Leave Me Alone, Big Brothers! [BL]-Chapter 166: A Wall Between Us

Nathan walked out quickly to catch up with him. He felt he needed to talk to the boy.

"Zane, wait!"

Nathan quickened his pace. He caught up to him in a nearly empty corridor. He reached out and grabbed Zane’s arm, pulling him back.

Zane stopped. He turned around slowly. His face was pale. His eyes were red-rimmed and lacked any light or energy. He didn’t smile. He didn’t even look angry. Just cold.

Zane stared at Nathan, but he didn’t speak. He simply waited for Nathan to say something.

"Why is your score so bad?" Nathan asked. His voice was sharp, a mix of frustration and worry. "Don’t tell me it’s because of me. You always rank first. How did you end up at rank 28?"

Zane didn’t answer. He looked at Nathan’s hand on his arm, then looked away toward the far end of the hallway. He gently pulled his arm back and started to walk away again.

"I’m talking to you, Zane."

Zane looked back at him. "I have no answer."

Nathan felt a surge of anger. He stepped in front of Zane, blocking his path. He clenched his fists.

"Don’t ruin your future because of me. You should study and focus right now!"

Nathan didn’t want to bear the weight of Zane’s failure. He didn’t want to feel responsible for it. He would feel guilty for the rest of his life if Zane failed after their fight.

Zane looked at Nathan again. His gaze was steady but empty. "It’s none of your business," he said quietly.

Nathan felt his chest tighten with irritation. "What? How is it none of my business?! Your score dropped from first place to twenty-eighth in the whole class! How can I not be worried?"

Zane stepped closer, his voice dropping to a whisper. "Why do you need to worry about a stranger?"

Nathan’s jaw dropped. He looked at Zane with sharp, disbelieving eyes. "Seriously?"

He’s the one who should be angry, right? Why is that kid the one acting cold?

Zane didn’t wait for a response. He walked around Nathan. He moved with a heavy rhythm, as if he were carrying a physical weight.

"Zane!" Nathan shouted after him. "I know you’re mature enough to handle your emotions. Don’t just because of me—"

"No need to feel guilty. It’s not because of you." Zane stopped and looked back over his shoulder. His eyes were sharp for a split second, cutting through the dullness.

Nathan fell silent, staring at Zane. He felt like he didn’t know the boy. Zane was so cold and distant. He felt something suffocating, like something was missing.

He wanted to hug the boy, to ask him what was wrong, to calm him down, to make him stronger. But...

Nathan sighed.

"Whatever. Do what you want. I just want to tell you, please take your final exams seriously. I’m sure you don’t want to have to repeat the class again."

Nathan walked back and returned to his classroom to get his things.

Zane looked at Nathan; he really wanted to hug and hold the boy. He missed Nathan so much that his heart felt like it was shattering into pieces.

But he knew he couldn’t force the boy to forgive him and come back to him. He would just end up alone.

Zane didn’t even know what he was thinking. He wasn’t taking the trial tests seriously at all. He often left his exam papers half-filled. He wasn’t surprised when the results came out.

"Ssshh!!"

Zane heard a sharp, low whistle. He turned his head and saw Gabriel waving at him from the shadow of a pillar in the corridor. Gabriel looked large and out of place in the hallway.

Zane sighed but walked over to him.

"Did you talk to Nathan?" Gabriel asked immediately.

"No," Zane said.

Gabriel sighed, leaning his back against the wall. "Oh. He hates me too. He hasn’t spoken to me since he left the farm. What can we do? He’s like a stone."

Zane shrugged his shoulders. He felt a dull headache starting behind his eyes. "I don’t know. I want to go home."

Gabriel reached out and grabbed Zane’s shoulder, stopping him from leaving. "Hey, you look like a corpse. Are you okay?"

"I’m fine," Zane said, though his voice lacked conviction.

"I saw your rank," Gabriel said, his voice lowering. "You dropped drastically in the school-wide rankings. What happened? Are you really okay?"

Zane didn’t answer. He knew he had lost his ranking in his own class, so he could only imagine how bad it looked in the overall school statistics.

"You’re really heartbroken, huh?" Gabriel asked.

"I’m going home. Bye," Zane said, pulling away.

