Chapter 26: 26

The slap was a bit harder than Kou Chen thought, and the sound it made was also a bit louder.

So in just a second, Huo Ran had sat up from where he was snoring away. 

He looked confused, hair messy and eyes unfocused.

Looks like he didn’t know that he was just slapped awake.

“Awake?” Kou Chen asked tentatively.

“Hm?” Huo Ran stared at him blankly and yawned, before asking in surprise, “Kou Chen? Why are you here?” 

“We’re all here,” Kou Chen pointed at the living room. “Everyone’s here, you’re the only one that’s not up yet.”

“Fuck, it’s just dinner,” Huo Ran rubbed his eyes and yawned again, “Are you guys orange cats or what?”

“Look at the time, if we were really orange cats you would be scratched to death now.” Kou Chen showed him his phone.

“…I slept for that long?” Huo Ran laughed and rubbed his face before getting out from under the blankets.

Kou Chen looked at him, he was shirtless, only wearing a pair of pajama pants.

He was pretty fit, a basketball team captain indeed. But… Kou Chen was a bit shocked.

Above Huo Ran’s waist were two scars, stretching from his back to his front.

“Where did those come from?” He pointed at Huo Ran’s waist, lifting his arm and looking around him, “Holy shit, did you get slashed?” 

“I fell,” Huo Ran looked down, “I fell in a ditch when I went out with my dad before, it was pretty deep.”

“Fuck,” Kou Chen lowered his voice, “That serious? How old were you?”

“Elementary. There were broken branches on the side and it just cut through.” Huo Ran rubbed the scar, “You better not go ask my dad about it.”

“Why not?” Kou Chen looked towards the living room. Through the opened door he could see Huo Ran’s dad laughing as he chatted with Xu Zhifan and the others. 

“It happened in the middle of the night,” Huo Ran whispered. “It was half an hour before my dad found me, I even screamed myself to sleep down there… My mom almost divorced him because of it.”

“If it were my mom she would’ve.” Kou Chen said.

“Didn’t you say you’re just a bit more important than Shuaishuai?” Huo Ran looked at him.

“Are you trying to provoke me?” Kou Chen tsked, before asking, “Then how did she let you go out again? Did you keep going with your dad? Or did you go alone?” 

“Because I like it.” Huo Ran smiled.

“…How open-minded.” Kou Chen said.

“Get out,” Huo Ran stood up, “I’m changing.”

“It’s not like you’re a girl, why are you hiding?” Kou Chen leaned onto the nearby bookcase thing full of models and tools with not a book in sight, “You’ve even seen my ass.” 

Huo Ran had just opened his closet to pick out some clothes. Hearing that, he looked back.

“What? Are you gonna say you never did?” Kou Chen said. “You’ve seen both the front and back.”

Huo Ran didn’t say anything, he only tugged his pants and turned back around.

Kou Chen immediately started laughing: “You’re so cute, if you were a girl I’d give up my life for you.” 

“No way, I’d have to deal with the body,” Huo Ran sighed, putting on a shirt and tugging on some sweatpants. “If I were a girl, would you still wake me up by slapping me?”

“…Fuck?” Kou Chen froze.

“You think I didn’t know?” Huo Ran glanced at him.

“Fuck,” Kou Chen was still frozen, “How did you know?” 

“I woke up to someone slapping me, how did I know?” Huo Ran glared, clenching the pants in his hand, “Maybe I was too sleepy at first, it would’ve only taken a couple seconds to realize!”

“I didn’t slap you,” Kou Chen moved towards the door, “Don’t exaggerate, I just patted you…”

He started running.

But he couldn’t dodge the pair of pants that was whipped towards him. 

“Ah!” He yelled, running into the living room.

It startled everyone, and they all turned to look at him.

“What?” Xu Zhifan asked.

“He’s mad, he hit me.” Kou Chen said. 

“Ranran!” Huo Ran’s mom raised her voice, “How could you hit someone?”

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Huo Ran glanced back at him. It was just five and a half steps from the bathroom door to the couch, and he had already put on an ‘It’s a miracle a big mafia boss like me would say something like that’ expression.

They usually went for barbeque whenever they got together, and the barbeque business was booming before winter had even officially set in, but this was the first time they got a private room. 

“Is it that hard to understand?” Xu Zhifan asked. “You gotta make a reservation for this place, and their tables only fit six. With the seven of us and all the meat, we can only get a private room, that way we can get more food at once.”

“I didn’t even know they had private rooms.” Jiang Lei said.

“I also just found out.” Xu Zhifan said.

“Did you barbecue when you were camping?” Wei Chaoren asked. 

“How are we supposed to barbeque?” Kou Chen said. “It’s already good enough that we had something to eat.”

“That miserable?” Wei Chaoren looked at them in pity.

“…The stuff is annoying to carry.” Huo Ran went along with Kou Chen.

