KMYB | Chapter 36

Xi Shui was no longer sad now, no longer heartbroken either. He watched his dad leave.

Not long after, just as Xi Shui was about to turn back, Zhou Zeqi rode his bicycle out again from the park path. He braked beside Xi Shui, frowned, and said, "Why were you crying?"

Xi Shui lifted his arm and wiped at the tears that still hadn't dried. "Didn't you leave?"

"I was tricking your dad."

"…Do you have class this morning?"

"No class." Zhou Zeqi rested one foot on the ground and looked at Xi Shui’s worried face. "What is it?"

Xi Shui looked at Zhou Zeqi, pressed his lips together, and decided not to tell him.

He would convince his dad.

Or he could skip the middle step and tell his mom or grandma directly.

Zhou Zeqi leaned over the bike’s handlebars and tugged Xi Shui’s sleeve, pulling him closer. His tone was stern. "Say it."

Xi Shui saw a different side of Zhou Zeqi.

There wasn’t a trace of a smile on his face. His sharply defined features looked even colder and more severe, and his pitch-black eyes were fixed on Xi Shui without blinking. It made Xi Shui’s scalp tingle.

No wonder the sports academy people called him Zhou Yanwang.

"My dad just said bad things about you," Xi Shui admitted guiltily in a small voice.

"…"

Zhou Zeqi’s expression thawed. He let out a laugh. "What did he say?"

"He said you wolf down your food and drive like a maniac."

"…"

"He said dating is fine, but I can’t date someone like you."

Zhou Zeqi shifted his posture. "What kind of person am I?"

"Wolf down your food, drive like a maniac."

Seeing Zhou Zeqi’s smile turn into something half-smiling, half-not, Xi Shui hurried to add, "But in my eyes, you’re not like that. You’re very handsome."

"But your dad said someone like me isn’t okay?"

"I’m the one dating you, not him." Xi Shui said seriously, "Besides, he doesn’t even know whether I like boys or girls. He just doesn’t like that behavior of yours."

"You like it?"

Xi Shui recalled how Zhou Zeqi had shoved half a fried dough stick into his mouth, paused, then said, "N-no… I don’t like it."

Zhou Zeqi pinched the brake with one hand, loosening and tightening it over and over. His eyes slowly narrowed.

"Wolfing down food is bad, and also, just now when you were riding your bike, the wheels were practically floating!"

"…" How was Zhou Zeqi supposed to tell Xi Shui, tell him he had just been too nervous?

"But!" Xi Shui had just cried, and his eyes were especially bright now. His voice was like sand-fleshed watermelon, rough and sweet all at once. "That’s okay. It doesn’t affect the fact that I like you. I like you, so how could I stop liking you just because you wolf down your food when you eat?"

Zhou Zeqi looked at Xi Shui for a while, then suddenly reached out, pulled him into his arms, and viciously messed up his hair.

How could anyone be this good, this sweet, this honest and bright.

He lowered his head and wanted to kiss Xi Shui, but Xi Shui seemed startled, and bounced out of his arms like a little rabbit.

"I don’t want to kiss."

Zhou Zeqi’s arms were empty. "Don’t want to? Is there a reason?"

There was a reason.

But he couldn’t tell Zhou Zeqi.

Xi Shui was troubled.

Besides worrying about booking a room, he was also worrying about how to tell Zhou Zeqi that he was already so much thinner now. If they kept kissing like this, would he lose so much weight that even his muscles would vanish, leaving nothing but a skeleton?

And lately, Xi Shui felt like he had been eating a lot too, barbecue, hot pot, and he often ate at night, but he was still getting thinner…

"How about we only kiss once a day? We can kiss again at night." Xi Shui said. "I’m going upstairs first."

Zhou Zeqi watched Xi Shui’s back disappear into the building lobby. His little boyfriend was up to something again. He was sweet, sure, but the things that occasionally went through that head of his were really weird.

–

All of today’s classes were in the practice room of the comprehensive building. The classroom next to Xi Shui’s was the domain of the classical dance students, who had recently been rehearsing *The Pipa Song* and still weren’t at the official performance stage. They were all wearing tight practice clothes, their movements smooth and graceful.

Xi Shui stood at the back door and watched for a while, then saw Lin Xiaojin come out from the line.

"…"

"Why are you in their classroom?"

Lin Xiaojin said, "I followed along for a couple of steps, then I couldn’t help standing on tiptoe and spinning around, so they kicked me out."

"You’re rehearsing the waltz this afternoon. Did you tell Zhou Zeqi?"

"Not yet, I’ll tell him in a bit."

Seeing that Xi Shui looked listless, Lin Xiaojin moved closer and asked, "What’s wrong?"

"Sigh~"

"…"

Xi Shui lifted his eyelids. "Kissing is making me waste away."

