Zhuang Yiyun looked at Yan Yan’s flushed face and didn’t expose his poor lie. The boy was not even proficient in lying, but he dared to invite him to sleep over while being this shy.
Even though a stranger was invading his space, Zhuang Yiyun didn’t find Yan Yan’s reaction as unpleasant as he had imagined. At the very least, his concern appeared genuine.
“The lab keeps me busy, and I don’t often stay at home. Besides, I’m not used to sharing a bed with anyone.” Zhuang Yiyun curved his lips slightly, making the statement sound less rigid. He continued as he walked towards the living room, “Feel free to use whatever you want at home. I’ll give you this card to use. The password is 234567. I still have work to do, you can tidy up on your own. I’m leaving.”
Yan Yan chased after him from the bedroom, but Zhuang Yiyun had already shut the door and left. He left Yan Yan alone in the house, without even giving him a chance to persuade him to stay. On their first day of marriage, they had no meal, and on their first day of cohabitation, they still had no meal. Their relationship was worse than that of mere work partners.
“Fuck, Zhuang Yiyun brought me here and then just left. He even smiled at me just a moment ago, but when he turned around, he walked away. Is he even human?” Yan Yan complained to Jiang Li over the phone, sprawling himself onto the sofa.
“This sofa is so darn hard. He actually said he’ll sleep on the couch. How ridiculous!” Yan Yan pounded on the sofa beneath him.
“He gave you a place to stay and a card to use as you wish. Did you even check how much money is in it? If I were you, this would be the best husband in the world. He gives you money, a place to stay, and doesn’t come home!”
“Roll! Brother Yan doesn’t care about his money and house. All he wants is for him to come home.”
“But I think his attitude is normal. You two entered into a marriage agreement; if he acted all lovey-dovey with you, wouldn’t that be deceiving you? Maintaining distance is the right approach. I think his behavior is just right. Nowadays, who doesn’t want personal space? He lets you live with him and gives you the house. He tells you he won’t be coming home often, so you can be carefree and comfortable. If it weren’t for your inappropriate thoughts about him, his attitude would be perfect.”
“So, it’s my fault again? I helped him out, shouldn’t he have been more enthusiastic?”
“Come on, who helped who? It may look like you helped him, but in reality, it’s you with your ulterior motives climbing up the pole.”
“Yeah, it’s true. It’s such an impossibly high pole that I, Yan Yan, have no way to climb it.”
They exchanged jokes and laughter, chatting for a while before hanging up the phone. Yan Yan ordered takeout, eating as he opened Taobao to look for a new sofa.
The card was now his anyway, so he decided he would spend his money, please himself, and make a sure profit! He would replace the uncomfortable sofa with a comfortable sofa bed, long enough to accommodate the 190.8 cm tall Zhuang Yiyun.
Hmph, they could have been good roommates if Zhuang Yiyun didn’t mention his height.
Yan Yan was enthusiastic about replacing the sofa for Zhuang Yiyun, and he also bought a desk and chair for himself.
Soon the sofa was reinstalled.
Unfortunately, two live broadcasts later and Zhuang Yiyun hadn’t come back even once. It had been a whole month, and Yan Yan had started working on his graduation thesis. The temperature was dropping to near freezing, and Zhuang Yiyun was still busy in the lab.
He followed his mother’s advice and dyed his hair. However, he only touched up his blonde hair to make it look more stylish and cool. With his hair looking nice, he felt energetic enough to go out. He met up with his friends and went to see a “show.” Handsome guys with sexy muscles performed dynamic dances that drew admiring glances and envy. He was even brought onto the stage for some interactive activities. Touching the chest muscles and abs of the young men felt delightful, but when they tried to hug him, he still backed away. The mixture of sweat and cologne in the air was slightly overwhelming.
Suddenly, he remembered Zhuang Yiyun. When he had pulled his hand at the bedroom door last time, they had gotten close to each other and he had caught a faint scent of disinfectant on Zhuang Yiyun. To be honest, it didn’t smell good, but strangely, thinking about it now, he found it even more alluring.
“Hey, Yan Yan, did you just avoid being hugged earlier? That guy has such a great physique. Did you secretly find someone to date without telling us?” As he came off the stage, his friends started teasing him. He took off his mask and sat down, pouring himself half a glass of wine.
“Fuck, that guy was checking you out. His gaze changed when he saw you. Seriously, what happened? If you hadn’t been wearing a mask, he might have pulled you in for a kiss.”
