63 – No, You Look Terrible

Chapter 63: No, You Look Terrible

It seemed he had requested special leave since the campus release date for The White-Haired Patient was confirmed for Friday.

Under the dim theater lighting, He Yu sat in his seat, staring at the two people in front of him with an expressionless face.

He had his face covered with a ball cap and a black mask. There were quite a few people who covered their faces like this at Huzhou University. Celebrities who had debuted as child actors and then entered the arts college adhered to this kind of disguise even during classes. Even students who weren’t celebrities but were reasonably popular wore black masks and hats as a standard.

Because of this, Xie Qingcheng didn’t notice who the man behind him was.

“Chen Man, here’s the popcorn.”

“Thank you.”

He Yu leaned back into the soft theater seat with his arms crossed, one eyebrow twitching upward.

Chen Man.

So that cop’s name is Chen Man…

Suddenly, he remembered a phone call he had answered on Xie Qingcheng’s behalf [stolen content]in the past. The name that had appeared on Read on Read BL Novelsthe phone screen back then… wasn’t it Chen Man?

Yes, that’s right.

His already cold expression dropped several degrees in temperature. It looked as if frost had formed in his eyes, visible between the black mask and the brim of his hat.

He remained silent, indifferently watching the two people before him.

He knew Chen Man was close to Xie Qingcheng. But he hadn’t realized they were close enough to make him feel this unsettled.

The White-Haired Patient was a drama co-produced by Huzhou Medical School and Huzhou University to commemorate the centennial anniversary of their founding. Since it was uploaded as an event only on the school’s website and screened only on campus, the audience should normally be limited to students from Huzhou University and Huzhou Medical School.

Why is a cop who graduated from the police academy hanging around here?

Did he at least participate in the filming? Is he the drama’s action coach? Police support? None of that was true.

Who does he think he is, showing his face here?

He Yu’s mood twisted violently.

He stubbornly denied the fact that he liked men. He believed his longing for Xie Qingcheng was nothing more than a purely physiological desire. He told himself that what he wanted wasn’t Xie Qingcheng, but simply the thrilling pleasure of that day.

Yet, due to his possessiveness, he felt that no one else should touch the food Read on Read BL Novelshe had [Read on Read BL Novels]eaten. No matter how discarded the Read on Read BL Novelsfood was, he could not tolerate someone touching it carelessly.

The gaze He Yu cast upon Chen Man was as cold as a wolf glaring at a hyena eyeing its prey.

Chen Man unconsciously rubbed the back of his neck, feeling a prickling sensation, and looked behind him.

Then Xie Qingcheng asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing… I just got goosebumps for some reason. I think it’s because of the air conditioner.”

Answering thus, Chen Man sat down next to Xie Qingcheng.

Soon, the drama began.

This omnibus drama featured independent stories for each episode, yet it used common foreshadowing to link the characters and events of each episode into one.

The students watched the short drama, which had a running time of two hours, spellbound. Since the cast consisted entirely of people from their own school, whenever an intense scene appeared, everyone made a fuss trying to find the person involved. Thanks to this, the theater was much noisier than a typical cinema.

He Yu ignored the drama and focused only on watching Xie Qingcheng.

He had intentionally reserved a diagonal seat behind him so he could see Xie Qingcheng’s face clearly.

In the flickering light of the screen, those cold features looked as if unauthorized copythey were covered by a veil. The veil, changing colors unpredictably, made Xie Qingcheng’s face look like [Read on Read BL Novels]a treasure sunken underwater. The light-stained skin revealed a smooth texture.

He Yu’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down.

He’s really ugly.

That’s what He Yu thought.

Watching that cold man from up close was, conversely, as painful as self-torture.

And yet, he could not tear his eyes away for a single moment, thoroughly punishing himself.

It was only after Xie Qingcheng, who was watching the screen, slightly frowned that He Yu realized his own appearance on screen.

It wasn’t a role with much screen time to begin with. It seemed to have decreased even further after editing.

—How much do you love me? What will you give up for me?

In the drama, He Yu was having a conversation with a senior who played a gay character.

It was a scene where Xie Qingcheng had acted as He Yu’s partner during rehearsals.

The scene where the kiss happened.

Recalling that day, both Xie Qingcheng and He Yu felt a strange sensation simultaneously.

Back then, both of them found even the slight touching of lips disgusting…

But now that the drama was actually being screened?

They had done everything from the things they should do to the things they shouldn’t.

In He Yu’s field of vision, Xie Qingcheng lowered his eyes. Whatever uncomfortable memory the He Yu in the drama had triggered, he soon turned his gaze away.

