Chapter 57
By the time Lin Huaixi came back carrying the drinks, Zhong Chongqiu was already gone.
He paused. “Where is he?”
Liu Zhengnian had not noticed the undercurrents just now and answered casually, “The senior said something came up, so he left first. He also said he’d already helped us make arrangements, and if we ever want to play basketball, we can go anytime.”
Lin Huaixi gave a small nod. His gaze shifted to Qi Wang, and he looked at him meaningfully.
Qi Wang was still as calm as ever, as if Zhong Chongqiu had not left the slightest trace in his mind. Only then did Lin Huaixi feel somewhat relieved.
“Here, drink up.” Changing the subject, Lin Huaixi handed the drinks out to everyone.
Their four majors were all brutal, and it was rare for them to have any free time. After dinner, none of them wanted to head back to the dorm just yet, so they took their drinks and wandered around the sports field for two laps.
Young people’s digestion was astonishingly strong. Liu Zhengnian patted his round stomach and smacked his lips. “Why do I feel a little hungry again?”
Zhang Yunqiu immediately chimed in. “Then let’s go get some barbecue!”
Hearing that, Lin Huaixi’s eyes widened. He reached out and pulled the two eager gluttons back. “Are your stomachs bottomless pits? Take it easy. Don’t eat so much that you’re too stuffed to sleep tonight.”
Liu Zhengnian rubbed his stomach. “It really does feel like it’s all digested… Oh right, let’s go play basketball!”
“…” What did that have to do with anything? How did your brain even make that connection?
Still, Lin Huaixi actually thought it was a pretty good idea.
“You shouldn’t do intense exercise right after eating,” Qi Wang said. But then he met three pairs of pitiful puppy eyes. After a brief pause, he gave in. “We can walk there slowly.”
“Sounds good,” Liu Zhengnian agreed at once, afraid Qi Wang might change his mind.
The four of them moved at a pace so slow it was practically a contest with a turtle. It took them half an hour to reach the basketball courts.
The school took basketball seriously. There were a full eight courts, and they had even installed lights bright as day. But there were a lot of people too, and every single court was occupied.
Lin Huaixi, unusually, lost some nerve. Afraid of being turned down, he hesitated and did not dare go over. Thankfully, they had the social maniac Liu Zhengnian with them.
Liu Zhengnian went from court to court asking around and hit wall after wall. It was not until the fifth court that he finally found members of the school team.
Zhong Chongqiu kept his word and had already made arrangements for them. Once the other side recognized who they were, they immediately welcomed them and divided everyone into two teams for a scrimmage.
There was no time to change clothes, so Lin Huaixi took off his outer shirt, leaving only a white T-shirt underneath.
Looking at how delicate and slender he seemed, Liu Zhengnian said in the tone of an older brother giving instructions, “You need to be careful when you play basketball. Don’t go too hard.”
Lin Huaixi raised a brow, suddenly indignant. “You’re underestimating me way too much. I played in a basketball league in high school and was even named MVP!”
“You?!”
“You?!”
Liu Zhengnian and Zhang Yunqiu looked openly skeptical and blurted it out in unison.
Lin Huaixi’s pride took a hit. He lifted his chin and let out a little snort through his nose. “Yeah, me. Do I really look that much like someone who can’t play basketball?”
“Well, not exactly,” Liu Zhengnian said, circling around him twice. “You’re just too pale, and you kind of look like the younger brother I don’t actually have. You know what I mean, right?”
Meeting Lin Huaixi’s blank, confused stare, Liu Zhengnian reached out and pinched his cheek. “See? Your face is even this soft. It totally fits!”
Lin Huaixi listened to the pile of nonsense Liu Zhengnian was spouting. “What exactly are you trying to— Stop tugging my face!”
Liu Zhengnian had become addicted to the feel of it. He pinched and kneaded away, even calling Zhang Yunqiu over.
The two straight guys hemmed Lin Huaixi in between them and gave him a full round of shameless face abuse.
!!!
Lin Huaixi immediately got upset. His eyes reddened, and so did the tip of his nose and his cheeks. He looked like a little rabbit with its fur standing on end. “If you keep this up, I’m really going to get mad.”
Liu Zhengnian quickly pulled his hand back. “Sorry, my fingers got itchy for a second—”
Before he could finish, Lin Huaixi’s eyes widened again, and he forced out a few words through clenched teeth. “You actually looked down on me. I even have muscles!”
