Chapter 5 – Something Stupid Finally Happens

By Friday morning, Li Yichen was cautiously optimistic.

This alone should have warned him.

The whispers were gone. The dramatic looks had faded. No one pointed at him in corridors anymore. Even the juniors had moved on to a new obsession, which, according to Minghao, involved a stolen lunchbox and an unnecessary chase scene.

Life felt normal again.

Suspiciously normal.

Yichen walked to school with his hands in his pockets, head slightly raised, like someone who had survived a natural disaster and was now daring the weather to try again.

“This,” he said to Minghao, “is peace.”

Minghao squinted at him. “You just said the forbidden word.”

“Peace?”

“Yes. Now something will happen.”

Nothing happened.

First period passed quietly. Second period too. No rumors, no awkward pauses, no mysterious gasps when he entered a room. Even Chen Rui barely glanced at him.

Yichen started to relax.

By lunchtime, he was smiling again.

“See?” he said, sitting down with his tray. “The universe apologized.”

Xinyue sat across from him, calm as ever. “The universe doesn’t apologize.”

“It did,” Yichen said confidently. “It learned its lesson.”

Minghao shook his head. “I’ll miss dramatic Yichen.”

“You will not,” Yichen replied. “Dramatic Yichen is retired.”

Fate listened.

And laughed.

It happened during the last class of the day.

Their homeroom teacher cleared her throat and tapped the desk.

“Before the bell,” she said, “there’s one announcement.”

Yichen felt it.

That subtle tightening in his chest. The instinct that screamed danger.

“Due to recent… misunderstandings,” the teacher continued, “the school will be holding a short seminar next week.”

A few students groaned.

“It will be about,” she paused, glancing at Yichen, “communication and assumptions.”

The class slowly turned toward him.

Yichen froze.

“This is not about you specifically,” the teacher added quickly.

It did not help.

Minghao leaned over. “You inspired educational reform.”

“I wanted peace,” Yichen whispered.

“You got legacy.”

The bell rang. Students poured out, buzzing with renewed interest.

“So the story’s over, but the moral lesson arc continues,” Minghao said cheerfully.

Yichen walked home in silence.

At the corner near the old stairwell—the cursed location—he stopped.

It was quiet. Empty. Just stairs and fading sunlight.

“This place,” he said softly, “ruined my week.”

Xinyue stood beside him. “Places don’t start rumors.”

“People do,” Yichen replied. “Which is worse.”

They stood there for a moment.

Then Xinyue smiled.

A small one. Brief. Almost unnoticeable.

“You handled it well,” she said.

Yichen blinked. “I did?”

“You didn’t lie. You didn’t run away. You survived.”

“That was the goal.”

She nodded. “Most people would’ve panicked more.”

Yichen laughed. “I panicked internally. I just didn’t let it win.”

Minghao clapped dramatically. “Character development.”

As they turned to leave, Yichen’s phone buzzed.

A message notification.

He stopped.

“What?” Minghao asked.

Yichen stared at the screen.

It was from the school group chat.

Someone had posted:

“So… who started the rumor anyway?”

The typing bubble appeared.

Once.

Twice.

A reply popped up.

“It was me. I thought he looked dramatic near the stairs.”

Another message followed immediately.

“Same. I just assumed.”

Then another.

“Honestly I was bored.”

Yichen stared.

This was it.

The truth.

No mastermind. No intention. No secret story.

Just boredom.

He laughed.

Not loudly. Not dramatically.

Just a quiet, tired laugh.

“All of that,” he said, “because someone was bored.”

Minghao nodded solemnly. “Humanity in summary.”

Xinyue glanced at him. “Are you angry?”

Yichen thought about it.

About the whispers. The stares. The stress.

Then about how it ended.

“No,” he said. “I’m free.”

They walked away from the stairwell together.

Behind them, it stayed exactly the same.

Just stairs.

Nothing special.

That night, Yichen lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling.

Five days ago, he had wanted nothing but a normal week.

Now, he realized something important.

Normal was overrated.

He had survived embarrassment. Faced attention. Spoken up.

And tomorrow?

Tomorrow, something else stupid might happen.

But that was fine.

Li Yichen closed his eyes, smiling slightly.

At least this time—

He’d be ready.

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END

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