Chapter 46
Outside the basketball court, undercurrents surged in silence. But inside the court, the lights were bright, and Lin Huaixi knew nothing of what had happened. Nor did he notice the turmoil in Sun Baiyi’s heart.
After making several shots in a row, Lin Huaixi looked proudly at his “legs.”
“Qi Wang, did you see that just now?”
Although Qi Wang was holding him very steadily, Lin Huaixi still felt an instinctive unease. Subconsciously, he braced a hand against Qi Wang’s shoulder and lowered his head to look at him.
The two of them were very close. The stars all over the sky seemed to shine for him alone. Lin Huaixi had no idea how beautiful he looked in that moment. He only gazed at Qi Wang with bright eyes, waiting expectantly for his answer.
But Qi Wang simply stared back at him blankly. It didn’t look like he had drifted off—his gaze was intensely focused.
Lin Huaixi didn’t know what he was looking at and tilted his head. “What’s wrong?”
A full minute passed before Qi Wang finally came back to himself and carefully set him down. “You must be thirsty. I’ll go buy you a bottle of water. Don’t move around, and definitely don’t go touch the basketball by yourself.”
Lin Huaixi: ???
How come I don’t know that I’m thirsty?
Qi Wang’s expression remained calm. His cool features were like snow piled atop a high mountain, but only he himself knew that beneath this calm exterior were a wildly racing heartbeat and steadily rising body temperature.
He couldn’t face those feelings openly, so he could only hurry away. But he had barely taken a few steps when someone blocked his path.
For some reason, Sun Baiyi was standing there. It seemed he had been there for quite a while. His hair was blown into disorder, his straight shoulders were drooping, and all the spirit in him seemed gone, as though he had suffered some grievous wound.
Qi Wang frowned slightly, feeling that Sun Baiyi’s current appearance carried a hint of familiarity. “You…”
Sun Baiyi sharply cut him off, his eyes edged with fierce hostility, yet the rims of them were red. In a strained voice, he demanded, “Do you like Xixi too?”
“…”
Qi Wang hadn’t expected that question at all. His pupils contracted, and the calm façade he had maintained could no longer hold.
Of the three of them, Sun Baiyi had always been the slowest to catch on, yet now he had suddenly asked the question outright. And more importantly, he had used the word too.
The hidden meaning was obvious:
I like Xixi. Do you like him too?
This wasn’t only a question. It was also a challenge.
A full three minutes passed before Qi Wang adjusted his emotions and tried to analyze the situation calmly.
Sun Baiyi looked so battered and furious because he must have seen the scene of him teaching Xixi how to play basketball. And for some reason, it was also in that very moment that he finally realized he liked Xixi.
Before this, Qi Wang had believed that as long as no one openly pointed it out, Sun Baiyi would never realize his own true feelings. Then the three of them wouldn’t be disturbed in any way, and he could keep his promise to give Lin Huaixi a peaceful high school life.
Now that the plan had been disrupted, he needed to think of a way to deal with it—
He forced himself to keep thinking, but his thoughts broke off there. The string of reason snapped as well. A voice deep within his mind began to shout, starting small, growing louder and louder until it took over his entire world.
Qi Wang’s breathing turned hot and hurried. When he finally lifted his eyes to look at Sun Baiyi again, there was something completely different in them.
When facing Zong Nanze, he had chosen the most rational answer. Afterward, he had convinced himself over and over, almost as if he really had given up.
But a single smile from Lin Huaixi, a single look from him, was enough to make him throw down all his armor and lose utterly.
Just now, he had controlled his emotions and shamefully chosen to avoid them.
But now he didn’t want to anymore.
He was answering Sun Baiyi.
He was answering Zong Nanze.
He was answering Lin Huaixi.
And above all, he was finally answering himself honestly.
“I…”
“I saw it.”
Ever since the first time he met Lin Huaixi in kindergarten, his eyes had unconsciously followed him. As time went on, something changed without him realizing when, until eventually there was only Lin Huaixi left in his field of vision.
Not only had he seen him.
He only wanted to look at him.
All confusion gone now, Qi Wang looked straight at Sun Baiyi, who was furious enough to punch him at any moment, and said without the slightest avoidance:
“Yes. I like Xixi too.”
……
……
……
“You—you can’t!” Even though this was exactly the scene he had expected, hearing it spoken aloud still nearly drove Sun Baiyi mad.
Scene after scene from the past surged into his mind like a muddy flood, hitting him so hard he could barely withstand it.
In the past, he and Qi Wang had never had more than half a sentence to say to each other. This was the first time either of them had ever laid their true feelings bare in front of the other.
This moment should have happened long ago. He just had never realized his own true feelings, nor had he noticed how possessive Qi Wang was toward Lin Huaixi.
Only now did he realize how badly he had messed up. Not only had he lost the initiative, he had also left a ticking time bomb like this by Lin Huaixi’s side!
