INT Chapter 37

When Lu Ze saw Liang Xiao on the weekend, he immediately felt something was off. Why was Liang Xiao acting just as cold in person as he was on WeChat?

 

Frowning, Lu Ze stared at him. Liang Xiao’s face was expressionless as he asked indifferently, “Where to?”

 

Lu Ze replied just as coldly, “Just around campus.”

 

The two of them stood face-to-face at the school gate for a while. Passersby couldn’t help but glance at them curiously, but Lu Ze didn’t seem to care.

 

After a moment, Liang Xiao pressed his lips together and said softly, “Let’s go inside first.”

 

Lu Ze didn’t move and instead called out his full name, “Liang Xiao.”

 

Liang Xiao froze mid-step. Lu Ze continued, “Aren’t I your client right now? I don’t see you being this cold to other clients.”

 

*You even told someone else she was your girlfriend.*

 

Liang Xiao sighed inwardly. That’s because other clients were just clients.

 

For the first time in his life, he felt completely at a loss when it came to someone.

 

He couldn’t be too warm, but he couldn’t be too distant either.

 

He couldn’t treat him as just a friend, but he also couldn’t treat him as just a client.

 

He couldn’t like him, but he couldn’t not like him either.

 

Turning to face Lu Ze, Liang Xiao forced a small smile and said, “Sorry, maybe I didn’t sleep well yesterday.”

 

Hearing that apology only made Lu Ze more irritated. The smile wasn’t helping—it would’ve been better if Liang Xiao hadn’t smiled at all.

 

Without another word, Lu Ze turned and walked ahead. “Let’s go to the library first.”

 

Liang Xiao blinked in surprise. “The library?”

 

“Yeah. Why not?” Lu Ze replied without looking back. “So girls can paint their nails and go to art exhibits, but I can’t go to the library?”

 

Liang Xiao didn’t respond and simply followed behind him, watching his back. He was now certain that Lu Ze was upset about what happened at the art exhibit—but he doubted Lu Ze even realized it himself.

 

Most likely, he didn’t.

 

Liang Xiao had initially planned to treat Lu Ze like any other ordinary client from now on. But seeing him again made him realize that was impossible.

 

Every word Lu Ze said—whether intentional or not—felt like a signal to Liang Xiao. A signal that maybe… Lu Ze liked him too.

 

Suddenly, Lu Ze stopped walking. Liang Xiao had been lost in thought and reacted a beat too late, accidentally stepping on Lu Ze’s foot.

 

He quickly stepped back and said, “Wait a moment—I’ll clean it for you.”

 

Distracted by his own thoughts, Lu Ze hadn’t caught what Liang Xiao said. All he saw was Liang Xiao pulling a wet wipe out of his pocket, tearing it open, and crouching down in front of him.

 

Startled, Lu Ze instinctively stepped back and exclaimed, “What are you doing?”

 

Looking up from where he crouched, Liang Xiao said calmly, “Cleaning your shoe.”

 

Lu Ze stared down at him. *Do you do this for other clients too?*

 

“No need,” he said quickly. “Just hold my stuff—I’ll do it myself.”

 

Liang Xiao stood up and handed him the wet wipe before taking his laptop bag.

 

Without crouching down himself, Lu Ze bent over and reached back to wipe his heel.

 

As Liang Xiao watched him bend forward, the hem of his shirt lifted slightly with the motion, revealing a small patch of pale skin at his lower back—so bright it almost hurt to look at.

 

Liang Xiao watched as Lu Ze’s shirt was pulled up slightly with his movements, exposing a small patch of dazzlingly fair lower back.

 

Lu Ze noticed it himself as well. He straightened up and reached back to tug his shirt down, but as he bent over again, the shirt rode up once more.

 

“Damn…”

 

Lu Ze straightened up again. Liang Xiao stepped forward and reached out his hand. “Let me do it.”

 

Lu Ze glanced at him but still said, “No need.” Squatting down to clean shoes was something he could do for his girlfriend, but having Liang Xiao do it for him felt way too awkward.

 

“Just help me pull my shirt down,” Lu Ze said.

 

Liang Xiao didn’t respond immediately. After a moment, he reached out and grabbed Lu Ze’s shirt. Lu Ze bent over once more.

 

Liang Xiao’s gaze involuntarily fell on Lu Ze’s back. Because Lu Ze was bent over and Liang Xiao was tugging on his shirt with some force, the lines of Lu Ze’s shoulder blades and spine became very pronounced—and very attractive.