“…That’s what you’re mad about?”
Wearing a thoroughly dissatisfied expression, Lin Huaixi reached up to roll his sleeve. “Look at my biceps.”
Liu Zhengnian had not been taking it seriously at all, but the moment he saw the clean, beautiful line of muscle there, his eyes nearly popped out. “You really do!!”
Seeing the expression and hearing the tone he wanted, Lin Huaixi instantly got the full rush of achievement. He swayed his head proudly, his invisible tail sticking straight up behind him. “Not just that. I have abs too.”
Liu Zhengnian had not expected to be so thoroughly crushed in return. He reached for the hem of Lin Huaixi’s shirt, and Zhang Yunqiu made the exact same exclamation at the exact same time: “Holy crap!”
Lin Huaixi had trained in martial arts for years, partly to protect Qi Wang and partly because he genuinely loved it. He had never intended it as a way to show off. But no one could resist a moment like this. He planted his hands on his hips, so smug he practically floated into the sky.
“I was blind before. I had no idea Huaixi, you were actually this strong.”
“Big brother, please take care of me next time we play basketball.”
“Yeah, boss, I’m counting on you. I never thought our dorm would produce someone like you!”
The three of them huddled together, boasting and admiring, until they remembered the Qi Wang they had left out of the conversation and all turned to call for him.
The moment Qi Wang walked over, he saw his three dormmates staring at him with shining eyes, all of them giving off an inexplicably suspicious vibe.
Lin Huaixi stood in the middle with his hands on his hips and chest puffed out, while the two people on either side of him were tugging up the hem of his shirt, exposing a flash of pale stomach—no, abs.
“…”
Taking in Lin Huaixi’s smug and showy expression, he stayed silent for a full three seconds before striding over and yanking the shirt back down.
Liu Zhengnian was completely unconcerned by the move and eagerly shared, “Did you know Huaixi has muscles?”
Qi Wang carefully straightened the rumpled shirt hem for Lin Huaixi, but Lin Huaixi answered for him. “Of course he knows.”
“That’s true. You two grew up together, so how could he not?” Liu Zhengnian was absolutely bursting with curiosity, his eyes bright with that particular blend of sincerity and foolishness. “Qi Wang, do you have abs too?”
If it were not for the fact that Qi Wang had such an intimidating presence, Liu Zhengnian probably would have wanted to lift his shirt and check for himself.
Qi Wang: “…”
Faced with these three people, he genuinely had no idea how to communicate. At most, he could conclude that the difference between straight and gay was simply too vast.
“It’s about time. Let’s go play before we keep them waiting,” Qi Wang said, only managing to redirect the topic in the stiffest way possible.
Liu Zhengnian and Zhang Yunqiu were both clever, both top students—but each had just one track in his brain. The moment they heard basketball, they instantly forgot everything else.
They split between the two teams and started playing.
Lin Huaixi and Qi Wang fit in quickly and played no worse than the school team members, earning unanimous approval. As for Liu Zhengnian and Zhang Yunqiu, the two of them had not even fully figured out the rules yet. They were still about a hundred thousand miles away from “playing well.”
But this was just a casual scrimmage. No one was all that competitive. Everyone was simply enjoying the fun of the game.
Liu Zhengnian and Zhang Yunqiu, with their long hours of sitting and weaker endurance, lasted only a little over half an hour before they were bent over, panting heavily, their legs too tired to lift.
“I seriously can’t do this anymore. You guys keep going. I’m heading back to rest,” Liu Zhengnian said.
Looking like they had just been thoroughly beaten up, Liu Zhengnian and Zhang Yunqiu supported each other and limped back toward the dorm.
Lin Huaixi and Qi Wang played until the session ended and only then headed back together.
“Our school team really is just as amazing as the rumors say. Playing with them was way too satisfying!” Lin Huaixi said as they walked down a quiet little path shaded by tree shadows, still immersed in the excitement from earlier.
Qi Wang looked at him with a smile. “If we have time later, we can come more often.”
But instead of brightening, Lin Huaixi’s face immediately fell. He started counting on his fingers. “But both our majors have so many evening classes. The only times we’re both free are Wednesday nights and weekend nights.”
Hearing that, the smile on Qi Wang’s lips deepened.
