Eight

The other side had only offered a simple compliment, but the roots of Ji Su's ears grew inexplicably hot.

He bit his lower lip without thinking, trying to recall the sound he had just made — would it have sounded strange?

After a pause, the low male voice rose again: 'Why have you gone quiet again?'

To play it safe, Ji Su decided not to open his mouth again.

He set the phone back on its stand, lifted both hands once more, and his beautiful fingertips leapt nimbly across the black-and-white keys. The crisp, pleasant Piano notes wandered through the forest like little sprites — lively and vivid — and the listener's mood lifted along with them without quite knowing why.

When the piece ended, Ji Su sat quietly for a few seconds, then picked up the phone.

He'd played two Piano pieces for G; tonight's little treat was about at its end.

Mengmeng: [Is Senior feeling any better now?]

'Mm, much better.' The person at the other end of the line thanked him in a low voice. 'Thank you, Mengmeng.'

Mengmeng: [You're welcome~]

Mengmeng: [Then Senior, I'll hang up first...]

The other party was silent for a few seconds, then spoke with an indefinable something in his tone: 'Why... so shy?'

'Mm-hmm...' Ji Su hummed through his nose, then decisively ended the call.

This half-revealed, half-concealed effect was exactly the point — the scumbag Senior might well dream of Mengmeng's voice tonight.

G: [Get back to the Dormitory early.]

Ji Su didn't reply to the message. He closed the Piano's lid, switched off the classroom lights, locked the door, and left the Music Society.

On the way back, he noticed Qiao Jin had sent him several messages earlier.

Qiao Jin: [Susu, where did you go if you're not in the Dormitory?]

Qiao Jin: [Susu, when are you coming back?]

Qiao Jin: [Susu Susu, were you abducted by aliens?]

Ji Su: [Not abducted by aliens, back soon.]

Back at the Dormitory, Ji Su gave Qiao Jin a brief explanation.

Qiao Jin's eyes went wide. 'Holy shit, the scumbag has luck like this — you played Piano just for him alone!'

'What scumbag?' Zhao Ziyun caught the keyword and lit up like a hedgehog scrambling through a melon patch. 'Is there some fresh juicy gossip from one of the departments?'

'Nothing.' Qiao Jin cautiously shut her mouth. 'You misheard.'

Zhao Ziyun wasn't the suspicious type; hearing there was no melon to eat, he went back to his game. Li You, though, glanced their way a couple more times.

Ji Su sat down at his desk, opened his phone, and saw G had sent him two more messages.

G: [Back at the Dormitory?]

G: [Mengmeng?]

Ji Su curved his lips, deliberately pretending he hadn't seen them.

After waiting a beat longer, G placed a voice call.

Ji Su knew that from this moment on, the scumbag Senior had already fallen into Mengmeng's gentle trap.

He tapped to decline the voice call and replied by typing.

Mengmeng: [Just got to the Dormitory, didn't hear the phone ring on the way.]

G: [Good that you're back.]

Mengmeng: [What about Senior, are you back at the School?]

G: [Back.]

Mengmeng: [That's good then.]

Mengmeng: [Senior, were you worried about me just now?]

G: [Mm.]

Mengmeng: [I thought only I would worry about Senior — turns out Senior cares about me this much too.]

Mengmeng: [shy_cat.jpg]

The top of the chat window showed 'The other party is typing...' — after much deleting and retyping, a few characters finally came through.

G: [Mm. I care.]

Mengmeng: [Senior, I'm suddenly sleepy, want to go to bed~]

Ji Su didn't press the previous topic any deeper — to keep the scumbag hooked on Mengmeng, he couldn't come across as advancing step by step.

Most men shared a common flaw: once they had something, they stopped treasuring it — and these two were only chatting online anyway. The scumbag had plenty of other options on his list.

G: [Alright, get some sleep early.]

G: [Good night.]

Mengmeng: [Good night, Senior~]

Mengmeng: [Hope Senior has sweet dreams tonight, and that Mengmeng is in them~]

*

Over the following week, Ji Su noticed the scumbag Senior had begun reaching out to him more and more often.

Unfortunately, this week his major-course assignments were heavier, and he'd just taken on a side job on top of it — busy as a spinning top, his frequency of logging into the alt account dropped sharply, and his replies to G were less attentive.

On Friday evening, in a break between drawings, Ji Su remembered the scumbag, opened WeChat, logged into his alt account, and saw the other party had sent him a message a few hours earlier.

G: [Done with class?]

Mengmeng: [Senior, I just finished practicing Piano and got back to the Dormitory.]

The reply popped up at once, as though the other party had been holding his phone, waiting specifically for his message.

G: [This late?]

G: [Have you eaten dinner?]

Prompted by the reminder, Ji Su only then remembered he'd skipped dinner, and reached out to pat his flat little belly.

Mengmeng: [Not yet, I've been too busy to eat.]

G: [No matter how busy, remember to eat.]

Ji Su tilted his lips. Surely the next line wouldn't be something like 'If you don't eat properly, I'll fine you five hundred yuan transferred to me'?

After all, this scheming, penniless man had conned so much money out of that senior sister by every means possible.

G: [Send me the address, I'll order you delivery.]

Ji Su raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised.

But on second thought, the cunning scumbag Senior was very likely playing the long game, casting a line for a big fish.

Mengmeng: [No need, Senior, I can order it myself~]

He hadn't yet tricked the scumbag into revealing his School or address; he wasn't foolish enough to expose himself first.

The other side was quiet for a moment, then sent over a red envelope.

G: [Whatever you want to eat, order it yourself.]

G: [Eat more, you're too thin.]

