Online Dating Fiasco with the Campus Heartthrob (DATING)
The seconds ticked by.
Despite keeping his head down, Ji Su could still feel the oppressive weight of the gaze from above.
Gu Zhao didn’t even bother wiping the water off his abs and was just seemingly focused entirely on waiting for Ji Su’s response.
Under this pressure, Ji Su suddenly had a flash of inspiration and found a reasonable excuse: "I didn’t bring my swim trunks. Maybe I’ll learn next time when I have the chance."
Gu Zhao spoke up: "There are swim trunks in the room’s cabinet."
"Yeah, they’re in the innermost cabinet in the bathroom," Zhou Yang added. "Say what you will, but at least this hotel is well-prepared. I’d stay here again."
"Come on, Ji Su!" Wang Mingzhe slapped the water’s surface. "Look, my foot’s still injured, and I can still swim. You’ll definitely learn—just jump in with confidence!"
Ji Su closed his eyes.
It seemed he had no choice but to pull out his final trump card.
He glanced at Qiao Jin, preparing to fake a fainting spell on the spot, when suddenly his phone rang from his pocket.
Ji Su paused.
Never before had his ringtone sounded so melodious and sweet.
This wasn’t just a ringtone—it was a lifesaving melody.
Ji Su immediately pulled out his phone and said apologetically, "Sorry, I need to take this call."
With that, he turned around and quickly walked away from the pool with his phone in hand.
Gu Zhao stood in place but his gaze follow the hurried figure with his expression growing increasingly somber.
Several seconds later, Zhou Yang finally reacted: "Ji Su seemed in such a rush to answer the call. Did something happen?"
Qiao Jin seized the moment to stand up: "No idea. I’ll go check on Susu. You guys keep playing."
Qiao Jin ran off too, leaving Zhou Yang feeling a bit bored. He called out, "Brother Gu, come back in and swim a few more laps!"
"Swim by yourself," Gu Zhao tossed back as his wet footsteps retreated without a backward glance.
Left in the pool, Zhou Yang and Wang Mingzhe exchanged confused looks: "How did it suddenly end up being just the two of us?"
Meanwhile, Ji Su walked toward the bedroom to answer the call: "Hello?"
A mechanical female voice on the other end tried to sell him a bank loan.
To avoid giving himself away, Ji Su decided to play along and smoothly converse with the AI recording: "Mhm, okay, I understand..."
Finally reaching the room, he stepped inside and was about to close the door when he felt a significant resistance from behind.
Startled, Ji Su turned around to find Qiao Jin, and only then did he relax.
"Who was it?" Qiao Jin whispered. "Not your dad again, was it?"
"No," Ji Su gestured for him to come in.
Qiao Jin entered, then closed and locked the door behind him.
Ji Su hung up the phone: "No one important, just a telemarketer."
"That call saved you," Qiao Jin leaned against the door while still shaken. "I was so scared earlier—I thought you were about to get exposed."
Ji Su sat down on the edge of the bed and the more he thought about it, the more something felt off: "Qiao Jin, do you think Gu Zhao knows something?"
The way Gu Zhao had looked at him earlier made Ji Su suspect that Gu Zhao might have wanted to throw him straight into the pool.
"No way," Qiao Jin thought carefully. "Other than both playing the piano, you and Meng Meng are completely different people. There’s no reason for him to connect the two."
Ji Su frowned slightly: "Could it be that I gave myself away while playing the piano?"
"There are so many people in the world who can play the piano. How is that evidence?" Qiao Jin paused, then slapped his forehead. "I’ve got it! It’s because you playing the piano reminded him of Meng Meng, so he’s been giving you the cold shoulder."
Hearing this, Ji Su felt a bit more at ease: "Qiao Jin, your analysis makes sense."
"Right?" Qiao Jin’s confidence soared. "Don’t worry, as long as you make sure not to take off your pants in front of Gu Zhao, you’ll be fine."
Ji Su repeated firmly: "I absolutely will not take off my pants in front of him."
After saying this, he vaguely felt something was off, so he rephrased it: "I absolutely will not expose my legs in front of him."
Qiao Jin nodded: "Absolutely not!"
..........
It was still early, so Ji Su opened his laptop and worked on some drawings for a while. Then, there was a knock on the door.
He closed the laptop and walked to the door while asking cautiously, "Who is it?"
"It’s me, He Yiming!" A bright, cheerful voice came from outside. "Ji Su, are you asleep yet?"
Ji Su opened the door: "Not yet."
He Yiming explained: "Old Wang and the others are downstairs and clamoring to play a game. They sent me to call you and Qiao Jin."
Ji Su hesitated for a moment, then asked softly, "Who’s playing?"
He Yiming replied: "Old Wang, Old Zhou, and me. If you and Qiao Jin join, that’ll make five."
