Chapter 61: You Just Need to Tell Me, Do You Want to Go?

Chapter 61: You Only Need to Tell Me, Do You Want to Go?

Qin Yan.

Right, he and Qin Yan had swapped WeChat accounts during the show. Ji Yucheng must have asked someone else for Qin Yan's WeChat, which is why he ended up adding Su Zhiyu.

Why did he want to treat Qin Yan to a meal?

Su Zhiyu bit his lip, recalling that afternoon in the practice room when he vaguely heard Ji Yucheng and Qin Yan talking by the door, as if Ji Yucheng had come specifically to give Qin Yan something.

Didn't they just meet?

Su Zhiyu stared at the profile picture on his phone, finding it more and more annoying. He blanked for a second, then quickly hit "decline" and shoved the phone under his pillow.

Ji Yucheng: ?

His assistant poked a head over: "Hey Cheng, did he accept?"

"..." Ji Yucheng locked his phone, his face dark. "No."

"Is he asleep? Maybe he didn't see it?"

"He turned me down."

"Huh?"

Ji Yucheng was just as confused. Didn't they hit it off during the day? Why wouldn't he even accept a friend request? What's the big deal?

Forget it, he'd just ask him directly next time.

Su Zhiyu lay rigid on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling, his anxiety growing by the minute. How could he have turned down Ji Yucheng's friend request? If Ji Yucheng mentioned it to Qin Yan in person, the whole thing would come out.

What would Qin Yan do?

Would he be angry?

Would he blame Su Zhiyu for going behind his back and making decisions for him?

Su Zhiyu tossed and turned, couldn't fall asleep. Finally, at 2:30 in the morning, he dragged himself out of bed, turned on the nightstand lamp, and fished his phone out from under the pillow.

Nothing new.

He opened his chat with Qin Yan, mulled it over for a while, and sent a message: "Qin Yan, let's swap our WeChat accounts back."

...

In the morning, Qin Yan saw the message the moment he woke up, still half-asleep.

Oh right, everyone still thought their WeChat accounts were swapped.

They never talked in the main show group chat, and they'd both turned off the option to add friends from group chats, so it wasn't a big deal—just the small group chats from their two rounds as teammates.

Why swap now?

Qin Yan knocked on Su Zhiyu's door and waited a solid minute before he finally answered. His pale skin made the dark circles under his eyes really stand out.

"You... were you out robbing a bank last night?"

Su Zhiyu was quiet for a few seconds, didn't answer, then stepped out and shut the door: "Sorry, I overslept."

"It's cool, let's head downstairs for breakfast."

"Mm."

Qin Yan hesitated, but couldn't help asking: "What were you doing last night? Why'd you text me at two or three in the morning about swapping WeChat? Something happen?"

At the mention of last night, Su Zhiyu fidgeted with his fingers, then shook his head: "Just thought of it out of nowhere. It's a bit of a hassle."

"Oh, really?"

Qin Yan leaned in, and Su Zhiyu guiltily looked away, mumbling "mm" in agreement, not daring to meet his eyes.

"So, Liu Mian and the others all think this WeChat account is mine. Maybe other people on the show think so too. How do we explain that?"

"..."

Su Zhiyu had actually thought this through last night. Explaining it to everyone one by one would be a pain, and it could easily backfire.

He said, dead serious: "Let's swap our profile pics and WeChat IDs. I haven't added any contestants from the show on here. What about you?"

Qin Yan smirked: "Funny, me neither."

"Good, then let's just swap. Nobody should notice."

Qin Yan studied Su Zhiyu's face, looking for any crack—but precisely because there was no crack, he was sure something was up.

He hadn't thought about swapping back all this time, not even when they made the foodie group chat over BBQ and hotpot. Now he's up in the middle of the night thinking about swapping WeChat?

Little brat, learning to keep secrets.

"Fine, if you say swap, we swap. As long as you're okay with the hassle."

Su Zhiyu let out a quiet sigh of relief. After breakfast, he and Qin Yan made the switch, and to be safe, they transferred ownership of the old group chats.

Ding.

Su Zhiyu's WeChat pinged.

It was the five-person foodie chat.

Yang Yichen @'d Su Zhiyu with a message: 'Brother Yan, wanna grab some skewers tonight?'

Su Zhiyu froze, not knowing what to say. They'd already swapped back, so why did he...

Qin Yan craned his neck to peek at the screen, then replied on his own phone: 'Your big bro's right here. Your eyesight's going at such a young age.'

?

Yang Yichen caught on right away and sent a grinning sticker, then followed up: 'Ah, getting old makes you misread things. Zhi Yu, wanna grab skewers? Brother Yan can give you a ride on the way.'

Qin Yan: Yeah, send the address.

Yang Yichen: On it. It's a new place someone recommended, hehe. Knew you guys would come. See you tonight.

Qin Yan: And the other two?

Yang Yichen: Liu Mian's with me. We'll head over together. Yi Zhou has an event today, no time. Didn't you see what he said? The chat history's right there.

Qin Yan: Oh, missed that.

Yang Yichen: ...

Qin Yan turned to Su Zhiyu and said, "Come on, let's go get skewers tonight—there's a new place."

"Okay."

Qin Yan was about to put his phone away when he saw a private message from Yang Yichen: 'Brother Yan, are you two okay? Why did you switch WeChat again? What kind of game are you playing?'

Beats me. Who would I even ask?

Qin Yan: 'Don't ask—the answer's just the honest truth. By the way, how come you're with Liu Mian?'

Yang Yichen replied after two minutes: 'Oh, he just happened to have a show today, and I had nothing going on, so I went to cheer him on.'

Qin Yan: '? So Liu Mian only invited you to his play? How come I didn't hear about this?'

Yang Yichen: 'You're a busy guy, always wrapped up in work. When would you even have time?'

Qin Yan frowned: 'Then why not invite Su Zhiyu?'

Yang Yichen: 'Liu Mian wanted to, but I figured he wouldn't be up for going out, so I didn't call him. Why don't you ask him if he's free? I'm heading over now, so I can pick him up. But do you trust me with him?'

Qin Yan: '...'

Su Zhiyu sat beside him, watching Qin Yan type away, then suddenly look up and stare at him. His heart skipped a beat: "Why... why are you staring at me like that?"

Qin Yan cleared his throat: "We've got nothing going on today anyway. Yang Yichen wants to invite you to see Liu Mian's play. You going?"

"Huh?" Su Zhiyu sat up nervously. "Are... are you going?"

He still wasn't used to hanging out with people. Although they occasionally had meals together, it was always Qin Yan and the others who set it up—he just went along.

Qin Yan shook his head: "I have things to do during the day today, so I can't go. You guys go ahead."

"I..."

"Being cooped up at home all day isn't good for you. You should get out and clear your head with friends. Besides, they want to invite you." Qin Yan's tone softened as he coaxed him. "You just need to tell me—do you want to go or not?"

Su Zhiyu stayed silent, and Qin Yan didn't push him. He just looked down and quietly sent something on his phone.

Ding-dong.

The group chat pinged again. Liu Mian tagged both Su Zhiyu and Qin Yan, along with a photo of himself in the dressing room:

'Are you guys coming to support me? I'm performing today, and after the show, let's go get skewers together.'

Qin Yan showed the group chat page to Su Zhiyu: "Going or not?"

Su Zhiyu lowered his head, thought for a moment, then gave a small nod.

Qin Yan's heart relaxed, and he teased with a grin: "Then reply to him. You can't just lurk forever—a five-person group chat looks like it's got four people."