Yvon began to run into Zaire in every place at the school, including the corridor, the stairwell, the cafeteria, the office, and even by the bathroom door. With the advantage of his physique and height, Zaire always made himself a big obstruction, getting in Yvon's way. Sometimes, Zaire was not alone when he was followed by two boys—a fat one with a playful smile named Louis Lange and the other reticent one called John Dent.

What embarrassed Yvon the most was that Zaire was good at inciting others, and thus Yvon would encounter the students' grand greeting each time he passed by Class Four.

Zaire frequently went to Yvon's office to ask questions. Yvon shared this office at the end of the corridor on the second floor with two other teachers, whose time to give lessons was different from his. Therefore, Yvon was always alone there, which made him suffer when Zaire showed up.

Zaire was quite tall. He stood behind Yvon's chair with one hand on the desk and the other on the back of the chair. The distance between them was so close that Yvon felt a sense of danger, and he was almost wrapped in Zaire's strong arms.

He hated it when Zaire deliberately whispered in his ear. Zaire's breath was so soft and itchy that Yvon went numb all over.

After being pestered countless times, Yvon finally couldn't put up with it anymore and told Zaire straightforwardly, "Can't you ask your chemistry teacher? I'm busy."

Zaire held a textbook in his arms and smiled playfully, but he said with an innocent tone, "What's wrong, Mr. Fonda? Is it that I can't ask you questions just because I'm not your student? I tend to ask any of the teachers once I have questions. I thought every teacher would be willing to help. Are you saying that I can't do that?"

Mr. Pond, who had just come back from making coffee, heard this and thought that Yvon was reluctant to help a student from another class, so he instructed him earnestly, "Oh, Mr. Fonda, it's good to have students come to you with questions. It doesn't matter whether he's your student or not. As a good teacher, you need to help him. Come on, let's have some coffee and talk."

Having been misunderstood, Yvon felt a lump in his throat. He gritted his teeth as he saw the undisguised pride on Zaire's face. He was so angry that he didn't feel like drinking that cup of coffee at all.

"According to valence shell electron pair repulsion... it's the van der Waals force between the particles that affects their melting points and boiling points... The relative molecular mass of trisulfur is relatively higher, and the van der Waals force between its particles is stronger, so it has a much higher melting point and boiling point than that of carbon dioxide," he said as he looked up at Zaire. "Do you understand now?"

He knew well that Zaire had long since known how to solve such a problem. Both of them were only pretending in front of Mr. Pond.

Zaire nodded in understanding as his palm naturally covered Yvon's hand that was holding the pen and said, "Is this the answer? Look."

Yvon hurriedly withdrew his hand with fright and growled, "What are you doing?!"

Zaire was stunned for a moment before he nodded again and looked into Yvon's eyes. "What do you think I'm doing?"

Yvon avoided his gaze and whispered coldly, "You're harassing me."

"No," Zaire paused for a few seconds and suddenly laughed, "I'm pursuing you."

Yvon held his breath. "I'll tell your teacher."

His words sounded like a complaint from another student.

"Okay, then you'd better tell the principal. She's my aunt. Go ahead, Mr. Fonda. You can tell her whatever you want. Anyway, I will be fine." Zaire raised his eyebrows and revealed a faint smile as if he was provoking Yvon.

For a moment, Yvon couldn't tell if this was just a prank. He couldn't believe that he was caught off guard by everything a boy in puberty did to him.

He had encountered such a situation many times every year. It was normal for adolescents to have feelings for young teachers. Even if Yvon was kind of aloof, his stunning appearance did attract a lot of students to him.

He had always acted decisively by refusing those students directly or conversing with their head teacher. It was not a good way to go about it, but it had always been effective.

However, Zaire was an exception. It seemed that all of Yvon's methods would not work on him.

At noon, he was so stuffed that he felt sleepy. He lay on the desk for a nap, but he overslept until his class in the afternoon was about to begin. When he woke up, the other two teachers in the office had already gone.

After lying on the desk for too long, his neck and back were stiff and painful. He got up and stretched to relax his muscles.

The curtains in the office were so thick that the room was dark and stuffy. He walked over and opened them up. The golden sunlight in the fall afternoon shone on him, making him feel comfortable.

He heard the enthusiastic cheers of the girls downstairs. The basketball court in high school was always filled with boys' energy and vitality.

He saw the focus of everyone's attention. A lean and agile boy jumped high up in the air and casually swung his arm. The ball drew a beautiful arc through the air and went in the basket for a three-pointer. With that, the cheers grew louder. Just by shooting a ball, the boy would send the excitement of the crowd to a climax every time.

Yvon envied such youthful vitality for no reason. It was unrestrained and vigorous. Adolescents truly had thousands of possibilities.

Zaire suddenly stopped to turn around and saw Yvon standing by the window on the second floor. He whistled and shouted upstairs, "Hey, Mr. Fonda!"

The tall and strong boy patted the ball with one hand and waved at Yvon, smiling. "Are you peeking at me?"

