The First Day’s Trouble

After filling out his information, Lu Xingyan headed to the assembly ground.

He noticed a group of boys standing behind Xu Yi, laughing boisterously as they spoke. Xu Yi, however, remained still, his expression unreadable.

Sensing something amiss, Lu Xingyan walked over. “What are you all laughing about?” he asked casually.

The blond guy in the center, his expression full of mockery, tried to sling an arm over Lu Xingyan’s shoulder with a familiar air as Lu Xingyan approached. However, Lu Xingyan subtly avoided him.

The blond seemed oblivious, still engrossed in what he found amusing. “That sissy is my middle school classmate. I can’t believe he’s in the same class as me again.”

“Do you know, he likes guys, and he even wears perfume and stuff. It’s totally disgusting!”

As his words fell, the surrounding boys also joined in the laughter, their voices growing louder. It was unclear if Xu Yi had heard them.

Wham!

The blond guy grunted in pain, caught off guard by Lu Xingyan’s punch to his right cheek, sending him sprawling to the ground.

He seemed disoriented, blankly wiping the blood from his nose with his hand.

Coming to his senses, the blond guy met Lu Xingyan’s icy gaze, his legs turning to jelly, unable to stand.

Yet, he continued to spout vile words. “Are you Xu Yi’s queer lover? I knew he liked guys…”

Before he could finish, the blond felt a cold gust of wind by his ear.

Lu Xingyan’s kick narrowly missed.

“Why are you meddling?” Xu Yi suddenly pulled him back, his voice cold.

“I’m such a fool for bothering with you!” Lu Xingyan retorted, annoyed, and flung Xu Yi’s arm away, intending to leave.

But as he looked down, he saw Xu Yi’s eyes were red at the corners, whether from anger or sadness, he couldn’t tell.

Lu Xingyan’s surge of fury suddenly subsided.

He recalled Xu Yi’s voice trembling slightly when he had spoken earlier.

‘He must be really scared,’ Lu Xingyan thought.

His heart softened again. With Xu Yi’s arrogant personality, being subjected to such rumors must be incredibly upsetting.

Moreover, judging by the blond guy’s brazen demeanor, this might not be the first time he had done something like this.

Considering these thoughts, Lu Xingyan’s voice softened involuntarily. “Are you only brave when you’re alone?”

“If you don’t make people like him suffer a little, they’ll never learn.”

As he spoke, he shot a fierce glare at the blond guy.

The blond, who was about to scramble up, was so startled by Lu Xingyan’s gaze that he tumbled back down. None of the people who had pretended to be his good brothers earlier came to help him.

The group quickly distanced themselves. Someone like Lu Xingyan clearly looked like an unruly second-generation rich kid—not someone to be trifled with.

Xu Yi bit his lip, seemingly wanting to say something, but ultimately remained silent.

He quietly returned to his previous spot, showing no desire to explain away the rumors.

Li Yuan, returning from the restroom, noticed the tense atmosphere and couldn’t help but ask what was wrong.

He then saw Xu Yi move a little further away from him.

Seeing this, the blond guy seemed to seize another opportunity and suddenly shouted loudly at Li Yuan, “He likes guys, and you’re still getting close to him!”

Li Yuan frowned, glancing at him with apparent confusion. “Leaving aside that he has a girlfriend, even if he didn’t, who he likes is none of your business. Has your brain not developed yet?”

Xu Yi paused for a moment, instinctively looking at Li Yuan.

This classmate, who was always the mood-maker and peacemaker, seemingly easy to get along with, was actually defending him.

‘However,’ Xu Yi mused, ‘perhaps he simply didn’t believe the blond guy’s words.’

‘Once I show any sign, he might become afraid of me.’ Xu Yi coldly turned his head. In reality, he was never good at socializing.

In such situations, he had no idea what to say.

