079. Wen Yang’s Promise
Wen Yang paced nervously on the balcony. It had already been twenty minutes since Ning Chu entered the bathroom.
All that could be heard from the bathroom was the sound of water splashing during the shower, nothing else stirred.
Peering through the frosted glass door, he caught a glimpse of a vague shadow standing there, appearing to have frozen in place for far too long.
His anxiety heightened, and he couldn’t resist calling out, “Are you done yet?”
“Uh-huh.”
After another moment of waiting, Ning Chu finally pushed the door open.
His hair was still damp, his pants and shoulders splattered with water, and he wore a slightly defeated expression. There was a hint of redness under his eyes, which still carried a layer of fog.
Wen Yang followed him inside the dormitory, his gaze glued to Ning Chu.
Although Ning Chu often displayed a moody demeanor and a tendency to ignore others, this was the first time Wen Yang saw him looking so despondent and hopeless.
Staring at that youthful, beautiful face, now tinged with sorrow, Wen Yang felt his heart clench painfully.
He silently pulled over Zhang Shaoqing’s chair and sat down beside Ning Chu.
“What’s wrong?”
Wen Yang’s tone was softer than ever, his eyes brimming with concern.
But Ning Chu flinched, glanced at Wen Yang with a look of disgust, and huffed, “Don’t be gross. Go away, go away!”
“What else can I do? I accidentally kicked the wall with my foot. It hurts like hell~”
The situation was already pretty dire! With such a gentle Wen Yang, it was hard for Ning Chu not to overthink things.
He grabbed the hair dryer from the table and began to blow-dry his hair, which was long enough to cover his eyes.
Wen Yang’s lips moved, but the loud noise of the hair dryer drowned out his words, and Ning Chu pretended not to hear him, focusing solely on drying his hair.
Seeing Ning Chu so evasive, Wen Yang sighed helplessly, “You still have the nerve to mention Shaoqing.”
“You don’t want to talk to people when you’re in a bad mood either.”
Shaking his head, he returned the chair to Zhang Shaoqing’s desk, leaning against the wardrobe with his arms crossed, watching Ning Chu’s facade of indifference.
“How about we drink some wine?”
He brought out his old tricks used with Zhang Shaoqing.
Ning Chu quickly shook his head in refusal.
“Just now, you were pretending not to hear me, and now you suddenly can?”
“……”
He continued to play deaf, meticulously drying his hair.
Once his hair was somewhat dry, Ning Chu finally set down the hair dryer, letting out a heavy sigh, feeling entirely uninterested in doing anything.
Might as well just give up~
No matter how hard he tried, things always seemed to head in a direction he didn’t want to see…
“I’m going to sleep.”
“It’s only just past eight.”
Ning Chu glanced back at Wen Yang, responding weakly, “I’m tired.”
“Then I’ll turn off the lights.”
Ignoring Wen Yang, he climbed the ladder to his bed, collapsing onto it and pulling the quilt over his head.
The next moment, the dorm lights went out, engulfing the room in darkness.
As the darkness settled in, Ning Chu’s heart turned cold.
What sins had he committed in his past life? Why couldn’t the heavens ever let him off the hook?
In his previous life, before he even had memories, his father had mysteriously disappeared, and his mother had passed away from illness early on. He could only rely on his grandparents, struggling to get through to college; just when he could finally work and earn money, he somehow ended up in this world and had to relive his college years.
He had tried so hard, yet everything just refused to improve…
He didn’t want to be a girl. What’s so great about being a girl?
Every month brought Aunt Flo, bringing excruciating pain.
During those times, the agony could be unbearable, and if he accidentally got pregnant, just thinking about those ten months terrified him.
And being pinned down by a man… just the thought made him nauseous.
If he really turned into a girl, would he still be himself?
Wen Yang stood silently by the bed, gazing at the curled-up figure of Ning Chu, frowning in confusion as he returned to the desk.
After thinking it over, had Ning Chu encountered some trouble recently?
Could it be that he was also heartbroken?
Was it his contact with girls that made Ning Chu particularly upset?
Suddenly, Wen Yang recalled how Ning Chu’s chest muscles had been developing lately.
Was it because of his feminine appearance and figure?
Wen Yang felt a headache coming on. When Zhang Shaoqing had gone through a breakup, he could at least drink with him, but Ning Chu had never liked alcohol.
He wasn’t good at dry consolation, especially since he had no clue what had happened.
“Hey, Ning Chu?” Wen Yang asked carefully, “What’s going on? Can’t you just tell me?”
“……”
“Isn’t it better than carrying it all alone? We’re brothers; we just tackle things together.”
“How about we grab some late-night snacks? Have a nice meal to vent? Or go for a run, watch a movie?”
Ning Chu poked his head out from under the quilt, silent, rolling over to look at Wen Yang beneath him.
In the faint light seeping through the door crack, he could see Wen Yang’s worried and anxious face.
With a heavy sigh, he buried his face in his pillow and pleaded, “Can you please stop talking to any girls from now on? I’m begging you.”
As long as Wen Yang didn’t trigger the plot, he wouldn’t increasingly resemble a girl, and Wen Yang could continue being a virgin.
However, Ning Chu’s words left Wen Yang stunned. “Huh?”
What did that have to do with him interacting with girls?
Could it be that playing basketball with Shan Shan finally pushed Ning Chu over the edge?
Wen Yang didn’t ask for the reason—he had already done so many times before, but each time, Ning Chu would either solemnly talk about being worried he’d get deceived or concerned for his safety, or he’d say he was jealous of how handsome Wen Yang was and how girls were chasing him…
He had believed it at first, but now it seemed those reasons were pretty ridiculous.
“Okay.” After a brief moment of daze, he nodded vigorously, “I won’t talk to any other girls from now on. I’ll avoid them like the plague.”
“……” Ning Chu raised his head and glanced at Wen Yang, mumbling, “You said you wanted to find a girlfriend before.”
“Forget about that! I’ll be single for life.” Wen Yang shot him a glare, “Get down here, let’s play video games.”
“Fine.”
With Wen Yang’s promise, Ning Chu felt his mood lighten a bit, reluctantly climbing off the bed.
Let’s hope Wen Yang can stick to his word and not talk to any other girls… That might just nip the plot in the bud and help avoid any further unwanted feminization.
Wen Yang turned on the light, glancing at Ning Chu’s red and watery eyes.
Seeing that pitiful look on Ning Chu’s face made his heart soften, all curiosity fading away, and all his questions seemed trivial compared to making Ning Chu smile again.
“Still want to play that game…”
“That one? Forget it.” Wen Yang pulled out a game controller from Zhang Shaoqing’s drawer, “I downloaded a co-op game a couple of days ago, a single-player level type. Perfect for us to play together! Know how to use a controller?”
“Should be fine.”