In Lin Huaixi’s plans, there was always a place for him. And Qi Wang liked the feeling of being by Lin Huaixi’s side just as much.
“It’s okay. We can come earlier and play longer.”
Lin Huaixi smacked his fist into his palm, eyes lighting up. “You’re right. I heard you have to fight for the courts. If we come early, we can grab one first. We can treat it as a way of thanking the school team for always letting us join them.”
A thought stirred in Qi Wang’s heart. “Do you want to join the school team?”
Lin Huaixi had been about to nod instinctively, but his movement stopped halfway. He gave Qi Wang a look that was hard to read.
Joining the school team would mean Qi Wang and Zhong Chongqiu would have more chances to interact. And with that would come more chances for things to go wrong.
“I heard the team only recruits new members before competitions. There are still two months before that. We can talk about it then.”
He had already calculated the timing. That accident was a month and a half away. If he managed to stop it, then by the time he joined the school team, Zhong Chongqiu would no longer become a scumbag. At that point, even if his contact with Qi Wang increased, it would not create any danger.
Watching the unusually serious look on Lin Huaixi’s face, Qi Wang’s brows slowly drew together.
Lately, Lin Huaixi had been like this more and more often. It was as though he were troubled by some particular matter, constantly drifting into thought, often wearing a worried expression.
Qi Wang had tried asking him before, but Lin Huaixi had reacted like a startled rabbit, stumbling over his words. Not wanting to make him uncomfortable, Qi Wang had pretended not to notice after that.
Each of them carried his own thoughts as they went back to the dorm. Inside, it was quiet. Liu Zhengnian and Zhang Yunqiu had worked themselves into complete exhaustion and were already lying dead on their beds, fast asleep.
Lin Huaixi had worked up a full-body sweat. His clothes were sticky and clung unpleasantly to his skin. Carrying his toiletries, he headed toward the bathroom when suddenly his phone let out a notification ding.
He glanced at it casually, and after reading the words on the screen, his eyes flew wide open.
Notice: The water will be shut off in 15 minutes and will not return until 6 a.m. tomorrow. Please manage your water use accordingly.
…Fifteen minutes from now?!
Why not just wait until the water is already gone before telling us?!
He instinctively made a dash for the bathroom, but after only a few steps, he stopped short. Then he hurriedly turned to Qi Wang. “The water’s getting cut off in fifteen minutes. There’s definitely no way we can both finish in time. Let’s go together.”
He grabbed Qi Wang and started dragging him toward the bathroom in a panic.
Qi Wang’s neat-freak tendencies and mild obsessive cleanliness had only gotten worse. If he did not shower, he absolutely would not sleep, and while that in itself was not a huge deal, Lin Huaixi was genuinely afraid Qi Wang would feel so miserable he might go jump into a lake.
Qi Wang did not move. Instead, he pulled Lin Huaixi back, unable to believe what he had just heard. “W-what?”
Lin Huaixi did not think there was anything strange about it at all. Speaking as though he were being extremely considerate, he said, “That way we’ll save time. It’s fine. We grew up together. We even bathed together when we were little. You should be able to tolerate me.”
Lin Huaixi’s eyes were clear and pure, his emotions simple and clean. It made the reflection of himself inside them seem all the more twisted.
Qi Wang suddenly recalled the scene by the basketball court, when Lin Huaixi had been chatting with Liu Zhengnian and the others about abs.
Open and completely unselfconscious, without the slightest guard up like that—only someone who had no romantic thoughts at all toward another man could behave that way.
The one thing Qi Wang had always taken pride in was his identity as Lin Huaixi’s childhood friend, the person closest to him. Yet that very status now bound him. At the most fundamental level, he was no different from Liu Zhengnian or anyone else.
Qi Wang’s heart sank. A dull heaviness spread through his chest, and for a moment he felt like he could not quite breathe. While he was distracted, Lin Huaixi had already dragged him into the bathroom and shut the door.
“I know you’re a neat freak and don’t like contact with people, much less bathing together. I promise I won’t touch you at all in a minute, okay? Just make do this once, alright?” Lin Huaixi coaxed softly, treating him like a child.
A strange emotion rose inside Qi Wang. Two completely opposing sensations tore at him from both sides. Standing there in the cramped bathroom, he licked his dry lips and, as if possessed, heard himself say:
“Okay.”