His pretty brows were lightly furrowed, and it was obvious he was genuinely troubled by this.

Lin Xiaojin also thought Xi Shui had lost weight recently. Well, it wasn’t really about being fat or thin. Xi Shui’s height and weight had always been within the standard range, it was just that he was too anxious.

Anxious when he was fat, anxious now that he was thin.

"Because you haven’t been randomly stuffing yourself lately," Lin Xiaojin said, leaning against the wall. He pulled two fruit candies from his pocket, unwrapped one, and stuffed it into Xi Shui’s mouth, casually tucking the wrapper into his pocket too. "Before, whenever you were unhappy, you’d go buy cream cake at the bakery, or secretly eat little breads at home."

"Lately you seem happy all the time, because of Zhou Zeqi, right?" Lin Xiaojin tilted his head. "So I’ve been saying, just eat properly and don’t put too much pressure on yourself. With this much exercise, eating normally won’t make you fat."

"How many calories can kissing even burn? You could chew your lips raw and still not make up for one serving of beef rice. The most important thing is, you’re happy."

"Xiao Xi, you should thank Zhou Zeqi, and you should be kinder to yourself too." Lin Xiaojin poked Xi Shui’s cheek. "Hear me?"

"I know." Xi Shui lowered his eyes and nodded. He understood his problem very clearly, but…

"Then being with Zhou Zeqi makes me really happy, and being happy makes me lose weight, so I don’t need to kiss him anymore!"

Lin Xiaojin: "…"

Lin Xiaojin was baffled by Xi Shui’s logic. "Is that even human speech?"

?

How was it not?

"You’re dating someone!" Lin Xiaojin ticked them off on his fingers. "Holding hands, hugging, kissing, even doi, all of that is included. Weren’t you originally looking for Zhou Zeqi to date just for kissing? That’s the logic."

After saying that, Lin Xiaojin pointed at Xi Shui. "Don’t pout. Whether you like him or not, you’re not getting away."

That day, Zhou Yanwang had taken Xi Shui away from the student plaza. That look in his eyes had been photographed, and he looked like he was about to eat someone alive.

"I like him," Xi Shui said firmly.

"But kissing will make me thinner~"

"Then eat more."

"Oh, right!"

"…"

Lin Xiaojin peeled open another candy and tossed it into his mouth. Xi Shui looked at him seriously, then glanced into the classroom and asked in a whisper, "Let me ask you, if Zhou Zeqi wants to doi with me, do I need to prepare anything?"

Lin Xiaojin nearly choked on the candy.

"Prepare what? He can prepare everything. No, wait, you can just wash yourself clean."

"What does he need to prepare?"

"…Lube, condoms, that’s it. He’ll definitely know more than you do, so stop worrying about random things," Lin Xiaojin said.

"I can prepare ahead of time. What if he forgets?" Xi Shui looked innocent.

Lin Xiaojin thought for a moment, then broke into a huge grin. "How did I not think of Zhou Zeqi possibly forgetting? Right, you should prepare a set first. The pharmacy by the school has everything, and they even let you pay with your campus card. You can go buy it later."

Xi Shui thought Xiaojin was becoming more and more considerate.

"Okay!"

–

At 4:30 p.m., the afternoon golden light spilled all over the dance studio, and the hardwood floor looked as if it had been brushed with a thin layer of gold paint.

Xi Shui came back from the changing room after changing clothes, sneaking in through the back door with his backpack. There was still sweat on his forehead, and he sat resting on a chair in the dance studio.

Zhou Zeqi was already on the way over. After rehearsal here, he still had to go to the swimming pool for training.

Today, the girls in the class seemed to have agreed on it beforehand and all wore white spaghetti-strap gauze dresses. The thin white fabric trailed down to their ankles, the skirts bell-shaped, romantic and graceful. Some were stretching their legs, some were tipping their heads back to drink water, some were standing on tiptoe tying their shoelaces. The sunset fell on their hems and their slender backs like a romantic oil painting.

Xi Shui tied a sweatband around his forehead and warmed up. While he was chatting with Lin Xiaojin, Zhou Zeqi appeared at the back door.

He didn’t have a backpack, only his phone in hand, blocking half the light. His clean, sharp face was bathed in the glaring halo. Above, he wore the sports academy’s signature white tank top, and below, the academy’s signature gray track pants.

He looked completely out of place among the lively, charming, elegant atmosphere of Xi Shui’s class, like hail crashing down on a sunny day, or a blade slicing through layers of soft cloth.

He was imposing. The moment he walked into the classroom, the volume of the lively chatter inside immediately dropped.

Li Weiwei was sitting on the floor, letting Hai Tinghua braid her hair. She looked up and said, "This is so weird. Why does Xi Shui like Zhou Zeqi? Because he’s handsome?"

Hai Tinghua told her not to move. "They’re a good match."

