Jiang Zao quickly turned his shorts inside out, checking the back to see if there was any tear.
“Relax, boss. It’s just a perfectly normal pair of five-point sports shorts,” Qi Yiran said. “Ice-silk cotton too, super cool and comfortable.”
Jiang Zao was speechless. He inspected the shorts several times, there really weren’t any holes or splits anywhere.
But the moment he remembered that this particular pair came from that sports and gymnastics “special” line, his face instantly turned red.
“Maybe I should just… not wear it.” He carefully set the shorts down.
Qi Yiran raised an eyebrow. “Then what, you want to wear mine instead? You sure you’ll be fine with how big they are?”
Jiang Zao imagined himself running a thousand meters while clutching his waistband, and the picture was so ridiculous he couldn’t help laughing.
Well, if it came to that, jeans would do. But he’d heard that the senior-year physical test counted for half the grade, and if he failed, he wouldn’t be able to graduate.
“Really, it’s fine, boss,” Qi Yiran said. “It’s just a pair of shorts. And it’s a discarded sample that’s never going to be sold. Who would’ve thought it was from that kind of series anyway?”
He made sense.
After all, it was only a physical test.
Jiang Zao thought about how, after working at the company for so long and enduring Zhou Yuchi’s endless torment at home, his mental endurance had definitely toughened up.
“Fine then,” Jiang Zao said helplessly, grabbing the shorts and his bag. “I’m heading to campus. Bye.”
……
At F University, the so-called “autumn tiger” heat was living up to its name. Yesterday had been chilly, but now the sun was blazing hot.
Sunlight filtered through the dense branches and leaves, falling over the emerald grass and the crimson rubber track, the colors colliding to form a bright, eye-catching contrast.
Everywhere on the field, students were waiting for their physical exams. The air was stuffy, unmoving, and half-bare trees couldn’t block the sunlight at all.
Jiang Zao felt his stomach twisting with nerves.
He hated sports.
It wasn’t that he couldn’t run, but he’d never been good at it. He still remembered the agony of his middle-school fitness tests. After that serious illness in high school, though he’d recovered, he had basically stopped exercising.
“Class One, Psychology Department, gather over here!”
The P.E. teacher shouted with a clipboard and a megaphone.
The entire class groaned in unison. Bai Yunfan, always the optimist, said to him, “I calculated it, you just need to do decently in the earlier tests. Even if you fail the 1000-meter run, you can still pass overall.”
“I don’t have that kind of athletic talent…” Jiang Zao sighed.
“No worries, Zao,” Bai Yunfan said cheerfully. “I brought my earphones. When you run, wear them and I’ll pick a hype song for you.”
Jiang Zao sighed again. Just then, his phone buzzed.
A message from Mad Dog. Only two words:
【Mad Dog(▽皿▽#): Zao Zao】
Jiang Zao didn’t hesitate to reply:
【ZaoZao Sleep: I’m blind.】
All day, he had been replying to Zhou Yuchi with that same line, “I’m blind.”
He was going to drive Zhou crazy, replying to nonsense just to throw him off. Maybe that would finally fix Zhou’s attitude.
“Everyone line up by student number and report your height and weight. We’ll start with lung capacity,” the teacher announced.
Jiang Zao’s number was among the first few.
The basic tests were easy and didn’t take much effort. The sit-and-reach, especially, was practically a gift.
He was flexible; with one gentle push, he reached the highest score in the class.
“Wow, what a soft little waist,” Bai Yunfan teased, pinching the bit of flesh at his side. “Long legs and a flexible body, your future partner’s gonna be blessed.”
“Stop talking nonsense,” Jiang Zao muttered.
“Next is pull-ups, at the north side bars,” the teacher called.
The field was packed. Since this was the unified senior-year test, the students were sent to the pull-up bars in batches.
“Alright, boys, line up. Student number one first.”
The test went quickly, most guys couldn’t even do one or two, so there were no scores for them.
For some reason, there was a crowd gathered nearby, cheering loudly.
