Standing Next To You-Chapter 54: What game she is playing at?

Fei Chuan narrowed his eyes. Should he make a run for it? He wouldn’t stand a chance against them if he chose to fight.

However, if he fled now, these people would once again label him as a coward.

Fei Chuan took a deep breath, his gaze remaining calm as he approached one of them with a clenched fist.

He stopped a few meters away from the male student. He had selected this person because he was the smallest among the five, and also appeared the most exhausted. Perhaps he could outrun him.

"Fighting is forbidden on the school grounds. If you don’t wish to be expelled from the school, I advise you to think wisely." He warned him, hoping the student would heed his words.

The male student was speechless. Did Fei Chuan believe they had waited for him here to fight him?

No way! If they engaged in any fight with Fei Chuan, the tyrant wouldn’t spare them.

The student shuddered at the prospect of failing this mission and enduring further torture.

He shook his head vigorously. "You’ve got it all wrong! We’re not here to fight you!"

Fei Chuan glanced behind him, calculating his escape route. He wasn’t foolish enough to easily believe them just because they said so. Every student who approached him had malicious intentions.

"Then why are you here?"

The male student looked at Fei Chuan hesitantly. "Uhm... didn’t you watch the video?"

Fei Chuan narrowed his eyes dangerously. "Are you referring to the video where other students recorded you throwing soup over my head?"

Were they here to humiliate him once more?

Fei Chuan remained on guard.

"It’s not like that! We genuinely don’t know why we did that. We’re truly sorry. Please, forgive us, okay?" The male student looked at him pleadingly.

Fei Chuan was left speechless. What kind of trickery was this? What were they scheming?

The male student noticed Fei Chuan’s doubt and took out his phone, playing a video. "You might not have seen the video since you don’t believe me. Watch this. This is our way of showing sincerity."

Fei Chuan hesitated to accept the phone. Who knew if they had rigged it to harm him once he touched it?

After all, it wasn’t impossible for them to go that far.

However, his doubt was soon dispelled as he heard voices in the video.

["Please forgive us, our ancestor Fei Chuan!"]

Fei Chuan: "...."

The male student adjusted his phone so that Fei Chuan could see the video clearly.

On the screen, the five men each held a bowl of leftover chicken soup, looking at the camera with pitiful expressions.

["What are you waiting for?"] A familiar voice sounded. The screen briefly shook and then focused on Bei Sangyun.

Bei Sangyun glanced at the person holding the camera. ["Don’t film me, class president. These five men are the stars today."]

The camera returned to the five men.

They appeared resentful but eventually swallowed their grievances and closed their eyes as they poured the soup over their heads.

The leftover soup drenched their heads. Some got into their eyes. They looked tragic.

After emptying the soup, they turned their attention back to Bei Sangyun.

["Why are you still staring at me?"] She said coldly.

The five men looked pitiful as they turned back to the camera. ["We sincerely apologize, Fei Chuan. We won’t trouble you again, and if we do, we’ll run around the field naked!"]

They spoke in unison, clearly not wanting to make such a promise based on their expressions.

Bei Sangyun’s voice resounded once more. ["Very well. Anyone who watches this, pay close attention. Anyone who dares to harm Fei Chuan will have to deal with me. Prepare for the consequences of your actions."]

The video concluded.

Fei Chuan: "...."

What on earth?

Was Bei Sangyun attempting to abandon her role as the school tyrant and adopt a hero’s persona?

But it made no difference to him. The target remained the same—him.

Was this supposed to make him feel better?

Fei Chuan’s temple throbbed.

It did nothing to alleviate his feelings because he didn’t need a hero, especially not one who had caused him so much suffering.

"....So, uhm, Fei Chuan," the student began hesitantly.

Fei Chuan glanced at him. Only now he noticed that the student standing before him had wet hair and the lingering smell of chicken soup was around him.

Fei Chuan: "...."

Well, he didn’t particularly appreciate the intention behind the video, but watching them pour soup over their own heads had been satisfying indeed.

"You see, we posted it right afterward. We assumed you had seen it since we also left a message in your locker. We already have hundreds of views, and the number is increasing every minute. The entire school will know about it soon. We won’t be able to show our faces anymore." The student wore an aggrieved expression.

Fei Chuan unclenched his hand as his tense nerves gradually eased up. So they hadn’t come here to start trouble.

Still, he sneered, "So? Why should I care if you guys lose face at school? How absurd for you to ask me for forgiveness just because you poured some soup over your heads?"

The male student was left speechless. "...Y-you... you’re not going to forgive us? We humbled ourselves and posted it on the school forum even though we didn’t want to! Everyone who watches it will laugh at us! Isn’t this a demonstration of our sincerity?"

