After Ji Liao finished playing basketball with his classmates and returned to the classroom, he checked his phone and at a glance, saw the WeChat notification on the screen: Baby, your shirt is too short. Your slim waist nearly made me hard.

When Ji Liao read the message, his face reddened drastically. Yu Jin, who was behind him, saw his strange expression and curiously came closer. “What are you looking at?” 

Ji Liao panicked and quickly pushed him away, turning off his phone and putting it in his pocket. Right then, the class bell rang and Yu Jin didn’t pay any more attention, instantly returning to his seat.

Ji Liao heaved a sigh of relief. Thinking of the extreme message from earlier, his face became red and hot.

Returning to the night three days before.

Ji Liao was slumped on his bed, browsing through WeiBo when there was a WeChat notification requesting him to be added as a friend. The remark from the other party: I’m He Cheng Ming. 

At first, Ji Liao had not reacted to who He Cheng Ming was. When he realised that it was that class grass from Class Two, the well-known school bully He Cheng Ming, he quickly scrambled up and sat straight, hugging his phone.

He thought to himself, I don’t think I’ve offended him before, right?

The two of them were from the same school but in different classes. He Cheng Ming was in Class Two and Ji Liao was in Class Twelve, eighteen thousand miles apart. So, although they were in the same year, they were completely unfamiliar with each other and had no common friends.

So why was he adding him?

Ji Liao was thinking of the reason and delayed accepting his request. He Cheng Ming had probably waited enough as he sent another request: Accept me.

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

Ji Liao was hastened and subconsciously selected accept.

The other party immediately sent over a message: Ji Liao?

Al Oljb kjr jmaejiis j ilaaif jogjlv bo Lf Jtfcu Zlcu. Ciatbeut atfs tjv cfnfg lcafgjmafv, tf tjv tfjgv wjcs atlcur jybea Lf Jtfcu Zlcu’r “ygliiljca” vffvr. Mbg fzjwqif, tf tjv fwbalbcjiis jyerfv j mijrrwjaf pera yfmjerf atja mijrrwjaf tjv abemtfv j ybbx bo tlr. Ccbatfg fzjwqif kjr Jtfc Ol Qfc ogbw atflg mijrr. Dfmjerf tf tjv rfmgfais “vlrmerrfv” Lf Jtfcu Zlcu, bc atf cfza vjs, tf kjr yfjafc eq ecali tf tjv ab yf jvwlaafv ab j tbrqlaji. Ktfrf kfgf atf mbcrfdefcmfr bo boofcvlcu atf rmtbbi yeiis. 

Even hearing about it made Ji Liao scared to death, so he replied with particular prudence: Yes, I’m Ji Liao. I didn’t see it earlier. Sorry. May I know why you’re looking for me?

He even used the honorific “you“.

The other person very quickly input: … you? Am I that old?

Ji Liao hurriedly explained: No, no, I just wanted to show respect. 

The tall, slender teenager on the other end, who was lying on the bed, holding up the phone with both hands, let out a laugh.

He replied: Just call me by my name. Nothing much. Just wanted to chat with you.

Ji Liao found it strange but still replied politely: Oh…chat about what?

He couldn’t figure it out. What was there to chat about? They weren’t close! 

Using the interval before He Cheng Ming replied, Ji Liao got off the bed and poured himself a glass of water to ease his nervousness.

The phone notification sounded.

He Cheng Ming: Just a casual chat. Do you have a girlfriend?

Ji Liao had just taken a mouthful of water when the question made him swallow it the wrong way, causing an intense bout of coughing. 

Huh? Was this considered a casual chat? They weren’t close enough to talk about such personal things, right? Of course, he only dared to ask this question in his mind. He wasn’t brave enough to question the school bully!

So, he replied honestly: No. Behind that, he even added an emoticon with a stupid expression.

He Cheng Ming found the emoticon adorable and the corner of his lips lifted unconsciously. He continued asking: Then do you have a boyfriend?

Ji Liao was instantly petrified! What, did he look very gay? He was just a little fairer than the other boys of the same age. Why did he suspect he was gay?! 

Although he felt indignant, the reply he sent back was very proper: Ah? I don’t have that either.

Ji Liao continued typing, wanting to add on to his reply, I like girls. But He Cheng Ming was one step ahead and sent: Then may I pursue you?

Ji Liao’s hands suddenly stopped typing. His eyes widened at these words and read them over and over to ensure that he didn’t read them wrongly. His heart was jumping and it wasn’t because he was touched, but because he was too flustered!

Firstly, the person who had said he wanted to pursue him, was a guy! Secondly, this guy was He Cheng Ming! 