“What’s going on over there?” Jiang Zao asked.
“Someone just did forty pull-ups in one go,” Bai Yunfan said. “And he’s apparently really handsome.”
“Forty? No way.” Jiang Zao didn’t believe it, and walked over with him to take a look.
Through the crowd, he saw Zhou Yuchi drop from the bar effortlessly, landing lightly on his feet.
Jiang Zao froze.
Oh, great. Of course. The one person he didn’t want to see.
“Hey, isn’t that, ” Bai Yunfan started to say, but the teacher’s voice boomed through the loudspeaker, “Jiang Zao! Come do your sit-ups! Do you still want a passing grade or not?”
“I’m coming!” Jiang Zao quickly answered, fleeing the area before Zhou Yuchi could spot him.
He hurried to the mats and sat down.
The teacher looked around. “Everyone holding legs, count loud and clear! If you don’t count, it doesn’t count. No number, no score. You, find someone to hold your legs.”
He pointed at Jiang Zao.
Jiang Zao glanced around. Bai Yunfan was nowhere in sight. “Just a moment, teacher, I’ll find someone.”
He was about to stand up when the sunlight over him dimmed.
Someone’s hands wrapped around his lower legs.
The palms were large and warm, fingers leaving just a finger-width gap when they circled his ankles.
Startled, Jiang Zao instinctively tried to pull back, but the grip tightened, drawing him forward and pinning his calves in place.
He turned around, Zhou Yuchi.
The man knelt on one knee, head lowered slightly, stray hair falling across his forehead. The line of his neck was sharp and clean.
His hands pressed firmly against Jiang Zao’s legs, the veins along his forearms standing out from exertion.
For a moment, Jiang Zao just stared.
“So, you’ve got someone now,” the teacher said briskly. “Alright everyone, get ready. The one-minute timer starts now!”
The whistle blew.
Seeing that Jiang Zao hadn’t moved, Zhou Yuchi clicked his tongue softly.
He pressed down on Jiang Zao’s knees, looking down at him from above.
When his fingers brushed upward, they skimmed lightly across skin.
“Gone deaf too, huh?” Zhou said lazily, voice low and teasing. “Start.”
Jiang Zao jolted back to his senses. This was not the time to think about why Zhou Yuchi was even here.
He had to graduate. He needed that passing grade.
Zhou Yuchi was surprisingly cooperative, counting on him one by one, throwing in casual remarks between numbers that somehow only made it worse.
“Four.. ”
“Five.. ”
“Six.. ”
“Move your waist, Zao Zao.”
“Twenty.. ”
“Twenty one.. ”
“Use your abs, not your hips. Faster.”
Jiang Zao’s entire face burned.
Those words sounded way too suggestive.
“Beep!”
The whistle blew again, the minute was up.
Jiang Zao collapsed onto the mat, gasping for air. His chest rose and fell rapidly, skin flushed pale pink from the exertion.
It had been so long since he’d exercised like that; every muscle in his body felt like jelly.
Zhou Yuchi grabbed both his hands and pulled him upright.
“How many did I do?” Jiang Zao panted.
“Forty eight,” Zhou answered.
The teacher overheard and tapped the clipboard. “Forty eight’s not enough. Do it again. For a passing grade you need fifty, the same as the girls.”
Jiang Zao stared blankly at him.
Just kill me already.
“I don’t want to graduate anymore,” he muttered, still short of breath. The thought of doing another minute made him want to dissolve into the ground.
Zhou Yuchi held his arms, squeezing them lightly, amused. “Can’t even last a minute. What are you going to do in the future?”
Jiang Zao glared at him. “None of your business.”
“Come on, just push through,” the teacher urged. “You’re the last one without a score. Finish strong.”
Jiang Zao nodded, trying to steady his breathing. When he turned back, he caught Zhou Yuchi’s gaze, fixed somewhere around his bent knees.
“Zao Zao,” Zhou suddenly said, tone unreadable, “your shorts… the opening’s a bit wide.”