“Get lost.” Yan Yan raised an eyebrow, looking up at the stage. The guy who had tried to hug him earlier was indeed looking at him. When their eyes met, the guy even raised the corner his lips and smiled.
“He’s at least 1.9 meters tall, and your physiques are poles apart. You’re an 0.5, right? Go for it!”
“Charge!”
Their friends cheered him on. Unlike Jiang Li, the head of the Student Disciplinary Committee, these friends would often bet on which day Yan Yan would go off to a hotel with someone and this caused a lot of mayhem.
Soon, the guy on the stage finished his performance, changed into a black shirt, and came over to their table. The silky texture of the fabric revealed half of his chest muscles, and he handed Yan Yan the room key card.
“Oh~~” The friends all chimed in with cheers. Yan Yan smirked and didn’t extend his hand. Unfortunately, the guy looked good but lacked the charm that Yan Yan appreciated. Yan Yan thought about Zhuang Yiyun again. The man had been cold to him for half a month. It seemed that he had to do something to gain some attention; otherwise, he would have gotten married for nothing.
Zhuang Yiyun was invited by his classmates to give a lecture at the University of Science and Technology. As he entered the campus, he suddenly remembered that Yan Yan was a student there. His marriage partner. It was strange that he had suddenly realized how unfamiliar Yan Yan was to him. He didn’t even know what major Yan Yan was studying. With half a month of busyness, he hadn’t returned home, and Yan Yan hadn’t sought him out either.
Good, this meant that their marriage agreement truly was just a piece of paper, without any unnecessary emotional burdens for Yan Yan.
The lecture was aimed at undergraduate students from the School of Pharmacy. As soon as he walked in, he saw Yan Yan sitting at the back. Yan Yan’s eyes lit up when he saw him entering the room.
Yan Yan didn’t seem like someone studying this field and Zhuang Yiyun even wondered if he had misjudged him. However, after listening attentively for ten minutes, Yan Yan turned around to write something on the board, and by the time he had finished, the boy had vanished from the classroom.
Zhuang Yiyun was stunned and couldn’t help but ponder. Was there some sudden matter that caused Yan Yan to leave abruptly?
Of course, Yan Yan had no sudden matter to attend to—only deliberate intentions. When he saw the announcement for Zhuang Yiyun’s lecture on the school bulletin board, he knew it was an opportunity. If Zhuang Yiyun wouldn’t budge, he would have to give him a little nudge.
He calmly exited the classroom and arrived at the venue according to the scheduled activity. Most of the senior students had already left the COS club, but Yan Yan was persuaded to stay. There was no choice; he looked so good and had become the face of the club over the years.
This was the last event Yan Yan had agreed to participate in— the campus anime festival, and it happened to coincide with Zhuang Yiyun’s lecture. After changing into his costume, he realized Zhuang Yiyun’s lecture was almost over, and the anime festival was about to start. He set his phone to silent and let it ring twice without answering. He finally picked up on the third call from Zhuang Yiyun.
Amidst the noisy surroundings, music and voices mingling, Yan Yan squeezed through the crowd surrounding him and went to the backstage to answer the call.
“Gege?” Yan Yan’s voice was like a bright light, tinged with a hint of confusion. It was obvious that his emotions didn’t stem from the call Zhuang Yiyun had made.
Zhuang Yiyun hesitated for a moment. After two unanswered calls, he had finally been picked up. The boy sounded fine, as if his call was an intrusion rather than a concern.
“Gege, us your lecture over?” Yan Yan’s voice carried a cheerful laugh.
“Yes. I saw you leave.”
“I couldn’t understand it anyway. I just went to see you. You haven’t been home for so long, but you seem fine, so I left. I have a performance today.”
Zhuang Yiyun had been cold just a moment ago, but upon hearing Yan Yan’s words, he seemed to be pacified. So, he was actually worried about him.
“What kind of performance?”
“It’s not a serious one… No, I mean, it’s not formal… It’s, COSplay, do you know about it? Today is our school’s anime festival, and we’re holding an event in the gym. I’ve been assigned a character.”
Zhuang Yiyun wasn’t ignorant of what COSplay was, but he had no interest whatsoever. He was about to change the subject when Yan Yan extended an invitation: “Gege, are you coming to watch? How about we have a meal together?”
“I won’t have a meal. I have something to do.”
“Is that so? If I had known, I would’ve stayed for your entire lecture.”
