The afternoon math class was quiet as usual.
The lecturer stood at the front, explaining a complex math problem written neatly across the board. Formulas filled the space from left to right, along with numbers mixed with letters. For most students, it was already difficult just to keep up with the explanation, let alone follow the logic behind it.
Zi Han rested her chin lightly on her hand, her eyes half-closed.
She wasn't listening.
Not because she couldn't understand it, but because she already had. Though it was inevitable that after years of being out of high school one would tend to forget some things, once the lecturer had explained it the first time, she remembered and quickly grasped the whole concept of the mathematical problem.
As the lecturer spoke, the steps unfolded naturally in her mind, and by the time he reached the middle of his explanation, Zi Han had already arrived at the final answer.
She felt no sense of accomplishment.
Only boredom.
"…So," the lecturer said, tapping the board lightly with the marker, "who can tell me what the next step should be?"
There was total silence. The students lowered their heads. Some flipped the pages of their textbooks nervously. Others stared at the board as if hoping the answer would appear out of thin air.
Zi Han's gaze drifted toward the window, clearly uninterested.
The lecturer frowned slightly. "Class Representative, Shi Xian."
All eyes turned to the boy with black hair sitting in the front row of the class. Feeling all the gazes of the students on him, Shi Xian straightened nervously in his seat. He wasn't sure of the answer either. As the acknowledged golden boy of Mingde High School, he possessed everything, including good grades, good looks, and a good reputation. Basically, he rarely disappointed.
Shi Xian walked to the board calmly, picked up the marker, and began solving the problem.
One minute passed.
Then another.
His brows knitted together into a frown, and he paused. He was wrong; he could see he was wrong, but he couldn't figure out where he had gone wrong.
Zi Han glanced at the board again. The mistake was obvious. Shi Xian had followed the standard approach, but this problem required a deviation halfway through. If one insisted on conventional logic, the equation would never be solved.
Shi Xian put the marker down.
"I'm sorry, teacher," he said honestly. "I'm not sure."
A murmur rippled through the classroom. If Shi Xian couldn't solve it, what about them?!
The lecturer's expression stiffened. He looked back at the board, then swept his gaze across the students.
"Zi Han," he suddenly said. "You answer."
Zi Han froze. For a brief second, she suspected she had misheard.
Slowly, she lifted her head.
The lecturer was looking directly at her.
"Yes, you," he said. "Come up and try."
Every pair of eyes in the classroom turned toward her.
Zi Han felt her scalp tighten.
Why me?
She hadn't raised her hand. She hadn't reacted. She hadn't even looked interested.
"Sir," she said quietly, "I don't know the answer."
"How can you be sure," the lecturer replied, unmoved, "if you haven't tried?"
Her shoulders dropped slightly.
So refusing wasn't an option. Damn it.
She stood up, feeling dozens of gazes press against her back, making the walk to the front of the classroom feel longer than it was.
She picked up the marker.
Zi Han didn't explain, nor did she pause. She simply wrote as quickly as she could so that she could get away from everyone's gazes. By the time she was done, she placed the marker down and looked at the lecturer in silence.
The lecturer stared at the board for a long moment, then nodded slowly. "Correct."
A ripple of surprise spread through the class.
Shi Xian looked at the solution, his eyes lighting up with realization. "So that's how it works…"
The lecturer turned to Zi Han and said softly, "Very good. You may return to your seat."
Zi Han nodded and returned to her seat without looking at anyone. Her heart was still beating slightly faster than she would have liked. That had been a bit difficult for her. She hated being in the center of attention, a subject of people's gazes.
Soon, the class ended and the teacher left the classroom. The room quickly became noisy. It was self-study time, but in reality no one really ever studied. Zi Han reached into her bag for her textbooks, hoping to study a little. Hopefully, no one would talk about what had happened earlier.
"Zi Han."
She stiffened.
Shi Xian stood beside her desk, smiling politely. Up close, he looked even more handsome and approachable than from afar. She now understood why he was called the golden prince.
"That was impressive," he said sincerely. "I didn't expect that solution."
Zi Han's mind went blank.
"…Thank you," she replied after a brief pause.
An awkward silence followed.
Shi Xian waited, as if expecting more.
Zi Han lowered her head slightly, her fingers tightening around her bag strap. She wanted to respond properly, but the words tangled somewhere in her chest.
"I just… happened to think of it," she added quietly.
Shi Xian chuckled lightly. "You're being modest."
Another pause.
Zi Han didn't know what to say next.
The air between them grew uncomfortable.
"Well," Shi Xian said at last, sensing it too, "I won't disturb you anymore."
"Mm," Zi Han responded.
He hesitated, then nodded and left.
Only after he walked away did Zi Han release the breath she had been holding.
She stood up and headed straight for the restroom.
The moment she splashed cold water onto her face, the tension in her shoulders eased slightly. She gripped the edge of the sink, grounding herself.
You should have gotten the answer wrong, she told herself. The correct move was to stand at that board, write something plausible but incorrect, and sit back down. You know this.
She dried her hands. Next time she wouldn't make the same mistake.
She turned to leave and then stopped.
Three girls stood near the doorway. They leaned casually against the wall, their arms crossed, with sneers on their faces.
Zi Han recognized them immediately. They were Shi Xian's hardcore fans. They went after every girl Shi Xian seemed interested in, even if such interest was not romantic.
One of them smiled faintly. "You're Zi Han, right?"
Zi Han's fingers curled slowly.
"Yes."
Another girl tilted her head, her eyes scanning her from head to toe. "You're quite capable. Even Shi Xian couldn't answer that question."
Zi Han didn't respond.
The first girl stepped closer, blocking the exit. "You're lucky, you know. Getting noticed like that."
Zi Han felt her heart sink.
"I was only answering the teacher's question," she answered.
"Oh?" The girl laughed softly. "Then I hope you remember your place next time, scholarship student, if you know what's good for you."
Zi Han's back pressed lightly against the sink.
She said nothing.
After a few seconds, the girls lost interest. One of them scoffed, and they moved aside, leaving her a narrow path out.
As Zi Han walked past them, her legs felt slightly unsteady, but she still wore a cold, stoic expression, seemingly unaffected by what they had said. However, she wasn't unaffected. She was worried. Was she about to become a victim of bullying?
Apparently, no matter how much she wanted to avoid trouble, it came looking for her anyway.