Nearing the end of the school year, it was time for the final exams, so everything else was left in the background while they all focused on their studies.

Yunlan was glad for it, because it allowed him to put on hold all those thoughts that were threatening to drive him crazy. He didn’t allow time for anything else, he decided that if the others wanted to go out and have fun, he would study alone, and if they wanted to study together, then a day of study it would be, no distractions allowed.

Luckily Wei shared the same view, even brought it to a new level, because if anyone suggested going out or taking breaks, he would start lecturing them on the importance of one’s studies, making them feel a bit ashamed of themselves, rather regretful that they ever opened their mouths, and very determined to never bring ‘the lecturer’ out of Shen Wei again.

Yunlan was grateful for this because it allowed him to drop the pretence, no more ‘I’d like to but..’, there was no need for fake excuses, now all he needed to do when distractions were put forward was waiting for Shen Wei to hear about it, or threaten to tell him.

Simply mentioning what Shen Wei would say once he got to know about it, was enough to put a stop to it. Yunlan enjoyed it very much, he liked this aristocratic aura of superiority that accompanied Shen Wei, specially because he didn’t seem to realise it.

The more his Wei tried to be ‘common’, the more he failed, at least in his eyes.

The last weeks were dedicated to serious school activities, everything unrelated was banned; Da Qing was quite annoyed, Hong and Jin found it very stressful because they needed distractions to relieve stress, and so the three of them would often vanish from the room without anybody noticing - this is because they were very very careful not to distract anyone..

Sang never complained because he always took everything very seriously, and if he set out to do something he was even more determined than Yunlan.

Wang loved this even when she scolded him for it. She could be heard saying that he needed to be more flexible and enjoy a break from time to time, but then she smiled and studied with him, using the same book to be closer to each other.

Guo thought it was his duty to study seriously, but he felt very miserable because he considered himself rather dumb and exams were very high on his list of horrors.

Since Shen Wei didn’t need help at all, Ren took it upon himself to help the poor guy. Yunlan had not yet told anyone about discovering a piece of the Guo-puzzle, but Ren felt some kind of kinship with him, so the more Guo denigrated himself the more he scolded him, and when Guo felt hopeless, almost crying that he would never learn, Ren kept explaining everything again and again, until some of it would eventually stuck in Guo’s brain.

Ren never yelled, which was a good thing or Guo would have been terrified of him.

Although they still lowered their voices, they kept away from Yunlan and Wei so not to distract them; Yunlan caught a glimpse of Shen Wei smiling, looking at Ren with a mix of affection and pride, and he cursed himself for not having helped Guo first; his Wei was so good that he would probably like him better if he helped people, maybe he could become a doctor, or a policeman, protecting people from the bad guys... his brain conjured up a vivid image of himself as a brave knight in shining armor under Wei’s admiring eyes, when suddenly a voice startled him.
"Are you studying or spacing out?"

Wei had a severe look on his face, which brought Yunlan abruptly out of his day-dreaming state, then Wei imparted him a lesson on the importance of concentration, while Ren and Guo gave him pitiful looks.

The exams finally ended, and everyone was satisfied. Guo managed just enough to pass, but at least he didn’t fail.

Summer vacation brought many changes in their daily routine; not only they didn’t have to spend so many hours in school, but their number got drastically reduced: now that he had more time Guo worked more hours, Wang and Sang went on vacation together and Ren left to spend the summer with his parents and relatives.

He didn’t want to, but it was part of the agreement - they let him stay here with his grandfather but he had to go back for the summer - so he had to go.

Ren’s heart ached at having to leave his Wei Wei for the whole summer, their relationship wasn’t as solid as he wished. Something had changed during the time they were separated, and he regretted ever leaving him, but back then he didn’t know what to do.

The irony is that Ren left him because he loved him too much. They got together that they were both sixteen, not exactly hiding it but neither revealing it. It was just their private life and they kept it private.

They were together for eight months then Ren got scared. He felt overwhelmed by his feelings and when his family had to move to another city, he broke up with Wei and basically ran away.

He didn’t explain everything to him, only that he had to go with his family and they couldn’t see each other anymore. Wei was hurt, of course, he would have waited for him if he had asked him to, but he didn’t.

Now Ren knew his feelings and wasn’t scared anymore, so he promised Wei that he’d be back, and that he’d call him every day.

Wei was sorry to see him go, but believed him and said that he’d wait for him.

