Chapter 4: Deception

Chapter 4 Deception

Yu Lanzhao's voice was aching and fragile.

"Xiao Shi……"

"Can you please not hate me?"

Hot breath fanned over his neck, and Lin Shenshi shuddered as he turned around.

His lips nearly brushed against the boy's cheek, and Lin Shenshi's voice trembled with fear: "A-Zhao, how, how did you get here?"

Yu Lanzhao's dark, bright eyes gazed at him, like a gentle, harmless fawn.

Yet this seemingly innocent fawn was stealthily staking his claim like a predator, cornering his prey into a narrow corner.

Lin Shenshi had nowhere to retreat to. The two were extremely close, the soft fuzz on the boy's cheek clearly visible.

He instinctively tried to push back against the bed with his elbows to create distance, but before he could move far, a searing heat pressed against the small of his back.

The boy's palm was as feverish as his chest, radiating an intense warmth, while his strikingly beautiful face, tilted downward, bore a look of teary grievance.

"Xiao Shi, this is our room."

The soft, pleading voice carried a hint of accusation, sounding almost like a lover's playful whine to an unknowing ear.

Lin Shenshi pressed a hand against Yu Lanzhao's shoulder, fighting to put some distance between them: "Don't you have class soon? Why are you back in the dorm?"

Yu Lanzhao glanced down at the hand blocking his advance. A flash of irritation passed beneath his lowered lashes, but he did not push it away.

Xiao Shi's fingers were pale and slender, the warmth seeping through the cotton shirt.

Yu Lanzhao couldn't bear to push it away—he even wanted to take it into his mouth, to lick it until it was slick and wet...

At the thought, Yu Lanzhao's eyes darkened imperceptibly, but he concealed it well. Blinking, his gaze was once again filled with wounded fragility.

"I couldn't find you anywhere... You weren't in the dialogue class either... Did I say something last night when I was drunk that made you hate me, Xiao Shi?"

"Not at all..." Lin Shenshi felt his head spinning. He couldn't possibly say that he had almost been caught in bed by the top and had to flee for his life...

He tried to calm Yu Lanzhao down: "I was just late for the dialogue class and sat in the back row, so I didn’t get a chance to tell you."

"Is that really it?"

Lin Shenshi nodded frantically: "Can you let me get up first?" If someone sees us and word gets back to your man, my life will be in danger again!

Yu Lanzhao didn’t move: "But you deleted me from your WeChat contacts."

"..."

Counting your chickens before they hatch really is a bad idea!

Lin Shenshi put on a show of shock: "I deleted you from my WeChat contacts?!"

Then he put on a regretful expression: "It must have been an accident—my phone wasn’t locked and it got pressed in my pocket! This stupid phone! I’ll replace it one of these days!"

"So Xiao Shi didn’t mean to delete me?"

"Of course not!" Lin Shenshi vowed, but Yu Lanzhao simply stared at him intently, not budging an inch. To make it more convincing, he added, "I’ll be a dog if I’m lying."

The boy's eyes flickered.

A hot hand slid down, passing over the waistline and pausing to caress the coccyx.

The tingling sensation traveled up his spine to the top of his head, causing Lin Shentime to reflexively arch his back, ready to slap and curse the pervert. But in an instant, Yu Lanzhao had already risen and left.

The innocent and harmless boy sincerely took out his phone and sent a new friend request, his face full of hope as he awaited a reply.

As if the touch just now was merely an accidental brush.

The straight man, bewildered, could only cough to cover his embarrassment.

"Lin Shentime, Lin Shentime, look at what you're thinking. How did you end up in a colored novel, with your thoughts turning so dirty?"

What twisted thoughts could a 16-year-old boy have? Besides, he was the main character, the uke, destined to be pursued, not to pursue others.

Even if one day he were on top, it would still be a top uke, only to end up pleading for it to be slower while lying helplessly on his stomach.

After silently condemning himself for such thoughts, Lin Shentime opened his phone and accepted the friend request.

WeChat received a new message:

Emoji [Cheering Deer]

The boy in front of him smiled brightly, like the deer on his phone screen, his exquisite face radiating dazzling light. Yu Lanzhao clutched his phone to his chest, treasuring it as if he had regained a rare treasure.

"Xiao Shi, promise me you'll never delete me again."

Lin Shentime nodded hesitantly, feeling a sense of unease in his heart.

