The Princesses of the Dorm

This eye-searing scene assaulted his mind, and Su Yan yearned to press his face close to theirs, to discern precisely what in the world was unfolding!

The entire cast of the play consisted solely of boys, all from the same class.

Yet, how long had they truly known each other? Had they already shed all their inhibitions to such an extent?

Muscular boys were scattered haphazardly across the floor, chatting and laughing freely.

All the while, a leisurely, tranquil background music played.

What truly astounded Su Yan was that every single one of them was clad in elaborately crafted, luxurious princess gowns.

They sat sprawled inelegantly on the floor, their legs splayed carelessly.

Their vibrant red underwear, traditionally worn during one’s zodiac year, nearly peeked out.

The sight was utterly grotesque.

With the exception of those portraying the fairy guards, everyone else wore golden wigs adorned with delicate accessories.

Fortunately, the skirts were of a reasonable length.

Otherwise, the sight of their dense leg hair would have been unavoidable.

He dared not imagine how truly jarring that scene would have been.

A sudden surge of relief washed over him that no girls were participating in this play.

Otherwise, the moment they opened the door, they might have collapsed on the spot.

Su Yan did not spot Cheng Ye at first glance.

‘Surely, as the class monitor, he wouldn’t be involved in such tomfoolery,’ he mused.

It turned out Cheng Ye was the most elaborate of them all.

Not only was he wearing a wig and a gown, but he also had makeup on.

His makeup, however, was poorly applied, making him look exceptionally hideous.

Su Yan yearned to quietly close the door and retreat to the mundane world.

He harbored no desire to disturb these ‘exquisite beauties.’

Little did he know, the very instant he had opened the door, and the moment his snack bag tumbled to the floor, this entire group had already noticed him.

Upon spotting Su Yan, Ye Ming discarded the lipstick he held, rose to his feet, and strode towards him.

His appearance, particularly in that princess gown, was utterly bizarre.

As the person drew nearer, Su Yan gained a clearer view of their makeup.

It was as if they had deliberately made themselves ten times uglier.

Their faces were painted ghastly white with foundation, only to reveal stark crimson lips below – a truly jarring contrast.

Su Yan’s beautiful eyes gazed at the person before him, filled with perplexity.

Eventually, he could no longer restrain himself and blurted, “Are you… competing to be the most grotesque?”

He painstakingly swallowed the unspoken word ‘ugly.’

Instead, he chose a term he believed to be less offensive.

Su Yan surveyed the room full of ‘beauties’ yet remained utterly bewildered.

Which imbecile had chosen ‘Sleeping Beauty’ for a play? The daily rehearsals alone were enough to make his eyes burn.

Truth be told, Ye Ming possessed a relatively delicate appearance.

However, even he couldn’t withstand the impact of this particular makeup and costume.

As if recalling something, he tilted his head.

His voice unconsciously softened, “I won’t have to wear one too, will I?”

Su Yan possessed a rather cheerful and optimistic disposition.

Despite his esteemed family background, he never put on airs.

Though he didn’t know Ye Ming before him, he felt comfortable chatting with him for a bit.

Ye Ming stared into his eyes but offered no reply.

This silence was rather awkward.

Su Yan began to wonder if something was on his face.

Then, the other person spoke, their voice low and resonant.

“My daughter, you’ve arrived.”

Su Yan: “…”

‘What daughter? What child? What is this ‘daughter’ nonsense?’

Noticing Su Yan hadn’t entered, Cheng Ye walked over.

Despite the amusement in his eyes upon hearing the address, he still offered a serious explanation: He was playing the Queen, Sleeping Beauty’s mother.

Su Yan: ‘What an actor.’

‘He gets into character so quickly, it’s truly admirable.’

After a moment, Su Yan also settled onto the floor.

He assimilated into this peculiar yet oddly comforting environment.

They sat in a circle on the floor, with the snacks he had purchased placed in the center.

Su Yan harbored a quiet dread that if the others noticed his clothes, they might suddenly recall something.

‘Sleeping Beauty isn’t wearing a princess gown!’

He barely had any lines himself.

Yet, he listened attentively to their conversation.

It wasn’t until Cheng Ye’s keen gaze swept over him, and with a smile in his eyes, he began, “Ah, Su Yan…”

‘Could he have remembered?’