Ji Su: '...'

Sending a red envelope was one thing, but why throw in a personal attack?

Mengmeng: [Senior, why are you so nice to me~]

Mengmeng: [moved_cat.jpg]

G: [Be good, accept the red envelope.]

The scumbag was really going all in this time. Ji Su decided not to hold back any longer — after all, the guy had scammed so much money from his senior, and every little bit he could claw back was a win.

He tapped to accept the red envelope, sent a few cute stickers back, then opened the app to order takeout.

Forty minutes later, the delivery arrived at the Dormitory Building.

Ji Su had just opened the takeout container when his phone, sitting on the desk, buzzed again.

G: [Have you eaten?]

Ji Su cleared the desk of everything else, chopsticks in one hand, phone in the other, and snapped a photo to send over.

Mengmeng: [Eating now!]

G: [Mm.]

G: [Nice hands.]

The hand gripping the chopsticks in the photo was slender and long, the fair skin showing faint blue veins beneath the surface, the nails trimmed neat and clean, glowing a healthy, pretty pink — like a piece of porcelain jade carved with exquisite care.

Ji Su: '...'

I told you to look at the takeout — what exactly are you looking at?

G: [Is this the hand that plays Piano for me?]

Mengmeng: [Two! Piano takes two hands!]

G: [Noted.]

G: [Eat up, the takeout's getting cold.]

Ji Su didn't bother replying, focusing entirely on his meal.

Just as he was nearly done, Qiao Jin and Li You came back together.

Qiao Jin shrugged off his jacket and walked over. 'Susu, why are you only eating dinner now?'

Ji Su replied offhandedly: 'Got so busy I forgot, just remembered.'

Li You's steps faltered. 'Ji Su, what have you been busy with lately?'

'Picked up a side job, but it's almost done.' Ji Su stood to clear the desk. 'Next week I'll have a bit more free time.'

Li You hesitated, then asked anyway: 'Are you... short on money lately?'

Ji Su didn't catch it. 'What?'

'Li You's asking if you're short on money?' Qiao Jin repeated, then answered for him. 'Susu's not short on money, don't worry.'

Ji Su added: 'Right, I just wanted to get some experience under my belt.'

'That's good then.' Li You rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. 'Right, you treat us to meals all the time — you must not be short on money.'

'If I really had trouble, I'd come to you.' Ji Su's eyes curved into a smile, his tone gentle. 'Still, thank you for caring about me.'

Li You inexplicably flushed red, shifting his gaze away with a touch of awkwardness. 'N-no need to thank me...'

Ji Su didn't pay much attention to the strangeness, though — he went out to throw away the trash.

When he came back, Qiao Jin leaned close to his ear and whispered: 'Susu, I think you should stop smiling at people like that so casually.'

'Hm?' Ji Su was baffled. 'Like what?'

'Just like that!' Qiao Jin tried to mimic his smile, then tactfully gave up. 'Didn't you notice Li You went red from your smile?'

Ji Su: 'Didn't notice...'

'Sigh! Susu, you really have no idea of your own charm!' Qiao Jin glanced toward the bathroom. 'If Li You ends up bent by you someday, I won't be surprised at all.'

'Shh...' Ji Su made a hushing gesture. 'Don't talk nonsense.'

Qiao Jin shrugged. 'Fine, let's say I was talking nonsense.'

At eleven, Ji Su finally shut down his computer and climbed into bed.

Lying in bed, he scrolled through his chat history with the scumbag and noticed that lately G had been replying instantly to Mengmeng, while Mengmeng's replies to G were taking ages — nothing like the attentiveness of the beginning.

But judging from the guy's attitude tonight, G didn't seem to mind Mengmeng's perfunctory replies at all.

Indeed, the unattainable is always the best. The scumbag hadn't gotten what he wanted yet — even his patience had to be performed.

Ji Su thought for a moment, then took the initiative and sent a message.

Mengmeng: [Senior, are you asleep~]

G: [Not yet.]

G: [Done with work?]

Mengmeng: [Mm-hm, all done~]

Mengmeng: [Been so busy lately, haven't had time to chat properly with Senior~]

G: [Studies come first.]

Mengmeng: [Senior does so well in studies but makes it look so easy — any secrets you could teach me?]

G: [I'm efficient.]

Ji Su: '...'

Heh, not a shred of modesty.

G: [You're a music student, you don't need to spend too much energy on non-major courses — I can help you get through finals.]

Ji Su's heart didn't stir at all — after all, their entire Dormitory relied on him to survive finals.

Mengmeng: [Really? Senior, you're too good!]

Mengmeng: [Thank you, Senior, sob sob~]

G: [Want to thank me?]

Ji Su was a bit speechless — it was just polite talk, how did the guy take it seriously?

G: [How do you want to thank me?]

Mengmeng: [How would Senior like me to thank you~]

G: [Figure it out yourself.]

Ji Su: '...'

The guy was definitely after leg photos again, but he'd already sent plenty — no matter how he photographed these legs, he couldn't make a flower bloom out of them.

Don't scumbags ever get tired of looking?

Mengmeng: [Senior~]

G: [Mm.]

Mengmeng: [Good gege, just help Mengmeng out~]

Ji Su looked at the words in the chat box and gave himself the shivers from how syrupy they were.

To avoid sending leg photos, this was the only card he had left to play — after all, it was just typing.

But the other party seemed to lap it right up, replying at top speed.

G: [What did you call me?]

Mengmeng: [Gege...]

Mengmeng: [shy_cat.jpg]

G: [Send a voice message.]

G: [I want to hear you say it with your voice.]

Ji Su: '?'