Chapter 36 Part 2

Liang Zhixia’s expression turned puzzled. He had no idea what Xu Cheng meant.

A guy sitting on the other side leaned in and whispered, “It’s a club for kicking back, eating whatever, no rules. No mandatory events, but you still get the credits.”

“We’ve got people in the Student Union.”

The guy pointed upward.

“…”

They weren’t even out in the real world yet, and already pulling strings like pros.

Liang Zhixia mulled it over for a moment before agreeing to sign up.

He fished a drink out of his bag—the one he’d bought during break—and handed it to Xu Cheng.

Xu Cheng arched a brow. “Thanks, junior.”

The moment Liang Zhixia walked away from Xu Cheng, the senior snapped a smug photo of the drink and fired it off to Lu Quan on the other side of the ocean.

“Junior’s the best. Gave me another drink. How’d he know this is my favorite flavor?”

A reply pinged back almost instantly—a single short line.

【Don’t drink it. Wait for me to get back.】

Xu Cheng had no intention of listening. Lu Quan couldn’t jet back right that second anyway. He gleefully twisted off the cap and chugged down half the bottle.

Meanwhile, Liang Zhixia had arranged via phone with Jiang Ling and Fan Li to meet up at the cafeteria.

As he left the recruitment area, he bumped right into Lin Jie.

Lin Jie flashed his pearly whites and scratched his head. “Xia Xia, did I bump you too hard?”

Liang Zhixia shook his head. “Nah.”

The guys with Lin Jie started whooping and hollering. “Xia Xia~ Did I bump you too hard~”

Lin Jie frowned faintly. “Cut the nonsense.”

The group burst into laughter, shoving and joking as they wandered off.

Lin Jie looked sheepish. “Don’t take their crap to heart.”

Liang Zhixia smiled. “No worries.”

Lin Jie had joined clubs back in his freshman year. Grinning, he said, “Want me to recommend a few fun ones?”

Liang Zhixia was just about to shake his head and mention he’d already signed up when Lin Jie said brightly, “I know one that’s perfect for you.”

That hooked his interest. “Which?”

Lin Jie replied, “Comics Club. Our school’s top dog—loaded with pros.”

Liang Zhixia’s mind turned, and he lifted a brow. “You in it too, big shot Lin Jie?”

Lin Jie’s face flushed red. He chuckled awkwardly. “Yeah, I’m in it, but I’m no pro. Tons of newbies like me.”

Liang Zhixia had always drawn comics in isolation, never mingling with the scene. Lin Jie’s words stirred something in him.

Then he remembered Lin Jie’s earlier promise. “You said last time that when we met again, you’d tell me how you knew my WeChat avatar was my own drawing.”

Lin Jie stepped closer, bending down to murmur in his ear. “You’re XiaXiaDoesntLikeSummer, right?”

Liang Zhixia’s pupils contracted. He shook his head, his lashes fluttering rapidly—his first instinct pure denial. “Not me.”

“XiaXiaDoesntLikeSummer” was his Weibo handle. He’d never breathed a word about it to anyone, and he sure hadn’t expected to get called out like this.

Lin Jie didn’t push for confirmation. “Your WeChat avatar’s one of a kind online. You posted it yourself back then, plastered with watermarks saying it was for personal use only.”

Liang Zhixia remembered now. Yeah, he’d said that, but it was years ago.

“You…” He opened his mouth. “…”

Lin Jie arched a brow. “It’s our little secret.”

Liang Zhixia let out a breath of relief, the corners of his mouth curving up. “Deal.”

At the same time, Xu Cheng was on video with Lu Quan. He was combing the area for Liang Zhixia because Lu Quan insisted on getting a look at his roommate.

Lu Quan had finally made a request—how could Xu Cheng, as his bro, not deliver?

At last, he spotted Liang Zhixia in front of the Comics Club booth. He started to head over, but Lu Quan’s voice came low. “Don’t go near.”

Xu Cheng lingered in the shade of a tree, angling the phone toward Liang Zhixia in the distance.

But the frame held not just Zhizhi—there was that irritating other guy too.

Stranded overseas, Lu Quan could only watch as the two stood close, heads bent in quiet conversation.

His deep eyes turned icy. He fired off a message to Zhizhi.

No response—maybe lost in the recruitment crowd’s chaos.

Irritation churned inside him. He drew a deep breath and told Xu Cheng, “You. Right now. Go over there and split them up.”

Xu Cheng stood and stretched his legs, tone baffled. “Why? Isn’t it good that junior’s making a new friend?”

To Xu Cheng, college was all about expanding your circle.

He eyed Lu Quan’s frosty expression in the video and suddenly got it. “Your possessiveness over your roommate runs that deep?!”

Aside from that unspoken chunk of their childhood, Xu Cheng remembered Lu Quan after middle school being fiercely possessive of his things—no one else got so much as a second glance.

These days, though, he masked it well.

That’s when it clicked.

Xu Cheng earnestly advised. “Junior’s his own person, man. Don’t get so territorial with him, okay? Save that for someone you actually like. Why him? Just ’cause he’s your roommate?”

Lu Quan’s gaze was frigid, his voice like cracking ice.

“He’s the one I like.”

Lu Quan’s bombshell coming-out caught Xu Cheng flat-footed.

He gaped, then clapped a hand over his face and let out a muffled yell. When heads turned, he ducked behind the tree and squatted down.

“You’re messing with me, right? Lu Quan? Talk to me!”

Lu Quan stayed cool as ever. “No joke.”