After a moment, he closed his eyes entirely.

He Yu silently watched him.

“….”

Perhaps he had been struggling lately, as his cheeks seemed slightly sunken. He hadn’t shaved cleanly, leaving his jaw a bit stubbly.

With his eyes closed, Xie Qingcheng’s head soon tilted forward.

Is he asleep right now…?

Watching him from behind, He Yu was appalled. He wondered how someone could fall asleep in such a noisy environment.

About ten minutes passed. Chen Man, who wanted to discuss the plot of the drama with Xie Qingcheng, turned his head. However, Xie Qingcheng, sitting beside him, was fast asleep with his head bowed.

“….”

The theater’s air conditioning was too cold. Xie Qingcheng’s body had been ill until recently. Chen Man worried that his fever might flare up again if he couldn’t endure the cold.

He thought that although Xie Qingcheng was a strong person, his physical condition seemed to be deteriorating lately.

Whether it was because he smoked too much or because of stress from work, he had been coughing frequently lately, and his vision had worsened compared to before.

Chen Man had often witnessed him wearing glasses when reading books or using the computer. His vision used to be at least 1.5.

Sighing, Chen Man quietly took off his outer coat and carefully draped it over Xie Qingcheng’s body.

He Yu watched this scene with sinister eyes.

The more he saw, the more displeased he became. The anger that someone was touching his thing swelled accordingly.

Before long, Chen Man, who was looking at Xie visit our siteQingcheng, committed stolen contentanother act. That action completely snapped [unauthorized copy]the string of He Yu’s rationality.

—With a careful and cautious touch, Chen Man lightly brushed Xie Qingcheng’s hand resting on the armrest.

Xie Qingcheng’s fingertips twitched.

He felt something touch his hand, but he was too tired to deal with it. Xie Qingcheng was utterly exhausted from the numerous hardships he had endured over the past few days.

The moment a clue regarding his parents’ death appeared, he was broken right before his eyes.

The moment he decided to sincerely accept He Yu, he suffered an irrational revenge from him.

The Qin Ciyan incident, which had been like long-accumulated silt, also surfaced instantly.

Personal information leaked on the internet, bright red paint splashed on the walls, neighbors unfairly implicated…

In the dark night, the silent eyes of the only ‘his people.’

—…Brother, are you going to hide the truth from us too?

The truth cannot be revealed.

Too many truths were weighing him [stolen content]down. [Read on Read BL Novels]In this vast world, unauthorized copythere was no one he could confide the truth to.

How could a guardian who silently keeps secrets greedily hope to see the sunlight from the deep abyss?

Xie Qingcheng was the only person who could endure so steadfastly despite the onslaught of all these incidents and stress.

He was very calm and peaceful. He was no longer distressed or aggrieved.

He didn’t even feel lonely.

Until now, he had not shed a single tear in vain. Like a stubborn old-timer with a firm stereotype about gender roles, he considered fragility to be a product of women or pathetic men.

He was a person so distant from pain.

But regardless, a physical body made of blood and flesh is bound to get tired.

He was so exhausted that when Chen Man touched his hand, he only instinctively twitched his fingertips.

Then, he continued his deep sleep.

Chen Man didn’t even watch the movie and just gazed at Xie Qingcheng. Doing so made his heart boil. Coincidentally, there was an episode in The White-Haired Patient that dealt with homosexuality. It was the very episode He Yu had acted in.

Chen Man was moved by this episode. The reality he imagined was very [visit our site]similar to the drama. In truth, affection toward the same sex was difficult to [visit our site]put into words. [visit our site]Just like himself, who liked Xie Qingcheng but dared not say it.

With Xie Qingcheng asleep, Chen Man, whose heart was shaken by the drama’s content, finally could not resist the temptation. He bowed his head and quietly wrapped his hand around the man’s back of the hand.

Their touching fingers intertwined.

The palm firmly gripped the back of the hand.

It was exactly what He Yu had done to Xie Qingcheng in bed not long ago.

With only his pale skin floating in the air, He Yu had now completely melted into the darkness.

Like an overturned paint palette, emotions were smeared all over his face, which was well-hidden by the mask.

He didn’t even want to look at Chen Man. This is hilarious. What kind of perverted trash is this? Why didn’t I realize this bastard was gay back at the school cafeteria?

How old is this cop? Twenty-something? Isn’t his taste too unique, liking Xie Qingcheng?

Besides, they’re both men.

He should be ashamed!

And Xie Qingcheng.

Usually, he’s so anxious that he can’t even show his guard? Did he die in his sleep?

