“Wuhu! A Friday without translation homework, my happy paradise!”
Chi Dongting packed up his things happily. “Wenyu, let’s go eat something good to celebrate?”
“Not today.” Ye Wenyu said, “I still have to go to the music room. I’ll go with you next time.”
Chi Dongting smacked his forehead. “I was too excited, I forgot you still have to prepare for the competition. All right then, you go. I’ll eat with the class monitor and the others. I’ll bring back some snacks for you tonight.”
Ye Wenyu: “Okay.”
When they arrived at the Arts Building, Yan Chen hadn’t arrived yet.
But Ye Wenyu received a message from him, saying he just finished training and needed to take a shower before coming.
Ye Wenyu replied: [No rush.]
An Xue turned on the classroom’s multimedia system, connected her phone, and started importing everyone’s practice recordings from yesterday to get ready to play them.
Everyone sat around chatting idly. Across the aisle from Ye Wenyu were several girls from the class, discussing new lipstick shades.
“Cinnabar?”
“It looks more like tomato.”
“It brightens the skin, I’m tempted~”
“I brought it today. Take a look. If you like it, I’ll send you the link.”
Ye Wenyu turned his head and saw the girl closest to him gently swipe the lipstick on the back of her hand, leaving a vivid red streak.
It was indeed very pretty.
If that color were on Yan Chen’s lips, it would definitely look good too.
“…”
Realizing what he had unconsciously started thinking, he quickly cut off the strange train of thought.
Yan Chen stepped into the classroom at the sound of the first bell and sat down in the empty seat next to Ye Wenyu in the front row.
He must have left in a hurry and didn’t blow-dry his hair. It was half-dry from the heat along the way.
Ye Wenyu could smell a faint scent of body wash drifting from him, which was a bit like wood, and a bit like citrus.
It smelled so nice that Ye Wenyu couldn’t help but take a light extra sniff.
An Xue finally finished fiddling around, looked up and did a headcount to confirm everyone was present: “Alright, everyone’s here. Let’s get started. We’ll go in the order the assignments were submitted: Zhao Jun, Liu Ziran, Ye Wenyu…”
Ye Wenyu listened carefully and noticed that Yan Chen was last on the list.
He asked, “You didn’t turn it in after we recorded the other day?”
Yan Chen: “I got distracted and forgot.”
Ye Wenyu thought that made sense. They recorded for a long time and it was at night. It was easy to get sleepy. “I’ll remind you next time.”
After everyone’s recordings were played, An Xue gave a summary: “Not bad, everyone did great. Although there were a few small flaws, they’re not a big deal. We still have plenty of time to smooth them out.”
“And a tiny irrelevant question.”
As An Xue said this, her eyes turned to Yan Chen curiously. “Why did your recording end with calling Wenyu? Were you two recording together?”
That question hit the curiosity spot of many people present, and several pairs of eyes filled with the same curiosity turned toward them.
It was an easy question to answer.
Ye Wenyu took the initiative to explain, “No, we were just connected via voice call. It makes recording easier that way.”
The classroom erupted in a small wave of noise at his answer.
“Wow!”
“Hey, how come I never thought of using voice calls?”
“Wenyu, that’s favoritism! So many of us had scenes with you, how come only Yan Chen got to do a voice call with you?”
“No offense, I’m just asking…Is it a turn-based system, Wenyu? I’m next, right?”
Ye Wenyu couldn’t handle the barrage of chatter and couldn’t open his mouth for a moment.
“I called him.” Just as he was at a loss for words, Yan Chen calmly spoke up. “I’m not very good at it, so I had to trouble him to teach me.”
Ye Wenyu had a good personality, so it was easy for others to joke with him without much concern. But Yan Chen was different.
Now that the spotlight shifted to him, the others didn’t dare continue to tease and the jokes gradually quieted down.
Ye Wenyu relaxed his shoulders and whispered to him, “Thanks.”
“No need.” Yan Chen leaned back in his chair. “You already called me “gege”, I can’t just ignore you.”
Ye Wenyu was stunned.
