CH 7

Chapter 7 Butterfly

Jian Chi seemed to have had a long dream. His soul was lifted up by an unknown force and separated from his body. He saw himself in a trance, the silent bedroom, and many intertwined pictures flashed back, frame by frame blurry. 

“Jian Chi, Jian Chi?” 

Jian Chi regained his senses. Zhang Yang glanced at Yang Zheng on the stage, leaned over and asked in a low voice, “Did you not sleep well last night?” 

“A little bit of insomnia.” 

“It must be that you were studying too hard,” Zhang Yang reminded with experience, “Social activities are the best time to catch up on sleep, and closing your eyes now risks being caught by Brother Zheng.” 

Jian Chi smiled and was about to answer when Yang Zheng on the stage knocked on the table, his beard trembled with his loud voice, “Zhang Yang, tell me which principles were used in this experiment?” 

Zhang Yang raised his face, stood up dawdlingly, and hesitated for a long time without being able to say why. Jian Chi lowered his voice and reported the answer. Before Zhang Yang could copy the answer, Yang Zheng waved his hand, “Sit down, don’t disturb other students in class next time, and don’t bother others to answer for you.” 

“Understood Mr. Yang.” Fortunately, Zhang Yang had a thick skin. After sitting down with a grin, he turned around and winked at Jian Chi for a while, and said “Thank you, brother”. 

Jian Chi replied ‘no problem’ when something flashed in his mind. He quietly turned his head in the midst of the lecture. Sure enough, the place belonging to Wen Chuan was empty. 

Maybe that strange dream last night was because of an accidental encounter with Wen Chuan, who was leaving school – although this was not a seamless explanation, it still made Jian Chi reluctantly stabilize his mind and did not continue to doze off. 

After class, Jian Chi and Zhang Yang walked to the classroom of the next class together. He hesitated for a moment, then finally asked the question he had been thinking about for a long time last night: “Does the school allow students to leave the school alone?” 

Zhang Yang’s eyes widened, and he almost forgot to leave, “Leaving the school? This is a hassle. You have to get approval from the Student Union first, then go to the Academic Affairs Office to get the application form, then the school will also contact your off-campus family…..it’s basically very troublesome.”

Jian Chi nodded clearly, and at the same time the confusion in his heart was expanding a little bit. He was not sure whether Zhang Yang knew about Wen Chuan. If he was the only one who saw it, speaking out would be equivalent to exposing him. 

Although he believed that Zhang Yang would not talk nonsense everywhere, since Wen Chuan chose to leave quietly in the middle of the night, he must not want too many people to know about it. 

“Why are you asking this?” Zhang Yang was still struggling with this question, “Is something wrong?” 

“No, just asking.” Jian Chi stopped and smiled at him, “I’m at the classroom, see you in the cafeteria.” 

“Okay, see you later.”

The biggest thing that Jian Chi liked with being friends with Zhang Yang is that although he gossips, he knows his propriety. 

Saintston’s Monday and Friday at 3:00 p.m. were students’ sports time. According to the regulations, each student must choose two sports. 

Jian Chi filled in swimming and fencing. Yuncheng was close to the sea. He and Jian Chengchao went to the sea to swim at a very young age, so he knew how to swim. As for fencing, it seemed like the sport that was relaxing and easy from the rest of the hard to choose sports. 

If studying was one of his strengths, then sports must be his weakness. From the beginning of school, physical education had been a hindrance in all disciplines of Jian Chi. Although he was not short in height and had a normal physique for a teenager, he must have been born without motor cells or it may have something to do with his dislike of sweating. Physical education had been consistently number one on his blacklist. 

The school had two swimming pools, indoor and outdoor, and the one selected for usual practice was indoors. When Jian Chi passed by, there were already many boys in swimming trunks gathered by the pool and a few people in the locker room were sparsely clothed, changing and talking. 

Jian Chi opened his locker, just took off his shirt, then heard the surrounding noise getting smaller and smaller. It took a few seconds to hear no sound at all. 

He slowed down and looked at the door, to be precise, at Wen Chuan who walked in. He was still cold with that overly beautiful face. Skipping past Jian Chi and the quiet crowd, he walked to his locker and took off his uniform top. 

What surprised Jian Chi was that Wen Chuan had the exact opposite of his appearance. There were smooth muscle lines along his chest and his lower abdomen submerged into his hidden mermaid line. But what really caught Jian Chi’s attention was the dense scars and bruises on his body, covering almost every inch of his muscle. 

There were even a few places that were obviously red, as if they were added last night. 

Last night…… 

Wen Chuan seemed to sense something, and looked at Jian Chi’s eyes as if he locked onto a target, giving him no time to move away at all. 

