Xiao Chen and Yu Na went back to the room. Xiao Chen said, "I asked around. The whole neighborhood has lost power. It probably won't come back on until early morning."
"I know," Yu Na replied.
"Hmm," Xiao Chen said with a hint of teasing, "Not scared anymore?"
Yu Na looked at him in puzzlement and asked earnestly, "What do I have to be scared of?"
He laughed at her serious expression. "Silly girl."
Yu Na frowned in thought as she looked towards the bathroom. "Oh right, with no electricity, how do we shower?"
"We'll use a flashlight," Xiao Chen said.
Yu Na was afraid of the dark. Even with a flashlight on, once the bathroom door was closed, it would be oppressive and suffocating. Plus, the bathroom here wasn't as spacious as the one at Yun Gulf Mansion.
She pleaded without much confidence, "Can you stay with me?"
Xiao Chen: "Hmm?"
"...I'm a little scared," she admitted.
"Sure," Xiao Chen grinned, "It would be my honor."
"...!"
The bathroom door was left wide open. Xiao Chen turned on the flashlight and put it to the side. Then he took the initiative to turn his back towards Yu Na.
In the past, Yu Na used to take a long time showering with multiple steps. But this time, she opted for efficiency.
She didn't even close the glass partition door. Steam billowed out from the bathroom, the heat reaching Xiao Chen and making his heart race. To ease the tension, he knocked on the door and asked, "Done yet?"
"Almost!"
"Hurry up, my legs are getting tired," he teased.
"Just a minute more!"
"I'll turn my head back if you don't hurry..."
"Hmph!" Yu Na said in annoyance. She quickened her pace, got dressed after the shower, and left the bathroom in a huff. "You're so annoying!"
Xiao Chen was entirely unbothered. He even cheekily pinched her face and said, "Go wait for me on the bed. Be good."
Seeing that Yu Na hadn't moved, he jokingly tried again, "Or you can wait for me here."
He casually added, "You can watch me, I don't mind."
"...Who wants to watch you!"
But Yu Na did end up waiting for him there.
Xiao Chen took a leisurely shower, even humming a tune. He was the picture of contentment.
At first, Yu Na had her back facing him. But remembering how he kept pestering and hurrying her during her shower, her desire for revenge suddenly ignited.
Yu Na recalled that she had bought a zombie mask before as a prank.
A twisted idea for payback began forming.
She stood outside the bathroom, hair loose and deliberately messed up. The corner of her lips quirked up in a devious smile.
While Xiao Chen was showering, she took the flashlight back to the bedroom, found the mask, and brought it back out.
When Xiao Chen finished showering and got dressed...
Yu Na put on the mask, suddenly spun around to face him.
The flashlight shone from below, illuminating the zombie mask's already gruesome face to more terrifying effect.
Yu Na strode towards Xiao Chen rapidly, not giving him any time to react.
She let out creepy moans as she shuffled forwards. "Gimme back my life~~ Gimme back my life~~~"
The eerie atmosphere was spot on.
"F*ck me!" Xiao Chen's mind short-circuited for a second. His glass heart nearly shattered all over again. He braced himself against the sink as a shriek of horror escaped from the bathroom. "Ahhhhh!"
Yu Na laughed so hard she couldn't stand straight. "Hahahahahaha!"
Echoes of the shriek still seemed to reverberate around the bathroom, mixed with Yu Na's merciless cackling.
"..."
After drying his hair, Xiao Chen ripped the mask off her face with a smile that wasn't quite a smile. "You asked for this," he warned.
That night, he tormented her until she repeatedly begged for mercy.
Yu Na didn't have the energy to get up afterwards, but remembering the scene in the bathroom still cracked her up. Each time she laughed, Xiao Chen's ears would redden once.
So embarrassing!
Whenever he felt embarrassed, he would tickle her again as revenge. As a result, the two of them fooled around late into the night.
The next day at work, Yu Na felt exhausted all over.
As she idled in the office, she thought to herself that she would never dare provoke him again.
When provoked too far, he could really be quite fearsome.
...
Life became busy from the second week onwards.
