Online Dating Fiasco with the Campus Heartthrob (DATING)
Although Gu Zhao’s tone was still calm, Ji Su sensed the underlying threat in his words and didn’t dare to loosen his legs.
"Let go," Gu Zhao commanded again. "I need to check your legs."
Ji Su shook his head: "There’s no need to check. It’s really me."
Gu Zhao wasn’t in a hurry to pull his hand out and asked: "Were those photos of you in a dress really you?"
Ji Su lowered his lashes and admitted softly: "Yes."
Gu Zhao pressed further: "Aren’t you a guy? Why do you like wearing dresses?"
"I..." Ji Su felt even more ashamed as his cheeks grew hotter. "I don’t like wearing dresses..."
"Oh, really?" Gu Zhao’s cold voice held a hint of barely concealed amusement. "So you wore the dress specifically for me?"
"Yes," Ji Su replied then quickly corrected himself. "No, that’s not what I meant."
Gu Zhao’s trapped hand moved slightly: "Then what did you mean?"
Ji Su lifted his lashes while his tone was almost pleading: "Gu Zhao, can you give me some time to explain?"
From Gu Zhao’s perspective, Ji Su sat on the piano with his eyes round and innocent while the corners were slightly red. His expression is pitiful and endearing.
Finally, Gu Zhao took mercy on him: "Go ahead."
"The whole thing started because a senior was scammed by a guy in an online romance. She wanted me to help her get revenge and recover the money she lost," Ji Su tried to explain the situation as concisely as possible. "But the senior gave me the wrong WeChat ID, and I accidentally added you instead. Then—"
"Then you pretended to be a girl and tricked me into an online romance," Gu Zhao interrupted and finished the sentence himself. "But not long ago, you realized you’d scammed the wrong person, so you blocked me and acted like nothing happened."
"Yes... no!" Ji Su hurriedly explained. "I didn’t want to act like nothing happened. I wanted to make it up to you."
Gu Zhao’s brow twitched, as if he was slightly interested: "How do you plan to make it up to me?"
"I don’t know," Ji Su looked at him helplessly. "But whatever you want me to do, I’ll agree to it."
Gu Zhao confirmed: "Really?"
Ji Su’s rationality slowly returned, and he added: "Except... except for anything too extreme."
"What’s too extreme?" Gu Zhao narrowed his dark eyes. "Is helping someone scam me in an online romance too extreme?"
Ji Su defended himself: "That was all a misunderstanding. I was supposed to scam the actual scammer."
Gu Zhao sneered: "I don’t care about the misunderstanding. Was it you who tricked me into sending shirtless photos?"
Ji Su’s guilt returned: "Yes..."
Gu Zhao: "Was it you who played with my feelings?"
Ji Su: "Yes..."
Gu Zhao laughed, a chilling sound: "Good."
Ji Su bit his lower lip: "Then tell me, what do I need to do for you to forgive me?"
Gu Zhao’s gaze fell on Ji Su’s long, straight legs: "First, let go of my hand."
Ji Su tensed up again: "What... what are you going to do?"
Gu Zhao’s eyes darkened: "If you don’t let go, are you planning to keep clamping me like this?"
Ji Su finally realized and while blushing, loosened his legs.
The muscles in his thighs, which had been tightly clenched, suddenly relaxed, causing a slight tremble.
It was quick and subtle, but Gu Zhao’s sharp eyes caught it.
With his hand now free, Gu Zhao pulled it back but his thumb brushed against Ji Su’s leg as he did so.
"Can I get off the piano now?" Ji Su asked tentatively. "I’m afraid I might break it."
"If it breaks, I’ll buy a new one," Gu Zhao said expressionlessly. "Didn’t you transfer me 10,000 yuan before you blocked me?"
Ji Su thought for a moment: "I remember that even after blocking someone on WeChat, you can still receive transfers."
Gu Zhao said coldly: "Do you think I’m angry because I didn’t get the money?"
"Of course not," Ji Su immediately denied and reflected deeply. "This is all my fault. I’m really sorry for causing you so much distress."
Gu Zhao: "Distress?"
"I know you’re straight and a bit homophobic..." Ji Su subtly shifted his weight off the piano. "I’m not trying to defend myself, but I was afraid of causing you psychological distress, which is why I didn’t dare to admit that I was Meng Meng."
After all, what straight, homophobic guy could accept that his online romance partner was actually a guy? Now, whenever Gu Zhao thought about the photos he’d seen of Ji Su’s legs, he probably felt disgusted.
