The dorm fell into dead silence. No one spoke for a long time—only Ye Xi’s coughing could be heard.
It took him ages to calm down.
He stared at Li Rui in disbelief. “What did you say?”
Bai Yue kissed him?!
How could he not know that???
Ye Xi’s eyes went wide.
Li Rui said calmly, “That night we were playing cards—you, me, and Zheng Yang were all drunk. Only Bai Yue was cleaning up after us. I was lying on the bed, half-asleep, and when I opened my eyes, I saw him kiss you.”
“…”
Oh.
This time it was Ye Xi’s turn to look at Li Rui like he’d gone mad.
He even wanted to reach out and feel Li Rui’s forehead to check for fever.
What nonsense was he spouting in the middle of the night?
Although Li Rui’s words were simply too delightful—so delightful that Ye Xi couldn’t help but fantasize for a second.
But then he thought miserably—this was bad, senior year really was too stressful, Li Rui was losing his grip on reality.
“What are you talking about?” Ye Xi said helplessly, half amused, not believing a word. “You were drunk—how could you see anything clearly? Maybe you dreamed Bai Yue kissed me, and when you woke up you thought it was real?”
He sighed.
As wonderful as Li Rui’s words sounded, who could possibly take a drunk man seriously?
There was a sharp “crack.”
Li Rui’s composure shattered instantly.
He shook Ye Xi’s shoulders wildly. “It’s true!”
He was going insane. Why was it so hard to prove his innocence? He finally understood Dou E’s injustice.
He wanted nothing more than to climb onto a chair, tower over Ye Xi, and intimidate him into believing.
“Why won’t you believe me?” he emphasized again with force. “I didn’t drink much that day. You and Zheng Yang had two, three bottles each, but I only had a little over one. I still remember Bai Yue patting me, telling me to get into bed, and that sobered me up a bit.”
Of course he had wondered if it was a dream.
He knew how absurd it sounded.
But the more he recalled it, the more certain he became. He even remembered glancing at the unusually shaped clock on the bedside table. It was 00:03.
Li Rui flailed dramatically as he reenacted the scene. “I wasn’t sleeping that soundly. After Bai Yue called to me, I remember him carrying you to the bed. I was too tired to open my eyes. Later, you two started whispering about something, and it woke me a little. I opened my eyes—and saw Bai Yue kiss your forehead.”
He slapped the center of Ye Xi’s forehead with emphasis. “Right here!”
Ye Xi almost saw stars.
“You trying to murder me?” He rubbed his head, speaking slowly.
“Serves you right, I meant to murder you,” Li Rui snapped. “That’s what you get for not believing me!”
He ground his teeth. “And you say I was dreaming? Be reasonable—if I were dreaming, why wouldn’t I dream of Sheng Yuhe kissing me instead? Why would I dream about Bai Yue kissing you? Am I some saint, handing you benefits even in my dreams?”
Ye Xi couldn’t stop laughing.
That did make some sense. His dear best friend, worrying about him so much, had even been mentally invaded by his and Bai Yue’s nonsense.
It was kind of tragic, actually.
But still, he couldn’t believe it. He easily found a point to counter: “Fine, suppose you’re right. But that night you and Zheng Yang were both in the room, right next to me. For Bai Yue to just openly kiss me—wasn’t that way too bold? Wasn’t he afraid you two would wake up?”
Ye Xi chuckled as he said it.
Even he couldn’t keep a straight face at the thought.
God, Bai Yue secretly kissing him while he slept—
That was about as likely as dinosaurs coming back to life and cooking him a meal.
And if the roles were reversed, there was no way he’d dare steal a kiss with so many people in the room.
Li Rui was at a loss.
It was risky, admittedly.
But he quickly muttered in protest, “How would you know? You think Bai Yue’s like you, timid as a mouse. Maybe he’s got guts, bold and reckless, risking it all for lust. Lust makes you reckless, you know…”
Ye Xi burst into louder laughter.
He rarely laughed so freely—his shoulders were shaking, his whole body trembling, muffling the sounds in his arms but failing to suppress them completely.
Li Rui: “…”
Damn it.
Ye Xi, just you wait.
He ground his teeth, regretting deeply that he hadn’t filmed it that night. If only he had, he’d slam the video in Ye Xi’s face right now.
“Alright, alright.” Ye Xi finally finished laughing. Seeing Li Rui’s puffed-up face, he regained some conscience and raised his hand to signal peace.