He didn’t even dare imagine what Qi Wang might have done around Xixi when he himself wasn’t there!
Sun Baiyi glared at Qi Wang, his chest rising and falling more violently by the second. His hand at his side clenched into a fist, so tightly that even his arm and shoulder trembled.
He wanted to hit Qi Wang hard enough to decide life and death between them.
One of them was like an erupting volcano. The other was covered in snow. Yet it was impossible to tell which of them was more volatile at this moment.
Sun Baiyi hated Qi Wang’s expression to the extreme. Ignoring everything else, he stepped forward and threw a punch straight at him—
But one sentence from Qi Wang froze him on the spot.
“Have you thought about Xixi’s feelings?”
The name Lin Huaixi held special meaning for Sun Baiyi. It could control not only his emotions, but his body as well.
The force of the punch cut through the air against Qi Wang’s face, yet his fist stopped a finger’s width from Qi Wang’s nose.
Qi Wang didn’t even blink.
Those words were not only meant for Sun Baiyi.
They were also meant for himself.
“Do you think Xixi likes you?”
Sun Baiyi’s breathing grew ragged again. His lashes trembled nonstop. He looked furious on the outside, but inside he had already been stabbed until he was nothing but torn flesh.
And Qi Wang was no different.
These words were knives in his own heart as well.
“The three of us grew up together. Xixi sees us as his best friends, his brothers—even more than friendship, like family. He wants to spend these three years of high school happily with us, but we’re the ones who selfishly fell in love with him.”
“If we confess, do you think Xixi will still be able to get along with us naturally?”
“He’s kind. He wouldn’t want to hurt us. But this would become a huge burden to him. He would lose his two best friends, and he would lose all the beauty in those past memories too. Even if he made new friends later, do you think anyone could replace us?”
“These three years are incredibly important to him. He has his own dreams. He wants to get into a good university. What if this affects him and leads to bad consequences? Do you want his memories of these three years—and his smile—to be covered by a layer of dust?”
Each of those questions hit Sun Baiyi like a heavy blow.
He staggered backward several steps, swaying so badly he could barely keep his balance. The spirit that had been propping him up scattered all at once, and his shoulders, once held straight, bent down.
Qi Wang’s expression remained calm, as if these words had no effect on him. But during countless nights before this, he had questioned himself with the same words again and again, more like warning himself over and over. That was the only reason he had been able to restrain himself in daytime, keeping his actions within the boundary of friendship so that Lin Huaixi never noticed his feelings.
He liked Lin Huaixi very much.
But more than satisfying his own feelings, he wanted Lin Huaixi to be happy.
Qi Wang and Sun Baiyi clashed in everything, yet on this one point, they reached the same conclusion.
“Fine.”
When Sun Baiyi finally spoke, his voice had turned unbearably dry, and his eyes were red as well.
His emotions had risen and crashed again and again throughout the entire evening. The passion that had just ignited in him had now been doused by a bucket of cold water, and it was almost more than he could bear.
“What you said is right. I don’t want Xixi to be sad either. And it’s too early now…” Every word went against his real wishes. Sun Baiyi bit down hard on his own tongue, using pain to stay clear-headed and force these rational words out.
“So for these three years, we watch each other. Neither of us is allowed to disturb Xixi. And neither of us is allowed to confess.”
Sun Baiyi suddenly raised his head and glared fiercely at Qi Wang. “And I’m warning you—behave yourself. Don’t get that close to Xixi anymore, and definitely don’t go touching Lin Huaixi all the time! Otherwise I’ll beat you half to death for real!!”
To make his warning more effective, Sun Baiyi even shook his fist.
Qi Wang nodded.
The two of them had now become rivals in love, still wishing they could fight to the death. Even though they had reached an agreement, they couldn’t bear to stay alone with each other. Almost at the same time, they looked away and walked toward Lin Huaixi from different directions.
“Xixi—”
“Xixi—”
Two completely different voices rang out from behind him. Hugging the basketball, Lin Huaixi turned around sharply and looked at them in surprise. “Why is Baiyi here too? Did you two run into each other just now?”
Between Qi Wang and Sun Baiyi there now lay an invisible abyss.
On the surface, they maintained peace, but deliberately ignored each other’s existence.
Qi Wang smiled slightly and handed Lin Huaixi the bottle of water. “It’s warm. Drink some.”
Qi Wang was always so thoughtful. When Lin Huaixi took it, he realized the cap had already been unscrewed for him.
He smiled at both of them and tilted his head back to take a sip of water.
At an angle he couldn’t see, both of their expressions changed. Their gazes followed him closely, filled with emotions that had no place in friendship.
But Lin Huaixi noticed nothing at all.
Standing at the top point of this delicate triangle, he still believed it was the strongest shape.
The line between Qi Wang and Sun Baiyi had already snapped.
But both of them were now tied to him.
And only he still believed that the three of them would always be the best of friends, walking forward side by side forever.