So now it was only Wei, Da Qing, Hong, Jin and Yunlan. They spent together almost every day, and their plans varied depending on who chose the schedule for the day.

If it was Jin, it would always include a stop at a game shop or arcade, if it was Da Qing they would most likely move from a fast food to a bar to whatever place gave him food; if Hong had her say they’d spend every day at the beach, Wei would likely choose to go whenever there was a bookshop nearby, while Yunlan... when he suggested staying home to watch the bike race, Wei sat silently on the couch, Da Qing asked for popcorn as if it was a movie, Jin took a portable console out of his bag, and Hong just screamed.

She was the last one to choose their schedule, and she complained about being outnumbered four boys to just one girl, but she had more time to prepare and come up with a cunning plan.

She insisted she wanted to go to Arcova beach instead of the nearest one. They could drive there because Wei had a car. He didn’t like to drive but his parents thought that he needed one so they bought it for him. Yunlan had a license in hope one day to be able to afford his own car, so he drove them there using Wei’s car.

Yunlan suspected Hong was up to something, and had no idea how much time she had spent researching; it was a lot, since she found arcades, bookshops and bike races quite boring.

Since it was her turn, they had to keep their word and accept her choice, so Arcova beach it was!

When they got there, paid for their beach chairs and umbrellas, and changed into their swimsuits, Yunlan had totally realised what was expecting him in the days to come.
"You little snake, you planned this!"

She smirked while Jin admired her new red bikini that looked so good with her white skin and black hair thinking about how she looked like a sexy Snow-white, and Da Qing thought of what they would order at the fish restaurant right outside the beach.

"I thought you would like it, it has a... nice view," she said winking at Yunlan.
In the chair next to him sat Shen Wei in a white shirt and blue swim trunks, happily adjusting with a book in his hands.

The fish restaurant had been easy, but finding a beach with a library nearby took her a lot of time... you can’t miss it while walking from the car park to the beach so Wei had asked for a minute to go get a book to read on the beach.

Yunlan’s eyes followed her gaze and rested on such a vision... he had to admit that this beach idea wasn’t so bad after all.

Da Qing, Hong and Jin went for a swim but Yunlan stayed behind. Lying on that beach chair, he kept stealing glances at Shen Wei.

All those thoughts that had invaded his mind before he focused on his exams came rushing back, and he couldn’t take his eyes off him.

Yunlan stared at him, from his eyes to his long legs, and he wondered.. suddenly he grabbed his arm saying, "Let’s go for a swim!"

Wei’s muscles contracted at the unexpected touch and Yunlan gulped.

He stared at his own hand still gripping firmly that strong arm, while Wei was looking intensely at his face, feeling Yunlan’s warm touch on his bare skin... Wei snatched his arm away blushing deep red and quickly turned to lay down on his stomach, praying that Yunlan hadn’t noticed, feeling embarrassed and ashamed of himself: he had a boyfriend, for crying out loud, how could he?

Wei said with a shaky voice without looking at him.
"I'm tired, I'll sleep a bit, but you go ahead."

Then he closed both the book and his eyes and pretended to rest.

Yunlan had no choice now but to go for a swim; he had fun with the others until it became late and they needed to dry their bodies before going to eat.

Wei had calmed down and was again reading his book, when he saw them coming back.

Gosh, it was like a scene from a movie, he watched Yunlan run towards his chair with his wet hair dripping water on his wet toned body, while his treacherous brain provided the slow motion.

He blushed again and hurried to put his trousers on to hide his little problem, leaving his shirt loose outside to cover everything.. his phone started ringing, he sighed relieved and used it as an excuse to distance himself from the others before answering.

It was Ren, of course, and Wei was glad, he needed to hear his voice and calm down. Ren sensed that something was wrong and tried to ask him what had happened but obviously Wei couldn’t tell him.

Ren was worried, and asked his parents to let him go back earlier. They got upset at first, and weren’t convinced even after he promised that he’d visit every weekend, but Ren begged and begged until he won them by exhaustion.

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Is this too fast? I had planned it all before I started posting, so now I only have to put it down 😁
I just can't stay away, and keep writing every free second I have 🤗 even at work 🤫🤫

So, we are getting there, everyone is realising what's going on, and there will be nothing they can do against the weilan-love 😊

I'll start immediately the next one; according to plan, things will get on a very nice track, believe me 🤗

Thanks to everyone who reads, votes and comments on this story, it warms my heart 💕💕

Crys.