Chapter 4: Shut Your Brain Up!

Normally, it would take Gu Shiying exactly one second to pull off a crewneck T-shirt. But right now, he couldn’t even dare to lift his arm.

Gu Shiying boldly pulled the bathroom door open and stood in front of Fu Huan. He raised his uninjured arm straight up, keeping the injured one lifted only to a point where it didn’t hurt.

Gu Shiying asked Fu Huan: “Can I get it off like this?”

He didn’t see any particular expression on Fu Huan’s face and thought to himself that he was being way too sensitive.

Fu Huan stepped closer and said, “Yes.”

He took hold of the hem of Gu Shiying’s T-shirt with both hands and slowly began rolling it upwards.

Fu Huan: “Tell me if I bump your arm.”

Gu Shiying: “Okay. You’re not touching it now.”

Fu Huan carefully continued rolling the shirt up, revealing a small section of pale, flat stomach. The navel was clearly visible, and faintly, the shape of some abdominal muscles could be seen.

Gu Shiying’s arms were drooping slightly, and Fu Huan reminded him: “I’m not up to your arm yet. Keep them up.”

Gu Shiying: “Then hurry up. My arms are getting tired.”

Fu Huan: “Your arm strength is pretty weak.”

Gu Shiying retorted: “I’m not weak at all, okay? I can disarm a guy with a knife barehanded, you know.”

Fu Huan lifted his eyes to look at him: “And then you become someone who can’t even take off his own shirt to shower. Right?”

Gu Shiying was rendered speechless.

How had he never noticed before how good Fu Huan was at sarcasm?

Fu Huan studied Gu Shiying’s face from up close, his eyes fixed there while his hands held the shirt. He instructed: “Pull your left arm out first.”

Gu Shiying followed each instruction step by step.

“Okay.”

“Tilt your head.”

Gu Shiying tilted his head, and Fu Huan worked the shirt around it.

Though unskilled, Fu Huan was extremely careful and smoothly peeled the T-shirt off Gu Shiying bit by bit. Now only pulling it over the right arm remained.

Gu Shiying had held his right arm up for a while. Longing to get it over with, he bent his elbow—and immediately pulled at the wound.

Gu Shiying cried out: “Ow, ow, ow!”

Fu Huan: “Don’t move!”

Gu Shiying: “My arm’s tired.”

Fu Huan chuckled softly: “Tired from just holding it up this long?”

Gu Shiying: “It lost too much blood. It’s deficient in qi and blood now. Not my fault.”

Fu Huan held his slowly lowering wrist to stabilize it with one hand while using the other to carefully pull the T-shirt past the injured skin.

At this moment, even the pain in his arm couldn’t distract Gu Shiying, because he was once again hearing Fu Huan’s inner thoughts, popping up like nonstop comments on a video!

【Skin is so fair and smooth.】

【Waist is so slender.】

【This makes my mouth go dry. I want to pinch Gu Shiying’s waist. I’m truly terrible. But I don’t want to control it.】

Gu Shiying froze completely: “…” If you know you’re terrible, then Shut Your Brain Up!

His ears slowly reddened. He snatched his wrist back from Fu Huan’s grip.

“I-I’m gonna shower now. It’s so hot.”

Bang!

Gu Shiying slammed the bathroom door shut at the fastest speed physically possible.

Damn, damn, damn!

Did Fu Huan have some kind of sickness? How could his thoughts be so vulgar?!

Holy crap.

No, wait. Buddy, give me a break. I’m fucking straight!

He understood that guys could have those kinds of thoughts about people they liked, but… but this was just way too blunt.

He was just normally taking off his clothes for a shower! He wasn’t one of those male streamers on that short-video app doing thirst traps!

In front of Fu Huan, he’d felt just like a young girl being seen naked for the first time. Looking at the mirror above the bathroom sink, he saw his own face was completely flushed.

Fu Huan knocked on the bathroom door from outside: “Gu Shiying. The doctor said the wound shouldn’t get wet.”

Gu Shiying covered his eyes with one hand, unable to look at his reflection, and quickly called back to Fu Huan: “I know. I won’t get it wet.”

