Fell for it
2001 Words
“If no one's sitting here, I’ll take the seat, okay?”
Two seconds later.
Ruan An’an heard herself hum in agreement.
Then she watched him step in with his long legs. As he moved, his shirt clung slightly to his waistline, revealing that beautifully sculpted silhouette — and just below that was the very thing she'd been dreaming about—
“Thanks for the other day,” Pretty Butt interrupted her thoughts and turned to her. “I'm an exchange student, just arrived, so I'm not very familiar with this place.”
“…”
He must be referring to the directions she gave him the other day.
Ruan An’an didn’t expect him to start a conversation so directly, so she blurted out, “I’m an exchange student too.”
He clearly paused. “You too?”
She nodded.
She had her reasons. She didn’t really have a choice.
Their eyes met, and he stared at her for a moment. His eyes sparkled, then he smiled and said slowly and clearly, “What a coincidence.”
She wasn’t sure if it was just her imagination, but those words felt especially meaningful coming from him.
Trying to stay calm, Ruan An’an replied, “Yeah… what a coincidence.”
—Though she said that, deep down she was practically shouting:
—Coincidence?
No.
We were strangers. Everything that’s happening is because I engineered it.
This! Is! Not! A! Coincidence!
…
After they sat down, Ruan An’an noticed that Pretty Butt seemed to be busy — maybe responding to some important messages. He was glued to his phone, fingers occasionally sliding across the screen.
While pretending to be busy chatting in the group chat herself, Ruan An’an kept sneaking glances at him.
The oddly awkward but intriguing vibe between them continued until the attendance sheet was passed up from the front row. It seemed he had finished whatever he was doing. Ruan An’an recognized that attendance book — standard issue at C University. Some professors, too lazy to take roll themselves, had students sign in during class. She and Yin Yuan used to joke about it, even got people to sign in for them for early morning lectures.
There was a black pen clipped to the book. When it reached Pretty Butt, the girl in front of him passed it over.
Ruan An’an had been watching closely, so she clearly saw that the girl froze the moment their eyes met.
But he acted like nothing happened, naturally took the book, and politely nodded. “Thank you.”
“…”
Just two words — and the girl turned beet red, stammering out a response: “Y-you’re welcome.” Then she quickly turned back around and started shaking her friend’s arm in excitement. Ruan An’an couldn’t hear what she was saying, but she could easily guess.
Ruan An’an sighed internally.
If this were ancient times, he’d be a classic case of a beauty who brings ruin to kingdoms.
She glanced sideways and saw the “ruinous beauty” swiftly scribble his name. He wrote so fast she couldn’t catch it, and only when he slid the book over to her did she finally read it clearly.
Gu. Jue?
Maybe because she hesitated, she heard him chuckle. “What’s wrong? Is my handwriting that hard to read?”
“Huh?” Ruan An’an came back to herself and shook her head quickly. “No, no. I was just wondering—” She hesitated, “Is the second character in your name the ‘jue’ from ‘decision’?”
“Nope. The ‘jue’ from ‘formula’.”
She hadn't recognized it at first because of the connected strokes. “Oh,” she replied and began writing her own name.
And just like how she’d been staring at him earlier, she could feel him watching her now, even without looking up.
After signing, Ruan An’an passed the sheet to the next row. There was a mix of boys and girls, laughing and chatting — until she turned to pass it over. Then the whole group seemed to freeze in place, like someone hit the mute button.
She didn’t notice.
Turning back, she met Gu Jue’s eyes. “I’m Ruan An’an. ‘Ruan’ as in—”
She wanted to say something poetic, like “‘Ruan’ as in something beautiful, ‘An’ as in peaceful,” but her science-brained vocabulary failed her.
So she awkwardly finished with, “Ruan… as in the surname… An as in ‘safe’.”
Only afterward did it hit her.
…God, what a lame introduction.
…And she said it to Pretty Butt.
…Was she begging him to ignore her?
Maybe it was just because this guy was so special that even the tiniest things felt magnified.
The words were out, and Ruan An’an was already regretting it deeply.
But just as she was racking her brain to change the topic, he suddenly smiled.
“Ruan An’an. It’s a lovely name.”
She froze.
He smiled gently, his expression refined and warm.
Suddenly, she could feel the heat creeping into her cheeks.
Though they hadn’t spoken much during either of their encounters, both times left a deep impression.
He spoke slowly, with little change in tone, but his voice was so pleasant it was truly a joy to listen to.
Especially when he said her name — it was…
Just as she was savoring the moment, she heard it again.
“Ruan An’an.”
Before she could look up, a hand appeared in front of her.
His palm was smooth, fingers long and slender — a very beautiful hand.
She looked up, confused.
Gu Jue had placed his hand on the desk casually. “Can I borrow a pen?”
…
“...Who are those two in the back row?”
“No idea. Maybe they’re just auditing?”
“Are you dumb? This is a core econ class. No one audits this!”
“Then it’s even weirder… With looks like that, they’d already be campus-famous. Could they be exchange students?”