Gabriel grabbed his arm again, his grip firm. "Hey, listen. It’s normal for people in relationships to have problems. That’s what my mom said. It’s just about how the two of you solve them. Don’t just give up."

Zane looked down at Gabriel’s hand on his arm. He felt a wave of hopelessness. "Well, I’m not sure it’s something I can solve. He’s the one who clearly said he won’t see me again. He blocked my number."

Gabriel looked at him with pity. "What’s the problem exactly? Tell me. We’re friends, right?"

Zane was silent for a long time. He looked at the floor, trying to decide if he should speak. Finally, he looked at Gabriel. "He thinks I’m a playboy. I just don’t know how to explain to him that I’m not."

Gabriel’s eyes went wide. "You? A playboy?" He let out a short, sharp laugh that echoed in the hall.

Zane frowned, feeling insulted.

"You don’t even know how to make a friend," Gabriel said, shaking his head. "Only your bastard friends, the ones I still hate. You really have zero social skills. Is Nathan serious right now? How could he think you’re a playboy?"

Zane felt a bit insulted by Gabriel’s assessment, but he knew the boy was right. Zane wasn’t a social person. He was private and hard to talk to.

Gabriel looked at Zane’s miserable face. "If only I could help. But Nathan is angry with me too. He thinks my family and his brothers are playing a game with him. He won’t even look at me."

Zane knew that. Nathan had mentioned the "fake kidnapping" his brothers had pulled.

"Well, I can’t help you," Zane said. "I can’t even help myself."

Gabriel raised his hands in a gesture of defeat. Zane turned and walked away toward the parking lot, his steps heavy.

Gabriel walked toward the locker room. He knew he could meet Nathan there. He waited by the entrance until he saw Nathan coming.

"Hey, Nath," Gabriel said.

Nathan walked inside, grabbed his bag, and started walking toward the exit. "What is it, Gab?"

"Don’t be angry with me," Gabriel said, following him. "I didn’t know anything about the problem you have with my father’s men. My dad didn’t tell me. It’s not fair that you’re ghosting me!"

Nathan stopped and looked at him, confused. "What? Who’s angry with you?"

Gabriel looked at him, surprised. "What? You haven’t spoken to me at all since you left the farmhouse. I thought you were angry and hated me."

"Why would I do that? I was busy studying," Nathan said. He adjusted the strap of his bag. "I needed to focus. I don’t have a reason to be angry with you. You didn’t do anything."

Gabriel’s face transformed, from gloomy to a wide, bright smile. He lunged forward and wrapped his massive arms around Nathan, hugging him tightly.

"Hah! You’re crushing me!" Nathan gasped, feeling his bones crack in Gabriel’s embrace.

Gabriel released him, still smiling broadly.

"Damn! I thought you were mad!" Gabriel said. "My dad told me what happened. I felt so guilty. I thought you didn’t want to talk to me ever again."

"Don’t bring it up again," Nathan said. His expression darkened for a second. "It makes me angry."

Gabriel held up his hands. "Oh, sorry. No, I won’t mention it again. I promise."

Nathan turned to leave, but Gabriel spoke up one more time. "Nath... but about Zane... he’s really heartbroken. I can tell. He’s dying."

Nathan stopped. "He told you that?"

"No," Gabriel said. "I forced him to tell me why you two were fighting. He looks terrible."

"Well, we’ll be fine," Nathan said, though his voice lacked certainty. "He’s mature enough to handle his own life."

"Are you going to break up with him?" Gabriel asked.

Nathan looked at Gabriel, his eyes narrowing. "What?"

"I know you two were in a relationship," Gabriel said. "Don’t try to hide it from me. And I don’t know if this is helpful, but I have to say something. Even if Zane is an asshole and he hurt me in the past... I can tell you one thing for sure. He is not a playboy. I’m certain of it."

Nathan looked at Gabriel, but he didn’t say anything.

"Look at him," Gabriel continued. "How many friends does he have? Besides those guys he races cars with? None."

Nathan looked at the floor. He thought about Dylan again.

"It’s up to you," Gabriel said, shrugging his shoulders. "But calling him a playboy is a serious accusation. You can call him a jerk, sure. But not a playboy."

Nathan let out a long sigh. "I don’t want to talk about it right now, Gab."

Gabriel watched Nathan walk away and leave the locker room. He felt frustrated, but he knew there was nothing else he could say.