Gu Zhao countered: "Who told you I’m a homophobic straight guy?"
Ji Su didn’t think much of it: "Zhou Yang said so."
Gu Zhao didn’t comment on that and instead steered the conversation back: "Remember what you just said."
Ji Su was slightly confused: "Which part?"
Gu Zhao raised his hand and leaned on the piano before bending slightly to form a circle with his long, sturdy arms and trapping Ji Su between himself and the piano.
Ji Su was stuck and unable to move, so he could only lower his head with his gaze falling on his chest: "Uh, I think I said a lot of things just now..."
"Compensate me," Gu Zhao’s deep, magnetic voice sounded above him, unhurried. "Whatever I ask you to do, you’ll agree to it."
Ji Su: "Oh..."
Gu Zhao straightened up: "Just remember that."
Ji Su secretly breathed a sigh of relief and looked up: "So... you’re not going to hit me?"
Gu Zhao let out a mocking laugh: "How many hits do you think you can take?"
Ji Su glanced at the large hand hanging by Gu Zhao’s side and answered honestly: "Two or three, maybe."
Gu Zhao gave him an unreadable look: "Go back."
............
When Ji Su returned to the dorm, he still couldn’t believe that Gu Zhao had let him go so easily.
"Ji Su!" As soon as he entered, Qiao Jin quickly put down his phone and rushed over. "Are you okay? Did something happen?"
Li You, who was reading a book, also asked with concern: "What’s wrong? Did something happen to you, Ji Su?"
"Nothing," Ji Su smiled slightly and gestured for Qiao Jin to follow him to the balcony.
The two went to the balcony, and Qiao Jin closed the door tightly behind them before speaking rapidly: "Susu, did Gu Zhao suspect you?"
"It’s not a suspicion," Ji Su exhaled softly. "He already figured out that I’m Meng Meng, so I confessed everything to him."
"Holy crap!" Qiao Jin’s eyes nearly popped out of his head. "This... this..."
He suddenly started patting Ji Su down then turning him around to inspect him carefully: "Where did he hit you? Did he give you internal injuries?"
Ji Su almost laughed: "No, he didn’t lay a hand on me."
Qiao Jin looked skeptical: "He really didn’t hit you? He just let you go like that?"
"It feels unreal to me too," Ji Su frowned slightly. "But he did say he wants me to compensate him."
Qiao Jin: "How?"
Ji Su summarized: "He wants me to agree to do whatever he asks."
"You’re really going to agree to that?" Qiao Jin’s voice rose. "What if he asks you to commit crimes or do something illegal?"
Ji Su thought he was overthinking it: "Gu Zhao’s a law student himself. There’s no way he’d ask me to do something like that."
"You never know!" Qiao Jin looked worried. "People aren’t always what they seem. What if Gu Zhao’s secretly a psycho?"
"Don’t worry, if he really asks me to do something illegal, I’ll refuse," Ji Su said seriously. "Even though I owe him, I have my own limits."
Qiao Jin was even more concerned: "Your limits are more about benefiting others than yourself."
Ji Su was confused: "Huh?"
"Never mind, it’s good that things are like this now. At least you don’t have to carry that guilt around anymore, and you’ll feel lighter," Qiao Jin paused, then added, "But if Gu Zhao makes any unreasonable demands, you have to tell me right away. We’ll figure it out together, okay?"
"Okay," Ji Su nodded and looked at him with gratitude. "Qiao Jin, you’re so good to me."
Qiao Jin rarely spoke seriously: "I’m good to you because you were good to me first."
A few years ago, when his grandmother was critically ill and needed a large sum of money for surgery, relatives and neighbors avoided him. Only Ji Su had lent him all his money without hesitation and even selling the only memento his mother had left him and living on instant noodles and steamed buns for a month to help.
Although his grandmother ultimately didn’t make it, Qiao Jin would always remember this kindness.
Ji Su knew he was thinking about that incident and was about to comfort him when his phone buzzed in his pocket.
Gu Zhao: [Are you back at the dorm?]
"It’s Gu Zhao," Ji Su said as he typed. "He’s asking if I’m back at the dorm."
Qiao Jin chuckled: "Oh? The great Gu Zhao actually cares about someone?"
Ji Su’s fingers paused slightly and a subtle emotion rose in his heart.
What kind of care was this?
Gu Zhao had been a true gentleman to Meng Meng, always checking in on her and sending money without hesitation. He would never have forced Meng Meng’s legs apart to inspect them...
