Chapter 69: KTV
“What are you doing here?” Li Mu asked Wu Lei with a blank expression.
“It’s Xu Ze’s birthday today. We had dinner at the McDonald’s across the street and came to sing at this KTV,” Wu Lei explained.
He wasn’t careful... Who would’ve thought Xu Ze would also pick this small KTV near the school.
Li Mu nodded coldly. “Got it.”
Then he continued adding money to the claw machine. Xiao Jing was really bad at it. Just now, Li Mu had been watching and getting anxious, wishing he could play too. Now he finally had a chance.
“We’re just in the big room across from here,” Wu Lei said, already used to Li Mu’s cold attitude. He pointed to a nearby room and offered, “Why don’t you come over and join us?”
“No interest,” Li Mu said as he started playing the claw machine.
“Alright then,” Wu Lei shrugged. But when he turned around, he saw Yu Fan walking toward him with two bottles of Coke. Wu Lei waved and called out, “Yu Fan! You guys came to sing too with that girl?”
Yu Fan looked a bit awkward as he came closer and forced a smile. “Uh, yeah, something like that.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I…” How was he supposed to explain this?
He quickly glanced at Li Mu’s expression and saw that he was focused on the claw machine. That made him feel a little more relaxed. “My girlfriend went out to hang with her best friend, so I had nothing to do, and came to sing with Li Mu.”
Wu Lei blinked, then turned to look at Li Mu again.
Anyone with eyes could tell that Yu Fan probably just had a good relationship with that girl, definitely not a girlfriend.
And for some reason, Li Mu looked kind of similar to the girl Yu Fan was with earlier. Plus, Yu Fan’s nervous tone really made it seem like he was lying.
Yu Fan noticed the flash of doubt in Wu Lei’s eyes and quickly added, “My girlfriend is Li Mu’s older sister!”
“Ohhh, no wonder you and Li Mu are so close lately. Trying to butter up your future brother-in-law, huh?” Wu Lei nodded like everything made sense now.
He figured Yu Fan must have a crush on Li Mu’s sister, which is why he’d been getting closer to Li Mu recently. And he probably hadn’t won her over yet, calling her his girlfriend was likely just a way to show he was serious.
With Wu Lei now imagining his own version of the story, Yu Fan felt relieved. After all, most people wouldn’t suddenly think about cross-dressing as a possible explanation in real life.
After chatting a little more, Yu Fan turned around, only to see Li Mu angrily kicking the claw machine.
“It’s a scam!” Li Mu stormed off back into the private room, clearly upset.
“They’re all rigged anyway,” Yu Fan laughed, following behind and teasing, “Can’t believe you’re actually mad about that.”
“I got carried away,” Li Mu said, dropping onto the sofa. He took the Coke Yu Fan handed him and gulped down half the bottle. Only then did the anger on his face slowly fade, and his usual calm look returned.
“It’s about time to go,” Li Mu said after checking the time. It was already 3 p.m. “You and Xiao Jing should be used to each other by now, right?”
Yu Fan nodded. “We’re doing okay. Shouldn’t be a problem passing the second round of auditions.”
“But for the second round… are you really going to go on stage in girl’s clothes?”
“......”
Li Mu stayed quiet.
At first, he only tried on girls’ clothes to see if they fit. He mostly bought them just in case something happened, not because he wanted to wear them. He wasn’t that kind of person.
But now, people had already seen him dressed like that, especially his roommate Chen Zhihao and his deskmate Wu Lei.
The problem was that after seeing him in girls’ clothes, Chen Zhihao and Wu Lei gave completely different reactions. One thought that was Li Mu’s girlfriend, and the other thought it was Yu Fan’s girlfriend...
“If I don’t wear girls’ clothes...” Li Mu pondered, speculating on various possibilities, “people might think I’m just someone who can fake a girl’s voice. And since both Wu Lei and Chen Zhihao have heard Xiao Jing’s voice, it’d be easy for them to figure out that the person in girls’ clothes is actually me.”
Yu Fan agreed, “Yeah, the voice Xiao Jing uses when she’s speaking with your body is really unique. It’s easy to recognize.”
“Unique?”
“It’s like a deep, raspy mature woman’s voice mixed with a bit of playful childlike tone. Weird combo, but very recognizable.”
“Say it more clearly.”
“Like a 30-year-old lady talking with a young girl’s heart.”
Li Mu kicked him.
You’re the 30-year-old lady!
Dodging the kick, Yu Fan just laughed with his usual sunny-but-sneaky smile, “So yeah, better to solve it with girls’ clothes again. It’s not like it’s your first or second time. Besides, people have already seen you dressed like that. They won’t connect it to you anymore.”
“...That kind of makes sense.”
But for some reason, Li Mu felt like he really shouldn’t listen to any of Yu Fan’s ideas. Somehow they always led to him getting dragged into a mess.
He leaned back on the sofa with a hopeless look on his face, silently staring at the bright, colorful screen in the KTV room.
Yu Fan shrugged and walked out.
A few minutes later, he came back in holding a Stitch plush toy and tossed it to Li Mu. “Here, a gift for Xiao Jing.”
Li Mu fumbled to catch it, looking surprised. “You caught this?”
“I just bought it from the staff. Catching plushies at KTV is a scam. You’re better off going to an arcade. At least arcades aren’t this rigged.” Yu Fan also brought in a sketchpad and some pencils, turned on the room’s light, and sat on a small stool across from Li Mu. “So you like Stitch?”
“Xiao Jing likes it.” Li Mu said with no expression and placed the plushie on his lap. “You’re starting to draw now? Sketching?”
Yu Fan didn’t bother exposing him. Just now when Li Mu was trying to catch toys, every attempt had been aimed at Stitch. But when Xiao Jing was in control, she was just playing for fun without any clear target.
“Yeah, don’t move. This sitting pose looks pretty good.” Yu Fan glanced up from time to time while sketching Li Mu.
Pretty good?
Li Mu looked down at his legs, which were placed neatly side by side like a girl, and then spread them apart.
It was fine to sit like that normally, but this drawing was going to be entered in a contest. He needed to show some manly energy.
“Put your legs together.”
“No way. That looks too girly.” Li Mu refused without hesitation.
“Tch, I’ve noticed you’re always doing the opposite of what I say. No matter what I suggest, you never want to listen.” Yu Fan muttered, “Even though I’m always right.”
“You’ve tricked me too many times.”
Trying to stay still in the same pose, Li Mu asked, “How long will this take?”
“About ten minutes to get the rough shape. Just a basic sketch. I doubt you can sit still for much longer anyway.”
It wasn’t very comfortable being stared at while holding a pose, so he couldn’t help but ask, “Why don’t you just take a picture and draw from that?”
“......” Yu Fan looked up. “Wow, you really are a genius!”
Are you stupid or what?
Yu Fan quickly pulled out his phone and snapped several photos of Li Mu. Only then did he smile with satisfaction.
“Once I win an award, your picture will appear in the art book! You’ll be the next Mona Lisa smile, and you'll become famous for all time. Excited?”
“Just give me the prize money.”
“There is no prize money.”
“Oh right, there’s an art exhibition at Bingxin Park tomorrow. Want to go together?” Yu Fan asked cheerfully. “Before that, we can come back here to practice singing.”
Li Mu frowned slightly. “Why does it sound like a date when you say it?”
“You’re getting more and more gay. Only a guy with those kinds of thoughts would say that. Normal brothers can even shower together without getting weird.”
Really???