At the crossroads, about twenty meters to the east, there is a ramen shop. On the glass door of the shop, there is a menu written in red letters. The interior space is not large, with six tables lined up against the walls on either side, and the kitchen is separated by a blue curtain.
The lights inside the shop are bright, and there are no customers at this time. Gu Xingyou and Ji Chen enter the shop one after the other. The place where the car accident happened yesterday is right across from the convenience store, and although the store has been renovated, the damaged areas still bear traces.
“Two beef ramen, one with cilantro and one without,” Gu Xingyou placed the order and pulled a stool to sit down.
“I’ll treat you this time,” Ji Chen said after sitting down.
“…Alright.” Gu Xingyou knew he was still thinking about the porridge from the morning. Their relationship hadn’t reached that level of familiarity, so Ji Chen probably felt a sense of burden.
Ji Chen looked at the night scene outside and then fell silent again. Soon, the ramen was served. Gu Xingyou pushed the bowl without cilantro in front of Ji Chen.
“Eat up, we’ll head back to school after this.”
“Mm.” Ji Chen responded quietly, picking up his chopsticks to eat.
The two remained silent, but the atmosphere wasn’t awkward. After finishing their meal, Ji Chen paid the bill. As they left the ramen shop, Ji Chen walked ahead with his head down, while Gu Xingyou followed behind, keeping some distance between them.
The evening breeze blew, bringing a chill. Gu Xingyou heard a faint sobbing sound. He paused for a moment, then quickly walked up behind Ji Chen and patted his shoulder. Ji Chen turned around, his eyes filled with tears.
“Damn,” Gu Xingyou was startled and cursed under his breath, feeling a bit at a loss. He was always afraid of others crying since he didn’t know how to comfort people. When Xiao Yan was beaten and cried by his mother when they were kids, he just watched the scene from the side.
He asked in a low voice, “Are you okay?”
Ji Chen looked more bewildered than he was. “I’m fine.”
His eyes, slightly upturned at the corners, were red, and his nose was also red, but he seemed unaware. His tear-soaked eyes were watery, but his gaze remained cold and proud. The aftereffects of the alcohol were kicking in, and the blush spread from his cheeks to his neck, making him look rather pitiful.
Gu Xingyou wiped his face with his thumb, and Ji Chen instinctively raised his hand to slap it away, producing a crisp “slap” sound.
“Why are you crying?” Gu Xingyou asked.
“I…am I crying?” Ji Chen wiped the corner of his eyes with the back of his hand, feeling the wetness, and muttered a curse.
“I’m not crying.” He denied with a flat tone, his eyes darting around. “It’s the wind.”
Gu Xingyou found his expression particularly cute and couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re crying.”
The laugh was a form of mockery, and Ji Chen got annoyed. “I’m not crying!”
He looked like a wounded young beast, trying hard to protect his dignity.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Tbe’gf mgslcu, sbe’gf vfolclafis mgslcu.”
“P rjlv P’w cba mgslcu!” Al Jtfc uba qgbnbxfv, yea atf ybaaifv-eq fwbalbcr lc tlr tfjga vlrrlqjafv delaf j yla.
Lf ibbxfv eq jcv wfa Xe Wlcusbe’r rwlilcu fsfr, ktlmt kfgf oliifv klat ufcaif, fcmtjcalcu iluta, mjqalnjalcu jcv rbei-ralgglcu, ilxf j rkjwq, bcmf ojiifc lcab, lwqbrrlyif ab frmjqf.
Gu Xingyou pulled out a few tissues from his pocket. “Alright, alright, you’re not crying. I get it. You’re just flushed from drinking. Here, wipe off the alcohol from your face.”
Ji Chen took the tissue. Gu Xingyou no longer looked at him and walked ahead, saying, “There’s a bus stop ahead. Let’s wait for the bus there.”
Ji Chen felt he might have drunk a bit too much.
He stepped on Gu Xingyou’s shadow, following him.
They didn’t wait long before hailing a taxi. Both sat in the back seat, and the car smoothly hit the road. Gu Xingyou watched the scenery outside the window retreating, exhaling a breath. The events of the past two days were more thrilling than everything that had happened since he came to school, completely overturning his life.
The car window reflected their silhouettes. Not long after the taxi set off, Ji Chen started to feel sleepy. Within a few minutes, his head leaned against the window, and Gu Xingyou noticed it.
Resting his head against the window could cause a concussion. Gu Xingyou’s hand went around his shoulder, with the back of his hand against the window, and Ji Chen’s head fell into his palm, rubbing a couple of times, easing his furrowed brows a bit.
His hair was surprisingly soft, just like him, adorable. Gu Xingyou’s lips curled into a smile.
When they reached the school gate, Gu Xingyou woke Ji Chen up.
Under the bright moonlight, they walked one behind the other. As they approached the dormitory building, Ji Chen suddenly called out to Gu Xingyou.
“Thank you for accompanying me tonight.” It was the most comfortable day he had had in a long time, relieving much of the pressure that had been suffocating him.