“Brother Yan, that mark on his face, that wasn’t your doing, was it? It’s perfectly placed!” Li Yuan, seemingly oblivious to Xu Yi’s discomfort, deliberately twisted the knife in the blond’s wound.

Lu Xingyan didn’t know what to say, merely grunting in response.

Soon, however, the drill instructor was called over; someone had already informed him of the situation.

Instructor Wang ordered Lu Xingyan and the blond guy to step forward, each explaining their version of events.

The blond guy quickly said, “I didn’t fight back; he just hit me out of nowhere.”

Lu Xingyan scoffed. “Because he has a foul mouth.”

Instructor Wang stared at them coldly. “It’s the first day of school today, and you’re already fighting.”

“In the military, that would earn you solitary confinement.”

“I’ll fine each of you one hundred push-ups. Forward march!”

Lu Xingyan’s face remained impassive; a hundred push-ups were not difficult for him. It was just part of his usual fitness routine.

But for the scrawny blond guy, it was a challenge.

His hands trembled with each push-up, his elbows shaking as if they were about to sprout wings and fly away.

The people in the formation struggled to suppress their laughter, but fearing punishment, they merely shivered in place.

Instructor Wang wiped his face, seemingly unable to hold back his own amusement, and deliberately pretended to make a call, walking a little distance away.

Li Yuan finally couldn’t resist. “How can you be so weak?” he scoffed.

With that, the surrounding people chuckled softly again.

The blond guy’s face flushed crimson.

Xu Yi noticed Li Yuan’s comforting expression and was somewhat moved. Perhaps they genuinely didn’t mind.

After all, the acceptance of homosexuality had increased significantly nowadays.

“Thank you.”

Xu Yi’s voice was so low that Li Yuan almost didn’t hear him.

He laughed heartily. “Then, Xiaoyi, remember to treat us to lunch today!”

Xu Yi hummed in agreement.

‘University life,’ he thought, ‘might not be as terrible as he had imagined.’

Lu Xingyan quickly finished his push-ups and rejoined the ranks, but the blond guy hadn’t even completed half and was growing weaker.

His uniform was soaked with sweat, outlining his body.

Instructor Wang checked the time and told him to rejoin the formation to continue in the afternoon.

The blond guy wobbled to his feet and had barely rejoined the team.

When he heard the instructor tell everyone to prepare for training. Because his limbs were still weak, the blond guy, whose movements were substandard, was penalized with dozens more push-ups.

****

As soon as break time arrived, Xu Yi found a shady corner to drink water.

Despite applying sunscreen, his fair skin was still a little red from the sun.

Li Yuan and Lu Xingyan tacitly sat on either side of him, as if encircling him.

Xu Yi found this a bit strange, but remembering that Lu Xingyan had been punished with a hundred push-ups for him, he said nothing.

Everyone else was drinking water, but Lu Xingyan was simply sitting, playing on his phone.

‘Perhaps he’s messaging Xiaoyi again,’ Xu Yi thought.

Xu Yi hesitated for a few seconds, then somewhat uncomfortably placed his water bottle in front of Lu Xingyan. “Have some water.”

“How rare,” Lu Xingyan raised an eyebrow, not bothering with pleasantries. He took the bottle and unscrewed it.

“Thank you just now…” Xu Yi’s words trailed off as he watched Lu Xingyan drink. “Don’t drink straight from the bottle!”

But he spoke too slowly; Lu Xingyan had already taken a large gulp.

Xu Yi’s gaze fell on the man’s bobbing Adam’s apple, and his mind couldn’t help but conjure some rather unbroadcastable images.

He quickly turned his head, lowering his gaze to fiddle with his phone.

“What?” Lu Xingyan seemed not to have heard Xu Yi clearly, looking at him with an innocent expression.

Xu Yi shook his head.

“I’m going to the restroom,” Lu Xingyan said, then stood up, tapping on his phone as he left.

Xu Yi instinctively picked up his phone.

For some reason, he felt that Lu Xingyan must have sent a message to Xiaoyi.

