KMYB | Chapter 32

"You don’t know shit." When Lin Xiaojin heard Xi Shui speak with such absolute certainty, he hammered the bedboard twice hard. "When you’re with Zhou Zeqi, don’t be so blunt, got it?"

Xi Shui took half a beat to respond, then lowered his head and flipped open his notebook. "But I like him. I want to be honest with him…"

Lin Xiaojin: "Then have you told him you originally went after him to date him so you could kiss him and lose weight?"

"…"

"No?"

"Didn’t you say you wanted to be honest?"

Xi Shui’s cheeks burned. "That doesn’t count. I already like him now, so it’s fine from now on."

"Anyway, just listen to me. For this kind of thing, you have to be a little subtle," Lin Xiaojin warned.

"What happens if you’re not subtle?"

"He’ll eat you up."

"Oh…"

"Awooo."

"Haha."

"…"

–

The topic of Zhou Zeqi taking someone away straight from the square was all over the forum.

There were more people online at night than during the day.

[Hah, good thing I didn’t go.]

[No need to guess this one. Zhou Yanwang, putting aside the fact that he’s a sports student, scored 700 on the gaokao, a total rich second generation, and he’d already finished high school coursework in middle school. How could someone like that not know how to waltz? What, if he inherits the company later and has to attend a banquet or something, is he supposed to throw a shot put on the spot?]

[Exactly, that’s the most basic thing for a rich family, but I just love watching this kind of drama, hehe.]

[Zhao Xinyue made me laugh to death, going up to dance Latin.]

[And that guy who said he wanted to be Xiaoxi’s dog, he’s clearly been soaking in the forum too long. That whole vibe, damn, intense~]

[Yeah, can’t wait to see the little couple dance together.]

[Nope, I’m still kind of sour. I can’t even describe how I feel. Anyway, it just hurts. I’m not going to Carnival. I’m going offline.]

Xi Shui didn’t often go on the forum.

Just as top students at Jing University could be placed on a pedestal, the ace students of Jing Dance and Jing Sports were equally admired by everyone in the academy.

But dance, while it certainly required both talent and hard work, became terrifyingly impressive once someone had talent and was also willing to put in far more effort than the average person.

Xi Shui had been winning awards since elementary school, from home and abroad alike. Ordinary theater performances, all kinds of trophies, all stored in a special glass cabinet at home meant for certificates and awards.

In the academy, if people talked about the talent camp, there was him. If they talked about the effort camp, there was him. If they talked about looks, there was him. If they talked about family background, there was him. To them, Xi Shui was more like a little lighthouse floating on the sea, a little idol of theirs, a target to strive for.

Xi Shui held the same position at Jing Dance that Zhou Zeqi held at Jing Sports, except Zhou Zeqi was more down-to-earth, and also much harder to mess with. The path he walked was one no one else could copy.

After this summer vacation ended, Xi Shui would be nineteen.

Ballet competitions are divided into age groups, and at nineteen, in most domestic and international competitions, he would be in the youth category. By then, Xi Shui would be facing opponents with more experience, stronger professional foundations, and more powerful choreography skills.

The Varna ballet competition is next summer. The Varna International Ballet Competition is a world-class, highly authoritative ballet competition. Xi Shui had once won silver in the junior category, and if he participated again next year, it would be in the youth category.

Xi Shui’s desire to win was much stronger than Zhou Zeqi’s.

He cared more about winning and losing than Zhou Zeqi did.

–

For his morning class, Zhou Zeqi dropped Xi Shui off at the entrance of the teaching building. He was still wearing big shorts and flip-flops, sprawled carelessly against the car hood, watching Xi Shui’s back.

Xi Shui had gone into the building.

Then he ran back out.

"Can I kiss you?" Xi Shui asked softly.

Zhou Zeqi yawned. "In public? That’s not very appropriate, is it?"

"Don’t resist me."

"…"

Zhou Zeqi straightened up, reached out and pulled him close, then leaned down and kissed Xi Shui.

Just as he was about to deepen it, Xi Shui leaned back. Covering his chest, he said, "Okay. See you at noon."

"…"

There were a lot of students moving around J Building in the morning, and Zhou Zeqi was standing there, so he looked especially conspicuous.

He didn’t have class in the morning, and had gotten up specially to take Xi Shui to school.

Only after Xi Shui entered the teaching building did Zhou Zeqi ride away on his bike.

On Xi Shui’s desk sat a little cherry cake, with a note attached. It was from the class monitor.

Xi Shui put his backpack into the desk and took out his phone to send the monitor a message.

[It’s okay. Back then, they used to recruit dance partners like this too.]

What happened yesterday was only because he was Xi Shui.

Xi Shui split the cake with Lin Xiaojin, half each.

