Chapter 16

After singing the song and putting away his guitar, Lin Linya leaned into the camera and waved with a smile, “That’s it for today’s stream! Tune in to Wolf Fang Yaya Can’t Win tomorrow evening, same time!”

【Good night, Baby.】

【It’s too early to sleep, there were too many sweet moments tonight, I need to re-watch the recording. Good night, sisters.】

Lin Linya knew perfectly well that if Chu Fengyi hadn’t carried him, he definitely wouldn’t have been able to end the stream with a clean five-game win streak.

He thought sheepishly, He’s so busy, and I asked him to carry me, and on top of that, I made Chu Fengyi help me kite. That was way too much.

So, he earnestly typed out his thanks, 【Bro Chu, thanks for carrying me.】

Chu Fengyi, 【?】

【Your thanks is just one sentence?】

Lin Linya froze. What else did he want? He thought for a moment, then tentatively typed, 【Then how about I buy you a milk tea? Just tell me what you want and I’ll order it.】

【No.】

【I want to see you, may I?】

With a soft thud, Lin Linya’s phone slipped from his grasp and landed on the bed.

A moment later, he picked up the phone with trembling fingers, not daring to look at that message.

His mind was filled with those online dating horror story exposés—guys who, after carrying a girl up the ranks, would immediately demand favors and sweet-talk the girl into showing herself.

That’s so perverted!

Because he really didn’t know how to respond, he frantically sought outside help, 【What if a guy… sent me a message saying he wants to see me? What do I do?】

Chen Chun replied with lightning speed, 【???】

【He’s dead!!!】

Chu Fengyi stared at his phone with a touch of irritation. Their chat log was stuck on his last message, with no reply for a long while. He slowly furrowed his brow.

Ever since that accidental video call with Lin Linya, he’d been itching with curiosity. That state of not performing for the camera, but being completely relaxed and natural in daily life, was simply too alluring.

He couldn’t even explain why he suddenly wanted to video call another young guy in the middle of the night, even going so far as to… send a message like that.

He usually spoke his mind, so this was the first time he reflected on whether he was being a bit too direct.

The little streamer was good-looking and likely hadn’t lacked for suitors since he was young. He wasn’t very clever, slow to react, and when pushed too far, his eyes would redden and he’d blurt out insults. That sight of him with his eyes flushed pink at the corners was somehow even more enticing.

People who liked him probably deliberately said even harsher things.

It was like catching a soft cat and needing to flip it over to see its tender belly, a masochist gleefully watching the kitten wave its claws in the air, meowing angrily, getting even more excited in the process.

Could he have thought that was what I meant?

He pressed his lips together, then offered a flimsy excuse, 【I haven’t been sleeping well lately, just wanted to find someone to chat with. I don’t really have friends. Forget it if it bothers you.】

A man blinded by lust could invent any excuse to get what he wanted.

And Lin Linya actually believed it. His current mood was pure guilt. How could he have maliciously assumed such things about someone else? They hadn’t meant it that way at all.

It was the kind of thing where, waking up in the middle of the night, you’d want to slap yourself and scream, “I’m such a terrible person.”

He completely ignored the message barrage from a certain worrywart Old Father and, to show he didn’t mind, directly initiated a video call to Chu Fengyi.

It wasn’t until the man appeared on the other end of the video that Lin Linya suddenly felt belatedly uneasy. He didn’t like phone calls, let alone video calls; he didn’t even video call his family that often…

His pale fingers fidgeted awkwardly with his pajamas. “Bro Chu.”

“Hm,” Chu Fengyi responded.

Because he was wearing earphones, the man’s voice sounded as if it were right by the shell of his ear, so close he could almost feel the deep vibration emanating from his throat. A numb, tingling sensation spread through his ear canal.

Even though he was the one who initiated the call, now that it was connected, he wasn’t speaking, just staring at him with an appraising, deep gaze.

His eyes and lips were still rosy, his soft hair pressed against the pillow, his phone held by his slender, pale fingers. From this angle…

It really resembled young couples who, unwilling to part before sleep, still had to make one last call.

At that thought, Chu Fengyi’s Adam’s apple couldn’t help but bob.

Lin Linya met his intensely possessive stare and froze for a second. His voice grew smaller from unease. “Bro, why haven’t you been sleeping well lately?”

Chu Fengyi had been sleeping better than anyone, staying at home these past few days. When Lin Linya brought up his impromptu excuse again, he just hummed vaguely, “A lot on my mind, so I can’t sleep.”

Lin Linya was a pretty-faced male college student with an empty head, basically having nothing to worry about day to day.

But he was very thoughtful, offering soft comfort, “The more you think, the more troubles you have. Bro, if you have any worries, you can tell me. My lips are sealed tight, I definitely won’t tell anyone.”

Chu Fengyi let out a short laugh.