It took Yvon a long time to come to his senses from the beam of sunlight and the boy's bright smile. He blushed and closed the curtains in a hurry.

Louis put his hand on Zaire's back. "What are you doing? You've been playing tricks on that teacher for a long time. Won't you get tired of it?"

Zaire threw the basketball behind him. The chewing gum in his mouth gradually lost its taste. He looked at the tightly closed curtains upstairs with interest and desire in his eyes. No one knew why he was smiling. He replied to Louis, "I'm still playing with him."

Yvon thought he might have been hurt by the overwhelming energy of adolescents since his left eye was a little swollen and pained when he woke up the next day. At first, he didn't pay much attention to it. But then, he found that the inner corner of his eye seemed to be also swollen when he was brushing his teeth on Friday. It hurt so much that he couldn't even put on his glasses.

On Saturday, he went to the hospital to see a doctor and was diagnosed with inflammation of a local gland. The doctor prescribed him antiseptic ointment and told him to take good care of his eyes.

When he came out of the hospital, it began to rain outside. He shivered as the rain splashed on him. It was getting colder and colder in the fall. His home was not far from the hospital, but he might get sick after getting wet in the rain.

The rain poured down from the sky. There was already a large group of people without umbrellas waiting at the entrance of the hospital. When he saw that, he thought it might be hard to get a cab home.

He had no choice but to turn back and sit on the bench in the hospital lobby, waiting for the rain to stop. He began to look at the boring news on social media, where netizens would make comments to argue with each other. It was suffocating on such a rainy day. Gradually, he felt a headache. He curled up and rubbed his forehead, trying to ease the pain. When he looked down, he saw a pair of wet shoes in front of him.

"Hey, Mr. Fonda. What a coincidence to see you here." A familiar voice with a wicked laugh was heard.

Yvon raised his head and saw the faint smile on that handsome face again. He was inexplicably afraid of this boy, who was over a dozen years younger than him. Yvon turned his gaze away unnaturally.

Zaire had sharp eyes. He noticed Yvon's infected eyes and exclaimed, "What's wrong with your eyes? Did you touch something unclean?"

"You're the unclean thing I touched," Yvon couldn't help but think.

Instead of answering him, Yvon asked, "What are you doing here in the hospital?"

"Yeah, why did I come here without being sick? Guess." Zaire lifted the umbrella in his hand and said with a faint smile, "Let's go, Mr. Fonda. I'll take you home."

"There's no need."

"What? The rain won't be stopping any time soon. There aren't enough cabs outside. You can only sit here like a fool because you can't get a cab home. Let's go. I need to use your bathroom to take a shower. I'm soaked to the skin."

Yvon looked at Zaire's drenched pants and retorted, "Why don't you return to own your home and take a shower there?"

"You're so heartless. I came to pick you up. Are you going to watch as I get sick?"

The size of Yvon's apartment was less than 100 square meters. It was cozy, though it had old-fashioned decoration. Yvon collapsed on the sofa as he heard the sound of running water coming from the bathroom, similar to that of the heavy rain outside.

His mind was in a mess. He didn't know why had brought bring Zaire back here.

He had almost been in Zaire's embrace all the way home. Once he had moved a little bit away from him, Zaire's arm would tighten around him again. And Zaire would say, "Where are you going? You're so afraid of me. How about we take two different routes? Then, you'll be left in the rain without my umbrella."

Yvon was extremely uneasy, and his ears were burning. "Can you take your arm off me?"

"I'm sheltering you from the rain. Look, my hands are soaked. The umbrella isn't big. Be obedient. Besides," he paused with a smile and lowered his voice, "I'm not going to eat you."

The sound of running water in the bathroom gradually stopped. Yvon quickly got up and went to the refrigerator. He remembered there were some drinks inside, which could be used to entertain this unwelcome visitor.

He didn't know how to cook and didn't like eating snacks, so there was nothing to eat in the refrigerator except for yogurt and some instant food.

He felt a little nervous when he heard the bathroom door open. As the footsteps were getting closer and closer, his growing anxiety and embarrassment made him want to hide inside the refrigerator.

The boy stood still behind him, and Yvon could feel the hot and humid air coming hitting his back. Suddenly, an arm stretched out from behind and landed on the refrigerator door. He shrank back but was squeezed between the refrigerator and Zaire. He almost fell into Zaire's arms, and his glasses got foggy from the heat of this boy's body.

"Mr. Fonda, can I ask you a question?" Zaire's voice was soft.

Yvon could almost feel the resonance in Zaire's chest as he spoke. He forced himself to calm down and said, "Go ahead."

"Do you believe in love at first sight?"

The overly narrow space made Yvon anxious. He had a hunch that this question was a trap set up for him. He avoided Zaire's head and said, "No."

"Tsk, that's really unfair." Zaire bent his head and moved closer, so close that Yvon could no longer avoid him and had to look up at him. "I fell for you at first sight. Why didn't you feel the same?"

After that, he bent down and kissed Yvon on the face.