Chapter 38: Miss, Who Are You?
March 3rd.
That evening, Lin Wan had just finished washing his hair and was drying it with a towel.
The three guys from his dorm came back from outside.
As soon as they opened the door, they saw a slim person wearing a knit sweater, standing with their back to them, looking as if they had just taken a shower.
The three of them froze in shock.
Then—bang!—they immediately closed the door again.
Qiu Cheng looked heartbroken.
"Brother Wan has betrayed us! He actually brought a girl into the dorm!"
Sun Mao gritted his teeth.
"So you're even saving the money for a hotel now? Or did you bring her back just to show off in front of us?!"
Zhang Dingding quickly distanced himself from the other two.
"He's showing off to you guys, not me. I'm not single, okay?"
Qiu Cheng and Sun Mao looked at him with disgust.
"Bah! You're a traitor too!"
After complaining for a while, all three of them stuck out their butts, pressed their ears against the dorm door, and tried to secretly listen to what was happening inside.
But they couldn't hear a thing.
Sun Mao looked confused. "Is our school this rich? How come I never noticed these doors are soundproof?"
Zhang Dingding said, "That thin metal door can't block any sound. They probably haven't started yet."
Qiu Cheng hesitated. "Are we really okay doing this?"
Sun Mao shook his hips and coughed. "Ahem. Who's secretly listening? Definitely not me."
"Huh!"
"Damn!"
"Holy crap!"
While they were talking, the dorm door suddenly swung open.
The three of them stumbled forward and almost fell to the floor.
They immediately covered their eyes with their hands, but conveniently left huge gaps between their fingers, pretending they weren't looking.
Lin Wan was still wiping the water from his hair with a towel. He looked at them curiously.
"What are you three doing? Forget your keys or something? Why are you standing outside whispering?"
The three of them peeked through the gaps between their fingers.
Then they realized...
The "girl" they had just seen wasn't a girl at all.
It was Brother Wan!
They had only been apart for one evening.
So why did Brother Wan suddenly look... kind of pretty?
But wasn't there a saying?
Freshman year: I want a beautiful girlfriend.
Sophomore year: An average-looking one is fine, as long as she has a good personality.
Junior year: As long as she's a woman.
Senior year: Suddenly your roommate starts looking pretty.
But...
They were only freshmen!
How had they skipped straight to the last stage?
Our bodies aren't old yet, so why are our hearts aging first?
Something's not right...
After calming down, they realized they hadn't changed at all. They still wanted a beautiful girlfriend.
It was Lin Wan who had changed.
Tonight, Lin Wan had completed his third running mission and received another round of disease treatment.
His total recovery had now reached 10%.
For the first time, reaching one-tenth recovery caused a small change throughout his body.
And so...
Things finally started moving in the direction everyone had expected.
"What's wrong? Why are you all looking at me like that?"
Seeing the shocked expressions on his roommates' faces, Lin Wan nervously shrank his neck.
"Brother Wan, just look for yourself."
Sun Mao closed the dorm door, revealing the full-length mirror attached to it.
Lin Wan walked over and looked at the familiar face reflected in the mirror.
His facial features hadn't changed much. His face hadn't gained any weight, but somehow it looked softer and fuller. His nose had become a little more delicate.
The biggest change on his face was his eyebrows, they had become much lighter.
The biggest change overall, however, was his body.
His shoulders, which had never been very broad to begin with, looked even narrower now, making his whole figure appear slimmer.
From a short distance away, anyone would probably think he was a girl.
...Just a flat-chested one.
"Uh?"
Lin Wan's first reaction after seeing himself in the mirror was…
Holy crap! Where did my eyebrows go?!
First my beard disappeared, and now it's my eyebrows? Will my hair be next?
That's terrifying!
Is this some kind of side effect from the treatment?
His second reaction was…
Miss... who are you?
He quickly finished drying his hair without caring that it was still a little wet, climbed onto his bed, and prepared to have a serious talk with the Spirit!
Lin Wan's strange behavior left Sun Mao completely confused. Thinking that Lin Wan was feeling depressed, he tried to comfort him.
"Brother Wan, you've probably just been running too much lately, so you've gotten a little thinner. But don't worry! No matter what you look like, you'll always be my godfather!"