At 5pm on Monday afternoon, the school bell rang precisely on time, immediately followed by the annoying blare of a loudspeaker. "Attention all Grade 11 and 12 students, head downstairs for mandatory jogging now."
The announcement blasted three times in a row, the bells like a death knell.
Complaints and curses erupted everywhere in the Grade 11 and 12 buildings.
Yu Na headed to the track field along with the other teachers to supervise. Without supervision, many would have tried ditching halfway.
Qiao Rui and Hao Lei stood at the very front of the lines. Although Qiao Rui's academics were average, he was gifted in sports. Last time, he had joked and chatted even after finishing a 5km run. Three laps today was nothing to him, just a warm-up.
Yu Na herded the students trying to slack back into the lines and reminded Qiao Rui, "That's everyone, right?"
"Don't worry!"
Qiao Rui jogged to the outer edge of the lines, bantering lightheartedly, "If I catch anyone sneaking off, they'll have to do my homework for a week."
Yu Na: "..."
She didn't stay on the field for long. Qiao Rui and Hao Lei were in charge of enforcing jogging discipline.
On her way to the teachers' cafeteria, Yu Na inadvertently caught sight of Jiang Yu playing basketball at the courts.
After Jiang Yu had transferred here, he had joined the school basketball team. Although handsome, he seldom talked and was often alone. He also rarely paid attention in class and was difficult to get along with.
Whenever Yu Na thought about him, she would feel a little worried, unsure of how to interact with this problematic new student.
...
After dinner, she brought her laptop from the office back to the classroom.
It was dinnertime now, so all the students were eating at the cafeteria. Only Xu Yi remained alone in the classroom, slumped motionless over a desk.
Upon noticing Yu Na's arrival, Xu Yi quickly sat up. "Teacher Yu."
"You didn't go eat?"
Xu Yi shook her head. "No."
Sensing something off with her, Yu Na sat down at the desk in front and asked, "You don't look well. Do you feel uncomfortable somewhere?"
Xu Yi politely replied, "No, just a little tired."
Her face was flushed.
Yu Na asked, "Is it because of the earlier run?"
"I guess so," Xu Yi said awkwardly as she scratched her head. "I normally don't exercise much, so...suddenly running so much at one go was a bit..."
Just then, Qiao Rui and Song Yan entered the classroom from the back door.
Qiao Rui was holding a bag of bread and a carton of milk, which he tossed onto Xu Yi's desk.
Xu Yi gave a startled "Thanks."
Sitting down at his seat, Qiao Rui amusingly looked her over. "Worn out just from three laps? You're useless."
Xu Yi: "..."
Yu Na took out a book and smacked Qiao Rui's arm. "Did you finish memorizing the new vocabulary?"
Hearing that, Qiao Rui's expression immediately deflated. "Memorize, memorize, I'll do it now!"
Xu Yi tore open the bread packaging and voluntarily said to Yu Na, "Teacher Yu, from now on let me dictate Qiao Rui's English vocabulary to him."
Qiao Rui: ?
Yu Na asked, "Won't that take up your time?"
Xu Yi gave a sweet smile. "It won't. Helping him review can let me revise the words too. Memorizing vocabulary alone can be really dull for me."
At that, Yu Na didn't object further. Over the past few days, under Xu Yi's guidance, Qiao Rui's learning attitude had improved noticeably compared to before.
She nodded. "Alright then, you can dictate the vocabulary to him."
After Yu Na left, Qiao Rui leaned back in his chair like an old man and grabbed the carton of milk from Xu Yi's desk.
"Spit it out, what's your agenda?"
Xu Yi looked at him innocently. "Huh? No agenda."
"Not talking, huh?" Qiao Rui twisted the cap off the milk. "Then I'll just drink this milk I bought for you."
"...Really no agenda," Xu Yi sincerely explained. "I just want to help you review vocabulary, while revising the words myself too. Memorizing alone is so dull for me."
Qiao Rui still eyed her suspiciously for a long moment, before shrugging. "Fine, I believe you."
He placed the opened milk carton back on Xu Yi's desk. "A reward for you from me."
