19

 Lu Xing paused, just about to ask Xie Zhiyan what he was doing inside, when he heard a faint sound from inside the door.

The school dormitory was fairly soundproof, but if you stood close enough, you could still hear what the people inside were doing.

Lu Xing froze on the spot.

He thought he would turn away arrogantly, or push the door open and create a fight to the death. But he did nothing.

Or rather, he couldn't move at all.

The sound inside was very unclear, vaguely reaching his ears, like two people chatting. After he came to his senses, Lu Xing realized that his back was covered in sweat.

"Do you have a cigarette?" Zhou Yanming suddenly asked.

Lu Xing subconsciously reached into his coat pocket, and after finding nothing, he was slightly taken aback: "I quit."

There were quite a few boys on the basketball team who smoked, and Song Yu would always stay far away when he saw them.

It was obvious who he quit smoking for.

Zhou Yanming didn't say anything more. He didn't know how much time had passed, so long that the two of them started to stiffen, before the door was finally opened.

Xie Zhiyan glanced up at the two standing in the doorway, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes, but he quickly regained his composure. He closed the door, his voice cold and sarcastic: "I didn't realize you two had this kind of hobby."

Zhou Yanming's face darkened.

He had always thought Lu Xing was the rival, but he hadn't expected Xie Zhiyan to be even more cunning.

"I didn't expect you to take advantage of someone in distress."

"Take advantage of someone in distress?" Xie Zhiyan slowly picked up his phone. His screen saver was a photo of him and Song Yu. The other two were stunned when they saw it, then desperately suppressed their jealousy.

"He sent you photos first?" Xie Zhiyan opened the album. The photo was taken on a basketball court, but a sliver of a leg was visible in the lower right corner.

Zhou Yanming and Lu Xing could both recognize it.

Xie Zhiyan seemed intent on striking while the iron was hot, getting rid of the two stray dogs at once: "Song Yu went to the court before, also to take pictures of me."

"We're dating."

The two tall sports students opposite him were stunned again.

Xie Zhiyan saw their expressions. He put away his phone, leaving with the words, "Remember to be quiet, he's resting now."

*

On the day Xie Zhiyan left school, Song Yu pretended not to see the message and didn't go to see him off. Only after confirming that he had left did he finally breathe a sigh of relief.

This competition would take him out of the province for a whole week, and Song Yu immediately felt much more relaxed.

His main task this week was to ignore Xie Zhiyan, believing that with his arrogant personality, Xie Zhiyan would take the initiative to break up with him after he treated him like this.

On the other hand, the plot progress bar also needed to be fast-paced.

Song Yu wanted to bully Zhou Yanming as before, but recently, for some reason, the other party had been spending all his time with the team, leaving early and returning late, and he was nowhere to be seen.

Song Yu only found out the reason when he happened to run into the vice-captain in the cafeteria.

Zhou Yanming seemed to have broken up with his girlfriend and was in a bad mood.

Song Yu felt guilty: [009, did he confess to Xie Zhiyan? Was he rejected?]

For the somewhat oblivious host, 009 didn't break the ice: [The second male lead did not confess to the protagonist.] Song

Yu was now confused. That evening, he waited specifically for Zhou Yanming to return and asked him what was wrong, but the other man was unwilling to say, vaguely mentioning that he wasn't feeling well.

Song Yu didn't press further.

But it wasn't right to bully someone who was feeling down, so he temporarily turned his attention to Lu Xing.

Lu Xing was quite free, and Song Yu saw him several times a day.

But Lu Xing didn't seem like someone to be trifled with, so Song Yu could only bully him secretly.

—For example, he would audit Lu Xing's classes, deliberately taking up a large seat next to him; he would hand Lu Xing water straight from the refrigerator while watching basketball games; he would use Lu Xing's laundry detergent when doing laundry in the washroom.

Besides that, Song Yu couldn't think of any other ways.

The methods were effective, and the progress bar slowly increased. However, Lu Xing was very alert and seemed to have noticed something.

Finally, one time, when Song Yu secretly splashed some water from rinsing clothes on Lu Xing's arm, the boy couldn't help but look over.

Song Yu became a little nervous. He thought he'd get a warning from Lu Xing, but instead, the other guy suddenly asked, "Is that person who's been harassing you still messaging you?"

Song Yu hadn't expected him to ask that: "No..."

Lu Xing: "Want to see a movie?"

Song Yu gave a soft "Ah." He hesitated for a moment, about to refuse, when a voice came from behind: "What movie?"

The two looked over and saw Zhou Yanming with a blank face, speaking casually: "Our team's pretty free, let's go see one together."

Lu Xing scoffed, too lazy to reply.

Zhou Yanming didn't like to act cool like Lu Xing, so when Song Yu didn't agree, he shamelessly pestered him, saying he was feeling down lately and needed to relax, asking if he could keep him company.

Seeing that he did look quite tired lately, Song Yu softened and agreed.

So, this romantic movie, which should have been suitable for young couples, was booked out by a group of grown men from the team.

Zhou Yanming booked the whole theater, so naturally, he arranged his seat next to Song Yu. Lu Xing, who hadn't planned to come, sat in a seat far away from Song Yu with a sour face.

Song Yu didn't have classes recently and arrived early.

He watched Zhou Yanming tear open the straw for him, then leaned closer and whispered, "Have you been feeling down lately?"