Ji Su shook his head to try to push the image from the music room out of his mind.
Ji Su: [I’m back at the dorm. What about you?]
Gu Zhao: [I’m back too.]
Gu Zhao: [Come to my dorm tomorrow night.]
Qiao Jin leaned over: "What did he say?"
Ji Su looked at the screen: "He wants me to go to his dorm tomorrow."
Qiao Jin immediately said: "Then I’ll go with you!"
The next second, a new message popped up in the chat.
Gu Zhao: [Come alone.]
"Holy crap!" Qiao Jin was astonished. "How did Gu Zhao predict that I’d want to go with you?"
Ji Su: "..."
Qiao Jin rubbed his chin: "But Zhou Yang and Wang Mingzhe are in his dorm too. He probably won’t do anything to you in front of his roommates."
Ji Su nodded: "Yeah, don’t worry."
Ji Su: [Okay.]
He wanted to appease Gu Zhao as soon as possible so he could finally be free.
........
The next day, after finishing his classes, Ji Su went straight to the law department’s dorm to find Gu Zhao.
He had been there once before and had some memory of the place, so he found it without much trouble.
Ji Su stood at the dorm door while listening for any sounds inside, but heard nothing.
He took a deep breath and knocked.
"Come in," a low, cold voice called out.
Ji Su pushed the door open and saw Gu Zhao sitting in a chair while waiting for him with a composed demeanor.
The dorm was quiet, and the other two roommates were nowhere to be seen.
Ji Su felt nervous and tried to make conversation: "Where are Zhou Yang and Wang Mingzhe?"
"Why?" Gu Zhao asked indifferently. "Are you concerned about them?"
"No," Ji Su lowered his lashes to hide his unease. "I was just asking."
Gu Zhao’s gaze fell on the bag behind him: "Have you eaten dinner?"
Ji Su answered truthfully: "Not yet."
He had been focused on completing whatever task Gu Zhao had for him and hadn’t thought about eating.
Gu Zhao stood up: "Let’s go."
Ji Su was confused: "Where?"
"To eat dinner," Gu Zhao walked toward the door. "Aren’t you hungry?"
Ji Su followed: "I am."
At this hour, the second cafeteria wasn’t crowded, but when the two of them walked in one after the other, they still attracted everyone’s attention, followed by whispers.
"Who’s that guy with Gu Zhao? He’s way too pretty."
"That’s Ji Su from the architecture department. Don’t you know him?"
"I do! My friend confessed to him once. She got rejected, but she couldn’t stop talking about how gentle he was..."
"Wait, I’ve been seeing them together a lot lately. Is there something going on between them?"
"Don’t say it, don’t say it! But they really do look good together..."
Ji Su silently followed Gu Zhao to the cafeteria window, where they each got a meal.
The two found a seat by the window and began eating dinner.
Ji Su was usually a slow eater, but the weight of Gu Zhao's gaze hovering above him made him want to finish as quickly as possible.
"Eat slower," Gu Zhao said. "What's the rush?"
"Cough…" Ji Su choked a little, then looked up with a smile. "No rush, I'm just a bit hungry."
Gu Zhao reached for the bottled water beside him then unscrewed the cap, and handed it over.
Ji Su was surprised. "For me?"
Gu Zhao nodded. "Yeah."
Ji Su took the bottle. "Thanks."
He tilted his head back and took a few sips.
His lips, now moistened, looked even redder, especially the plump lip bead in the center of his upper lip.
Gu Zhao stared for a few seconds before subtly averting his gaze.
After dinner, the two walked back together.
After what had just happened, Ji Su felt that Gu Zhao wasn’t as intimidating as he had been in the music club. He couldn’t help but ask, "Can I ask you something?"
Gu Zhao replied with a single word. "Ask."
"How did you recognize me as Meng Meng?" Ji Su asked the question that had been puzzling him the most. "Did I slip up somehow during our time at the resort?"
After much thought, he couldn’t figure out how Gu Zhao had connected him to Meng Meng, unless he had unknowingly revealed something at the resort.
Gu Zhao paused, then glanced back at him. "You’ll find out soon enough."
Ji Su was confused. "What do you mean?"
Gu Zhao didn’t answer and continued walking toward the dorm.
Back in the dorm, Ji Su noticed the other two roommates were still nowhere to be seen.
As he was wondering what Gu Zhao wanted him to do, the other’s voice broke the silence. "Catch."
Ji Su reached out and caught the object flying toward him.
When he looked down, he froze.
