KMYB | Chapter 30

Zhou Zeqi sat on the sofa, fiddling with his phone.

The last page of the poster said that you could scan the QR code to sign up, and that only after your materials passed review could you qualify for an interview.

[Meng Kewen: Old Zhou, tell me, doesn’t this sound like they’re picking a boyfriend for the little swan?]

Zhou Zeqi couldn’t be bothered to reply. He was in a gleeful mood.

He was filling out the registration form.

Haitinghua had made it pretty professional. He even had to attach a two-inch blue-background ID photo of himself, and the reason was written right there: if you’re too ugly, that won’t do, be nicer to the audience.

Besides that, there was name, college and year, height and weight, whether he could waltz, and the only option was yes.

Objectively speaking, how many points would you give yourself, for example:

Andy Lau eight points, Zhou Zeqi seven points, security guard Xiao Li six points, security guard Xiao Wang five points, Professor Tang from the School of Science four points, Mercedes one point.

(Mercedes was a calico cat on the Jing University campus, so ugly it had even trended online.)

Zhou Zeqi submitted the form, and while he was waiting for the review, he drank down the half cup of water Xi Shui hadn’t finished.

The review came back very quickly.

Rejected.

[Sorry, athletes aren’t allowed.]

“…”

Fuck!

–

The next morning, Xi Shui came out of the door carrying an ear of corn, and the moment he stepped out, Zhou Zeqi, leaning against the corridor wall, startled him.

The boy was tall, wearing a plain black T-shirt. The fabric traced the smooth lines of his shoulders and arms, with the outline of firm muscle faintly visible.

Even with his head lowered, it didn’t diminish the sharp, well-defined line of his jaw at all. It was still razor-edged.

Hearing the door open, Zhou Zeqi lazily lifted his eyelids. “Let’s go.”

Xi Shui’s heart thudded hard.

Just like Lin Xiaojin had said, whether a face was beautiful or not couldn’t affect Xi Shui’s overall evaluation of a person, and it definitely couldn’t control it.

But this was the first time in Xi Shui’s life that he had been… swooned by someone’s looks.

Xi Shui floated along behind Zhou Zeqi.

After they left the residential building, Zhou Zeqi stuffed the breakfast in his hand into Xi Shui’s. “Stand here.”

Not long after, he rode up on a bicycle and stopped in front of Xi Shui. “Get on.”

“Where did you get that?”

“What’s with that expression?” Zhou Zeqi curled his lips. “What, did I steal it? I rode it over from home yesterday. Are you getting on or not? If you’re not, I’m leaving.” He made as if to go.

Xi Shui hurried over and sat on the back seat. “I’m getting on, I want to get on.”

From their neighborhood to the school only took ten minutes on foot, but Zhou Zeqi somehow took ten full minutes on the bike to reach the school gate.

“You ride so slowly,” Xi Shui said from behind him, gnawing on his corn. “Even walking is faster than us.”

“Then you come do it.”

Xi Shui didn’t show fear. “Sure.”

He handed over his backpack, the breakfast, and the half ear of corn he hadn’t finished to Zhou Zeqi.

The moment Zhou Zeqi got on the back seat, he nearly couldn’t hold the front wheel steady, but Xi Shui was thin-skinned and didn’t show it. He silently used a little force to steady it.

Along the way, fellow students kept looking at them.

There were people riding bicycles to class, and there were electric scooters too, but none of them were as eye-catching as these two.

Zhou Zeqi on the back was just too big.

Even on flat ground, Xi Shui still had to work a little to pedal.

Zhou Zeqi wrapped one arm around Xi Shui’s waist.

Xi Shui jolted like he’d been shocked. The tire skidded into an S-shape on the ground. He glanced down at the hand locked around his waist and said softly, “Don’t do that.”

“Do what?”

“Baby, your waist is so thin.” Seeing that Xi Shui didn’t answer, Zhou Zeqi deliberately rubbed Xi Shui’s waist again.

Xi Shui skidded into another S-shape. He didn’t know how to ride a bicycle with one hand, so he couldn’t stop the hand misbehaving at his waist. In a fluster, he shouted, “If you keep touching me, I’m going to get mad!”

The students walking on either side turned to look at Xi Shui.

At the fork in the road, Zhou Zeqi put one foot on the ground and slammed the wheel to a stop with the sole of his shoe. He stood up. “I’ll do it. I’ll take you to the teaching building, then I’ll go to the athletics college.”

Xi Shui’s face was pink. He handed the bike over to Zhou Zeqi and silently sat on the back seat.

The moment Zhou Zeqi stepped on the pedals, Xi Shui suddenly wrapped one arm around him.

His voice went soft, lower, like it came with a little hook.

“Baby, your waist is so thin.”