Lin Xiaojin licked the cream stuck to the plastic film wrapping on the cake as he asked, "So you’re really dating Zhou Zeqi now?"

"Yeah." Xi Shui bit on his fork.

"Mm, then you can kiss him every day," Lin Xiaojin said with a sly grin. "This cake has a lot of calories, so tonight remember to have him kiss you hard, okay? Try to burn off all these two hundred calories."

He thought Xi Shui would blush.

Instead, Xi Shui looked seriously thoughtful. "You’re right. I’ll remember that."

"…"

"Also," Xi Shui suddenly looked up, "next month is Zhou Zeqi’s birthday. What gift would be better?"

"Again? Why does dating you sound like you’re some kind of spendthrift fairy? You might as well just give yourself to him." Lin Xiaojin knew Xi Shui was generous and didn’t care much about money, but last time he’d bought a whole 18,000 yuan worth of underwear…

Lin Xiaojin had said it too directly. Xi Shui’s face reddened a little. "Give myself to him?"

Seeing Xi Shui start seriously considering the feasibility of his suggestion again, Lin Xiaojin hurriedly stopped him. "That’s still a bit too fast. Give him something else, like sneakers. Doesn’t he like playing ball? Meng Kewen especially likes sneakers, and from childhood to now I’ve given him so many pairs."

Xi Shui’s shoes were pretty cheap. The expensive ones were all bought by his family, his mom, aunts, and uncles, his older and younger cousins, his elder and younger brothers and sisters. They usually bought them for him, so Xi Shui had never really paid much attention to that kind of thing himself.

"Then I’ll go take a look when the time comes."

Lin Xiaojin still wasn’t very reassured. "Remember to send me a picture before you buy anything."

"Okay!"

"Oh right, do you really not like Wu Fengyi anymore? Then didn’t all that work you did before go to waste?" Xi Shui was a little worried, because after Lin Xiaojin came back from Jili Mountain, he didn’t seem very happy at all.

Lin Xiaojin sprawled on the desk and licked the film paper until it shone. "And you still have the time to worry about me?"

"You’re my friend, of course I have to worry about you."

"It’s nothing. I just think the difference between what he’s really like and what I imagined is too big. I’ll take a breather, and I’ll be fine in a few days."

"You don’t like the contrast?"

Lin Xiaojin wasn’t really listening. "Mm…"

Xi Shui volunteered eagerly, "Then I’ll go talk to him for you."

"Talk about what?"

"Tell him to be the same on the inside and outside."

Lin Xiaojin turned his head and looked at Xi Shui. "Can you even control that yourself?"

"Maybe."

"But he doesn’t even like me. What kind of person he is has nothing to do with me."

Xi Shui thought for a moment. "Then do you like him now, or not?"

Lin Xiaojin said, "I don’t know. Let’s talk about it later. Maybe if I hear him say 'Barbie q' or 'I’m really shuan q' again, I won’t like him anymore."

Seeing Lin Xiaojin in a down mood,

Xi Shui felt that feelings were really such a troublesome thing, something that was hard to cleanly and neatly solve.

Anything mixed with love and hate was the most troublesome of all!

Xi Shui drew circles in his notebook. Fortunately, things between him and Zhou Zeqi weren’t this troublesome.

Zhou Zeqi didn’t have any contrast either. He thought Zhou Zeqi was actually pretty much the same inside and out.

Very gentle, could cook, had great kissing skills, and a really good temper. In short, everything was good.

If Zhou Zeqi weren’t 192 centimeters tall, he’d even worry about other people bullying him.

–

At noon, Xi Shui didn’t see Zhou Zeqi. Zhou Zeqi had been dragged off by the swim team coach for training, and it was that same annoying top dog from before.

[I’ll probably be done around six. You can come wait for me at the swimming pool. Just come straight in through the main gate.]

After class, Xi Shui hadn’t eaten lunch. He ran to the convenience store and bought a few ice creams to bring to the swimming pool.

"One hundred and fifty."

"!"

Xi Shui held the few ice creams in his hands and froze blankly. "So expensive."

The cashier was a schoolmate working part-time and knew Xi Shui. She snatched the ice creams straight out of his hands and stuffed them into the very bottom of the freezer basket. "Those are ice cream assassins. Take this one, this one’s two yuan each."

"Thank you." Xi Shui smiled brightly.

Cashier: "…" He was too sweet, it was killing her.

Water sounded echoed constantly through the swimming pool, and sharp whistle blasts rang out from time to time across the entire venue.

The coach had already slipped away. With Zhou Zeqi there, there was no need for him to keep standing guard.

Besides, the recent competition was between several sports schools in the city, and with Zhou Zeqi’s ability, that was more than enough.

