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Ren Rou tried to remember the picture of Bunbun that Lin Feng had shown her. That picture was from four year ago, with the girl looking a lot younger than she did now. The girl in that picture had pigtails and was standing off in the background. They do look similar though…

Tang Bingyao didn’t need to think like Ren Rou did. She stared at An Xin and pursed her lips. There was a look in her eyes that revealed far more of her thoughts at the moment than she would’ve liked. Fortunately, everyone was looking towards Bunbun and no one was looking at her.

✹

Lin Feng was working on his latest idea for the match against Shanghai International when the homeroom teacher announced a new student was joining the class. He didn’t really care. It didn’t have anything to do with him. So he didn’t even bother to look up, scribbling down the ideas that formed in his mind before they disappeared again. Then he looked over the notes, but the letters were hard to read. He blinked his eyes and tried to ignore the pain that he felt in his head. The words on the page made sense again. This won’t work—

Then he heard the new student introduce herself. It was a voice Lin Feng recognized, one that he would know anywhere. His pen fell from his fingers on the table, then rolled off his desk and dropped to the ground. But he didn’t notice. He could only hear that voice that he knew so well. He lifted up his face and for the first time took a look at the new transfer student. Bunbun? The world was spinning before his eyes. He started worrying that it was his sleep deprivation and that he was seeing things. So he rubbed his eyes and looked again. There she was, smiling and sticking her tongue out at him. He barely moved his lips and the sound was almost inaudible as he said, “Bunbun.” She’d grown a lot since he last saw her, but she still looked the same. To him she did, anyways. She was Bunbun. She was one of his best friends growing up.

“An Xin, you can sit…” The homeroom teacher looked around the classroom. Most seats were taken, except for a few at the back of the class. He hesitated for a few seconds but then pointed towards a desk in the last row and said, “You can sit over there for now. Sorry, we don’t have that much space. We can maybe look into reshuffling the seating arrangement some other time…”

An Xin looked at the desk the teacher was pointing at. There was no one else sitting at that desk. Then she looked at the desk next to where she would be sitting. Two guys sat there. One of them was Lin Feng. She smiled at the homeroom teacher and said, “It’s fine. That seat looks perfect!” She then walked over to it and sat down on the side closest to Lin Feng. There was only the aisle separating them.

Lin Feng watched her walk and sit down at the desk next to him. He stared at her, shocked and speechless. She put her backpack down and all he could do was look at her. Then he said, his lips moving of their own accord, “Bunbun?”

An Xin paused midway through putting her books on her desk. Then she tilted her head and looked at Lin Feng. “Hey,” she said, smiling. “Long time no see.”

Before the two old friends could catch up, the school bell rang. It was the start of the second period of Monday morning. For Senior Class 7 that meant English. It was a subject many of the students hated. This wasn’t because of the subject per se, but more because of the teacher. He was a real hard ass. If he caught someone slacking off, he’d pull them to the front of the class and tell them to share their story. He liked to say that if someone felt that whatever it was they were talking about was more important than what he was teaching them, then it was only fair they shared it with the entire class and not just the students sitting next to them.

Lin Feng tried to pay attention to the class. He listened to the words of the teacher and made notes. These were notes on the class and not on the game with Shanghai International. But his mind was somewhere else entirely. It was on the girl sitting next to him. And after only a couple of minutes he tore off the edge from a page of his notebook and scribbled something down. He gave it to An Xin, who read it and wrote a reply.

Lin Feng: ﴾ Why are you here? ﴿

An Xin: ﴾ What? Do you not want me here? Teehee~ ﴿

Lin Feng: ﴾ Where are you living? ﴿

An Xin: ﴾ Mom and Dad moved here, so I had to come too. ﴿

Lin Feng: ﴾ Really? You all live in Shanghai now? ﴿

An Xin: ﴾ Yep! I’m really liking it here, though probably not half as much as you are. My parents told me that you’re living with a girl, right? They also said that she’s trying to become a League streamer. I bet you’re having a good time with her. Hehe~ ﴿

Lin Feng scratched the back of his head after reading the last note. He didn’t really know how to respond to that. He was living with a streamer girl. But she wasn’t a streamer girl. She was a girl who tried to make a living by creating real content that went beyond showing off her cleavage and long legs. But he didn’t know how to write all of that down on a small piece of paper. He turned towards An Xin, unsure, only to find her sticking her tongue out at him. Oh… Lin Feng shook his head and even showed a little smile, while An Xin stuck up her nose and laughed. She did that for half a second before quickly putting her hand over her mouth. The two looked to the front of the classroom. The teacher was looking at them, hesitating, but then continued with his lesson. Lin Feng and An Xin didn’t dare to move their eyes away from the chalkboard, listening to the teacher for a good three minutes. Then their note exchange started up again.

