Chapter 67: You’re Really Not Gay, Right?
When Li Mu saw a group of classmates walking toward him, he panicked and quickly lowered his head. He didn’t want anyone to see his face.
Even though he was wearing makeup and looked very different from usual, so different that even his roommates hadn’t noticed anything strange. There was still a chance that someone sharp-eyed might recognize him.
Especially Wu Lei, the classmate who always sat next to him! That guy also lived on campus, right in the next dorm room, and they talked the most out of everyone.
“Yu Fan,” he whispered, tugging on Yu Fan’s sleeve to ask for help.
Yu Fan glanced at him.
Seeing Li Mu’s red face, dressed in girls’ clothes, speaking softly and acting like a shy girl, suddenly made Yu Fan feel like he had to protect him.
Wait… this is a guy!
But that protective feeling was already too strong to hold back. So Yu Fan stepped forward and spoke first.
“Wu Lei, what are you guys doing here?”
“We’re going to Fatty’s birthday party,” Wu Lei said, looking confused. “Didn’t you come back to school for this too?”
Behind Wu Lei were three girls and one guy, all heading to Xu Ze’s birthday party.
Even though Xu Ze was big, dark-skinned, and looked like a gorilla, his cheerful and direct personality had earned him a lot of friends. So for his birthday, he had invited several girls without a second thought.
Li Mu couldn’t help feeling jealous.
“No, I came for something else,” Yu Fan replied with a smile.
“Well, since you’re already here, why don’t you just come with us? Xu Ze even brought his car and is waiting outside.”
That fat, dark-skinned guy was already nineteen years old. It's said that he started school late, and during his rebellious phase, he spent a year goofing off outside instead of studying.
Yu Fan glanced at Li Mu. “Sorry, we really have something else to do.”
Wu Lei noticed his look and turned to glance at Li Mu too.
Even though Li Mu’s face was mostly hidden by the hoodie, his long, straight legs under the dress caught Wu Lei’s eye.
“Wow, your girlfriend’s really pretty. When did you start dating her? I didn’t hear anything about it.”
“Girlfr—” Yu Fan paused, then quickly put his arm around Li Mu’s shoulder. “Yeah! My girlfriend!”
Li Mu froze in shock. His body stiffened, and he quickly pushed Yu Fan’s arm off.
“You two act more like brothers than a couple,” Wu Lei said with a knowing look as he patted Yu Fan’s shoulder. “Keep working on it!”
Clearly, he thought Yu Fan was still trying to win Li Mu over.
The three girls behind him all nodded together and looked at Li Mu with envy and jealousy.
Envy my foot? Seriously?!
Li Mu felt like he was being roasted alive. His toes were so tense they could probably dig a hole in the ground.
After chatting a bit more, Wu Lei finally left with the others. He even smiled and said, “I heard a new milk tea shop opened just outside the school. The vibe is really nice. You two should go there for a date.”
“Sure, thanks,” Yu Fan said, waving goodbye as they walked off.
Once they were finally gone, Li Mu looked up, clearly angry, and glared at Yu Fan. “What’s wrong with you?!”
“Let’s go to that milk tea shop Wu Lei mentioned!” Yu Fan replied with a teasing grin.
Li Mu was so mad that his chest was rising and falling. He turned away, ignoring him, and walked straight toward the bathroom.
Yu Fan followed behind, still laughing and teasing. “When you get mad, you really act just like a girl.”
He continued, “Hey, I sacrificed my own reputation to help you out, you know! If you get found out, people will just think you’re some weirdo who likes cross-dressing. But if I get found out, everyone will think I’m gay, okay?”
As soon as they entered the bathroom, Li Mu slammed the door in Yu Fan’s face, locking him outside with a gloomy expression.
The door almost hit Yu Fan’s nose. He quickly stepped back, a little scared, and stared at the closed door.
“So easy to get mad just from a little teasing,” he muttered, scratching his head. “Feels like he’s acting more and more like a girl.”
After a short while, the door opened again. Li Mu came out, wearing a pair of oversized sweatpants and walking a little awkwardly.
He had already removed all his makeup, and his girl’s outfit and jeans were stuffed into a bag. Now he was only wearing a plain black T-shirt.
The thin T-shirt made the shape of his chest really noticeable, but Yu Fan hadn’t brought a jacket to help cover it.
Without the makeup and clothes, the redness on Li Mu’s face had also faded, and he looked cold and serious again, just like his usual self.
“Tsk, you actually looked better in the girl outfit,” Yu Fan said.
“You’d probably look better too in a dress too,” Li Mu shot back. “Next time there’s an audition, want me to do your makeup and go on stage together?”
Not only did he not look good now, he was also harder to talk to.
Yu Fan realized that Li Mu in girls’ clothes and Li Mu in boys’ clothes felt like two totally different people.
The cross-dressed Li Mu would blush, lower his head, and avoid eye contact, never talk back like this.
“Since you’re here anyway, let’s go practice some songs at a karaoke place later,” Li Mu said, crossing his arms and speaking coolly. “I don’t want Xiao Jing’s first time on stage to have any regrets. Don’t mess it up for me.”
“Okay, okay,” Yu Fan replied, kind of missing the shy version of Li Mu.
That soft, quiet side of him was really cute.
“Let’s go to the dorm first and change clothes. Your pants are way too big,” Li Mu said.
He said that, but after walking just a few more steps, he suddenly stopped.
He had been too tense earlier to notice, but now that he was calmer, the pain in his ankle came back, stronger than before. It hurt so much he could barely walk.
Yu Fan looked down at his ankle and asked with concern, “What’s wrong?”
“I twisted it earlier,” Li Mu said, frowning slightly as he leaned against the wall, limping forward.
“Isn’t that uncomfortable?” Yu Fan sighed and walked over to help, putting an arm around him for support.
Li Mu didn’t say anything. But he didn’t push Yu Fan away either, and just quietly leaned some of his weight on him, moving forward slowly with little hops.
When they reached the dorm door, Li Mu finally said, “If you weren’t such a pervert, you’d actually be a pretty good friend.”
“Pervert? Me? How am I a pervert?” Yu Fan said, totally clueless. “Everyone calls me a human heater, warm to everyone!”
That’s exactly why you can’t get a girlfriend.
Li Mu could see it clearly from the outside.
The girls who liked Yu Fan, like Li Mingjuan and Lin Xi, they always said things like “he’s so handsome and nice, he probably already has a girlfriend,” so they never made a move or confessed their feelings.
But in truth, it was just because Yu Fan treated everyone so kindly. Girls get jealous easily.
Li Mu didn’t bother correcting him. If Yu Fan actually got a girlfriend and he ended up having to dress like a girl instead… the gap would be too painful to accept.
“So, have you picked a song yet? Don’t tell me it’s another one from Phoenix Legend.”
“You choose.”
After thinking for a second, Yu Fan said, “How about the Myth OST? The one by Hu Ge and Bai Bing.”
"You're really not gay, right?"
That song…is a love song duet, right? It's about couples, it's a love song!