Chapter 3: He Doesn’t Like Others Getting Too Close to Her

Afternoon PE class, the sun was scorching.

Gu Nian had never liked sports. As soon as attendance was done, she hid in the shadows under the bleachers.

She had just sat down when someone appeared beside her.

“Gu Nian?”

It was Jiang Xu from the next class.

A basketball team member, tall, with a slightly teasing smile in his voice.

“You’re not running either?” she asked casually.

“Keeping you company,” he said naturally.

Gu Nian was momentarily taken aback. Before she could respond, her view was suddenly blocked.

Lu Chen was standing in front of her, his shadow covering both of them.

“The teacher wants you to help move the equipment,” he said flatly, looking at Jiang Xu. “Now.”

Jiang Xu raised an eyebrow. “The teacher?”

“Mm.” Lu Chen nodded. “I just came from there.”

Gu Nian instinctively glanced toward the other end of the field.

Sure enough, the teacher was signaling for someone.

Jiang Xu chuckled and stood up. “Alright.”

As he walked away, he looked back at Gu Nian.

“Talk later.”

Gu Nian nodded.

Once he was gone, she finally looked up at Lu Chen.

“What are you doing?”

“You’re too close to him,” Lu Chen said.

His tone wasn’t harsh, but there was no room for negotiation.

“We were just sitting and talking,” Gu Nian frowned. “Why do you care so much?”

Lu Chen stayed silent for a moment.

Then he sat down beside her.

The space between them was much smaller than before.

“I don’t like it,” he said.

Gu Nian’s heart skipped a beat.

“Don’t like what?”

“You getting too close to others.”

She opened her mouth but didn’t know what to say.

The wind blew across the field, carrying the heavy heat of summer.

Gu Nian whispered, “What about you?”

“What about me?”

“Will you ever get too close to someone else?”

Lu Chen turned slightly to look at her.

Sunlight fell on her eyelashes. Her expression was serious.

“No,” he said, without hesitation.

“Why?”

Lu Chen looked at her for a long time.

So long that the whistle from PE class seemed to fade into the distance.

“Because you’re here.”

The moment he said it, Gu Nian felt as if her entire world had gone quiet.

By the time school ended, the sky was about to rain.

Gu Nian walked slowly, and Lu Chen stayed by her side.

Passing the small shop at the alley entrance, she suddenly stopped.

“I want an ice pop.”

“It’s about to rain,” he said.

“Just one.”

Lu Chen sighed and turned into the shop.

When he came out, he handed her an orange-flavored ice pop—her favorite.

She bit into it, the cold making her squint.

“You… do you not like it when I talk to others?” she hesitated.

Lu Chen reached out, wiping away the melting ice with a gentle hand.

“Gu Nian,” he said. “It’s not that I don’t like you talking to others.”

“Then you—”

“I just…” He paused, his voice dropping low. “I don’t want to lose you.”

When the rain began to fall, she stood there, motionless.

Lu Chen took off his school jacket and draped it over her head.

“Let’s go home.”

She nodded.

But in her heart, she quietly memorized the moment.

So this was it—
He could be afraid too.