Chapter 73: 74

Huo Ran was following Kou Chen to yell at him. When the girl asked him for a selfie, Kou Chen was silent the whole time, and forget not helping him, he actually just up and left!

But now that Kou Chen suddenly got his phone out and asked that, he didn’t know what to say. 

“I want to post it.” Kou Chen said. “And say it’s the captain of our school basketball team…”

“Are you jealous?” Huo Ran blurted out.

“Huh?” Kou Chen stopped and looked at him.

Huo Ran cleared his throat, not saying anything. He had the feeling that something was wrong with himself. 

“Jealous my ass.” Kou Chen. “I already have plenty of people confessing to me, and she wasn’t even that pretty.”

“I think she was… quite pretty.” Huo Ran said.

“…Ranran, your taste disappoints me.” Kou Chen said.

“Really?” Huo Ran was uncertain. “I think she was pretty. Long hair and all.”

“Long hair?” Kou Chen asked.

“Mhm.” Huo Rna nodded.

“That’s it?” Kou Chen said.

Huo Ran started, unable to come up with another point at the moment. 

“Damn,” Kou chen pointed at him. “I’ll have Kou Xiao send me a wig tomorrow, let’s see if you’ll fucking say I’m pretty then!”

Huo Ran couldn’t help but laugh.

“Selfie! Yes or no?!” Kou Chen yelled impatiently.

“Sure, you’re the one that wants it, not me.” Huo Ran said. 

“Nevermind then!” Kou Chen put his phone back in his pocket.

“Selfie.” Huo Ran grabbed him and got his own phone out. “Come on.”

“My ass, what are you supposed to caption it?” Kou Chen said. “I’m the captain of our school basketball team?”

That made Huo Ran laugh for a while: “You do it then.” 

Kou Chen tsked. He slung an arm around him and adjusted his phone: “Come closer.”

Huo Ran leaned his head closer at the same time Kou Chen did, and their heads bumped into each other.

“Don’t move, lemme get a good angle.” Kou Chen moved his phone around.

As Huo Ran felt his face was about to go stiff from holding the smile, Kou Chen was done: “Like this, smile.” 

“I am smiling.” Huo Ran showed his teeth.

Kou Chen raised his hand and shoved Huo Ran’s head onto his shoulder right as he took the picture: “Nice!”

“Damn.” Huo Ran rubbed his face. “Lemme see!”

“It’s nice.” Kou Chen showed him the photo. 

It was nice.

The background was the school field, and the sunlight behind them exploded into tiny golden flowers in the gap between their heads.

Looks nice.

Huo Ran stared at his own face, making sure his expression was alright. But his face was a little stiff, so it was only a small smile. 

He looked at Kou Chen.

The left corner of Kou Chen’s mouth was quirked up, making his smugness shine through the small smile.

From their smiles, they did match pretty well.

“Should I send it to you?” Kou Chen asked. 

“Yeah.” Huo Ran said.

Kou Chen sent him the photo, and Huo Ran’s phone dinged. When he took his phone out, it dinged again.

“I only sent it once.” Kou Chen said.

Huo Ran nodded: “Yeah, the other one’s probably from that girl…” 

“Who?” Kou Chen was surprised.

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

“The girl from just then… She added me and said she’ll send the photos.” Huo Ran thought about it, “Should I not have bothered…”

“Cgf sbe raeqlv?” Bbe Jtfc kjr ralii regqglrfv.

“Memx boo!” Leb Ejc uijgfv. 

“Prc’a la j yla abb fjrs ab jvv sbe jr j oglfcv? Gb sbe pera jvv fnfgsbcf fnfc lo sbe vbc’a xcbk atfw?” Bbe Jtfc rjlv. “Tbe… Gb sbe jmaejiis ilxf tfg?”

“P vbc’a!” Leb Ejc rajgaifv. “P yjgfis ibbxfv ja tfg, P vbeya P’v fnfc yf jyif ab gfmbuclhf tfg lo P rff tfg abwbggbk.”

Kou Chen took his phone and swiped to his messages. Apart from the photo he just sent, there really was another one from someone called Meow Little Meow. He tapped it, and it was indeed the selfie of Huo Ran and that girl.

He was about to speak, when Meow Little Meow sent another message. 

-This one’s the best, I won’t show you the others, I look really dumb in them

“Won’t be able to recognize her, yeah?” Kou Chen zoomed the photo in until Meow Little Meow’s face took up the whole screen, and then he showed it to Huo Ran. “Look carefully, what about now?!”

“Fuck,” Huo Ran glanced at the screen and then nudged his hand away. “What are you doing?”

“Scared you forgot.” Kou Chen said. “What if you don’t recognize her tomorrow?” 

“Are you gonna let it go or not?” Huo Ran asked.

“I did let it go.” Kou Chen said. “Why don’t you text her back and say that the photo she specifically picked looks the best or something…”

“Shut the fuck up!” Huo Ran yelled.

Kou Chen looked at him. 