Xi Shui walked up to Zhou Zeqi. Zhou Zeqi went from a blade to a soft edge. He reached out and touched Xi Shui’s face, and even Lin Xiaojin, not far away, awkwardly turned his head aside at that look.

It was like he wanted to do Xi Shui right there and then.

Only Xi Shui couldn’t see it.

Li Weiwei scratched the back of Hai Tinghua’s foot with her thumb. "His eyes are so slutty."

Hai Tinghua tightened the hair in her hands. "You like that? If you like it, I can do it too."

"You? Don’t disgust me."

The dance they had chosen was the *Waltz Waltz*. Everyone was already familiar with the piece.

Hai Tinghua and Li Weiwei danced it through once for everyone first. Hai Tinghua was 5 centimeters taller than Li Weiwei. When she kept a blank expression, she was still pretty intimidating. The only problem was that she couldn’t crack it. The moment she did, dimples and tiger teeth showed up, and the shell of her cold, ruthless image shattered on the spot.

Xi Shui sat cross-legged beside Zhou Zeqi, leaning against his shoulder. "Our class monitor is really good at dancing. She’s won a lot of awards, and she’s definitely going abroad in the future. Her mom has a lot of connections in the Jingzhou Ballet Company."

Zhou Zeqi said, "What about you?"

"Me what?"

"Will you go abroad?" Zhou Zeqi lowered his eyes and squeezed Xi Shui’s fingers.

Xi Shui shook his head very firmly. "I won’t."

"For me?" There was a smile in Zhou Zeqi’s eyes.

"Not for you." Xi Shui kept shaking his head.

"…"

Xi Shui turned his head and looked at Zhou Zeqi, then said slowly, "Chinese ballet hasn’t been around for many years. It’s not like msk and those countries in Europe. They’re the birthplace of ballet. Culture is something very important to every country."

"Going abroad would definitely be a more promising choice for a ballet dancer, but I want to stay and do some things…" Xi Shui rubbed his face. "But after I graduate, I’ll probably go abroad to study for a while. I’ll definitely come back."

"As long as I can dance, it doesn’t matter where I am, even if it’s not onstage. It doesn’t matter who the audience is either. I just want to do my own job well."

"Did I make myself clear? I think you definitely understand, and can understand too," Xi Shui moved a little. "Right?"

Last year, on the stage of the Jing Dance final recital, Zhou Zeqi saw Xi Shui standing under the blinding white lights, and he saw through him at a glance.

The other boy’s loneliness, his innocence, his courage, so many things.

Zhou Zeqi braced one hand on the floor and leaned over to kiss the corner of Xi Shui’s lips gently. "I understand. I can understand."

Xi Shui curved his mouth. He knew it, Zhou Zeqi was such a very, very good person.

Lin Xiaojin had originally wanted to come over and discuss the waltz steps with Xi Shui, but before he could even open his mouth, he saw Zhou Zeqi kissing Xi Shui.

Fuck!

Once the demonstration was over, Hai Tinghua put her hands on her hips. "Did you see clearly? Any questions?"

The movements were very simple. With their foundation, watching it once and then following along usually made it possible to sync up.

Everyone said there was no problem.

Xi Shui asked Zhou Zeqi in a small voice, "You have no problem either?"

"No problem."

"Wow~"

"What is it?" Zhou Zeqi could understand Xi Shui’s ambitions and ideals, but he often didn’t understand those little gasps and bits of secret delight. What was that about?

"Then you’re really a genius," Xi Shui invited him enthusiastically. "Do you want to dance ballet with me?"

"…"

After being rejected, Xi Shui didn’t get discouraged. He had just said it casually anyway. Zhou Zeqi was too big.

Just as the first rehearsal was about to begin, Zhou Zeqi asked Xi Shui, "Did you bring water?"

"I did, it’s in my backpack. I’ll go get it." He stood up and ran toward the resting chairs. The tight practice clothes perfectly outlined his shoulders, waist, hips… a dancer’s body, long and full of strength.

Zhou Zeqi followed him over.

There was a pendant on Xi Shui’s water bottle. When he took the bottle out, the pendant dragged a bunch of things down with it, clattering onto the floor.

"Help me pick them up."

Zhou Zeqi bent down and picked them up one by one.

A hair clip? A ballpoint pen, a campus card. When his fingertips picked up a box full of foreign-language text, Zhou Zeqi slowly straightened up, holding the box in his hand, and confirmed what was inside.

Xi Shui unscrewed the water bottle and handed it to Zhou Zeqi.

Zhou Zeqi also handed the box to Xi Shui.

Xi Shui blinked.

"So proactive?"

Xi Shui recognized it too. His face went red, his heart pounded, and he didn’t dare look Zhou Zeqi in the eye as he stammered, "I also… also prepared ahead of time. I was afraid you might for-forget later."

"…"