This was the second time Jian Chi had observed Wen Chuan’s eyes. What was certain was that they were indeed like the pupils of some kind of cold-blooded animal, quenched with chills and deadly poison. 

Jian Chi felt that he should say something to break the atmosphere, but thinking of the words that were ignored last night, he hesitated for a few seconds then silently retracted his gaze.

He remembered Zhang Yang’s phrase ‘weird person’, presumably a weird person didn’t like to be disturbed, so he should not rush to let himself be hated. 

“Okay, the warm-up is over,” the teacher blew a whistle and glanced at everyone, “First, 400 meters. The people in the first row will come first, after, you can move freely in the swimming pool. Remember not to swim into the competition lane.” 

Jian Chi was in the last group and the waiting process was a bit boring. Zhang Yang chose tennis. Without him chatting by his side, Jian Chi could only repeat the warm-up and observe the people around the pool with his peripheral vision. 

A fat boy started to be lazy halfway through his swim. He was constantly urged by the teacher with a whistle. The few people who were chatting in the locker room just now were still chatting. It sounded like they were talking about an equestrian competition, which reminded Jian Chi of what he heard in the literature club. Shao Hang’s conversation with the other two.

Looking away, Wen Chuan, who was waiting alone like him, was facing this direction with his long hair scattered behind him, his white back, well-proportioned and powerful, and the softness of a woman and the fortitude of man converged and merged in him without exclusion. Jian Chi couldn’t help but take a few more glances. Everyone has a love for beauty. Even if he was the same sex, it did not prevent him from admiring Wen Chuan. 

A whistle sounded, and before everyone could react, Wen Chuan jumped into the water. 

His arms swiftly moved like butterflies, setting off waves with graceful and precise arcs. In the blink of an eye, he was far ahead. The butterfly bones on his back were looming in the surging pool. With every wave of his arms, he spread his wings, and every inch of his muscles contracted tight. 

Jian Chi noticed that there was no sound of conversation around, and some people even stared with bated breath until Wen Chuan touched the shore with his left hand. The teacher pressed the stopwatch, unable to hide the relief and excitement on his face, “4 minutes and 12 seconds, an improvement over last time.” 

Wen Chuan brushed aside the wet hair from his forehead, but one couldn’t see whether he was happy or not. He propped up his arms and left the swimming pool. The water droplets dripped onto the ground along the scars on his body, forming a small pool of puddles. 

The teacher blew the whistle again, this time Jian Chi concentrated and jumped into the water with everyone. After the swimming was complete, Jian Chi adjusted his breathing and scanned the surroundings. He was the first. 

“Very good,” the teacher looked at Jian Chi a little unexpectedly, “Have you practiced before?” 

Jian Chi said, “My family lives by the sea and I often go into the water.” 

After the 400 meters, the rest of the time was freeplay in the water. Jian Chi hadn’t exercised for a while, so after swimming a few times, he returned to the locker room to take a shower in advance. 

He wrapped a bath towel around his waist, wiped his hair and walked out of the single stall. He raised his head and saw Wen Chuan walking in this direction. 

Jian Chi involuntarily slowed down, not knowing whether to ignore him as before or to react otherwise. 

He noticed just now that Wen Chuan rested on the shore after only swimming back and forth. He looked a little tired. Maybe it was caused by the wounds or other reasons. 

Jian Chi turned sideways to get out of the way as he thought about it, then his eyes stopped for a moment on the bruise on the other person’s body. After thinking about it, he couldn’t hold back and stopped him.

“Is your injury okay?” Jian Chi said, “I have ointment in my bag.” 

Due to the many years of work standing on his feet, Jian Chengchao’s waist had not been very good. He always keeps ointment for falls at home, and he also packed a lot of it in his luggage before leaving. 

Jian Chi brought it here originally to prevent swimming strains, but he felt that Wen Chuan needed it more than him at the moment. 

Wen Chuan glanced at him, his eyes were cold, and he couldn’t tell whether he was happy or angry, “No need.” 

Jian Chi was not embarrassed to be rejected or it’s better to say he was ready to hear this answer. 

He should have been noticed by Wen Chuan long ago. If he didn’t say it now, he might be misunderstood by the other party as something else. 

“You can get it from me if you need it,” Jian Chi added thoughtfully after finishing speaking, “or go to the infirmary to have a look.”

Wen Chuan didn’t answer, bypassed him and walked into the single stall. After a while, there was the sound of rushing water. 

Author has something to say: 

Wen Chuan: He wants to get my attention 

Jian Straight Guy Chi: ?