Shoutout to Kari for the commission!
They went out for a meal together.
It wasn’t expensive, but Le Cheng felt awkward about letting Zhou Shirui pay all the time, so he took the initiative to pay himself.
He’d already turned in all his manuscripts and was mainly waiting for the review results, so the financial pressure on his mind had eased considerably. After all, once an illustrator’s work is approved, it means he can start making money.
After paying the bill, Le Cheng strolled back to school with Zhou Shirui. As they passed a small street stall, he spotted someone selling starch sausages.
It was almost November, and the weather in the north had already turned cold. It was the perfect time for a starch sausage.
Le Cheng stopped, sensing this was a great opportunity to put his “drama queen” skills to use. Pointing at a small stall, he looked at Zhou Shirui and said, with a sense of self-righteousness despite having no real grounds: “I want a starch sausage. You have to buy me one.”
Zhou Shirui didn’t hesitate. “Which one?” he asked.
“This one, this one,” Le Cheng said cheerfully, nodding toward the stall.
Zhou Shirui went to buy them. The vendor was quick on his feet and had them grilled in no time, packing them all into paper bags.
Zhou Shirui handed the bag to Le Cheng, who let out a “Wow!” His eyes sparkled like a puppy seeing a meat bone.
Le Cheng looked down and handed another paper bag to Zhou Shirui, but Zhou Shirui didn’t take it.
Le Cheng tilted his head in confusion: “What’s wrong? Aren’t you going to eat any?”
Zhou Shirui: “They’re all yours.”
“Really?” Le Cheng looked a little pleased. “Hehe, then I’ll enjoy them all by myself!”
Zhou Shirui glanced at him and noticed that Le Cheng seemed to be easily pleased, even simple food could bring a smile to his face.
Le Cheng munched on his starch sausage while taking in the scenery along the way. Before long, it started to feel a bit dry, so he told Zhou Shirui to go buy him some water.
Zhou Shirui came back with an iced Coke. Le Cheng crumpled up his trash and stuffed it into the water bottle. Zhou Shirui watched as he lifted the bottle and shook it; the trash swayed back and forth inside. Only then did Le Cheng toss it into the trash can.
As soon as they walked through the school gate, Le Cheng spotted two girls handing out flyers at the entrance.
Le Cheng peered over curiously. When the two girls saw them, their eyes lit up, and they immediately walked over.
“Hi there Student! Want to check out our Halloween masquerade ball? It’s in the Grand Auditorium!” The taller girl held out a flyer to him.
Le Cheng took it and noticed they hadn’t handed one to Zhou Shirui.
The shorter girl said enthusiastically, “You look so great, it would be such a shame if you didn’t join our event! Why not give it some thought?”
Le Cheng had never seen anything like this before, and his interest was piqued: “Do we have to do our own makeup? The kind where you wear masks?”
“Yes, yes! And we have lots of fun activities too!” the shorter girl said. “Are you tempted yet? If you want to sign up, just add the contact info on the flyer!”
Le Cheng glanced at the flyer; the font was a cute “Little Devil” style.
The taller girl batted her eyelashes. “If couples attend our ball, there are even more fun activities in store!”
Le Cheng glanced sideways at Zhou Shirui. Seeing that he showed no reaction, he held his tongue for the moment: “Okay, then let’s go back and think it over.”
“Sure.” The two girls agreed readily and waved goodbye.
As they strolled down a quiet path, Le Cheng finally asked, “Have you ever been to this masquerade ball before?”
Zhou Shirui replied briefly, “No.”
Just as Le Cheng had expected, someone as unromantic as Zhou Shirui would definitely never attend.
Le Cheng asked casually, “So are you going to go this time?”
Zhou Shirui looked at him. “I probably will.”
“Huh?” Le Cheng was a little surprised; he didn’t think Zhou Shirui would go to the masquerade ball just for him. “Why is that?”
“I’m on the student council,” Zhou Shirui replied succinctly. “I’m working as a server this time.”
Only then did Le Cheng realize why those two girls seemed to recognize Zhou Shirui and even knew their identities.
Although Zhou Shirui was extremely famous at C University, not only for his outstanding abilities and grades, but also for his impeccably handsome looks that didn’t mean everyone would recognize him.
So they were all on the student council.
Le Cheng pictured the scene in his mind, a waiter in a suit. That should look pretty good: “So does everyone in your department have to wear formal attire to work as waiters?”
Zhou Shirui: “Not necessarily. I was just picked at random.”
An idea formed in Le Cheng’s mind.
A suit! Zhou Shirui in a suit! With his great physique, he’d probably look amazing in one!
Le Cheng could almost picture Zhou Shirui’s beautifully defined abs.
Ah… he really wanted to see that, he really, really wanted to see it!
But not right now.
When they reached the bottom of the dorm building, Le Cheng and Zhou Shirui parted ways.
Back in the dorm, Qin Yu was doing laundry inside, and Tan Xiaobai was playing video games under the bed.
Seeing him come in, Tan Xiaobai said, “You’re back.”