After a moment’s thought, he tried to comfort Li Rui seriously: “Maybe you didn’t misremember or dream it. Maybe when Bai Yue carried me to the bed, he accidentally moved wrong and it looked like a kiss from your angle.”
He genuinely believed this could be the case.
Seeing Li Rui so desperate to clear his name, he couldn’t dismiss it completely.
So he considered it carefully, thinking maybe something had indeed happened, but it had been misunderstood.
“That’s impossible,” Li Rui shot down at once. “I saw his lips touch your forehead.”
He narrowed his eyes, crossing his arms, gaze dark as he stared at Ye Xi.
Then his eyes fell on the dorm clock, and another detail resurfaced. “Wait… did you wish Bai Yue happy birthday at midnight that night? You even set an alarm, didn’t you?”
Ye Xi froze.
He instinctively glanced at his phone, eyes widening slightly as he stared at Li Rui in shock, wondering how he knew.
“Ha.”
From Ye Xi’s reaction, Li Rui knew he’d hit the mark.
He immediately pounced on it, “You did say happy birthday, right? You remember that?”
Ye Xi bit his lip.
“I don’t know…”
His expression turned a little dazed. He looked at his phone, then back at Li Rui.
That sudden question had thrown him into confusion.
“I really did set an alarm. I didn’t think I’d fall asleep that early, so I wanted to wish him right at midnight. But I was drunk that night, and when I woke up the next day, I couldn’t remember anything, so I thought I hadn’t said it. But…”
Ye Xi’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed.
He remembered his confusion when he picked up his phone the next morning.
“But the thing is… my phone didn’t show a missed alarm. I’d downloaded an app—if I didn’t dismiss the alarm for something important, it would pop up again every hour after, like a reminder patch.
But the next day, my phone was completely quiet. Not once.”
The more Ye Xi spoke, the softer his voice grew, his relaxed expression fading completely. His lashes trembled faintly, eyes lost in confusion.
He couldn’t even tell whether it was Li Rui’s suggestion leading him astray, or whether he really was recalling something.
But it almost felt like he remembered—on that night, with his arms around Bai Yue’s neck, he had indeed said something…
Slowly, he lifted his head, bewildered, and met Li Rui’s eyes.
The dorm grew quieter still.
So quiet only the wind outside could be heard.
Now, finally, it was Li Rui’s turn to look smug.
His eyes shone with vindication, gazing down at Ye Xi with almost merciful triumph.
“No mistake,” he said, pushing up imaginary glasses, striking a Sherlock Holmes pose. “I woke up because of that alarm. Half-asleep, I heard you say something about a birthday, and that’s when I opened my eyes—and saw Bai Yue kiss you.
I even looked right at the clock. It was 00:03.”
“All the details line up.”
This time, Li Rui was finally satisfied, his smile full of smugness. “See, I didn’t even know you had set an alarm for midnight. Do you still think I was dreaming now?”
Now it was Ye Xi’s turn to be speechless.
He stared at Li Rui in disbelief, eyes wide…
“No way, how could that be?”
He muttered, a little incoherent.
He tried to believe Li Rui’s testimony, but inside his mind was chaos, spinning out 108 different reasons.
“Why would he kiss me? Just because I wished him a happy birthday?”
“Or was it me who asked for it? Did I take advantage of being drunk and act shamelessly?”
The more Ye Xi spoke, the more muddled he became, his brain like an overloaded circuit board, on the verge of burning out.
He thought, great, now I should probably be suspecting that Bai Yue lost his mind.
Either that, or there was something wrong with the air in that place, like someone poisoned Bai Yue.
Poisoned him into losing his senses.
Honestly, the idea of Bai Yue kissing Zheng Yang seemed more plausible than kissing him…
Li Rui watched Ye Xi, who looked completely stunned and disoriented, like he’d been hit head-on and didn’t know what to do.
Heh.
Li Rui let out a short snort.
Was it really this hard to accept mutual affection with the one you like?
You should just kneel down and thank the heavens for this blessing!
He took a deep breath and shouted at Ye Xi:
“Why else would he! I already told you, Bai Yue likes you! He likes you! Can you please just face this properly?!”
So infuriating!
Not a shred of respect for his expert judgment in matters of love!
Smack.
The words landed like a slap.
Ye Xi’s mind went completely blank. No more muttering. He was left dazed and helpless, sitting in the chair, staring blankly at Li Rui.
