Chapter 1: 1. Contract

The cover image is from 偷偷藏不住 novel by 竹已. I found it on Pinterest and did a reverse google search for the credit. I have not read the book—the art just matched well with this story so I’ll keep it for now. Open to change. 

Warning

Any attempts at similar actions from this story may have varying results.

All characters and events are fictitious and don’t have any affiliation to real-life characters or events.

Chapter warning

-Underage drinking

—

“Seren! Why are you leaving already? The party just started!”

Seren turned around to mouth an apology to Inaas before weaving through the crowd. She had gotten a notification on a novel that was painstakingly posted only once a month. The chapter before left off on a major plot point and cliffhanger so she was eagerly anticipating this update for a while now. She sped up as she made her way out of the party and into the cool evening, rushing home. 

Of course, she made sure Inaas, who had a bit too much to drink, was safe with their other friend, Thea, before leaving. It was a frat party after all.

Seren didn’t even bother turning on the lights, only kicking her shoes off hurriedly and sprawling on the floor beside her bed to open the chapter on her phone.

The latest chapter was titled “Notice”. She paused after scanning the content.

Indefinite hiatus

The words hit her like a train. She frantically scrolled to the comments section, holding onto hope but it was soon crushed when she saw the translator’s comment “free for anyone to pick up”.

There were comments under it lamenting the series and thanking the translator for their work.

Seren threw her phone on the bed and curled on the floor. “Why at this time?” She groaned. “Dropping it at the next chapter would’ve been fine, it just had to be this one ugh!”

She accidentally knocked over one of her plants while rolling around on the floor which only made her more frustrated. Seren lay in a fetal position to avoid knocking anything else until her phone started vibrating. She ignored it but it infuriatingly didn’t stop. 

“Hello?” She picked up, unable to hide the impatience in her tone.

“Seren!” Inaas’s slurred screech was ear-piercing.

Seren winced and moved the phone a bit away. 

“Stop, give me your phone,” Thea's muffled voice sounded through the chaotic background. “Sorry, she really wanted to call you because the house we were at got a noise complaint and we ran into a welcoming event and decided to join. It’s for the new exchange students in your department.”

A rejection was on the tip of her tongue, but she regretted not drinking a bit while mourning one of her favorite series. “Okay, send me the address,” she said. 

Her current outfit wasn’t mean for a welcoming event so she zipped up a long jacket and fixed her hair before heading out again.

The event was held at a nearby bar, she shouldn’t have too much trouble getting back to her apartment after a few drinks then. She was only nineteen but the University environment made it way too easy to get alcohol. Although not the type to drink her problems away, she really wanted to drown out her sorrows right now.

She arrived at a dimly lit and lively gathering, skimming through the crowd and found her two friends at a booth. 

“Seren!” Inaas spotted her first and waved her over.

“Don’t drink too much, you have a morning class tomorrow,” Seren reminded as she sat down.

It was the start of their spring quarter so everyone was partying it up before classes got too serious which is why there was a party on a Sunday. Luckily, she only had an afternoon class tomorrow—she could relax tonight.

Inaas pretended she didn’t hear her and introduced everyone. “This is Seren, she’s the one actually in your department.” 

Seren nodded to the people at the table. They were all acquainted so it was comfortable enough.

She disliked the taste of alcohol but still wanted the experience so she decided to go search for something like soju. She doubted they had it but it was worth a shot. Lychee soju would be so good right now.

Seren was drawn to a table with bottles she’d never seen before. One of the girls at the table noticed and said, “These were brought as housewarming gifts from the exchange students. You probably can’t find a more authentic taste of Taiwan here.” The girl held out a clear shot.

Seren accepted it and brought it up to her nose. It had a fruity scent so she gladly downed the shot.

The liquid burned the whole way down her throat and she thought it would be accompanied by a sweet aftertaste, but all she got was something that tastes like ashtray leftovers.

The girl who offered the drink giggled. “Congratulations on your rite of passage, it’s Kaoliang with 92% alcohol. It was also a double shot glass by the way.”

Seren was speechless. Two shots of 92% alcohol? She was a complete lightweight only ever drinking a few times with 12.5% at the most which would still make her extremely hungover.

She decided to make her way to the restroom before it really hit her but her steps were already unsteady. She somehow stumbled into the restroom and braced herself over the sink, feeling a scorching burn from her throat down to her stomach that made her sick. She tried to rinse her mouth but the ashtray and rubber aftertaste didn’t lessen.

The door behind her opened and she hazily raised her head to look in the mirror. A boy who just entered paused as they made eye contact through the reflection.

Was this a unisex restroom?

She didn’t have time to ponder much more before gagging as the nauseous feeling boiled over the top. She could make out the boy silently leaving through her teary vision and sighed in relief.

Nothing came up but she continued to dry heave a few times until the feeling went away. She stooped down in a crouch and shallowly breathed to soothe herself. She didn’t know how long she was there for, only thankful that no one else came in to see her sorry figure.

Her ears were ringing and the pounding in her head was deafening so she jumped when she suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder.

Seren whirled around but the action was too fast and made her dizzy again. She slowly lifted her head and felt a warm palm at the side of her face. She looked at the hand covering her head from colliding into the sink and followed the arm up to the face of the boy from earlier.

She blinked at him.

“Water.” He replaced his hand with the cool touch of a water bottle.

“Thanks.” She said, accepting it. 