You don’t even know someone is fiddling with you like this, you piece of trash?

He Yu’s psyche became as distorted as Munch’s painting style.

He Yu stared intently at Xie Qingcheng’s sleeping face and the hand held by Chen Man.

And then—.

His patience hit its limit.

Chen Man, who had been staring blankly at Xie Qingcheng, turned his head and slowly approached the man’s face, which was soaked in the bluish screen light.

If he doesn’t wake up now, he’s a real idiot.

Infuriated, He Yu suddenly grabbed the lemonade he had placed on the armrest and gave the person in the diagonal front seat a splash of water.

“…!”

“….”

Chen Man, who had been approaching Xie Qingcheng, immediately sat up straight. His bright red face turned pale and then blue.

Xie Qingcheng, who had been sleeping soundly without knowing anything, was momentarily dazed after being hit by a lemonade storm in the middle of the night.

The good-natured rookie cop seemed genuinely angry this time, turning his head and shouting.

“Who are you? What do you think you’re doing?”

He Yu pressed the brim of his hat deep, crossed his long legs, and answered elegantly.

“I’m sorry. I dropped it by mistake.”

He Yu’s voice was very low. Amidst the confusion of the sudden accident and the overlapping sound of the drama, Xie Qingcheng and Chen Man failed to recognize the other’s identity.

Chen Man frowned and said to He Yu, “Look at this! I’m all soaked!”

“…It’s fine, I’m okay.”

In contrast, Xie Qingcheng was calm. If it was a mistake by a student in the back seat, there was no point in getting angry.

Of course, it was true that he was drenched. On the contrary, Chen Man, who [visit our site]sat right next to him, was [unauthorized copy]fine. The lemonade the stolen contentstudent spilled hit only Xie Qingcheng at a precise angle, without a single drop missing.

Sighing as he looked down at his wet shirt and trench coat, he said to Chen Man, “Xie Xue should be backstage, so you can go and borrow a dryer. You stay here for now.”

Then he immediately stood up from his seat.

He Yu watched the retreating back disappearing into the darkness. Once Xie Qingcheng disappeared through the emergency exit connected to the backstage area, He Yu quietly stood up and followed him.

Xie Qingcheng had borrowed a dressing room backstage.

If it had been a play on stage, the staff would have been rushing about frantically, but since the drama was currently screening, the dressing room was empty.

Xie Xue was horrified to see Xie Qingcheng, who had come to get the key.

“Brother, what happened to make you so wet?”

“…A student in the back seat accidentally spilled a drink. It’s nothing. I want to borrow a dryer.”

“Oh, sure. There are plenty of dryers. The fixed one in the changing room has the best performance. Go use that one.”

Hearing this, Xie Qingcheng headed to the changing room.

In the three changing room stalls inside the dressing room, wall-mounted hair dryers were installed. A few years ago, during internal renovations, the principal had installed stolen contentsensor lights in the changing rooms; as he opened [Read on Read BL Novels]the curtain and entered, a bright orange light clearly illuminated the mirror.

It was a total disaster. Not only his clothes but even his hair were drenched, making him look exactly like a drowned rat.

Xie Qingcheng drew the red velvet curtain and unbuttoned his wet shirt.

The man reflected in the mirror boasted a sunken waist, contrary to his tall height and broad shoulders. The wet shirt clung blatantly to his body, emphasizing his slender lines. However, perhaps because he had been tired lately, the body revealed after unbuttoning the shirt was much thinner than before. His skin was pale to the point of being transparent. As if all the blood had vanished from his body, even the color of his lips was faint.

In the changing room, there was a round stool used for changing clothes or shoes. However, Xie Qingcheng, whose daily life was spent in tension, preferred standing for everything. He stood in place, turned on the hair dryer, and dried his short hair and wet shirt.

Because of the noise of the hair dryer, he didn’t notice anyone’s presence.

Soon, the velvet curtain was pushed aside, and the sensor light turned on again.

Xie Qingcheng startled and turned his head. To his surprise, he was met with He Yu’s eyes.

“Xie Qingcheng.”

He Yu spoke in a low voice.

Thanks to taking off his hat and mask, his handsome yet sinister face was revealed. A polo shirt, jeans, and sneakers. It was a very simple outfit.

Only after scanning him from head to toe did Xie Qingcheng suddenly realize.

“…Was that you just now?”

He Yu smiled thinly. Of course, his eyes weren’t smiling at all.

Squeezing through the changing room curtain, he grabbed Xie Qingcheng’s hand and pushed him against the full-length mirror.

“That’s right. I’m disappointed you only realized it now.”