When he said it, he had no ulterior motive, he just wanted to coax Yan Chen and keep him from getting mad. Now that a whole night had passed and it was brought up again, he felt a bit embarrassed.
Calling someone “gege”.…
An Xue clapped her hands. “Alright, as a reward for everyone finishing their assignments so well, we’re going to play a little game before practice to relax.”
The game she mentioned was simple.
Because some of the students present were external members from the dubbing club, some capable of using multiple different vocal styles, the game involved picking someone to be blindfolded while several students spoke in turn. If the blindfolded person guessed even one voice correctly, they won.
As soon as An Xue finished explaining, someone immediately caught on.
“Isn’t this the same game the dubbing club uses to recruit members? Class rep, are you abusing your power to use us for practice?”
An Xue giggled. “See it but don’t say it.”
Anyway, it sounded fun and everyone was eager to try.
Ye Wenyu watched them play two rounds and felt it was a great opportunity for Yan Chen to get familiar and blend in with everyone.
“Do you want to play a round?” he turned to Yan Chen and asked softly.
He didn’t realize he had practically written “I want to see you play” all over his face. Yan Chen looked at him and nodded. “Okau.”
Ye Wenyu raised his hand to sign Yan Chen up for the next round.
“No one guessed a single one so far.” An Xue handed a black blindfold to Yan Chen. “Let’s see who gets the first win today.”
Yan Chen raised his hand and put on the blindfold.
Ye Wenyu watched as the black cloth covered his eyes and the bridge of his nose, making his mouth instantly become the focal point of attention.
It was a completely different feeling from when his eyes were open. It was hard to describe….Anyway, once Ye Wenyu’s eyes landed there, they couldn’t look away.
An Xue: “Alright, starting with the first student.”
The first to speak was a girl who looked delicate and gentle. Her boyfriend next to her whispered a few words, and she smiled and nodded, cleared her throat silently, and opened her mouth in a deep, booming voice: “Gege! Long time no see, you still…”
Yan Chen: “Song Xiaomian.”
Song Xiaomian: “……”
Song Xiaomian: “?”
An Xue: “?”
Ye Wenyu: “?”
Ye Wenyu was dumbfounded.
An Xue: “Amazing! How did you guess it?!”
Song Xiaomian fell into self-doubt. “Damn, has my ability to fake a guy’s voice regressed…”
Yan Chen took off the blindfold. “I won, right?”
An Xue raised both hands to give him a thumbs-up. “First win, well-deserved!”
“This game’s too hard, I also want to be the one setting the tests, let’s do something more universal and less technical.”
“Okay, what do you want to play?”
“Let’s stop just listening, can we try touching directly?”
While the others were chattering away, Ye Wenyu quietly asked Yan Chen, “How did you guess it?”
Yan Chen: “You want to know?”
Ye Wenyu nodded.
Yan Chen: “I’ll tell you next time.”
“…” Ye Wenyu’s lips pressed into a straighter line.
Yan Chen: “Upset now?”
Ye Wenyu echoed his earlier words back to him: “I already called you “gege”, but you’re still keeping me in suspense?”
Yan Chen couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows.
After saying this, Ye Wenyu inexplicably felt that the sentence sounded natural coming from Yan Chen, but embarrassing when it came from himself.
“I was just joking.” He averted his gaze uncomfortably. “Ahem! It’s fine if you don’t want to say.”
“The voice changed,” Yan Chen said. “But the tone and habits didn’t. It’s not hard to tell.”
‘Oh,’ Ye Wenyu suddenly understood.
Yan Chen looked at him. “Are you happy now?”
Ye Wenyu felt a little embarrassed. “I wasn’t unhappy. I was really just joking.”
“Hey, Wenyu, what secret are you guys whispering over there?” An Xue called out to them. “New mode now…blindfold and face-touching. Do you want to play?”
This mode required physical contact. Yan Chen placed the blindfold on the table and automatically withdrew.
“Who hasn’t played yet?”
“We’ve all played. Only Wenyu hasn’t.”