Gu Zhao had thrown him a sailor uniform.
"Why do you look so surprised?" Gu Zhao’s tone was cold and with a hint of mockery. "You’ve worn it before. Don’t you recognize it?"
"I do, I just didn’t expect—" Ji Su suddenly stopped. "But why are you giving me a sailor uniform?"
Gu Zhao countered, "What do you think?"
Ji Su: "..."
No, it couldn’t be what he was thinking, could it?
"Logically, I know it’s you, but when I look at you, I can’t see you as Meng Meng." Gu Zhao said before pulling out a chair and sitting down. "So, put it on in front of me. Let me see for myself."
Ji Su blurted out, "Can I refuse?"
Gu Zhao let out a cold laugh. "Is it such an outrageous request to have you wear a skirt in front of me?"
Ji Su: "No…"
Gu Zhao: "Does it violate public order or the law?"
Ji Su: "No…"
Gu Zhao crossed his long legs, clasped his hands on his knees, and declared, "Put it on."
Ji Su closed his eyes then took the skirt, and headed for the bathroom.
Everyone has to pay for their mistakes, and relatively speaking, his punishment was already light.
Perhaps Gu Zhao still held onto some lingering fantasy about Meng Meng.
And once he walked out in the skirt and shattered Gu Zhao’s image of Meng Meng as a beautiful girl, his obsession would dissipate.
This would be good for both of them.
Even though he kept mentally preparing himself, Ji Su hesitated at the bathroom door after putting on the sailor uniform.
He had never worn a skirt in front of anyone other than Qiao Jin, and he had never shown his face in the photos he sent to G, while he could comfort himself with the thought that the other person didn’t know it was him.
After all, he was a straight guy. What was the point of wearing a skirt for another guy to see?
"Are you done?" came the impatient voice from outside.
Ji Su gritted his teeth then opened the door to stepped out. "Done."
Gu Zhao turned his head, and his gaze froze.
Under the blue sailor skirt were a pair of long, endless legs—slender, straight, fair, and perfectly proportioned.
Seeing them in person was far more impactful than any photo.
Gu Zhao’s throat moved as he restrainedly shifted his gaze upward to catch a glimpse of a narrow, thin waist, equally pale and striking.
Further up, the slightly loose collar of the top revealed a small patch of snow-white skin and delicate collarbones, while the chest was flat.
Though the sailor uniform looked stunning on him, no one would mistake him for a girl.
Standing there in the sailor uniform and letting Gu Zhao’s gaze roam over him, Ji Su felt both embarrassed and flustered.
His fair earlobes turned a deep red, like high-quality ruby, translucent and beautiful.
Soon, he noticed Gu Zhao’s gaze had settled on his legs again.
His delicate fingers tugged at the hem of the skirt to try to pull it down a bit, while his round toes curled nervously against the floor.
"Get on the bed," Gu Zhao finally spoke but his voice was unusually low.
Ji Su’s mind was a mess. "Huh?"
"I said—" Gu Zhao stood up and repeated, "Sit on the bed."
At over 190 cm tall, Gu Zhao’s presence was overwhelmingly oppressive.
Ji Su instinctively took two steps back and landed on the edge of the bed.
His slender wrists rested on the blue-striped bed sheet and looked so fragile that they might snap at any moment.
Gu Zhao walked over and looked down at him. "You’re missing something."
Ji Su’s eyes were confused. "Wh-what…"
Gu Zhao leaned over to pick up a pair of white thigh-high socks, and then knelt on one knee while his large hand gripped a slender ankle.
Ji Su flinched at the heat of his palm and reflexively try to pull his foot back.
Gu Zhao said in a low voice, "Don’t move."
Ji Su stiffened and didn’t dare to move.
Gu Zhao placed his foot on his knee as his bony fingers spread open the thigh-high sock and slid it over the jade-like toes.
The cool, smooth silk of the socks contrasted with the rough, warm touch of his fingertips, creating a sensation of both ice and fire.
Gu Zhao pulled the sock up to the knee then continued upward while leaving a faint red mark on the tender thigh.
Ji Su couldn’t endure this torment.
His thighs trembled slightly, and he instinctively pushed himself back on the bed.
At that moment, the large hand suddenly stopped.
Due to his slight struggle, the hem of Ji Su’s skirt had lifted slightly revealing a small, crimson mole on the side of his thigh.
Gu Zhao’s eyelashes lowered so that it completely obscured the look in his dark eyes, but the hand that had stopped trembled slightly.
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