Chapter 26: Man!
When classes ended in the evening, An Han walked out of the teaching building side by side with Wu Dongming.
He tried hard to make his walking posture look normal again, but it was like something carved into his genes. Unless he focused on correcting it, the slightly feminine movements would unconsciously show up whenever he relaxed.
“It’s only been one day since I last saw you, right?”
“What?” An Han asked with a blank face, pretending nothing was wrong.
“You look even more girly than before.”
His face twitched, and he forced a smile. “No way! You must be blind.”
“Maybe you awakened some strange habit after wearing women’s clothes.”
“......”
An Han turned his head away. He didn’t awaken any weird habit after cross-dressing, just a weird system.
To steer the topic away from himself, he quickly asked, “Aren’t your parents coming to see you tonight? What about that rental girlfriend? She’s not here yet?”
“She’s from another school. She just finished her classes, so she’ll probably get here after seven.”
“Is she pretty? How much did you pay?” An Han asked curiously.
Wu Dongming took out his phone and showed An Han the photo that the rented girlfriend had sent him. “Honestly, she’s not as pretty as you when you’re in women’s clothes.”
Even without women’s clothes, he’s probably still prettier than that girl.
“Your mouth never says anything nice!” An Han snapped. “With your looks, it’s already a miracle someone’s willing to pretend to be your girlfriend, she’s definitely doing it for the money!”
They bickered as usual, but Wu Dongming’s eyes kept drifting toward An Han.
They’d been around each other for so long that small changes weren’t always obvious at first. But now, thinking back on how An Han looked just a week ago, he suddenly realized this guy had changed a lot.
“Ever since you dressed as a girl last week, something’s been off about you,” he muttered. “You used to just act weird, but now you actually look like you want to be a woman.”
That sentence hit An Han’s most sensitive nerve. He kicked him hard and shouted angrily, “Get lost, damn it! I’m not playing support for you next time!”
This friendship was officially over!
An Han kept telling himself that he was just getting more handsome, but Wu Dongming’s words exposed what he’d been trying to deny. The system was making real changes to his body. It made him furious.
“Hey, don’t! You still gotta play support for me! Random teammates are all dumb as pigs!” Wu Dongming quickly tried to calm him down. “I was just looking out for you, you know?”
“Looking out for my ass!”
Still cursing, the two of them reached the school’s east gate.
From afar, Wu Dongming spotted his parents being stopped by the security guard. He immediately dropped everything and ran toward them.
“I’m heading back first!” An Han shouted after him.
As his friend ran off, he finally relaxed his tense shoulders.
Time to grab dinner at the cafeteria.
Ever since buying those women’s clothes, his living expenses had run short this month, so in these last few days before payday, he had no choice but to quietly eat cheap cafeteria meals.
However, after walking just a few steps, Wu Dongming’s voice suddenly came from behind.
“An Han! Come here for a second!”
What now?
An Han turned around and saw that Wu Dongming was already standing beside his parents, waving at him while standing on tiptoe.
Normally, he wouldn’t bother responding, but since it would be rude to ignore them in front of his friend’s parents, he jogged over.
When he reached them, An Han silently looked at the two elders and smiled politely.
“Hello, uncle and auntie.”
The couple looked quite old, probably in their fifties. It seemed they had their son late in life.
No wonder they cared so much about Wu Dongming’s relationships and whether he had a girlfriend.
An Han dropped his usual casual attitude, forcing a friendly smile while giving Wu Dongming a confused look.
What’s going on here?
“Dad, Mom, this is An Han, the one I mentioned before.” Wu Dongming introduced him while blinking meaningfully.
How am I supposed to know what you’re planning? What’s with that look?
“An Han?” The aunt paused, then her face broke into a big smile, the wrinkles on her face bunching up. “Oh! I remember now, you’re the one who called him ‘husband’ on the phone, right?”
“Right, right! I told you that was just a joke, but you didn’t believe me!”
The aunt turned her gaze to An Han, her eyes full of satisfaction. She nodded several times, smiling so widely she could barely close her mouth. “Very nice, very nice.”
Being stared at like that made An Han’s skin crawl. He moved closer to Wu Dongming, tugging on his sleeve and whispering, “What’s going on? Why does your mom look so happy?”
“I have no idea either.”
“Don’t tell me she thinks I’m so handsome that she wants to adopt me as her godson and split the inheritance with me?”
“In your dreams!”
The two whispered to each other, but seeing them so close made the parents even happier.
The looks in the couple’s eyes made not only An Han break into a cold sweat, but even Wu Dongming felt a chill of dread.
“Mom, let’s go have dinner,” he quickly changed the subject. “There’s a good restaurant near the back gate, I’ll take you there.”
“Sure, An Han’s coming too, right?”
Wait, what? Why would we bring him to a family dinner?
Wu Dongming gave An Han a blank look and scratched his head. “He’s going back to the dorm.”
“I already ordered takeout. It should be delivered to my dorm soon,” An Han added with a polite smile.
The aunt looked surprised. “Didn’t we agree to have dinner together? Why’d you order takeout for yourself?”
An Han froze, a bad feeling creeping up his spine.
Don’t tell me... they think I’m his girlfriend?!
Sure, he knew he looked a bit too soft and delicate lately, but it shouldn’t be to the point of being mistaken for a girl, right? He had short hair that barely covered his eyebrows. No matter how you looked, that was clearly a boy’s haircut.
Could it be because of his body language?
After all, there were plenty of “tomboy” girls who looked like cute boys these days.
An Han looked down at his chest.
Even though he had put on a jacket, there was still a faint curve there. And with those two “body upgrades” from the system, it wasn’t impossible for someone to mistake him for a girl.
Just as he was about to explain, Wu Dongming suddenly put his arm around his neck, saying confidently, “Yeah! An Han is my girlfriend!”
“???”
An Han stared at him in disbelief.
Seriously? I help you out all the time, and this is how you repay me?
Wu Dongming laughed proudly, but before he could enjoy it, An Han smacked him hard on the back of the head.
“Ow! You actually hit me?! It was just a joke!” Wu Dongming crouched down, holding his head and groaning.
“Auntie,” An Han said flatly, not even looking at him, “there’s nothing between us, we’re just regular friends. And I’m a guy.”
“A guy?”
“Yup!” He patted his chest firmly. “One hundred percent real man!”