TT Chapter 29. Eavesdropping

Chen Ting’s grades were solid, though never outstanding. He was always somewhere in the middle of the pack.
Every now and then, if luck was on his side, he might even score first or second in class. He was especially good at listening comprehension, maybe because of the character “Ting” in his name.

Yang Shulin once said Chen Ting was the bottom of the top-tier students. If he just tried a little harder, he could be a straight-A student. But Chen Ting wasn’t the type who believed in striving above all. He had a lazy, drifting vibe, like a cloud with nowhere to be.

At first, Chen Ting had been a little worried Pei Yiyao might see through his laid-back act and start nagging him to be more ambitious. But once they got together, he realized he’d only gotten lazier.

When it came to academics, especially English, he had nothing to worry about. Pei Yiyao was the expert. As for everything else, there was even less to stress over. Pei Yiyao didn’t seem to care one bit whether Chen Ting worked hard or not. All that talk about becoming a better version of yourself for love, or finding some kind of soulful connection, simply did not exist between them.

What Pei Yiyao liked was having Chen Ting sit next to him while he studied. He’d prep milk tea or warm milk, sometimes candy or cookies, and even let Chen Ting use his own laptop, which was loaded with important files, just so he could play games on it.

Even with all that, he still couldn’t keep Chen Ting around all the time.

Chen Ting had his own full schedule. After signing up for Mandarin classes, he had to go off-campus to attend them. On weekends, he worked part-time. Then there were the occasional class activities. Like now—Christmas was coming up, and the school was hosting a singing competition. Someone from his class was performing, so Chen Ting had to go cheer them on. That meant no quiet study session with Pei Yiyao.

On the walk back to the dorm, Chen Ting kept sneaking glances at Pei Yiyao and said, “Why don’t you go to the library by yourself tomorrow? They’ve got the heater running in there. Way warmer than the dorm.”

Pei Yiyao didn’t reply. He just slowed his pace.

Chen Ting knew full well that Pei Yiyao would not be happy, so he glanced around discreetly. Once he was sure no one was nearby, he quietly reached out and took Pei Yiyao’s hand. He did it in the most conspicuous way possible, as if trying to act natural would somehow make it worse. His face stayed perfectly serious, eyes facing forward, but the tips of his ears were turning red.

Pei Yiyao turned to look at him. Chen Ting asked again, “Is that okay?”

“Yes.” Pei Yiyao gave his answer right away. He even stopped walking and held on tighter, unwilling to let go. Chen Ting’s hand was warm, soft, and a little squishy, the kind of texture that felt absurdly satisfying to hold.

Chen Ting gave his hand a tug, trying to free it, but couldn’t. The flush on his ears only deepened. Ever since they got together, Pei Yiyao kept doing these ridiculous, embarrassing things, especially when no one else was around.

It was just a hand. A bit of callus here and there, a faint scar or two, and maybe a little too soft, but what was there to be so obsessed with? Yet Pei Yiyao kept squeezing it, examining it, even slipping it into his pocket and refusing to let go.

“Let go. The dorm’s going to close soon,” Chen Ting reminded him in a quiet voice.

“You’re the one who gave it to me,” Pei Yiyao said, making sure to point that out.

Chen Ting had no choice but to admit defeat. What he didn’t realize was that when he protested with that annoyed tone, his eyes were already darting away. Coupled with his red ears, his words had no weight at all.

Pei Yiyao lifted his free hand and gave Chen Ting’s hair a gentle rub. Then, almost by reflex, his hand slid down and pinched the baby fat on his cheek.

Chen Ting was ready to explode.

“Close your eyes,” he said, smacking Pei Yiyao’s hand away with a deadly serious expression.

Pei Yiyao didn’t understand, but since Chen Ting had asked, and it was something he could do, he saw no reason to say no. Even if Chen Ting just wanted to pinch his face in return, that was fine.

So Pei Yiyao closed his eyes, unaware that Chen Ting’s lips had curved into a quiet smile. There wasn’t even a trace of real anger on his face.

Then, Chen Ting threw his arms around him and gave him a fast hug. Just as Pei Yiyao started to lift his hands to return it, Chen Ting turned and bolted. “Good night!”

Pei Yiyao watched him go with a helpless expression. Under the streetlight, his wind-tousled hair still looked like a puff of dandelion fluff. The hood of his sweatshirt bounced with every step, bright red like a little sun.

He pulled out his phone and sent a voice message.

“You don’t have to run off next time. Hug me as long as you want.”

Chen Ting had just reached the dormitory entrance. He listened to the message as he walked, cheeks flushed, still catching his breath. His fingers flew across the screen in response.

Shameless.

No, no, delete that.

Next time I won’t hug you at all.

No, no, that sounds too bratty.

Hmph.

Why does that feel like something a flirty demon would say? Maybe I should use a different tone?

The thought made Chen Ting cringe hard enough to get goosebumps. In the end, he sent a voice reply as well. “Go wash up and get to bed. I’ve got a lot to do tomorrow. Not chatting with you.”