“Lu Lin paid for all these costume skirts.”

“At first, I feigned politeness, saying it wasn’t necessary and we could make do with less.”

‘How honest.

Was it truly necessary to admit to feigning politeness as well?’

“Then he said it was because of you.”

Su Yan was left speechless, as if a thought had suddenly struck him.

His parents had discovered this peculiar phenomenon when he was a child.

Su Yan attributed this entirely to the idiotic novel.

He suffered from a strange affliction: he couldn’t wear clothes priced below 19,999, or his body would break out in a rash.

In this brain-deadening novel, it seemed he was the only one afflicted with such an inexplicable condition.

If word got out, people wouldn’t just think he was mentally deficient; they’d also brand him a materialistic show-off.

Only three people knew this secret.

No, wait, there was also a blurry figure in his memory.

However, he simply couldn’t recall.

As rationality returned, Su Yan was astonished that after only about a week together, Lu Lin was already so utterly devoted to him.

He spent money as if it were water.

Although a warmth bloomed in his heart, he had long been convinced that their relationship wouldn’t last.

Once the protagonist *shou* appeared, he would immediately step aside and make his escape.

Yet, the burden he carried felt increasingly heavy.

He couldn’t help but want to treat Lu Lin better.

Only then could they be even.

Su Yan remained in a daze for a moment.

He only snapped back to reality when the group before him began to seriously study the script.

Today wasn’t like the first day, where they merely familiarized themselves with it.

The Freshmen Welcome Party was fast approaching.

While a play like ‘Sleeping Beauty,’ performed by a group of grown men, might sound like a joke to anyone who heard about it, they were still treating it with utmost seriousness.

To his surprise, Su Yan had always assumed he, too, would be coerced into wearing a skirt.

Yet, nothing of the sort had occurred.

Of course, he remained oblivious.

After all, Lu Lin’s dark, menacing gaze was still deeply etched in Cheng Ye’s memory.

Though Lu Lin’s smile had been radiant, the chill in his tone had pierced straight to Cheng Ye’s core, sending shivers down his spine.

“Don’t you dare make him wear a skirt.”

This was the first time Cheng Ye had directly encountered such a different side of Lu Lin.

Su Yan yawned.

His beautiful eyes welled with tears, making him appear utterly pitiable.

To fight off the encroaching drowsiness, he lightly pinched his inner thigh.

A flush of red immediately bloomed on his fair skin.

Upon seeing this, Cheng Ye couldn’t help but roar, “No self-harm!”

At that shout, everyone’s gaze immediately fell upon Su Yan, whose eyes were wide with innocent bewilderment.

Su Yan: “…” ‘Self-harm…?’

Cheng Ye was deathly afraid that Lu Lin, who cherished Su Yan more than life itself, would come knocking and beat him senseless.

It seemed that after that incident, Lu Lin’s image in his mind had indeed shifted.

Finally, it was past eight in the evening.

Only then did Cheng Ye reluctantly dismiss everyone to return to their dorms and rest.

****

Su Yan patted at imaginary dust on his clothes.

He blinked his dry eyes.

As he picked up his phone and stepped out the door, he was startled by the person standing rigidly in the doorway.

The person remained silent.

At this hour, the corridor lights were dim.

It was as if a silent, deadly specter stood in the shadows of the doorway, poised to strike you down with a hammer when you least expected it.

The moment he finally discerned the figure, his heart leaped into his throat, only to plummet heavily once more.

The person before him was dressed in a youthful white shirt and black trousers.

Yet, the first thing one noticed about anyone was their face.

And this person wore a ghoulish mask.

The mask was entirely a deep, blood-bead red.

Two streaks of crimson, like tears of blood, ran from the eyeholes.

Its features were crudely fashioned.

This very crudeness, however, left ample room for imagination.

The entire person seemed to merge eerily with the night.

After seeing Su Yan’s startled expression, the person naturally removed the mask.

Before they could even speak, Su Yan struck them hard.

He had used only half his strength for that blow, yet his jade-white palm immediately flushed red, as if he were the one who had been hit.

The other person cried out in pain, complaining pitifully, “I just wanted to give you a surprise! Why are you like this?”

