one go, leaving a message: Student Wen, were you happy today?

Wen Yu’s reply was fast, simple, and clear: Mn.

Ye Qizhen clicked on the photo and looked again. Only with careful observation did she realize that in the bottom left corner, two shadows were sticking together.

The next day, Monday, there happened to be two PE classes in the morning. The teacher arranged for everyone to run two laps right off the bat.

Quite a few people begged for mercy with bitter faces. After all, they climbed a mountain yesterday, and their waists were sore and legs hurt today. But begging didn’t work; they had to run.

“Didn’t you go mountain climbing yesterday? Still have energy to run? I really admire you.” Qi Yun ran behind Wen Yu, finally catching up with difficulty.

Wen Yu focused on running, brushing it off with a smile.

“Hey, did you take Ye Qizhen mountain climbing yesterday?” Qi Yun was surprised enough seeing Wen Yu participate in the collective climb. Later hearing Wen Yu brought a family member, and a girl at that, her first reaction was Ye Qizhen.

“Still so chatty while running,” Wen Yu said lightly.

“Wen Yu, do you like Ye Qizhen?” Even though she was almost out of breath, Qi Yun wouldn’t let go of any opportunity to gossip.

Wen Yu didn’t answer, quickening her pace.

Qi Yun quickened her pace to follow Wen Yu. It seemed her previous intuition was correct; she felt the way Wen Yu looked at Ye Qizhen wasn’t that simple. Running against the wind, she kindly reminded Wen Yu: “Experience from someone who’s been there: if you want to chase her, better figure out if she’s straight first. Otherwise, you’ll be crying later… If you just want to play around with her, pretend I didn’t say anything.”

Wen Yu listened, remaining silent. She sped up again, this time leaving Qi Yun directly behind.