397. Guessing Game
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Lin Nan stepped out of the ladies’ room after switching to a pad and sighed dramatically as she trudged to the sink, her face looking like a tomato that had seen better days. She raised her eyes to the huge bathroom mirror.
Aunt Flo had arrived right on schedule this time, and she was well prepared, having packed a pad in her pocket.
Despite wearing a hat, dressed in boys’ clothes, and hiding a wig, she still looked unmistakably feminine in the mirror.
If someone were blind, they might mistake her for just an overly delicate boy.
So, it was no wonder Zhu Yong Wen was jumping at shadows. If Lin Nan saw herself in this outfit, she’d probably think she was looking at a girl too.
How could she have been a guy before and now fail to pull it off?
Her mind was racing with frustration, so she splashed a bit of water on her face, trying to wash those worries away.
All she needed was to muddle through the next couple of days—Zhu Yong Wen wasn’t going to hang around here for long anyway.
She pushed her hat down a little lower, trying to hide even more hair.
Sadly, hats had more flaws than advantages when disguising hair, especially at the back of her neck, where a cascade of long hair was obviously stuffed into the hat. But thank goodness for wide-brimmed hats and Zhu Yong Wen’s attention being focused on other weirdness, so for now, her hair remained undetected.
But if she lingered too long, who knew when the ruse might unravel?
Tomorrow, she planned to hit a wig store and pick up a men’s wig to avoid getting caught when she next faced Zhu Yong Wen.
Determined, Lin Nan turned to leave the bathroom, only to come face to face with Zhu Yong Wen rushing towards her.
Her heart skipped a beat, and she felt a wave of panic wash over her.
Fortunately, she had stepped out early; if she had hesitated for a few more seconds, they would have collided perfectly at the ladies’ exit.
“Why are you so slow?” Zhu Yong Wen asked as he hurried by, “Chen Yao is ordering takeout; you should go see what you want.”
“Uh-huh.” Lin Nan mumbled, keeping her head down as she slipped past him, her heart racing like a hamster on a wheel.
Hiding feelings was no fun at all, and she constantly worried about when the truth would come tumbling out. For the past few hours, Lin Nan had been jumping at her own shadow, as skittish as a mouse.
Yet, after taking just two steps, she suddenly felt a shadow pass over her and before she could process it, she collided right into someone.
She let out a yelp, stumbled back, and lost her balance, tilting backward.
Zhu Yong Wen was startled by her scream and whipped around just in time to see Lin Nan teetering on the brink of a fall. He rushed forward and managed to catch her in his broad arms.
So soft.
He had already noticed how soft Lin Nan was when they had playfully linked arms before, but this time, as she fell into him, that softness was crystal clear.
But the crash knocked her wide-brimmed hat askew, threatening to drop off. He grabbed it just in time, only to see a cascade of silky hair spill out from beneath it.
Stunned, Zhu Yong Wen stared as Lin Nan’s long hair tumbled down.
In the blink of an eye, all that glossy black hair fell, covering her ears completely.
Lin Nan was just as shocked, her head spinning from the collision, and when the world steadied a bit, her eyes locked onto her fallen locks.
Her heart seemed to stop, and her face drained of color as she quickly broke free from Zhu Yong Wen’s embrace and snatched the hat back.
“Sorry, sorry! I wasn’t paying attention to my phone!”
The guy who bumped into her was a hulking figure over six feet tall. Too busy with his phone, he hadn’t noticed Lin Nan at all. As he apologized profusely, he suddenly realized the girl and the chubby guy looked like they had just seen a ghost.
“Did I hurt you?” he asked cautiously.
Lin Nan didn’t respond, covering her face with the hat and darting back towards the restroom.
The guy scratched his head, glancing at Zhu Yong Wen. “Is your friend okay?”
But Zhu Yong Wen didn’t answer, frozen in shock as his brain tried to reboot.
The big guy was left utterly confused, staring at Zhu Yong Wen waiting for answers that nobody had. After a moment, not seeing Lin Nan come out, and with little feedback from the silent chubby guy, he headed back to the bathroom. “Make sure to apologize for me later; I really need to pee!”
Once the coast was clear at the restroom entrance, Zhu Yong Wen finally snapped back to reality.
“Was that… Lin Jin?” he muttered, “Is my cousin covering for Lin Nan at our meet-up?”
But this thought was jumbled and made no sense; after several hours, he was pretty sure that was indeed his high school classmate Lin Nan standing before him.
If it were someone else impersonating Lin Nan, they wouldn’t have shared inside jokes from high school, and that shoulder-to-shoulder bump had been way too smooth.
But Lin Nan with long hair? And… br*asts?
As he puzzled over it, he noticed Lin Nan had managed to re-adjust her hat, a distinctly unnatural flush on her face as she cast a brief glance at Zhu Yong Wen still caught in a daze. Ignoring him, she marched straight toward the computers.
Her heart raced so fast she thought it might leap out. Her palms were sweating nervously, her legs feeling a bit wobbly from the shock.
It had been a long time since anything this thrilling had happened.
It felt like she could hear her heartbeat echoing in her ears, and her palms were slick with sweat, making her even more fidgety and eager to hide.
Lin Nan approached Chen Yao looking like a kicked puppy. He looked over, pulling off his headphones, curious. “What’s up?”
“I’ve got to go.” She pressed her lips together and grabbed her half-finished milk tea. “Just take care of things; I’ll catch a cab home.”
“Wait, what?!”
Having had his headphones on, Chen Yao had no idea what just transpired and looked utterly bewildered.
“I’ve been discovered…” Lin Nan summed it up in a few hasty words, glancing back toward the bathroom. Not seeing Zhu Yong Wen yet, she continued, “My hat fell off, and my hair was seen.”
Chen Yao was stunned. “Then just say you’re studying art or something?”
“No time to explain, I’m outta here!” Lin Nan clutched her milk tea and scampered toward the exit.
“But if you don’t explain, I have to!” Chen Yao groaned, talking to empty air as he watched Lin Nan make a run for it. “Can’t you at least give me a heads-up?”
Before long, Zhu Yong Wen was back at the table.
The chubby guy looked like he was still questioning reality, a swirl of confusion and countless question marks bouncing around in his head.
After a moment, he turned to Chen Yao and asked, “Where did Lin Nan go?”
“She suddenly had an urgent matter and left.” Chen Yao replied nonchalantly.
“Urgent matter…” Zhu Yong Wen realized Lin Nan was intentionally avoiding him.
He stared blankly at the computer screen, grappling with his own thoughts for what felt like an eternity. Eventually, he turned back to Chen Yao. “Lin Jin and Lin Nan… They can’t be the same person, right?”
“Is he a boy or a girl?”
“In high school, I definitely never went to the restroom with him, and his voice was always pretty androgynous…”
But in high school, boys went together and girls did too; even if you hadn’t gone to the bathroom with Lin Nan, surely, you’ve seen him use the boys’ room, right? Come on, bro, you’re starting to sound a little off your rocker.
Chen Yao silently rolled his eyes.
“Could it be that Lin Nan was actually a girl all along?”
Did you just hit the nail on the head?