Zhou Yanming's fingers curled slightly as he arranged the cola before he said in a hurt voice, "I don't look for you, and you don't look for me either."

Song Yu felt a little ashamed and didn't know how to answer for a moment.

After a while, Zhou Yanming continued, "The person I like doesn't like me."

Sure enough.

The second male lead can't be with the protagonist, it seems Zhou Yanming has realized this too.

Seeing his downcast expression, Song Yu said, "You'll definitely meet someone who likes you." He

was incredibly slow to react, but his tone was sincere.

Zhou Yanming had been struggling with his thoughts for the past few days, so when he first learned that Song Yu liked Xie Zhiyan, he was devastated.

Song Yu liked someone else... but he was already in love.

He liked Song Yu.

What should he do?

For twenty years, his good family education had made him an open and upright person, causing him to struggle on the edge of morality countless times.

Should he be a backup option?

Zhou Yanming struggled for many days, deliberately avoiding Song Yu, and he looked haggard.

But at this moment, sitting next to the boy, watching the same movie with him, buying him snacks… an overwhelming sense of happiness filled Zhou Yanming's heart, slowly squeezing out everything that had been tormenting him these past few days.

He just wanted to stay by his side.

Even being a backup option was fine.

*

Auditorium.

The boy who had been enveloped in the beam of light stepped down from the stage with his trophy, refusing all interviews from reporters. He returned to his seat and hurriedly checked his phone.

Song Yu's reply was still from two days ago.

Xie Zhiyan had said before leaving that he would be busy this week and wouldn't be able to reply to messages promptly. But unexpectedly, Song Yu was even busier than him.

Was he upset that he hadn't spent time with him?

Opening his call log, Xie Zhiyan called back, but no one answered. He then opened WeChat and took a picture of the trophy.

Xie Zhiyan: [First place.]

From childhood to adulthood, he had won countless championships but had never boasted about them to anyone. But now, he desperately wanted praise from the boy.

After waiting for ten minutes without a reply, Xie Zhiyan turned off the screen and followed the teacher and other contestants through the follow-up procedures. It wasn't

until after 7 PM that everything was finally finished.

Xie Zhiyan returned to his hotel room and looked at the WeChat message that popped up on his phone, finally managing a smile.

However, when he opened it, it wasn't Song Yu's reply, but a message from their basketball team's group chat.

Someone had tagged Zhou Yanming.

[What's going on?] "Didn't you say you were heartbroken? How come you're back to normal?" " No way, Captain

, you've already moved on so quickly?" " But lately, hasn't the Captain been

sticking to his roommate? He hasn't met any new people. " "Huh? Why am I seeing Lao Lu and Song Yu ? " 

Huh ? ... Since Xie Zhiyan participated in the competition, Song Yu had been treating him coldly. 

Xie Zhiyan seemed to have sensed something, and stopped messaging him, even failing to inform him of his return to school. 

Song Yu wasn't sure if this counted as a breakup, and could only wait for Xie Zhiyan to make the first move. That weekend, when Zhou Yanming took him to the school's swimming pool for lessons, he saw Xie Zhiyan again after a long absence. 

Song Yu had just finished a lap and was feeling weak, sitting in the poolside rest area, wrapped in a bathrobe that was clearly too big for him. 

A glass of orange juice sat on the table, and he was slowly sipping it through a straw, watching Zhou Yanming's swimming style to try and memorize it, when someone suddenly called his name. 

"Song Yu." Perhaps because the pool was empty, Xie Zhiyan's voice was colder than usual: 

"Go to the changing room, let's talk." Song Yu knew that Xie Zhiyan was here to formally break up with him. 

He put down his drink and was about to get up when someone pressed down on his shoulder. 

Zhou Yanming was dripping water, clearly in a hurry to get out of the water. He glanced lazily at Xie Zhiyan: "Is there anything we can't say here?" Xie Zhiyan's eyes were dark, and he didn't speak, only fixing his gaze firmly on Song Yu. 

To ensure the plot would continue smoothly, Song Yu got up and sent Zhou Yanming away: "You go swimming first, don't you have class this afternoon? Don't wait for me." Zhou Yanming's hands were empty, and he looked dejected, but he didn't say anything more. 

The swimming pool here had individual changing rooms, but they were expensive, so hardly anyone used them. Song Yu followed behind Xie Zhiyan, walking down the corridor, his footsteps echoing. 

Xie Zhiyan opened the door, looked over, and gestured for him to come in. 

There was a damp, dusty smell in the air. Song Yu sniffed as he entered, and Xie Zhiyan locked the door behind him, the latch making a crisp sound. 

Song Yu's shoulders trembled, and his legs inexplicably went weak. Turning around, Xie Zhiyan was already walking towards him. 

"He listens to you a lot." Song Yu paused, then realized that the 

"he" in the other person's words must refer to Zhou Yanming. Both Xie Zhiyan and Lu Xing had said similar things to him. 

Song Yu didn't like hearing people talk about Zhou Yanming like that. He frowned: "What do you want to talk to me about?" Xie Zhiyan stared intently, then suddenly chuckled: "When you neglected me, were you always with him?" 

Song Yu felt a shadow looming over him and instinctively backed away, but his waist bumped against the cold edge of the table. Xie Zhiyan had cornered him, almost unable to suppress the rising jealousy, 

"How did you train him into an obedient dog?" 

"Like you trained me, did you even kiss him?"

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