Online Dating Fiasco with the Campus Heartthrob (DATING)
Of course, Ji Su wasn’t going to send it again.
He hurriedly deleted the photo from his phone and buried his face in the pillow, then pretend to be dead.
After a while, his phone vibrated again.
Ji Su slowly turned his head to reveal one eye, and opened their chat window.
G: [Asleep?]
Seeing that the other guy wasn’t pressing for the photo, Ji Su secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
He rolled over onto his back and typed a reply.
Meng Meng: [I almost fell asleep, but Senior’s message woke me up.]
G: [What about the photo you just sent?]
Ji Su: “…”
What a cunning and deceitful jerk of a senior! Tricking him into replying and then pressing for the photo!
Ji Su put down his phone and continued to play dead.
Sending leg photos was one thing, but if his butt was also seen, could he still call himself straight?
G: [Asleep again?]
This time, Ji Su wasn’t falling for it.
He held back and didn’t reply.
G: [Actually, I saw it. It was black.]
Ji Su: “!”
His slender fingers jabbed furiously at the screen, as if trying to pierce through the phone and stab the guy on the other side.
After a moment, Ji Su calmed down.
Since the other guy had already seen it, he decided not to waste this opportunity.
Meng Meng: [Senior! You’re so mean!!]
G: [Am I?]
Meng Meng: [I’m ignoring you!]
Meng Meng: [Angry cat gif.gif]
G: [You sent it to me so I could see it, right?]
Ji Su was momentarily speechless and was unable to come up with a retort.
As expected of a law student, his logic was impeccable.
Meng Meng: [Well… I got shy after sending it!]
G: [I really didn’t see it clearly.]
Ji Su felt a little better and decided to end this round of conversation.
Meng Meng: [I believe you!]
Meng Meng: [But I’m really getting sleepy now, Senior~]
G: [Alright, go to bed early.]
Meng Meng: [You should go to bed early too, Senior. Don’t overwork yourself.]
Mengmeng: [Goodnight~]
After sending the goodnight message, Ji Su decisively switched to his main account to try to distance himself from the scumbag senior and the photo that he unsent.
"Susu, are you asleep?" Qiao Jin suddenly poked his head out from the upper bunk and whispered.
"Not yet," Ji Su replied as he climbed down from his bed. "What's up?"
Qiao Jin leaned over from the upper bunk: "Zhou Yang just texted me. They just got back to the dorm from the hospital."
Ji Su asked with concern: "How's his roommate's leg?"
"Ankle fracture. It's not extremely serious, but it's not minor either," Qiao Jin said but he almost sounded like a tongue twister. "It takes a hundred days to heal a bone injury, so it'll probably take two to three months to recover."
"That’s really inconvenient," Ji Su frowned slightly. "No wonder Gu Zhao was so angry at the time."
"Those guys from the finance department play so dirty!" Qiao Jin started ranting again. "I hope Gu Zhao doesn’t let them off easily!"
Ji Su blinked: "What do you mean?"
"You don’t know this, but Gu Zhao, despite his cold demeanor, is quite loyal to his friends," Qiao Jin jumped down from his bed. "Zhou Yang once offended a spoiled brat in their department, and the guy kept causing trouble for him. After Gu Zhao found out, he stepped in and sorted it out."
Ji Su pondered: "No wonder Zhou Yang and the others are so willing to follow him."
He had secretly wondered before why someone as cold as Gu Zhao hadn’t frozen everyone around him into icicles.
Qiao Jin shivered: "Even so, I’m still a bit scared of Gu Zhao’s icy face. It makes me feel like I’m always trying to warm up to a cold ass."
Ji Su couldn’t bear to hear the word "ass" right now, so he changed the subject: "It’s Saturday tomorrow. Do you want to go visit Zhou Yang’s roommate?"
Qiao Jin paused, then exaggeratedly exclaimed: "Susu, you’re really getting good at this!"
Ji Su was confused: "Good at what?"
Qiao Jin’s eyes sparkled: "At dating!"
Ji Su: "Am I?"
"Visiting Zhou Yang’s roommate is not only to show my kindness but also helps me get closer to him," Qiao Jin started to giggle to himself. "Just thinking about it makes me happy…"
Ji Su chuckled: "I didn’t think that far ahead, but what you’re saying makes sense."
"Really, Susu, I feel like you’re very close to completely winning over that scumbag!" Qiao Jin clenched his fists and cheered him on. "Victory is within reach. Susu baby, go for it!"
..........
The next morning, Ji Su woke up early.
After washing up, he went to the cafeteria with Qiao Jin for breakfast, then stopped by the supermarket to buy some fruit and nutritional supplements to visit the unfortunate Wang Mingzhe, who had fractured his leg.