He couldn’t resist reaching out, using his fingertip to trace the soft-looking cheek on the phone screen, gliding from Lin Linya’s hair down to his face, then to the collarbone peeking out from his pajamas.

Yet his mouth didn’t hold back its mockery, “What use would telling you be? When you run into trouble, you just stand there with red eyes, going ‘What do I do, what do I do?’ Dumb as hell.”

His well-intentioned comfort met with such a remark, Lin Linya’s eyes suddenly widened, and he protested, “Why would you say that about me? I’m very smart! Ever since I was little, my parents praised me for being smart. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have gotten into S University.”

Whether he learned it from somewhere or it was just natural talent, his sentences always dragged out their final syllable, like he was whining. No wonder his fans called him a little voice-changer.

He hadn’t noticed a single thing amiss.

Chu Fengyi sneered, offering no comment on his claim.

Lin Linya shrank deeper into his blanket, only a sliver of his face visible. His raven-black lashes rested against skin like white jade. Remembering his earlier embarrassment, he grumbled his complaint, “Bro, next time be clearer when you talk. I almost thought…”

Chu Fengyi raised an eyebrow. “Thought what?”

Lin Linya was about to answer when something dawned on him. He instantly blushed, fingers clenching the blanket nervously. He stammered, “N-nothing.”

His eyes darted away, utterly unable to look at Chu Fengyi.

Chu Fengyi was utterly captivated by his coy appearance. He narrowed his eyes slightly, his voice dropping to a husky whisper. His gaze traveled downward as he drawled, “Thought I wanted to see you down there?”

His expression was peculiar. He suddenly asked, “May I?”

Lin Linya’s brain short-circuited into mush. “S-see what?”

He almost suspected his ears were malfunctioning. How else could such words come from Chu Fengyi’s perpetually impatient, seemingly ascetic face?

Swallowing hard repeatedly, Chu Fengyi opened his mouth and said something that, in retrospect, even he would think was insane: “The fans say yours is pink. Is it true? Let me see.”

“…”

A beat later, realizing what he was referring to, Lin Linya was so flustered tears nearly sprang to his eyes. Even through the screen, he could feel Chu Fengyi’s abnormally fervent gaze.

The patch of skin under that gaze felt like it was burning.

Flushed with shame and anger, he suddenly raised his voice, “Are you crazy?!”

And with a snap, he ended the video call.

How could a guy be concerned about whether another guy’s… that… was pink or not?… Lin Linya thought. He wasn’t a real idiot; the conversation just now had far exceeded normal friend boundaries.

Did Chu Fengyi think he wouldn’t realize?!

Lin Linya didn’t want to talk to him anymore. Even when Chu Fengyi sent him apologetic messages afterward, he pretended not to see them.

Like an ostrich, he buried his head in his pillow, holding his breath until his face turned red, then secretly turned his head to gasp for air through his mouth.

After being hung up on, Chu Fengyi was silent for a few seconds. Resignedly, he got up and went into the bathroom to deal with some indescribable physiological needs.

When he came out, it was late at night, water still dripping from his hair. He opened the door to the balcony, and a wave of hot air hit him, clashing against his skin just rinsed with cold water.

He stood on the balcony and lit a cigarette, watching the smoke curl and burn from its tip, diffusing in the pitch-black, lightless night.

The tiny glow of the ember illuminated his sharp brow bone and jawline.

Thinking of someone who might still be awake at this hour, he held his phone in one hand, lips tight, and carefully composed a message to Sprite: 【Hey, I have a friend…】

【Sprite: Bro, what did you do now?】

A vein throbbed on Chu Fengyi’s forehead. He took a deep breath and calmly continued, 【It’s my friend.】

【Sprite: Alright, alright, your friend. Then what?】

The corner of Chu Fengyi’s eye twitched. He barely resisted the urge to delete the contact.

He patiently typed out his plea for advice, 【He couldn’t help himself and said some inappropriate things to a clueless kid. How can he win him back?】

Inside the quiet D.K training base, where normally only keyboard clacks could be heard, a sudden burst of raucous laughter and table-slapping erupted.

Sprite, having laughed himself to tears, wiped his eyes and replied, 【Hahaha, didn’t I say you were online dating lately? You still wouldn’t admit it. It’s not that little streamer, is it?】

【But seriously, is your online sweetheart genuinely that innocent, or just playing dumb? Who doesn’t know anything these days? Bro, you’re not being played, are you?】

He snickered slyly, 【That little streamer is seriously good-looking. It’s no shame to be smitten. Oh, by the way, does he know you’re a virgin?】

He was about to keep going, having typed out a massive block of text, but before he could finish and send it, an exclamation mark suddenly popped up on his screen.

【You are no longer a contact of the other party. To send messages again, please initiate a friend verification.】

Sprite: …

He humbly sent a new friend request, 【Bro, I know I was wrong!!!】