OAS 3

Rumors always spread fast. With too little homework and too much time to kill, University life left people bored, and when guys got into gossip, they were no less intense than girls.

It all started when the guy from the next dorm casually mentioned it during a card game. Word spread from one dorm to another, and then another, until it exploded. By the time it circled back to He Ziwei, it had already been completely warped. There was even a trending post pinned to the top of the campus forum, claiming that some student with the surname T from a certain department, known as the campus heartthrob was a chronic fuckboy.

Tang Zhou had always been one of the campus’s most talked-about names, so it was easy for people to guess who the post meant. Everyone started digging up old gossip from the past few years. With the usual mix of jealousy and admiration, the story snowballed. Tang Zhou got crowned the number one hookup king on campus. The twists and turns of the tale were more dramatic than twenty extra episodes of Journey to the West.

He Ziwei had said plenty of bad things about Tang Zhou behind his back. Some of it was petty, some of it spiteful, but none of it had ever been serious. To Tang Zhou, it was probably like getting bitten by a mosquito. Annoying but forgettable. After a few days, the air always cleared.

But this time, He Ziwei had not expected his slip of the tongue to cause such a shitstorm. Even though he secretly found the rumor satisfying and felt a twisted sense of glee, he knew the truth behind that tangled mess of lust and gossip had started with him slicing open Tang Zhou’s package. Once Tang Zhou came back, their already strained and volatile roommate relationship would probably go up in flames.

Buying condoms was about sex and safety. Hookups were about reputation. This kind of rumor crossed a line. Even if Tang Zhou had the patience of a saint, he would not let it go.

He Ziwei started to panic. He could not stop imagining how Tang Zhou might take revenge. He doubted the guy would waste his time trading insults.

Would he beat the shit out of him? A one-on-one fight or would he bring backup?

He Ziwei quietly compared their physical strength and felt a wave of dread. But then he told himself he could not chicken out so easily.

Fine. If it came to a fight, then so be it. He would give up his head, his life if he had to. At worst… at worst he could apologize right before the first punch and beg for mercy.

That was right. He Ziwei really was a fucking coward.