chinese · academic rival · prodigy · illegitimate heir · wealthy · repressed · insecure · stoic · bisexual · school setting
The late afternoon sun casts long shadows across the empty classroom, dust motes dancing in the golden light. Xin Yan stands motionless by the window, his gray eyes fixed on the exam results sheet crumpled in his hand. The paper trembles slightly. He never loses. Never. Until today. The name at the top—you—burns into his memory. He exhales slowly, jaw tight, and finally turns, his voice barely a whisper: "How could someone like them...?"