“A hundred pounds of stuff each,” Kou Cchen said, “We had to climb, build our own bridge, and there were wolves and bear traps and… snakes!” 

Huo Ran didn’t usually talk about his outings, so everyone believed what Kou Chen said.

As the only one that had gone out with him, Jiang Lei called it into question.

“Huo Ran,” Jiang Lei looked at him, “How come you didn’t take me on such a cool trail!”

“…Scared you couldn’t take it.” Huo Ran could only say. 

“Didn’t you dislocate something?” Kou Chen said, “You would’ve broken something if you went on this trail.”

Huo Ran sighed.

Shut up already! The one Jiang Lei went on was at least three levels harder!

“Fuck,” Jiang Lei thought about it, “You’re right.” 

“Ah,” Kou Chen moved his arm, about to say something else when he suddenly paused and looked past them, “Is that our school nurse?”

“Where?” Xu Zhifan and Xu Chuan both immediately started looking.

A few seconds later, they saw a woman standing in a parking space at the restaurant across from them.

It really did look like the school nurse, she just wasn’t wearing her white coat and she had her hair down as opposed to the ponytail she usually had it in. She looked very fashionable, and they almost didn’t recognize her. 

She stood beside a car with the door open, the person inside was holding her hand and she was saying something.

“A date?” Hu Yi squinted at them, asking.

“What kind of date is that?” Xu Zhifan said. “One wants to leave but the other won’t let them.”

“Are we going?” Kou Chen asked. 

“Yes.” Xu Chuan said as he stepped forwards.

“Hold on,” Xu Zhifan held him back, “We don’t know what’s happening yet, what if it’s just a couple’s quarrel? If we go we might ruin their chance to act cute and strengthen their relationship…”

“Damn, are you speaking from experience?” Xu Chuan looked at him.

“Just guessing.” Xu Zhifan said. 

They stopped about ten meters away and looked over.

A moment later, the school nurse tried to take her hand back, but the person in the car wouldn’t let her go.

“That doesn’t look right?” Huo Ran said.

“Let’s go.” Kou Chen said. 

They immediately headed over, but just a couple steps forward, they heard her yell angrily: “Let go! What are you doing!”

And then she tried to struggle out of the grip.

“Tao Rui!” Xu Chuan yelled.

Kou Chen was confused: “Who’s Tao Rui?” 

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“The school nurse.” Xu Zhifan explained as he ran over with Xu Chuan.

The rest of them quickly followed.

“You two even found out her name?” Wei Chaoren said.

“Is it that hard to find out the school nurse’s name?” Xu Zhifan said. 

Tao Rui looked back and relaxed as soon as she saw they were running over. She waved at them and forced out a greeting: “Where are you guys off to?”

“We were going to dinner, and then we saw you, what a…” Xu Zhifan rushed to the car, reaching into the car and twisting the person’s wrist without even seeing who it was, “Coincidence.”

The person inside hissed, grip loosening so he could pull Tao Rui’s hand away. 

“What’s going on?” Xu Chuan put himself in front of Tao Rui, keeping her away from the person in the car.

“Who are you?” The person got out, it was a man.

“Let’s go.” Tao Rui frowned, turning to leave.

The man shoved Xu Chuan, but he was prepared and didn’t budge. He reached out and grabbed the strap of Tao Rui’s bag: “Little Rui! Don’t go, let’s talk about it.” 

“No thanks, really. Don’t waste your breath on this, okay?” Tao Rui tried to tug her bag away.

“No, we have to talk.” The man didn’t let go, and they went back and forth on both sides of Xu Chuan. “Let’s both calm down…”

“Calm down my ass!” Xu Chuan yelled. “Let go of me! Or else you’ll get what’s coming!”

“Who are you guys? What is it to you if I’m having a disagreement with my girlfriend?” The man glared at him. 

“Stop being so embarrassing!” Tao Rui said. “We broke up months ago!”

Hearing that, Xu Zhifan was silent as he grabbed the back of the guy’s collar.

Hearing that this guy was an ex-boyfriend who kept going after her made him angry.

What kind of a man are you? 

Why are you still bothering her when you’ve broken up?

Although the space between two cars was limited, the bunch of them still squeezed in and started a commotion.

There wasn’t space for Huo Ran to fit in, but it looked like he wasn’t needed anyways. 

He pulled Tao Rui to the side after she successfully got free.

“Tell them to stop fighting,” Tao Rui said. “If the cops come the school will know, and it won’t just be a simple punishment.”

“It’s fine,” Kou Chen said calmly, “There isn’t even enough space to lift an arm.”

And that was when Huo Ran realized the king of fighting, Kou Chen, hadn’t joined them. 

Of course, maybe it was because he couldn’t be bothered to join in a pseudo-fight.

“Don’t get involved,” Kou Chen whispered in his ear, “This is Xu Zhifan and Xu Chuan’s chance to show off, those idiots are messing it up for them.”

“…Are they trying to ask her out?” Huo Ran started.

