Chapter 68: The Convention's Bathroom
Just now, she must have been out of her mind. Otherwise, how could something like that have happened? Lin Muqing kept telling herself that over and over.
Besides, that was her best bro! That was the most important thing, how could she start having those kinds of thoughts about her best bro!?
As she thought about it, she raised both hands and lightly patted her cheeks, trying to snap out of that strange mood.
She even shook her head, trying to throw out all the weird thoughts in her mind.
“Are you really okay?”
Ye Ziming stood quietly nearby, watching her. His expression became a bit complicated, and he frowned without meaning to.
He asked again, clearly a little worried.
“I’m really fine!”
After taking a moment to calm down, Lin Muqing finally looked up at Ye Ziming again and answered a bit loudly.
Unfortunately, Ye Ziming still didn’t quite believe her. Lin Muqing’s face didn’t look like someone who was “fine” at all.
“Um… I’m going to the bathroom.”
Now that her mind had cleared up, Lin Muqing finally remembered. She had already needed to go before getting on stage, and now it was getting urgent.
After saying this to her best bro, she turned and headed toward the restroom, also wanting a bit of alone time to cool down.
Following the signs on the wall, Lin Muqing quickly found the restroom at the convention.
But when she stood at the entrance, she suddenly froze. The scene in front of her left her completely confused.
Male cosplayers were going into the women’s restroom, and female cosplayers were going into the men’s restroom. This was… a little too wild, wasn’t it?
For a moment, Lin Muqing didn’t know which one she should go into. Neither seemed right for her.
Just as she was thinking about whether she should go back to the restaurant from earlier, since the bathroom there was a private unisex one, someone suddenly patted her on the shoulder.
“Ah!”
The sudden touch brought her back to her senses, and it startled her. She let out a yelp and jumped.
“Y-you? Why are you here?”
She turned to look and saw that it was her best bro standing behind her, with a completely expressionless face.
His eyes… looked kind of complicated.
“You left your tissues with me.”
As he spoke, Ye Ziming opened his other hand. Lying in his palm was a small packet of tissues, which he then held out to Lin Muqing.
She remembered now, during lunch earlier, she had casually handed the tissues to Ye Ziming and then forgot to take them back.
“Thanks.”
She reached out to take the tissues and put them back in her pocket, then looked away awkwardly.
Now a new problem popped up, if she wanted to use the bathroom, which one should she go into?
Her best bro was still standing right here. If she went into the women’s restroom, people might think she was some kind of weirdo.
But if she went into the men’s room, it didn’t feel right either. It was just… way too awkward. Honestly, she’d rather hold it than go in there.
“…Didn’t you need to use the bathroom?”
After the two of them stood awkwardly outside for a while, Ye Ziming finally couldn’t help asking, feeling a bit awkward himself.
“Ah… yeah.”
She nodded a little awkwardly, then looked toward the restroom area. Just in time to see two Eastern-style cosplayers walking into the men’s room.
To be honest, they didn’t look any different from girls. Curvy and everything.
“Sigh~”
Following Lin Muqing's gaze, Ye Ziming let out a helpless sigh. He seemed to have realized something.
"I’ll go this way, and you go that way."
Without saying much, he walked Lin Muqing to the entrance of the restrooms and directly pushed her toward the women’s side before walking into the men’s room himself.
“Uh... what...?”
Lin Muqing turned around, stunned to see her bro heading into the men’s bathroom. She totally didn’t expect that.
Did he figure something out?
No way, right? If he really knew her secret, he wouldn’t be hanging out with her like this so casually…
Just thinking about it made her feel it wasn’t possible.
So, might as well just go into the women’s bathroom. No one would think anything weird about that, seems like the most natural option anyway.
She stood in front of one of the stalls, waiting for the person inside to come out before she could go in and handle her business.
As the sound of flushing came from inside, followed by the click of the lock, Lin Muqing shifted her weight a bit, getting ready.
Under her gaze, the stall door slowly opened, and then, someone appeared right in front of her.
And then... both of them froze.
“It’s you!”
The person inside cried out, sounding super excited.
“It’s not me!”
Lin Muqing blurted out instinctively, stepping back and gasping. The girl’s sudden appearance really startled her.
Because it was none other than her class monitor, Zhang Xiaoling!
Round one of the conversation was over. Both were frozen again.
“I recognize you.”
“You’ve got the wrong person!”
Round two was also over. Another awkward silence.
“Aren’t you the cat-eared maid who works at the maid cafe?”
“Ah... um...”
At that moment, Lin Muqing finally realized Zhang Xiaoling didn’t actually recognize her. She was talking about something else entirely.
Ugh, a little awkward.
“I knew it was you! I couldn’t possibly be wrong.”
Zhang Xiaoling, clearly excited, stepped up and grabbed Lin Muqing’s hand without hesitation, her eyes sparkling.
“Umm... can I use the bathroom now?”
Lin Muqing leaned back a little, wanting to put some distance between them. But her right hand was held tightly by both of Zhang Xiaoling’s hands, there was no escaping.
“Sure!”
Zhang Xiaoling nodded right away, still glowing with excitement.
Right now, she looked exactly like a fangirl who had just met her idol, eyes full of admiration and joy.
Honestly, she looked like she wanted to take her idol home!
“…Then let go of me already!”
Round three, Lin Muqing sweating. She really wanted to say something sarcastic, but didn’t even know where to start.
What’s worse, after she spoke, Zhang Xiaoling didn’t let go. In fact, she held on tighter and even started leaning toward her chest.
This totally freaked Lin Muqing out. She quickly raised her voice, eyes wide in panic, looking at Zhang Xiaoling.
“Ah! Sorry, sorry!”
Zhang Xiaoling quickly let go and stepped aside to give her “idol” some space.
“……”
Lin Muqing wiped her forehead mentally, walked past Zhang Xiaoling, and entered the stall, locking it behind her. Time to take care of her business.
After squatting down, Lin Muqing looked at her right hand and frowned a little.
To be honest, she had zero intention of taking advantage of anyone. Besides, Zhang Xiaoling’s chest wasn’t even as big as hers.
What she was thinking about... was how to deal with Zhang Xiaoling afterward.
She felt it might get awkward. But then she remembered her good buddy was still outside. Maybe she could ask him for help later?
Hmm… sounds like a good plan. Let’s go with that.