TT Chapter 7. Be Friends

The swimming hall was packed wall to wall with people.

Relying on his seasoned reporter instincts, Yang Shulin dragged Chen Ting through the crowd. But the cheering came in waves, crashing one after another, and Chen Ting was beginning to seriously question why he had followed Yang Shulin into this chaos.

He looked down at the clothes in his hand and made up his mind. Once he returned them, he was leaving. Just as he was about to turn away, a new idea occurred to him. He could go to the locker room. Pei Yiyao would definitely head there after his race.

“Gou-ge!” Just then, Yang Shulin spotted Gou Yi on the far side of the pool, holding up a video camera. He stood on tiptoe and waved excitedly.

Chen Ting told Yang Shulin to go meet up with Gou Yi while he slipped away to “use the restroom,” planning instead to stake out the locker room. Yang Shulin didn’t suspect a thing. They picked a spot to meet up later, and he dashed off into Gou Ge’s arms.

But before Chen Ting could take more than a few steps, a deafening wave of screams nearly knocked him over.

“Ahhh Yao-ge!!!”

“Ahhh Yao-ge!!!”

“Pei Yiyao’s here!”

“Go, freshman! If you win, I’ll be your girlfriend!”

“Oh my god, his body is unreal!”

“If I run up and cop a feel right now, will I make it in time? Ahhhh why was I born two years too early?!”

The cheering was laced with excitement, awe, giddy laughter, and high-pitched screaming. It surrounded Chen Ting like a full 360-degree stereo system, leaving only one thought echoing in his mind. Pei Yiyao.

“Excuse me…” Chen Ting tried to squeeze his way out, but everyone was too focused on the pool to notice someone as short as him.

Instead of making it out, he ended up pushed closer and closer to the edge of the pool.

Then—splash.

He turned his head and saw Pei Yiyao rising from the water like a dragon breaking the surface.

He braced both hands against the edge and pushed himself up, rising cleanly from the pool. Water streamed down the lines of his muscles, over the sharp ridges of his abs and the curve of his obliques. And then…

Chen Ting suddenly thought of that horribly ill-fitting pair of underwear, currently lying in the back of his closet.

His ears flushed red. He immediately took a step back and didn’t know where to look. He had grown up around rivers, and he must have seen at least fifty naked guys in his life. But not one of them could compare to Pei Yiyao.

Around him, the girls were already losing their minds. Chen Ting even heard a boy whistling somewhere in the crowd, kicking off a whole wave of giddy, gay energy.

Chen Ting wanted to leave even more than before. But just then, Pei Yiyao seemed to spot him, and walked straight toward him.

The noisy crowd fell into a strange moment of silence, as if someone had hit the pause button. Everyone turned their heads at once, staring at Pei Yiyao and Chen Ting.

“Hey, isn’t that Chen Ting from the English department?”

“Chen Ting? You mean Ting Ting?”

“What’s he doing here?”

“Wait… do they know each other?”

Curiosity and confusion wrapped around the two of them, but Chen Ting had no time to worry about that. He looked up at Pei Yiyao, who had just lowered his head. For the first time, Chen Ting saw that sharp, rain-damp face up close, and it was strikingly handsome.

“Wait for me outside the locker room,” Pei Yiyao said.

Then he turned and walked away. The crowd’s attention followed him again. Luckily, his voice had been quiet, and no one had heard what he said. Taking advantage of that, Chen Ting slipped through the crowd as quickly as he could, afraid of being surrounded and interrogated by a bunch of curious onlookers.

By the time he ran out of the swimming hall, his heart was still pounding. He checked his phone and, sure enough, saw a new message from Yang Shulin.

YSL: Ting Ting! Ting ge! You know Pei Yiyao???

Donghu Crab King: Our families know each other. Remember that younger guy I told you about before?

YSL: Holy shit, how is it this much of a coincidence?

Donghu Crab King: It just is.

Donghu Crab King: I’m going to return his clothes. I’ll tell you more when I get back.

Ten minutes later, Chen Ting arrived outside the locker room. A row of shrubs lined the wall, and he crouched behind them with the bag of clothes in his arms, perfectly hidden from view.

About half a minute passed before he started to feel a little ridiculous. He wasn’t doing anything shady, so why was he sneaking around like this?

Just like that, Chen Ting fell into a quiet moment of philosophical reflection.

