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Shenwei is running for student council president. The campaign period is 3 months long and they’re already well past the half way point. Shenwei’s team is leading in the polls with the force of a politician from a legacy family and secretly promising the rich he will cut their taxes.
Policies Shenwei is running on include ‘Loosen uniform dress code’, ‘Install 10 more vending machines around the school’, ‘Allow students to bring magazines to school’, and ‘Sleeping during class should not warrant detention’.
“Are these real?” Xiao Guo looks down at the new list of policies being produced every week at the speed of light.
Zhu Hong, the team’s Communication’s Officer, is faced down on her wooden desk, eyes vacant. “I’m just being used for the female vote.”
Few rows down in the empty classroom they booked for their weekly campaign meeting, Zhao Yunlan and Da Qing are sniggering with their heads down, scribbling furiously over a piece of paper.
“Do you just,” Xiao Guo looks at those two slapping their hands on the desk, tears almost rolling down their cheeks in laughter, “put whatever they write out?”
Shenwei pushes his glasses up from where he’s sitting next to Zhu Hong, his eyes equally vacant. “No, I took out the one about being allowed to ride motorcycles to school. That’s too dangerous.”
“Because ‘Set up a Fight Club as an after-school activity’ is so safe.” Zhu Hong’s tone remain as dead as her soul.
“That can…help boost student morale, release stress.” Shenwei sighs, he should have brought more class notes with him, he’s already finished organising the ones he wrote for today.
“I think that one is actually a good idea. Chu ge is very interested.”
Zhu Hong makes a non-committal sound from where she is still half lying on the desk, playing dead. Every meeting is like an out of body experience.
Xiao Guo looks dreamily into nothing. “And I can set up an underground betting pool. Because Chu ge will win every fight.”
Shenwei takes off his glasses and massages between his eyes.
Why is there not a single normal person on his team.
---
The teachers were all for Shenwei running for student council president. Intelligent, responsible, reliable, gentle temperament, and widely liked by the entire student body and teachers. Someone like Shenwei was born to be student council president, he was basically a shoo-in for the seat the moment he joined the school at 12. They were so eager to sign off on Shenwei’s participation in the election, so very trusting of their shining star of a pupil, that they completely neglected to look at who’s name was written in the field of Vice President.
If Shenwei is the angel in the teachers’ eyes, then Zhao Yunlan is the complete opposite. Hardly a day goes by without him being put into detention for either not wearing his uniform properly, or getting up to the most random shenanigans during class or in the canteen. Shenwei basically never leaves the school on time because he has to sit in the school library and wait for Zhao Yunlan’s detention to be over.
Which is okay, Shenwei has said many times, when asked repeatedly about how he is fine with that. He finds it quite useful to finish all his homework right after class anyway. Then he can follow Zhao Yunlan around town once detention is over, wandering aimlessly down the city streets, sipping on bubble tea and watching Zhao Yunlan sink a small fortune into various claw machines. Those game centres always play such loud music even though they’ve got plenty of rhythm game machines that players need to strain to hear the sounds coming out from terrible, cheap speakers.
The concentration in Zhao Yunlan’s boyish face gets covered in the colourful lights blinking from the top of the claw machines, while Shenwei holds onto both of their bubble teas, condensation on the cold plastic cups makes his hands clammy.
Sometimes, girls from other schools gather in a small circle to watch him play. It’s not that he’s particularly good at it, but he’s always so expressive and animated when he plays that it’s like watching a comedy action movie, entertaining and exciting. His good looks and charm help too. On more than one occasion, when he finally manages to claw something out, he gifts it to one of the girls watching. It never fails to cause a stir among his audience, a ripple of giggles and elbow nudges rising and falling. He plays more for the thrill rather than the prize anyway. The first thing he ever won was a Doraemon plush keychain doll, and it lies on the carpeted floor of the game centre, attached to his bookbag.
A matching one dangles off of Shenwei’s own bag.
