555. Milk Tea
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d*mn it! I forgot about the marks Chen Yao left from last night!
Lin Nan was so scared she felt her soul fly away. As she quickly zipped her jacket all the way up, she insisted the marks were just from bug bites.
But Li Ya caught on to her panicked expression like a hawk.
Before Li Ya could say anything, Lin Nan pointed dramatically across the street: “I’ll buy you milk tea!”
Without waiting for Li Ya’s approval, she turned and dashed towards the crosswalk, her back to Li Ya, brows furrowed, trying to come up with a way to muddle through this.
Thankfully, her hat and jacket had kept her from raising any suspicions. Even if Li Ya was suspicious, it was unlikely she would think Lin Nan was a woman in disguise. She’d probably just assume she was a crossdresser.
She bit her lip, trying to calm her nerves. After all, it was just an old classmate, and one she hadn’t kept in touch with. If it weren’t for Li Ya’s previous confession, she wouldn’t even be this flustered.
Ugh, her legs felt weak.
She glanced down at her legs.
All Chen Yao’s fault! Good thing she was flexible; otherwise, her legs would’ve surely been busted last night.
Taking a deep breath, she tried to shove the embarrassing memories from last night out of her mind and restore her face’s color, which was starting to look like a ripe tomato.
Li Ya quickened her pace to catch up with Lin Nan but soon realized that Lin Nan was walking quite… strangely. Not only that, but her behavior also seemed a tad too feminine.
“Did you hurt your legs?” she asked, stepping up to Lin Nan at the crosswalk.
Lin Nan nodded gravely. “Went to the countryside yesterday, walked too much, my legs are still a bit sore.”
She cautiously stole a glance at Li Ya and saw that she seemed to have forgotten about earlier. Li Ya started chatting about funny high school stories, and Lin Nan seized the opportunity to steer the conversation back to herself: “I remember you were really good at school, but you only got into an ordinary college.”
“Yeah, didn’t perform well on the exam.”
“Uh-huh… Back in high school, I was always thinking about games, so I might have let you down…”
“Huh?” Li Ya raised her head, looking at Lin Nan with a half-smirk, “What did you say? I didn’t catch that?”
“When we were in high school, we were just ordinary friends, right?” She looked down, her face a bit awkward, as if an old secret had been suddenly shouted out loud.
Lin Nan paused, realizing Li Ya didn’t want to talk about her confession, so she quickly changed the topic: “What did you major in at university?”
“English.”
“Oh, that’s nice! I can’t even pass Level 4 English. I heard you need Level 6 to graduate.” Lin Nan sighed lightly.
If it weren’t for magic, she’d probably still be an English illiterate.
But she was feeling pretty confident about passing Level 4 next year.
“Actually, English is pretty easy to remember; there are tips.” Li Ya said as the green light lit up, stepping onto the crosswalk first.
Lin Nan hurried after her, not daring to drop the conversation. Just as she was about to say something else, Li Ya asked, “What does your girlfriend look like? Got a photo?”
If she didn’t have a girlfriend’s photo to show, wouldn’t that be a bit suspicious? After all, how many guys have no photos of their girlfriend in their phones? Even if not in their albums, there should be something on social media.
While she was pondering this, Li Ya added, “You’re not pulling a fast one on me, right? You, the total gaming nerd, couldn’t possibly have found a girlfriend!”
Could a selfie in women’s clothing count?
Lin Nan’s mind raced as she quickly came up with an excuse: “I’m afraid if I show her picture to others, she’d be unhappy.”
“If you don’t say anything, who would know?”
Once they crossed the street and reached the sidewalk, Lin Nan pulled out her phone, scrolled through her gallery, and finally found a picture of Lilith.
Wait, why do I even have a picture of Lilith?
“Ta-da! This is my girlfriend.” Lin Nan presented her phone to Li Ya.
Li Ya glanced at it and exclaimed, “She’s gorgeous!”
“Right?!”
Lin Nan puffed up with pride.
“But she kinda looks like you…” Li Ya compared the photo to Lin Nan, “She’s not your cousin, is she?”
“That’s what we call couple resemblance!” Lin Nan snatched her phone back, worried that Li Ya would notice too many clues.
They entered a milk tea shop and plopped down at the bar.
“Hey, beautiful, what can I get you?” asked a young male server with a smile.
“Call me handsome, thanks… I’ll have a jasmine milk green tea, less sugar, no ice.” Lin Nan ordered her usual milk tea and pushed the menu toward Li Ya.
Li Ya casually ordered a cup of bubble tea.
While waiting for their drinks, Lin Nan pondered what topic she could use to stall for time. However, she noticed Li Ya stealing glances at her tightly crossed legs, slightly tilted to the left.
This posture is a bit ladylike, isn’t it? Just those flip-flops are a bit distracting.
She looked down at her own posture and thought, as a girl, her sitting position couldn’t possibly be more elegant than Lin Nan’s.
After spending some time together, Li Ya realized Lin Nan had changed to the point where it was hard to believe she was a male.
Then she looked up at Lin Nan’s chin resting on her hand, entranced, looking like a pretty girl daydreaming.
Suddenly, Li Ya noticed Lin Nan’s long hair peeking out from behind her neck. After some deliberation, she reached out and yanked Lin Nan’s hat off.
With the hat gone, Lin Nan’s hair cascaded down like a waterfall.
Lin Nan was stunned, staring blankly at Li Ya.
Not gonna lie, what’s with the sudden hands-on approach?
“You have long hair…”
“I’m an art student.” Lin Nan replied calmly, “But I usually wear a hat outside of school; otherwise, people mistake me for a girl with long hair.”
The male server at the counter glanced curiously at her but was met with Lin Nan’s sharp glare.
Whether or not that explanation was considered normal, Li Ya asked, “Is graphic design part of the art field?”
“Why wouldn’t it be? We have to learn how to draw too! Having long hair is totally normal!” Lin Nan argued confidently.
Yet, in reality, her class had very few students who dressed in particularly eccentric ways.
Li Ya watched Lin Nan curiously. With her hair down, Lin Nan looked completely like a beautiful girl, showing no trace of male features.
Before, Li Ya thought Lin Nan was so beautiful that even girls would be jealous; now, she realized Lin Nan was definitely just a girl!
Lin Nan, feeling a bit guilty, lowered her head, gathered her hair back up, tied it, and put her hat on again.
Actually, braiding it would be more secure, but that sounded like too much hassle.
She hoped Li Ya wouldn’t think she had turned into a girl!
Checking the time, she realized it had only been less than half an hour.
It felt like she was living through a whole year.
“After we finish the milk tea…”
“After we finish, let’s go shopping at the pedestrian street, okay?”
Nooo, I just wanted to say I’d leave after the milk tea…
