Chapter 69 What Kind of Relationship? (End of the Story)

Chapter 69 What Kind of Relationship? (End of the Story)

Zhou Liao spent more than a day at Qin Zhan's place before returning home. In the afternoon, when Qin Zhan had class, he lay in bed and slept.

When Qin Zhan returned, he cooked some porridge, ate it, and went back to sleep. His physical condition wasn't too bad to begin with, so after the initial two days, his recovery was faster than that of an average person.

However, when Zhou Liao got back and turned on his phone to order food and transfer money, he suddenly found that his card had been limited. He didn’t need to think twice to know what it meant. His phone also had a bunch of missed calls and messages from Zhou Jianlin, all urging him to apologize to Liu Mingzhu and put the matter to rest.

Zhou Liao would never apologize; why should he?

The day he returned to school, C City had a bit of sun, just enough to break the overcast sky, and many people were out enjoying the sunlight.

Surprisingly, Qin Zhan even sent him a text message during the day, which was extremely concise, clearly indicating who it was from.

When Zhou Liao woke up, he thought he was still dreaming. After looking at it for a while, he confirmed that it was indeed from Qin Zhan.

In the afternoon, when Zhou Liao finished his classes and went to find Chen Xian, the latter was already playing basketball. Seeing him, Chen Xian couldn’t help but feel a bit schadenfreude, as everyone knew Zhou Liao had recently quarreled with his family and was short on money.

"Why do you look like you've lost weight from hunger?" Chen Xian threw the ball over, unable to resist teasing him.

"Get lost." Zhou Liao caught the basketball. "Even if I’m hungry, I have more muscle than you."

"That’s not necessarily true." Chen Xian clicked his tongue. "How are you feeling now?"

"A lot better after lying around for a day."

Chen Xian leaned closer. "Why do you look so much better?"

"Huh?"

"Did you take care of your skin?"

Zhou Liao raised an eyebrow, looking puzzled. He usually only used men's facial cleanser: "Take care of my skin?"

"Yeah, your complexion looks rosy."

"Stop being ridiculous." Zhou Liao set his bag aside and took off his jacket. "Pass me the ball."

"You don’t get it, Chen Brother. Maybe Brother Liao was taken care of by someone these past few days. Otherwise, how could someone sick look so good?"

"Who took care of you when you were sick?" Chen Xian hadn’t seen any women around Zhou Liao recently. "Which girl came to take care of you?"

Zhou Liao paused, then threw the ball back at Chen Xian with a stern face.

...

They didn’t play basketball for long that afternoon because there was an event at school that evening. Another friend mentioned his girlfriend was performing, and a group of beautiful models would be there too, which made Chen Xian drool.

Zhou Liao couldn’t remember the last time he participated in a school event, but hearing this piqued his interest. The group ate something outside the campus and headed towards the venue, where a crowd was already gathering.

They passed through a less crowded corridor of another building. Zhou Liao had his hands in his pockets and was about to take out a cigarette to extinguish it in the trash bin when he caught sight of a familiar figure out of the corner of his eye.

He coughed lightly and rubbed his nose.

The person at the corner of the staircase and room looked over, and their eyes met briefly through the wall pillars before someone coming down the stairs blocked their view. Zhou Liao saw the person open a door with something in hand and quickly disappear around the corner.

"I need to use the restroom." Zhou Liao’s heart skipped a beat as he tossed the cigarette butt into the bin.

"What the hell, didn’t you just go after eating?" Chen Xian turned around.

"Just go ahead and save seats. I’ll meet you there later; don’t wait for me."

Chen Xian ignored him, and the others exchanged glances before heading out.

The corridor fell silent again. Zhou Liao pushed open the door at the corner, just as before, and was pulled inside. The door closed swiftly behind him.

Zhou Liao lifted his eyelids: "Didn’t you go back to work part-time?"

"Helping out."

Zhou Liao glanced at the thing in Qin Zhan’s hand: "What is this? Helping with what?"

"Bai Ling, their club has a performance tonight." Qin Zhan’s tone was indifferent.

"Oh."

"Are you better?" Qin Zhan noticed Zhou Liao looking away.

"Almost. After lying around at your place for more than a day and eating your bland porridge, I definitely feel better." Zhou Liao’s personality as a spoiled young master resurfaced as soon as he felt better.

Qin Zhan said nothing and started to leave with the item.

"Wait, why didn't you catch a cold?" Zhou Liao grabbed his arm, feeling discontented.

"Don’t know."

"Looks like you didn’t catch it."

Qin Zhan looked at him with a blank expression. Zhou Liao’s heart stirred, and he suddenly cupped the back of Qin Zhan’s head and kissed him.

"Let’s try again."

Initially, Qin Zhan didn’t respond, but Zhou Liao, feeling affronted, bit his lip in retaliation. Hearing a muffled groan, Zhou Liao’s neck was suddenly gripped.

Qin Zhan usually exudes a cold and distant aura, as if he's a dead man walking. Only when kissing does he become intense and fiery, one of the few moments he takes the initiative, the only time you can sense his emotional fluctuations.

The two of them kissed shamelessly in some dark classroom, their tongues entangled with an unknown release of emotions. In the quiet space, the only sounds were the passionate lip-locking and the rustling of clothes.

"Damn."

When Zhou Liao tasted blood, he didn't know whose lips had been bitten again. Kissing women was always sweet and soft, but kissing Qin Zhan was like fighting, neither willing to be the one conquered.

