Cheng Jiashu was momentarily stunned; he didn’t immediately recognize who was calling. He brought the phone up to his face and realized he was holding Jiang Luo’s phone.
“Hello, Brother Yue?” Cheng Jiashu sat up to answer, “It’s Cheng Jiashu. Jiang Luo went downstairs to pick up some clothes.”
Gu Yue gave a hum of acknowledgment.
Just as Cheng Jiashu was about to ask, “What did you need him for?”, the doorbell rang. Jiang Luo didn’t have his key card with him, so Cheng Jiashu went to open the door, keeping the phone to his ear.
As soon as Jiang Luo walked in, Cheng Jiashu handed him the phone: “It’s a call from Brother Yue.”
Jiang Luo paused, then his eyes widened: “He’s here so soon?”
“What’s here?” Cheng Jiashu looked puzzled.
Jiang Luo quickly took the phone: “Hello, Senior? You’ve arrived?”
“Yeah.”
“Are you downstairs?”
“I am.”
Jiang Luo headed back out of the room to grab his things: “I’ll be down in a second. Wait for me.”
Cheng Jiashu poked his head out the door and asked, “What’s going on? Brother Yue is downstairs?”
Jiang Luo replied with a distracted “Ah.”
Jiang Luo grabbed his gift and hurried downstairs. When he stepped out of the elevator into the hotel lobby, he didn’t see anyone outside the entrance, so he walked out to check.
A black sedan was parked at the hotel entrance with the rear window rolled halfway down. Gu Yue sat inside, his profile cast in the shadows, his features still sharply defined. Perhaps hearing footsteps, Gu Yue suddenly turned his head, locking eyes with Jiang Luo.
Jiang Luo called out, “Senior.” Gu Yue opened the door. The driver hadn’t reacted in time; by the time he moved to get out and open the door, Gu Yue had already stepped out.
“I was downstairs getting my clothes and didn’t have my phone on me,” Jiang Luo explained. “I didn’t hear your call. You got here so fast.”
Jiang Luo handed him the small gift box and smiled: “A belated birthday gift. It’s a little charm I made myself. It’s nothing valuable, but it’s the thought that counts, hehe.”
Gu Yue took the box and looked at him: “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Jiang Luo had already showered and was wearing a loose, light-colored T-shirt and sweatpants. His hair was fluffy and soft, and he smelled faintly of body wash.
“Why was your phone with Cheng Jiashu?” Gu Yue asked. “Are you sleeping together?”
“No, I was playing games at his place earlier and left my phone in his room,” Jiang Luo said. “I’m staying in a room with my younger brother.”
“Is something wrong?” Jiang Luo blinked.
“Nothing.”
Jiang Luo glanced at the driver in the black suit and whispered to Gu Yue: “Do you have other official business to attend to?”
“No.”
“Oh.” Jiang Luo nodded.
“When are you heading back tomorrow?” Gu Yue asked.
“In the evening, I think. I want to take my brother to look around the area in the afternoon.”
The wind was strong at night, and Jiang Luo, dressed thinly, sneezed from the cold.
“Go back in,” Gu Yue said. “I’m leaving.”
“Mm-hmm.”
The driver walked over to the side of the car, bowed slightly, and opened the rear door. Gu Yue sat inside, and Jiang Luo waved at him: “Bye, Senior.”
Gu Yue glanced at him, and then the car drove away.
Cheng Jiashu didn’t know when he had come down; he patted Jiang Luo on the shoulder from behind, giving him a fright: “Why did you come down?”
“I came to see what was going on.” Cheng Jiashu looked off into the distance, seeing only the tail end of the luxury car. The car Gu Yue used to drive them to school was also quite posh, but it wasn’t this one. “Brother Yue’s family background must be pretty good; this is quite the fancy car.”
The house he lives in is pretty fancy too, Jiang Luo thought to himself.
“Why did he come over?” Cheng Jiashu asked.
“To pick something up.”
“Pick what up? He came all the way here just for that?”
“Not telling you.”
“You little punk…” Cheng Jiashu put Jiang Luo in a headlock. “Are you going to tell me or not?”