When Pei Yiyao jumped out through the window, what he saw was Chen Ting squatting on the ground, eyes blank, curled up like a soft little bunny.

Chen Ting was startled by the sudden presence beside him. As he turned around, his legs gave out from having crouched too long, and he started to fall backward. Fortunately, Pei Yiyao extended a leg just in time to catch him.

Chen Ting landed directly on Pei Yiyao’s thigh. He grabbed hold to steady himself, clinging there like a large accessory hanging off his leg.

“Ahem…” He scrambled up quickly and shoved the bag of clothes into Pei Yiyao’s hands. “Here. Returning this.”

Pei Yiyao glanced at the pink hue on the tips of his ears. “Come on,” he said.

“Huh? Where are we going?” Chen Ting asked.

“My mom’s at your house,” Pei Yiyao replied. “She told me to take you out for dinner.”

Wait a second, your mom goes to my place, so now you have to treat me to dinner? How does that even follow?

Chen Ting followed Pei Yiyao with a dazed expression, but quickly stopped. Pei Yiyao had just stepped straight over the row of shrubs. If Chen Ting remembered correctly, that was the exact bush he had been hiding behind not long ago, and it had covered him completely.

Life was truly confusing.

Pei Yiyao noticed the blank look in Chen Ting’s eyes and assumed he couldn’t make it over, so he held out a hand. “Need help?”

Chen Ting kept a straight face and shook his head like a rattle drum. Then, spotting a gap in the branches, he darted through it and pretended nothing had happened.

The two of them walked side by side, heading away from the swimming hall. One of them rarely spoke to begin with. The other spoke even less. The silence between them was awkward, but oddly peaceful.

After a while, Pei Yiyao said, “My mom just hopes we can be friends.”

Chen Ting replied, “Sure. Let’s be friends.”

“Okay.”

It made no sense.

Chen Ting had never made such a completely nonsensical friend in such a completely nonsensical way.

For a moment, Chen Ting felt like he was starting to forget what the word “nonsensical” even meant. But then he thought about it. The Pei family had decided to settle in N City. They were only about three hours away, and given the connection between their families, there was no doubt they would be seeing each other often. He and Pei Yiyao would probably be dealing with each other for decades to come.

Maybe being friends really was the best option.

Besides, Pei Yiyao seemed like a good person.

“It’s still early. Why don’t you go back to the dorm first and drop off your clothes? You can dry your hair too. After the sports event, we can… meet at the South Gate?” Now that Chen Ting had decided to treat him as a friend, he no longer felt the need to hide it. Other people’s opinions had never mattered that much to him anyway. What held him back before was simply that it was inconvenient.

“Alright,” Pei Yiyao replied. Still sparing with words, but refreshingly direct.

They went their separate ways. Chen Ting, thinking about his classmates who were still competing, quickly headed back to the field.

Yang Shulin had also returned and was getting ready to run the 400-meter race. The moment he spotted Chen Ting, his eyes lit up. He started to rush over to dig for gossip, only to be stopped cold by Lin Juan.

“It’s about to start. Focus.”

Then she turned to greet Chen Ting as well, not mentioning Pei Yiyao at all.

Chen Ting gave Lin Juan a nod, then ran off to cheer for Yang Shulin. When he turned around, he was surprised to see Gou Ge as well, camera on his shoulder, recording Yang Shulin’s moment of glory.

“Gou Ge,” Chen Ting greeted him, using the same nickname Yang Shulin did.

“Mm.” Gou Ge was not one for small talk. His interactions with Chen Ting had never gone beyond a polite nod. What surprised Chen Ting was that this time, he actually came over and started a conversation.

“Would you be interested in doing an interview with us?” Gou Yi asked.

“An interview? Me?”

“Yes.”

“Why do you want to interview me?”

“Your performance at the dance was impressive. People really liked you. And you know Pei Yiyao.”

Gou Yi was direct. So when he mentioned Pei Yiyao as one of the reasons, Chen Ting didn’t feel offended. He simply shook his head and said, “Sorry. I’d rather not do any interviews.”

Gou Yi showed no surprise, as if he had already expected this. “Could you ask Pei Yiyao for me, then?”

Chen Ting’s first instinct was to say no, but after thinking about it, he figured it wouldn’t hurt to ask. So he nodded. “I’ll have Yang Shulin let you know the answer.”

Satisfied, Gou Yi stayed to film a little longer, then left.

