Chapter 113 – Extra 5

The students had mostly left in small groups. The more delicate boys cheekily shared umbrellas with the girls, while the less delicate ones simply threw their bags over their heads and dashed into the rain. Luo Chenzhou stood under the eaves, pondering whether he should pamper himself by calling Lu Jiajia and the others to pick him up or just charge out and get thoroughly drenched.

This hesitation led to a ghost—or rather, a ghost of the past.

A large hand, still carrying the faint scent of tobacco, suddenly patted him from behind. The black-haired young man instinctively turned around and, completely unprepared, locked eyes with a familiar pair of amber irises.

“…” Luo Chenzhou opened his mouth weakly but, as expected, nothing came out.

At that moment, Caesar, who had left the classroom at some unknown time, stood behind him. The man held a long black umbrella, not the foldable kind, but the old-fashioned one with a curved hook on the handle. He wore black leather gloves, and a small patch of his healthy, sun-kissed skin peeked out from where his wrist met the sleeve of his trench coat.

Luo Chenzhou stared at that patch of skin, feeling like he was about to lose it.

“This rain isn’t going to stop anytime soon,” Caesar seemed completely unfazed by the black-haired young man’s wide-eyed stare. He chuckled softly, pulling a cigarette from his trench coat pocket and lighting it, holding it between his lips. He spoke as if to Luo Chenzhou, but more like he was talking to himself, “A spring rain like this could easily give you a cold.”

Luo Chenzhou: “…” Who cares about that?

Narrowing his eyes slightly, Caesar took the cigarette from his lips with his free hand. Behind the swirling smoke, he tilted his head slightly, looking at the stunned student who only reached up to his ear. A faint smile played on his lips, “Don’t you think?”

“Huh? …Yeah.”

Luo Chenzhou nodded dazedly, then shook his head, and finally turned away, refusing to cooperate. Only he knew that if he hadn’t been clenching his jaw tightly, he might have let out a trembling, pathetic sound.

Caesar snorted, waving the cigarette in front of Luo Chenzhou’s face, “Hey, I remember you, kid. The one who laughed at my car on the first day of school.”

“Oh,” Luo Chenzhou lowered his head, staring at the puddles forming on the steps, “It wasn’t on purpose.”

The man fell silent for a moment.

Huh? Why the sudden silence? Luo Chenzhou was a bit confused. He wanted to look up and see the man’s expression but didn’t dare.

After a while, Caesar spoke again, his voice so close it felt like it was right next to Luo Chenzhou’s ear. His voice carried a mix of confusion and dissatisfaction, his warm breath almost brushing against the young man’s ear—

“Hey, kid, why won’t you look at me?”

“Huh?” Startled by the strange question, Luo Chenzhou jerked his head up, only to fall back into those deep amber eyes.

Caesar’s handsome face loomed large in front of him. The stubble on his chin, the slight frown on his lips, the crease between his brows, and the faint scar-like mark on his right eyelid—even his hairstyle hadn’t changed, his flaxen hair tied into a small tail, with a few stray curls falling over his forehead.

The man leaned down slightly, his tone demanding.

He seemed determined to get a satisfactory answer from the black-haired young man before letting it go.

Unexpectedly, instead of answering, Luo Chenzhou pointed at Caesar’s chest, blatantly changing the subject—his voice sounded calm, so much so that even Caesar couldn’t guess that just a second ago, Luo Chenzhou had been too nervous to speak. Now, he spoke as casually as if they were old friends, pointing at the pendant hanging around Caesar’s neck, “That necklace is nice.”

“…”

Huh? …What the hell. Caesar was momentarily speechless. He pursed his lips, a bit annoyed, but when he met Luo Chenzhou’s dark, serious eyes, he felt a strange unease.

For some reason, his heart felt a bit chaotic, and he grew irritated. He looked away, straightened up, and tucked the dog-head necklace back into his shirt. Switching the umbrella to his other hand, he absentmindedly grunted, “It’s an antique, a 15th-century maritime piece. You’re the first to say it looks nice.”

…Of course, I bought it. What father would call his own son ugly?

Luo Chenzhou nodded shamelessly, “It looks expensive.”

“Yeah, I bought it for seventy million from some nouveau riche.” Caesar opened the umbrella, somehow finding himself divulging his family’s secrets, “The old man was furious, so I ran off to China.”

Luo Chenzhou was stunned.

He felt like his ears were playing tricks on him.

Seventy million?

Vietnamese dong, right?

…When I picked it up from a street vendor, it only cost two gold coins—roughly less than three hundred RMB.

Seventy million?!