Zhou Zeqi’s waist and abdomen tightened. He nearly lost control of the handlebars, and the bicycle tire skidded across the road into an S even bigger than the one Xi Shui had made before.

Xi Shui got scared and hurriedly wrapped both arms around Zhou Zeqi from behind.

The wind brushed past them.

Class was about to start.

Xi Shui was lying on Zhou Zeqi’s back. “We’re even.”

Zhou Zeqi laughed. So that was what the earlier one was for, revenge?

Someone even took photos of them riding the bicycle and uploaded them to the CP thread.

[Finally, they’re active again. Those two cats have been more active than them lately!]

[Security guards Xiao Li and Xiao Wang are pretty good too. Yesterday I saw Xiao Li poke Xiao Wang with an electric baton.]

[Poke where?]

[I have no regrets about coming to Jing University in this life. My high school dream was to have a day where I could openly ship CPs!]

[Zhou the Tyrant is so ruthless. He actually made Xiao Xi ride the bike! With that build, Xiao Xi must be exhausted to death!]

[Look how red Xiao Xi’s face is, just like the watermelon I bought yesterday.]

[Exactly, he must be really tired. What’s going on with Zhou the Tyrant? Look at him still laughing in the back!!!!]

[Oh, by the way, Jing Dance and the school next door are holding some kind of carnival, and Xi Shui is recruiting a dance partner. He just needs someone who can waltz.]

[Can’t do it.]

[Can Zhou Zeqi? Let him go. I’d like to, but I’m not as tall as Xiao Xi. I’m only 158. Thx. The fortune-teller said my height is only fit for shipping CPs.]

[So many people have signed up.]

[Emmm, isn’t Zhou the Tyrant just going to go over there and beat each one up?]

–

Classes ended at three in the afternoon.

After Xi Shui and Lin Xiaojin showered, Haitinghua and Li Weiwei were waiting in the corridor.

When she saw Xi Shui, Haitinghua walked up. “Let’s go. Whoever you’re satisfied with, we’ll find that person to be your partner.”

Xi Shui felt like something was off.

But exactly what was off, he couldn’t quite say.

Xi Shui was brought to the student plaza. He wasn’t afraid of the stage, and in daily life he wasn’t afraid to talk and communicate with people either, but when he saw that bright red banner, he almost turned and ran.

Haitinghua said, “This is all strategy. Once the buzz is up, when we go up against the school next door, we’ll win without even fighting!”

Li Weiwei sneered from the side, “What a waste that you learned ballet. You should have learned marketing.”

The student plaza was usually where small events or sign-up activities were held, and it was generally lively.

Today was lively too.

The publicity department of the Jing Dance student council had set up a few tables in front of the fountain statue. Beside them stood a poster, and the poster used every eye-searing color it could. From far away, it was glaringly bright.

Those who had passed the review had arrived early at the interview site and consciously lined up in a long queue. Their looks were all fairly passable, and their heights were definitely enough, except for a few.

Lin Xiaojin tugged Xi Shui and whispered, “I’ll buy you a house.”

“What?” Xi Shui didn’t react.

“I’ll dig out a house with my toe and give it to you.”

Xi Shui didn’t understand what Lin Xiaojin meant.

Haitinghua sat in the middle of the table, while Xi Shui sat off to the side, leaning back in his chair and looking at the long queue in front of him.

Haitinghua was flipping through the materials on her tablet.

“Thirty-seven people passed the review,” Haitinghua said, lifting her head. “I’ll call out the names. Whoever I call can just come out and dance a short bit.”

“Zhao Xinyue!” Haitinghua’s voice thundered.

A boy with delicate features and a somewhat shy smile walked forward. He secretly glanced at Xi Shui, who remained expressionless, and no one knew what he was thinking.

Haitinghua frowned. “On your form, you gave yourself ten points. I’m not saying a person can’t be confident, I gave you a comparison, and Andy Lau only got eight points!”

“Also, your height is… 175?”

Zhao Xinyue scratched his head. “I can dance the female part.”

Seeing that Xi Shui had confusion written all over his eyes, Lin Xiaojin leaned over and explained, “He’s a zero who wants you to sleep with him.”

“…”

Haitinghua hesitated, half-believing it. “Then dance a couple of steps?”

Zhao Xinyue took his stance and performed a section generously.

Haitinghua immediately clapped. “Not bad, not bad, your movements are standard, but this isn’t Latin, is it?!”

“I think it’s all the same.”

“It’s definitely not the same.”

Then came the second person.

“Can Xi Shui temporarily be my partner?” the other party asked with a bright smile.

Haitinghua raised a finger. “No, no, no. Are you trying to freeload before you’ve even passed the interview?”

Xi Shui leaned close to Lin Xiaojin’s ear. “The class monitor’s wording is so strange.”

