USF Chapter 5: Low Blood Sugar

“Who’s Xia Dongchan again?” After the recording ended, Ming Rang walked side by side with Jiang Lian out of the classroom.

As they passed the wall of trainee photos, Jiang Lian came to a stop. His gaze swept over the photos until he curled his finger and tapped on one of them, “Xia Dongchan.”

Ming Rang glanced over and let his fingertip slide past Xia Dongchan’s picture to the one just to the right to Lin Ye’s. “Never heard of Xia Dongchan. But this one ”barely passable” I do know.”

Jiang Lian’s eyes lingered on Lin Ye’s face for a second. “I don’t know if Xia Dongchan’s hardworking, but whether he is or not, that’s obvious at a glance. I’m not talking about Xia Dongchan,” He narrowed his eyes slightly, “What, you want me to say on camera that the one who left the deepest impression on me, aside from you, was Lin Ye, just because he’s the most unmotivated?”

Ming Rang gave a short laugh, lowering his chin as he chuckled.

After two or three batches of trainees came and went from the neighboring classroom, Xia Dongchan finally came out. By the time he did, the other trainee inside was already halfway through their recording.

Lin Ye stood just outside the classroom. When Xia Dongchan pushed the door open from inside, the live call on speakerphone spilled out and flowed into his ears as clearly as running water.

The trainee was speaking with their grandparents. Both elderly, their hearing wasn’t very sharp, so the trainee practically had to scream at the top of their lungs in the classroom. The call was peppered with the warm, comforting laughter of the two elders.

Lin Ye zoned out a little, and couldn’t help but think, if his grandma were still alive, then a phone call between them might’ve sounded just like this, a peaceful scene of bliss.

A few steps ahead, Xia Dongchan turned and asked, puzzled, “Lin Ye, why are you still standing there?”

Finally snapping out of it, Lin Ye let out a slow breath, gently shut the half-open door, and turned to walk toward him.

Xia Dongchan asked him to go practice in Class B, but Lin Ye declined, saying he couldn’t keep up. By the time he returned to Class D, a few trainees were already following the video and practicing the dance moves.

He fell in at the back of the group and managed to get a rough grasp of the choreography for the theme song. When he looked up at the digital clock in front of the mirror, it was already 10:30 PM.

People in the classroom were starting to leave in groups, no one usually stayed up all night on the first day. Lin Ye pushed open the door to look for Xia Dongchan. There were still quite a few people in Class B. Lin Ye didn’t go inside. He stood in the hallway, opened the window, and called out Xia Dongchan’s name.

Xia Dongchan slipped out of the group and walked over to Lin Ye. Wiping the sweat from his forehead with one hand, he said, still slightly out of breath, “Wait another half an hour for me. Yang Xu and the others just went to shower, if you head back to the dorms now, you’ll end up last in line anyway.”

Lin Ye nodded. “Alright. Come find me when you’re done.”

As he walked back, Xia Dongchan threw him an “Ok” gesture over his shoulder.

Lin Ye turned to head back, but he caught something in his peripheral vision. On the other side of the corridor, Class A’s classroom was still brightly lit.

He paused, then walked toward Class A’s window. The glass facing the hallway was cracked open, and Lin Ye bent down, resting on the windowsill to peek inside.

The gap between the top students and the bottom of the barrel was as bright as day.

While their own class was still learning the basic steps, Class A was already drilling the finer details.

Lin Ye spotted Ming Rang but didn’t see Jiang Lian, who was always with him. Then again, it wasn’t surprising. Jiang Lian was the kind of person who was miles ahead of everyone just on talent alone.

Sensing his gaze, Ming Rang suddenly turned his head and looked straight at him.

After a moment’s thought, Lin Ye offered a smile as a way of greeting.

But Ming Rang raised an eyebrow and gestured upward in Lin Ye’s direction.

Confused, Lin Ye followed his line of sight, only to realize Ming Rang wasn’t looking at him, but rather below him.

Lin Ye froze. Reflexively, he lowered his gaze below the window.

What he saw was a pair of lips pressed into a straight line, a high-bridged nose, long lashes resting naturally, and bangs damp and tousled over a slightly sweaty forehead.

The next moment, the person seated with one leg propped up against the wall looked up, and a pair of deep, dark eyes met his directly.

It was a distance where he would be able to kiss the center of the other’s forehead if he leaned forward just a little.

Lin Ye’s heart skipped a beat.

Jiang Lian lazily raised a hand to shield his eyes from Lin Ye’s stare and the hallway lights, his voice still husky from intense training. “Planning to steal some tips from Class A?”

Lin Ye pressed his lips together, not even managing a retort. He straightened up, gripping the windowsill. For some reason, the moment Jiang Lian spoke, he suddenly felt a little light-headed.

The kind of low blood sugar that could make him black out any second and collapse straight into Jiang Lian’s arms.

Without a word, he turned and headed back the way he came, seriously considering whether he could drag Xia Dongchan to the supermarket later to buy some chocolate.