“What’s wrong with you?” Huo Ran grabbed his phone back and shoved it in his pocket. “I’m serious! You’ve been acting weird since she came to talk to me! Did I fucking do something?”

Kou Chen thought about it: “No.”

“Then why are you so fucking pissed?!” Huo Ran cursed. “And you fucking said you already have plenty of girls confessing to you so you don’t care, if you don’t care then why are you acting like a jealous little wife?!”

“You’re the wife.” Kou Chen retorted, “Who’s fucking jealous of you?!” 

“You’re jealous of her then?” Huo Ran pointed. “If you like me then just say so, am I gonna beat you up or what?”

Kou Chen raised his head and looked at him in slight astonishment.

Huo Ran went quiet.

Messed up now, didn’t he? 

That’s why they say you shouldn’t get so angry, that you shouldn’t yell at someone so thoroughly.

But there was nothing he could do to take those words back, so he leaned on the tree behind him and stayed silent.

“I do like you a lot.” Kou Chen stared at him for a while. “Do I not make that obvious?”

“…Okay then.” Huo Ran breathed a sigh of relief for some reason. 

“I’m just annoyed.” Kou Chen said. “You were so fucking angry when we first met, picking fights out of nowhere. So why are you so nice and agreeable now?”

“I was just feeling awkward, wasn’t I?” Huo Ran said. “Getting love letters is no big deal, and even if they confessed in person, it’s not like anyone has asked me for a selfie or to add me as a friend before. Besides, she’s a girl, and it’s not like I had something against her, was I supposed to be rude?”

“But you turn to me for…” Kou Chen cut himself off.

“Did I not ask you for help? Did you do anything?” Huo Ran said. 

“Pass.” Kou Chen waved his hand.

“Two threes.” Huo Ran mimed throwing down some cards.

“Nope.” Kou Chen said.

Huo Ran looked at him and laughed. 

“Let me tell you,” Kou Chen made a box opening motion, grabbing at the air around his head and then throwing it in the box. “I’ll remember this. All you did today was talk to a girl, and you didn’t even care when she asked me to move…”

Huo Ran grabbed something from his own head and tossed it in his box.

“Do you not have your own?!” Kou Chen looked at him. “Why are you putting it in mine?” 

“You can keep it, isn’t yours more professional?” Huo Ran said.

“Okay then.” Kou Chen nodded.

And then they both went silent.

  

A long moment later, Huo Ran wanted to check his phone to see how much longer it was until dinner. He raised his head and saw Kou Chen looking at him, so he quickly explained: “I’m checking the time!”

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Kou Chen laughed: “I know.”

“You’re so hard to please.” Huo Ran sighed. “I’m not even this careful with my mom.”

“Yeah right, just with you yelling at me eight hundred times a day, good thing I’m not your mom.” Kou Chen said. “If I were, I’d have made you into sausages ages ago.” 

Huo Ran looked at him and laughed: “How much do you think about sausages? You can get some for dinner later if they have it.”

“How much longer?” Kou Chen asked.

“Half an hour.” Huo Ran said.

“Let’s go sit then, I don’t wanna stand.” Kou Chen pointed at the haunted building. 

“Are you sick? Why would you sit in the haunted building?” Huo Ran looked at him.

“Outside it!” Kou Chen walked over. “Who said I was gonna sit inside it?”

There were rarely any people here anyways, and now everyone was by the basketball courts, so they were the only people at the haunted building. 

Huo Ran paused for a moment. He felt like ever since he ran into Lin Wuyu at the store up until now, he’d been kinda spacing out. His brain wasn’t having a break, but he didn’t know what it was thinking about either.

“If that Meow Little Meow wants to talk to you,” Kou Chen had his head down looking at his phone. “Ask me if you don’t know what to say. All you said today was thanks, I could barely listen to it. It was so awkward.”

“I’ll just ignore her.” Huo Ran said. “What am I supposed to reply?”

“That’s so rude, it’s not like she’s harassing you.” Kou Chen glanced at him. 

“Then how should I reply to that?” Huo Ran asked. “The text she just sent.”

“Just say okay, thanks.” Kou Chen said.

“Isn’t that still thanks?” Huo ran said.

“You’re so annoying. Say thanks when you’re supposed to say thanks. If you want to keep going, ask her for the other photos. If she’s too embarrassed to send them, you can say next time we’ll take more…” Kou Chen said. 

“Hey, hey, hey, thanks, thanks.” Huo Ran quickly replied with a friendly thanks, and then he put his phone away, like Kou Chen’s words would automatically turn into text and send if he was too slow.

“Look at you.” Kou Chen laughed.

“Not as experienced as you.” Huo Ran said.

“I don’t have any experience either, it’s all my IQ.” Kou Chen said. 

“Enough is enough now.” Huo Ran said.

Kou Chen laughed, and then he leaned back against the steps and stretched: “I don’t want any experience either, interacting with you is already hard enough, I won’t be able to stand anyone else.”

Huo Ran opened his mouth, but he didn’t say anything, so he just closed it back up.