When they knocked on the dorm door, a voice quickly responded: "Coming, coming!"
As soon as the door opened, Zhou Yang looked pleasantly surprised to see who was standing outside: "Qiao Jin? What brings you here?"
Qiao Jin raised the bag in his hand before speaking earnestly: "I’m here to visit the brave and injured Wang Mingzhe."
Zhou Yang chuckled at his choice of words: "It’s not that serious."
"How is it not serious?" Wang Mingzhe’s voice came from inside. "Qiao Jin is right! I was injured in the line of duty for our law department. The department should award me a banner!"
Zhou Yang turned back: "You’re really milking it!"
Ji Su pursed his lips as he tried hard not to laugh.
"Zhou Yang, can we come in?" Qiao Jin gestured with his chin.
Zhou Yang slapped his forehead: "Of course, of course! Come on in!"
Ji Su followed them into the dorm and was surprised to find it quite clean and tidy, unlike the messy and dirty state of most boys’ dorms.
"Zhou Yang, your dorm is really clean," Qiao Jin commented casually.
"Yeah, it’s all because Gu Zhao has a bit of a cleanliness obsession," Wang Mingzhe, who is sitting in a chair with his leg bandaged, complained. "To keep him comfortable, we clean every day!"
"How many times have you actually cleaned?" Zhou Yang teased. "Every time it’s your turn, you’re always busy, and I end up doing it."
Wang Mingzhe pleaded: "Alright, alright, can you at least save me some face in front of Ji Su?"
Ji Su, who was unexpectedly brought into the conversation: "Huh?"
Qiao Jin looked around: "Speaking of Gu Zhao, where is he?"
Zhou Yang replied: "Gu Zhao had something to do. He left early this morning."
Qiao Jin’s eyes lit up, and he lowered his voice: "Can I ask you guys a question? Just don’t tell Gu Zhao, okay?"
Zhou Yang and Wang Mingzhe exchanged a glance, then answered in unison: "Sure!"
"Is Gu Zhao’s throat okay?" Qiao Jin asked sincerely. "Why have I never heard him speak?"
Zhou Yang: "Well…"
Wang Mingzhe waved his hand: "Gu Zhao’s throat is perfectly fine. He just doesn’t like to talk much. If he is, he often speaks in short phrases."
"Mainly because he’s not very familiar with you yet," Zhou Yang added. "Once you get to know him better, you’ll definitely be able to talk to him."
Qiao Jin: "Should I wait then?"
After chatting for a while, Ji Su felt his phone vibrate in his pocket.
He took it out to glance at the screen then turned it off, and announced: "Sorry, I need to head back now."
"Stay for lunch!" Wang Mingzhe quickly urged. "Even though my foot is out of commission, we can order food and eat here."
Ji Su smiled apologetically: "I really have something to do. Maybe next time."
Qiao Jin stood up as well: "Then I’ll leave too."
"You stay. Maybe you can help out here," Ji Su subtly gave him a meaningful look. "I’ll go back alone."
Qiao Jin hesitated, then decided to stay: "Alright then."
Ji Su left the law department’s boys’ dorm and walked to a quiet spot before taking out his phone and returning the missed call.
The call connected, and a middle-aged man's voice came through: "Why did it take you so long to answer?"
"Sorry, Dad, I was busy with something just now." Ji Su lowered his gaze. "I called you back as soon as I saw your call."
"What could you possibly be busy with on a Saturday?" Ji Zhenghai paused. "Your brother is about to take his high school entrance exam. Make sure to reach out to him recently and encourage him."
Ji Su's fingers tightened around his phone. He opened his mouth but only managed a single syllable: "Hmm."
Although he knew his father usually didn’t care enough to check on him, for a brief moment when he saw the caller ID, he had felt a glimmer of hope.
But, as always, this call was still about his half-brother.
"What do you mean by 'hmm'?" Ji Zhenghai seemed dissatisfied with his dismissive tone as his voice turned stern. "He’s your own brother. Don’t you care about him at all?"
"Got it, Dad." Ji Su ground a fallen leaf under his foot with the tip of his shoe. "I’ll contact him. Don’t worry."
Satisfied with the response, Ji Zhenghai’s tone softened. "Your brother is at a crucial stage right now. He’s not as good at studying as you were. As his older brother, you should help him more."
Ji Su furrowed his brows and suddenly felt like he couldn’t breathe.
He couldn’t help but think back to when he was preparing for his college entrance exam.
He had stayed alone in a hotel, walked into the exam hall alone, and set seven or eight alarms every day because he was terrified to miss the exam.
What had Ji Zhenghai been doing back then?
Ji Su reached up and tugged at the collar of his hoodie then asked in a low voice, "Is there anything else?"