After his race, Yang Shulin came back and saw that his Gou Ge had disappeared. He grumbled a few complaints about how disloyal that was, then threw an arm around Chen Ting’s shoulder and started quietly fishing for gossip.

But Chen Ting thought about it. He had only met Pei Yiyao a few times. There really wasn’t anything to talk about. So he tilted his head and said, “He saw us buying that.”

Yang Shulin fell silent.

For the next two hours, he did not mention Pei Yiyao even once.

When the event ended, Chen Ting didn’t go back to the dorm. He headed straight for the South Gate. He hadn’t even reached it yet when he spotted Pei Yiyao already waiting there. At one meter eighty-seven, with that aloof presence, he was impossible to miss.

Chen Ting jogged up to him. “Have you been waiting long?”

Pei Yiyao shook his head. “Let’s go.”

At the main gate, people were coming and going, and nearly everyone who passed looked twice at the pair of them. Even those who had already walked by kept turning back to look again.

“Isn’t that the new campus heartthrob? Who’s that walking next to him?”

“Holy shit, why are those two together? When did the gossip at our school start moving this fast?”

“That combo is… really unexpected.”

“What happened? Seriously, what did I miss? Was there a plotline I skipped?!”

“…”

“I mean… emmm is it weird that I kind of ship this?”

“Cold and aloof heartthrob paired with soft, adorable little Ting Ting?”

“Excuse me, that’s my husband and his precious boyfriend!”

“Ahem…” Chen Ting was doing his best to stay composed, but the moment he heard the phrase “cold and aloof heartthrob and soft little Ting Ting,” he couldn’t help choking on his own saliva.

Right now, he was sitting with Pei Yiyao at a sauerkraut fish place on the food street outside campus, waiting for their food. The girls at the table diagonally across from them were getting way too excited. He could hear every word they were saying.

He glanced over at Pei Yiyao’s expression. As expected, the heartthrob remained completely unbothered.

Just then, his phone lit up with a WeChat notification. Chen Ting unlocked it and saw that his mom had added him to a group chat. The name of the chat was Happy Family.

Chen Ting tapped into the group. It was a treasure trove of awkwardness. Including himself, there were five members.

Moon Boat J @ Donghu Crab King: Ting Ting, say hi to Uncle Pei and Aunt Ruan.

Soft Candy: We should’ve let our Yiyao introduce himself first. Ting Ting already knows me and calls me Auntie!
F@Pei Yiyao @Pei Yiyao @Pei Yiyao @Pei Yiyao @Pei Yiyao…

Chen Ting looked up at the guy across from him who was being @-tagged repeatedly by his own mom, hoping to catch even a flicker of discomfort on his face, but there was none.

Pei Yiyao: Hello, Auntie.

Donghu Crab King: Hello, Uncle and Auntie.

Seeing his own nickname, “Donghu Crab King,” lined up next to everyone else’s neat three-character names, Chen Ting suddenly felt like his stood out in a completely different way. Actually, it felt kind of badass.

The fifth member in the chat was named Pei Anqing. Just from the fact that he used his full name, Chen Ting could tell that this was Pei Yiyao’s dad.

But unlike his son, Pei Anqing had a very different vibe. He kept posting food photos. Chen Ting recognized the table in the background. It was the redwood Eight Immortals table on their houseboat.

The whole thing felt a little surreal, but Chen Ting didn’t mind it.

His father had passed away when he was young. For years it had just been him and his mother living on the boat. Other than the holidays, things were rarely lively. This impromptu family gathering came out of nowhere, but Chen Ting had a feeling his mom was probably very happy.

Just then, the sauerkraut fish finally arrived. Through the steam rising from the soup, Chen Ting snuck a glance at Pei Yiyao. After a moment of hesitation, he tapped the screen and sent him a friend request.

Ding dong. Pei Yiyao’s phone lit up.

He glanced down, then looked up again, just in time to see Chen Ting blowing gently on a spoonful of hot soup. The steam had turned his cheeks pink, and his big, dark eyes blinked as he stole a quick glance his way.

After a pause, Pei Yiyao lowered his gaze, looked at the request, and tapped accept.

Something shy and mutual passed between them, unspoken but understood. Meanwhile, the girls at the table across from them were nearly foaming at the mouth from frustration. Why weren’t they talking? Why was no one saying anything? This was torture.