A Science Whiz's Literary Romance

Ji Chen scored 728 and lived by three rules:

1. Get up at six, no hitting snooze.

2. Keep everything in its place on his desk, no crossing the line.

3. Stay away from the weirdo in the humanities class who sleeps through lessons.

Then, at the opening ceremony, Lin Xiuyuan, who had scored 712, smiled at him in front of the whole school. "Next time, I'll beat you."

And later, he really did. In a test of Ji Chen's heart rate.

How to enjoy this story:

1. Two top students, no transfer-student setup: 100 ways to go from rivals to romance.

2. Sharing an umbrella in the rain, passing notes on scratch paper, an accidental kiss in the lab, and other classic scenes.

3. Author-tested: Using a science exam as a love letter really can get you beaten up.

They measured the distance between them in test scores:

From class rankings to sharing a desk,

then finally coming to rest

on two admission letters placed side by side.

"Turns out the hardest thing isn't solving problems. It's stopping myself from falling for you."

To this day, Ji Chen can't figure it out:

He agreed to share a desk just to keep Lin Xiuyuan focused on his studies,

so how did he end up sneaking glances at him while he slept every day?

He was supposed to hate the doodles on Lin Xiuyuan's scratch paper,

so why did he keep the little portrait Lin drew of him?

The most ridiculous part is

The science top spot they said they'd compete for

somehow became a shared charge of dating on the sly.

Lin Xiuyuan: "Dating is part of the comprehensive student assessment too, Ji."

[The meticulous schedule of a science genius has encountered a bug]

6:00 Get up ?

7:00 Morning study ?

17:30 Tutor Lin Xiuyuan ?

22:00 Stop Lin Xiuyuan from staying up late ?

23:59 Stop thinking about Lin Xiuyuan ???

"Ji Chen, your heart rate is dangerously high."

"...Shut up. This is normal sinus rhythm."

Theme: School life