Of course, Lin Wan didn't hear him clearly.
His attention was already focused on the conversation in his mind.
"Spirit?"
"I'm here~"
"Why has my body turned into this?"
"It's okay~ These are just necessary changes that happen while your body is healing!"
"Really? If my body is getting better, then why did my beard and eyebrows disappear? And why do I... look a little more like a girl?"
"Umm... I'm just a little kitty. I... I don't know~"
"Really?"
"Really~"
"Isn't your power the reason I'm changing?"
"Nope. I just follow the rules~ You complete the missions, and I give you the rewards. How your body changes depends on your body's own choice~"
"I see."
Lin Wan opened his eyes.
So... I turned myself into what I look like now?
He felt a little frustrated, but there was nothing he could do except accept it.
No matter how much his appearance changed, the most important thing right now was to completely cure his illness.
The next day...
Early in the morning, Lin Wan went to the old barber's shop near the university and got a very short buzz cut.
He felt that one reason he looked so different was because his hair had grown longer.
Now that it was gone, he had turned back into a clean-cut, handsome young guy!
At least, that's what he believed.
After that, he put on his baseball cap again, wore the face mask he had bought with Zhuo Feng, and purposely walked with a casual, carefree attitude.
No one will mistake me for a girl now, right?
He arrived at the north gate of the university and waited outside for Zhuo Feng.
Today was the registration day for the university league tournament.
Their team needed to bring their ID cards and student IDs to Maple Internet Café to register for the competition.
Not long afterward, Zhuo Feng slowly rode over on his bicycle.
"Why are you so early today?"
Looking at Lin Wan, Zhuo Feng felt that his bro looked a little different.
Maybe all that running lately has made his body look better?
Since Lin Wan was wearing an oversized hoodie and a face mask, it was hard to notice exactly what had changed.
"I got a haircut."
Lin Wan climbed onto the back seat. Now that there was a cushion, the ride didn't hurt his butt anymore.
"Let me see."
Zhuo Feng was curious about what hairstyle Lin Wan had chosen.
"Here."
Completely trusting his best buddy, Lin Wan took off his cap and revealed his head.
With his extremely short buzz cut, he looked like a peeled egg covered in tiny spikes.
Zhuo Feng held it together for about one second before bursting into laughter.
"Hahaha! Did you suddenly decide to become a monk?"
Seeing Zhuo Feng laughing so happily at his expense, Lin Wan rolled his eyes.
"Keep laughing, and I'll drag you to the barber to get the exact same haircut. Then we'll become fellow monks together!"
"Hahahahaha!"
Zhuo Feng laughed even harder.
"Do you know what people say?"
"What?"
"Before you have enough strength, every threat you make just sounds like you're acting cute."
"Oh really?"
A mischievous smile appeared on Lin Wan's face. His hand quietly reached toward Zhuo Feng's waist.
Then...
Pinch.
Twist.
Turn.
Maybe you're not ticklish... but there's no way you don't feel pain.
The sharp pain made Zhuo Feng surrender immediately.
"Ow! Hiss! Brother, I was wrong!"
"What were you wrong about?"
"Everything!"
Lin Wan immediately took the chance to negotiate.
"So, are you getting the same haircut as me?"
"I definitely—"
Zhuo Feng grabbed the mischievous hand and pulled it away. The force made Lin Wan's whole face fall onto Zhuo Feng's back.
"—am not! The tables have turned. What are you going to do now?"
"Mmm... let me go."
With his face buried against Zhuo Feng's back, Lin Wan's voice came out muffled.
"No."
"I hit my nose!"
"Huh?"
Zhuo Feng quickly let go.
"Are you okay?"
Lin Wan pulled down his mask.
"See if my nose is bleeding. Is your back made of stone or something? It's so hard!"
"Can't help it. That's just how tough guys are."
As Zhuo Feng looked at Lin Wan's face beneath the mask, his heartbeat suddenly sped up.
Even so, his expression stayed calm. He leaned in and carefully checked Lin Wan's slightly red nose.
"It's fine. You're not bleeding."
"Oh. Then let's go."
"Okay."
Seeing that Zhuo Feng hadn't noticed the changes in his appearance, Lin Wan secretly felt delighted.
Heh. Looks like it really was just the hair!