“Wenyu, do you want to join?”
Ye Wenyu had no objections and picked up the blindfold Yan Chen had just set down.
An Xue pointed to a few people and had them step forward. “Wenyu, look carefully, it’s just these three. Guess one correctly and you win. You can only touch their face, not anywhere else.”
Ye Wenyu nodded to show he understood.
Yan Chen watched him put on the blindfold and stand in the middle, his gaze lightly sweeping over the people nearby.
“Ready?” An Xue said. “If so, walk forward, Wenyu. They’re right in front of you.”
With his vision blocked and nothing in sight, Ye Wenyu carefully took slow steps forward. Everyone else stayed quiet so they wouldn’t disturb him.
He silently counted the distance, and just as he felt he was close, before he could touch anything, he felt the inside of his wrist being gently hooked to the right.
He thought he had gone in the wrong direction and subconsciously followed the direction of the hand that guided him.
His fingertips touched soft skin, and when his palm made full contact, he heard a low, shallow gasp behind him. “Hey, wrong, that’s Yan…”
The rest was unclear.
But that didn’t stop Ye Wenyu from realizing he’d touched the wrong person. The one under his hand wasn’t a “contestant”, it was Yan Chen.
He was touching Yan Chen’s face.
So does that mean… does that mean he could openly… touch him a bit?
Suddenly his heart started beating violently and he swallowed unconsciously. The inexplicable nervousness made his hands feel weak.
His fingertips absentmindedly brushed over the side of the face, the corner of the eye, the forehead, even the tip of the nose. His mind was filled with the image of Yan Chen wearing the blindfold earlier.
Just below the nose felt like a forbidden zone. Even though he couldn’t see it, it still strongly attracted him. His heart itched unbearably…he wanted to touch it but didn’t dare.
He had never had such “rebellious” thoughts before, until that day when Yan Chen asked that question.
‘It’s over,’ he thought.
He hadn’t even completed the first step, but he was already thinking about going further.
Yan Chen’s gaze fell on him, allowing his hand to wander freely across his face. He even bent down slightly to make it easier for Ye Wenyu to touch him.
The boy, who usually looked cold and emotionless, even appearing a bit fierce due to his lack of expression, now looked like a large wolfdog letting its owner rub its head…so obedient it was shocking.
The atmosphere became inexplicably subtle. Song Xiaomian couldn’t help but cling to An Xue, covering her mouth and whispering, “This is so weird. Why am I so nervous?”
An Xue: “Shh.”
“Shh what? Time’s up!” a loud-voiced boy shouted. “Wenyu, if you can’t guess, we’re moving on!”
Ye Wenyu was startled, as if waking from a dream, and quickly pulled his hand back.
Yan Chen glanced at the boy indifferently.
The boy was completely unaware and kept laughing. “Wenyu, can you guess?”
“Yan Chen.” Ye Wenyu pulled off the blindfold but didn’t bother confirming the answer.
“How come you always guess so easily? What’s going on with you two? No fun, no fun.”
“But wasn’t Yan Chen not in the game?”
“It’s okay, we’ll count it as him joining last minute.”
They all laughed and chatted. Ye Wenyu backed away, tightened and loosened his hand around the blindfold, and finally couldn’t help but shake his wrist lightly.
It had gone numb.
–
[I pieced together our practice recording yesterday and sent it to my little sister. After listening, she asked, “Can I marry didi?” I laughed to death.]
**Di-di means “little brother”.
[How old is your sister?]
[Fifth grade.]
[Hahahahaha, what did you say back?]
[What else could I say? Of course I said, “Don’t ask me, ask his gege.”]
[And then?]
[Then she thought seriously for a bit and said, “Forget it. This gege sounds like a brother-con. He definitely wouldn’t agree.”]
[Fifth graders already know about brother-cons? That’s wild!]
[Enough joking, let’s talk business / angry face]
[Do we really have to extend practice time? If so, can I at least eat dinner first before heading to the music room?]
[It can’t be helped. The competition date got moved up. We have to speed up.]
