Tangent

Tragic

Eventually, they have to go back to basic where students like them must continue their studies and work hard for Gaokao. Today, Wu Ming Er woke up a little bit early despite knowing the fact that Gu Wang Yi will come and pick him up. He lost count on how many time he lost to Gu Wang Yi when the argument is about going to school by car. Nowadays, he no longer bother to refuse and readily accept his fate.

Ever since they get back from the tournament, their popularity skyrocketed so much that Wu Ming Er started to get headache from being the centre of attention at school. However, it is unevitable now and he just have to deal with it. He hoped that the hype will slowly go down on its own soon.

Wu Ming Er take a look at the picture of him and Gu Wang Yi holding their own medal. The picture of both of them is now accompanying the other pictures that were hanging on the wall.
It was out of place yet it still makes Wu Ming Er smile whenever he look at it. At first, it feels rather weird having another picture hanging on the wall after his parents' death. He was never interested in collecting photographs like his mother once was. But then he realized, it really wasn't a bad idea at all.

Gu Wang Yi arrives when he is packing sandwiches in the kitchen. Lately, they have a tight schedule and the class will only end by 5 pm everyday due to the extensive classes for Gaokao.

"You are making sandwich today? Why?"

"So that we will have something to snack on in class. It's a waste to buy snacks everyday from the kiosk"

"This way, you are adding more work for yourself. I don't mind buying food for you from the kiosk. It's better than seeing you doing all this alone"

Wu Ming Er slowly turn to Gu Wang Yi and ease the frown that the other guy makes using his slender fingers.

"It's nothing, really. This way I will not get bored eating the same thing from the kiosk everyday. I also would like you to taste my cooking sometimes"

Gu Wang Yi take Wu Ming Er's hand away from his forhead to hold it tightly in his own.

"If you say so... but you must never overwork yourself. We still have a few months to go through before the examination"

Wu Ming Er hummed knowingly. He knew that Gu Wang Yi was worried about him. They don't get a break from studies and Wu Ming Er still have to go to work during weekend. The cycle repeated every week that they are starting to get sick of it.

"Don't worry. I will tell you immediately if I ever get tired, okay?"

Gu Wang Yi stared at Wu Ming Er who is now continuing packing the sandwich happily and he frowned again.

"By any means, you should"

It wasn't like he didn't know of Wu Ming Er's character. They have known each other for months so he knows that Wu Ming Er prone to keep things to himself so much that it is worrying. He doubt that Wu Ming Er would ever tell him whenever he gets tired.

"Stop frowning and let's go to school"

*****

"Big news! Big news!"

Lin Ka Ye shouted while running towards Wu Ming Er and Gu Wang Yi who just arrived at school.

"You guys should watch the news later today. I just found out that a student killed himself yesterday"

"Where did you hear this from ?"

Nowadays, its not a rare thing hearing news of student's suicide. However, it is the first for their school.

"I was at the teachers' room and saw polices there"

"Who was it ? Did you manage to find out ?"

Lin Ka Ye shake his head at Gu Wang Yi's question. Unfortunately he didn't manage to find out more about the suicide case from the teacher's short conversation with the police.

"Guys, if I'm not wrong, isn't it the van for the broadcasting company ?"

Both Gu Wang Yi and Lin Ka Ye turn to the window and see what Wu Ming Er is talking about. They saw that it is indeed the van from the broadcasting company.

"Now, no matter how much the school wants to keep it low, it will be impossible right ?"

Everyone nodded, agreeing with Wu Ming Er.

*****

The broadcasting company sure work fast. By night, Wu Ming Er can already see their school comes out on news. The broadcasting company have done a good job at sharing only appropriate details but no matter how vague the information was, some people still managed to guess about their school's location.

"By now, the whole country would have heard of this news, right?"

Asked Wu Ming Er to Gu Wang Yi who is enjoying his dinner silently. The guy turned to the television and quietly agreed. In his head, he is slightly worrying about his father's reaction towards the news. Wu Ming Er realized that the other guy seems to have something on his mind but he didn't dare to ask about it.

"It is sad though. I was in the same class as the deceased during my first year here. He was a really smart guy"

Gu Wang Yi who never met the deceased before also feels like it is kind of sad that one happened to lose life so easily like this.  And at 17 even. Few years ago, Gu Wang Yi is someone who didn't have a strong opinion on the concept of eternal separation; death. But he started to change his view of it after his mother's death. He started to realize that it was this easy for the live to be taken away from every of them. What if it was him? What if it was Wu Ming Er who had his life taken away from him ?

He turned to Wu Ming Er who is now focusing on his bowl of rice. He was suddenly reminded of the tragic past. He was grateful that Wu Ming Er wasn't even in the car when the accident happened. What if Wu Ming Er was there and he lost him too? It has always been his greatest nightmare remembering about that day but he was relieved everytime knowing that Wu Ming Er was never a part from it.

"Hey, your phone has been ringing for awhile now. Where your head been to ?"

Gu Wang Yi was brought back to reality by Wu Ming Er's voice. Looking at the caller's name, he immediately excuse himself from the dining table to answer the call.

The other side speaks directly without waiting for Gu Wang Yi's response. Once the call ended, Gu Wang Yi heaved a long sigh.

The caller was his father and this time, the man was demanding him to come back home.