Su Zhiyan returned to his dorm room in a good mood, carrying takeout. As soon as he closed the door, Wen Bei pinned him in place.
Su Zhiyan: ?
With a lollipop in his mouth, Wen Bei studied Su Zhiyan’s face with intense scrutiny, tilting his head left and right..
“See anything?” Su Zhiyan asked.
Wen Bei clicked his tongue and shook his head. He crossed his arms as he said with a tone of absolutely certainty, “Something’s definitely different about you.”
“?” Su Zhiyan pushed his hand away and walked inside, validating this great discovery of his. “Mm, probably just more handsome than before.”
Wen Bei: “……” The guy who had never gotten a girl’s WeChat took a hit to the knee.
“That’s not what I meant!” He rushed over to sit in front of Su Zhiyan. He watched him slowly open the pizza box. Without ceremony, he grabbed a slice and spoke while chewing, meeting Su Zhiyan’s questioning gaze. “I can’t put my finger on it right now, but give me a few days. My keen instincts will definitely give you a perfect answer!”
Su Zhiyan: “…” Do I look like I need that answer?
Wen Bei completely ignored Su Zhiyan’s speechless stare, grabbed the ice-cold cola and took a huge gulp. The next thing Su Zhiyan said made him spray it everywhere.
“Cough cough, cough!”
Wen Bei frantically took the tissues Su Zhiyan handed him and wiped the cola off himself and the “flowers” scattered on the floor.
“What?” He crouched down frantically wiping, looking up confused. “Why are you asking about that?”
Su Zhiyan’s expression was mild. “Just friends showing concern for each other.”
“……” Wen Bei felt like he’d been struck by lightning, already crispy on the outside and tender inside, ready to be served with sweet and sour sauce.
“Isn’t he doing tutoring? Working part-time jobs and teaching people,” Su Zhiyan continued.
Wen Bei’s face was unreadable as he stared at Su Zhiyan meaningfully for a while before sitting back down and grabbing a piece of fried chicken.
“I think he’s from a single-parent family, with a younger brother in middle school. But he doesn’t seem to be struggling financially. Maybe earning extra money is just his hobby.”
Single-parent family? Su Zhiyan’s eyebrows twitched.
This guy was always so cheerful. His family must have raised him well and loved him very much.
Su Zhiyan fell silent and opened his phone with one hand.
Seeing his movement, Wen Bei’s eyes casually glanced that way.
The phone screen showed a competition registration page.
Wen Bei: ……
Wen Bei: This isn’t going how I thought it would.
Su Zhiyan quickly filled out the registration form in no time, his fingers casually swiping through different windows, making Wen Bei dizzy…
Those slender fingers paused for a moment before finally clicking into WeChat. At last, something appeared on screen that made Wen Bei’s eyes light up – the chat window with Shen Nianjing.
[S: Are you free tomorrow morning?]
After hitting send, Su Zhiyan looked up and was startled by Wen Bei’s eager stare.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
Wen Bei smirked and snorted, his tone full of self-satisfaction. “Ah, I think I can give you my answer now.”
Su Zhiyan: “?”
Wen Bei: “My dear Zhiyan, you really don’t leave me guessing at all!”
Su Zhiyan took a sip of milk. “Get out if you keep speaking in riddles.”
Wen Bei: “…”
He hooked an arm around Su Zhiyan’s neck. “I think you’re the one speaking in riddles!”
Su Zhiyan choked on the sudden excitement and pushed him away.
They were similar types of people who always spoke their minds directly. Following the principle of “birds of a feather flock together,” they’d been good friends since military training in freshman year. Su Zhiyan had always felt comfortable hanging out with this guy.
“Let me ask you!” Wen Bei’s expression turned serious, his back straighter than the table, eyes blazing. “Are you pursuing Shen Nianjing?”
Su Zhiyan spat out his milk.
Now he wasn’t comfortable anymore.
“…” After another baptism by beverage, Wen Bei’s shirt was once again sacrificed.