Gu Xingyou kicked a pebble underfoot and raised an eyebrow. “Then…thank you for the ramen?”
He found it odd and couldn’t help but laugh, then yawned and said, “Alright, stop thanking each other. I’m dead tired. Go upstairs, wash up, and get some sleep.”
“Mm.” Ji Chen’s faint smile disappeared into the night.
Until he was about to sleep, Gu Xingyou felt like he had forgotten something, but exhaustion took over, and he slept deeply.
In the early hours of the morning, he was awakened by a series of urgent phone calls from Xiao Yan. Xiao Yan’s voice, full of resentment, asked, “Gu Xingyou, Gu Xingyou, are you still alive?”
Gu Xingyou: “…You guess.”
“Do you know I’ve been waiting for you until now?”
“I guess you stayed up all night playing games again.”
An eerie silence followed, and Ji Chen turned over in bed, making rustling sounds.
“Hang up, if there’s anything, use the message in a bottle.” Gu Xingyou hung up the phone. It was just past four o’clock, disturbing someone’s sleep, what was his intention! In a fit of anger, he blocked Xiao Yan’s number and went back to sleep.
Gu Xingyou slept an hour longer than usual. He got up at seven, washed up, and went for a run on the track field. When he returned to the dormitory, Ji Chen was also up, looking much better than he did last night.
Gu Xingyou greeted him proactively and asked, “Want to get breakfast?”
Ji Chen paused slightly and nodded, “Okay.”
Great, another step forward.
To help him get over his past shadows, Gu Xingyou felt there was still a long way to go. For now, he needed to establish a good relationship and get to a point where they could talk comfortably. Gu Xingyou saw their relationship as that of brothers.
After breakfast, they returned to the dormitory, each doing their own thing. Gu Xingyou didn’t want to come on too strong right away, as that might make his intentions too obvious and make Ji Chen uncomfortable.
Gu Xingyou pulled out a book from his desk and started reading. Half an hour later, a notification from an app on his phone popped up. It was a message from an online friend with the username “X”, asking if he could take on a task during the National Day holiday.
He unlocked his phone with one hand and replied: Sure.
The other party sent over an account and password, along with a transfer as a deposit.
Since high school, Gu Xingyou had been taking game boosting tasks on the platform. Most of his living expenses came from this. His mother had banned him from playing games in senior year, so he paused the business until the summer vacation.
His skills were good, and he had a high reputation. He played most of the popular games, and many people sought him out. The two games he played most frequently were League of Legends and a shooting game.
X was a League of Legends player and wanted to reach Platinum 1 within three days. It wasn’t difficult for Gu Xingyou, so he logged into the game.
After playing a few rounds, it was lunchtime. Just as Gu Xingyou was about to call Ji Chen for lunch, he noticed Ji Chen wasn’t in the dorm. He could vaguely hear talking from the balcony.
He guessed Ji Chen was on the phone and decided not to go over. He logged into WeChat on his phone, and multiple messages popped up. They were all nonsense from Xiao Yan.
Gu Xingyou didn’t reply and exited WeChat, unblocking Xiao Yan’s number from the blacklist.
After a while, he didn’t hear any more sounds from the balcony but still didn’t see Ji Chen come out. He got up and went to check.
Sunlight poured over half of the balcony. Ji Chen was leaning against the shaded side, facing out, smoking a cigarette. His long, fair fingers held the cigarette like a piece of art.
Ji Chen heard footsteps, glanced at him, then turned away, his face showing annoyance, exuding an aura of wanting to fight.
This pulled Gu Xingyou back to the first time he saw Ji Chen, shrouded in gloom, practically writing “I’m not easy to mess with” on his face, making it seem like no one could get close to him.
Gu Xingyou stepped back, instinctively feeling it wasn’t the right time to approach.
After finishing a cigarette, Ji Chen stood in the breeze for a while, the turmoil in his eyes gradually calming down, pressing it deep into his heart. He walked into the dormitory, and Gu Xingyou was still sitting at his desk.
“Are you hungry?” Gu Xingyou asked.
“You go eat by yourself.” Ji Chen took off his coat and lay down on his bed, apparently planning to take a nap.
“Bad mood?” Gu Xingyou walked to his bed.
Ji Chen turned to face the wall, the dormitory falling silent for a few seconds.
Gu Xingyou thought for a moment, guessing it was probably his dad who called. He asked, “Want to go out with me?”
“No!” Ji Chen’s voice carried a bit of irritation.
“Come on, keep me company. Uh… considering I went out with you last night?” Gu Xingyou didn’t mean to provoke him, just felt that if Ji Chen woke up alone, he might retreat into his shell again, building an invisible wall between himself and everyone around him.
Ji Chen was quite adept at this. He had been living in the dormitory for a month but hadn’t gotten close to any of them.
Suppressing his temper, Ji Chen sat up from the bed. They locked eyes for a few seconds, his voice hoarse and slightly exasperated, “Fine.”
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Ji Chen: I’m not happy!!!!! Pet me!!! Love me!!! Choose me!!!
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