To Love You Again

Gu Zhen was on his seat with his gaze fixated on his laptop, madly tapping his fingers on the keyboard. Even on this trip, he still brought his beloved laptop with him. 

However, unlike his busy persona as if he was working on program codes or on the game he was making, the truth was that he was just typing on his keyboard without any meaning. 

He was feeling nervous. 

Gu Zhen was not the type of person who would join school trips, whether common field trips or junior-senior trips. If he was the same person as before, he would definitely not join today and simply lock himself up in his room while enjoying his sweet time with his laptop. 

Yet because of a phone call yesterday from a certain female classmate, his plans for today was thrown outside the window and he woke up early for the two-day school trip.

He glanced at the door to wait for that certain someone. Her lively voice last night resounded again in his mind.

[I have something to say to you in this trip. Be sure you come! Or else, you won't hear it from me, ever!]

Then she hung up. 

Gu Zhen's fingers sped faster, mirroring his heart's beating.

What was she going to say? Why did she sound like she was going to say something very important? 

Was it a...

A...

That...

Gu Zhen's cheeks felt hot. He dared not continue his thoughts.

But then his hands unconsciously typed the word, 'CONFESSION', in caps lock letters.

"Confession?" A classmate popped up behind him. 

Slam!

Gu Zhen forcefully closed his laptop, his eyes wide behind his eyeglasses. His heart almost leaped out of his chest. 

The classmate looked in shock at him. "Sorry, I didn't mean to surprise you." 

Gu Zhen pushed up his eyeglasses, the spectacles flashing, hiding his eyes. He nodded coolly. "It's alright."

The classmate stared at Gu Zhen for a while. His seat was situated behind Gu Zhen's during this whole junior year. However, they barely had any interaction. Since they were still waiting for their teacher and other classmates to arrive, the classmate felt it was a good time to acquaint with each other.

He could not help asking in curiosity, "It's your first time coming to a school trip with us. What changed your mind?"

Gu Zhen glanced at the door. She was not here yet, the reason behind why he changed his mind.

"Nothing," he answered in the same distant tone.

"..." The classmate. His mouth twitched a little. But he still played it cool and asked more questions to continue the conversation.

"You have become close with Miss Xiong Zhi and Young Master Lu Yin Ze. Is that the reason why you came this year? Are they coming, too?"

Gu Zhen finally looked back at this classmate. No wonder this person suddenly started talking to him after a whole year, so he wanted to ask about the two successors of the legendary families.

Undeniably, in the eyes of the rest of the student body, he was just a lucky bastard who managed to form great connections in his junior year with the most prestigious people.

He could bet a million ch.i.p.s, they were definitely wondering how he managed to hug the golden thighs. Would they even believe him if he says that the heir of the Xiong family approached him first?

Gu Zhen merely opened his laptop again. He started to answer in a bored voice.

"Lu Yin Ze won't come. But Xiong Zhi will attend this trip. Also, they are not the reason why I joined this trip," he said, unilaterally terminating the conversation. He opened a gaming app and put on his headphones.

"...Tch," the classmate clicked his tongue. 

Everyone here wanted to befriend the heirs of the families Lu and Xiong, but the two were akin to a cold princess and an untouchable Prince. They could not get closer to them. The only people who managed to befriend them was their Muse, the goddess Song Xuantin, and Gu Zhen, the unremarkable nerd. 

They could still accept the first one, but the latter was just hard to understand.

Thus, the students could only approach the two in hopes that they would be introduced to Xiong Zhi and Lu Yin Ze. However, no one still managed to even talk to the prince and the princess of TIHS's Junior Year.

More students started to come as the time of departure neared.

There was a bit of commotion at the door when the three girls arrived in the room.