Su Zhiyan threw the tissue box at him. “Which part of your brain got connected to a sewer?”
How else could he come up with such a malicious and absurd idea?
“Pah!” Wen Bei spat out the tissue bits and held up three fingers. “First, you follow him wherever he goes.”
The light in Su Zhiyan’s eyes dimmed slightly.
“Second,” Wen Bei declared emphatically, “you care about him so much!”
He stretched out and emphasized the words “so much.”
The light in Su Zhiyan’s eyes dimmed even further.
“Third! And most importantly!” Wen Bei raised his voice. “You’re always looking for reasons to find him. You even want to meet up during the holiday.”
“If that’s not liking someone and wanting to pursue them, then what is it?”
Su Zhiyan: “!”
Su Zhiyan: “I don’t.”
Wen Bei waved his hand understandingly, shaking his head with a smile. “It’s just liking someone of the same gender. There’s nothing wrong with admitting it. Don’t worry, society is much more accepting nowadays than before.”
Su Zhiyan: “…” Damn it.
The reasoning was so solid it was more convincing than life itself. He couldn’t refute it at all.
Su Zhiyan’s lips quivered as he quietly spoke under Wen Bei’s triumphant gaze, “I have my own reasons, but it’s definitely not what you think.”
“Oh…” Wen Bei clearly didn’t believe him and teased, “I understand, I totally get it.”
Su Zhiyan: “.” What exactly do you get?
“You should think less,” he finally said.
After dinner, Wen Bei changed clothes and went out. Su Zhiyan sat alone by his bed, holding his phone and staring blankly at his chat window with Shen Nianjing.
Shen Nianjing hadn’t replied yet.
Su Zhiyan’s fingers tapped the desk as he swiped out of the chat window, then back in, repeating this three or four times…
“Ah!” He finally turned off his phone, climbed onto his bed numbly, and lay there quietly, his eyes lifeless.
That damned Wen Bei… why did he have to tell him this bizarre theory!!
Before this, Su Zhiyan had never considered whether his actions might be misunderstood by others. Weren’t these just the most basic interactions? Why did it become “he’s pursuing him” when it came to Shen Nianjing?
Or was it just people like Wen Bei, who spent all day watching dramas and anime, who would have such scary thoughts?
He originally wanted to sign up for a competition project with Shen Nianjing, which would have been perfect for seeing each other every day during the break.
Well, this complicated things. He was starting to have second thoughts…
Su Zhiyan rolled over and tugged at a corner of his blanket, feeling irritated.
He had to ask Shen Nianjing to come over. The holiday was eight whole days. Do you know how precious eight days of sleep was? That’s more than a quarter of a month!
How could he change his mind just because of one person’s misunderstanding? Su Zhiyan didn’t believe Wen Bei would keep thinking he liked Shen Nianjing in the long run.
Actions always spoke louder than words.
After figuring things out, Su Zhiyan fished out his phone from under the pillow, opened his chat with Shen Nianjing, and started typing.
“Did your phone fall in the toilet or something? Why aren’t you replying?”
Too harsh. Delete, delete.
“Even 2G internet should have delivered my messages by now”
Still too harsh. Delete again.
Maybe he should just get straight to the point, that would be more efficient. Shen Nianjing would definitely reply then.
Su Zhiyan held up his phone, ready to type again.
The phone suddenly slipped from his grip.
Bang!
“Ow!” Su Zhiyan covered his nose and curled up into a ball, almost brought to tears from the impact.
In his hurry, he forgot about the dangers of holding up his phone while lying in bed. One careless moment and you end up hurting yourself.
“Ugh…” Su Zhiyan sniffled and opened his eyes, rubbing his jaw and nose with teary eyes.
“Stupid phone.”
He turned his head and dragged the phone back from where it had fallen by the bed, looking at the screen.
A huge grinning dog head stared back at him.
“!” Su Zhiyan’s eyes went wide.
How did he accidentally start a video call??
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