Mr. Sam led his students to the auditorium and ushered them on stage while he sat at one of the empty audience seats.

Some of the students were wondering why they were there. They expected to see the teacher from the drama club there to teach them some acting classes but the only member of the staff was Mr. Sam.

Incidentally, Mr. Sam did know a thing or two about the dramatic arts. After all, the language and the theatre, very rarely could they be separated. Since this was merely a class assignment, Mr. Sam did not want to trouble the drama teacher and decided to give his students some acting pointers on his own.

“Alright, I need you all to spread apart on the stage. And please stick to your groups,” Mr. Sam clapped his hands and announced.

The students did what they were told. For Jun Yang’s group, the young man was bookended by Pei Ling on his left and Feng Qi on his right, the lone member, Cindy stood apart from them. If possible, this was a mess that she did not want to get involved with. After all, she was roped into this conflict by Pei Ling, she personally had no beef with Feng Qi or Jun Yang.

Mr. Sam continued with his directions, “Okay, first, we’re going to do something called the trust exercise. It is very simple. I need you to pair up with a team member and all you need to do is to lean backwards and trust that he or she will be there to catch you. As the name suggests, the exercise is to form trust. Now, come on, let’s get moving. We don’t have all day.”

The students mobilized and Jun Yang felt a tap coming from his left. It was Pei Ling who approached him to ask, “Jun Yang, do you mind being my partner?”

Jun Yang still had his reservation even though they had supposedly put the incident behind them already. Incidentally, it was the talk they had that morning that pressured Jun Yang into partnering with Pei Ling because if he said no, then it would appear like he had not forgiven her and that was not his intention.

Jun Yang was about to agree when Mr. Sam added, “By the way, please pair up with your team member of the same sex. Since you’ll both need to take turn doing the exercise, it’s easier when you’re at least equally strong. I know in today’s day and age, girls might be powerful enough to catch the guys but this is for a precaution. It is better to be safe than sorry. What if they slip and fall and hit their head on the ground? And if your team is of odd number, then you will need to take alternative turns.”

The reason given by Mr. Sam for his arrangement sounded official but that was not entirely the truth. Another part of the reason was Mr. Sam did not want his students to have too close of a physical contact with members of the opposite sex. He did not want to receive complaint letters from student’s parents that the teacher forced their child into unsightly interaction with another student or that he encouraged relationship between students.

You simply could not tell how sensitive a person could be these days, like what Mr. Sam said, it was better to be safe than sorry.

Even though internally he was relieved, on the surface, Jun Yang told Pei Ling in an apologetic tone, “I’m sorry, Pei Ling but I’m sure you’ll pair off just fine with Cindy. It’s Mr. Sam’s orders after all.”

“It’s okay, I understand.” Pei Ling smiled with understanding.

Right then, Feng Qi swooped in like an eagle who saw an opening and grabbed Jun Yang’s arm, “Well then, partner, looks like it’s just you and me.” Then, before Jun Yang had the chance to say anything, he pulled the young man away. The stage was only so big and Mr. Sam did tell them to stay in group so they could not have wondered that far but the distance that Jun Yang and Feng Qi put between themselves and Pei Ling could have been a chasm at the Grand Canyon.

As Jun Yang was pulled away, he was too busy semi-resisting his “captor” that he did not notice the smile on Pei Ling’s face had turned into a dissatisfied frown. However, that was not his concern anymore because he had someone else to worry about.

“So, who shall start first?” Jun Yang asked before Feng Qi had the chance to start his nonsense.

Feng Qi volunteered, “I’ll go first. I have absolute trust in you, Jun Yang, so I’m sure you’ll definitely catch me.”

Then, he turned away from Jun Yang to assume the position. Jun Yang held his hands out in preparation and he wondered where did Feng Qi’s blind confidence come from. How could he be so sure that he was definitely going to catch him?

Feng Qi did not give Jun Yang much time to think because he soon started the exercise. “Alright, I’m starting now.” Then, the young man leaned and careened backwards. There was no hesitation in his movement. Like he said, he placed absolute faith in Jun Yang. It felt as if even if Jun Yang did not catch him, he would not have minded.

Ultimately, Jun Yang did not let him fall. The young man was occasionally annoyed by Feng Qi’s shamelessness but it had not reached a point where he was going to let Feng Qi get himself injured over it. In fact, if he was really being honest, sometimes, he kinda liked it when Feng Qi was acting all shameless around him. It was such a contrast to his more reserved behavior that Jun Yang felt like Feng Qi’s shameless actions helped to draw him out of his shell.

Jun Yang stood behind Feng Qi and the latter fell gracefully into his arms. Jun Yang grunted because Feng Qi was heavier than he expected. He propped the young man up by supporting his back and shoulders. He tried to push Feng Qi into a standing position but the man felt like a dead weight in his arms. It was hard trying to move someone who was not pulling his own weight.

They were caught in close proximity and try as he might, it was hard for Jun Yang to not feel what was literally in his arms.