My Boyfriend is the Heartthrob, and I’m Just a Passerby.

“Have you packed everything?” Yan Mei asked.

Hearing this, Ye Jishu nodded.

He checked once more to make sure he hadn’t left anything behind. Satisfied, he slung his backpack over his shoulder and gestured to Yan Mei that they could leave now.

However, Yan Mei bent forward, picking up a pen from Ye Jishu’s desk.

“This,” he smiled, “you forgot again.”

“…Yeah.”

Ye Jishu’s eyes shifted guiltily to the side.

He didn’t know why, but he always left small things behind.

Especially pens.

He reminded himself to take them with him every time, but in the end, they always got left in the classroom.

Yan Mei capped the pen, then casually slipped it into his own coat pocket. Without hesitation, he reached out and took Ye Jishu’s backpack off his shoulders, slinging it over one of his own.

“Anything in particular you want to eat?”

Because the action was so smooth and natural, Ye Jishu didn’t have time to stop him.

He responded a beat late, saying, “I want to drop off my books at the dorm first.”

Unlike Yan Mei, who studied folklore, Ye Jishu was at the School of Mathematical Sciences. His schedule was packed, and he often had to carry several heavy textbooks and notebooks. Going to eat with all that weight would be inconvenient, especially since they had plans to watch a movie right afterward.

“Alright,” Yan Mei replied.

Ye Jishu had planned to go by himself, but from how Yan Mei acted, it seemed like he intended to come along.

The campus was large.

But because of that, there were shuttle buses.

The two walked side by side out of the classroom building. A bus stop was just a few dozen meters away.

Ye Jishu could feel those sticky, prying gazes all around them.

Whenever he and Yan Mei were together, it was as if the people around them sprouted extra eyes, their necks craning endlessly, eager to get closer so they could watch their every move without missing a single detail.

…This must be what it’s like to be a heartthrob.

It seemed exhausting.

Thinking this, Ye Jishu couldn’t help but turn his head, glancing at the person walking next to him.

From his angle, he could see Yan Mei tucking a strand of slightly long hair behind his ear. The exposed jawline was sharp and clean, his side profile as exquisite as a finely crafted piece of art, exuding a kind of dangerously captivating allure.

Even though Ye Jishu was supposed to be a cannon-fodder character—no, more accurately, a background extra—he figured there should at least be some height difference. But standing next to Yan Mei, it seemed the other was a few centimeters taller than him… Was this even fair?

From this perspective, Yan Mei’s strikingly perfect face was fully displayed.

Although beautiful, it wasn’t overdone.

Instead, the sharp contours gave him a rebellious and indifferent air, an icy coldness that kept others at a distance.

That face just made you want to kiss it.

However, after only a few seconds of staring, Yan Mei immediately turned his head to meet his eyes as if sensing his gaze.

“Buzz.”

It was as if electricity crackled in the air between them.

Ye Jishu, feeling as if he had been burned, quickly averted his gaze and looked at the ground.

The most awkward thing in the world had to be getting caught staring at someone’s face in a daze.

It turns out that when you’re embarrassed, you suddenly seem incredibly busy.

Just like now.

Under Yan Mei’s intense gaze, Ye Jishu’s heart stopped for a second, then began pounding wildly. When he finally managed to pull himself together, he wondered if his reaction had been a bit too much. He quickly lifted his head to look at the sky to seem nonchalant.

Overhead, the clouds were thick and dark, not something one would normally look up to admire.

Then, trying to act natural, he shifted his gaze to the nearby electronic screen displaying the bus schedule. It showed how many stops were left until the bus arrived.

He really did have things to focus on right now.

It wasn’t like he was staring at Yan Mei on purpose.

Yet, he could still feel Yan Mei’s gaze growing stronger beside him, completely overpowering the looks from everyone else.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could even see a faint smile forming at the corner of Yan Mei’s lips.

“…”

It was always like this. Yan Mei would keep staring at him like this if he didn’t say something.

“Were you looking at me?”

“…Yeah.”

Ye Jishu hesitated for a moment.