"You haven’t been home in a while. Your Aunt Qin was talking about you last night." Ji Zhenghai said. "Make some time to come home before your brother’s exam."
Ji Su responded, "Okay."
After hanging up, he stood in place for a long time before dialing another number.
After two rings, the call was quickly answered.
"Hey, bro!" A vibrant young voice came through, clearly delighted. "How’ve you been lately?"
Ji Su forced a small smile and adjusted his tone. "I’m doing fine. What about you? Are you feeling a lot of pressure with your studies?"
"Of course, there’s pressure. I want to get into your high school on my own merit!" Ji Chen chattered away. "But I think I’ve got a good chance. I made it into the top 20 in my grade in the last mock exam. If I hadn’t been so careless and misread a big math problem, I could’ve done even better…"
Ji Su listened silently and only spoke up when the other paused to catch his breath. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
"Bro, you’ve already helped me so much! If it weren’t for the notes you left me, I wouldn’t have improved this fast!" Ji Chen’s voice was filled with genuine admiration. "You know what? My classmates are all so jealous when they hear I have a brother who got into A University!"
"You can do it too." Ji Su looked up at the sky. "Keep going."
"I will, bro!" The young voice was full of energy. "I’ll work hard to catch up to you and get into A University too!"
Ji Su replied softly, "Alright, I’ll be waiting for you at A University."
Except, by then, he would have already graduated.
After chatting for a bit longer, Ji Su said he had things to do, and Ji Chen reluctantly hung up.
........
Ji Su returned to his dorm alone.
He opened his laptop, and started drawing.
But after a while, he felt it was pointless.
He picked up his phone then switched to his alternate WeChat account, and opened the chat with G.
There were no new messages.
At that moment, he suddenly wanted to ask the other person: 'How do you stop caring about people who don’t care about you?'
His fingertips hovered over the screen for a long time, but in the end, he closed the chat.
There was no one else in the dorm.
After eating lunch, Ji Su slept until evening and only woke up to find that it was already dark.
Qiao Jin had returned at some point and, hearing the noise, immediately ran over to his bed. "Susu, you’re finally awake!"
Ji Su raised his hand and rubbed his eyes with the back of it, his voice slightly hoarse from sleep. "What time is it?"
Qiao Jin glanced at his phone screen. "It’s 6:30. When did you start sleeping?"
"Around 3," Ji Su sat up and with concern in his voice, he asked. "How are things with Zhou Yang?"
"That’s what I wanted to tell you!" Qiao Jin’s face lit up with excitement. "We had lunch together today. Even though Wang Mingzhe was there too, it’s basically like we had a meal alone!"
Ji Su: "That’s good."
Qiao Jin continued, "And after lunch, Zhou Yang and I went to the gym together. He even taught me how to play basketball!"
Ji Su was puzzled. "But you already know how to play basketball. Why did he need to teach you?"
"Come on, I just wanted a legitimate reason to have some physical contact with him!" Qiao Jin’s smile was slightly shy.
Ji Su looked at him. "And then?"
"Then I realized he wasn’t resistant to it at all!" Qiao Jin clutched his chest while looking intoxicated. "He even hugged me from behind, like in that Titanic pose, you know?"
"That’s definitely progress, but don’t get too excited." Ji Su got out of bed. "He might just see you as a bro."
Qiao Jin’s dream shattered. "That’s true…"
Ji Su walked over to the table and poured himself a glass of warm water.
Qiao Jin circled around him. "By the way, you left after getting that call at noon. Was something wrong?"
"Nothing serious. It was just my dad." Ji Su took a sip of water, his tone calm.
Qiao Jin frowned. "Why would your dad call you out of the blue?"
Ji Su replied, "Ji Chen’s about to take his high school entrance exam. He wanted me to check in on him."
"I knew it!" Qiao Jin’s voice rose involuntarily. "Once there’s a stepmom, there’s a stepdad. When will he ever care about you?"
Ji Su didn’t respond, but the warm water in his mouth suddenly felt hard to swallow.
"I can’t believe this. Ji Chen is his son, but aren’t you his son too?" Qiao Jin grew more and more indignant. "I’ve seen favoritism before, but never to this extent!"
"Forget it." Ji Su put down his cup and smiled slightly, "He raised me, supported me through college, and has never treated me poorly in terms of money over the years."
Qiao Jin shook his head, "That's not what I meant, Susu—"
"What do you want to eat tonight?" Ji Su interrupted somewhat stiffly, "Let's go, I'm a bit hungry."
Qiao Jin glanced at his expression and started to laugh again, "Baby, what do you want to eat? Tonight, this Young Master is treating you!"
......
Ji Su was in a bad mood on Saturday and didn't feel like chatting with the scumbag, and fortunately, the other party didn't reach out to him either.