He watched her uncoordinated movements of reaching out and decided to unscrew the cap before handing it over. She inevitably spilled more than she drank so he confiscated it in the end.

“Can you get up?” He asked, looking at her skeptically.

“Yes, just a bit lightheaded.” She sluggishly stood up and once again braced herself with the sink. “I should probably look for my friends.”

She took a step towards the door but her whole world began to spin and she floundered for something to hold.

“You shouldn’t drink just anything strangers give you.” Seren heard the voice close to her side as she felt arms steady her.

She nodded at the low and pleasant voice near her ear and let him guide her out. They passed a yellow closed sign outside the door and she wondered if it was there earlier. It hurt too much to think so she stopped trying.

You are reading story Asking the Exchange Student to Translate my Danmei at novel35.com

There were fewer people now and the people that were still here were all cleaning or drunkenly hunched over.

They both came to the same conclusion but the boy voiced it first. “Your friends may have already left.” He deadpanned.

Seren didn’t blame them, she often ditched or sneaked away from these events so it wouldn’t make sense to assume anything else. They were probably back at the dorms already which was farther than her apartment.

“What’s your address?” The boy walked them over to a corner with fresh air and asked.

Seren shot him a distrustful look. “Thank you for your help, I can go by myself.” 

Her mind ran through the boy’s actions. She had read countless articles and listened to enough true crime podcasts to question his ulterior motives for kindness. Who did anything to purely help a stranger in this day and age?

The boy only raised a brow and stopped supporting her, stepping backward to give her space to leave.

Seren instantly staggered and fell towards the window. Before her head hit the glass, she was once again pulled into an embrace.

The boy sighed exasperatedly after proving his point. “Here is my ID, you can take a picture of it and send it to everyone in your contacts if you’d like. I just don’t want to be summoned to the police station if you meet an unfortunate end tonight, don’t overthink it.”

Seren looked at the card.

Yu Yanning, 4th year political science National Taiwan University exchange student.

There was a small picture of the same boy with shorter hair and a limpid smile. Seren glanced up at Yu Yanning and then down at the card again. She did this multiple times.

“Do you want my social security number as well?”

“…no need, let’s go.” She said quietly.

Yu Yanning chuckled. “Not taking a picture?” 

Seren looked at him again. His smile right now looked way better than the picture.

“Not taking.” She replied and gave him her address. She felt clear-headed, but her actions proved the opposite. She couldn’t control her limbs and had a delayed reaction to things so they took double the normal amount of time to get to her apartment because she had to be dragged along.

When they arrived at the door, she didn’t feel like trying to input the code as she would probably do it wrong and get locked out so she just told him: “The code is 0813, I’m changing it tomorrow.” 

Yu Yanning looked at her blankly. 

After a chaotic night, she was finally ushered into her home. From the doorway, she spotted the broken potted plant she didn’t clean earlier and was instantly reminded of why she wanted to drink.

Uncontrollable tears welled up and began plopping down.

“Okay, I’m leaving, do remember to change your lock tomorrow—“ Yu Yanning tilted his head to look at her with a bewildered expression, unable to finish his sentence.

-

When she was woken up by her alarm the next morning, her memory had stopped there. The look of confusion and panic on Yu Yanning’s face was permanently etched into her mind.

Seren vowed to not drink anytime soon. 

Though strangely, she didn’t have a hangover at all—she felt good. She leisurely replied to her friends' messages while getting ready and then attended class peacefully, intending to forget the whole embarrassing situation.

She checked her phone after class to see if her friends had planned anything and she saw a new saved contact message.

Yu Yanning: (Cafe address)

Seren: ???

Yu Yanning: Your class should be done now right? Come.

What do you do when the dark history you wanted to bury comes knocking at your door? She couldn’t be discourteous to someone who helped her so much last night so she placed one unwilling foot over the other and listlessly walked to the cafe.

Yu Yanning was sitting at a table outside. She sat down opposite him and recited her practiced speech in one breath. “I shouldn’t have taken random drinks from a stranger and I won’t do it again. Thank you for saving me from being on the news today and preventing yourself from being summoned to the police station. I will treat you to make up for it. If it still isn’t enough, you can tell me what else you want.”

Yu Yanning paused, then burst out laughing. “I thought you seemed sober enough back then, but I was very wrong,” He said. “Actually, I should’ve known because it was the men’s restroom. Otherwise, you would do really well as an actor.” He even gave her a double thumbs up.

Each sentence was a critical hit to her self-image. She hadn’t even realized she was in the men's restroom until now. This was another piece of dark history she desperately wanted to bury. 

“Sorry for inconveniencing you.” She said with her head lowered.

“Hmm, anything else?”

Seren glanced up and the expectant look on his face which gave her a bad feeling…

“You didn’t forget our contract did you?” 

“Contract?” She didn’t sign off on one of her rights in a drunken bout, did she?!

“I’m disappointed, I spent all night reading and then translating the chapter for you and you can’t even remember our agreement?”

Yu Yanning waved the cover of a familiar online novel with two men embracing each other airily. 

“…”

Seren Le you are never allowed to drink ever again!!!

—

The characters in Yu Yanning’s name are 雨 Yǔ (rain) 晏 Yàn (quiet/late) 宁 Níng (tranquility/peace)

Seren is pronounced Sair-ren. 

Inaas is pronounced Ee-naus

Thea is pronounced Thee-ah

—

Follow the next chapter to see how this agreement came to be~ 

Thank you for reading 

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