He released the send button and marched into the dorm with confidence.

Back on the road, Pei Yiyao listened to the voice message and continued walking at a steady pace. He pressed the voice key again.

“Are you really not going to see me tomorrow?”

Chen Ting replied, “No time.”

Pei Yiyao said, “No time for me, but Ting Ting always has time.”

Chen Ting replied, “Ting Ting doesn’t!”

Yang Shulin’s voice came from the other side of the door. “Ting Ting, what are you doing in the bathroom?”

Chen Ting quickly poked his head out. “Talking to my mom.”

Yang Shulin didn’t suspect a thing. After all, Ting Ting had been a nickname his mom used from day one. Back on the first day of orientation, it was Ting Ting this and Ting Ting that. Even the dorm manager uncle knew his name by now.

Chen Ting figured he had better tone it down before it got out of hand. He switched to typing instead. He would introduce Pei Yiyao to Yang Shulin eventually, but the timing still wasn’t quite right.

At that exact moment, Pei Yiyao’s roommates were witnessing, for the third time, their cool and aloof dormmate striding back in with his phone clutched tightly in hand. One of them muttered under his breath, “What the hell…”

The next evening’s singing competition had most of Chen Ting’s class in attendance. Since it coincided with Christmas, the venue was decked out in full holiday spirit. Just inside the entrance, someone in a Santa suit was handing out reindeer antler headbands.

The headbands came in matching pairs. They were small, delicate, and lit up with blinking lights. Honestly, they were pretty adorable.

Yang Shulin grabbed one and popped it onto Chen Ting’s head, then immediately started shouting about getting a picture, grinning from ear to ear.

Because everyone else was dressed up too, Chen Ting didn’t feel all that embarrassed. But he did refuse to let his face be in any photos. So in the nine-photo collage Yang Shulin later posted on social media, there was one shot of a curly-haired, reindeer-eared “Ting” with his entire face covered, standing next to Lin Juan and Wu Yingwen, both pulling exaggerated faces like they were big bad wolves sneaking up to eavesdrop.

Everyone was having such a good time, they almost forgot what they were actually there for.

“Ting Ting, Ting Ting, it’s almost Juan-mei’s turn!”

Juan-mei was Lin Juan’s roommate. The two of them had jokingly sworn sisterhood after watching too many wuxia dramas. One became Juan-ge, the other Juan-mei. Juan-mei had a great singing voice and was known as a karaoke queen. She was warm, outgoing, and got along well with everyone.

Yang Shulin nudged Chen Ting and coaxed, “Ting Ting, go bring her some flowers.”

“No way,” Chen Ting replied smoothly. “A bouquet’s got nothing on a cash reward. If she makes it to the next round, I’ll drop red envelopes in the group chat. First come, first served.”

“Aww yeah!” Wu Yingwen was the first to cheer.

Lin Juan was all for it. She gave Chen Ting a hearty slap on the shoulder and said, “Tonight we’ve got Ting-ge handing out red envelopes. I’ll take care of the flower offering.”

Fresh flowers were being sold right on site. Yang Shulin suspected someone from the business school had infiltrated the student council. Otherwise who would have thought to set up a flower stall at a singing contest? As a self-proclaimed gentleman and one of the only boys in their class, he naturally volunteered himself for the task.

“I’ll go, I’ll go. Wu Yingxiong, get over here. We’re buying flowers!” He grabbed Wu Yingwen and dragged him away. The two of them argued the whole time about which flowers looked better. Neither would back down, so in the end, they settled on a bouquet of red roses.

Soon enough, it was Juan-mei’s turn on stage. Halfway through her song, Juan-ge stormed the stage with her roses in hand, striding up with flair. She looked so cool and confident that every guy in the room instantly paled in comparison.

While clapping, Chen Ting quietly breathed a sigh of relief. If he had gone up there to give flowers, and Pei Yiyao found out about it the next day, he’d be drowning in vinegar for sure.

He would go cold and quiet, stewing in jealousy. The more jealous he got, the colder he became, and once it reached that point, not even a hug would be enough to smooth things over. Red envelopes were the better plan. Peaceful. Smart. A perfect strategy.

By the time the competition ended, it was already ten o’clock. Juanmei had made it to the next round, so the group who stayed till the end decided to head out to the food street for a late-night snack. It was Friday, after all, they might as well enjoy themselves.

Chen Ting was already feeling a little drowsy, but he didn’t want to be the buzzkill. He used the bathroom as an excuse and went to splash his face with cold water. What he didn’t know was that someone had been watching him quietly from a corner, waiting for him to leave the group before following right behind.

Chen Ting noticed nothing. He went straight to the sink as soon as he entered the restroom. But just as he turned on the tap, an arm wrapped around his waist and yanked him into a tight embrace. In the blink of an eye, his feet left the ground and he was pulled straight into one of the stalls. Again.

That’s right. Again. Because this wasn’t the first time he’d been dragged into a stall like this.