The speaker was Qi Zhiyao, Su Yan’s good friend from high school, with a head of adorable curly hair.

Perhaps due to being from Tainan City, their voice was quite sweet and soft-spoken.

They had taken on the role of Su Yan’s bodyguard at that terrifying aristocratic academy.

Despite Su Yan’s repeated assurances that it wasn’t necessary, Qi Zhiyao wouldn’t listen.

Every day, the first thing they did upon waking was to check if Su Yan was still alive and well.

Su Yan couldn’t understand why their sense of crisis was so profound.

Su Yan was also keenly aware that having two people was better than being alone.

After being voted ‘campus belle’ by a group of rich kids at the academy, he was constantly subjected to numerous gazes.

Due to his exquisite beauty, secret photos and love letters were commonplace.

However, those who handed him love letters never, without exception, appeared a second time.

He hadn’t given this much thought, simply assuming his charm was rather superficial.

Su Yan often touched his face and lamented, ‘I looked exactly the same in my past life, so why did no one confess to me?’

The main reason was that in high school, he only had Qi Zhiyao and Qi Nian as friends.

‘Was my charm truly so lacking? Did no one want to be friends with me?’

Su Yan pondered thoughtfully, then suddenly reached out to pat Qi Zhiyao’s shoulder, but the other deftly dodged him.

Su Yan: “…?”

Come to think of it, it had been like this since they first met.

Qi Zhiyao was highly resistant to physical contact with him.

Every time Su Yan touched them, they would jump away as if scalded.

Su Yan glanced at them, already accustomed to such behavior and unwilling to delve deeper.

He spoke languidly, “Are you back to school on the mainland again?”

Though Su Yan’s tone sounded calm, he was genuinely happy for them.

His amber eyes shone brightly in the dense darkness of the night.

In the second semester of their senior year of high school, Qi Zhiyao had suddenly transferred schools.

It was said that their mother was gravely ill, and the family was short on money and desperately needed someone to care for her.

The fact that Qi Zhiyao’s family was poor yet they attended the most expensive aristocratic academy in Haishi led to much gossip and speculation, with people nearly unearthing their entire family background.

Su Yan had briefly wondered about this, as the academy didn’t have special admission students.

However, he had no intention of prying into others’ privacy.

Qi Zhiyao looked at Su Yan with the gaze of a benefactor.

“My mother is fine now.”

Their voice was as sweet and soft as if they were cooing.

Su Yan’s mind was filled with black lines; that gaze was far too intense, and quite strange, especially since he had indeed tried to transfer money to Qi Zhiyao at the time, but they hadn’t accepted it.

Qi Zhiyao said with a playful grin, “I’ll tell you over dinner.

It’s my treat.”

The last three words were uttered with an upward lilt.

Su Yan wasn’t one to spoil the fun, so upon hearing this, he readily agreed.

Knowing Su Yan’s delicate stomach couldn’t handle street food, Qi Zhiyao generously offered to treat him to a restaurant.

Su Yan’s lips thinned, and a look of worry crossed his face.

He was quite afraid that Qi Zhiyao would have to subsist on air and carbon dioxide for the next month just to treat him to this meal.

Qi Zhiyao instantly understood his inner thoughts from his expression and, with a hint of helplessness, spread their hands.

“I have plenty of money.”

The ‘restaurant’ was actually a home-style eatery run by a couple.

As someone from Taipei, Qi Zhiyao’s favorite foods were these mainland home-style dishes.

There were many types of dishes they had never tried before.

After they were settled at their table, Qi Zhiyao pointed at the words on the menu and grandly waved their hand, imitating a rich tycoon.

They said expansively, “I’ll have all of these.”

Su Yan covertly glanced at the menu, calculated the ‘value for money’ of ‘all of this page,’ and only let out a sigh of relief when he realized it only amounted to two hundred yuan.

‘As expected of a university town, it’s affordable.’

Once the dishes arrived, Su Yan’s fair, slender fingers picked up a teacup and scalded both their bowls before handing one to Qi Zhiyao across the table.

He actually had many questions he wanted to ask his good friend.

For instance: How have you been these past six months? How did you overcome your difficulties? Why did you lose contact with me for half a year?

If Qi Zhiyao didn’t bring it up, he didn’t want to actively mention it either.

