DTTM – Chapter 3 : If not you, then do you think it’s me?

Chapter 2 | 🥈 Contents 🥈 | Chapter 4

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Translator: Silvery
PR: Decadence

As a result of Black Blouse’s strong testimony, Yu Sheng is passed off unsuspectingly as an innocent passerby turned victim.

Although these people on the ground look like they have taken quite a beating, the truth is, Yu Sheng did hold back a little and didn’t hurt them. They should be able to catch their breaths after lying down for a while.

Broom Head’s sidekicks were merely dragged in to put on a show for their buddy. They didn’t think the person they were cornering would turn out to be someone with such so powerful. With this, their spirits are totally crushed. Cowering under Yu Sheng’s show of friendly concern, nobody dares to spill the beans on what exactly happened.

There isn’t much of a repercussion in the end. At most, they will be receiving another lecture on their lack of proper upbringing.

The police officer is already all too used to such scenes. Shoving these guys into the police car one after another, he brings them back with the intention of putting them through some re-education to baptize them for a little bit.

Broom Head is pissed to death. Cradling his wrist, he blows up in a fit of cusses. In the end, he is shoved decisively into the police car and brought as quick as lightning over to the police station to repent and write a police report.

The havoc of a situation turns quiet and serene in a blink of an eye.

Yu Sheng rubs his forehead, heaving a sigh of relief.

He’s hardly intimidated by the thought of being investigated at the police station. It’s just that if he has to go there, there would have been a compulsory delay and missing the exam would have gone without speaking.

Who the hell even came up with this nasty idea of contacting their parents if they miss the exam?

They are only seven minutes away from the school gates’ closure. Since he is in a rush, Yu Sheng wastes no time and makes a dash for the back of the fence.

Only after taking two steps then does he come to a sudden, screeching halt. Jogging backwards, he whirls around on the spot.

Black Blouse has yet to leave.

As a matter of fact, he’s right on his tail. With the bag of blasphemous pancakes in his right hand and his left hovering above Yu Sheng’s shoulder, he was this close to patting him.

Yu Sheng casts him a wary glance.

Although he is not wearing a school uniform, just going by other’s age and appearance in a place like this, there’s an 80-90% chance he is here for the exam.

Yu Sheng recognizes all Central Third students. Their No. 1 aggravating student isn’t this one. Yet, he also doesn’t look like someone from a school like Province Point.

Once one enters the examination hall, they are no longer allowed to look at their revision materials. Those who wish to revise will thus have to hunker down outside the entrance. There were many students on his way here, but those from Central Third and Province Point are simply two worlds apart. One can easily differentiate them by looking at the weight of their school bags and how serious they are when burying their heads in their books to make the last spurt.

At first glance, this bastard before him obviously came empty-handed. He doesn’t even have a “Sure-to-Pass-Exam-Essentials” pack.

He doesn’t look one bit like a top student who is constantly studying and in pursuit of self-improvement.

It’s soon to be 7.30. If they go by the front gates, they will still miss the exam. Yet this guy doesn’t even look remotely anxious. He stands in place just as languidly as he did before, going as far as to amicably offer one half of the pre-cut pancake to Yu Sheng.

The air briskly fills up with the fragrance of the food that’s wholly unpleasant.

Yu Sheng: “……”

He shouldn’t have left home without eating his breakfast this morning.

It’s not even certain if he will have time to chomp down on an apple later.

“Save it. I have no appetite.”

Black Blouse nudges that half of a pancake towards him again. His voice is a low hypnotizing bass, as if he’s swallowed a subwoofer whole:

“Didn’t they make you drop those buns earlier?”

Yu Sheng is short on patience: “It’s a passerby who dropped them.”

Having picked up on his pettiness, Black Blouse pulls his brows together and can’t hold it back. He chuckles.

His appearance gets under his skin to begin with. But once a smile takes over his face, Yu Sheng’s aggravation simply reaches a whole new level of high.

…But for better or for worse, he did help him out somehow.

Yu Sheng has always been quite reasonable. He inhales through his grinding teeth and brushes past the offered pancake, ignoring it. Then, he turns around solemnly:

“Follow me.”

He neither knows this person before him, nor does he recognize him, but he assumes he is a student who came over from Province Point. Since even their school is placing so much importance on this ridiculous unified exam, a top student from Province Point who is late might very well be strung up and torched to death on a stake.