Hearing that Gu Zhao wasn’t among them, Ji Su felt relieved and turned to raise his voice: "Qiao Jin, do you want to play a game?"
Qiao Jin, who was in the bathroom, responded: "Just a sec, I’ll be right out!"
The three of them went down the spiral staircase. Ji Su’s gaze fell on the living room, and the smile on his lips froze.
Sitting on the sofa with an impassive expression with his long legs crossed, was none other than Gu Zhao.
Ji Su instinctively stepped back onto the stairs, but the next second, Gu Zhao lifted his eyelids.
Their eyes met, and Ji Su silently retracted his foot before continuing down the stairs.
He couldn’t make it too obvious—that would look like he was guilty.
"Huh?" He Yiming was also surprised. "Gu Zhao, didn’t you just say you weren’t playing this game?"
Gu Zhao was sparing with his words: "Changed my mind."
"Alright, the more the merrier," He Yiming rubbed his nose and did not think too much of it.
Qiao Jin quickly took a seat next to Zhou Yang.
Ji Su chose to sit on the sofa farthest from Gu Zhao, but He Yiming plopped down to his left.
Ji Su shifted slightly to the side to silently allow it.
After spending these past few days together, he’d come to realize that He Yiming was a pretty decent guy. He hadn’t brought up adding Ji Su on WeChat again in private.
Maybe He Yiming really just wanted to be friends, so Ji Su didn’t need to overreact.
"Alright, now that everyone’s here," Qiao Jin asked, "what game are we playing?"
Wang Mingzhe grinned: "This game is called ‘I Have, You Don’t.’"
"‘I Have, You Don’t’? What kind of game is that?" He Yiming asked curiously. "I’ve never heard of it."
Wang Mingzhe seized the chance to tease him: "Hahaha, you country bumpkin! There are tons of games you’ve never heard of!"
Zhou Yang, afraid the two would start bickering again, quickly explained the rules: "The rules are simple. Each person takes turns saying something they’ve done that no one else has. But if someone in the group has done it too, both the speaker and the person who’s done it have to take a penalty."
"Sounds easy enough," Qiao Jin stroked his chin. "So what’s the penalty?"
Zhou Yang bent down to pull out a crate of beer from under the sofa and placed it on the table: "This is the penalty."
Qiao Jin immediately declared: "Just so you know, I’m a terrible drunk. If I end up drinking too much, you might not be able to handle the consequences."
Zhou Yang joked: "If you really get drunk, I’ll carry you upstairs."
Qiao Jin’s face turned red, and he stammered: "R-really?"
"I can do it too!" Wang Mingzhe chimed in. "Even though my foot’s not in great shape, I can still carry you up!"
Qiao Jin: "No need!"
The game officially began.
The beer bottle spun on the table and landed on He Yiming first.
"Starting with me, huh? I’m a bit nervous!" He Yiming thought for a moment, then dropped a bombshell: "When I was a kid, I was dressed up as a girl."
"Holy crap!" Wang Mingzhe exclaimed. "He Yiming, you’re really going all out to win, huh? You’re willing to share something that is scandalous?"
He Yiming looked smug: "What’s the big deal? So, do any of you have this experience?"
Zhou Yang: "Definitely not."
At that moment, Ji Su, who was sitting nearby, reached for a beer on the table.
The others all turned to look at him, and a chorus of "Holy crap!" erupted.
Gu Zhao also glanced at him with his deep, unfathomable eyes flickering with a strange emotion.
"Wait, seriously? Ji Su, you dressed up as a girl when you were a kid?" Qiao Jin sounded incredulous. "How come you never shared this with me? Are we even best friends?"
Ji Su offered an awkward but polite smile: "It was just once when I was really little. I’d completely forgotten about it until He Yiming brought it up."
"Ah, sorry, sorry!" He Yiming clasped his hands together. "My bad. I’ll drink this beer for you!"
Ji Su was about to decline when a cold voice cut in: "Are you going to break the game rules?"
Gu Zhao’s words were directed at He Yiming, but his dark eyes were fixed on Ji Su’s face.
Ji Su pursed his lips, then tilted his head back and downed the beer in one go.
"Bold!" Wang Mingzhe slapped the table. "Impressive!"
He Yiming, not wanting to make a fuss, also picked up a beer and drank it.
The second round began, and the bottle landed on Qiao Jin.
Qiao Jin thought carefully for a moment, then tentatively said: "When I was a kid, I ate roasted grasshoppers."
"What?" Wang Mingzhe looked confused. "Roasted grasshoppers?"
"Yeah, those green grasshoppers with big eyes!" Qiao Jin gestured. "I ate their legs!"
Everyone else just stared at him, clearly baffled.
Qiao Jin put his hands on his hips and laughed: "Hahaha! I’m definitely winning this round. None of you have even heard of this!"