  

After dinner, they went back to the dorms and all gathered up in Kou Chen’s room to play cards. Huo Ran didn’t want to move, but he didn’t want to miss out on the hangout either.

So he laid on Kou Chen’s bed and watched them play.

Kou Chen played cards like an expert at a casino, cold, calm, and calculated.

But actually, he lost eight out of ten rounds. 

He could bear it if it was with Xu Chuan, but when it was Xu Zhifan’s turn, he immediately jumped up.

“I’ll play with half of my brain.” Xu Zhifan laughed.

“I wouldn’t play even if you used half an ear.” Kou Chen shoved Huo Ran further in the bed and laid down.

Before Kou Chen could react, his vision was completely blocked. 

He was assaulted with the smell of Kou Chen, his body wash and shampoo…

He sat up and leaned against the wall.

Kou Chen didn’t say anything, he just laid on his arm and watched Xu Zhifan and the others play.

Huo Ran sat for a while, and after feeling like he wasn’t feeling as awkward as before, he also started looking at Jiang Lei’s cards. 

“Leilei,” Kou Chen said. “Are you just giving money away?”

“Don’t jinx me!” Jiang Lei glared at him, “You two go do your own thing!”

Huo Ran choked.

Kou Chen burst out laughing, reaching out to pat his leg: “Lu Huan hasn’t talked to you lately?” 

“She has,” Jiang Lei said. “So enthusiastically I’m about to melt from the heat.”

“Yeah right,” Xu Chuan said. “If Lu Huan heard that, you don’t even need to wait until graduation to reminisce about her smile, you can start tomorrow.”

Everyone laughed.

“Should I find an opportunity to confess to her again?” Jiang Lei stressed. 

“Do it if you want, it’s not like she hates you. Even if she rejects you she’s not gonna start ignoring you.”

Jiang Lei stared at his cards again: “Maybe not right now, I kinda like this half secret crush state.”

“Sure, you just don’t have the balls.” Kou Chen said.

“I’m serious, just the crush, and the ambiguous feeling, not to mention the flirting,” Jiang Lei said. “Don’t you think it’s nice? The feeling of hope?” 

“Never tried it.” Kou Chen said. “There’s things I don’t dare say, but nothing I don’t want to say.”

“I can’t compare to you.” Jiang Lei sighed. “Without your idea, we wouldn’t even be talking yet.”

“Good thing you came to me.” Kou Chen said, and then raised an eyebrow at Huo Ran proudly.

Huo Ran looked at him confusedly. 

There was no lights out on the weekend, but the dorm managers broke off their little gathering.

Huo Ran went back to his room, but he wasn’t tired. He just laid in bed, unable to fall asleep.

He was still wide awake when everyone else fell asleep. 

Hu Yi’s little clock clicked on the hour. It was one o’clock.

Huo Ran sat up, quietly getting out of bed, quietly opening the door, and quietly walking out of the room. He paused for a moment, and then he quietly retreated, and quietly closed the door.

As someone who couldn’t fall asleep eight days out of ten, Kou Chen was standing at the end of the hallway playing with his phone.

  

Everyone woke up pretty early the next morning. They had the finals today, so they went to run laps and warm up.

Huo Ran really wanted to ask Kou Chen what time he fell asleep last night, but there were too many people around and he never got an opportunity. Then didn’t know how to ask, in case Kou Chen accused him of ‘avoiding’ him.

Kou Chen looked pretty energetic though, if it isn’t someone who wandered the hallways at night out of boredom. He couldn’t tell at all.

There were a lot of people there to watch the finals, with a lot of people who went home yesterday coming back. They all surrounded the basketball courts. 

Kou Chen hung off Huo Ran the whole time they stood by the court talking.

That Meow Little Meow really did come to cheer for them with her friends. She even waved at Huo Ran.

Huo Ran was about to wave back, when Kou Chen grabbed his arm.

“Just smile.” Kou Chen whispered in his ear. “If you’re too friendly then she might misunderstand.” 

“Oh.” Huo Ran smiled in her direction, and his gaze didn’t linger.

The two teams warmed up under the two baskets, passing and shooting.

Huo Ran went to the referee to flip the coin. 

“Same as before,” Lin Wuyu held a coin. “Heads or tails.”

“Heads!” Sciences 8’s captain said first.

“I’ll go with tails then.” Huo Ran said.

Lin Wuyu flipped the coin, and looked at the two of them: “Tails, Humanities 1.” 

“That side.” Huo Ran chose the same side as yesterday.

“Get ready, ten minutes.” Lin Wuyu said. “Good luck, there’s city reporters here today, you guys better do your best.”

When Huo Ran walked back, his teammates were all shooting hoops. Only Kou Chen turned around, passing him a ball.

He smiled, and passed it back to Kou Chen. 

“Still this side?” Kou Chen asked.

“Mhm.” He nodded.

“You better not yell at me today, they said reporters are gonna be here today.” Kou Chen stared at him fiercely. “If you yell at me when I’m on the news, I won’t hold back.”

“Okay.” Huo Ran nodded. 

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