Black Blouse looks slightly uncertain, but doesn’t question him. Raising his brows, he follows him as ordered.

Yu Sheng vaults over the fence all year round. He’s already so well-practiced, he can skip into school with his eyes close. It’s a walk in a ballpark to evade the surveillance camera. Circling around two warning signs, they come to the base of a hole in the fence, where one of the spiky railings had been forcefully ripped off by hand.

Black Blouse follows closely behind, standing together with him.

He maintains the same demeanour from before, looking neither anxious nor hurried. Leaning forward to observe closely, he tips his head back by an inch and appraises the hole that was torn open in a rather barbaric manner.

Yu Sheng tugs on his own jacket:

“You know how to wall-vault?”

Black Blouse blinks once, then dips his head in the direction of his voice.

……

At most, it’s just exerting a bit more effort.

There isn’t much time left. Yu Sheng gives his gentle-looking glasses and dress shirt a onceover then decides not to waste time on his crap. He shrugs off his school uniform and eyeballs the distance before lurching it out with a swing of his arm:

“Throw it. With your height, you should get it there with a bit of aim.”

Having undergone years of training in PE, Yu Sheng can play all positions in basketball save for Power Forward. His precision is so good that once flung, the article smoothly and safely hooks over the top of the fence.

Without pausing for a beat, he swiftly ties a knot in the sleeves, pulls down, and kicks off the fence to borrow some momentum and cleanly makes over the railings.

The fence isn’t that tall. Yu Sheng doesn’t falter. With a grasp of his hand and a flip over the railing, he lands smoothly on his feet.

Black Blouse stands outside the fence, his gaze following him throughout. His eyes seem to light up ever so slightly.

Yu Sheng dusts off the dirt sticking to his hand:

“Now, do you know how?”

Without waiting for his response, Yu Sheng has already brunched up his uniform and squeezed it through the railings, shoving it into his hands:

“Make it quick. They’re about to close the gates.”

The youth’s hand is slender and clean with long fingers. Just by exerting a bit of strength, his pale veins easily become visible.

Black Blouse’s eyes linger on his hand for an instant. He lifts his head and smiles at him:

“I sure do.”

His Adam’s apple is profound. Bobbing each time he speaks, it lowers and dives into the collar of that black button-up which was buttoned just right.

Yu Sheng scrunches his brows without thinking.

A subwoofer.

How motherfucking easy on the ears.

Highschool is the period of time where boys are stuck in the divide before and after cracking their voices. Yu Sheng is always checking on the daily basis to see if his voice has turned deeper, but regardless of how much he stayed up late, binged on BBQ, and chugged beer, the voice of a youth still shines through, brightly and obstinately. Each time he fights, he always brings a couple of loudmouths whose voices are gruffer so they can roar in his stead.

How goddamn humiliating.

When he sees a guy like this who is tall and deep-voiced, Yu Sheng’s irritation builds up the more he looks at him.

The person who’s the source of his irritation shows no trace of self-awareness. Passing his two halves of a pancake through the railings and meaning for Yu Sheng to help hold them, he twists the uniform’s sleeve twice over his arm.

Then, with one hand tightening over the railing, his arm flexes and he easily pulls himself up and over the fence railing.

That’s one way to do it.

How absolutely unique too.

Yu Sheng’s stunned by his fence-flipping technique.

Black Blouse looks skinny yet he’s hardly lacking in strength. When his arms flex, the shape becomes prominent through the material of his shirt. It’s so prominent in fact, even the rippling lines of his muscles are visible.

Though his method is a bit odd, his motions are still extremely smooth and efficient. Without touching anything save for the top of the railings, he simply uses a bit of strength at the top of the fence to flip himself over. Dangling from one arm, he waves Yu Sheng over with his other.

Yu Sheng furrows his brows. When he walks over and looks up, before he’s even able to get a word in, his uniform has already fallen right in his arms.

One hand finds purchase on his shoulder.

The other youth releases the hand clinging onto the railing and presses lightly onto his shoulder. Then, there’s a new addition on this side of the fence.

Yu Sheng is flabbergasted: “You—Does Province Point have electric fences?”