---
Zhao Yunlan was the basketball team captain before Shenwei asked him to be his Vice President. It was Zhao Yunlan’s idea that he ran anyway. Despite having been born with the personality of a student council president, Shenwei never really aspired to be one. He’s happy to do his homework, ace his public exams, join an afterschool club or two to make his school life more fulfilling, and spend the rest of his time hanging out with Zhao Yunlan, which by itself was already more fulfilling than he thought he could handle.
But Zhao Yunlan told him he should run when registration period started. He said it with his mouth full of the stir-fried string beans that Shenwei had just told him to eat not 10 seconds ago, having been unable to deal with watching Zhao Yunlan pick out only the minced meat and chopped garlic. The canteen was loud and all their friends sitting next to them were talking excitedly amongst themselves.
Shenwei carefully divided a meatball in half with his chopsticks, and divided it again into quarters. “Why?”
Many people would call it mischievous, but when Zhao Yunlan kept it up for so long without verbally explaining himself, Shenwei felt he was well within his rights to call it an evil smile.
“I’ll run if you run with me.”
Zhao Yunlan wagged his finger at Shenwei while gulping down his glass of water. “Can’t. Basketball team captain, remember?” He slapped his chest proudly and nodded at Shenwei, trying to look like some gang leader.
Shenwei made sure to finish chewing his food and swallowing before speaking again. “Then I’m not running.”
“What? Why does it matter whether I run with you?” Zhao Yunlan’s entire body deflated, he sank lower and lower until his face was squashed against his arm, lying still on the table. His fingers were stretched all the way over to Shenwei’s side of the table. They tapped on Shenwei’s arm. “The school needs change, it needs radical change!” He sat up straight again suddenly. “It needs leadership! Things cannot go on like this!”
Shenwei looked at Zhao Yunlan, completely unaffected by the passion in his voice. “Why don’t you run if you feel so strongly about this.”
Zhao Yunlan scoffed. “As if the teachers would even let me into the teachers’ room long enough to hand in my application.”
“It’s not that bad.”
Despite the appearance of a delinquent, Zhao Yunlan was actually an alright student. His grades float around top 5 in the class, he rarely handed his homework in late despite always wasting his after school hours hanging out with Shenwei and then going home to play online games until midnight. Zhao Yunlan could never convince Shenwei to download his various online games to his PC, so Shenwei only knew he played till midnight because they sometimes talk on the phone. Shenwei would turn on speaker and put his phone down on his desk while he flipped through his most recent book, the in-game sound effects filtered poorly through the microphone, as he half listened to Zhao Yunlan’s stream of cusses and commentary about his progress and how crap his opponents were.
Shenwei still had no idea what the game was about, despite having listened to him play for at least 5 months.
“It’s exactly that bad. They will chase me out with a stick.”
Shenwei shrugged. “I don’t care about student council.”
“Alright alright alright,” Zhao Yunlan put his hand up and nodded with his eyes closed, “you have convinced me. I’ll see what I can do.”
Zhao Yunlan’s grand plan was to step down as team captain and be vice captain instead, swapping places with the current vice captain. Shenwei frowned when he remembered the vice captain, a boy who liked to pick up girls every time their team attended any competition. He always dragged Zhao Yunlan along, saying they could be each other’s wingman. Zhao Yunlan went along with it, usually when other teams were playing and they were waiting for their round. Plenty of high schoolers use interschool sports competitions as a way to meet students from other schools and start their epic underground romance, since all schools forbid students from dating. There were no shortage of girls looking for a tall and sporty boyfriend to gift chocolates to on Qīxì, and riskily text during class for the thrill and gentle sweetness of first love.
Shenwei had a lot of opinions about the vice captain, but he didn’t have much opinion about Zhao Yunlan always coming back with a stack of phone numbers, handing them over to Shenwei and telling him to wake him up 15 minutes before his game, then promptly going into power nap mode on his shoulder.
“Vice captain and vice president. Two vices equal one whole uh…leader of some sort, right?” Zhao Yunlan triumphantly informed Shenwei.
“Are you sure you can handle it?”
