You Can't Abandon Your Silly Little Dog

Yu Quan and Ruan Qingsong had three particularly memorable encounters. Ruan Qingsong was a mess every time, and Yu Quan couldn't understand it, so he suspected the guy wasn't very bright.

The first was at the start of their first year of high school. Yu Quan ran into Ruan Qingsong in the restroom, his face bruised and swollen as he scrubbed at his paws. Noticing Yu Quan's gaze, Ruan Qingsong turned and bared his teeth at him, snarling, “What are you looking at? Never seen a handsome guy who's been through a battle?”

Yu Quan's eyes swept over the sweaty nape of the “handsome guy who's been through a battle.” For no reason, he thought that he could wrap one hand around it, then hold the guy under a faucet and wash him clean.

The second time, Ruan Qingsong was falsely accused of stealing the class funds. Yu Quan casually cleared up the misunderstanding, but after school he was stopped at the classroom door and had to listen to Ruan Qingsong stammer through an explanation of why he had been suspected.

Yu Quan said, “You don't have to explain. I'm not interested in your business.”

Ruan Qingsong's ears turned red with anger, and he stared wide-eyed at Yu Quan, looking ready to rush over and bite him.

The third time was the worst. On a rainy day, Ruan Qingsong followed Yu Quan, soaked from head to toe, and asked with an uneasy, evasive look, “Um... could you let me stay at your place for one night?”

Yu Quan didn't want to take a classmate he barely knew home. He said he could lend Ruan Qingsong some money so he could get a hotel himself.

Yu Quan's tall figure walked farther and farther away. Ruan Qingsong gritted his teeth and shouted, “Y-you help me this time! I mean... I mean, I'll listen to you from now on! I'll do whatever you tell me!”

Yu Quan stopped. “Anything?”

Ruan Qingsong nodded hard, afraid Yu Quan would leave him behind. “Anything!”

The rain blurred their expressions. Yu Quan thought of a few things he'd bought a long time ago but never used. After a moment's thought, he tilted half his umbrella toward Ruan Qingsong.

“Come on.”

And in the end, he took the slightly dim Ruan Qingsong home.

*

Ruan Qingsong was afraid of Yu Quan, afraid of him to the bone.

Whenever Yu Quan's expression turned cold, an invisible sense of scrutiny and pressure would spread through the air, making Ruan Qingsong's scalp tingle and every cell in his body scream, “Run!”

But Ruan Qingsong also knew very well that Yu Quan was a genuinely good person. He had rescued him from trouble countless times, and even when Ruan Qingsong got him so angry he could barely keep a straight face, Yu Quan had never really scolded him.

For a long time, Ruan Qingsong couldn't figure out what this mixture of fear and attachment meant. So even when he realized Yu Quan was deliberately putting pressure on him sometimes, he was completely powerless to resist.

After once again finding himself unconsciously following Yu Quan, Ruan Qingsong accepted his fate.

That's right, he was completely powerless to resist Yu Quan.

A just-for-fun bonus scene---

In Yu Quan's opinion, anger was the most useless thing in the world. He believed he could stay calm about anything, right up until he started tutoring Ruan Qingsong.

“This question...” Ruan Qingsong asked tentatively, biting the end of his pen. “Is it C?”

Yu Quan stared at him gravely. “I explained this question just yesterday.”

“Then I'll guess A... No, D! Definitely D! D looks so kind and benevolent. It has to be the right answer!”

Yu Quan fought the urge to snap his red pen in half and pointed at the door.

“...Get out.”

Ruan Qingsong scooped up his test paper and rolled out of the room.

Closing his eyes, Yu Quan breathed in, breathed out, breathed in, breathed out, then picked up his phone and booked an appointment at the downtown hospital.

He had to take Ruan Qingsong to get his head examined.

Yu Quan x Ruan Qingsong

A scheming academic prodigy and his bad-tempered, silly puppy

The two lovebirds are utterly devoted to each other. He loves him so much, and the other loves him just as much.

[The blurb will be revised later. The final version will be the one posted when the novel opens.]

Theme: Study hard and improve every day