Xu Cheng yanked at his hair. “Do your parents know? How the hell did you fall for junior? When did this even start? Didn’t you hate his guts?”

Questions flooded his brain.

Lu Quan answered only the first. “I told them.”

Xu Cheng poked his head out from behind the tree, sneaking another glance at Liang Zhixia. But now it wasn’t just checking on junior—it was looking at his best friend’s crush.

Once Lu Quan latched onto something, good luck prying him off. Xu Cheng said flatly, “Does junior know?”

Lu Quan frowned. “Not yet. Don’t tell him.”

Xu Cheng scratched his head, face twisting in conflict. This was uncharted territory for him. “Junior doesn’t strike me as the type who likes guys.”

Lu Quan shot back, “He can only like me.”

“…”

Xu Cheng’s flood of advice dried up. Lu Quan was too damn fixated.

In the video, the man sat with his hands crossed on the table. The overhead light carved his features into sharper, darker lines.

Xu Cheng sucked in a breath. “Alright, I’ll go poke around for you.”

What choice did he have? Lu Quan had finally fallen for someone.

He didn’t end the call—just shoved the phone in his pocket. Halfway there, it hit him: he’d promised to play matchmaker for those two, and Lu Quan had been into him all along.

“…”

In front of the Comics Club booth, Liang Zhixia had just finished filling out the sign-up form when Xu Cheng’s voice cut in.

“Hm? Junior, you into comics?”

Liang Zhixia straightened up, surprised to see Xu Cheng wedged between him and Lin Jie. He nodded at the question. “Kinda interested.”

Xu Cheng lightly tapped his phone case, eyes flicking down to the name on the form. He smiled. “Nice handwriting, junior.”

Caught off guard by the compliment, Liang Zhixia said, “Thanks, senior.”

For the first time, Xu Cheng had no clue what to say next. The words stuck in his throat.

Keeping an eye on his bro’s crush? Way too awkward.

He would rather not have known about this at all.

So after successfully keeping his junior and Lin Jie from being alone together, he fired off a distress message to Qu Yizhou.

[Xu Cheng]: Save me! Save me! Do you know who Lu Quan likes?

[Xu Cheng]: He told me today—he likes his roommate!

[Xu Cheng]: The guy from last time, the one you met. He’s pretty good-looking!!!

[Xu Cheng]: How did my bro end up gay???

Ding-dong—

Qu Yizhou’s reply came through.

[Qu Yizhou]: I knew that already.

Xu Cheng’s vision went black, and he nearly fainted on the spot.

So he was the only clueless idiot who hadn’t known?

Meanwhile, on the other side.

Liang Zhixia turned down Lin Jie’s invitation to eat together. Jiang Ling and Fan Li were already waiting for him in the cafeteria.

What he hadn’t expected was Xu Cheng trailing right behind him all the way to the cafeteria.

And after they got their food, Xu Cheng even sat down with him.

Jiang Ling and Fan Li exchanged glances, silently digging into their meals while their eyes sparkled with gossip.

Liang Zhixia: “…”

He had known no one could resist the allure of gossip, but he couldn’t be the subject of it.

He picked up his chopsticks to eat, but he could feel Xu Cheng’s gaze lingering on his face the whole time. It made it impossible to get a bite down.

“Senior, is something wrong?”

Xu Cheng looked embarrassed for a moment, then his brows relaxed slightly. He pulled his phone from his pocket and handed it over.

The phone was slightly warm from being on a video call for so long.

Liang Zhixia glanced at it curiously, then froze, his mouth falling slightly open. “Brother Lu?”

Xu Cheng immediately fished out a small foldable phone stand from his pocket, propped the device up securely, picked up his chopsticks, and started shoveling food into his mouth.

Liang Zhixia was utterly baffled. He glanced at the intently eating Xu Cheng, then back at Lu Quan on the screen.

Lu Quan seemed to be in a restaurant, with a distinctive photo hanging in the background.

In the end, it was Lu Quan who spoke first.

“What’s Xia Xia eating?”

Liang Zhixia dutifully lifted his tray to show him. It was all ordinary, cheap cafeteria fare.

In return, he asked what Lu Quan was having.

Lu Quan flipped the camera around and patiently introduced each dish one by one in a low voice.

Once he finished, the screen showed Lu Quan’s face again.

Lu Quan: “Getting used to sleeping alone at night?”

Liang Zhixia nodded, puzzled. “Yeah, it’s fine.”

It was just a little too quiet.

Lu Quan picked up on the flicker of emotion in his eyes, his voice turning gentle. “I’ll be back at school soon.”

Liang Zhixia’s eyes widened slightly in surprise. The words slipped out before he could stop them. “Aren’t you on that business trip for a week?”

Lu Quan: “Who told you that?”

Him: “I saw it on Senior Xu Cheng’s Moments.”

Lu Quan gazed into Liang Zhixia’s clear eyes, a sudden wave of unease rising in his chest.

His voice came out a little hoarse. “Yeah, I’ll be back after a week.”

He had to return early, but he couldn’t let Zhizhi know.

Liang Zhixia glanced up at Xu Cheng, who was shrinking into himself like a quail, then back at Lu Quan on the video.

Just then, Lu Quan raised his hand, and Liang Zhixia’s gaze locked on instantly.

The watch on Lu Quan’s wrist was identical to the one L had been wearing the night before.

His eyes traced along Lu Quan’s well-defined fingers, one by one. In his mind, the image of L’s fingers overlapped perfectly—every length, contour, and line matched.

It seemed those coincidences weren’t coincidences after all.

Lu Quan was L.

L… was Lu Quan.