“Mm.” Le Cheng nodded, hesitating for a moment. “Xiaobai, do you know about our school’s masquerade ball?”
“Masquerade ball?” Tan Xiaobai nodded. “Yeah, I know. The Student Council applies to host it every year, they’ve been doing it for years now.”
“Plus, the masquerade ball is a great place to find a date!” Tan Xiaobai said. “Because there are performances, and you know, a lot of popular costume characters have set ‘cps,’ so it’s easy to strike up a conversation. People with especially good costumes are also likely to get approached.”
“Plus, at the end, everyone dances together. You have to find a dance partner, you can ask anyone, as long as they say yes. Of course, plenty of couples plan to go together. It’s kind of magical, actually, because there’s a rumor at our school…”
“They say that if a couple dances together at the masquerade ball, they’ll be blessed with a long, lasting relationship, forever and ever. Lots of couples have ended up getting married, and people actually believe it…”
Tan Xiaobai went on and on, but Le Cheng wasn’t really listening.
A question popped into his mind.
His “straight guy” plan was actually laid out in great detail: first, holding hands; then, a hug; and finally, a kiss.
He’d already held hands, Zhou Shirui had seemed a bit reluctant, so according to the plan, the next step was a hug…
Le Cheng felt that by the time he brought up kissing with Zhou Shirui, Zhou Shirui would probably break up with him; he doubted they’d even make it to the point where he suggested moving in together.
After all, he felt that Zhou Shirui was more homophobic than he’d imagined.
Take it step by step. If they could dance together at the masquerade ball, they’d inevitably be holding each other, there’d have to be physical contact. Hmm, not bad, what a natural excuse.
He decided to invite Zhou Shirui to dance that very day!
That way, he could naturally move on to the next step. Even if Zhou Shirui turned him down, it wouldn’t matter; his goal was simply to rile Zhou Shirui up a bit.
Le Cheng thought he was a little genius.
Tan Xiaobai waved his hand in front of Le Cheng’s face: “…What are you grinning like an idiot for? Were you even listening to what I was saying?”
“Huh?” Le Cheng let out a couple of “hehe”s. “I heard you, I heard you. You said dance together, right? I heard that.”
Tan Xiaobai looked at him suspiciously, wondering if he’d even heard the second half of what he said. Le Cheng cleared his throat: “By the way, Xiaobai, are you going?”
“I’m not going.” Tan Xiaobai shook his head. “I went last year, and practically no one talked to me. I knew this world was one giant ‘look-good-but-no-substance’ trap!!”
Le Cheng couldn’t help but laugh at his exaggerated tone.
***
That evening, Le Cheng sent a message to Zhou Shirui.
[Orange: Senior Zhou, wanna go for a walk on the track today?]
“Ding-dong—”
Le Cheng looked at his phone.
[Big Brother: …]
[Big Brother: Sure.]
Le Cheng laughed so hard he was doubled over; he could just imagine how helpless Zhou Shirui must have felt with that ellipsis.
There was nothing he could do about it, he just wanted to call Senior Zhou.
[Big Brother: What time?]
[Orange: Right now. I’ll be down in 10 minutes, you’ll have to wait for me!]
Le Cheng thought he’d tell Zhou Shirui right away about inviting him to the dance. If Zhou Shirui turned him down right then, he’d just have to come up with another plan.
After all, finding an excuse to hug him… wasn’t that hard.
Le Cheng slipped on his jacket and went downstairs to find Zhou Shirui.
Zhou Shirui had come down even faster than he had; he was standing under a tree, waiting for him.
Le Cheng walked with him to the playground.
A slightly cool evening breeze brushed against his cheeks, it felt comfortable and leisurely. Le Cheng couldn’t help but stretch. Just as he was about to speak to him, he suddenly caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye of a group of people roughhousing behind them. They weren’t watching where they were going and were about to bump into Zhou Shirui.
Le Cheng instinctively grabbed Zhou Shirui’s wrist and gently tugged him toward him.
The touch was soft and slightly cool; the skin where they touched felt as if a tiny electric current had passed through it. Zhou Shirui’s heart skipped a beat, and he lowered his gaze to look at him.
Le Cheng withdrew his hand and pursed his lips. “They were about to bump into you.”
Zhou Shirui lowered his gaze and murmured, “Mm-hmm.”
Le Cheng remembered the reason he’d stopped and said, “By the way, I want to go to the masquerade ball. Aren’t you working there as a waiter? So I’d like to find someone to dance with.”
Zhou Shirui unconsciously furrowed his brow: “Who are you going to ask?”
Le Cheng flashed a smile: “You.”
Zhou Shirui was taken aback: “Me?”
He suddenly thought of that legend circulating widely on campus, the one about the blessed lovers.
His Adam’s apple bobbed slightly: “Why?”
“Huh?” Le Cheng looked confused.
Zhou Shirui: “Why did you invite me?”
Le Cheng blinked: “Um… do you want a reason?”
Le Cheng looked at Zhou Shirui earnestly, his eyes bright and captivating: “Because I want to dance with you and only with you.”
