Chapter 3 — Come With Me
The two returned to the private room one after the other, which triggered another round of teasing from their classmates — but only briefly.
Han Yixuan kept her head lowered, her eyes slightly red with grievance. Wang Heng's face, meanwhile, was calm — calm to the point of looking a little gloomy. Seeing this, the people who had been heckling gradually quieted down.
"So? Did she confess to you?"
Xiao Renjian pulled Wang Heng down to sit and asked in a low but urgent voice.
Wang Heng nodded and glanced toward Han Yixuan. Two girls were surrounding her, clearly asking questions as well…
"So what happened?" Xiao Renjian pressed. "You two look… off."
"Yeah," Wang Heng said flatly. "Because I rejected her."
His tone was calm, but Xiao Renjian nearly shouted.
"WHY?!"
"Why does there have to be a why?" Wang Heng was getting impatient. "Didn't I say before? I'm not interested in that kind of thing. That's all."
Xiao Renjian raised an eyebrow and went back to eating. The other students had already shifted their attention elsewhere.
Teenagers' enthusiasm comes quickly — and fades just as fast. Before long, everyone forgot about Wang Heng and Han Yixuan and resumed their own conversations.
Nearly an hour later, the banquet ended.
Some of the more energetic students shouted about going to karaoke, while Wang Heng planned to head straight home. However, he didn't expect to be stopped at the restaurant entrance.
Blocking his path were three girls — Han Yixuan and her two best friends.
From their expressions, Han Yixuan didn't want to make trouble, but her friends were burning with righteous indignation. They stood on either side of her and firmly blocked Wang Heng's path.
The girl on the left demanded:
"What's wrong with our Xiaoxuan? What makes her unworthy of you?"
Hearing that, Wang Heng calmly replied:
"Did she tell you why I rejected her?"
The girl on the right crossed her arms and sneered.
"She said you were talking nonsense."
"Nonsense, huh…" Wang Heng said slowly. "First, let me ask you — a relationship is between two people, right? Only two parties involved?"
"Yes, but—"
He raised a hand to interrupt.
"There's no right or wrong in feelings. Rejecting a confession might mean you're serious and don't want to be careless. Accepting it might not mean you like them — maybe you just want to play around. There are only two choices, but countless reasons behind them.
"So don't oversimplify things. I absolutely don't think Han Yixuan isn't good enough for me. If anything… I think I'm not good enough for her."
"You—"
"In short, romance is between two people. I appreciate your good intentions, but good intentions don't always bring good results. For example — what if I were actually a scumbag? If she dated me and later discovered I was juggling multiple girls… wouldn't pushing us together be sending her into a pit of fire?"
Wang Heng spoke calmly, his diction and logic clear. The two aggressive girls suddenly didn't know how to respond.
Han Yixuan, however, stared at him and softly asked:
"Are you that kind of person? A cheater juggling multiple relationships?"
"Honestly, I don't know," Wang Heng said. "Did Wang Mang intend to usurp the throne when he was young? Did certain dictators seem evil in school? Before things happen, no one can say. You can call it nonsense if you want — I just want you to understand this isn't about your charm. I simply don't want a relationship. That's all."
After all, he still carried memories of being her boyfriend in his previous life. He couldn't bring himself to say anything harsher.
Or rather… if he really could have, he wouldn't have ended up in that nightmare love battlefield back then.
Han Yixuan bit her lip and looked at him.
"Then… did you ever like me?"
Meeting her gaze gave Wang Heng a headache. In the past, the hardest thing for him to handle was exactly this — a girl looking at him with teary eyes, full of grievance and unwillingness.
He sighed.
"How about this — can you come with me? There's something I want to tell you alone."
And so Han Yixuan followed him.
Her two friends stayed behind, watching their backs.
One suddenly muttered,
"Don't you feel like Wang Heng is… high-level?"
"What high-level? Relationship level?"
"Yeah. The way he talks — like some relationship guru. Has he really never dated? Why does he sound like he's dated tons of girls?"
"You're overthinking it," the other laughed. "After three years of high school you still can't tell? He's a pure otaku. Aside from being decent-looking, how's he any different from Xiao Renjian?"
"…Really?"
"Obviously. Watch — when he's alone with Xiaoxuan, his tongue definitely won't be that smooth anymore."
After walking silently for quite a while, Han Yixuan finally asked,
"Where are we going?"
Without stopping or turning back, Wang Heng replied,
"I'm taking you to my house."
"What?!"
"I'm serious. We won't go inside — just outside is enough."
Confused, she followed him for another ten minutes until they reached his neighborhood.
It was an old residential complex. The greenery had no green, the pavement tiles were cracked everywhere, and the walls had long since peeled to expose raw brick.
Wang Heng led her to sit on a bench. Luckily, though missing a few nails, it was still usable.
"To be honest," he said, "during these three years of high school, the classmate I paid the most attention to was you. You asked if I liked you… honestly, it wasn't just liking. It was a crush."
As he spoke, Wang Heng recalled his high school memories.
The clearest memories were of her — sneaking glances at her while pretending to be calm, meeting her eyes, smiling at each other for two seconds, nodding, then both quickly looking away.
Between classes, before lessons, after school — the scene repeated countless times.
That was why Han Yixuan had confessed so confidently.
Her voice trembled.
"Then why…?"
"But the worst thing," Wang Heng said, pointing to the old apartment building ahead, "is meeting the right person at the wrong age. See that fourth floor without window bars? That's my home. No need for bars — thieves wouldn't find anything worth stealing. My dad's just an ordinary employee. Average salary. My parents divorced long ago. We bought this place second-hand a few years ago. Cheap, but raising me and paying the mortgage alone is still hard for him."
Han Yixuan blinked, beginning to understand.
"So you get it now," Wang Heng said.
"No matter what I want… I can't date. I don't have the luxury to."