Hidden Love

The living room sofa was arranged in an L-shape, with a transparent coffee table placed in front of it. Duan Jiaxu and Sang Yan sat side by side, with enough space for two people between them.

The remaining end of the sofa was empty.

Sang Zhi had instinctively taken that spot earlier, right beside Duan Jiaxu.

Now, caught off guard by this sudden situation, her mind went completely blank. She even forgot to put her phone away, its camera still pointed toward Duan Jiaxu, her expression uneasy and tense.

Noticing her demeanor, Sang Yan tossed his game controller aside and frowned. "Kid, what are you filming?"

Sang Zhi didn’t know how to explain herself and looked up hesitantly.

Observing the direction her phone was aimed, Duan Jiaxu raised an eyebrow, the corners of his mouth curling into a smile. Then, he leaned forward slightly, moving a bit closer to Sang Zhi, and asked with interest, "Hmm? Filming me?"

Sang Zhi shrank back, immediately pressing her phone screen against a cushion to hide it. "N-no, I wasn’t."

"Weren’t you?"

"..."

"Why are you filming your brother?" Duan Jiaxu drawled, his words laced with laughter. "Is your brother that good-looking?"

Hearing this, Sang Yan immediately scoffed. "Could you have some shame?"

As if struck by a thought, he turned to Sang Zhi. "You weren’t planning to take a photo to tattle—"

Before he could finish, Sang Zhi abruptly stood up, avoiding eye contact with either of them. She spoke rapidly, "I told my classmates I have a really handsome brother."

Sang Yan fell silent.

Her cheeks flushed as she spoke, inching her way toward the bedroom. Seemingly unable to think of any other excuse, she blurted out after a long pause, "—But I was too embarrassed to show them your photo."

Sang Yan: "..."

With that, Sang Zhi immediately dashed back to her room, leaving behind a heavy silence.

The living room instantly grew quiet, so much so that it felt awkward. The two men sat at opposite ends of the sofa, their expressions starkly contrasting, their moods distinctly different.

After a long moment, Sang Yan turned to Duan Jiaxu, his lips pressed into a straight line, his face gradually losing all expression. A wave of frustration surged in his chest. "I thought she was taking a photo to tattle to Mom and Dad."

Duan Jiaxu suppressed the smile on his lips and feigned calm as he hummed in acknowledgment.

As if replaying Sang Zhi’s words in his mind again, Sang Yan slowly exhaled, trying to restrain his temper, but his anger still flared up instantly. "This is even worse than tattling."

"..."

Another few seconds of silence passed.

"Damn it." Sang Yan couldn’t take it anymore and suddenly stood up. "Wait here for a bit."

The next moment, Duan Jiaxu stood up as well, seemingly intending to stop him. He lowered his chin and chuckled softly. "Bro, let’s not take this out on a kid, alright?"

Sang Yan: "?"

Duan Jiaxu: "Kids don’t know any better. No need to make a big deal out of it."

Sang Yan stared at him expressionlessly.

"Kids at this age," Duan Jiaxu patted his shoulder, pausing for a few seconds as if holding back laughter, "do care about saving face. You should try to understand her."

Save. Face.

Try. To. Understand. Her.

"..."

A vein twitched on Sang Yan’s forehead. "I’ll understand your mom."

Sang Zhi stayed in her room for a few minutes, crouching by the door to listen for any noise outside. She could faintly hear Sang Yan and Duan Jiaxu talking, but she was too far away to make out their words clearly.

She thought back to the excuse she had just given.

It still seemed perfectly reasonable.After waiting a while longer.

Sang Zhi idly pulled out her earlier "spoils of war."

The pixel quality wasn't clear. From Sang Zhi's shooting angle, only Duan Jiaxu's side profile was visible—distinctly three-dimensional yet appearing soft. The corners of his lips were slightly curved, suggesting he was in a good mood.

Sang Zhi instantly felt everything from earlier had been worth it.

She couldn't help but smile, her fingertip brushing against the screen before quickly pulling back.