…
Ruan An’an, completely engrossed in talking to Gu Jue, was oblivious to the stares around them. Not until the teacher began the lecture did she reluctantly turn back.
Naturally, she had no idea that just half an hour later, a red-hot thread had already hit the C University forums:
**[Topic] #Spotted in Econ Dept — Two insanely good-looking exchange students just arrived in the junior class! Absolute campus eye-candy!#
—
Once class started, the PPT was projected on the big screen.
Ruan An’an skimmed it and realized she had studied this textbook two years ago.
Though she’d read the English version; this one was the Chinese translation.
The teacher’s style was quite formal — not one for student interaction. The first class mostly covered the syllabus, so few students were really paying attention. The room buzzed with low conversation.
Ruan An’an assumed Gu Jue borrowed her pen because he planned to take notes — after all, he hadn’t brought a bag, or even a notebook. She thought he’d soon ask to borrow one.
But half an hour passed.
She was not prepared for what happened.
He just twirled the pen in his fingers the entire time.
Ruan An’an glanced over, wanting to say something several times. Gu Jue must’ve noticed and chuckled. “I got into the habit in high school. I hated sitting through lectures, so I started spinning my pen.”
As he spoke, his fingers kept moving.
Spinning it around his thumb — clockwise, then counter-clockwise — and even flicking it through the gaps between his fingers. The slim black pen danced effortlessly between his pale, elegant fingers like a magic trick.
Ruan An’an was a sucker for good looks — not just faces, but legs, waist, hands, and yes, butt — all counted.
So watching such beautiful hands perform pen tricks was a treat in itself.
Another half-hour passed, and the professor ended class early.
As Gu Jue handed back her pen, he suddenly asked, “Is there a convenience store near the lecture hall?”
“Huh?”
“I’m thirsty. Didn’t bring water. The vending machine wasn’t restocked yet, probably because it’s the first day.”
Ruan An’an suddenly understood. “There’s a convenience store, but it’s pretty far… Closer is a drink shop — Hafu Milk Tea and Yelu Coconut Drink. Do you want one?”
“?” Ha—what? Yale?
Gu Jue thought he must have misheard, and was about to ask again when Ruan An’an suddenly smiled.
When she smiled, two little dimples appeared, her big eyes curved like a playful little fox — adorable and sly.
“Those are kind of a C University signature,” she said. “My grad school friend told me—oh wait.”
That wasn’t a lie. Yin Yuan was a grad student here now.
“There are lots of shops and milk tea places at C U. With all the competition, some try to grab attention with flashy names. Plus, many students here go abroad for grad school—” She flipped open her new notebook, quickly scribbled a few characters, and slid it toward him: “So, we ended up with these.”
Gu Jue looked down.
—Hafu Milk Tea
—Sitanfook Mart
—Yelu Coconut
Gu Jue: “…………”
The first two needed no explanation. Ruan An’an pointed at "Yelu" and said, “That one specializes in coconut juice.”
Gu Jue commented honestly, “…That one’s pretty on-the-nose.”
Then he looked up and asked, “Which one’s your favorite?”
“Hafu. My friend had me try it — their boba is amazing.” She hadn’t had any in three years and found herself missing it.
“Know how to get there?”
“Yeah.”
“Then take me. My treat.”
“?”
…Was this really happening?
Ruan An’an froze. “Why are you treating me?”
Gu Jue raised an eyebrow, as if surprised by the question. “Guide fee?”
“….”
Just before class ended, she had been wracking her brain for a polite, non-awkward way to keep this connection going.
Who would’ve thought—fate ran over all on its own.
What a glorious “guide fee!”
The clouds cleared, the sun shone, and Ruan An’an suddenly felt invincible again!
Her heart practically playing a victory march, she stuffed her notebook and pen into her bag and followed Gu Jue out the back door of the lecture hall.
The hallway was a little noisy, but her mind was flooded with two thoughts on loop:
“Pretty Butt is buying me milk tea.”
“HAHAHAHAHAHA!”
She didn’t even know what to say to him — too excited to think straight.
While waiting for the elevator, Ruan An’an opened WeChat and furiously typed into the “Stinky Sisters Squad” group chat:
[Ruan An’an]: See? Being classmates really is the best strategy! This move is too damn effective! First class in and Pretty Butt is already treating me to milk tea!!! AAAAAAA!!!
[Jiang Yi]: ?? What the hell? Is this guy not even a little reserved?!
[Yin Yuan]: ??? What happened to his ‘pure and innocent’ image?!
[Jiang Yi]: [old man on subway looking at phone.jpg]
While Ruan An’an was busy typing away, she didn’t notice that Gu Jue had also taken out his phone.
It vibrated silently. He answered.
His assistant’s familiar voice came through: “President Gu, do you still want to proceed with the video meeting scheduled in thirty minutes?”
“…”
Gu Jue glanced at the girl next to him.
She was head down, typing like mad, smiling so hard her dimples were out.
“…President Gu?”
Leaning casually against the wall, Gu Jue looked at her, his gaze relaxed and lazy. Then he lowered his voice slightly and said—
“Cancel it. Reschedule.”
- Writer