An Xin: ﴾ Do you like it? ﴿

Lin Feng: ﴾ Like what? ﴿

An Xin: ﴾ My new hairstyle, Goofus. ﴿

Lin Feng: ﴾ It’s new? Looks the same… ﴿

An Xin: ﴾ Does this look like pigtails to you? ﴿An Xin: ﴾ It’s completely different. ﴿An Xin: ﴾ My parents also finally let me get contacts! You can finally look into my eyes~ ﴿

Lin Feng: ﴾ Oh, I see. ﴿

An Xin: ﴾ What’s wrong with you? I bet that wall behind you is more fun to talk with… ﴿An Xin: ﴾ Anyways, what are you working so hard on? ﴿An Xin: ﴾ I mean all those pages in your notebook. You were writing so much that you didn’t even see me at first! ﴿

Lin Feng: ﴾ It’s nothing. ﴿

An Xin read the two words on the small note that was covered in tiny scribbles. She read them again, just to make sure she was understanding them correctly. But there was nothing to misunderstand about it. Dumbass. She looked up at Lin Feng and raised an eyebrow, giving him a moment to come with a better answer. He didn’t. He barely even looked at her. She waited for when he did and mouthed, “Big. Fat. Liar.”

✹

There was a short break between English and the next period. These were a valuable few minutes to the four members from the esports team in Senior Class 7. Three of them jumped up from their seat and rushed to the back of the class, while Ouyang was already badgering Lin Feng and An Xin with his questions. Well, he did until Ren Rou shot him down with one of her famous glares.

“So you’re Bunbun!” Ren Rou greeted, smiling. “Lin Feng has said so much about you! He even showed us a picture of you! I’m so happy that we finally got to meet you!”

“Oh? My picture?” An Xin asked, surprised.

Ouyang’s hand shot into Lin Feng’s desk, almost on reflex, and retrieved the pencil case. He opened it up in one fell swoop and turned it upside down. The contents fell on the desk, but he didn’t care for the pens and crayons and other items. He wanted the picture hidden beneath all of that. He grabbed it and waved it in the air. “Yep! Here! This picture! Look, look. That girl in the back. You see her with the pigtails? That’s you, right?”

An Xin took the photo from Ouyang and looked at it. Then she smiled and said, “Yup, that’s me. I think this was taken back in middle school.”

“You had your hair in pigtails and you had the glasses, but you were still tots adorbs! I could totally see the me from four years ago falling for the you from four years ago! When you walked into the classroom I almost didn’t recognize you, because hot-diggity-dawg that glow-up! But I never forget a beautiful face! I knew that I knew you, I FELT IT! Then you introduced yourself as Bunbun and it all clicked! You’re Bunbun!” Ouyang laughed, proud of his deduction skills.

“I really like what you did with your hair. You’re really pretty,” Ren Rou chimed in.

An Xin smiled and said, “Thanks, that’s really nice of you.”

Ren Rou shook her head and said, “No, no. I wasn’t trying to be nice. I’m serious. You don’t know, but when Ouyang and the other guys saw your picture, they were so jealous of Lin Feng for having such a pretty friend. They almost wanted to fight him to get your number.”

“Right, right! Nice to meet you!” Ouyang said, excited. He pointed at himself and continued, “I’m Ouyang! Best bro of Lin Feng! I’ll throw myself under the bus for my best bro and deskmate!”

Yang Fan adjusted his glasses and reached out his hand. “I’m Yang Fan, friend of Lin Feng. It’s nice to finally meet you, An Xin.”

Tang Bingyao was the only one left to introduce herself. Three pairs of eyes turned towards her. But she ignored them and stuck out her hand. “I’m Tang Bingyao, but you can call me Tang Tang.”

An Xin shook Tang Bingyao’s hand and smiled. “Nice to meet you Tang Tang.” She looked at Tang Bingyao and smiled a little brighter. “You’re really pretty.”

Tang Bingyao shook her head, resolutely. “Not as pretty as you.”

Lin Feng decided that of every moment in this conversation to interject, this was the best. He stuck his head between the two girls and said, “I think both of you are really pretty.”