Jiang Luo laughed until his face turned red: “Not telling.”
Gu Yue sat in the car and opened the gift box to take a look.
Inside the box was a wool-felt charm of a Q-version doll. The doll had a big head and a small body, wearing black clothes with a cold expression, two shallow blushes on its cheeks, black hair, and a tiny Ragdoll cat perched on its head. The characteristics of the Q-version doll were very distinct; at a single glance, it was obvious it was Gu Yue.
Gu Yue gazed down at the charm in his hand, his thumb stroking the doll’s face gently.
Jiang Luo and his party returned home the next day around 4 PM. After getting back, the three of them had dinner together outside. Once home, Jiang Luo took a shower and packed his luggage. Cheng Jiashu messaged him on WeChat, asking him to play games. Jiang Luo opened his computer and logged in only after finishing his packing. He wasn’t as obsessed with games as he was in junior high; he mostly played occasionally to keep Cheng Jiashu, the gaming addict, company.
As soon as Jiang Luo went online, Cheng Jiashu pulled him into a lobby. The two started a team voice chat. Before Jiang Luo could even speak, he heard Cheng Jiashu talking to someone on and off.
After listening for a moment, Jiang Luo realized: “Are you live-streaming?”
The chat on Cheng Jiashu’s screen was scrolling rapidly, with everyone saying that the “little brother” he pulled in had a great voice.
Cheng Jiashu let out an “Ah,” scanned the chat, and said: “Stop calling him ‘little brother.’ This is an old friend of yours; you didn’t recognize him?”
Jiang Luo had never posted videos of his own voice online, and fans were hearing it live for the first time at the autograph event. Cheng Jiashu had a bit of fame in the cosplay circle, though not as big as Jiang Luo’s. He often did duo cosplays with Jiang Luo, and their fan bases overlapped. In the eyes of their fans, they were “bros.”
As soon as Cheng Jiashu said that, someone in the chat asked: “Is it Luo-C?”
Cheng Jiashu relayed the question to Jiang Luo: “They’re asking if you’re Luo-C.”
Jiang Luo smiled: “Yes.”
The chat glitched for a second before scrolling rapidly, completely filled with “Ahhhhhhhhh.”
Cheng Jiashu had never live-streamed before, so Jiang Luo was a bit curious: “Why did you suddenly decide to stream?”
“Just streaming for fun.” Cheng Jiashu was just looking for a bit of entertainment. He didn’t even turn on the donation feature, and he wasn’t using professional game-streaming software. “I got new equipment, just testing it out.”
Jiang Luo didn’t look at his phone while playing; it wasn’t until he finished a round that he picked it up. Gu Yue had sent a message over ten minutes ago: Are you home yet?
Gu Yue rarely messaged him first, and he hadn’t even replied on time.
Jiang Luo quickly typed a response: Home, I’m home! I was playing games with someone just now and didn’t see my phone.
Gu Yue was running on a treadmill. His phone, resting on the stand, vibrated. He lifted his eyelids and glanced at the message on the screen.
Gu Yue picked up the phone and typed with one hand: Who are you playing with? Cheng Jiashu?
Jiang Luo: Yeah~ Jiang Luo: Hehe, how did you know?
Not only did Gu Yue know Jiang Luo was playing with Cheng Jiashu, but he also knew Cheng Jiashu was live-streaming.
Half an hour ago, just as Cheng Jiashu started his stream, Gu Yue received a push notification from the platform. He wasn’t sure when he had followed Cheng Jiashu’s account—it was likely an accidental click while reading a post yesterday.
Jiang Luo: Senior, do you need me for something?
Gu Yue: No.
Jiang Luo: Oh, okay then. I’m going back to gaming~
Gu Yue pressed the button on the treadmill, and it slowly came to a halt. He took his phone and walked to the kitchen, opened the fridge for a bottle of mineral water, unscrewed the cap, and took a drink.
Carrying the water bottle in one hand and his phone in the other, Gu Yue swiped his finger across the screen, pulled down the notification bar, and clicked on the live-stream push notification.