Wu Fengyi was on the basketball team. His swimming level was about the same as his basketball level. He’d been dragged in for the 50-meter freestyle. His explosive power was enough, but if you added even one more meter, he’d have to kneel.

Zhang Kan had a whistle hanging around his neck. Zhou Zeqi had a towel draped over his shoulder and was sitting in a chair, bent forward with his elbows on his knees. Water droplets slid down the bridge of his nose and along his sharp jawline.

Just after coming out of the pool, he was soaked through. As the droplets gathered, they followed the contours of his muscles and fell onto the floor.

His hair had all been swept back, exposing his forehead. He looked like a completely different person from usual, his fierce, bright eyes fully revealed, making people too afraid to look straight at him.

Wu Fengyi climbed out of the pool, and Zhang Kan looked at the stopwatch. "So bad."

"…"

Wu Fengyi sank under the water again, swallowed a big mouthful, then popped his head back up and sprayed it all over Zhang Kan’s face.

Zhang Kan wiped the water from his face. "Fuck, don’t even think about coming up again."

The two of them fooled around for a while. Then Wu Fengyi caught Zhou Zeqi’s cool, detached gaze and immediately signaled Zhang Kan to stop and get back to training.

Wu Fengyi walked over and sat down beside Zhou Zeqi, rubbing his stomach. "I think my abs are gone."

His image at the sports institute was the handsome guy with abs. If the abs were gone, he’d just be a plain handsome guy.

"Xi Shui still isn’t here? Didn’t he get out of class ages ago?"

"Old Zhou, you’re so miserable. Xi Shui is really popular in their academy. As your brother, I genuinely pity you." Wu Fengyi patted Zhou Zeqi’s shoulder. Fuck, his muscles were hard.

Zhou Zeqi gave Wu Fengyi a sidelong glance and said slowly, "You’re jealous."

Wu Fengyi: "…" He could even tell that?

Wu Fengyi was still trying to argue back when he saw Xi Shui walking in carrying a big red plastic bag from the convenience store. The bag was semi-transparent, and you could see exactly what was inside.

Xi Shui wasn’t short, but compared with sports students, his build was a level lower, and compared with Zhou Zeqi, it was quite a few levels lower.

After he came in, he looked around, and only then did his gaze settle on Zhou Zeqi. He walked over to them happily.

"I brought ice cream." He handed over the plastic bag, then said to Wu Fengyi, "I brought some for you too."

Wu Fengyi reached out to take it. "It’s enough just for you to come. Why bring anything…"

Zhou Zeqi raised his hand and smacked Wu Fengyi away, took one first, then tossed the whole bag to Wu Fengyi. "Take them and share them out."

Wu Fengyi hugged the ice creams and ran off toward the pool all happy and eager.

Xi Shui sat down on the chair beside Zhou Zeqi.

Xi Shui glanced at the water on the floor, then looked from Zhou Zeqi’s calves all the way up to his abs, then to his chest, his Adam’s apple… and finally met Zhou Zeqi’s dark eyes.

!

Caught staring.

Xi Shui’s eyes darted away. He looked toward the pool, where the school swim team was still training. When the whistle sounded, they shot out like arrows released from a bow.

"Do I look good?" Zhou Zeqi’s voice, unreadably calm, sounded beside Xi Shui’s ear.

Xi Shui nodded randomly.

Just after he nodded, his cheek was pinched and turned toward Zhou Zeqi, forcing him to look at him.

"Better looking than me?"

Xi Shui shook his head again.

Zhou Zeqi was only wearing swim trunks. Xi Shui didn’t know where to look. The approach of a young man’s hormonal body made his mouth go dry.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Even with his face being pinched, Xi Shui could still speak normally. His hand gripped his knee. "Don’t look at me like that." He couldn’t find words to describe Zhou Zeqi’s gaze and the feeling he had right then. It felt like Zhou Zeqi’s eyes were a tightly woven net, and he felt like he was about to catch fire.

Zhou Zeqi found it funny. He was almost pressed against Xi Shui’s lips. "Why can’t I look at you like this?"

The water on Zhou Zeqi’s face brushed against Xi Shui’s face.

Xi Shui leaned back, only to be grabbed back again. Then he was rubbed against once more, and Xi Shui’s face also became wet, carrying a pitiful little air.

He still didn’t know how to resist.

He only felt that Zhou Zeqi was bullying him.

"I’m asking you, talk," Zhou Zeqi bit Xi Shui’s cheek lightly, not too hard.

So soft. How could he be this soft?

Xi Shui remembered the question Zhou Zeqi had just asked him.

The hand gripping his knee retreated a little and pressed against his lower abdomen. His face was red, but his tone was earnest. "If you look at me like that, I’ll want to kiss you."