The Assassin's Enemy Lover

55 Cooling patch as the first gift.

A long unbearable silence filled the hovercar with the pair sitting as far away as possible from each other. To be more accurate it was Zi Han sitting as far away as possible from Yi Chen. Why? It was because he kept telling himself not to fraternize with the enemy.

He had already been punished once and didn’t want to be punished again. Yi Chen on the other hand felt a little flustered. That’s because he couldn’t understand why Zi Han had to sit that far away. He wasn’t a beast nor did he eat people so what was it?

He suddenly felt self-conscious. Maybe Zi Han didn’t like the fragrance on his body? That was the only explanation he could come up with. He was the one who got accidentally beaten yesterday yet he was being loathed.

He wanted to ask Zi Han why he was acting this way when his gaze fell on Zi Han’s fingers. The once neatly trimmed nails had fading black stains on them which was incredibly puzzling. They looked especially eye-catching on his pearl jade-like skin making it hard for Yi Chen not to notice.

“What happened to your fingers?” he asked breaking the awkward silence in the small space. Yi Chen didn’t mean to ask but his voice suddenly came out without warning like it was an involuntary response. This made him even more annoyed by himself but he didn’t show it on his face.

Hearing that stoic voice speak to him Zi Han raised his head and glanced at him with a raised brow. Sure enough, Yi Chen shouldn’t have asked. Zi Han’s response was as expected. It was as though he was facing public enemy number one.

“I did some drugs last night and they stained my fingers. Is the class president going to snitch on me?” asked Zi Han in a sarcastic tone with a slight quirk at the corner of his lips.

Yi Chen, “...”

Sure enough, he shouldn’t have asked. He suddenly felt claustrophobic in this tiny space. Lucky for him they reached the academy in less than a minute.

.....

As soon as that door slid open Zi Han got out of the hovercar and walked right in front of Yi Chen. Two steps in he suddenly turned around and met Yi Chen’s gaze.

“Class president should learn to take a joke..... Here,” he said taking out a cooling patch to help with the swelling. Don’t misunderstand Zi Han. It’s not that he had it pre-prepared for the class president but that his mother forced him to keep it within his small interspatial bracelet on his wrist.

That’s because he got into a lot of fights in his old neighbourhood. He was like Robinhood delivering justice to the weak by beating the crap out of their bullies. As to why there was barely any retaliation in the aftermath it was because his mother cleaned up after her son in the shadows.

Thus as a way to thank Yi Chen for the ride, he gave him the cooling patch. The only problem was that it wasn’t the clear kind but the type with a cartoon character on it. When Zi Xingxi bought it she thought it was funny and cute but Yi Chen didn’t seem to appreciate the humour.

He glanced at the cute patch in his hand with a vexed look on his face. He couldn’t help but wonder if Zi Han had specially prepared this for him in advance. Was this a sincere apology or something? He soon got the answer and it was worlds apart from what he thought.

“I get into fights a lot so I carry it around. Anyways, thanks for the ride,” said Zi Han before turning around to leave. Yi Chen had indeed thought too much and that was all on him.

Soon the pair walked in one after the other into class and Zi Han checked the seating arrangement chart before sitting down next to a four-eyed boy with a timid personality.

As soon as Yi Chen took his seat Li Ran who had been playing games on his light brain raised his head and saw that cute cooling patch with Captain BoBo. He reached over to grab it only for him to catch air. “Did you get that from Ming Ming? Let me see it,” said Li Ran but Yi Chen dodged his hand again and soon after the cooling patch disappeared.

“It’s just a cooling patch. There is nothing to see,” he replied his voice as chilling as the icy waters of the south pole.

“So why are you treating it like it’s some kind of treasure. Ah, Ming Ming is so considerate. If it was my little sister she wouldn’t even look at me twice. That little demon would let me bleed out till I pass out then call for help,” complained Li Ran a little aggrieved.

“Maybe it’s because you talk too much,” said Yi Chen delivering a critical hit that had Li Ran crying tears of blood with nowhere else to complain.

He lowered his head to log into the system in preparation for language class when he caught a glimpse of the vice class president snooping on someone. His brow arched in curiosity as he glanced over in her direction.

Hela wasn’t shy about it. She was openly staring at Zi Han while her deskmate was hot on gossip. “Hela, are you seriously considering pursuing him. He is very handsome but I think the class president is a better candidate,” she said as she eagerly glimpsed at Yi Chen who had his head lowered looking like he was hard at work.

“Cadet Han is exactly my type,” she said with her hand covering her cheek looking especially smitten. But her dreamy expression changed abruptly when a stylus pen hit her in the face.

Enraged she traced its origins only to be met by Li Ran’s goofy expression. She harshly threw the stylus pen back to him while scolding him through gritted teeth. “What the fuck is your problem?” she said wishing she could beat him half to death.

Li Ran flinched as the stylus pen hit his arm before it rolled on the ground. “Vice class president, if you keep staring your eyes will pop out of their sockets,” he said picking up the stylus pen from the floor.

“Mind your own fucking business Li Ran,” she said angrily pointing her finger at him.

Li Ran pouted his lips and turned to Yi Chen feeling a little aggrieved.

“I was nice to her. I kindly stated that her eyes will pop out if she keeps staring at him but she swore at me. Can you believe that? Maybe I shouldn’t be so kind-hearted,” he complained while pulling Yi Chen’s arm.

To his surprise, Yi Chen turned his head and glared at Hela his gaze as sharp as knives slicing through her soul. Hela immediately withdrew her gaze and for once this old father felt like Yi Chen was taking him seriously. If he only knew the reason Li Ran would be so heartbroken he would cry for weeks.

He was about to praise Yi Chen for defending him when the language teacher walked in her face appearing excited like she was getting paid millions to do her job. The entire time she introduced herself Zi Han’s head was lowered. That’s because he was practising copying the strokes on some of the characters in the book he had taken pictures of.

Last night he found that not only did he handle the calligraphy brush improperly he also missed important strokes while copying the text which was extremely crucial. Thus instead of listening in class, he was practising writing in his notebook.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

That was the sound of the language teacher knocking on his desk to grasp his attention. Startled Zi Han raised his head only to be met by the kind-faced teacher explaining something to him.