Beauty and the Bodyguard

~~ _(UNEDITED BECAUSE MY EDITOR DISAPPEARED)_~~

It was still quiet when Lin Yi reached the school- it didn’t seem to be break yet.

Lin Yi made his way to the classroom, peeking his head in only to see a class with no teacher. It was self study.

Lin Yi decided to just push through the doors directly, earning the gazes of many students who lowered their heads again after realizing it was Lin Yi. They didn’t have the time to be minding other people’s business- they were twelfth graders, afer all.

Yushu poked at Mengyao. “Yao Yao, look! Shield Guy’s here.”

“Okay, Shield Guy;s here, so what?” Mengyao frowned, a little displeased at Yushu’s reaction. “Shu, why’re you always so focused on him? Are you in love with him, after all?”

“Big guy walking straight into class, of course I’d notice him!” Yushu said with a shrug. “Fine, I won’t say anything from now on, since it’s nothing to do with you anyway.”

“......” Mengyao opened her mouth to say something, deciding to keep it shout instead. She shook her head as she went back to studying.

Yushu only looked at Mengyao as she smiled faintly, turning back to her desk.

“Wait, Shu, how come Lin YI took an entire morning just for a medical checkup? It’s the afternoon already- you don’t think he’d hooked up with Song Lingshan again, do you?” Mengyao turned her head back abruptly.

“Hah? I thought you didn’t care about him?” Yushu teased with a grin as she looked at Mengyao.

“He’s a shield by father paid good money for, of course I’d be annoyed if he went outside for stuff like that instead of doing his job!” Mengyao didn’t know why she suspected Lin Yi of something like that, but a good excuse came up: Lin Yi should be doing his job properly if he was receiving a salary for it.

“Why don’t you go talk to him about it, then? Tell him not to be such a playboy, that he should be your shield and your shield only.” Yushu suggested relaxingly.

“Playboy? My shield only?!” Mengyao’s face lit up with a blush in response. “Shu, word choice! What you say is always so ambiguous!”

“What? It’s true, your dad hired him to be your shield- it’s not like my dad’s putting any money in for his protection.” Yushu explained logically. “How bout you let him be _my_ shield if you think my phrasing’s inappropriate? We might not need him now, but you never know in college!”

“Get lost! Don’t you have that brother of yours already? You don’t even need a shield!” Mengyao said with a laugh, a little shaky and uncomfortable inside- it was like Yushu was stealing something from her.

Zhong Pinliang flinched a little on instinct upon seeing Lin Yi. He’d been scolded and lectured by his father, who told him to stop causing trouble at school… It was all Lin Yi’s fault!

But he understood perfectly well- He’d be fucked in hand to hand combat with Lin Yi. Even Heibao Bro lost after pulling a gun out, the guy was insane!

Pinliang understood his place, and the fact that conventional means held no bearing on Lin Yi. He decided to wait for a suitable opportunity to present itself, something that’d give him an edge over Lin Yi.

He’d also decided to give Kang Xiaobo a break- the guy was totally under Lin Yi’s protection, and Pinliang saw no merit in messing with him, especially only if Lin Yi would just come beat them up again. It wasn’t worth it.

“Yo, boss! There you are!” Xiaobo greeted excitedly as he spotted Lin Yi, waving his had in the air.

“What’re you doing, waving your hand like that? You think you’re a president or something?” LIn Yi said with a smile, giving a soft kick to Xiaobo before seating himself at his table.

“You know, boss, Zhong Pinliang’s been really quiet today! He didn’t even do anything to me when you weren’t here!”

“Isn’t that good?” Lin Yi said. “Anything happen today?”

“Nope. The school gave a brief announcement about the whole incident, saying that there were just some thugs looking for trouble, and that they’d been sent to the police station already.” Xiaobo reported. “Fuck! It’s all because of Zhong Pinliang’s family, the school’s protecting him! Everyone else knows _he’s_ the one who brought the gangsters in!”

“Hm…” Lin Yi had heard from Li Fu earlier that he had an uncle in the Pengzhan Industries board of directors. It made him one of the stockholders of Songshan’s First School, so it wasn’t a surprise that the school would cover for Pinliang.

“Oh, right- Boss, guess what people are calling you right now?” Xiaobo said softly, his voice clearly excited.

“Huh? What?” Lin Yi didn’t know where this was coming from.

“Boss, you’re now one of the Big Four! You’ve replaced Zhong Pinliang as the Third in the BIg Four!!” Kang Xiaobo said excitedly, as if it was something glorious.

“Big Four…?” Lin Yi went cold at the news- _Big Four?!_ He’d been trying so hard to lay low all the time, even careful as to not score too high on exams… How the hell did he just become famous like that?

It was something he should be proud of, apparently, judging by how Xiaobo was acting.

“That’s right! Boss, you’ll probably even become the eldest of the BIg Four if you do something big again! You’ll be the First!” Xiaobo addded.

“The First?” Lin Yi was speechless- he’d really rather be the Third if he had to choose.

Yet there wasn’t much Lin yi could do about it- Everyone saw the whole fight yesterday. Heibao Bro was the one who came marching into the school, but no one would think that that was the case; they probably saw Lin Yi as one of those violence-loving delinquents who fought for fun, even destroying Zhong Pinliang the Third! Of course he’d get assigned a title in the Big Four.

The bell for recess rang, interrupting Lin Yi’s conversation with Xiaobo. He wasn’t really pleased with his new title, but that wasn’t for him to decide- people had the freedom to say whatever they wanted, he supposed.

Though, it didn’t seem so bad, looking at it from another perspective- he wouldn’t have as much trouble as Mengyao’s bodyguard with the title. People wouldn’t even think of messing with him at this point.

Last period on Friday was sports, and the students were allowed to choose between remaining in class to study or go out for some exercise. It was a weekly tradition for some time to relax.

Even the most hardcore of nerds found time to take a break during that period, taking a walk around school and shopping for some accessories or food, for instance.

Mengyao and Yushu left the classroom together, followed by Zhong Pinliang, who motioned to his two followers as he stood up. He’d lost the battle to Lin Yi, but chasing after Mengyao was another thing entirely- he’d wanted to see if he could give a good impression to her this time around.

vote vote vote top 3 is FUCKING GETTING AWAY

*[Long Taos]: side characters in Chinese operas who perform acrobatics and fight scenes

*[12.47 to 13.07]: don't ask me about the tree sap