When Yvon entered the classroom, the class had already begun. He squeezed into the crowd of teachers who were listening to the lesson. He had been in the room earlier, but a female teacher didn't have a chair, so he had given her his chair and left to get another one. Due to coming and going like this, he was late.

The air conditioner had broken down, and thus eight or nine teachers squeezed in the back of the classroom felt so hot that they were all fanning themselves with textbooks.

Yvon had just arrived at Samuel High School. He would be teaching chemistry to two classes of juniors. This week, the school arranged a series of seminars for the chemistry teachers.

He was now attending a seminar in Class Four, the best class in the school. The female teacher presenting the lesson today was in her 30s. She was highly educated and had a husband who worked in the Bureau of Education. In addition to all these things, she gave quite a good lecture full of energy.

Absorbed in the class, he had written down many notes when the teacher next to him asked in a low voice, "Mr. Fonda, do you have any tissues?"

This teacher was Mr. Pond, and he was almost 50. He was fat like a big cake.

Yvon nodded and handed a pack of tissues over to him silently.

Just as Yvon turned his head, he happened to meet someone's eyes. The boy in the last row was leaning against his chair back and casually tilting his head. The lips on his handsome face curved into a faint smile as he glanced over at Yvon with interest.

The boy's eyes were like a hook stabbing straight into Yvon's heart. Yvon suddenly felt uneasy and looked around in surprise when he wondered, "Is he looking at me?"

Yvon turned his gaze to the boy again. The boy was resting his chin on his hand with his eyes half-closed, peering at Yvon openly.

Yvon felt a little uncomfortable and coughed quietly, frowning. The boy let out a muffled chuckle and lowered his head. Yvon could vaguely make out the curve of the boy's lean and muscular back.

"What is he laughing at?"

Yvon couldn't figure it out, but there was nothing he could do about it. Under the boy's naked gaze, Yvon was sitting on pins and needles. He endured intense discomfort throughout the whole class. It was not until the bell rang that he was finally able to relax.

All the teachers in the back of the classroom got up and were about to leave. The teacher at the podium walked over to Yvon and said, "Hey, Mr. Fonda."

He moved away to let the other teachers leave and then spoke with the female teacher for a while. She asked him with a smile, "What subject are you discussing in your next demonstration lesson?"

"Polar molecules."

"Well, the school administrators might attend your lesson. I heard that the Bureau of Education is also sending someone to watch. You should get well-prepared."

"Okay, thank you." He nodded. But no matter how hard he tried, he felt uneasy as he vaguely felt a passionate gaze coming from behind him.

He walked step by step to the back row under that straightforward gaze. When he passed by the boy's table, he suddenly heard the boy utter lazily, "Hey, sir, you dropped something."

Yvon was stunned. He looked down and saw that the draft of calculations he had written down during the class just now had fallen on the ground at his feet. "Oh, thank you." Before Yvon could pick it up, he felt someone blowing on his ear. The moist breath dampened his ear and made him shiver with an itch.

He looked up and met the boy's smiling eyes. The boy stretched out his leg and blocked Yvon's way as he looked up at Yvon. "Sir..." he paused and moved his face closer with his eyes fixed on Yvon like a predator, "have we met before?"

Some students around looked over. Yvon closed his lips tightly before he strode past the boy's leg and said, "No."

The next day, Yvon was ready to go to Class Six after he had finished his lesson in Class Three. When he passed by Class Four, where he had been to the seminar yesterday, he saw a group of tall and sturdy boys standing in two rows by each side of the corridor, chatting and laughing.

He walked over through the path between them, ignorant of what would happen next. Suddenly, the boys greeted him loudly in unison, "Good afternoon, sir!"

With the deafening sound of so many boys shouting in their hoarse voices, Yvon could barely keep his balance. He nodded stiffly and replied, "Good afternoon."

Just as he was about to leave after greeting them, he found someone blocking his way. He looked up along the boy's Adam's apple and saw the same casual smile on his face as yesterday. The boy slowly bent down toward him and said with his amber eyes glistening, "Sir, what's your name? Can you tell me?"

Yvon was a little annoyed. Without saying a word, he walked to the left to bypass the boy but was stopped. He was stopped again when he turned to the right. He heard a muffled giggle coming from the boy. Yvon could tell from the boy's trembling chest that he was trying to hold back laughter. "Don't be so stingy, sir. Tell me."

The students around were all laughing. Yvon felt he was being teased by them. He took a deep breath with suppressed anger, raised his head, and looked into the boy's deep eyes. "Yvon Fonda."

"Oh, Mr. Fonda." The boy nodded with a serious face and then approached him with a smile. He lowered his voice and asked, "What a good name. How do you spell it?" He straightened up, grinning, and continued, "Mr. Fonda, you're funny."

Yvon pushed the boy away with a frown and strode forward quickly.

"Mr. Fonda!" a shout came from behind.

Yvon stopped in his tracks and turned around suspiciously. He saw the boy grinning and waving at him. The boy curved his charming eyes lazily and uttered, "My name is Zaire Gray."

Yvon turned around and entered Class Six.

Of course, Yvon knew that the boy was named Zaire Gray. Everyone knew this notorious name. Yvon had heard that name even before he knew the principal's name. Zaire was well-known as a top student with a bad disposition.

For the next three days, the students would make such a scene every time Yvon passed by the door of Class Four. Yvon didn't know that there was a tradition in this school of new teachers being teased by the students, which made him very embarrassed.

He had no choice but to bypass Class Four and Class Five by going down the stairs on the left of Class Three and then going up the stairs on the right of Class Six. In this way, he finally managed to escape the students' pranks.

Halfway down the stairs to Class Six, Yvon found that he forgot to bring the reference book for the next lesson, so he went back to get it. He hurried upstairs and looked up, only to see Zaire, who had been waiting there.

Yvon wanted to pretend that he didn't see Zaire and directly tried to walk by him, but he was stopped on both the left and right sides, just like the last time. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get past this boy and even bumped into his sturdy chest.

Yvon finally couldn't stand it anymore. He lost his temper and flared up at him. "Zaire Gray! What do you want from me?"

"Nothing. Mr. Fonda, can't I play with you?" He grinned cheekily, his eyes glittering with dangerous motives, and said, "Mr. Fonda, I really liked it when you called me by my name. Can you address me like that again?"

Yvon turned his face away to avoid Zaire's eyes. "Get out of my way."

Yvon was 32 years old and had been teaching for 10 years. He had never thought he would have been cornered by a student on the stairs now.

"No."

"I need to get to the classroom."

Zaire was a student who had no respect for teachers. With his usual reckless disregard for discipline, he obviously didn't take Yvon's words seriously.

"Then I'll go to have your class. I can skip PE."

"Zaire!"

"Hmm? Mr. Fonda, did you just call out my name?"

"What on earth do you want to do?"

"Play. Didn't I tell you that I want to play with you?"

"I don't want to play."

Zaire grinned from ear to ear, revealing his white teeth. His eyes were fixed on Yvon as he pretended to be frustrated and said, "Eh, what should I do? I really want to play with you."