Fei Chuan scoffed. He had truly heard something absurd. "Sincerity? Is this how you express your sincerity? Let me ask you this: when you were pouring soup over your heads, did you do it because of me? Or did you face the camera, hold those bowls, and ask for forgiveness because someone ordered you to?"

The student wasn’t able to answer.

Fei Chuan smiled coldly, "You see? You all did it because of that person, not because you genuinely wanted to apologize. I don’t need to explain why I shouldn’t forgive you."

Fei Chuan walked past him, not giving him a second chance to respond.

"Hey, what happened? Did he accept our apology?" The other four students approached the student who remained frozen in his spot.

The student regained his composure and looked at Fei Chuan’s retreating back in annoyance. He hadn’t expected that the usually timid and spineless Fei Chuan would render him speechless to the point where he couldn’t respond. That irritated him.

"No, he didn’t. He said we weren’t sincere enough."

"What?! Didn’t you show him the video?"

"I did, but... but he talked about sincerity and how we did it for Boss instead of him. He won’t accept our apology."

"What? Does that arrogant jerk’s guts grow so big because he is now untouchable? Shouldn’t we teach him a lesson?"

"Are you stupid? Boss Lin already warned us. Just let it be. I don’t want to cross him again." The student sensed that something was off with Fei Chuan’s behavior.

Besides, Boss Lin had explicitly declared in the school not to touch Fei Chuan anymore, even making the announcement herself. It emphasized how significant this new rule was.

"What should we do then? Boss Lin said she won’t accept us until we get Fei Chuan’s forgiveness," one of the five said anxiously.

"How about not telling the truth? We could claim we apologized and that Fei Chuan accepted it. Boss Lin isn’t going to ask Fei Chuan if he accepted our apology or not."

The students exchanged glances, finding this idea quite plausible. After all, Boss Lin would never engage in conversation with that outcast Fei Chuan on her own accord.

******

"Did you watch the video?" Bei Sangyun asked as she looked at Fei Chuan with anticipation.

Fei Chuan: "...."

He had just entered the classroom, and the first thing he saw was her face, which greatly horrified him. Behind Bei Sangyun, the entire class was also silently watching him.

Fei Chuan immediately regretted his decision to return to the classroom. Maybe he should have just gone home instead.

"Why aren’t you saying anything? Didn’t you watch it?"

Fei Chuan avoided Bei Sangyun and made his way to his seat, pretending she was an air. While Bei Sangyun followed behind him.

"Don’t tell me those guys didn’t come to see you..." He heard her muttering, and suddenly, he paused.

As Bei Sangyun’s mind was occupied with thoughts of those five individuals who had promised to apologize to Fei Chuan but hadn’t kept their word, she collided with his back.

Bei Sangyun looked up as Fei Chuan turned around to face her, and their eyes met.

"I’m not interested in whatever games you’re playing," Fei Chuan coldly said.

Bei Sangyun raised her brow, "And what games am I playing?"

"Only you know," Fei Chuan replied with narrowed eyes.

Bei Sangyun: "...."

Fei Chuan continued walking and took his designated seat. Before Bei Sangyun could sit in her own chair, Fei Chuan kicked it half a meter away from him.

Bei Sangyun: "...."

Bei Sangyun’s mouth twitched. This man... He was clearly showing his dislike toward her!

Bei Sangyun scoffed. It’s not like she wanted to stick to him. She just wanted to clear up their misunderstanding and avoid becoming enemies.

But since Fei Chuan wasn’t cooperative, what could she do?

Bei Sangyun pulled her chair away from Fei Chuan, increasing the distance between them by two meters.

Fei Chuan, observing Bei Sangyun’s actions, was left in silence: "...."

For some reason, he thought she would pull her chair back closer to his, although it was unlikely. But she did the opposite instead.

Bei Sangyun took her seat, giving him a sneering smile. "Don’t worry, our feelings are mutual."

If Fei Chuan disliked her, she disliked him too. She was prideful as well, and living for a long time as a she-devil in people’s minds made it hard for her to lower herself and be patient with him.

Sure, she could try to initiate getting along. However, it depended on how long her patience would last.

Since Fei Chuan seemed to despise her, she wouldn’t make any effort to make him like her.

All she had to do was stop those people who bullied Fei Chuan using her name. It was the debt she needed to pay for him.

Fei Chuan didn’t look at her anymore and pretended to read his notes. However, he felt a bit stunned and embarrassed inside.

How could he think that she would continue sticking to him? It was all in his mind. Fortunately, no one could read or decipher his thoughts.

Their classmates, who had been observing the two out of the corner of their eyes, murmured among themselves. It was easy to guess that the topic of their gossip was the two at the farthest back.