At the word “shorts,” Jiang Zao stiffened.
But after last time, he’d learned his lesson. The worst thing to do around Zhou Yuchi was show weakness. He straightened, chin up. “So what if it’s wide? I can wear what I want.”
The thin fabric had ridden up as he sat down, revealing smooth, pale legs that caught the sunlight.
Zhou Yuchi’s eyes darkened slightly. His voice was calm, almost careless, but the words fell into Jiang Zao’s ears like thunder.
“No,” he said. “You can. I just happened to see your underwear.”
✦ ✧ ✦
Cressilia
[Translator]
☕ A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE TRANSLATOR
(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ COFFEE OFFERING
☕ BUY THEM A COFFEE →
✧ (づ｡•ㅅ•｡)づ ☕ ✧
✦ thank you for reading ✦
← PreviousNext →
ChaptersChapter 1 · The BossChapter 2 · Childhood FriendChapter 3 · Settlement of AccountChapter 4 · Button UnderwearChapter 5 · Open The DoorChapter 6 · (O△O)!Chapter 7 · Woe to himChapter 8 · Break The JarChapter 9 · Keep your promiseChapter 10 · MovieChapter 11 · Try on clothesChapter 12 · Hide! Hide! HIDE!Chapter 13 · ShameChapter 14 · ProtocolChapter 15 · TraceChapter 16 · What are you nervous about?Chapter 17 · Physical TestChapter 18 · Protect One’s OwnChapter 19 · MassageChapter 20 · BiteChapter 21 · Bring him homeChapter 22 · True LoveChapter 23 · After drinkingChapter 24 · MarketChapter 25 · Temporary TattooChapter 26 · Shooting GameChapter 27 · Escape GameChapter 28 · Terrifying dreamChapter 29 · ExhibitionChapter 30 · Pocky GameChapter 31 · TeasingChapter 32 · Pure scoundrelChapter 33 · Straight menChapter 34 · Gay BarChapter 35 · Lip lickingChapter 36 · Doesn’t seem like a good personChapter 37 · AddictionChapter 38 · Reporting videoChapter 39 · Rough LanguageChapter 40 · Wow!Chapter 41 · Hot spring resort～～Chapter 42 · It looks good!Chapter 43 · Hot SpringChapter 44 · HonestyChapter 45 · VinegarChapter 46 · I’ll keep you companyChapter 47 · Rocking ChairChapter 48 · VileChapter 49 · Losing ComposureChapter 50 · A Guide to Identifying Gay MenChapter 51 · Going HomeChapter 52 · KissChapter 53 · PeckChapter 54 · Pearl Wedding AttireChapter 55 · For No ReasonChapter 56 · Stop CalculatingChapter 57 · HandcuffsChapter 58 · Too FarChapter 59 · The MuzzleChapter 60 · Taking It FurtherChapter 61 · Does kissing feel good?Chapter 62 · HmmChapter 63 · GuidanceChapter 64 · VideoChapter 65 · No ProblemChapter 66 · Come DownChapter 67 · Is That All?Chapter 68 · HmphChapter 69 · Applying MedicineChapter 70 · ToysChapter 71 · BathroomChapter 72 · PlacementChapter 73 · WaitingChapter 74 · LoveChapter 75 · StarsChapter 76 · RoommateChapter 77 · BoyfriendChapter 78 · MouthChapter 79 · MidsummerChapter 80 · Aeroplane ChessChapter 81 · Ice CubesChapter 82 · All Night LongChapter 83 · SleepChapter 84 · The Alt AccountChapter 85 · End of the Main StoryChapter 86 · Extra 1Chapter 87 · Extra 2Chapter 88 · Extra 3Chapter 89 · Extra 4Chapter 90 · Extra 5Chapter 91 · Extra 6Chapter 92 · Extra 7Chapter 93 · Extra 8Chapter 94 · Extra 9Chapter 95 · Extra 10Chapter 96 · Extra 11