Chapter 148: Lin Xi’s Fault!
That night, Li Mu sat alone in a corner of the school field, silently watching the couples walking together. His eyes were full of confusion.
"Sister, sister, Yu Fan is such a great guy. Why are you still hesitating?"
For a moment, his body moved on its own. But right after saying that sentence, he returned to normal.
Looking down and fiddling with the artificial grass by his leg, Li Mu said with a bit of disdain, “You just like him because he’s handsome, right?”
“And you’re supposed to call me ‘brother’,” he added, pressing his lips together and playing with a loose piece of fake grass in his hand.
He really didn’t know how to face Yu Fan anymore.
He should’ve just said no clearly. But for some reason, maybe he wasn’t thinking straight, he had actually walked around the mall with Yu Fan for over half an hour.
And then they ran into their classmates. Luckily, Xu Ze was smart and didn’t say much, even though he clearly noticed something.
Covering his face, Li Mu let out a sigh. “I’m supposed to like girls.”
“So why do I have feelings for Yu Fan...?”
It had only been two months since he started looking like a girl, right? Even though he wasn’t as gorgeous as the girls on TikTok with all their beauty filters and makeup, in daily life, he already looked like a beauty.
But it’s only been two months!
It was one thing that his appearance changed, but why did his feelings start to change too?
“Xiao Jing, close your eyes.”
He gave a quick warning, then opened his phone and started looking up pictures and short videos that guys usually like.
Right after that, Xiao Jing replied helplessly, “I can’t. I’m inside your body, remember? How do I close my eyes?”
So basically, when Li Mu was around Yu Fan earlier, Xiao Jing probably felt the same sights, sounds, and even emotions... Just like when Xiao Jing took control to sing on stage, Li Mu could feel her excitement too.
Li Mu’s face froze.
“Wait a second... Are my feelings for Yu Fan because of you?” Li Mu looked at her suspiciously. “You’re only 14. You’re not allowed to date yet, got it?”
But... no, that’s not right either. Even when he was possessed by Xiao Jing, he could clearly tell which feelings were hers and which were his own.
So, those special feelings he had for Yu Fan... must have come from Lin Xi!
After all, he inherited most of Lin Xi’s memories and makeup skills. So it made sense that he might’ve picked up Lin Xi’s feelings for Yu Fan too, right?
Realizing this, Li Mu suddenly felt much better. Finally, he can blame someone else for this!
“Here, ice cream.”
A cup of triple-flavor ice cream appeared in front of him. Li Mu casually took it and looked up at Yu Fan standing in front of him.
“I remember you said you liked this brand,” Yu Fan said with a warm smile.
In truth, Li Mu had only eaten this kind of ice cream twice in the past few months. But Yu Fan had remembered.
He used the little wooden spoon to scoop a bit of ice cream and let it melt on his tongue. Then he asked, “Why’d you come out to the field?”
“I saw you didn’t come back, so I came to look for you,” Yu Fan shrugged. “Xu Ze is asking me to go out for late-night snacks. I probably won’t be back until around eleven.”
“You mean... he wants to ask you about me?”
“Probably.” Yu Fan sat down next to Li Mu and smiled. “But honestly, you don’t need to be scared. When people say they hate gay guys or guys who dress like girls, it’s really just because most of them aren’t good-looking enough.”
“......”
“I mean it. A lot of people judge with their eyes. If you came out in class and said you like men, I bet people would talk about it for a few days, and then someone would make a yaoi comic of you and post it on the school forum or something.”
That... was kind of true…
Li Mu almost believed it.
Did Yu Fan really think everyone was like him?
Seeing someone beautiful can change not only your whole way of thinking but even your sexual orientation along with it.
Seeing that Li Mu wasn’t saying anything, Yu Fan scratched his head awkwardly. “By the way... do you want to come with us for late-night snacks tonight? Xu Ze is paying.”
“No,” Li Mu said firmly, shaking his head without hesitation.
“Alright then, be careful while I’m gone.”
Yu Fan still seemed a bit worried that something might happen to Li Mu in the dorm.
Li Mu laid back on the grass, pretending not to care, and stared up at the dark sky where not even the moon was visible.
Ever since Yu Fan had confessed to him earlier that evening, Li Mu had been feeling uneasy every time they met. On one hand, he didn’t know how to respond to Yu Fan’s feelings. Deep inside, he still felt a little resistance. On the other hand... he might actually like Yu Fan a little.
But when he had a crush on girls before, it never felt like this...
Suddenly, Yu Fan laughed. “You know, you’re showing way more expression than before.”
“......”
“When we first met, you always looked cold and serious. You only seemed normal around Lin Xi’s mom.” Yu Fan teased him by lifting Li Mu’s chin playfully. “Now you’re even showing more expressions around me.”
“Get lost!” Li Mu slapped his hand away angrily, turned over, and faced away from him.
“Are you blushing?”
“Go away!”
“Alright, I’m going then. Want me to bring you something to eat?”
Li Mu didn’t answer, so Yu Fan just laughed to himself. “Okay then, don’t fall asleep before 11. I’ll bring back some grilled skewers for you.”
He finally stood up and headed toward the school wall. Even though the dorms weren’t closed yet, the main school gate was already locked.
Once Yu Fan left, Li Mu quickly sat up and looked toward his back, staring at his silhouette as it faded into the distance. When he was finally out of sight, Li Mu lowered his head and muttered, “What’s wrong with you... are you trying to flirt with me just now?”
“Wait, where’s that ghost?”
Li Mu hadn’t seen the ghost since they came back from the mall.
It should be fine. Maybe Yu Fan Yu Fan brought him along.
“Sister, I want to go outside and play.”
“Hold it in. When we go home Friday, your body shouldn’t be too stinky by then.” Li Mu thought maybe he was suited for medical school, if he could memorize those textbooks that were as tall as a person.
At least then, when dealing with corpses in anatomy class, he wouldn’t be too scared.
After all, he had once slept in the same room as Xiao Jing’s dead body.
He just wasn’t sure how his cousin at home was doing now.
……………………………………
“Damn it, another scam!” Zhang Hui cursed as he opened the door to his cousin’s apartment, fuming with anger.
For days now, he had been going all over the city for job interviews. But every time, it was either a fake job asking for "training fees" before starting, or a trick to boost some HR person’s numbers. Once he got there, they would reject him, saying his education didn’t meet the requirements.
If his education wasn’t enough, why didn’t they say that when he sent the resume? And seriously, why the hell does a security guard job need a college degree!?
Zhang Hui was beyond frustrated. He had said he’d move out by Monday, and now it was already Wednesday.
He sat down on the couch, lit a cigarette, and started thinking about his job problems, when he suddenly smelled something strange.
The smell had actually been there for a while, but he’d never paid attention to it before.
It seemed to be coming from Li Mu’s room.
Maybe Li Mu had eaten something before leaving and left the trash inside? It might have gone bad over the past few days.
Zhang Hui hesitated, then stood up and walked toward Li Mu’s bedroom.
He remembered... hadn’t Li Mu told him not to go into that room?