After that, there was no more sound from outside.

Gu Shiying had still overestimated his tolerance for Fu Huan’s inner thoughts.

At first, he had truly just thought of it as Fu Huan having a simple crush. But now, the “battlefield had escalated.” Every single one of Fu Huan’s inner thoughts landed squarely on him. Even if the other guy’s eyes hid it perfectly, he still felt like he was being harassed by a flirt, a male flirt!

And he couldn’t even openly punch this male flirt.

With difficulty, Gu Shiying managed to keep the wound on his arm from getting wet, showered with extreme caution, and then took his sweet time before finally coming out.

This time, he didn’t put on a crewneck T-shirt. Instead, he wore a button-up shirt. He even considered whether he should add an extra jacket on top.

To think, one day he’d actually be afraid of a roommate coveting his looks!

Every guy knows whether or not he’s good-looking. Gu Shiying thought he fell within the “fairly good-looking” range—at least, girls had asked for his WeChat in high school.

This day had been way too eventful.

Gu Shiying went to bed very quickly that night, entirely unaware that Fu Huan had gazed at his bed for a long, long time after the lights were turned off.

The next morning, when he woke up, there was already a breakfast on his desk: his favorite—soy milk and youtiao.

He looked around and confirmed Fu Huan wasn’t in the dorm. He couldn’t help but sigh in relief. He was becoming a bit afraid of Fu Huan.

Before yesterday, it was just that they weren’t close. But today, it was no longer a matter of being close or not—the other guy was his lifesaver, and he’d also discovered the other guy’s… feelings for him.

What a headache.

No one had ever taught him how to handle this kind of relationship dynamic.

He decided: Cold shoulder. Continue keeping his distance from the other guy!

However, he had to admit, this soy milk—rich, pure, and perfectly fragrant—was amazing. Where did he buy it?

Depressed as he was, Gu Shiying still sent Fu Huan a ‘thanks’ on WeChat.

Then, unable to help himself, he asked one more question.

Gu Shiying: Where did you buy this soy milk?

Fu Huan: I made it myself.

Gu Shiying: [Yeah, and I’m the Queen of England.jpg]

Can’t keep chatting. Must keep distance from Gay Fu Huan!

“Ying’er! How badly are you hurt?!”

Gu Shiying was startled by Zhang Zhi’s loud yell.

“You’re back? Weren’t you going sightseeing with your classmate? I just saw your Moments post.”

Zhang Zhi: “That post was scheduled. Holy shit, why is your arm wrapped up like a mummy? The bandages go almost all the way up to your shoulder!”

Gu Shiying: “It’s fine. Just a skin cut. Didn’t need stitches.”

Zhang Zhi: “It looks really serious, though. How about you stay in my dorm for a couple of days? I’ll take care of you personally.”

Sometimes, when Gu Shiying played games too late, he would indeed crash in their dorm.

This suggestion was somewhat tempting. “What about your classmate?”

Zhang Zhi: “Second Brother and Third Brother are both gone for the weekend. He’ll sleep in Third Brother’s bed. You can take Second Brother’s bed.”

Gu Shiying: “Not a bad idea, actually. Showering is a pain like this, and I need to apply ointment tonight.”

Zhang Zhi patted his chest: “I’ll apply the ointment for you. Simple thing, isn’t it?”

Gu Shiying: “You’re not going out today?”

Zhang Zhi: “We are. I just came by first to see if you were okay. If you’re fine, then I’ll head out and have fun with my classmate.”

“Oh.” Gu Shiying and Zhang Zhi had always been able to talk about anything. They’d built a deep friendship since military training back in freshman year. He suddenly put his left hand on Zhang Zhi’s shoulder. “Old Zhang, let me ask you something.”

Zhang Zhi: “What?”

Gu Shiying hesitated, trying to figure out how to phrase it. “It’s like this… I have a friend. He seems to be… secretly liked by someone.”

Zhang Zhi gave him a sidelong glance, completely unconvinced. “Whenever someone says ‘a friend,’ it’s always code for themselves.”

Gu Shiying knew his flimsy trick hadn’t fooled the other. “That’s not the important part.”

