Chapter 43 (1/2)

Fake Slackers

Translator: Jury

Editor: NomNom

First Published on Chaleuria

043 – Cause of death: acting too much

Liu Cunhao and the others happily submitted the speech for announcement On the way back, they yelled to He Zhao across the track ”Zhao-ge, do your best! We have a surprise for you!”

Notdistance event There were only one or two from each class, and all of them had been forced to join No one really wanted to run that many laps For the shorter-distance events, they could sprint and show off, but for the 3000m event, all they could show off was how to pant heavily and suffer a fate worse than death

He Zhao stood at the back of the line, thesomeone call his nan, then raised his voice ”Friend, tell er ”At that tiet! You're carrying Yu-ge's spirit, too!”

He Zhao stood in place He watchedenthusiastic, energetic classned seats, then looked away fro on so down at his phone, refreshi+ng his social media feed He tapped 'like' a few times, which Dalei iroup, along with the caption, Missing person xy, good to see you

Only now did Xie Yu discover he hadn't posted a status update in a long ti his life, but now there were all sorts of background noisesa ruckus all around him Each class cheered on their representatives, soht You already did very well The i…”

Xie Yu opened his camera app, about to take a picture for participation's sake, but when he raised his cale, he discovered in the frame a certain handsome devil, surname He, first na his ht hand tugging at his collar and a s for the camera, both confident and cool

He was clearly an old hand at posing

Xie Yu's finger slipped and he nearly closed out of the app

What a madman

So many tricks up his sleeve

…Who the hell wants to take your picture?

Xie Yu resisted the i He Zhao hold his pose for half a —that endurance was impressive—he hit the camera button after all

Terrified that He Zhao would get hooked on having his picture taken and pose several more times, Xie Yu stuffed his phone back in his pocket the etting in line on the track, Xie Yu took his phone out again and unlocked it On the screen was the photograph fro at their backs, the huhtly cast in shadow, but the youth in the center was still radiant and eye-catching

”Men's 3000 of the 3000m event

The dozen or so participants had their toes on the white line, and at the sound of the gun, they dashed forth

”I'm not worried about everyone else, but in the class next door there's a guy with daood stamina He represented the school before That one, nu stuck his head out and looked around, see so quickly at the start? Pace yourself”

Wan Da: ”Gy”

”Strong roup on the chat and caught the tail end of Wan Da's words He looked up and said, ”He's attention-seeking”

Liu Cunhao applauded and said, ”Can't deny that”

He Zhao ran in front, a full half-lap in front of the other runners The eyes of the entire school were on hihboring class were chattering ”Really, only 3000m? I want to see him run a few more laps So cool”

Xie Yu leaned back and narrowed his eyes For some reason he was frustrated

…What was there to look at, anyway?

”He's coht a stool to sit right behind Xie Yu, and every tiroup cheer to cheer him on He was so excited he couldn't even sit properly on the stool; he hovered in a half-squat over it and counted backwards ”Three, two, one Do it neatly! Shout out the energy of our whole class!”

When He Zhao was nearing the led thee beats the rest!”

Repeated three whole times

When He Zhao passed by Class 3 he slowed his pace and caught hold of the he run four laps As he ran he took off the vest, and the girls in the audience stand started aah-ing again

When He Zhao was done stripping he yelled, ”Old Xie!”

Before Xie Yu could react, He Zhao had already tossed the article of clothing in his direction, as if passing a ball It landed right by Xie Yu's feet and He Zhao said as he used his thin inner shi+rt to mop at his sweat, ”Keep that forwarent

Xie Yu held on to He Zhao's jacket When there was one lap left in the 3000m event, Class 3's announcement was finally picked out of the pile Perhaps the broadcasters had finally run out of announcements and were forced to read this terrible submission

”Announcee, to Class 3”

The announcer was a senior girl from the school committee, with a lively voice and crisp enunciation, as deliberately i a news broadcaster She read this far, then stopped A few seconds later she continued, hesitantly ”Thank you to the other participants for participating Very regretfully, uh, and very helplessly…”

By the ti, the whole stadiu role' He Zhao stopped dead, about 100m fro along with Class 3's announcey

Clearly seeking attention again

He Zhao was a full half lap ahead of second place anyway, so Liu Cunhao and the others played along with He Zhao's act

So the eyes of the whole school were on He Zhao as he stopped before the finish line, hands on his knees as he panted for breath and asked in a hoarse voice, ”Who's first place?”