As soon as Gu Yue entered the stream, he heard Jiang Luo’s voice: “Coming, right-hand window.”
No sooner had the words left his lips than a burst of gunfire rang out, followed by a kill notification popping up on the screen.
Cheng Jiashu said: “I told you guys, he’s really good at games.”
Cheng Jiashu glanced at the chat and raised an eyebrow with a smile: “Though, he’s still a bit behind me, right, Teacher Luo-C?”
Jiang Luo said while looting: “That’s not necessarily true.”
“Yo-ho.” Cheng Jiashu’s competitive spirit was ignited: “Let’s bet on this round, then. Let’s see who gets more kills.”
Jiang Luo smiled: “Alright.”
“What’s the penalty if you lose? There’s gotta be a stake.”
“You name it.”
Cheng Jiashu had a mischievous plan: “Whoever loses has to cross-dress for the next cosplay.”
Jiang Luo thought for a moment and agreed: “Fine.”
The chat went completely wild, scrolling so fast that Cheng Jiashu couldn’t even read it. He said: “See, I’m good to you guys, right? This is a welfare benefit I got for you.”
It was common knowledge that Cheng Jiashu and Jiang Luo were close friends in the scene. They often cosplayed together and interacted online a lot, so there were many “shipping” fans of theirs, most of whom were in the stream today. As soon as Cheng Jiashu said this, the chat started a unified spam pattern:
-Tell us, who actually wants to see Luo-C cross-dress? It’s definitely not me. -Tell us, who actually wants to see Luo-C cross-dress? It’s definitely not me. -Tell us, who actually wants to see Luo-C cross-dress? It’s definitely not me. …
Gu Yue watched the identical lines of text on the screen and squinted while taking a sip of water.
Cheng Jiashu was blunt and said whatever came to mind: “I’ve seen him cross-dress ages ago.”
The chat went crazy again.
Gu Yue exited the stream and went back to the fitness room with his water bottle. He turned the treadmill on again and set it for twenty minutes.
When the twenty minutes were up, Gu Yue stepped off the treadmill and checked Cheng Jiashu’s stream again; the round had just ended.
Jiang Luo had lost to Cheng Jiashu by just a tiny bit. He didn’t seem burdened by it; cross-dressing wasn’t something shameful for him, as he had done it even back in junior high.
The chat was rowdy enough to “shake the heavens and earth.” Cheng Jiashu was thrilled and asked Jiang Luo: “Any thoughts, Teacher Luo?”
Jiang Luo drank his water calmly: “A bet is a bet.”
Before he could finish, the phone on the table suddenly vibrated. Jiang Luo glanced down, instantly losing his cool, and choked on his water.
Seeing the caller ID was Gu Yue, Jiang Luo ignored the fact that Cheng Jiashu was still live-streaming and instinctively picked up the phone.
Jiang Luo was still coughing from the water: “Cough-cough, cough… Senior.”
“What’s wrong?” Gu Yue asked.
“Choked on water, it’s nothing.” Jiang Luo’s voice automatically softened the moment he spoke to Gu Yue. It wasn’t “cutesy,” just sounded very obedient. “Why did you call so suddenly? Is something the matter?”
“Just checking if your game is over.”
Cheng Jiashu’s chat was scrolling rapidly again, the topic already derailed.
-Hmmmm? Who is Luo-bao talking to? -Senior! I heard him call someone Senior! -What? What? Wasn’t he talking to Tree just now? -Wake up, your Luo has never used such a soft tone with your Tree. -Damn, baby, why did your voice suddenly sound so soft and cutesy… -Hahahahahahahaha, the cutesy voice is hilarious. -Don’t talk nonsense, my baby’s normal voice is like this. I’ve been to the autograph event and heard the real voice in person [doge].
Jiang Luo couldn’t see the chat, so he was still on the phone with Gu Yue: “I just finished a round, what’s up?”
“Is it fun?” Gu Yue asked as he walked toward the bathroom.
Jiang Luo was a bit confused by the question: “It’s… okay. Why, Senior?”
Gu Yue hummed and said nonchalantly: “Get to sleep early.”