Are you kidding me!

“What?” Caesar glanced back, seeing the black-haired young man staring at him like he was an idiot. Instead of getting angry, he laughed, “You think seventy million USD was too much for it?”

…So the unit was USD.

Even a father couldn’t claim his son was priceless at this point. Luo Chenzhou just wanted to find a place to vomit the blood surging in his chest.

Finally, under Caesar’s inexplicable (and somewhat expectant) gaze, Luo Chenzhou forced a smile uglier than a cry, biting back his words and managing to squeeze out a single word, “Worth it.”

That was all he could muster.

About five meters away from the two silent men, the rain poured down in sheets, accompanied by the rumble of thunder. The rain formed a curtain, as if God had kicked over a basin of water. The visibility was low, the cold wind still blew, and the rain showed no signs of stopping—

Caesar threw the nearly burnt-out cigarette to the ground and crushed it with his foot. He looked at the open umbrella in his hand, then waved at the black-haired young man standing a shoulder’s length away, “Let’s go, I’ll walk you to your dorm.”

Without waiting for Luo Chenzhou to politely and symbolically decline, Caesar grabbed his wrist with a firm hand and pulled him closer—the soft leather glove against his skin made Luo Chenzhou pause for a moment. Then, he felt the warmth from Caesar’s palm through the glove, flowing through his wrist and straight to his heart.

Taking advantage of his height, Caesar casually wrapped an arm around Luo Chenzhou’s waist, holding the umbrella with the other hand, and dragged Luo Chenzhou into the rain without a word.

Luo Chenzhou: “…”

For some reason, he was reminded of the time Caesar had first swung him from the Wind Fury to the Lady Lovibond using a rope.

“Watch your step,” Caesar’s voice sounded next to his ear, “…You’re splashing water up to my chin.”

Luo Chenzhou: “…That’s impossible, it can’t reach that high.”

Caesar: “I say it can, stop arguing. If you don’t like it, walk back yourself.”

…Who was the one who dragged me out from under the eaves? Did you eat him?

Do you know what it means to finish what you started?

Caesar: “Huh?”

Luo Chenzhou: “What?”

Caesar pondered for a moment, then asked in a calm tone, “Have you heard the legend?”

“…What legend?”

“If you share an umbrella during the first spring rain of the year, you’ll be with that person for life.”

“…”

The rain fell to the ground with a pleasant, rhythmic sound, the wind rustling the wet leaves of the tall trees lining the campus road… From somewhere far away, Luo Chenzhou heard Caesar chuckle softly, the sound deep and resonant, as if it came from the depths of his throat. Closing his eyes, he could almost imagine the man’s Adam’s apple vibrating—

“Just messing with you, idiot.”

“…”

“Watch your step, you’re about to step into a puddle—hey, are you even listening? Damn it, you—”

With a clang, the black umbrella fell to the ground, rolling several times before stopping about ten meters away.

In the rain, the two of them were quickly soaked. Caesar’s tall frame blocked some of the wind-driven rain, so when Luo Chenzhou looked up at him, he easily saw the man’s face, darker than a storm cloud.

“…Can’t blame me, nerds can’t handle teasing.” Luo Chenzhou wiped the rain dripping from his chin, standing unsteadily.

Caesar, with a blackened expression, pulled the nerdy boy out of the knee-deep mud puddle.

The nerdy boy stumbled.

Caesar’s face darkened even more.

He took off his soaked trench coat, which had become a hindrance, and threw it over Luo Chenzhou’s head. The black-haired young man, still grinning innocently, hopped on one leg and then jumped onto Caesar’s back.

Even the strongest man couldn’t handle a full-grown man jumping on him like that.

Caesar staggered, wishing he could turn around and shove the guy into the mud puddle. Just as he was about to explode with anger, he felt something warm press against his back through the thin shirt.

Then, two wet arms wrapped around his neck.

Feeling like he hadn’t checked the almanac before leaving the house, Caesar sighed for what felt like the hundredth time that day. He hooked his arms under Luo Chenzhou’s knees and stood up effortlessly. Rainwater dripped from his face, falling into the collar of his shirt—

The campus road was nearly empty, with only a few people hurrying by with their umbrellas. No one noticed the tall man carrying another young man through the rain, walking steadily, his custom-made leather shoes splashing through the puddles. He hunched slightly, silently heading toward the parking lot—

As the person on his back breathed, warm, moist air brushed against his neck, making that small patch of skin feel unusually alive amidst the cold rain.

“…Ah, my underwear is wet too, Caesar.”

“Shut up.”

“…”

“Call me Professor.”