After stealing several more glances, Sang Zhi suddenly turned off the screen, hugged her phone, and kicked her feet in excitement. She forced herself to calm down, pretending she didn't care at all, and got up to check herself in the mirror.

When she felt she showed no traces of her excitement, Sang Zhi cleared her throat twice and hid her phone under the pillow. She quietly pulled the door open and glanced outside. Then she quickly ran to Sang Yan's room and sat down at the desk.

Sang Zhi opened her physics workbook, deliberately finding something to do.

But her attention remained entirely focused on the living room.

Before long, someone came in.

Without looking up, Sang Zhi could guess it was Duan Jiaxu. She scratched her head, pretending to be working on problems.

Duan Jiaxu sat down beside her, propping his cheek with one hand as he glanced at her workbook. "Kid, show me your final exam paper."

Sang Zhi made an acknowledging sound, pulled the test paper from her physics book, and placed it in front of him. She returned to her original problem but soon paused her pen. Hesitantly, she asked in a very soft voice, "Brother, could you stop calling me that?"

Hearing this, Duan Jiaxu looked up, as if not understanding her. "Hmm?"

Sang Zhi glanced at him but didn't respond.

Duan Jiaxu caught on. "Kid?"

Sang Zhi averted her gaze and nodded silently.

Duan Jiaxu: "Don't like me calling you that?"

"Not exactly," Sang Zhi muttered. "It's just... I'm not a kid anymore."

"Not a kid anymore?" Duan Jiaxu found it amusing. "So you think you're a big kid now?"

"..."

Sang Zhi pressed her lips together and ignored him.

Duan Jiaxu didn't think it was a big deal and didn't pay it much mind. "It's just a habit, kid."

Sang Zhi stood firm. "Then you should change that habit."

"Alright then, what should I call you?" His tone carried a playful lilt. "Little Sang Zhi?"

Sang Zhi pursed her lips, somewhat dissatisfied.

Couldn't he just drop the "little"?

He always had to emphasize how young she was.

Whatever.

Sang Zhi decided to endure it.

At least it was better than before.

She didn't argue with him and reluctantly nodded.

Remembering her earlier comment, Duan Jiaxu recalled the first time he saw her and reached out to ruffle her hair. "You have grown a bit taller."

Sang Zhi said seriously, "I'll keep growing."

"Mm," Duan Jiaxu's tone was casual, sounding somewhat teasing. "When you grow taller than me, you can protect me."

"..." Sang Zhi pictured the scene and muttered, "I don't need to be that tall."

Duan Jiaxu just laughed and continued looking at her test paper. "Kid, did you even pay attention in class?"

He'd just agreed to stop, and now he was calling her that again.

Sang Zhi pretended not to hear.

Duan Jiaxu said lazily, "Did you hear me, kid?"

Feeling aggrieved but not daring to ignore him again, Sang Zhi leaned over to defend herself. "I did listen, I just didn't understand."

"How did you still get this states of matter question wrong?""Oh." Sang Zhi pointed. "I wrote too fast. I actually meant to choose A."

Duan Jiaxu smiled meaningfully. "This question's answer is B."

"..."

Their gazes met.

Sang Zhi felt somewhat embarrassed but didn't want to lose her composure, so she declared boldly, "Anyway, I just don't understand. I attended the classes, but I'm just too stupid to get it even when I listen."

"Your brother told you to pay attention in class before," Duan Jiaxu said. "Forgot already?"

"That was so long ago..."

"So you want your brother to remind you every day?"

After hesitating for two seconds, Sang Zhi said slowly, "That could work too."

"..." Duan Jiaxu was both annoyed and amused. "Bring your textbook over."

The tutoring schedule was set for two hours daily, three times a week.

It was originally agreed to start promptly at nine and end at eleven. But Sang Zhi slept until ten, and with the time she took to wash up and eat breakfast, they didn't actually start tutoring until eleven.

They also took a one-hour break for lunch in between.