…
Ye Wenyu thought he also needed to speed up too.
He felt he could control his brain, but he had no confidence in controlling his hands.
If their relationship wasn’t close enough yet to be honest about everything, and he just couldn’t resist making a move…
Would he scare Yan Chen?
He had to go faster.
Just then, he saw a rare message from Yan Chen pop up in the group chat:
Yan Chen: [I’m taking leave. I can’t come tomorrow.]
An Xue: [Huh? So suddenly, is there something urgent?]
Yan Chen: [I’m not feeling well.]
An Xue: [You have a cold? Okay, rest well and come back when you’re better.]
Yan Chen: [Mm.]
‘Not feeling well…’
Chi Dongting spotted a hilarious username in a game: “Wenyu, come look! This guy’s name is ‘My d*ck broke’ hahahahaha…hey? Are you heading out?”
Ye Wenyu responded, changed his shoes, grabbed his phone, and quickly left the dorm.
He took a detour to the campus clinic to buy medicine. Just as he got to the sports building, a boy walking toward him greeted him first: “Hey, Ye Wenyu?”
Ye Wenyu didn’t recognize him. “You are?”
“I’m Yan-ge’s roommate, Dong Xi,” Dong Xi said with a smile. “Are you here to see Yan ge?”
Ye Wenyu nodded.
Dong Xi: “Did you not send him a message in advance? He’s not in the dorm. He’s not coming back tonight.”
Ye Wenyu hadn’t expected that. He thought someone who was sick would definitely stay in the dorm to rest. “Did he go to training?”
Dong Xi: “No, he went home. Look, it’s that residential complex…you can see a few of the buildings from here.”
Ye Wenyu turned his head. It was the same house Yan Chen had taken him to before.
Ye Wenyu: “Got it, thanks.”
With the destination suddenly changed, he hesitated for a moment about whether to send Yan Chen a message. After some consideration, he decided not to.
What if Yan Chen thought it was too much trouble and rejected him…
It was better to just go directly.
The route was very close, and although he had only been there once, he remembered it clearly. Ye Wenyu easily found his way to Yan Chen’s place and knocked on the door.
Yan Chen looked a bit surprised. “Why did you come?”
“I saw your message. I happened to be out running some errands, so I thought I’d drop off some medicine on the way.”
Ye Wenyu saw that his complexion didn’t look unusual and asked uncertainly, “Are you… already better?”
As soon as the words left his mouth, the person who had just seemed fine suddenly furrowed his brows, raised his hand to press against his temple, and said, “Come in first. I can’t stand the wind right now. My head’s spinning.”
Seeing how uncomfortable he looked, Ye Wenyu quickly stepped inside and closed the door, shutting out the wind from the hallway.
“Have you taken medicine?” he asked.
Yan Chen nodded slightly.
Ye Wenyu: “Do you feel any better now?”
Yan Chen leaned against the cabinet, looking listless. “I still feel dizzy and have no strength in my body.”
Ye Wenyu had heard of this saying before; healthy people might go years without getting sick, but once they did, it was like a mountain collapsing.
He frowned slightly. “Do you have a fever?”
Yan Chen: “I don’t know. There’s no thermometer at home.”
Ye Wenyu reached out his hand, and Yan Chen lowered his head, letting the back of Ye Wenyu’s hand touch his forehead.
“It’s okay. No fever.” Ye Wenyu breathed a sigh of relief.
Yan Chen rubbed his temples. “But I still feel really uncomfortable.”
Ye Wenyu didn’t know what to do either. Looking down, he saw clothes in the crook of Yan Chen’s arm. “Were you going to take a shower?”
Yan Chen nodded.
Ye Wenyu: “But didn’t you say your dizziness was really bad?”
Yan Chen replied, “It’s fine. If I wash slowly, it should be okay.”
Ye Wenyu: “…”
Setting aside that “should”, he was already sick, and now he wanted to shower slowly? Wouldn’t that just make it worse?
Ye Wenyu frowned.
This just didn’t feel right. After a brief moment of thought, he said seriously, “Let me help you.”