Black Blouse was in the midst of dusting his hands off and was just about to thank him when he’s choked up by him. Faltering for a bit, he laughs good-naturedly:

“I’m used to it. It’s hard to correct the habit.”

He landed using Yu Sheng’s shoulder as a support so now they are slightly too close. When that refined and low voice drifts over to Yu Sheng’s ears, it’s so inciting he can’t help but shiver slightly.

Yu Sheng’s previous dislike for him instantly increases tenfold.

Not intending to interact with him for long, Yu Sheng slaps away the hand on his shoulder and dumps the pancake back in his hands:

“Okay. Since you’re here, go get yourself tested. Don’t cry outside the door if you don’t make it.”

His examination hall is in the third year’s building, so it is quite a distance from here. He’s got no time to waste around here. Twisting his uniform, he makes to leave.

Black Blouse pulls him back and stops him.

Yu Sheng inhales sharply. He can’t keep his temper from flaring. He hisses:

“Are you done? What do you—”

His mouth’s suddenly clamped shut by a palm and his entire body’s pulled into the circle of his arms. He’s pulled along to hide behind a tree with a particularly thick trunk.

The head teacher has his hands clasped behind his back, walking towards them slowly in an unhurried manner.

Having heard a faint sound, the head teacher looks up and scans the area. Upon seeing no abnormalities, he checks the direction markers and isolation belts once more before disappearing into the Classroom Block.

Yu Sheng furrows his brows, lifting his head to look at the person before him.

Black Blouse had moved in a surprisingly expert manner – Hand clamping over his mouth, roping him over by the shoulders and putting one hand on the tree.

The fabric of the neat button-up is slightly thin. His gentle warmth permeates through the material and sinks into Yu Sheng’s skin between his collar.

There’s the mild fragrance of rooibos tea* in the air.

(*aka. Red Tea)

“He’s gone.”

He relaxes his grip. Long pale fingers wave once before Yu Sheng’s eyes:

“Urgent times called for urgent measures. I didn’t have the time to warn you… Are you alright?”

Yu Sheng scowls and bats away his hand before lifting his sleeve to wipe at his mouth vigorously.

He just wanted to take an exam on time. Who knew where all these annoyances cropped up from?

Yu Sheng thinks he and this exam are just not meant to be.

Black Blouse doesn’t say a thing. He walks over to the isolation belt and single-handedly pulls it up to a height where others can pass through. Then, he turns around, waiting for him.

This time, the other has indeed helped him.

The head teacher is a migraine-inducing existence for everyone in Central Third High. If he was caught fence-vaulting by that guy, he would have to write a report at best and get some demerit points at worst. That would have been beyond annoying.

He was in such a hurry to get to the exam, he failed to notice the things happening around him. If he wasn’t hauled back in time, he might be on his way to drink tea in the teachers’ office right now.

This stranger has already helped him out. He can’t just go without thanking him.

Yu Sheng inhales deeply, deciding to ditch his previous prejudices and talk to him nicely. He walks over.

“Thanks. Hope you get second in today’s exam.”

Because of his ridiculous, near metaphysical ability, whenever he wants to wish others good luck, he can only use this smart hack.

The good things he says won’t come true whereas the bad things he says always happen. The truth is, it’s just a simple blessing that shouldn’t have any effect. But if he said things like “Good luck on your exams” or “May life treat you well”, it would have easily become a mocking line since he wouldn’t be sincere, and he might just cause this guy to be down on his luck for this exam or wreck his entire life’s dreams.

The world of the academic overlords may be beyond his comprehension, but if he remembers correctly, the top student should be that legendary Running Study God no doubt. So, wishing he’ll clinch second can only be the next best option.

“Second—” Black Blouse draws his brows together, his eyes curving curiously behind his glasses, “Me?”

“Yup.”

Time’s running out. Yu Sheng has no time to waste on explanations with him, so he dusts his shirt off, ducks below the isolation belt and hurries over to the Teaching Building.

“If not you, then do you think it’s me?”

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Next Time on DTTM!
Chapter 4: <I’m treated well at home?>
Preview: Caw, caw. Caw, caw.
The shitty, infuriating exam begins — With a catch.

Silvery says: (≖u≖ ) Black Butler won’t be in next time, so check in when we’re at C5~

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Chapter 2 | 🥈 Contents 🥈 | Chapter 4