Duan Jiaxu didn't seem particularly busy either. When the time came, he continued watching her solve problems from the side. Only after she finished did he take them to check one by one, casually bringing up this morning's incident: "You don't want a tutor?"

Sang Zhi answered ambiguously, "I don't want to study."

"At your age," Duan Jiaxu chuckled lightly, "what else would you want to do besides studying?"

Sang Zhi was stumped, puffing her cheeks: "You wouldn't understand."

Duan Jiaxu pointed at the wrong answers, telling her to review them a few more times, then said, "Alright, your brother doesn't understand. You can do whatever you want to do, but make sure it's during your free time. At least don't let it interfere with your studies."

Sang Zhi: "I know."

"Go review this on your own later." Duan Jiaxu closed the textbook. "That's all for today."

Sang Zhi nodded.

As soon as the lesson ended, Duan Jiaxu leaned back in his chair. Soon, his eyelids flickered as if suddenly remembering something, drawing out his words: "Kid—"

"..."

How accustomed was he to calling her that?

Was it really that hard to change?

Just as Sang Zhi was about to protest,

she heard him say: "I heard you think your brother is handsome?"

"..."

She immediately swallowed her words.

Duan Jiaxu slowly leaned closer to her, exhaling a long, soft laugh: "Let your brother see what you took earlier."

Sang Zhi didn't want to show him and was extremely grateful she hadn't brought her phone. She pretended to pat her pockets and said calmly, "My phone's in my room."

Then,

Duan Jiaxu said very naturally, "Go get it."

"..." Sang Zhi braced herself and said, "I don't want to."

"Not going to take a few more photos?" Duan Jiaxu propped his cheek on his hand, his voice tinged with teasing. "Little Sang Zhi can take however many photos she wants, your brother will cooperate. Then pick the best one to show your little friends, help our little Sang Zhi save face."

Sang Zhi said uncomfortably, "...No need."

"Is that so—" He actually sounded somewhat regretful. "What a pity."

"..."

"Not going to reconsider?" Duan Jiaxu laughed. "Kid, don't you think it's a waste?"

Sang Zhi was provoked into irritation by his teasing and didn't respond. She jumped off the chair, silently gathered her things, and returned to her room. After putting her things away, she stared in the direction of her pillow, silent.

Perhaps she'd been brainwashed.

At this moment, in her flustered and angry state, she actually genuinely felt it was a great pity.

She even felt the urge to go back on her decision—Afterwards, Sang Zhi didn't hear any movement indicating Duan Jiaxu had left.

Listening to the sounds outside, it seemed Duan Jiaxu and Sang Yan had started playing games again, though they had moved the battlefield to Sang Yan's room. Sang Zhi felt somewhat frustrated, but even if Sang Yan weren't home, she wouldn't have been able to swallow her pride and bring up the matter again.

Sang Zhi flipped through the photo in her phone, thinking this single picture might be enough.

She wouldn't be greedy.

She felt like going over but couldn't find a reason to disturb them.

Suddenly remembering that her mother Li Ping usually cut fruit for guests, Sang Zhi decided not to rely on Sang Yan. Not wanting to shortchange Duan Jiaxu, she hesitantly left her room, went to the kitchen, opened the refrigerator, and carried out a watermelon.

Placing the watermelon on the counter, she picked up a fruit knife but had no idea how to proceed. Scratching her head, she simply took a tray and placed both the watermelon and knife on it.

Then, struggling with the weight, she carried it into Sang Yan's room.

Noticing the movement, Sang Yan and Duan Jiaxu instinctively glanced over.

Duan Jiaxu: "..."

Sang Yan: "..."

Sang Zhi placed the watermelon beside them and said, thinking herself very considerate, "I brought you some fruit."

"..." Sang Yan's temple twitched. "If you wanted some, you could've just called me to cut it for you. No need to go through all this trouble."

Duan Jiaxu, sitting on the sofa, couldn't help but laugh at Sang Zhi's antics.

Annoyed that her intentions were misunderstood, Sang Zhi retorted unhappily, "I didn't want any. I brought it for you."

