Chapter 3

This was the second time G had asked whether it was really her; Ji Su decided to give him a definite answer.

Disney Runaway Beauty: [Yes~ it was meant for my bestie, but I accidentally sent it to the wrong person~]

Disney Runaway Beauty: [shy cat.jpg]

G: [Mm.]

Ji Su curled his lip, pressed the screen dark, and set the phone back on the desk.

Qiao Jin leaned over again: 'Mm? Why'd you stop chatting?'

'Talk later — I'm going to shower first.' Ji Su rose, heading for the Balcony to fetch his change of clothes.

'I get it now — this move is called retreating to advance!' Qiao Jin had a sudden revelation and lunged to throw his arms around Ji Su's leg. 'Susu, take me as your disciple!'

Ji Su dodged backward, caught between laughter and exasperation: 'I swear, I really just want to shower first.'

After his shower, Ji Su came out of the bathroom, toweling his hair as he walked back to the desk.

Qiao Jin was lying on the bed playing with his phone; at the sound of movement he lifted his head again: 'Susu, quick — check if the scumbag sent you anything new.'

'Hold on.' Ji Su picked up the phone from the desk and tapped into the WeChat conversation he hadn't closed yet.

G: [You said your name is Mengmeng — is that your real name?]

Ji Su looked up: 'He messaged. Asking for my real name.'

'Real name?' Qiao Jin leapt off the bed. 'That bastard — could it be he's done so many rotten things he wants to dig up your real info?'

'That's possible.' Ji Su set down the towel. 'Don't worry, I'm not that stupid.'

He first opened his WeChat profile, changed his display name to 'Mengmeng,' and began to reply.

Mengmeng: [There's a 'meng' in my name, so the people close to me call me that~]

G: [Mm.]

Ji Su stared at that aloof 'Mm,' thought for a moment, and decided to test the waters first.

Mengmeng: [Senior, what's your name?]

G: [You got my WeChat but don't know my name?]

Ji Su: '...'

This scumbag senior seemed sharper and more cunning than he'd imagined — no wonder he'd been able to swindle Senior Lin Yan so thoroughly.

Mengmeng: [I asked around about the most handsome guy on the court that day, and that's how I got your WeChat, Senior.]

Mengmeng: [But I still wanted to confirm~]

This time the other side was silent for a good while before replying.

G: [The one you wanted to add was me.]

Ji Su's brow rose involuntarily, a little startled by the brazenness on the other end.

How confident must this scumbag be to declare himself the most handsome man on the court?

As the thought crossed his mind, a coldly handsome face rose unbidden before Ji Su's eyes — and those eyes, deep as a winter pool.

He came back to himself, waved the aloof campus heartthrob's face out of his mind, and kept fishing for information.

Mengmeng: [So Senior's name is?]

G: [I'll tell you later.]

Perhaps feeling the reply was a touch stiff, the other side quickly added another line.

G: [When you're ready to tell me your full name.]

Mengmeng: [Then... what would Senior like me to call you?]

G: [Up to you.]

Mengmeng: [Anything?]

G: [Mm.]

Ji Su figured the scumbag was probably hoping Mengmeng would call him 'gege' — every guy he knew fell for that one.

Mengmeng: [Then I'll just keep calling you Senior~]

Ji Su scrolled up a little with his fingertip, and realized he was already fluent in the use of sentence particles and tildes to express a cute tone.

He nodded, acknowledging his own capacity for learning.

Mengmeng: [Senior, I'm about to go to sleep~]

G: [This early?]

Mengmeng: [Mengmeng's a girl, after all — gotta get her beauty sleep~]

Mengmeng: [goodnight cat.jpg]

After sending, Ji Su didn't wait for a reply — he logged out of the alt account, switched to his main one, and reported the latest progress to his senior.

Ji Su: [Senior, I got talking to that scumbag.]

Lin Yan: [Amazing! I knew you could do it!]

Lin Yan: [Little Susu, whether Senior can wipe this shame off her face is all up to you!]

Ji Su: [If you want someone to talk to lately, you can come find me anytime.]

Lin Yan: [Little Susu you're seriously the best, sniff...]

Lin Yan: [At this rate, who knows — one of these days I might just fall for you!]

Ji Su: [Senior, don't tease me like that.]

Lin Yan: [Okay okay, Senior's going out with her roommate to heal her wounds — you keep it up!]

Ji Su: [Okay, stay safe.]

Ji Su set down his phone, sat at the chair, and opened his laptop to start drawing.

Sweet Mengmeng was off getting her beauty sleep, but Ji Su still had his major-assignment drawings to finish.

*

The next day was Monday; after two English lecture classes in the morning, Ji Su and Qiao Jin went to the Second Cafeteria for lunch.