Lin Xiaojin replied, “She’s always like that. She’ll get beaten up sooner or later.”

Haitinghua waved her hand, letting this student who was trying to play tricks on her dance alone. Before the person could even leave, the stack of information in her hands was plucked away in one go. Haitinghua looked up in astonishment toward the person behind her.

Zhou the Tyrant had arrived sometime without anyone noticing.

On the steps beside the statue, there was also a big group of people from their college standing there, all very familiar faces. They were always winning prizes in competitions everywhere, and would show up on the school bulletin board from time to time.

Zhou Zeqi had a lollipop in his mouth. Leaning against the table, he flipped through the materials in his hand for the more than thirty people in front of him.

The scorching afternoon sunlight fell on one side of his face, while the other half remained in shadow, making him look cold and distant.

“Mao… Xiaoliang? 857? That’s it?”

After glancing at one form, Zhou Zeqi directly flung it onto the table behind him, slamming it down hard on the paper. The whole table thudded loudly.

Li Weiwei silently dragged Haitinghua over to Xi Shui in the back, away from the line of fire, in order to protect herself.

“Mike? What Mike? No Chinese name?”

“Liu Li, how many points did you give yourself, you wrote… prettier than me?” Zhou Zeqi gave a cold snort and muttered, “Pretty my ass.”

“Wu Yangyan, your motto is, ‘In this life, I only want to be Xi Shui’s dog’?”

With every name Zhou Zeqi read out, his tone got one degree worse.

Wu Fengyi crouched on the steps and grinned. “Anyway, I’m definitely not going to provoke Old Zhou today. He’s basically a walking powder keg right now.”

Meng Kewen nodded too. “I knew Old Zhou would be jealous. With his temper, not throwing all these people out here already counts as him being polite.”

“I heard Old Zhou secretly signed up last night, and got rejected?”

“Don’t mention the sore spot if you’re not looking for trouble. Careful or you’ll get hit.”

“Zhang Maomao,” Zhou Zeqi held the form right in front of him, “nickname, Xi Shui’s little boyfriend~”

At this point, Zhou Zeqi’s face was truly cold.

He shoved all the unread ones back onto the table and fixed this group of people with a frosty, sharp stare.

It wasn’t wrong that Xi Shui needed a dance partner. In his major, it was impossible not to have a partner, but for people to seize every opening and wedge themselves in was just disgusting.

What were they here to apply for, a dance partner? They were here to apply for a boyfriend!

Xi Shui stood up and walked toward Zhou Zeqi, and Lin Xiaojin didn’t even have time to stop him.

“Let’s go…” Xi Shui stood in front of Zhou Zeqi and said softly.

His heartbeat was very fast, so fast it was almost unbelievable.

Zhou Zeqi lowered his eyes, his throat bobbing. “You’ve looked at me for so long, and you’re finally willing to come over? Is it that funny?”

Xi Shui reached out to take Zhou Zeqi’s hand, but it was avoided.

Zhou Zeqi jumped down from the table and turned to leave.

The group that had come with Zhou Zeqi immediately followed him out as well.

Xi Shui looked at Zhou Zeqi’s back, and something seemed to block his throat, making him hurt. He stood there dumbly, and the wind blowing from all directions felt cold.

Zhou Zeqi hadn’t gone far when he stopped in his tracks.

Wu Fengyi asked in confusion, “What’s wrong?”

Zhou Zeqi couldn’t be bothered to answer. He turned back again, wrapped an arm around Xi Shui’s shoulder, and took him away from the scene, casually sweeping a glance over the people around them. His eyes were especially dark and cold.

–

The afternoon was hot, the air scorching. Xi Shui walked until sweat drenched him, and he was taken to an abandoned warehouse in the athletics college that was no longer in use.

High little windows let in sunlight as a small glowing square, shining onto the floor, while golden dust drifted through the air.

All kinds of balls were on the shelves, but they were all especially worn out, with peeling paint and cracked surfaces. Even the rackets hanging on the wall were basically unusable anymore.

Wu Fengyi and the others had long been sent off to play ball.

Zhou Zeqi locked the door from the inside and turned back to look at Xi Shui, who was full of unease.

Xi Shui backed up step by step. “You just need a partner.”

It wasn’t Xi Shui’s fault. He was too likable, so there would always be people seizing every opening to get close to him, even if he wasn’t single.

“Don’t be mad. I never planned to dance with them.” Xi Shui had nowhere left to retreat and leaned against the mottled brick wall.

Zhou Zeqi kept his head lowered, his voice light. “Then why did you still go?”

“Class monitor already organized everything. I can’t stand her up, and I don’t like any of those people.”

“Oh, then you have to pick someone you like.”

“I don’t like them.”

“Don’t like what?”

“Other people.”

Zhou Zeqi laughed. “Who are other people?”