Until footsteps suddenly echoed outside, Qin Zhan licked away the wet blood from Zhou Liao's lips. Zhou Liao extended his tongue to respond, but someone suddenly pinched his waist.

"Enough."

Zhou Liao narrowed his eyes, clearly displeased: "What?"

"I have to go; Bai Ling is performing next."

"Damn." Young Master Zhou couldn't handle this kind of stimulation, "Are you messing with me, Qin Zhan?"

He thought Qin Zhan's most impressive trait was his self-control, perfectly balanced. The calm person standing before him seemed entirely different from the one who had just bitten his lips raw, even his breathing had quickly returned to normal.

"Are you going back tonight?"

Qin Zhan asked this calmly, but Zhou Liao immediately understood his intention.

"I don't have class tomorrow; aren't you working?"

"In the afternoon."

Zhou Liao's Adam's apple bobbed: "Text later."

"Mm."

By the time Zhou Liao found the seats Chen Xian had reserved, nearly half an hour had passed since he said he needed to use the restroom.

Chen Xian didn't care whether Zhou Liao actually went to the restroom; after all, on stage were beautiful girls in spaghetti straps and black stockings, dancing a sexy Korean dance. Under the alternating pink and red lights, the audience's cheers were more intense from the girls than the guys.

"Liao, count how many of those are your ex-girlfriends," someone joked beside him.

"Don't remember."

Zhou Liao watched with interest; after all, he was naturally straight, a fact no one could change. Beautiful, innocent-looking women with great figures were irresistibly attractive to him, especially when they danced, showcasing their curves and long legs encased in black stockings. Zhou Liao couldn't help but feel something.

He stared intently, but after a while, several dark figures passed by in the corridor, making him feel a chill down his spine. He didn't want to investigate what it was.

Zhou Liao swallowed, tearing his gaze away from the stage, and unlocked his phone, aimlessly scrolling through WeChat, not sure what he was looking for.

There were many performances that night, of various kinds, and the finale was a fashion show by the costume design department, which brought the evening to a climax.

"Zhou Liao, you should have walked," Chen Xian turned around, "you're better-looking than those guys."

"If I walked, what would they do?" Zhou Liao glanced at the stage, avoiding the tall beauties, "I look good, but I rely on my brains."

Chen Xian gagged: "Fine, I admit you're handsome, but your grades won't cut it."

"Get lost."

Once the performance ended, the crowd dispersed. Since one of their friends' girlfriends was backstage, they went there to say hello. For them, the backstage was full of familiar faces.

Seeing Zhou Liao's ex-girlfriends made Chen Xian embarrassed for him, but Zhou Liao acted as if nothing was wrong. Chen Xian wondered when he'd learn to be as shameless, openly cheating and breaking hearts.

In today's society, looks and money were almost everything, and Zhou Liao had both, so there were always girls drawn to him, perhaps each getting what they wanted.

They chatted for a bit, and before Zhou Liao could light a cigarette, a girl who had been the centerpiece of the fashion show approached him.

"How was our performance?"

Zhou Liao glanced at the tall, elegant girl: "Pretty good."

Though he hadn't really watched much.

"Wanna add me on WeChat? I'm a senior."

If it were earlier, Zhou Liao might have said, "Sure, babe," but as he took out his phone, he hesitated, feeling a cold gaze watching him.

For some reason, memories of his leg being broken and the pain, Qin Zhan closing the door, and the sparse clothes in the rental apartment suddenly flooded his mind.

"...Not convenient."

The girl was clearly surprised, as she hadn't heard that Zhou Liao was dating anyone. Chen Xian also looked over, wide-eyed.

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

"No." Zhou Liao irritably looked away.

The girl's face fell; no beauty likes being rejected. She muttered an apology and left.

Chen Xian leaned in curiously: "Why didn't you give her your number? She's gorgeous, your type."

"Mind your own business."

"There's a story here." Chen Xian raised an eyebrow.

"What story?"

"If you didn't have someone, would you have given her your number?"

"I don't have anyone." Zhou Liao glared up, his face dark.

"Then what's the deal?"

This question stumped Zhou Liao as well; he didn’t know what it was either.

"Stop asking. I’m leaving."

Zhou Liao saw a text message pop up on his phone:

"Just leaving?"

"I have something to do. I’m meeting someone." Zhou Liao put his phone back in his pocket and then, with his hands in his pockets, walked away without looking back.

There were very few people around this area at night, and Yucai Building was located quite far off, near another subway entrance.

When Zhou Liao arrived, Qin Zhan was standing under a streetlight, the night stretching his tall silhouette long.

"Let’s go."

"Okay."

They walked one after the other, acting as if they didn’t know each other even though there was almost no one around.

"Did you watch the show?"

"No."

"Where were you?"

"In a public classroom, coding."

"….Impressive."

"….Did you watch it?" Qin Zhan looked ahead without turning back.

"Um."

"Was it good?"

Zhou Liao recalled some of the performances and felt a bit nervous. He swallowed hard. "It was okay. I didn’t really watch it carefully. I was playing with my phone."

"Um."

The two fell into silence again on their way to the subway. After a while, a gust of wind suddenly blew through, rustling the leaves on campus, and only the shadows of the two occasionally merging due to their steps could be seen on the ground.

"Qin Zhan."

Zhou Liao stopped walking, and Qin Zhan, hearing the movement, turned to look at him.

"What is it?"

Zhou Liao looked into Qin Zhan’s eyes, deep like a still pond, and spoke before the next breeze came.

"What are we to each other?"