It wasn't until Saturday night that Ji Su took the initiative to send a message to G.
Meng Meng: [Senior, I just saw a guy on the court who looks a bit like you~]
He didn't expect G to reply immediately and distractedly read for a while.
A few minutes later, the other party sent a voice message: "I'm not at school."
The deep, magnetic voice was very low, and if you listened closely, you could sense an indescribable weariness and suppression hidden within.
Ji Su was taken aback.
He listened again, and vaguely heard the sound of rustling wind.
Meng Meng: [Senior, is something wrong?]
The reply came slowly, but it was still a brief voice message: "Nothing."
Meng Meng: [If you don't want to talk about it, I won't ask.]
Meng Meng: [But if you want someone to talk to, I hope I can be your first choice.]
After a while, a new voice message popped up: "Is it convenient to talk?"
Ji Su jolted and instantly felt nervous.
It had been several days since he practiced his clipped voice, and he had almost forgotten the pronunciation techniques.
Ji Su tried to recall the tutorial.
He opened his lips then pressed his tongue against the back of his upper palate, and tried to push the sound out, but ended up making some strange noises.
Ji Su: "…"
It wasn't like this back then!
The more flustered he became, the less he could find the feeling.
Ji Su subconsciously wanted to ask Qiao Jin for help, but after waiting for a long time without a reply, the other side sent a new message.
G: [It's just me here, too quiet.]
Ji Su keenly sensed that the other party was feeling very low at the moment, and this was the easiest time to take advantage of the situation.
Suddenly, he thought of a good idea and immediately got up to walk outside.
Meng Meng: [Senior, wait for me, just ten minutes.]
As Ji Su ran downstairs, he sent a voice message to his senior: "Senior, emergency, can I borrow the music club's key?"
Lin Yan: [The key is on the windowsill in the flower bed, just go get it yourself.]
Ten minutes later, Ji Su stood breathlessly at the music club's door.
He leaned on his knees to catch his breath, then took out the key to open the classroom door, and sat down at the piano.
His long, fair fingers pressed a few keys, and after testing the sound, he called G on WeChat voice.
Once the call connected, before Gu Zhao could say anything, a series of tinkling piano notes flowed through the phone and reached his ears.
The melodious piano sound poured down like flowing water from his fingers, like a clear lake, like a tranquil night, like the first light of dawn and like the first flower bud blooming on a branch in spring.
But within this warm and peaceful piano sound, there was also a thread of loneliness, subtle yet undeniable.
Gu Zhao closed his eyes. Even his breathing became light, as if afraid to disturb the music.
After the piece ended, Ji Su lowered his hands to calm his emotions, and looked at his phone screen.
This was G's favorite piano piece, and it just happened to be one that he had practiced since childhood.
He envisioned the little boy who always sat obediently by the window while playing the piano and tirelessly practicing the piece while hoping to earn a compliment from his father.
But until today, Ji Zhenghai had never heard this piano piece.
He never imagined that one day, he would play this piece for a stranger online.
After a long while, a low, hoarse voice came from the other end: "Are you still there?"
Ji Su picked up his phone and wanted to hang up but also did not want to ruin this rare atmosphere.
Although G hadn't given a single comment, somehow, he felt that the other party seemed to understand the piece.
The other party asked, "Why did you play this piece for me?"
Ji Su cleared his throat and typed a reply.
Meng Meng: [Because you like it.]
Meng Meng: [I want to make you a little happier.]
There was silence on the other end for a few seconds before he asked, "Why do you want to make me happy?"
Meng Meng: [Because if you're happy, Meng Meng will also be happy.]
This time, the silence on the other end lasted even longer, with only the sound of clear breathing exchanged through the connection.
"Meng Meng, do you still not want to talk to me?" The other party guessed that Ji Su was unwilling to speak and asked softly.
His voice was so alluring that, despite using a fake name, Ji Su's heart rate quickened slightly.
Meng Meng: [My throat doesn't feel well, and my voice doesn't sound nice.]
"It's okay." The other party's cold voice seemed to have warmed up, "I just want to hear you talk."
Ji Su took a deep breath then silently recited the pronunciation tips for the clipped voice again before mustering the courage to call out: "Hey…"
His original voice was clear and clean, with a brightness unique to youth, but now, as he deliberately clipped it, it became soft and pleasant. However, due to nervousness and shyness, the ending was trembling slightly so that it sounded particularly endearing.
Like a newborn kitten, who's eyes were still closed and stretching out its tender little paws while mewing softly.
Gu Zhao slightly narrowed his eyes.
The words he wanted to say rolled around in his mouth before being swallowed down with a gulp, and just leaving only three words: "Very nice."