But in the end, he admitted it honestly.

Yes, he was just like everyone else, staring at Yan Mei’s face and zoning out.

“Is something wrong?”

“No, nothing.”

“Jishu, if anything’s bothering you, you can tell me.”

“Mm.”

“No matter what it is, feel free to ask.”

“…Okay.”

By all accounts, the conversation should have been over.

However, Yan Mei didn’t look away. He continued to gaze at Ye Jishu without blinking.

Was he waiting for him to say something? But the conversation had already ended, right?

Ye Jishu wasn’t sure. He didn’t want to assume that Yan Mei was waiting for him to make some request.

While hesitating, he missed the perfect moment to speak up.

To Yan Mei, this silence seemed like a refusal to continue the conversation.

“…”

Distracted by his thoughts, Ye Jishu absentmindedly thought about the game he had been playing, completely missing the fact that Yan Mei’s expression had darkened.

It wasn’t until a moment later that Yan Mei’s usual calm voice broke the silence.

“That boy earlier—is he your friend?”

“Huh?” Ye Jishu snapped out of his thoughts.

Who?

“The boy in the classroom.”

“He’s not a friend.”

Yan Mei nodded. “Alright.”

“Why are you asking?” Ye Jishu inquired.

Yan Mei replied casually, “No reason.”

“He’s just a fellow student from the same general education class.”

“Got it.”

Ye Jishu glanced at the bus display. There were still two stops to go, so it would take a little more time. Seeing that Yan Mei had ended the conversation in the same way he had earlier, with no further words, Ye Jishu took out his phone again and checked the updates for the game he had been following closely.

Gaming was his way of de-stressing.

Although Ye Jishu was only a freshman, he had become a gaming content creator on a streaming platform during high school.

However, he didn’t do it for money—it was purely out of interest. His streams and video uploads were irregular, with no signed contract or set schedule, and no one around him knew about this hobby.

Recently, his followers had been leaving comments, asking him to stream gameplay of a new game, so he’d been paying more attention to updates about it.

It wasn’t until he heard the sound of bus wheels scraping against the ground that his focus shifted back to reality.

The campus shuttle wobbled as it approached from a distance, bringing with it the hot summer air that made one feel light-headed. A few minutes later, the bus finally stopped in front of them.

The doors opened, revealing a fairly crowded interior.

Maybe because it was close to mealtime, the bus was fuller than expected.

Ye Jishu put away his phone and looked over at Yan Mei, who had been quiet for a while now. He was taken aback.

Yan Mei’s face was expressionless. The usual smile had completely vanished.

Those deep, black eyes were fixed on him, revealing nothing of his true emotions.

…Was he upset?

Why?

Nothing had happened.

Ye Jishu was confused.

“Let’s go,” he said, reaching out to Yan Mei.

This was their agreement.

In crowded places, they should hold hands.

If one of them didn’t speak, they should hold hands.

…And if either felt uncomfortable, holding hands was a must.

At first, Ye Jishu hadn’t been used to it, but Yan Mei acted as if it were perfectly natural, as though it was a normal part of being a couple. So, Ye Jishu had gotten used to it.

It was similar to how they spent nearly twenty-four hours together daily.

This must be part of their character setup.

After all, he was still Yan Mei’s only official boyfriend, at least in name.

If a heartthrob didn’t have a passionate boyfriend during his “honeymoon phase,” how else would the plot filter out the ordinary characters, leaving behind all the morally dubious rivals to stir up drama? It was a necessary setup for a melodramatic story.

As soon as Ye Jishu extended his hand, Yan Mei’s eyes lit up, and a smile spread across his face, as though the earlier coldness had been an illusion.

He quickly tightened his grip on Ye Jishu’s hand, pulling their clasped hands closer to his side.

Their fingers intertwined—firmly.

Ye Jishu shifted a bit, hoping Yan Mei would loosen his grip, but instead, it only tightened further.

“…”

Well, it wasn’t exactly hindering their movement.

They boarded the bus like that.