If Yu Lanzhao found out that he had moved out of the dormitory right away, he wondered if his phone would be flooded with calls…

Perhaps it would be better to delete him as a friend immediately after leaving…

Since the moment Lin Shenshi decided to move out last night, he hadn’t dared to tell Yu Lanzhao in person.

In the original book, the cannon fodder roommate was kind to Yu Lanzhao before revealing his true nature, and Yu Lanzhao had become emotionally dependent on him. If he were to propose leaving, Yu Lanzhao would certainly try his best to persuade him to stay.

The sixteen-year-old boy, not yet fully grown, looked slender and small, with even the smallest size shirt hanging loosely on his frame, as if he could be blown over by the wind.

Yu Lanzhao often smiled, tilting his fluffy head slightly whenever he spoke, his lips red and teeth white, his eyes crinkling into crescents when he laughed, like a gentle and adorable fawn.

Weak and cute creatures always touched the softest part of people’s hearts, and Lin Shenshi couldn’t bear to think what would happen if Yu Lanzhao, with such a face, begged him to stay. With his soft-hearted nature, could he still leave resolutely?

To avoid uncontrollable situations, Lin Shenshi decided to keep it hidden until he was completely out of Yu Lanzhao’s life.

Lin Shenshi turned around and continued packing his bed.

The young man’s slender and taut waist bent over the single iron bed in the dormitory, his back slightly arched, and due to his posture, his round buttocks, encased in dark blue jeans, formed an extremely attractive curve.

Yu Lanzhao’s eyes darkened.

The moment Lin Shenshi turned around, the innocent clarity of the fawn-like gaze vanished, replaced by an insatiable desire.

His fingertips still retained the peculiar sensation from the coccyx, and Yu Lanzhao reluctantly pressed them to his lips, lightly kissing the pads, as if caressing the person before him.

Seeing the open suitcase on the floor, Yu Lanzhao’s expression grew murky and somber.

Shenshi, not only did you delete me as a friend without telling me, but you also planned to sneak off where?

Liar, liar, pants on fire...

So even if one day I give you a dog tail, you wouldn't complain, right?

After all... you said it yourself...

The next second, the boy broke into a bright smile again: "Xiao Shi, where are you going with your luggage?"

Lin Shenshi had already prepared an excuse: "My parents are visiting T City for a while, so I'm staying with them at a hotel and acting as their tour guide."

"But don't your parents travel for work year-round, rarely have time off? How do they have time for a vacation?"

Lin Shenshi's fingers paused.

...What are the chances?

The original book didn't mention the family background of the original character, so Lin Shenshi had just said it without thinking. He hadn't expected that the original character's parents would be just as unreliable as his own—always away on business trips—and that Yu Lanzhao would know about it...

How many people in the country have parents like that? The chances were less than one in a million, and he had to run into it?

But... maybe it wasn't a coincidence.

After all, the original book was just an explicit novel that abandoned logic for the sake of sex. The original character had exited the story early, so the author probably never developed his background. Now that he had taken over the original character's life, to maintain the world’s consistency, his own identity and background might have been directly applied.

Having figured it out, he found it easy to explain. Lin Shenshi nodded: "Yeah, there happens to be a project nearby they need to discuss, so they took some time off to visit for a few days."

Lin Shenshi sounded so convincing that Yu Lanzhao didn’t press further. Instead, he kindly knelt by the suitcase and helped pack.

"Xiao Shi, this jacket is too thick. You won’t need it these days. Let’s take it out."

"This shirt is wrinkled. You haven’t seen your parents in a long time; you should dress neatly and handsomely..."

"You don’t need to bring the big bottle of shower gel—it’s too heavy. I have travel-sized ones I can give you."

"And this..."

Yu Lanzhao kept talking as he packed, and with his help, more than half of the almost full suitcase was emptied.

In the end, only a few sets of clothes and essential toiletries remained.

Lin Shenshi looked at him strangely, wanting to object but stopped himself.

Forget it, it’s all just unimportant stuff. He could always buy new things after leaving.

Until...

Yu Lanzhao pulled out the ID card he had carefully tucked away in the bottom compartment of the suitcase.

"Hotels can be unsafe. Important things should stay in the dorm. I’ll keep them safe for you, Xiao Shi."

Lin Shenshi: "Ah Zhao, that’s really not necessary."

Yu Lanzhao replied seriously, "It is necessary."