 

Liang Xiao squinted slightly, his gaze deepening.

 

Lu Ze straightened up. “Done.”

 

He took a step forward but realized Liang Xiao was still holding onto his shirt, pulling him back slightly.

 

Turning his head to look at Liang Xiao, he saw that Liang Xiao was holding back a laugh as he let go. “Sorry, my reaction was a bit slow.”

 

Lu Ze glanced at the smile on his face but said nothing.

 

—

 

The two of them arrived at the library. Lu Ze took out his laptop and said to Liang Xiao, “You can play on your phone or find a book to read—whatever you like.”

 

Liang Xiao had completely returned to his usual self when interacting with Lu Ze. He didn’t ask why Lu Ze had asked him to come along when he clearly didn’t need help. Instead, he wandered around for a bit, picked out a poetry book, and then returned to sit beside Lu Ze.

 

He glanced at Lu Ze’s laptop screen—it was a PowerPoint presentation. There were no Chinese characters, only English, and he could barely understand a single sentence.

 

Opening his book, Liang Xiao began reading while occasionally catching glimpses of Lu Ze typing on the keyboard out of the corner of his eye. His fingers were long and slender, with distinct knuckles.

 

Lu Ze waited until Liang Xiao had lowered his head and focused on reading before sneaking glances at him out of the corner of his eye. Liang Xiao’s nose bridge was high and prominent; from the side, it looked strikingly handsome.

 

What started as subtle glances turned into outright staring every now and then. Liang Xiao didn’t seem to notice anything, engrossed in his book.

 

Eventually, Lu Ze grew tired of working on the PowerPoint presentation. He propped his head up with one hand and turned fully to stare at Liang Xiao openly. The more he looked, the more he thought Liang Xiao was ridiculously good-looking.

 

He’d never observed another guy’s appearance so closely before—not even with Jiang Yijie, who had been his desk mate for three years. To this day, he couldn’t clearly recall what Jiang Yijie looked like.

 

But with Liang Xiao… he wanted to observe him. He was willing to observe him—just like how someone might admire their girlfriend. It was… pleasing to the eye.

 

Realizing what he was thinking, Lu Ze frowned slightly. He really did seem to feel differently about Liang Xiao.

 

Tsk. Was it really this easy to “bend”?

 

Did he just fall for another guy?

 

No… He still wouldn’t look twice at other guys—only Liang Xiao.

 

And who could blame him? Liang Xiao was just that handsome.

 

Still cool.

 

And, as a boyfriend, he’d be very qualified.

 

Liang Xiao felt like half his face was being stared at by Lu Ze. He really couldn’t keep pretending anymore, so he feigned casualness and raised his head, only to meet Lu Ze’s direct, unreserved gaze.

 

Liang Xiao paused for a moment before softly asking, “What’s wrong?”

 

Moving was even more handsome than staying still—this was the conclusion Lu Ze came to after staring for a few more seconds.

 

He replied in a low voice, “Nothing, just tired. Letting my eyes rest.”

 

There was no way to respond to that. Liang Xiao looked into Lu Ze’s eyes, suspecting that he had said it on purpose.

 

But Lu Ze was actually innocent. He had just realized that he might really like Liang Xiao and felt a bit lost, so he simply said whatever came to mind.

 

Lu Ze kept staring at Liang Xiao without saying anything, leaving Liang Xiao no choice but to look away first. “Thirsty? I’ll go buy us something to drink.”

 

Lu Ze nodded. “Okay. No coffee for me—anything else is fine.”

 

He lifted his head and watched Liang Xiao walk out. Even from behind, Liang Xiao looked incredibly handsome. His back was straight as he walked; with his long legs and large strides, it seemed like there was wind beneath his feet.

 

Lu Ze resisted the urge to whistle at him in the library.

 

Only when Liang Xiao disappeared from view did Lu Ze finally pull his gaze back. He stared blankly at the PowerPoint in front of him for a moment before casually picking up the book Liang Xiao had been reading earlier—a collection of Tagore’s poetry.

 

Lu Ze raised an eyebrow in surprise. So literary?

 

He skimmed through the content briefly but stopped when his eyes landed on the page number at the bottom.

 

All this time, and he’d only read less than ten pages?

 

And here Lu Ze had thought Liang Xiao was reading so intently—turns out he must’ve been lost in thought instead.

 

---