Chapter 147: Shopping
Li Mu wasn’t someone who liked shopping.
At least in the past, when he went shopping with his parents or little sister, he usually felt annoyed. If he spent more than thirty minutes walking around a mall or supermarket, he’d get extremely tired and just want to go home and rest. After one shopping trip, he’d feel completely out of energy, like he didn’t want to do anything else for the rest of the day.
But today...
His hand was tightly held, and he was being pulled around the second floor of the mall.
He could feel the rough texture of Yu Fan’s hand, its warm temperature, and a bit of sweat. His mind was a complete mess, filled with all kinds of strange thoughts he couldn’t stop.
His heart was beating faster, his skin felt hot and red, and the blush on his face had spread to his neck and ears. His emotions were rising, and he couldn’t calm down.
He started to think, maybe he was sick.
If this had happened before, being held by a guy like this, he probably would’ve punched him or gone crazy trying to break free.
But now? He only tried to pull his hand away once or twice without much effort. When that didn’t work, he just let Yu Fan keep holding his hand and walked quietly with him around the second floor.
They didn’t buy anything. He was too embarrassed to even look at anything he might want. He kept his head down and let Yu Fan lead the way. But somehow, he felt weirdly happy.
And then they went up to the third floor…
“You really don’t want to buy anything? I thought some of the women’s clothes on the second floor looked nice,” Yu Fan said gently as he looked at Li Mu, whose face was still red.
“And didn’t you say the underwear from the last store was too cheap? For stuff that touches your skin, it’s better to buy something nicer.”
“……”
Li Mu suddenly felt like it was his first time going out in women’s clothes all over again. Back then, he couldn’t even lift his head, and his face wouldn’t stop showing how embarrassed he was.
He lifted his head now, trying hard to give Yu Fan his usual cold stare.
But Yu Fan just smiled even wider. “That look in your eyes, are you trying to flirt with me on purpose?”
“You really don’t want to buy anything? If not, let’s head up to the third floor.”
Yu Fan kind of regretted coming up with all that weird stuff earlier, talking about using Liu Shenglong’s ghost, making up stories and all that. None of it really helped. Li Mu was kind, but he wasn’t stupid.
He should’ve just gone with a direct approach from the start!
Just look at how cute Li Mu was at this moment.
The second floor was mostly clothing stores, and the third floor had mostly food places.
They had already eaten dinner at a steak place earlier, so they weren’t hungry. But Yu Fan still walked Li Mu around the third floor.
“See if there’s anything you’d want to try. Next time I’ll save up some money and bring you here to eat.”
Since they were still students, Yu Fan didn’t have much money.
“Mm…” Li Mu gave a small response that was barely louder than a whisper.
“The fourth floor is a movie theater. Wanna go watch something?”
Yu Fan stopped at the elevator that led to the fourth floor. He looked at the movie posters, then turned and asked Li Mu.
Li Mu’s face turned bright red, and he quickly shook his head.
This mall was pretty empty, so the theater probably wouldn’t have many people either.
If Yu Fan tried anything in the dark, closed space of the cinema, he wouldn’t be able to stop him at all.
“Hey! Yu Fan! You here to eat?”
Li Mu jumped in surprise. He quickly looked down and hurriedly let go of Yu Fan’s hand.
With the "soft jade" no longer in his grasp, and Yu Fan looked up to see Xu Ze, Wu Lei, and three other classmates walking toward them.
Yu Fan also panicked a little. He had seen them from a distance earlier on the first floor, but didn’t think they’d actually bump into them here.
“Brought your girlfriend out for dinner, huh?” Xu Ze grinned as he slung an arm around Yu Fan’s shoulder. “Li Mu’s sister, right? I heard last time she’s really pretty. Now that I see her…”
Why does she look exactly like Li Mu?
He paused for a moment, looking confused as he glanced at Yu Fan.
“Yeah, this is Li Mu’s older sister. They’re twins, so they look very alike,” Yu Fan answered calmly.
Li Mu lowered his head, quietly took two steps back, and then stepped to the side to hide behind Yu Fan.
It’s over. Totally over.
Tomorrow, everyone in class is going to be talking about how Yu Fan and I are a gay couple!
But Yu Fan is the only one who’s actually gay!
Xu Ze didn’t pay much attention to Li Mu and kept joking around with Yu Fan. “Didn’t you say you’d bring your girl out for dinner sometime? What a coincidence! Let’s all eat together.”
“I already had dinner with him. And you’re supposed to call her sister-in-law,” Yu Fan said.
Li Mu pretended not to hear anything and tried his best to hide behind Yu Fan’s back.
Yu Fan didn’t exactly have a big, strong build. He was kind of fit, but still looked thin overall. Though Li Mu had seen him shirtless before, he was one of those people who look skinny in clothes but are actually quite muscular.
But still, Yu Fan wasn’t big enough to completely block him from view.
Xu Ze usually didn’t pay much attention to Li Mu, but Wu Lei, who sat next to him in class, suddenly asked, “Why is your girlfriend wearing the exact same outfit as Li Mu today?”
“......”
Yu Fan, Xu Ze, and Li Mu all froze at the same time.
I knew it! I should’ve bought some women’s clothes on the second floor earlier!
Li Mu’s eyes widened. He didn’t know what to do, should he run away? Should he try to calmly explain his relationship with Yu Fan? Or should he just keep pretending to be the “older sister” and say that they bought matching clothes together?
His mind went completely blank. Yu Fan also didn’t know what to say from the awkwardness. But then Xu Ze turned around, glared at Wu Lei, and said, “My sister-in-law and Li Mu are twin siblings. So what if they wear the same clothes?”
“But—”
Xu Ze quickly cut him off and threw an arm over Wu Lei’s shoulder. “Come on, let’s go eat. Stop getting in the way of Yu Fan’s date.”
Soon, the group of classmates followed Xu Ze into a nearby restaurant. Only then did Li Mu finally breathe a sigh of relief, and his opinion of Xu Ze, the chubby guy with the dark skin, changed a little.
Before, Li Mu always thought Xu Ze looked like some mountain bandit with his dark face and thick features. So even though they were classmates, he had basically never spoken to him.
But today, that changed.
“Did Xu Ze recognize me from the beginning?” Li Mu asked in a quiet voice.
“Well, he’s not blind,” Yu Fan replied, scratching his head helplessly. “I was actually planning to take this chance to properly introduce you to everyone, so guys like that creep Wang Chen won’t bother you again.”
“You talk like you’re not a creep yourself.”
“This is different. I’m in love.” Yu Fan said casually. “This is what it means to love someone even if others judge you. If any other guy likes you, he’s just a pervy weirdo.”
Ultimate double standard.
Thanks to Yu Fan’s joking around, Li Mu started to feel a lot less nervous. But then, just as he was relaxing, he saw Yu Fan reaching his hand toward him, and quickly stepped back.
“What are you doing?”
“What do you mean? Let’s keep shopping.”
“I’m going back to the dorm.” Li Mu turned and headed for the escalator.
Yu Fan didn’t push it and followed Li Mu back to school. But once they got back to the dorm and saw a few of their roommates still lying in bed with fevers and colds...
They suddenly realized…
Did we forget something?