"But," Lin Shenshi said, "I need my ID to check into the hotel."

The room fell into silence.

Yu Lanzhao’s slight frame crouched on the floor, head bowed so low that Lin Shenshi couldn’t see his expression.

His thin shoulders seemed to tremble, and shimmering tears slid down.

Lin Shenshi panicked instantly: "You—why are you crying?"

Yu Lanzhao looked up.

Sunlight poured through the window into the dorm, illuminating the youth’s delicate, androgynous features. Tear tracks streaked his pale cheeks, and glistening tears welled in his eyes like a sparkling spring.

Like shards of starlight piercing his heart.

Lin Shenshi’s heart trembled.

The youth’s rosy lips trembled.

"Xiao Shi, I’m scared."

"Scared that you’ll disappear from my life without a word, just like my parents did."

The youth’s sad voice echoed quietly in the still room, like the mournful cello melody.

"I don’t know anything. I didn’t know you needed an ID to stay at a hotel, and I don’t know when I made you upset..."

Lin Shenshi murmured, "Not knowing these things is fine. We’re still students. And you haven’t annoyed me."

"But... my heart is so anxious, like when I was little and my parents said they were going across the street to buy me candy but never came back..."

Tears rolled from his eyes as the youth tilted his head slightly, dampening the beauty mark at the corner of his eye.

"I feel... like I’m going to lose you too, Xiao Shi..."

Lin Shenshi’s heart ached with a dull pain, as if struck by a blunt object.

He remembered from the original book that Yu Lanzhao had a tragic past.

As a child, he saw his parents get hit by a driver who ran a red light, both dying on the spot. Greedy relatives took over the family assets, fought over who would take him, and eventually sent him to an orphanage. There, older kids bullied him, and the staff turned a blind eye, leaving him constantly bruised and hurt.

He barely managed to move into university dorms, looking forward to a new beginning after graduation, only to be trapped in forced romantic entanglements with obsessive partners.

He was like a nestling that fell from its nest, growing strong through wind and rain, only to have its wings clipped by hawks just as it was about to soar.

Those wide, doe-like eyes looked up at him, his lip trembling pitifully, like a neighbor’s little brother waking from a nightmare, helpless and seeking comfort and a warm hug.

Lin Shenshi’s fingers twitched involuntarily.

But his body didn’t move.

The youth waited a moment but, when no response came, trembled and lowered his lashes, veiling his loneliness. "Xiao Shi, do you remember we promised to be friends for life?"

"...Friends for life?"

Lin Shenshi murmured back.

Of course he didn’t remember—it was a pact between Yu Lanzhao and the original character, never mentioned in the book.

"Yeah," Yu Lanzhao’s voice was faint yet full of hopeful longing for the future, "we promised to be friends for life."

"So, Xiao Shi, you won’t leave and not come back, right?"

Lin Shenshi blinked.

"Of course."

"Great!" Yu Lanzhao beamed. "With Xiao Shi's promise, I'm relieved. Then I'll wait right here for Xiao Shi to return."

The ID card was placed back into the inner pocket of the suitcase, and Yu Lanzhao carefully zipped it shut for him.

The young man's gaze was sincere and genuine.

"Xiao Shi, have a good time, and say hi to your uncle and aunt for me."

The suitcase was handed over, and Lin Shenshi gripped it. The metal handle still carried the lingering warmth from the young man's palm.

Lin Shenshi nodded distractedly, bowed his head as he wheeled the suitcase and left the dorm room.

*

In the bustling university campus, students bustled between classes.

Below the male dormitory, the clatter of rolling wheels echoed. A clean-cut young man pushed his suitcase toward the moving truck, speaking with the driver inside.

By the third-floor window, Yu Lanzhao watched gloomily at the two. His dark, deer-like eyes churned with shadows, like ink-stained waves, ready to engulf the young man into the lightless depths of the ocean.

Just as the darkness seemed almost uncontrollable, the young man waved to the driver, turned back, and walked toward the dormitory entrance, disappearing from view.

The engine revved as the moving truck slowly drove out of the campus.

The back of the truck was empty.

In the hallway, the sound of suitcase wheels rolling echoed, and familiar footsteps came to a stop outside the door.

The gloom vanished, replaced by cheer.

In a place unseen by anyone.

The young man curled his lips into a smile.

It was a gambler's victorious smile.