OAS 22

The glass and tiled walls enclosed the narrow space on all sides. Under the cold white glare of the overhead light, the square tiles looked even more blinding. The only sound in the bathroom was water, endlessly flowing. Warm droplets splashed onto Tang Zhou’s tanned skin, then fell to the floor, gathering into a shallow pool.

Steam began to rise again, dampening his lashes. For a moment, Tang Zhou felt a dizzy wave of disorientation. They were barely two meters apart, but somehow he couldn’t quite see He Ziwei clearly. The guy stood with his head lowered, eyes locked on the tiny whirlpool spinning around the drain, still as stone. Like a statue carved from silence.

Neither of them spoke. The air between them was thick with silence, thick with naked tension. The smell of sex still lingered. Slick residue from deep inside He Ziwei’s body was slowly leaking out, dripping down his thighs in a fine, glossy trail. But none of that mattered anymore. The air had turned completely still.

After a long while, He Ziwei reached for the towel hanging to the side. The movement was like a starting gun, breaking the standoff. Before he could wrap the towel around himself, Tang Zhou grabbed him by the shoulders and pinned him to the wall.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Tang Zhou’s voice was tight, trying to sound calm, but the urgency bled through. “You don’t want this, what does that mean?”

He Ziwei flinched at the cold tile against his back. Before he could answer, Tang Zhou’s questions kept coming.

“You hate me that much? You think this is disgusting?”

His lips moved slightly. After a moment, he finally spoke in a low voice, eyes still cast down. “This… isn’t right.”

“Then tell me.” Tang Zhou’s voice rose, sharp and unsteady. He grabbed He Ziwei’s chin, forcing him to look up. His eyes burned. “What the hell is right?”

He Ziwei struggled in his grip, but couldn’t break free. All he could do was look at him, and try to explain. “Can’t we just stay classmates? You… you like girls. You’re going to get married and—”

“When the fuck did you get to decide if I like girls or boys?” Tang Zhou barked a laugh, furious. “You think you can end this just because you want to? I’m telling you—no. Not happening.”

He Ziwei said nothing.

He was grasping at straws now, throwing out anything that might make Tang Zhou walk away. “If this is for revenge, I get it now, okay? I was wrong. You could pick someone better-looking…”

“What the hell do you take me for?” Tang Zhou froze, something bleak washing over his face. He let go of He Ziwei and stepped back.

Just before the door shut behind him, He Ziwei heard his voice one more time. It was low and flat, stripped of any clear emotion, impossible to read.

“What do you think you are, He Ziwei?”

He Ziwei stood frozen in place. Only after hearing the slam of the door did he move under the stream of water. The chill on his back refused to fade. The skin on his shoulders and jaw still seemed to hold the faint warmth of where Tang Zhou had touched him. Tang Zhou had left first, and He Ziwei knew none of this was truly over. But after such a failed negotiation, he no longer had the chance, or the courage to try again.

When He Ziwei returned to the dorm, Tang Zhou was lying in bed with his eyes closed. It wasn’t clear if he was asleep or not. Every desk had a small pile of snacks, likely local specialties Tang Zhou had brought back. A quick glance revealed an assortment of delicate pastries and seafood items. It was strange. Tang Zhou’s hometown was far from the sea. This selection was completely different from what he usually brought back each year. In fact, it looked more like something from He Ziwei’s own hometown.

He Ziwei took a closer look at the colorful packaging, and a vague sense of unease stirred in his chest. He picked up each item to check the label. Almost all of them were produced near M City. The realization hit him in a wave. He looked up, stunned, and met Tang Zhou’s eyes. The man was already sitting up, staring back with unreadable depth in his gaze.

“You… didn’t go home?”

He Ziwei tried to process it, to reason his way through the facts, but his mind was spinning and nothing felt solid.

“What, disappointed?” Tang Zhou got out of bed and walked over. He held his phone out, showing He Ziwei a message received just ten minutes earlier. The wording was formal. It congratulated him for passing the interview. His job placement would be in the M City regional office, the same city where He Ziwei’s company was located. The capital of his home province.

Tang Zhou let out a cold laugh, lowering his voice as he leaned in. “You really thought you could just graduate and be rid of me? Keep dreaming.”