“No, they just like her.” Kou Chen said. “Are you stupid? You’ve never liked the pretty student teacher, the pretty daycare teacher, the pretty school nurse…?” 

“No,” Huo Ran looked at him. “I’m more interested in people my age?”

“Idiot! Not in that way!” Kou Chen looked at him like ‘my god come look at this idiot’, “Nevermind, I bet you’ve never liked anyone in that way either.”

“What way?” Huo Ran asked.

“The ‘if you were a girl I’d give my life up for you’ way.” Kou Chen said. 

“…I really haven’t.” Huo Ran narrowed his eyes, “You shouldn’t do that so easily, it’s hard to clean.”

“Looking for a fight, are you?” Kou Chen turned to him and growled.

“I can’t win against you.” Huo Ran laughed.

“You piss me off,” Kou Chen said. He spun around twice on the spot before throwing himself into the group of people, tugging them all away and shoving the guy in the middle. 

The guy staggered backwards and pointed at him, about to say something when Kou Chen smacked his hand away and pointed: “Don’t point at your daddy, I’ll beat you down to grandson when I’m pissed.”

The guy went silent, probably trying to get the generations straight.

“Keep bothering Tao Rui and it won’t be just a few shoves next time. I’m scared you won’t be able to take it.” Kou Chen said, menace showing through his calmness.

“What can a couple of brats like you do?” The guy was annoyed. 

“That you gotta ask them, I don’t have the final say.” Kou Chen nodded at Xu Zhifan and Xu Chuan.

Huo Ran inwardly applauded Kou Chen.

Good kid, not forgetting his friends even at a time like this.

Gotta show off together. 

Now that’s the real deal.

Before the guy could speak, Xu Zhifan waved his arm: “Let’s go.”

Under Xu Chuan and his lead, they all swaggered back to the restaurant.

  

They escorted Tao Rui down half a block before she started laughing: “You guys are really something.”

“Was that really your ex?” Xu Chuan asked.

“Mhm,” Tao Rui nodded. “Thank you guys for today, go eat now, I have to go back too.”

“Jiejie, have you eaten yet?” Xu Zhifan asked. “Join us? We reserved a room.” 

“I’m fine,” Tao Rui smiled, “Won’t it be awkward with me there? You won’t be able to say the things you want.”

“All they talk about is how the school nurse is so pretty and stuff,” Jiang Lei said. “What’s not able to be said?”

“Fuck.” Xu Chuan was a bit embarrassed.

They all started laughing. 

“Okay now, I’ll get a ride back. I haven’t eaten at home in days, I’ll gain weight.”  Tao Rui said. “Besides, What if I hear that you guys have done something bad? I’d feel guilty if I don’t tell Mr. Yuan, but then that’ll affect our friendship, won’t it?”

They didn’t push the matter, and they watched as her ride drove off into the distance before heading back.

“I bet that guy’s not done yet.” Hu Yi said. “He kept looking over here angrily.”

“Who’s scared of him?” Xu Chuan sneered, “Let him come.” 

“Our punishment hasn’t been decided yet anyways.” Xu Zhifan said. “If he’s not done then we’ll dish out another serving of justice.”

“Ah,” Huo Ran looked at Kou Chen. “Have you told your parents yet?”

“I’ll wait for you to come over,” Kou Chen said. “When are you free?”

“Any time, it depends.” Huo Ran said. 

“How about the day after tomorrow? Call me when you’re coming over, I’ll go…” Kou Chen looked at the calendar on his phone, “And then…”

“Wait,” Huo Ran started, “You’ll go?”

“Nonsense,” Kou Chen said. “What if my dad gets pissed? You want to see me get turned into a sausage on the spot?”

Huo Ran laughed: “No way, really. I bet I can make your dad understand that you were fighting for a good cause. I promise you won’t get turned into a sausage.” 

“Really?” Kou Chen slung an arm around his shoulders, “I never would’ve thought, Ranran.”

“Hm?” Huo Ran looked at him.

“You care about me so much.” Without hesitation, Kou Chen turned and pressed a kiss to his forehead, “MUA!”

Huo Ran froze for a few seconds before lowering his voice and cursing: “You’re dead!” 

The guys in front of them turned around and Xu Zhifan asked: “Who?”

“I’ll fucking show you MUAMUA!” Huo Ran grabbed Kou Chen’s collar and tugged him closer, placing kisses on his face, “MUA! MUA! MUA!”

It felt like he was slamming his face into a wall.

They all froze, before bursting out into laughter. 

“How is that?!” Huo Ran wiped his mouth.

Kou Chen was completely frozen, staring at him in shock.

“I’m asking you a question?” Huo Ran raised an eyebrow.

Kou Chen was still staring at him, and then he finally said: “Ah, fuck.” 

“Hm?” Huo Ran looked at him, feeling victorious.

Kou Chen laughed and raised his own eyebrow: “I forgot to take pictures.”

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