Chapter 102: The Aftermath
Monday came, and it was still drizzling.
Early in the morning, An Han rushed out of the dorm building in a hurry, only to stop at the doorway. He stared at the rainy sky for two seconds, then quickly turned back around.
He forgot his umbrella!
“An Han!”
Just as he was about to head back inside, he heard someone call from a short distance away. Turning his head, he saw Su Peng standing in the rain, holding an umbrella and pushing his bicycle.
“Want a ride?”
“No!”
“If you go back for your umbrella, you’ll be late.”
An Han frowned and glanced at the time. Then, deciding not to argue, he simply pulled up the hood of his jacket and dashed into the rain.
It wasn’t even heavy rain anyway.
As for riding Su Peng’s bike again?
Not a chance, he was never accepting that guy’s “help” again!
Su Peng quickly pedaled his bike to catch up, riding right beside him.
“Get on.”
“I’m exercising!”
“What’s wrong with you?”
Keeping his head down, An Han ran toward the classroom building and quickly came up with an excuse.
“The sports day is coming soon! I need to get in shape!”
“Oh, right! I almost forgot, we signed up for the three-legged race, didn’t we?”
An Han froze. His pace slowed.
Crap! I totally forgot about that!
So what’s the point of keeping my distance now!? We’ll have to be physically close during the event anyway!
“Stop the bike!”
Confused, Su Peng hit the brakes. But before he could react, the bike suddenly shook. An Han had already jumped onto the seat behind him.
“Can’t you be a little gentler?”
“Hurry up! We’re gonna be late!”
Today, An Han was the last one to leave the dorm, and there were less than ten minutes left before class started.
But seriously, why did he always run into Su Peng right before being late!? He was starting to suspect Su Peng left the dorm early every day just to wait for him at the gate.
Sitting sideways on the back seat, An Han didn’t dare hold onto Su Peng’s waist, so he gripped the edge of the seat tightly instead.
Once they reached the classroom, he ignored Long Xing waving at him and went straight to sit beside Wu Dongming.
Since that time they watched the freshmen’s military training together, he and Wu Dongming hadn’t talked much. They rarely played games together anymore, and the friendship that used to be so close had clearly faded.
As soon as he sat down, An Han noticed Wu Dongming’s shoulders stiffen. Then, right before his eyes, Wu Dongming quietly lifted his butt and scooted a little farther away.
The changes in his appearance had clearly made Wu Dongming feel distant toward him.
“I just want to ask one thing.”
“Say it.”
“When does Su Peng usually leave the dorm in the morning?”
“Pretty early. Around 7:30, I think.”
Knew it!
So Su Peng did leave early every day. Just to wait for him at the dorm entrance!
Damn! What a scheming jerk!
Once the sports day is over, he swore he’d never have anything to do with Su Peng again!
Just as An Han was about to stand up and leave, Wu Dongming suddenly said while looking at his phone.
“Hey, why does this girl look so much like you?”
“What girl?”
“This one.”
He handed over his phone. An Han leaned over for a glance, and in that instant, his heart froze, his whole body went stiff.
On the phone screen was a forum page, with the title “Cute Girls at the Comic Convention.”
Below the title was a picture of a girl wearing a sexy off-shoulder cheongsam. Her cheeks were red, her head was slightly lowered, and she was tugging at the edge of her skirt to cover her pale thighs. That shy and nervous look made people want to protect her.
So this is how I look from a third-person view?
An Han took a deep breath, trying to calm down.
“What’s this?”
“It’s from the comic convention. I wanted to go last weekend, but it was too far, so I was too lazy to go.”
Good thing you didn’t go!
“This girl looks a lot like me, huh…”
An Han gave an awkward laugh, then suddenly realized that Chen Junjie might also see these pictures.
Would that mean he’d find out that the girl Long Xing fell in love with at first sight during the convention was actually his roommate in disguise?
Of course he would! After all, both girls Long Xing liked looked just like him! Anyone could figure that out with a bit of thinking!
Wu Dongming, however, didn’t suspect anything. He just teased like usual, saying, “If you dressed like a girl and put on some makeup, you probably wouldn’t look worse than her. Or maybe you’d look exactly like that girl when you dress up?”
Those two sentences made An Han’s heart race. He lowered his head nervously.
It’s over! Did Wu Dongming notice too?
If he realized that girl was actually him, then the other classmates might also notice! If that spread around school, he’d never be able to show his face again!
“Don’t joke about stuff like that!” he said loudly, pretending to be angry.
Wu Dongming was startled, then turned to glance at An Han’s red face that looked angry, and awkwardly lowered his head.
“Oh.”
He couldn’t figure out his best friend’s personality anymore. Before, An Han would never get mad over jokes like that. He’d either talk back or start play-fighting right away.
Now, he seemed like a stranger, sitting there looking uncomfortable.
An Han felt he couldn’t stay with Wu Dongming any longer. Judging by how things were going, Wu Dongming was probably seeing him as a girl now because of his appearance, or maybe he just felt awkward seeing how much An Han’s looks had changed after so many years.
If he kept getting close to Wu Dongming, their friendship might start to feel weird.
Feeling a little sad, An Han stood up.
“Send me the link.”
“Sure.”
Putting thoughts about Wu Dongming aside for now, An Han walked around and sat in the empty seat next to Wang Sheng.
There was also an empty seat next to Long Xing, and it was even closer, but there was no way he was going to sit with him.
Forget friendship for now. He needed to contact the author of that post and ask them to delete his photo, or at least blur his face!
An Han opened the link Wu Dongming sent, scrolled up, and clicked on the author’s info.
Follow. Private Message.
Just then, Wang Sheng curiously leaned over to look at his phone. An Han reacted quickly and covered the screen with his hand. At the same time, the teacher, who was a few minutes late, walked into the classroom.
“The teacher’s here,” he said calmly, shifting Wang Sheng’s attention.
Wang Sheng immediately looked up at the front, pulled out his notebook, and focused on the lecture.
This was an important class, except for a few slackers, almost everyone paid close attention.
An Han wanted to listen too, but his mind was a total mess. He couldn’t calm down at all.
Chen Junjie didn’t usually use the forum much, and even if he did, it was only the school’s forum. That comic convention post was on a local cosplay forum, so he probably wouldn’t see it…
But what if the post went viral?
What if someone shared it in the school chat group?
What if…
Damn this system!
Every mission it gives is awkward and difficult, and even after finishing it, there’s still trouble afterward!