There weren’t any seats available, but there weren’t too many people standing, so they managed to find a spot near the handrail. It wasn’t much different from sitting.

Once they got closer to the crowd, that uncomfortable feeling of being watched returned.

Though Ye Jishu wasn’t the center of attention, he could still sense the sticky gazes from the entire bus focused on them.

That kind of attention made him uneasy.

Frowning, Ye Jishu considered positioning Yan Mei closer to the window, using his body to block the prying eyes from outside.

But before he could act, Yan Mei had already wrapped an arm around his shoulders, pressing Ye Jishu against the window, enveloping him in his embrace.

“Only three stops,” Yan Mei whispered softly as Ye Jishu looked up at him.

His breath brushed against Ye Jishu’s ear.

It tickled.

Unable to resist, Ye Jishu leaned away, curling up slightly. Now, he was completely nestled in Yan Mei’s arms.

Since it wasn’t a long ride, arguing seemed pointless.

Ye Jishu convinced himself, taking out his phone again to check the gaming updates he hadn’t finished reading.

He felt a hand settle on his head in the quiet between them, slowly stroking. Yan Mei’s fingers trailed from his forehead to his cheek, eventually reaching his earlobe, gently rubbing it. Then he tucked Ye Jishu’s hair behind his ear.

The strands weren’t long enough and quickly fell back down.

“I like it.”

“Really like it.”

Yan Mei’s voice was soft, tinged with excitement.

And, as if tireless, he continued to repeat the action, stroking Ye Jishu’s hair over and over, even though it didn’t stay in place.

Ye Jishu ignored the gesture and focused on his phone.

Since they started dating a few months ago, these intimate gestures had become increasingly frequent.

Although he still wasn’t used to hearing such straightforward words, it wasn’t as uncomfortable as it had been at the beginning.

After all, it was just a head pat.

Having grown accustomed to it, Ye Jishu didn’t notice what was happening on the bus.

Outside the protective cocoon of Yan Mei’s arms, the students on the bus stared at them in a trance. It wasn’t the creaking of the wheels on the ground that filled the air but the sound of restless bodies shifting in their seats, struggling to suppress a deep, irrational impulse.

They had lost control of their senses.

Desperate to get closer, yet somehow unable to move, as if something invisible kept them pinned to their seats.

Yan Mei’s face remained impassive, but a mocking, disdainful smile eventually tugged at his lips.

It didn’t reach his eyes.

Those pitch-black eyes remained cold and indifferent.

Sharing a space with him was enough to dull the minds of these predictable, boring humans.

But not the one in his arms.

That was his unique discovery, his singular treasure.

With this thought, Yan Mei continued to gently stroke Ye Jishu’s hair, the corners of his mouth softening into a tender smile.

The chilling contrast between his actions and his demeanor was deeply unsettling.

…

Before long, the bus arrived at the dormitory for students in the School of Mathematical Sciences.

Unlike the dorms of the more affluent art students, this building looked like an old residential block, with students’ bedding hanging outside to dry.

A nagging sense of unease weighed on Ye Jishu’s mind.

He couldn’t pinpoint why.

He glanced at the other students on the bus. Aside from looking a bit dazed—probably from the heat—they didn’t seem unusual.

…What’s going on?

Was the plot about to start?

So far, only a few people have shown interest in them.

In the original story, the key characters with real influence had yet to appear. Waiting for them to appear was like waiting for a bomb to explode, not knowing when it would happen.

“I’ll just drop off my stuff and come back down,” Ye Jishu said to Yan Mei, feeling a bit uneasy. “Wait for me here.”

Even if a third party was about to make their move, he needed to be present.

…

Though he wasn’t entirely sure why, something inside him wanted to keep Yan Mei from being alone with others.

Those people were… not exactly moral paragons.

Was he becoming a bit possessive?

Ye Jishu regretted his words a little, feeling they were too controlling, but—

“Okay.”

Yan Mei nodded obediently and seemed to brighten up, as if his mood had inexplicably improved.

“I’ll wait for you.”

[I’ll be obedient.]

[Protect me well, Jishu.]