Ji Liao was dumbfounded. How could this be…

All along, he felt that his looks were average, his grades were normal and he was timid…how could someone like him attract He Cheng Ming’s attention? Thinking about it, Ji Liao’s face gradually became hot and his mouth was dry. For a while, he was in a panic and didn’t know what to do…

Picking up his glass, he took two big gulps of water, then heard the phone notification.

He Cheng Ming: If you don’t say anything, I’ll take it that you agree. !!! How could Ji Liao dare to agree? He hurriedly replied: Sorry, I like girls! 

After the message was sent, Ji Liao stared at the screen as the other party was in the midst of typing. He was extremely nervous as he swallowed his saliva and counted the time. Thirty seconds had passed and the other party was still typing!!!

He felt like his heart was about to explode! His heart was in a mess. Thinking about it, would He Cheng Ming fly into a rage out of humiliation, then send someone to beat him up tomorrow? If he was really beaten up, how could he explain this matter to his mother? He was innocent and yet, he would have to pay for his medical bills. Would his classmates look down on him?

The more he thought about it, the more apprehensive he became. The other party was still typing and had not replied yet. Ji Liao was so frightened that he retracted the message and re-typed: Regarding that…can I think it over?

He was someone who was afraid of getting into trouble and only wanted to continue school in a law-abiding manner, so he was very afraid of offending He Cheng Ming. 

This time, the reply came very quickly: Okay.

Followed by another message: I’ll be good to you. Sleep early. Goodnight.

Ji Liao felt that this “okay” had another meaning! After ensuring that there were no more messages being sent, he hugged his phone and lay paralyzed on his bed, feeling as if his whole body was hollow.

Early the next day, Ji Liao appeared in the living room, rubbing his sleepy eyes. There was a light bluish-black below his eyes, as if he had not gotten enough sleep.

Xu Ai Wen carried hot millet porridge from the kitchen. Seeing his listless appearance, she asked, concerned, “What’s wrong, Tang Tang? Didn’t sleep well last night?” 

Tang Tang was Ji Liao’s nickname. Before he was born, Father Ji thought that he would be a girl, so he chose the nickname, Tang Tang. Later on after birth, it was discovered that the baby had a handle. But after using Tang Tang for half a year, it was difficult to change it and they continued using it until now.

“Yeah. I couldn’t sleep.” Ji Liao lowered his head and avoided his mother’s concerned eyes. Last night, he had been indirectly confessed to by a guy and that guy was someone at the level of a big shot. Of course he couldn’t sleep!

Pulling out a chair, Ji Liao obediently sat down for breakfast and swallowed each mouthful slowly. When Xu Ai Wen had finished eating and washing the dishes, she came out and saw Ji Liao still sitting at the dining table. She reminded him, “Tang Tang, if you don’t leave for school now, you’re going to be late.”

At this, Ji Liao left the dining table, carried his school bag and left. 

He was a little afraid of seeing He Cheng Ming in school. Did he need to greet him when they met? Would he do something weird? Thinking of it, he became extremely nervous.

Ji Liao stepped onto the bus, swiped his bus card and moved towards the back of the vehicle. But before he even took two steps forward, he saw He Cheng Ming sitting right at the back!!! He was so frightened, he hurriedly retreated backwards, but after a few steps, he remembered that he was on a bus…

The passengers beside him looked at him oddly.

Ji Liao smiled awkwardly, then found a handrail and stood there instead.

His phone notification sounded.

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

Ji Liao fished it out and looked. It was a message from He Cheng Ming: There’s a seat beside me. Come over and sit.

Al Oljb: …

Yo mbegrf tf xcfk atfgf kjr j rfja, yea tf vlvc’a kjca ab ub bnfg! 

Qlat j reiifc fzqgfrrlbc, Al Oljb qea tlr qtbcf jkjs, rewwbcfv tlr mbegjuf, jcv tfjvfv abkjgvr atf yjmx bo atf yer. QPat tlr tfjv ibkfgfv, tf kjixfv ecali tf kjr lc ogbca bo Lf Jtfcu Zlcu, cba vjglcu ab iloa tlr fsfr ab ibbx ja tlw.

He heard the youth’s clear and straightforward voice. “Why don’t you look at me? Shy?” His tone was full of laughter.

Ji Liao was pricked by the word “shy” and quickly lifted his head with an expression as if he was about to die with his head held high. Their gazes met and locked onto each other’s dark eyes. Frightened, he quickly shifted his gaze, his face full of embarrassment.

“Why are you standing? Sit down. Need me to pull you?” He Cheng Ming looked at his slightly flushed face and his heart felt as if it was covered with honey. He couldn’t hide the smile on his lips, revealing a row of bright white teeth. 

He thought to himself, finally didn’t come for nothing.

