035. Aftermath
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Chen Yao couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.
Lin Nan was usually a light sleeper—any slight noise would wake him up, and his sleep quality was notoriously poor. Since they shared the same bed frame, every time Chen Yao got up to use the bathroom, Lin Nan would be startled awake.
But today…
No matter how abruptly the bus stopped, how much it swayed, or how loudly the people around them chatted, Lin Nan was as still as a statue, eyes tightly shut. In fact, he had his hand wrapped around Chen Yao’s wrist, pinning his hand on his waist like it was an Olympic sport.
Had the sun fried Lin Nan’s brain or something?
Chen Yao was baffled. Lin Nan wasn’t exactly the type to welcome random touch; actually, who would be?
It seemed Lin Nan had his own suspicions.
His elbow had accidentally nudged into a rather awkward spot, but he dared not move. Instead, he kept his eyes shut, focusing on keeping his breathing steady while his body swayed to the rhythm of the bus. Fortunately, Chen Yao wasn’t totally useless; he managed to catch Lin Nan just before he nearly toppled over.
And thanks to the bus’s relentless rocking, Chen Yao found himself in the position of having to keep a hold on Lin Nan’s waist, while his other hand supported Lin Nan’s head, just in case disaster struck.
When they finally got off the bus, the clock read six-thirty.
Lin Nan’s cheeks were flushed in the dim light, and he kept his head down, desperately hoping Chen Yao wouldn’t notice his expression. Meanwhile, Chen Yao was still lost in confusion, mumbling internally, “Girls must be soft like Lin Nan, right?”
With that thought swirling in his head, recalling their earlier bus ride, he couldn’t bring himself to look at Lin Nan, hunching slightly to avoid detection.
The two of them, in a perfectly calculated silence, strolled into school. The breeze of the evening air evaporated the sweat still clinging to their bodies, and Chen Yao shivered slightly, turning to glance at Lin Nan, who seemed completely oblivious to the chill.
Lin Nan’s sweat must have dried ages ago.
Seeing this, Chen Yao switched topics, “How about we grab a bite at the cafeteria? I’m starving.”
“Sure, why not?” Lin Nan quickly forgot all about their bus debacle, pulled some cash from his pocket, and beamed, “I’m treating myself to something nice today!”
“Not paying me back then?”
Lin Nan’s momentary excitement plummeted as he muttered, “Then I’ll settle for one meat and one veg.”
“Forget it, I’ll treat you,” Chen Yao said generously, a rare display of splurging, “Let’s eat well, and with the leftover cash, we can buy some games! Any skins you’ve been eyeing? I’ll get you one!”
He usually had enough pocket money left over to invest in games, and now that he had made some extra cash, he wanted to showcase his rare “tycoon” side in front of Lin Nan.
After all, he often found himself broke at the end of the month, eating and drinking courtesy of Lin Nan.
“DJ Piano Girl?” Lin Nan answered without missing a beat.
“Get out!”
Once they stepped into the cafeteria, Chen Yao found it a bit warmer. He confidently led Lin Nan to the second floor, where the Western restaurant was, ready to treat him to a steak.
For students, steak was already considered an upscale meal, and for Lin Nan, anything over fifteen bucks felt like luxurious dining.
The cafeteria steak wasn’t quite like those chain places with self-service, but compared to those, the prices here were pretty reasonable. In fact, if you didn’t mind the quality, you could order a steak online for about ten bucks. Many steak restaurants used that kind of meat.
Lin Nan’s interest in steak was piqued; aside from the one time his parents took him out for it in elementary school, he rarely got to enjoy a meal out, let alone have someone take him out for one.
Magic was clearly at work. Despite wearing a sweat-soaked short-sleeve shirt, he felt none of the cold wind. Inside the air-conditioned steakhouse, he could barely sense the cool air, and it didn’t feel any different from outside.
Looks like the plan on the bus had worked!
Holding back a smile, Lin Nan sat down across from Chen Yao, adopting a poker face.
He noticed Chen Yao seemed a bit stiff, maybe still rattled by their earlier bus ride or maybe treating this dinner like a date.
Date?
Lin Nan blinked, puzzled at how his mind wandered there; it was just two guys grabbing a meal together.
“What do you want to eat?”
“Anything is fine; you order,” Lin Nan pulled out his phone and sent Tu Junhui one hundred and fifty dollars.
He absolutely despised owing money and was fixated on paying it back as quickly as possible.
“By the way, are you planning to go back during the National Day break?” Chen Yao, now more relaxed after ordering, casually remarked while resting his arms on the table, “I have to go back for my cousin’s wedding.”
“I’ll stay in the dorm; going back is a waste of money since no one’s home,” Lin Nan replied.
“Actually, you could crash at my place too,” Chen Yao said with a quirky grin, “Just dress up as a girl and tell my relatives you’re my girlfriend. Who knows, you might even snag some red envelopes!”
“Are you nuts?”
Lin Nan was totally uninterested in pretending to be someone’s girlfriend, let alone making a round trip just for a few meals.
Chen Yao was only joking anyways; even though his relatives regularly asked about his love life, it wasn’t at the point of pressuring him to marry, and he wouldn’t make Lin Nan sacrifice his dignity for it.
He opened the camera on his phone, pointed it at himself, and propped it against the wall.
Lin Nan noticed Chen Yao’s antics and curiously asked, “What are you doing?”
“Just shooting some daily videos to keep my fans happy. Haven’t posted anything in a while,” Chen Yao shrugged.
“I don’t know… I’m not even following you,” Lin Nan replied. He had zero interest in gameplay videos, preferring food videos instead, and found it particularly awkward to watch Chen Yao’s content.
Chen Yao was taken aback, then suddenly pointed the camera at Lin Nan, grinning as he teased, “Let’s show everyone who the ‘girl’ from the last video was! That’ll teach you for not following me!”
“Doesn’t that just blow your cover about who isn’t you in drag?” Lin Nan countered, equally smug, “Better watch out or I’ll start filming too, just to expose you!”
“Oh sure, you do you.” Chen Yao didn’t plan to include that moment in his video. He yawned and redirected the camera towards himself, also turning on a beauty filter.
Sure, the internet had no shortage of handsome and beautiful faces, but most of them were benefitting from the power of beauty filters. Though Chen Yao’s skin was decent, it didn’t quite compare to theirs, so he flipped on the filter.
He usually felt embarrassed doing voice-overs in the dorm, but with hardly anyone around in this steakhouse, he managed to loosen up a bit and emulated the famous food vlogger’s opening line, “Today I made a bit of extra cash, one hundred and fifty bucks, and decided to treat myself to a nice meal at the campus cafeteria.”
Having never shot a daily video before, he came off quite nervous. After finishing his bit, he looked up only to see Lin Nan trying hard not to burst out laughing, his face flushed, “Should I get you some garlic with that?”
“I don’t eat that stuff.”