A tone of frustration colored Yan Yan’s voice, and Zhuang Yiyun’s ears felt a bit warm. He had come to give a lecture at Yan Yan’s school, but he hadn’t contacted him in advance. Despite that, Yan Yan had still attended just because he was concerned about him. And what about him? He had arrived right in front of him, yet he refused to even meet him once… And at this moment, Yan Yan’s attitude was saying, ‘If I had known, I would’ve accommodated you a bit more.’
When did Zhuang Yiyun ever have a college student caring for him like this?
“I’ll call you when I get to the gym.”
“Okay! How about dinner?”
“I won’t have dinner. I have work.”
“Alright.” There was a hint of disappointment in Yan Yan’s voice, but overall, he still sounded happy.
After hanging up the phone, Yan Yan smiled like a little fox. He walked back onto the stage and was surrounded again. Everyone was gathering around, wanting to take pictures with him.
However, this time, he turned on his phone’s vibration mode. As soon as Zhuang Yiyun’s call came in, he answered.
Zhuang Yiyun listened to Yan Yan as he navigated through the crowd towards the entrance of the gym. He constantly heard him saying, “Excuse me”, “Wait for a moment for the photo”, “Hold on,” “Okay, take one quickly”. This showed that he was being detained by many people, but he remained determined to leave.
As he watched the hubbub inside the gym, Zhuang Yiyun decided to take the initiative and walked in. He couldn’t let Yan Yan accommodate him too much.
The students bustled around, and many of them were dressed in a very “2D” style, making Zhuang Yiyun feel somewhat detached from the real world. He had never attended an anime convention and had hardly watched any anime, so he couldn’t appreciate the unconventional outfits that much. That is, until he saw Yan Yan in the center of the crowd.
With long pure black hair reaching his waist and wearing a headband, he was dressed in a long dark blue robe that exuded elegance. While others might look overly styled, his exquisite features made him seem like he had walked onto the wrong set or had elegantly traveled through time. As he walked, he was followed by a large group of enthusiastic classmates, including two daring girls who caught up to him and blocked his path.
“Senior, you can’t escape! Jing Xuan can’t go without ‘battle-damaged makeup’!”
“Yeah, yeah, you must have the battle-damaged look.” A girl in the crowd produced a lipstick and her companion reached out to mess up Yan Yan’s bangs a little.
The crowd erupted in cheers, applause, and shouts of “Battle-damaged! Battle-damaged! Battle-damaged!”
Jing Xuan, the male god of Chinese animation, serves as the ceiling for the perfect looks. And the peak came when he was in a “battle-damaged” state, which caused countless girls to shout and call him “husband”. COSplayers who didn’t have the looks didn’t even dare to try, and if the club hadn’t managed to get Yan Yan this time, they wouldn’t have dared to try either. With sword-like eyebrows, starry eyes, a slender waist, and long legs, Yan Yan seemed to have stepped directly out of a two dimensional world.
Yan Yan raised his index finger and pressed it to his lips, making a “shushing” gesture. His smile carried a hint of helplessness and indulgence as he gently requested, “I will let you do whatever for in awhile. I have to meet someone first.”
“Who are you meeting?!”
Zhuang Yiyun’s heart tightened, and the crowd around Yan Yan was all egging him on.
“It’s a secret.” Yan Yan chuckled softly, and the crowd erupted in more screams. Unfazed, he met Zhuang Yiyun’s gaze from across the space.
He was so popular, radiating a dazzling charm over the entire place. The shy, soft boy that walked beside him seemed like an entirely different person.
Zhuang Yiyun didn’t know what to say for a moment. He felt out of place amidst the bustling students and their enthusiasm. Therefore, he nodded slightly at Yan Yan, gestured toward his phone, and turned to walk out.
Yan Yan lowered his head, and his phone indicated a new message.
Zhuang Yiyun: [You go ahead and finish your tasks first. I’ll see you next time.]
“Next time” would probably be several days later again. But this time, Yan Yan didn’t mind.
He had seen the expression on Zhuang Yiyun’s face; it was as if a corner of an eternal glacier had cracked, allowing a trace of vibrant vitality from the human world to slip in.
The author has something to say:
What a pity, Dr. Zhuang didn’t get to see Yan Yan’s battle-damaged makeup. Hmm.
Handsome Jing Xuan *\0/*
Thought of wounded Wei Wuxian as battle damaged Jing Xuan.. And it actually resembled the photo..
Why did I assume our Yanyan would cosplay a girl???
Ahh it’s over. BL has completely corrupted my brain hahahhha
So handsome.
Thank you for the chapter!