Zhou Zeqi’s question was piercing, leaving no room for Xi Shui to gloss over it and pass.

Xi Shui clutched at Zhou Zeqi’s sleeve. “Them?”

“Then who do you like?”

Xi Shui could clearly feel that the Zhou Zeqi in front of him was different from before, different from the easygoing, good-tempered Zhou Zeqi he had known.

The other person wanted him to give an answer, a definite, accurate answer.

Seeing that Xi Shui still wasn’t speaking, Zhou Zeqi raised a hand and pried Xi Shui’s fingers off his sleeve. “If you don’t say anything, I’m leaving.”

Saying he wasn’t angry would be a lie.

But Zhou Zeqi wasn’t angry at Xi Shui. What was the point of being angry at Xi Shui? Those people saw Xi Shui, and it was like a flock of black ants seeing honey.

In the end, he was more angry at himself.

He couldn’t pretend not to see it, he couldn’t remain unmoved, and even more, he couldn’t really be like a dog guarding a meat bone.

He wanted Xi Shui to have him in his eyes, he wanted Xi Shui to say he liked him. Only then, even being a dog would be fine.

Zhou Zeqi didn’t want to wait anymore.

If he really didn’t want to say it, then fine.

They’d make it clear, and he’d be the one to chase Xi Shui, starting over from the beginning.

Was he scared?

Zhou Zeqi had participated in so many competitions, but he had never felt this tense before.

If he walked out that door.

Was he prepared to become strangers with Xi Shui?

He had kissed the little swan, held the little swan…

Xi Shui was his.

“Zhou Zeqi…” Just as Zhou Zeqi’s hand touched the doorknob, Xi Shui rushed up from behind and hugged him.

Zhou Zeqi was instantly engulfed by overwhelming joy. He didn’t give Xi Shui a chance to speak, scooped him up in his arms, pinned him against the door, and kissed him wildly.

Xi Shui tilted his neck back, his fingers clutching Zhou Zeqi’s shoulder.

Zhou Zeqi could lift him with one hand. Suspended in the air, Xi Shui had to rely on Zhou Zeqi’s arms to keep from sliding down.

Xi Shui heard their heartbeats gradually begin to sync. It was only after Zhou Zeqi let him go for a long time that he slowly found his senses again.

“I need to say something.” Xi Shui’s voice was hoarse, his eyes glistening.

Zhou Zeqi pressed his forehead against Xi Shui’s. “Go on.”

“You, you don’t leave.” Xi Shui drooped his eyes, not daring to look directly at Zhou Zeqi.

“Why?”

Xi Shui didn’t speak again.

Zhou Zeqi guessed that he must be caught in a mental dead end, maybe even thinking about asking Lin Xiaojin what to do once he got home.

“Xi Shui, what are you troubled by?”

“I don’t know, I don’t know… whether I like you?” That short sentence came out with great difficulty. After he finished, Xi Shui met Zhou Zeqi’s gaze and found the other man’s eyes red, like a beast that had starved itself to the edge of madness.

“Don’t know?” Zhou Zeqi leaned over and bit Xi Shui’s cheek.

“What do you mean, don’t know? Then why did you confess to me? Why did you kiss me?” Without waiting for that to sink in, Zhou Zeqi pressed his palm against Xi Shui’s chest. “Baby, do you know how fast your heart is beating?”

“Or is it that you get hard for anyone?”

“Speak.”

“If you don’t say anything, should I treat other people like this in the future too? Hmm?” Zhou Zeqi pecked and kissed Xi Shui’s face one moment at a time, his gaze like a net. “Should I?”

Xi Shui said with difficulty, “No.”

“Why not?”

When Xi Shui said no, he was terrified Zhou Zeqi would leave, and he hooked both his little legs around Zhou Zeqi’s waist, actually with quite a bit of strength.

Xi Shui looked like a little swan trapped in a cage, helpless and at a loss.

The room was hot. The window was too small, there was no ventilation, and it was even hotter than outside, unbearably stuffy.

Xi Shui felt as if he had been soaked through in water. Sweat slid from his temples down to his chin. Just as it was about to fall, Zhou Zeqi lowered his head and used the tip of his tongue to lick it away.

Xi Shui’s face immediately turned even redder.

“Like you,” Xi Shui said while Zhou Zeqi’s gaze had not yet moved away, while he was still keeping the posture of kissing Xi Shui’s chin. His voice was low, his eyes bright and careful. “I like you.”

After saying the sentence that, for Xi Shui, carried the most extraordinary and weighty meaning, the rest became much easier.

He gripped Zhou Zeqi’s lapels, his eyelashes wet and shining from the sweat.

“I don’t like them. I only like you.”

“I only get my heart racing for you, and I only want to kiss you.”

“That kind of reaction, it only happens with you too.”