[Husband: Just got punished with a hundred push-ups.]

[Husband: abs_photo.jpg]

Xu Yi tilted his phone slightly, cautiously scanning his surroundings, then secretly tapped to save the image.

The abs, freshly worked out, were even more defined than in previous photos, complemented by Lu Xingyan’s distinctly jointed fingers casually lifting his shirt.

Lu Xingyan truly matched his aesthetic, and he also loved the peacocking selfies, unlike the ‘tough guy’ selfies online that often looked messy.

‘…Too bad, though, he seems as straight as they come…’

‘Sooner or later, this has to end.’

He remembered Lu Xingyan hitting someone for him and getting punished. If Lu Xingyan knew that he was ‘Xiaoyi,’ he would probably think he was a liar…

He might even hate him.

Xu Yi suddenly felt a pang of panic.

He never felt guilty about deceiving people.

But deceiving Lu Xingyan was too risky, and he didn’t want to deceive someone who seemed somewhat naive.

Xu Yi suddenly made up his mind.

[Xu Yi: Actually, we’re not a good fit. Let’s not contact each other anymore.]

[Husband: crying.jpg, Baby doesn’t like it? Then I won’t send them.]

[Husband: wronged.jpg]

Xu Yi bit his lip and immediately blacklisted Lu Xingyan’s contact.

He couldn’t let this continue. The longer it went on, the more Lu Xingyan would get invested.

That would be too immoral.

Xu Yi honestly couldn’t understand why Lu Xingyan, with his real-life advantages, would fall for a ‘web goddess’ he had created.

It was like those internet losers who had never met a girl in real life.

‘But now, let this relationship end,’ he thought, ‘even though he had enjoyed this fake relationship himself.’

Xu Yi turned off his phone screen, propping his cheek with a sense of emptiness.

‘Sigh.’

“Why are you sighing?” Li Yuan looked over.

“Just thinking military training is exhausting.”

Xu Yi barely had to think to come up with an excuse.

Li Yuan immediately chimed in with a string of complaints about military training.

Xu Yi was a little distracted, but he still listened.

Before long, Lu Xingyan returned.

Xu Yi couldn’t help but look at his face.

‘Would he be very sad?’ he wondered.

But he was disappointed.

Lu Xingyan’s expression was completely normal. He even told them they had one minute until assembly.

Xu Yi frowned.

Even though he was the one who initiated the break-up, what was with Lu Xingyan’s indifferent attitude?

Could it be that he was just playing around, yet he could pretend so convincingly that he really liked Xiaoyi?

Xu Yi felt an indescribable sense of loss, as if he had been deceived.

‘Indeed, how could a relationship born of lies be normal?’

‘Hadn’t he always been clear-headed? If his mood was affected, what did that make him? Pretty stupid.’

Xu Yi curved his lips, then stood up to stretch his somewhat numb legs. This was the best outcome.

No one had developed genuine feelings in this brief relationship, and no one would get hurt.

Military training dragged on. When lunch break finally arrived, Xu Yi offered to treat them to a meal.

Li Yuan readily agreed.

However, Lu Xingyan, who had previously asked Xu Yi to treat them, was a beat slow in his reaction.

Only after Li Yuan reminded him did he seem to snap back to reality and shake his head. “You two go ahead. I want to go back and shower first to avoid peak hours.”

Xu Yi said nothing. He didn’t know how to face the two-faced Lu Xingyan now, so he went to eat with Li Yuan.

At the dining table, Xu Yi received a friend request from a secondary account. It was a newly created account with the default avatar.

‘Could it be Lu Xingyan?’ he wondered. ‘But he seemed so nonchalant.’

Logically, if he wanted to break up, he should cut ties completely. Xu Yi shouldn’t agree to it again.

But he really wanted to know if Lu Xingyan’s claim of liking his ‘Xiaoyi’ persona was genuine or not.

‘Lu Xingyan, are you really a scumbag?’