It felt like the universe was mocking him, but He Ziwei wasn’t sure who the joke was on. Tang Zhou, or himself. Why would Tang Zhou go to M City? He opened his mouth to say something, but the words never came. Tang Zhou cut him off before he could begin.

The door burst open and Li Shiye came flying into the room like a flash of lightning. His voice arrived before he did.

“Tang Zhou, your life is seriously out of control. Wild, chaotic, completely off the rails. And now someone’s posted about you on the school forum.”

The headline on the homepage was impossible to miss: “Campus Male God Caught Shirtless. Rumors of Hookups with Engineering Heartthrob Confirmed?” The post was tagged bright red with HOT, the clearest sign that gossip-starved students were already swarming.

The photo pinned at the top of the post showed Tang Zhou’s face in full clarity. He was in the middle of buttoning his shirt, and there was no mistaking his identity. After their fight, he had stormed out in a fury, barely throwing on his clothes. The shirt was only half fastened, and anger still lingered between his brows. The way the photo was angled made him look wild and defiant, with a kind of careless danger that drew the eye. Behind him was the unmistakable entrance to the small hotel.

He Ziwei stood in front of the screen, completely at a loss for what to think.

The one who posted described everything in vivid detail. She claimed she had been on her way back to campus that afternoon when she spotted a very good-looking guy stepping out of a shady motel. Everyone knew what those places were for. And after a closer look, wasn’t that the very same Tang Zhou from the mechanical engineering department? The campus heartthrob whose name had already been swirling in hookup rumors?

“Honestly, I didn’t believe those rumors before,” she wrote. “There was no proof. But after seeing it with my own eyes, I can’t lie to myself anymore.” The tone was passionate, righteous, and full of disappointment. “I used to have a crush on him. Now I just feel like I was blind. I can’t believe he actually does this kind of thing. I have to show everyone who he really is, before more girls get fooled by his looks.”

The comment section erupted. Some were appalled, condemning Tang Zhou for being a handsome player and a disgrace to campus morals. Others accused the poster of being bitter and delusional, saying she was just making drama because her crush never panned out. A few newcomers chimed in, asking for background information or clarification on who the people in the photo were. The entire thread had exploded into a moral battlefield, already stretching over ten pages in heated back-and-forth.

“What should we do about the post?” He Ziwei cleared his throat and asked nervously.

Tang Zhou didn’t even look at him. “It only shows me. Leave it. It’ll get buried in a few days.”

“But aren’t you going to clear it up?”

Tang Zhou remained disturbingly calm, like none of this had anything to do with him. “She’s not wrong. I did go to that hotel today. There’s nothing to clarify.”

“But it wasn’t a hookup—” He Ziwei blurted out, then froze halfway through. He didn’t know what he was saying either.

“Wasn’t what?” Li Shiye, still clueless, looked over in confusion. “Wait, do you know something?”

“…No. Nothing,” He Ziwei muttered. He had no idea how to explain any of this. All he could say was, “The poster misunderstood. Tang Zhou’s not that kind of person.”

“Well, now that’s no fun. What are you two hiding?” Li Shiye immediately picked up on the tension between them.

Tang Zhou didn’t say a word. He Ziwei cursed himself for speaking up in the first place. After a long pause, he finally managed, “Tang Zhou was probably with his girlfriend. I saw him with a girl a few days ago.”

Half true, half false. Just enough to pass. The lie was told with finesse, seamlessly blended with something real. Li Shiye bought it right away and nudged Tang Zhou in the ribs. “Hey, not bad. When did that happen?”

“Girlfriend?” Tang Zhou hadn’t expected that story, but he went along with it easily. His mood lifted at once, and even his tone softened. “Been a while. Since I got back from my internship.”

“When are you bringing her over to meet us?” Li Shiye laughed.

“Probably not anytime soon,” Tang Zhou said, closing the forum post on his phone. “She got mad at me today. We had a fight.”

“Girls love that push-and-pull stuff,” Li Shiye said confidently. “You just have to kiss her a little, hold her a little, say some sweet words, and she’ll come around.”

“Got it.” Tang Zhou turned and looked straight at He Ziwei, a faint smile playing on his lips. “I’ll go coax him.”

He Ziwei felt Tang Zhou’s eyes on him and flushed red all the way to his ears.