395. The Quirky Lin Nan and Chen Yao【29/99】
Zhu Yong Wen clearly relaxed a lot when facing Lin Nan.
Compared to the last reunion with those unfamiliar old classmates, his smile was noticeably brighter this time. He was no longer the shy, awkward chap; instead, he appeared more cheerful and chatty.
His relationship with Chen Yao was just okay, but he considered himself to be best buddies with Lin Nan. After all, they had been desk mates for three years in high school, chatting and zoning out in class, teasing each other after school, and supporting one another academically. Over the years, their bond naturally grew deeper.
Unfortunately, they ended up at different universities, so they hadn’t communicated much over the past two years—just the occasional message online.
Now, although Lin Nan had changed quite a bit, Zhu Yong Wen didn’t think much about it and went on and on about his troubles and funny stories from college.
“What’s your dorm like? My dorm has eight people in bunk beds—absolute hell,” he complained while walking next to Lin Nan. “Eight people! Four smoke, two are up all night playing games, and one doesn’t wash for half a month! I don’t even know what sin I committed in my last life to end up with such roommates!”
Lin Nan had escaped his arm around her shoulders and was keeping as much distance from him as possible, joining in on the critique about their college roommates.
“Same here! One of my roommates is a chubby guy who soaked his clothes in a bucket for a week in this heat! It fermented, do you get what I mean? That smell kept me away from the dorm for the entire afternoon!” she fumed about Tu Junhui’s shenanigans last semester.
“Chen Yao is the same! He goes out to play basketball every day, comes back all sweaty, and doesn’t shower…”
Realizing the conversation had turned to him, Chen Yao quickly defended himself, “I wanted to blow the air conditioning for a bit before showering! Nothing wrong with that! I don’t skip showering at night!”
“Still stinking up the place, buddy,” Lin Nan said, scrunching her face in disgust.
“Well, I’ll shower right after I come back from basketball next time,” he promised.
Zhu Yong Wen seized the opportunity: “Wait, ‘come back home’?”
“Uh, I meant back to the dorm,” Chen Yao quickly corrected himself.
He glanced at Lin Nan and then at Chen Yao a few steps behind, sensing that the two seemed pretty cozy.
It was an indescribable feeling.
However, there was still some distance between Lin Nan and Chen Yao.
Additionally, Lin Nan always had a unique fragrance about her, kind of like milk—light and subtle, yet easily noticeable.
Zhu Yong Wen turned to evaluate Lin Nan’s cheek. No matter how he looked at it, she struck him as more of a girl than a guy.
After all, who in the world has skin this good? It was smooth and flawless. Wasn’t Lin Nan dealing with acne scars back in sophomore year? Am I remembering this wrong?
“What are you staring at?” Lin Nan shot him a glare. “There’s still more than an hour till evening. Why don’t you think of something to do?”
“Let’s just grab a meal? I’m hungry.”
“Brilliant idea!” Lin Nan burst into laughter, poking his little potbelly, which felt surprisingly nice. “Look at you, you’ve gotten chubby!”
It was only 3:30 PM, and Zhu Yong Wen was already starving.
“I didn’t eat lunch!”
Lin Nan tried to act like their old selves during their time together, but she felt unusually tense, fearing that lingering too long would give her away. This made her smile a bit awkward and uncomfortable.
Chen Yao stood nearby, watching Lin Nan and Zhu Yong Wen’s interaction, feeling a strong pang of jealousy but still playing his role to avoid suspicion: “How about we eat at that restaurant down the street behind the back entrance? Split the bill?”
“Maybe drink some alcohol?” Zhu Yong Wen perked up. “I haven’t had a drink in ages, how about you join me, Lin Nan?”
Lin Nan sprang alert, instantly rejecting him, “No way! Since when did you become a drunkard?”
If they started drinking and the walls came down, all that careful masquerade would go out the window.
“Then how about you, Chen Yao?”
“I could drink a little with you,” Chen Yao nodded but suddenly caught Lin Nan’s glare and quickly backpedaled. “But I have a date later, so it’s probably best not to drink—what if I smell like booze?”
Zhu Yong Wen didn’t push him but curiously asked Lin Nan, “Do you have a girlfriend?”
He actually wanted to know if Lin Nan had a boyfriend.
While asking, he casually glanced at Lin Nan, but then suddenly noticed his old classmate seemed to have a bit of a chest?
“Nope, can you hook me up with one?” Lin Nan struggled to remember how she used to talk.
“I was just about to ask you—”
Lin Nan suddenly noticed his eyes lingering a bit too long in the chest region, her face turning beet red. She elbowed him, hoping this tactic would alleviate the awkwardness: “Don’t ask! Just hold it in!”
“I can’t hold it in! You know I can’t keep my mouth shut!”
“Which is exactly why you got bullied all the time in high school!”
Lin Nan quickened her pace, leaving Zhu Yong Wen in the dust. In just ten minutes of meeting up, she was starting to feel overwhelmed, her heart racing, that thrill of lying buzzing in her mind.
The excessive tension made her hands tremble slightly, but she pushed it aside, drowning in thoughts of how she used to behave as a boy, how she spoke.
“Why are you running?” Zhu Yong Wen was about to chase after her when he suddenly realized Lin Nan’s back looked a lot like a girl’s.
Not only that, but he also noticed the figure beneath Lin Nan’s coat wasn’t that of a chubby person…
Before he could speculate further, Chen Yao slapped the back of his head.
Zhu Yong Wen sensed something was off with Chen Yao’s mood.
“Why did you hit me?” he complained, feeling hard done by, especially since only a couple of days ago they were teaming up to climb the ranks in a game, and now he was the punching bag.
“I saw you zoning out and thought I should wake you up,” Chen Yao justified his actions.
Truth be told, he was just irritated that some dude was staring at his girlfriend.
“I suspect you’re having a falling out with Lin Nan’s cousin. You seem a bit strange today,” Zhu Yong Wen noticed Chen Yao glaring and quickly decided to follow his heart, speeding up to catch Lin Nan.
He then stupidly continued, “Have you been drinking too much milk? Didn’t you get some… assets?”
Lin Nan’s face froze, unsure of how to answer. She stuttered for a long while before swallowing hard and saying, “No way! How would I know?”
“How would you not know?” Zhu Yong Wen suddenly reached out as if to squeeze Lin Nan’s chest.
The sudden action startled Lin Nan, making her heart race even faster. She instinctively sidestepped, grateful she had previously unlocked that magic for faster reflexes.
Her voice shot up as she widened her eyes and shouted, “Are you gay or what?!”
“No! There’s really something there!”
Zhu Yong Wen was astonished to find that Lin Nan’s voice had suddenly become much clearer and sounded almost like a girl.
But then he felt a chill down his spine and turned around to see Chen Yao’s eyes drilling into him with a threatening glare.
What in the world is going on with this reunion? Things are getting weirder by the minute!