Sang Yan: "You brought a whole watermelon?"

"..." Sang Zhi lost her confidence. "Well, I don't know how to cut it."

Sang Yan stared at her for a few seconds before suddenly getting up, picking up the tray, and heading toward the kitchen. "I give up. I've barely played this game for long, and now I have to serve you again."

"..."

Scolded, Sang Zhi felt upset but didn't dare talk back.

The next moment, Duan Jiaxu waved her over, pointing to Sang Yan's game controller. "Come keep me company and play a game."

Sang Zhi dawdled over and sat in Sang Yan's spot.

They were playing King of Fighters. Although Sang Zhi wasn't particularly fond of it, she had often played with Sang Yan before and was fairly decent. Today, however, she couldn't focus, randomly pressing buttons without really trying.

Soon, her character's health bar was nearly depleted.

Duan Jiaxu paused the game and asked, "Do you know how to play?"

Sang Zhi nodded. "Yes."

"Then you just don't like this game?"

"Mm."

Duan Jiaxu set down his controller and gestured casually toward the game cartridges. "Go pick one you like."

"Okay." Sang Zhi browsed through them, swapped it for Super Mario, and said, "Let's play this."

"Sure."

Not long after, Sang Yan returned with a plate of cut watermelon. He seemed to have received a text message, glancing at his phone as he said, "I'm heading out for a bit. I'll be back soon."

Sang Zhi: "Where are you going?"

"None of your business, little brat." Sang Yan waved his phone. "Just enjoy your watermelon."

Then, taking his wallet from the drawer, he was about to leave when he suddenly remembered Duan Jiaxu. "Hey, are you coming with me or staying here?"

Duan Jiaxu's eyes remained fixed on the screen. "I'll stay a bit longer. I have a part-time job later—I'll head straight there from here."

"Alright," Sang Yan said. "I'll probably be back before you leave."Soon, the house inexplicably contained only the two of them.

This round was Duan Jiaxu's turn to play the game. Feeling a bit bored, Sang Zhi started a conversation: "Brother, do you know where my brother went?"

"Hmm?" Duan Jiaxu said in a casual tone, "Maybe he wants to get a girlfriend before Valentine's Day."

"..."

Sang Zhi suddenly remembered that this year's Valentine's Day happened to fall on the first day of the Lunar New Year.

There were only a few days left until then.

She turned to look at Duan Jiaxu and, thinking about how popular he was with girls due to his personality and appearance, she asked as if casually: "What about you?"

Duan Jiaxu: "Hmm?"

Sang Zhi fell silent for a few seconds, inexplicably holding her breath: "Brother, are you planning to date someone?"

Duan Jiaxu raised the corners of his eyes: "Me?"

"..."

"Depends on the situation," he said with a laugh.

Sang Zhi suddenly remembered what he had said before about going back to his hometown to work after graduation, and connected it with his current words. Her chest felt as if a heavy stone was pressing down on it, making her feel stifled and utterly helpless.

Just then, it was her turn to play. Sang Zhi pretended the topic was over and quietly focused on the game.

In the ensuing silence.

Sang Zhi suddenly had an extremely selfish thought.

She felt that at this age, if she said it, he might dismiss it as childish nonsense or treat it as a joke. Once she grew older, she probably wouldn't be able to bring herself to say it.

Only now was the right time to speak up.

Staring at the screen, Sang Zhi's heart pounded like a drum. Nervously licking her lips, she mustered up the courage to ask: "Brother, can you not date anyone?"

Duan Jiaxu paused and turned to look at her, as if he couldn't believe what he had heard.

"What?"

"Don't date anyone," Sang Zhi said with a blank expression, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "It's better to focus on your studies."

Duan Jiaxu stared at her for a long moment, seemingly finding it absurd, and instead laughed out loud: "Kid, be reasonable. Why don't you tell your brother not to date anyone?"

Author's note: Sang Zhi: I wouldn't care if my brother dated a man.