Ji Yuchen found everything around him terribly dull. His teachers' extravagant praise was dull, his classmates' mindless adoration was dull. He had even grown tired of the fear in his biological parents' eyes. Ji Yuchen used to enjoy savoring their fear.
He needed a new source of amusement.
Then Ruan Mian appeared.
The moment Ji Yuchen saw the quiet transfer student, he decided she would make a perfect target for bullying. What happened afterward proved his instincts right.
Her classmates bullied her like that because he had deliberately manipulated them into doing so. Fifteen- and sixteen-year-olds were foolish and impulsive. Once they had made up their minds about something, they wouldn't listen to any explanations. Ji Yuchen exploited that weakness, forcing Ruan Mian to bow her head lower and lower.
The first time she cried, Ji Yuchen stopped breathing. At last, he'd found something that could hold his interest. He needed to make it even more fun, so he deliberately let Ruan Mian discover that he was the one behind her bullying.
Ji Yuchen succeeded. She began to look at him with fear held tightly in check. Ruan Mian's fear was different from his parents'. The fear in their eyes was always mixed with emotions that disgusted him, but not Ruan Mian's. Her fear was tinged with restrained hatred. No one had ever looked at Ji Yuchen that way before, and he found it fascinating and exciting.
He loved seeing tears fill the eyes beneath her thick, straight bangs.
He loved watching her grit her teeth, angry yet timid.