The restaurant was incredibly noisy that night.

The fan whirred loudly, stirring his chestnut bangs.

The proprietress flung disposable chopsticks from a meter away, which Su Yan deftly caught with both hands.

Everyone who witnessed this couldn’t help but applaud.

‘Truly a ‘Jianghu Eatery’; even the proprietress’s every move exudes a heroic spirit.’

In the vast restaurant, only one cabinet-style air conditioner ran frantically.

Even worse, those who arrived later were seated outside.

Even at night, the wind brought a blast of heat.

Su Yan’s long, curled eyelashes fluttered as he blinked hard, preventing sweat from flowing into his eyes, and a blush appeared on his porcelain-white face.

“Yanyan, eat.

The dishes are all here.”

Qi Zhiyao snapped open their disposable chopsticks.

The table was laden with vibrant red Sichuan dishes, their favorite cuisine.

However, in the middle of this summer…

Su Yan picked up his chopsticks and ate slowly, waiting for Qi Zhiyao to speak first.

“Actually…”

‘Is he finally going to say it?’

“This Mapo Tofu is too tough.”

‘Hmph.’

“During my third year of high school…”

‘Alright, this time he’s really going to talk.’

“I once had a particularly tender one.

I’ll take you to try it if we get the chance.”

‘?’

“In the second half of my senior year, I went home…”

‘Is he finally going to be honest with me…?’

“And I never ate such tender Mapo Tofu again.

Sigh, I really miss it.”

‘Enough is enough!

There’s no reasoning with a Mapo Tofu that’s become a spirit!’

“Don’t you have anything you want to tell me?” Su Yan’s eyes reflected Qi Zhiyao’s slightly agape, astonished expression.

“I’m incredibly grateful to you.”

As they spoke, their eyes curved into crescents, brimming with laughter.

It seemed this person deliberately didn’t want to tell him, so there was no need to probe further.

“I have a question.

Are you two together?” The sudden shift in topic left Su Yan momentarily speechless.

He asked, perplexed, “You know? No, rather, how do you know?”

His voice trailed off, imbued with an investigative tone.

“You don’t need to worry about that.

I’m curious what you think of him?”

Although he found Qi Zhiyao quite strange, Su Yan still gathered himself, put down his chopsticks, tilted his head, and answered earnestly, “A glimmer of humanity? Half-kind?”

Qi Zhiyao, with their sweet, soft voice, smiled vaguely.

“Is that so? Then, do you like him?”

They didn’t sound merely curious, but rather as if they were asking as part of a task.

“Not exactly like, I suppose.

I think it would be quite nice to be friends.”

This was his honest answer.

Qi Zhiyao didn’t reprimand him with the age-old question of why he was dating someone he didn’t like, nor did they further dissect his answer.

Instead, they simply asked the next question.

This time, their expression was serious, devoid of any smile.

They stared into his eyes and said, word for word, “Do you want to leave him?”

Qi Zhiyao blinked frantically, making Su Yan wonder if their eyes were dry from the wind.

He waved to the proprietress.

“Proprietress, could we get some plain boiled water?”

Qi Zhiyao: “…”

“You still haven’t answered me,” Qi Zhiyao continued.

Su Yan narrowed his beautiful eyes, confused by such intense curiosity.

‘They’re practically sacrificing their own eyes.’

Seeing this, he could only answer honestly, “Yes.”

After he spoke that sentence, a strange atmosphere enveloped the two of them.

Qi Zhiyao didn’t joke or tease him.

Instead, they typed a line into their memo: [I really like you as a friend.

I hope you stay safe.]

As for why they didn’t send a WeChat message, it was because Qi Zhiyao had adamantly refused to add Su Yan on WeChat since high school.

They never gave a reason when asked.

****

Su Yan’s pupils trembled.

All the way back to the dorm, he was pondering that statement, and before he knew it, he had arrived at his dorm door.

As the key slid into the lock, every cell in his body felt submerged in ice water.

A chill spread from bottom to top, making his scalp tingle.

He opened the door to find the lights off.

Just like the day they first met, Lu Lin stood silently to the side, silhouetted against the darkness.

Upon recognizing who had entered, he spoke softly, “Su Yan.”