When Ji Liao heard this, he sat down immediately.

Feeling ill at ease, his heart was beating very fast. He felt that He Cheng Ming was probably crazy.

He had taken this bus for over a year and had never seen He Cheng Ming on it even once. But seeing him today with his attention focused on him, did he really want to pursue him? But he was a guy! 

Ji Liao didn’t discriminate against gays, but he had never considered the thought of becoming gay. Even if he became bent one of these days, his partner shouldn’t be fierce and hot-tempered like He Cheng Ming.

Er…although it looked quite normal now, Ji Liao knew that this wasn’t He Cheng Ming’s original appearance!

“Have you thought about last night’s matter?” The youth leaned leisurely against the back of his seat and looked at him sideways.

The early morning sunlight shone through the window and onto half of Ji Liao’s face, making his skin look smooth and delicate. A shadow swept down from his eyelashes, which were trembling slightly. 

****, He Cheng Ming was a little dazed. His throat itched strangely and he nearly kissed him.

“If I reject you, will you get people to beat me up?” Ji Liao finally asked in a small voice after struggling internally for a while.

But at that moment, He Cheng Ming wasn’t listening to him. His mind was full of demons. Even eyelashes could cause his blood to boil and heart to surge.

Hurriedly retracting his gaze, He Cheng Ming swallowed and suppressed his restless, brutish nature before recovering. 

“What did you just say?” His voice had been too soft and so he didn’t hear it clearly.

Ji Liao thought that he was unhappy and he suddenly panicked. He was done for! He had offended the school bully!

Right then, the bus prompted that it had arrived at their stop. Ji Liao took a step and wanted to run but the youth behind him held him by the collar.

“Why are you running?” With that, he pulled him into his arms. Ji Liao was 178cm and He Cheng Ming was 187cm. His head rested nicely against his shoulders. Someone was perfectly contented and with a brotherly embrace, led him off the bus. 

Ji Liao was sullen. Although his whole body was resisting, he dared not speak out. Once he arrived at school, he would be in the other party’s turf. He felt sure that he was going to die!

The bus stop was less than 100m away from the school gate, so the surroundings were filled with students. He Cheng Ming had his arm around Ji Liao and was very pleased with himself. Suddenly, he heard someone shout behind him, “Ming Ge!”

Turning his head for a look, he saw that it was one of his mates, Lin Jiang.

Lin Jiang was a rich second-generation, but compared to the real big shot background of He Cheng Ming, he paled in significance. He respected He Cheng Ming and felt that He Cheng Ming was rich and colourful. Overall, he was simply awesome ⁠— hanging around with them every day but still able to come in first for every examination. So he took the initiative to become He Cheng Ming’s follower, treating He Cheng Ming as the leader. 

“Ming Ge, who is this?”

Lin Jiang had been following He Cheng Ming since junior high. Besides other similar big shot types of people, he had never seen He Cheng Ming with his arms around anyone else’s shoulder, so he was very curious about Ji Liao.

“Oh, him.” The youth’s eyes were filled with a joyful light and the corner of his lips lifted. He was about to say something when he suddenly felt a hand give his waist a light pinch. Lowering his head, he saw Ji Liao’s clear and delicate eyes imploring him with a scared look. His heart softened and wished that he could hold and comfort him.

If not for Lin Jiang’s irksome presence in front of him, he would have been coaxing Ji Liao. Hence, his tone had some unhappiness in it. “Class Twelve’s Ji Liao. Why? Is there a problem?” 

He glared fiercely at Lin Jiang.

Lin Jiang touched his head, not understanding how he had provoked this big brother. He was clearly fine just a while ago.

“I’m going to be late for class. I’ll go first.” Ji Liao used this chance to escape from He Cheng Ming and ran away quickly.

He Cheng Ming let out a “hey” and smiled helplessly. He felt that Ji Liao was really shy, but very adorable, so his mood also undulated accordingly. He pointed towards the thin figure of Ji Liao and warned Lin Jiang, “Did you see? He’s my man. Give him some protection.” 

During the two math lessons in the morning, Ji Liao didn’t absorb even the tiniest bit of information.

Firstly, it was because he didn’t have an interest in math. Secondly, He Cheng Ming had sent him another WeChat message: Baby, want to eat together at noon? 

Ji Liao had been shocked at the word “baby”, which had also caused his face to whiten; his psychological defense was in a complete mess.

How should he feel being called baby by a guy?

Ji Liao only felt that the entire world was an illusion…

At break time, Ji Liao followed the masses to the sports field. His good friend Yu Jin ran up from behind, held his shoulder and asked, “It seems like you were a little off today, distracted throughout the entire lesson. What’s going on?” 