Gu Zhen was familiar with that commotion. His friends who had long gotten used to such attention might not know about it, but he, the 'nerd' who mostly stayed silent on his seat, could notice that whenever Xiong Zhi and Lu Yin Ze were about to enter the classroom, the classmates would excitedly announce that their 'prince' and 'princess' were coming. There will be a moment of excitement, and then everyone will pretend like elegant swans once the pair comes into the room, while they quietly observe them in secrecy. 

Aside from the pure love bean fans, there were also fans here who shipped Lu Yin Ze and Xiong Zhi as a CP. Fortunately, the two were dense enough to not notice a single thing.

Gu Zhen felt like a lone sane man in a room filled with drunkards.

When he heard the commotion, he knew who had arrived instantly. He looked towards the door. His chocolate brown eyes hidden behind the lenses immediately zoomed in on the cute and lively girl who appeared to be talking non-stop. The girl seemed to sense his gaze. She looked at his direction.

Her phoenix eyes met his.

Those clear and innocent eyes made his breath hitch on his throat.

Her cute jumpsuit suited her well. She looked even livelier and cuter.

Gu Zhen 'coolly' looked down at his laptop and acted casual, as if the loudly pounding heart on his chest was not his.

'Damn that phone call.'

Gu Zhen blamed the phone yesterday for his unusual state. It caused him to think of strange things. Gu Zhen's thoughts were preoccupied that he did not notice his two friends bringing a new friend with them. 

The gasps and sounds of pleasant surprise around him dissipated as only one sound registered in his mind.

"Gu Zhen." Her soft voice tickled his ears, as if soft feathers were teasing them. 

He looked up at the person who had been bugging his mind lately. "What's up?" He acted like usual.

Song Xuantin showed her beautiful smile. Her smile infected her whole person, turning her eyes into lovely crescents. The pear vortices on her cheeks were showing. 

She was so lovely.

Thump. Thump. Thump. 

Gu Zhen worried that the loud pounding of his chest would be heard by her, making him feel like escaping. But fate seemed to want to tease him. Song Xuantin sat beside him. Her face was exceptionally glowing in his eyes today. He was distracted from his thoughts.

After staring inadvertently for a moment, Gu Zhen suddenly asked, "What did you use?" 

"Huh?" Song Xuantin was clueless. Her eyelashes fluttered slightly as her eyes widened in confusion.

"Your skin is glowing," Gu Zhen said, his straight man syndrome starting up.

As they were close, he smelled the familiar nice and refreshing scent from her. He could not help but inch closer and take a sniff. This scent was so captivating. He had tried looking for this particular scent. However, he could not find it. Perhaps, it was from another country.

With his tall nose just a few inches away from her hair, he spoke out his thoughts. 

"What perfume do you use? I like the scent."

His warm breath hit Song Xuantin's cheeks, ears, and neck.

Song Xuantin instantly went red, her whole face and neck flushing.

"I d-didn't use any," she stammered and swallowed hard. Inside, her mind was screaming like a crazed fan.

Kyaaa! Aaah! He was so close! 

In this distance, she could naturally smell his scent, too. Gu Zhen's scent was clean, crisp, and a little cold, like pine trees. She liked it.

Gu Zhen leaned back on his seat and he finally could see Song Xuantin's tomato-red face. He froze for a moment. 

After a brief pause, he lowered his head and pushed back his eyeglasses again. He tried to keep the smile that was trying to break out. 

No one knew what emotions hid behind his spectacles as he spoke again.

"Liar. You clearly used something."

Song Xuantin woke up from her shyness and harrumphed at him, the redness receding from her neck. Her cheeks were still slightly blushing, though.

"It's my charm you know. My natural pheromones!"

"Really? Why have I never noticed that charm before?"

"Duh, it's on my face, my body, my hair, my voice, my talent—it's all of me." Song Xuantin flipped her hair and triumphantly looked at Gu Zhen. The scent swept over Gu Zhen once more.

He looked at her mockingly. "You call that charm? You need to get your eyes checked. Too much narcissism is a disease."

"..." Song Xuantin.