Translator: PKitty
Editor: Pinkrainmi
Quality Check: Isalee
First Published on Chaleuria
No one would be able to guess that Gu Zhun and Zhang Heng were actually classmates; both of them were taught by the same teacher, so how would they end up so different after mingling into society? But what was even more surprising was the top student and the bad student of that year, the top student was Gu Zhun, while the bad student was Zhang Heng! This phrase was indeed correct: “Be sure to look after the bad students around you. You never know if your boss ten years from now will turn out to be that poor student from back then, and for the sake of finding a job, the top student will have to call him dad!” If you want to talk about their relationship, it can be described with one word, and that would be—“ill-fated”.
One of them was free of other desires, purely devoted to his studies. “Study well. Studying makes me happy.” Coming from a humble background and being ardent in his studies, he was exactly the type of good student that was so hard to come by for teachers. Meanwhile, the other was a hooligan who already had a robust physique since junior high school. His brain was made of mush and he was always getting into fights. The good student was actually pushed down by the hooligan, even attacked…excuse me? Is this the right script?
Speaking of their ill fate—
They first met under the shade of the sports field’s pavilion. At that time, Zhang Heng was just a newly-arrived transfer student that did not know his way around. Gu Zhun was seated on a stone chair, engrossed in working on questions, seemingly as if the summer heat, the stuffy humidity, the annoying cicadas, and the ruckus made from waves of cheers coming from the basketball field had absolutely nothing to do with him, as if he were just a small worm tucked away in the shade of the greenery.
“Student, how do I get to the principal’s office?”
……
“Hey! Student! I’m asking you! How do I get to the principal’s office!”
……
Zhang Heng was furious—there was actually someone who dared to ignore him? Furthermore, it happened twice! He proceeded to walk over with an enraged expression on his face and lifted Gu Zhun up by the collar. “Looking down on people?! High and mighty top student!”
He had long heard of this junior high school’s high promotion rate. Every single elite student here was impressive; all of them had to be filtered out by the school’s strict entrance exam. Of course they would look down on a last minute transfer student that joined in without taking part in the capability test. As such, Zhang Heng wasn’t willing to come here but he couldn’t out-endure his family; his only choice was to obediently come here after being driven out.
Of course, Gu Zhun had absolutely no such thoughts. He was just engrossed in his studies, unable to extricate himself…yes, unable to extricate… It was this type of mood: Whichever person that stands in the way of my studies, I will be angry with that person!
As Gu Zhun was being lifted up, the hem of his shirt that had originally been tucked into his shorts was also lifted up. It revealed the fair and smooth skin that guys rarely had. Gu Zhun had a face full of dissatisfaction. If it were someone else instead, it would be smarter to give an apologetic smile and point out the direction. That way, it would avoid unnecessary conflict. However, Gu Zhun was different; he had always been straightforward. Ever since his parents had left them, his sister was his only family member. He listened to his sister the most. His sister had once taught him: “Whoever did wrong, whoever did right, think it through by yourself and make the judgement on your own. If it is right, say that it is right. If it is wrong, say that it is wrong. Do not speak falsehood, do not tell lies, and only tell the truth. Be frank and speak out the truth candidly.”
In this situation then, it was obvious that Zhang Heng was in the wrong for yelling and disturbing others from doing their homework.
“Yes.” Gu Zhun’s tone was so icy that it made Zhang Heng’s hair stand on end. However, it was unknown whether it was due to the scorching heat that Gu Zhun’s nose and the rims of his eyes were red.
Zhang Heng released Gu Zhun’s collar and with a flip of his hand, he shoved him onto the stone table. With a posture like he was the king, Zhang Heng leaned down and applied pressure on Gu Zhun who was like a small wild animal shackled in chains, unable to move.
“Hurry up! Bring! Me! There! Do you believe that I will beat you up?”
Gu Zhun once again had a look of displeasure. However, he was helpless as Zhang Heng was leaning too closely. The masculine perfume on Zhang Heng’s body was so choking, it suffocated Gu Zhun. He had no choice so he had to compromise. His sister had also said, “As long as there is life, there is hope.”
“I will bring you there. Move aside.”
Zhang Heng obediently moved aside. Gu Zhun packed up his books and pen and walked in the front, Zhang Heng following after.
The responsible and diligent Gu Zhun brought Zhang Heng all the way to the principal’s office. After finishing his NPC task of being a guide, it was time for Gu Zhun to go offline. Hence, he took advantage of when Zhang Heng was not paying attention and ran away, vanishing like a wisp of smoke.
By the time Zhang Heng came out after meeting with the principle, Gu Zhun’s shadow was long gone…
“Are all elite student’s attitudes like this? Shouldn’t they bring the transfer student to stroll around the school…” Zhang Heng grumbled as he walked towards the classroom building.
Year Two’s Class A, the elite class that was the cream of the crop.
Zhang Heng lifted his head and saw that he had arrived at Year Two’s Class A. He then pushed open the classroom door and directly walked in without reporting to the teacher with an arrogant look on his face. It was Monday afternoon, so it was just a routine class meeting. As such, Zhang Heng’s appearance did not disturb the students from their studies. The teacher beckoned for Zhang Heng to come up to the platform and introduced him to the class: “This is your classmate Zhang Heng. He should have reported in the morning, but he overslept so he was late. Zhang Heng, let everyone know more about you!”
“My name is Zhang Heng. That’s all.” His introduction was so succinct—it was a clear display of an arrogant junior high school second year student’s ‘Chuunibyou’[1] attitude. It was indeed a teenager suffering from “chunnibyou”. Zhang Heng broadened his line of sight as he stood on the platform, roughly scanning the faces of all his classmates before giving an evaluation—there weren’t very ugly ones, nor were there very handsome or pretty ones. Just ordinary.
Suddenly, he noticed the one seated in the fourth group’s second last row—the legendary mandatory seat for main characters in anime/manga—was the elite student that had led the way.
However, Gu Zhun’s calm and aloofness of from the world really amazed Zhang Heng. The other school elites had stopped their task at hand to lift their gaze and look at the transfer student. Only Gu Zhun still had his head buried, furiously scribbling on the scratch paper while calculating something.
Translator’s note:
[1]Chunnibyou: Japanese slang meaning “Middle School Syndrome” it’s refers to a kind of behaviour that most commonly appears in middle-school students but can appear in any age. Generally a chuuni acts like they know it all or have special powers, but some definitions even go as far as including being obnoxious, arrogant, or acting superior to a set of behavior.