Chapter 103 102. Aftermath
Monday. The drizzle continued, soft and unceasing.
Early that morning, An Han rushed out of the dorm building in a panic—only to suddenly stop right at the entrance. He stared out at the overcast, rainy sky, then turned around and hurried back inside.
“Shit! I forgot my umbrella!”
“An Han.”
Just as he was about to re-enter the dorm, he heard a voice call out from nearby. Turning, he saw Su Peng standing in the rain, holding an umbrella and leaning against his bicycle.
“Heading out?”
“No thanks!”
“If you go back for your umbrella, you’ll be late.”
An Han frowned, checked the time, then simply pulled the hood of his jacket over his head and dashed straight into the rain.
It wasn’t like it was pouring heavily anyway.
As for riding with Su Peng… Absolutely not! He’d never accept this guy’s “kindness” again!
He broke into a light jog—only for Su Peng to catch up beside him on his bike, riding almost perfectly in sync.
“Get on.”
“I’m exercising!”
“What’s wrong with you?”
Head down, An Han sprinted toward the teaching building and quickly added an excuse: “The sports meet’s in a couple days. Gotta get in shape.”
“You mentioning it just reminded me—we signed up for that three-legged race together, right?”
An Han froze mid-step, slowing down instantly.
Crap! I totally forgot too!
So what’s the point of keeping my distance from Su Peng now?! We’re going to be physically stuck together during the sports meet anyway!
“Stop the bike!”
Confused, Su Peng hit the brakes—and then felt the bike jerk violently as An Han leaped onto the back seat.
“Can’t you be a little gentler?”
“Hurry up! We’re gonna be late!”
Today, An Han had been the last one in the dorm to leave. Class started in less than ten minutes.
But seriously—why did Su Peng always happen to be around whenever he was about to be late? He was starting to suspect Su Peng deliberately left early every day just to wait for him outside the dorm entrance on his bike.
Sitting sideways on the back of the bike, An Han refused to hold onto Su Peng’s waist. Instead, he gripped the seat beneath him tightly with both hands.
When they arrived at the classroom, he ignored Long Xing’s waving arm and walked straight to Wu Dongming’s seat, sitting down beside him.
Ever since they’d watched the freshmen’s military training together on the field, he and Wu Dongming had barely spoken. They hardly even played games together anymore. Their once inseparable friendship had clearly grown distant.
The moment An Han sat down, he immediately noticed Wu Dongming stiffen, then visibly shift his hips to scoot a bit farther away.
His drastic change in appearance had clearly made Wu Dongming uneasy.
“I just need to ask something.”
“Go ahead.”
“What time does Su Peng usually leave in the morning?”
“Pretty early—around 7:30.”
Just as I thought!
That sneaky bastard really *does* leave early every day just to wait for me outside the dorm on his bike!
Damn it! What a schemer!
Once the sports meet is over, I’m cutting off all contact with Su Peng—no exceptions!
Having gotten his answer, An Han was about to get up and leave—when Wu Dongming suddenly spoke into his phone: “Who’s this girl? She looks so much like you.”
“What girl?”
“Here.”
Wu Dongming handed over his phone. An Han glanced sideways—and his heart stopped. His whole body went rigid.
On the screen was a post from a forum titled “Adorable Girls at the Comic Con.” Below the headline was a photo of a girl in a revealing off-shoulder qipao. Her cheeks were flushed, her head slightly lowered, her hands clutching the hem of her skirt in a timid attempt to cover her pale, exposed thighs. Her shy, nervous expression stirred an overwhelming urge to protect her.
…So this is what I look like from an outsider’s perspective?
An Han took a deep breath, struggling to stay calm.
“Who’s this?”
“Comic con. I almost went this weekend, but it was too far, so I skipped it.”
Thank god you didn’t go!
“This girl… kinda looks like me, huh…”
An Han forced an awkward laugh—then suddenly realized: *Chen Junjie might see this too.*
Would he connect the dots? Would he realize the girl Long Xing fell for at the comic con was actually his cross-dressing roommate?
He absolutely would!
After all, Long Xing had now crushed on *two* girls who looked suspiciously like *him*. The logic was too obvious—anyone could figure it out!
Wu Dongming, however, hadn’t even considered the possibility of cross-dressing. Joking as he always used to, he said casually, “If you dressed up as a girl and put on some makeup, you’d probably look just as good as her.”
“Actually… you in women’s clothes might look almost *exactly* like this girl.”
Those words sent An Han’s heart racing. He lowered his head, chilled to the bone.
No… Has Wu Dongming figured it out?!
If *he* can tell it’s me in that photo, then other classmates definitely will too! If this spreads, I’ll be ruined at school!
“Don’t joke about stuff like that!” he snapped, deliberately raising his voice to sound angry.
Wu Dongming blinked in surprise, glanced at An Han’s flushed, seemingly furious face, and sheepishly looked down. “Oh.”
His old friend was becoming harder and harder to understand.
Back in the day, An Han would’ve either fired back with a witty retort or just playfully punched him for a comment like that. Getting genuinely mad? Never happened.
Now, Wu Dongming felt increasingly awkward. An Han felt like a stranger—and sitting next to him grew more and more uncomfortable.
An Han knew he couldn’t stay.
Clearly, Wu Dongming was now subconsciously treating him either like a girl or like a long-lost friend whose changed appearance created an unbridgeable sense of distance.
And if he kept forcing closeness, their brotherly bond might warp into something… else.
Slightly heartbroken, An Han stood up. “Send me the link.”
“Sure.”
Pushing thoughts of Wu Dongming aside for now, An Han walked around and sat in the empty seat next to Wang Sheng.
There was also an empty seat next to Long Xing—closer, even—but there was no way he’d sit beside him.
Forget about old friendships for now. He needed to contact the author of that post ASAP and get his photo taken down—or at least blurred beyond recognition!
He opened the link Wu Dongming had sent, scrolled up, and clicked into the author’s profile.
*Follow. Private message…*
Just then, Wang Sheng curiously leaned over to peek at his screen. An Han reacted instantly—slamming his phone face-down on the desk.
At that exact moment, the teacher, a few minutes late, walked into the classroom.
“The teacher’s here,” An Han said calmly, smoothly redirecting Wang Sheng’s attention.
Wang Sheng immediately looked up, opened his textbook, and prepared his notebook with focused seriousness.
This was an important class. Aside from a few slackers, nearly everyone took it very seriously.
An Han *wanted* to concentrate—but his mind was a chaotic mess, making it impossible to focus.
Chen Junjie rarely used the forum app, and when he did, he mostly stuck to the school’s own forum. This comic con post, however, had been uploaded to the *local cosplay forum*.
Logically, Chen Junjie probably wouldn’t see it…
But what if the post went viral? What if someone shared it in the class group chat? What if—
Damn this stupid system! Every task is either ridiculously difficult or painfully embarrassing—and even after completing it, there are always these *aftereffects*!
——————
As soon as I get home, I’ll try my best to write an extra update.
He thinks too much