The cafeteria was bustling. Qiao Jin swept his gaze around and his eyes suddenly lit up: 'Susu!'

Ji Su stopped walking: 'What?'

'Zhou Yang — I see Zhou Yang!' Qiao Jin's face lit with delight. 'It must be fate bringing us together again!'

Ji Su followed his line of sight, but the first person he saw was someone else entirely.

Gu Zhao was wearing a black hoodie, taller than anyone around him, one hand in his pocket, expressionless — looking cold and aloof, and yet unable to stop the fiery gazes that gathered around him.

Qiao Jin's gaze drifted to him too, and he couldn't help sighing: 'Gu Zhao is seriously, damn, ridiculously handsome!'

Ji Su pulled his gaze back: 'Try to keep the drool in check.'

'If it weren't for that face being so outrageously handsome, there's no way he'd have been elected campus heartthrob with that personality.' Qiao Jin thought for a moment. 'As far as I know, among past campus heartthrobs at A University, only Lu Jinyan could hold his own against him.'

Ji Su: 'How do you know everything?'

'Of course I do!' Qiao Jin grinned. 'And let me tell you — that Lu Jinyan is also into guys. He came out publicly later, and his boyfriend's in A University's art department — I think his name is Jiang—'

Ji Su, afraid he was about to recite the fellow's entire biography, cut him off: 'Do you want to go say hi to Zhou Yang?'

'Well...' Qiao Jin hesitated. 'Chatting online is fine, but with this many people around, I don't know what to say to him.'

'Then forget it.' Ji Su started walking. 'Wait till you two are closer.'

'Hey, wait!' Qiao Jin changed his mind again, grabbed Ji Su's arm, and charged forward. 'Whatever — let's just go make an appearance!'

On that side, Gu Zhao and his group had just sat down when a warm, bright voice reached their ears.

'Hey, hello there!' Qiao Jin greeted them with a beaming smile.

Gu Zhao lifted his eyes at the sound, but his gaze landed on Ji Su's face standing to one side. It paused for two seconds, then dropped coldly.

That glance was so quick that no one noticed.

'Huh? Aren't you—' Wang Mingzhe slapped the table. 'The one from the Gymnasium that day!'

'I'm Qiao Jin.' Qiao Jin introduced himself briefly, then asked, 'Zhou Yang, do you still remember my face?'

'Yes, yes.' Zhou Yang nodded rapidly, pushing back from his seat to stand. 'You guys eating at the Second Cafeteria too?'

'Coming to the Second Cafeteria is obviously for eating — what else would we do?' Wang Mingzhe quipped, then turned his gaze to Gu Zhao across the table. 'Gu-ge, scoot in a bit, let's squeeze together!'

Gu Zhao lifted his eyelids and cast him a glance, bland and unhurried.

Wang Mingzhe shrunk his neck. 'Never mind, never mind, pretend I didn't say anything.'

'Ah, two more roommates are waiting for us.' Qiao Jin, reading the room, found an excuse. 'Zhou Yang, next time I get the chance, I'll treat you to a meal — that okay?'

'Of course.' Zhou Yang nodded seriously. 'If you have any other questions, just message me on WeChat.'

'Okay, bye-bye!' Qiao Jin waved, then dragged Ji Su — who had been playing wooden statue the whole time — away.

Wang Mingzhe watched their retreating backs, and his courage swelled again. 'I'm saying, Gu-ge, do you have some kind of issue with Ji Su?'

Gu Zhao pushed aside the green peppers in his tray. 'What issue?'

'I'm asking you, aren't I?' Wang Mingzhe leaned his head in. 'I just feel like you don't really... warm up to him?'

Gu Zhao's tone didn't change. 'You're overthinking it.'

Wang Mingzhe was about to keep digging when Zhou Yang chimed in to back him up. 'I also think you're overthinking it. Isn't Gu-ge like this with everyone?'

'Fair point.' Wang Mingzhe saw the light. 'I originally thought Ji Su being so pretty would count for something, give him an edge. Now I see — you treat every single person with the same cold face. My heart's at peace.'

Gu Zhao couldn't be bothered to respond. His large hand dipped into his pocket, and only then did he realize he hadn't brought his phone that morning.

'Eat faster.' He finally opened his golden mouth. 'Then back to the Dormitory.'

*

After lunch, Ji Su returned to the Dormitory for his afternoon nap.

He sat down at the desk, logged into his secondary WeChat account, and checked for new messages.

Tapping into the chat window, the latest message was still the 'good morning' sticker he'd sent that morning.

Ji Su leaned back against his chair. 'Xiao Qiao, he's not replying to me again.'

'He? That who?' Qiao Jin reacted fast. 'Pah! Sure enough, a true player, a dead scumbag!'