The sun was shining right onto Zhau Yunlan while he sat backwards on the chair, facing Shenwei’s desk by the window. His eyes were extra squinty when he smiled and chuckled. Again, a sound that signalled he was up to zero good.
“Absolutely.”
---
Election day goes off without a hitch. Shenwei hardly needs to do anything when Zhao Yunlan and Da Qing are running around the school shoving fliers into students’ faces and yelling into rolled-up math textbooks that they better get their sorry arses to the polling station. The ‘polling station’ is Xiao Guo and Zhu Hong, and two members from the other running team sitting in front of a cardboard box with a slit cut out at the top. Zhu Hong has her million-dollar fake smile on, while Xiao Guo’s seems much more genuine.
Students vote throughout the day outside class periods, with lunch time being the peak hour. Voting closes half an hour after the last class of the day finishes. Two students nominated by teachers count the voting slips as a neutral third party. The result is supposed to be announced during morning assembly tomorrow, but it shouldn’t take too long for the two students to count everything up. So Shenwei’s team and the opposing team both wait around in the outdoor basketball court. It isn’t planned, Zhao Yunlan just wants to play while waiting, so Shenwei’s team follows him to the court. And the other team just wants to be there so they will receive the results together.
The court is filled with students who like to play a few games after school every day, as well as students who are just out enjoying the late afternoon sun with their friends, eating snacks and chatting away. Most of the team has been lured into playing with Zhao Yunlan, while Shenwei, Chu Shu Zhi and Wang Zheng stay behind on the stands.
It takes almost an hour before the two students appear in the basketball court, having received Zhu Hong’s text informing them where they all are. Shenwei heads down to the court to hear the news.
They announce Shenwei’s team won before everyone has even properly gathered around, seemingly completely unbothered with the appearance of suspense. And no one can blame them, everyone knows they are going to win. Zhao Yunlan’s outrageously student-friendly policies, fronted by the face of Shenwei, is literally unbeatable.
Zhao Yunlan runs at full speed towards Shenwei and almost tackles him to the ground if Shenwei isn’t already used to his antics. Zhao Yunlan at 17 is not what you would call a graceful winner. After giving Shenwei the biggest bear hug, he jumps and runs around the court with Da Qing, Lin Jing, Xiao Guo, even Zhu Hong is temporarily under the spell of a ‘hard fought’ win.
Zhao Yunlan leads his minions screaming, shouting and laughing so hard his lungs might burst under the pressure. The 6:30pm sun shines weakly with an orange glow in late June, covering the court in its colours. Shenwei can’t help his own smile watching Zhao Yunlan look the happiest he’s ever been, sweat from his earlier basketball match only made worse by running around the court like a mad man. It wets his fringe and the tips of his hair at the back of his head, there’s a faint sheen on his collar bones, and a gentle summer breeze carries his white school shirt, lifting his stray hair.
There’s a lump stuck in Shenwei’s throat as he walks to interject Zhao Yunlan’s path. The boy slows down when he sees Shenwei approaching and smiles warmly, eyes disappearing in his mirth. “Hey, student council president Shen~”
Shenwei doesn’t stop walking towards him until his mouth finds Zhao Yunlan’s. His hand comes up to cradle Zhao Yunlan’s jaw, his heart pounds so hard in his chest, the blood rush makes him dizzy. It feels like a short century has passed before he feels Zhao Yunlan move his mouth to kiss him back. Shenwei has never kissed anyone, and he can’t bring himself to be jealous of the fact that Zhao Yunlan kisses like he knows what he’s doing right now. He’s happy to let Zhao Yunlan take the lead, and follow what he remembers of the daydreams he’s had day after day, doing this exact thing, with the exact person he’s doing it with.
“Shenwei! Zhao Yunlan! Disqualified for dating!” A teacher’s sharp voice comes out of nowhere and slices right through Shenwei’s haze.
Zhao Yunlan lets go of him and laughs and laughs with his head held high towards the fiery sky. The clouds reflecting the sun gives it the most vibrant look Shenwei has ever seen when he opens his eyes and looks at Zhao Yunlan, surrounded by the most brilliant of colours.