Qiao Jin escaped unscathed, and the game continued.
This time, the bottle pointed to Gu Zhao.
Everyone except Ji Su perked up.
"Brother Gu, it’s your turn!" Wang Mingzhe clapped the table, egging him on. "I’ve been waiting for this moment. Spill the tea!"
Gu Zhao’s expression remained unchanged as he uttered four words: "I’ve had an online relationship."
Ji Su’s back stiffened instantly, and he sat up straighter.
He thought this would be something Gu Zhao would find hard to admit, so why did he say it so casually?
"Boring…" Wang Mingzhe was disappointed. "We already knew about that."
The only one out of the loop was He Yiming: "Huh? What? You all knew Gu Zhao had an online relationship?"
Zhou Yang corrected him: "To be precise, he 'had' an online relationship."
He Yiming was still confused: "What’s the difference?"
"The difference is—" Qiao Jin jumped in, "one’s present tense, the other’s past tense."
Finally, He Yiming understood and shut his mouth in awe.
Wang Mingzhe leaned back on the sofa: "Alright, Brother Gu probably wins this round."
Zhou Yang: "I’ve never had an online relationship."
He Yiming: "Me neither. That’s too trendy for me."
Qiao Jin, however, grew nervous and frantically signaled Ji Su with his eyes: 'Don’t you dare admit to anything this round!'
Ji Su gritted his teeth but ultimately reached for the beer.
Even though these things were subjective, since they’d agreed to play the game, they had to follow the rules.
Gu Zhao’s gaze shifted: "Didn’t you say you’ve never had an online relationship?"
Ji Su lowered his lashes and softly defended himself: "I said I’ve never been scammed online, not that I’ve never had an online relationship."
This wasn’t exactly a lie, because in that online relationship, 'he' was the one doing the scamming.
"This…" He Yiming was stunned. "Ji Su, you’ve really had an online relationship?"
Ji Su responded: "Yes."
"Then your online partner was—" He Yiming caught himself mid-sentence and changed the question. "Are you still in that online relationship?"
Ji Su replied: "No."
He Yiming let out a sigh of relief: "That’s good…"
"Wait, hold on—" Wang Mingzhe raised his hands and launched into his usual interrogation. "Ji Su, when did you have this online relationship? What school was she from? Was she pretty?"
Qiao Jin rolled his eyes: "Ji Su already said he’s broken up with his online partner. Why are you digging into his wounds like this?"
"Sorry! My bad!" Wang Mingzhe manually zipped his lips. "I’ll shut up!"
Ji Su picked up the beer and drank it down.
His lips, because it was damp from the alcohol, looked even more red and glossy as the small bead on his upper lip shining brightly that made him look especially attractive.
Gu Zhao’s gaze lingered on them for several seconds before he tilted his head back and downed his own beer.
Fortunately, Ji Su wasn’t penalized again for the rest of the game. By the time it ended, he’d only had those two beers.
Wang Mingzhe ended up drinking the most and was carried upstairs by Zhou Yang and He Yiming, with Qiao Jin cheering them on from behind.
Ji Su was about to get up and return to his room when a familiar voice sounded beside him: "Ji Su."
He sat back down on the sofa: "What’s up?"
Gu Zhao pulled out his phone and got straight to the point: "Add me on WeChat."
Ji Su was momentarily stunned: "Huh?"
Gu Zhao looked at him: "Is that a problem?"
"I…" Ji Su’s brain scrambled for an excuse. "I left my phone in my room. I didn’t bring it down."
Gu Zhao stood up: "Then let’s go to your room and add it."
Ji Su: "..."
Oh no, he’d forgotten who the master of this move was.
Ji Su pretended to pat his pockets: "Sorry, I was mistaken. My phone’s right here."
Gu Zhao opened WeChat and walked over.
"You scan me," Ji Su pulled up his WeChat QR code and showed it on his phone screen.
He silently thanked himself for having the foresight to create a separate account for dealing with scumbags.
Otherwise, he’d have no idea how to get through this situation today.
With a "beep," Gu Zhao scanned the code.
Ji Su turned off his phone screen and stood up to leave.
Gu Zhao: "Accept the request."
Ji Su paused: "I’ll do it when I get back to my room."
Gu Zhao let out a cold laugh with his tone laced with mockery: "Didn’t you say you wanted to repay me properly?"
Ji Su quickly opened his WeChat and accepted the friend request, his fingers nearly sparking from how fast he tapped the screen: "There, done."
Gu Zhao let out an ambiguous hum: "Mhm."
Ji Su tucked his phone back into his pocket and hurried toward the staircase.
He was wearing a pair of white casual pants that normally looked loose, but as he climbed the stairs, the fabric tightened that outlined the curves of his round, perky buttocks and slightly fleshy thighs.
Gu Zhao stood behind him and watched until he disappeared around the corner.
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