Ji Su tilted his face up, staring at the ceiling. 'Online dating is really hard.'

Qiao Jin offered a suggestion. 'How about you send him another leg photo and try?'

Ji Su: '...'

So this was him pioneering a new form of online dating: the photo-chat mode?

But practice makes perfect, and Ji Su didn't fuss over it — he got up, ready to change into the white shorts from last night.

'Switch to a different pair, Susu.' Qiao Jin kindly reminded him. 'Otherwise the scumbag will think you don't shower at night.'

'I don't have any other shorts.' Ji Su's movements paused. 'You know I don't like wearing shorts.'

Even in the height of summer, he preferred loose, roomier long pants.

Qiao Jin: 'Then... just wear underwear for the shot?'

Ji Su turned his face, unable to believe his ears. 'What did you say?'

'Ugh, he doesn't know it's you anyway!' Qiao Jin hurried to explain. 'He's straight, you're straight — showing him your legs isn't exactly a loss.'

Ji Su couldn't refute it for the moment, and somehow felt there might be a point.

Qiao Jin caught the wavering in his expression and pushed on. 'Besides, when he finds out later that he was, you know, doing that to a guy's leg photo — won't it disgust him to death? Wouldn't that count as getting revenge for the senior, ridding the people of a scourge?'

Ji Su: '...Fine.'

Qiao Jin raised a hand to cover both eyes. 'I'm not looking!'

Luckily the other two roommates hadn't come back for lunch. Ji Su took a deep breath and pulled off the jeans he was wearing.

He bore the shame inside, adjusted his pose, then picked up his freshman-year English textbook from the desk, flipped it open to a random page, and laid it across his lap — just enough to cover a certain swelling.

Once the angle was right, he pressed the shutter. Ji Su hurriedly pulled his pants back on and said, 'Done, help me check if there's anything wrong.'

'Coming!' Qiao Jin darted over, took one look, and clamped his nose. 'Shit, I think I'm about to have a nosebleed!'

Ji Su was wearing a pair of black boxer briefs today — the style leaned neutral, with two white stripes along the hems, hugging his pale long legs snugly. The seat pressed the flesh at the root of his thighs into a plump, luminous mound, white and fine-grained, the kind that made a person's fingers itch to grab and knead hard, leaving marks that wouldn't fade for ages.

And on top of all that sat an utterly proper English book, half-concealing the key area, making the whole thing even more tantalizingly suggestive.

As though deliberately daring you to guess: are you supposed to read the book, or look at those flawless, jade-white long legs?

Qiao Jin let out a howl. 'No way, this is way too good a deal for that dead scumbag!'

Ji Su: '...'

Already taken, Ji Su sent the freshly minted photo to G anyway.

Three seconds later, a new message popped up in the chat.

G: [Sent to the wrong person again?]

Ji Su couldn't help rolling his eyes. Sure enough, it wasn't that he hadn't seen the messages — he just didn't want to reply.

Mengmeng: [Didn't send it wrong, it's for you, senior~]

Mengmeng: [Had English class today, so hard~]

G: [How hard?]

Mengmeng: [I'm a music student, my academics aren't great.]

Mengmeng: [cat-crying.jpg]

Ji Su planned to build Mengmeng as a ditzy, airheaded character — first, to let the scumbag senior lower his guard; second, to create topics for future conversation.

This kind of scumbag should love pretty, gullible little junior girls most of all.

G: [Have you studied music since you were little?]

Mengmeng: [Yes, so I never had much time for academics.]

Ji Su had indeed studied all kinds of instruments from childhood — that part was true — but the bit about not having time for academics was a lie; otherwise he wouldn't have gotten into A University's flagship program.

After sending that message, he timed it just right and recalled the leg photo from earlier.

G: [Why did you recall it again?]

Mengmeng: [I sent you good morning this morning, and you still haven't replied, senior.]

G: [Didn't bring my phone to morning class.]

G: [Just got back to the dorm.]

Ji Su didn't buy this BS excuse at all — a player managing such a big pond, how could he possibly not carry his phone around?

Probably busy chatting with other pretty girls all morning, only thought to reply when he saw the leg photo.

Mengmeng: [Oh, okay~]

G: [Don't believe me?]

Mengmeng: [No, I believe you wouldn't lie to me, senior.]

Mengmeng: [But I've been waiting for your reply the whole time, really waited so long~]

After a brief silence on the other end, the topic suddenly changed.

G: [It's so cold out, why do you wear shorts every day?]

Mengmeng: [No no, I only took them off back in the dorm.]

Mengmeng: [I was wearing a thick long skirt outside.]

G: [Let me see.]

Ji Su: '?'

Help — he was straighter than a steel pen, no girlfriend, where would he even get a skirt from?