Gratitude

Lin Yu sat silently on the bed, his back naturally hunched.

His posture hovered somewhere between an old monk deep in meditation and an old monk on the verge of passing into nirvana.

Nearby, Pangzi, who had gotten into the groove of chatting, had completely lost his drowsiness. Seeing Lin Yu fall silent, he took the initiative to stir up the conversation again.

"Old Yu," he said.

"Did you suddenly realize something was different about her when you went out with Gu Yue today?"

Lin Yu had been in university for over a month now.

The guys in the dorm had long grown close.

Everyone in the room knew Gu Yue—she was practically Lin Yu's shadow.

Lin Yu, who had been lost in his own thoughts, jerked at Pangzi's question.

He shot up like an old cat whose tail had been stepped on, suddenly snapping out of his memories and hissing back at Pangzi:

"What Gu Yue?"

"I told you, she's just a friend!"

"Stop talking nonsense!"

"Fine," Pangzi said, clearly confident in his own assumption. He shot back without missing a beat:

"But that's what you say now. If you ever end up together with Gu Yue..."

"You're my grandson!"

"Get lost! Get lost! Get lost! Get lost! Get lost! Get lost!"

There was no way Lin Yu was about to take that bet, so he just hurled a string of "get losts" and abruptly ended the late-night chat.

Slipping back under the covers,

Lin Yu lay there with his eyes wide open.

Through the darkness of the dorm room, he stared at the water-stained ceiling, patterned like a leaf's veins, unable to fall asleep for a long time.

When faced with Pangzi's interrogation, he could put on a tough front.

But when he had to face himself,

all the toughness in the world was useless.

Lying in bed, Lin Yu tossed and turned again, squirming restlessly.

He was so damn annoyed.

He still found it hard to accept that he had actually fallen for Gu Yue.

What the heck?

They'd been buddies for over a year now, so familiar with each other they practically knew every little thing.

And then suddenly he realizes he likes her?

Wasn't this just asking for trouble?

Lin Yu was on the verge of a breakdown.

But just as he was spiraling,

he didn't have the energy to keep spiraling.

It was like you were debating whether or not to open a window for some fresh air,

when suddenly someone barges in screaming that they want to tear off the whole roof.

Lin Yu thought about what had happened during the day.

Gu Yue, standing in the shade of a tree, getting hit on by a handsome guy.

And all of a sudden, he became acutely aware of a very serious problem.

If he kept dragging his feet like this,

what if Gu Yue got snatched up by some other guy?

Holy crap!

The moment he thought of that, Lin Yu's inner turmoil just vanished.

But come to think of it,

Lin Yu felt something was strange.

Gu Yue was good-looking, sure, with a nice face and clear features.

But Lin Yu never thought she was off-the-charts stunning.

On a scale, her beauty was somewhere between 1.2 to 1.5—good, but not jaw-dropping.

But the guy who had hit on her today?

His looks and vibe honestly scored a solid two.

For him to walk up and hit on Gu Yue?

Kind of felt like he was lowering himself.

Kind of like how, at school, girls would randomly act friendly toward him, this dyed-haired guy.

But well, maybe it was just a matter of taste…

...

Damn!

This wasn't the time to be fixated on that!

Lin Yu raised a hand and grabbed his hair,

scratching his scalp in frustration.

Lin Yu had always considered himself thick-skinned as a city wall.

Especially when it came to Gu Yue.

Like when he'd promise to treat her to a meal, then shamelessly say he forgot his wallet and make her pay after they'd eaten.

Or when they'd made plans to hang out, and just before leaving he didn't feel like going, so he'd completely blow her off without a twinge of guilt.

Back then, he wasn't the least bit afraid of making her mad.

He'd mess with her all the time, pick on her, tease her—

like she was some little cat or dog.

And now, out of nowhere, he was supposed to walk up and say he liked this little creature?

That was just too…

…

Too embarrassing to even say out loud, right?

Lin Yu slapped his own forehead. Suddenly, all that city-wall-thick skin felt completely useless.

He bit his lip, tangled in inner conflict.

Inside his mind, two little figures were duking it out.

One said: "You can't like her. You’re her big bro, her sidekick, always messing with her. Now you’re gonna say you like her? Can you even open your mouth for that?"

The other little figure nodded emphatically next to him, and said: "That’s right, that’s right!"

???

Three question marks popped up over Lin Yu's head.

Was that right?

Why were they taking the same side?

Get lost, get lost!

Both of you, get out!

Having kicked those two little things out of his head,

Lin Yu rolled over on the bed.

What he was thinking about now wasn’t whether he should face his feelings.

It was how, in the face of this suddenly popular girl named Gu Yue,

he could keep her by his side.

For a guy trying to keep a girl close,

the first thing that came to his mind was to confess his feelings.

But the moment he thought of that method, he immediately ruled it out.

"No, no, no..."

Lin Yu shook his head like a rattle-drum.

Was a confession something you could just throw out there?

If it went well, great—everyone’s happy.

From then on, you’d have a soft, sweet girlfriend in your life who’d be spoiled and act cute.

You’d fly off into the sunset, leaving the miserable life of a single person behind.

But if it went badly?

Forget maintaining the current relationship.

You’d barely be able to look each other in the eye on campus after that!

Just the thought of being rejected by Gu Yue

had Lin Yu awkwardly curling his toes!

Confession was out.

And Lin Yu didn’t have any other great plans for keeping Gu Yue around.

Lying there in bed, tossing and turning for a long time,

in the end,

with no good solution in mind, Lin Yu slipped slowly into sleep, still wrapped in anxiety.

The next morning,

Lin Yu forced himself out of bed at his roommate's call. After a quick wash-up and a simple rinse of his face, he headed out for his 8 a.m. class.

Lin Yu's major was different from Gu Yue's.

But although their main courses differed, they shared a bunch of electives.

This morning's class happened to be one of their shared electives.

Since they had the same class that day,

as usual—

Well, no. Actually,

whether or not they had a class together,

Gu Yue was always waiting for Lin Yu at the intersection that led from the guys' dorms to the main teaching building.

Just like back in high school.

When they shared a class, they'd always walk in together.

When they didn't, they'd split ways after entering the building.

Lin Yu still remembered how annoyed he was at the very start of the semester,

when Gu Yue would wait for him like she was lying in ambush every morning.

But now,

Lin Yu was grateful that she was still willing to keep waiting for him, just like that.