With that, he looked craftily at Ji Liao. “Don’t tell me that you rubbed one off too many times last night and your body is hollowed out?”

Ji Liao had grown up with Yu Jin since young, so had long become immune to his “filthy language”. He silently gave him a look and paid him no heed.

“Hey, you have no sense of humour.” Yu Jin curled his lips and feeling disinterested, retracted his arm from Ji Liao’s shoulder. At the same time, he commented, “Ji Liao, let me tell you, if you’re like this, you won’t be able to find a girlfriend in the future!”

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

Ji Liao gave a hum, then retorted, “You said it as if you could find one yourself.” The two of them were perpetually single.

But after hearing what Yu Jin had said, Ji Liao’s brain automatically replayed back to He Cheng Ming’s WeChat message from last night: Then may I pursue you?

Llr lwjulcjalbc fnfc lcmievfv Lf Jtfcu Zlcu’r nblmf, erlcu tlr abcf ogbw atlr wbgclcu. Pa kjr ragjcufis j ilaaif qgbnbmjalnf. Qtja kjr tjqqfclcu…?

Al Oljb kjr rtbmxfv ys tlr ojcajrs jcv delmxis rtbbx tlr tfjv.

Geglcu atf ygfjx, atf akb bo atfw kfca ab atf mjofafglj ab yes ygfjv jcv rcjmxr jr ereji. C ugbklcu rfnfcaffc bg flutaffc sfjg biv sbeat kbeiv cjaegjiis ufa tecugs delmxis. 

At this time, the cafeteria was packed with people and Yu Jin pulled Ji Liao to a less crowded place to queue up.

The crowd suddenly stirred and automatically parted, forming a pathway. At the end of the pathway was He Cheng Ming with both hands in his pockets, enjoying the privilege with an expressionless face. Behind him, Lin Jiang asked him, “Ming Ge, what would you like to drink?” Meaning that he would buy.

He Cheng Ming was about to answer when he spotted Ji Liao waiting obediently amongst the crowd. His eyes lit up and his originally gloomy mood cleared in a flash. Even his face became somewhat more relaxed.

“Ming Ge?” Lin Jiang called out again. 

“What drink? Don’t you see everyone queuing up?” He Cheng Ming berated him with a frown as if the person who had just strutted in wasn’t him.

Lin Jiang: …

What did he do wrong again?

Seeing He Cheng Ming heading in his direction, Ji Liao turned his head away immediately, pretending as if he hadn’t seen him. He silently mouthed: Not looking for me. Not looking for me… 

“Ji Liao.” The smiling voice sounded behind him. Ji Liao scowled, not understanding how two people, who had previously bumped into each other so few times over more than a year, could meet so frequently now!

In response, the male student behind Ji Liao glanced at He Cheng Ming and made space for him, conveniently allowing him to cut in line.

“Why didn’t you reply to my message?” He Cheng Ming stood behind Ji Liao and naturally put a hand over his shoulder.

In an instant, Ji Liao sensed a difference. The act of putting a hand on the shoulder was the same, but while Yu Jin’s action felt frank and open, the indescribable hint of wanting to take advantage of him came with this person. 

Ji Liao struggled a little but didn’t break free…

“I haven’t seen it.” He replied moodily.

He Cheng Ming laughed softly and the sound tickled Ji Liao’s ear.

The person behind him bent over and said softly into his ear, “Then do you want me to say it to you directly?” 

Ji Liao turned pale with fright and felt that He Cheng Ming would really call him “baby”. Not knowing if it was from fear or shyness, the tips of his ears turned red and he hurriedly said, “Don’t. Don’t. Don’t. I’ll go back and look at it myself.”

Satisfied, He Cheng Ming lifted his hand and touched his head. “Okay. Remember to look.”

Yu Jin, who was at the side, had a bitter expression on his face while staring at the two of them. When did Ji Liao have such a good relationship with He Cheng Ming? No, when did they get to know each other? As Ji Liao’s best friend, it was unexpected that he didn’t know about it!

After quickly buying bread, Ji Liao kept his head lowered and headed back. He wasn’t sure if it was his misconception, but why did it feel like the whole cafeteria was looking at him? Earlier, were his and He Cheng Ming’s actions very strange? Had it been noticed by someone? 

Ji Liao’s heart was troubled. Walking to the cafeteria’s entrance, he saw a few male students surrounding a table for a card game. One of the student’s chin was propped on another’s shoulder. The position was closer than he and He Cheng Ming had been. But the people surrounding them didn’t seem to mind their actions.

He heaved a sigh of relief.

Withdrawing his gaze, he saw Yu Jin standing in front of him with a fierce look. “Tell me! When did you hook up with that big shot?!”