Zhang Zhi’s eyes widened. He raised his voice in mock indignation: “You’re bragging to me that someone has a crush on you, and that’s not the important part?!”

Gu Shiying: “Fine, fine. Someone has a crush on me.”

Zhang Zhi huffed for a second, then suppressed the mixed feelings of fearing his bro would suffer but also fearing his bro would suddenly drive a Land Rover to success. “Who has a crush on you? How do you know they have a crush on you? Who even does the secret crush thing these days? How. Do. You. Know?”

Gu Shiying was bombarded into silence by the questions.

How was he supposed to say he was being secretly crushed on by a roommate who harbored all sorts of inappropriate thoughts about him?

If he couldn’t answer, then he simply wouldn’t.

Gu Shiying: “Never mind how I know. Just hypothetically—if you were stuck spending every day around someone who had a crush on you, how would you signal to them to keep their distance?”

Zhang Zhi’s expression turned into one of disappointment, as if Gu Shiying were a lost cause. If it was someone they saw every day, it had to be a girl in their class.

Zhang Zhi: “A girl in our class has a crush on you? Who is it?”

Gu Shiying: “Forget it. Just tell me how to politely suggest that it’s impossible for me to ever like them, without letting them know I know about the crush.”

Zhang Zhi: “Your relationships are so complicated. Why are you pushing away such a good thing?”

Gu Shiying clapped him on the shoulder. “Don’t change the subject. Just tell me how to resolve it.”

Zhang Zhi sighed: “Obviously, just pretend you don’t know and minimize contact with them. Is there really a better solution?”

Gu Shiying sighed. His eyes dimmed.

Zhang Zhi raised one finger: “There’s one more way!”

Gu Shiying’s eyes brightened, and he straightened right up: “What way?”

Zhang Zhi: “You just… casually let it slip that you have a partner.”

Gu Shiying’s left fist thumped Zhang Zhi’s shoulder: “Great idea!”

Zhang Zhi leaned in with a cheeky grin: “So tell me, who’s the one with the crush?”

Gu Shiying: “Get lost. Stop digging.”

Zhang Zhi threw an arm around Gu Shiying’s shoulders in retaliation: “Holy crap, you just use me and toss me aside? You scumbag.”

Just at that moment, the dorm door was pushed open. Fu Huan’s silhouette appeared suddenly. His gaze swept towards Zhang Zhi before he walked in silently.

Zhang Zhi inexplicably let his hand drop from Gu Shiying’s shoulder: “Ying’er, I’m heading out then. I’ll come back tonight to help you change the dressing.”

Gu Shiying: “Go on, go on.”

Zhang Zhi blew him a flying kiss as he walked away: “I’ll bring back your favorite spicy braised pig trotters!”

Gu Shiying: “Yeah, yeah. Just go, okay?”

Zhang Zhi left. Male Dorm 504 suddenly fell quiet again.

As usual, the dorm only had Gu Shiying and Fu Huan. The other two roommates—one was a local and the other spent weekends at his aunt’s place—wouldn’t be back for two days.

With his hand immobilized, Gu Shiying decided to just rest up. He switched on his computer, put his headphones on, and began watching a show.

Just as he hit play, he got a call from the police station asking him to come in and give a statement.

After he hung up, Fu Huan also got a call.

A plan formed in Gu Shiying’s mind. He would deliberately let Fu Huan think he had a girlfriend to kill any hopes Fu Huan might harbor.

Going to the police station together was the perfect chance.

Gu Shiying put on a bright smile and asked Fu Huan: “Fu Huan, want to go to the police station together?”

Fu Huan: “Yeah. I’ll give you a ride.”

The police station wasn’t far—reachable by bike or walking from their school.

Gu Shiying couldn’t ride a bike with his injured arm. Fu Huan had a bicycle too, but neither had a rear passenger seat.

Gu Shiying: “Your bike doesn’t have a rear seat, though?”

Fu Huan: “Using someone else’s vehicle.”

When they got downstairs, Gu Shiying saw the “someone else’s vehicle” Fu Huan was talking about.

A white-and-pink e-scooter.