Chapter 48 "Give Me a Kiss"

"Who are you waiting for? You dropped your book on the ground and didn't even pick it up... Tongtong?" A few students from the next class saw Ji Tong standing blankly downstairs with his phone in his hand as soon as they came out of the dormitory building.

The phone screen was lit, seemingly in the middle of a call, but Ji Tong seemed frozen, not uttering a word.

Seeing that he didn't move, one person squatted down to help pick up the book and put it in Ji Tong's hands, then called out again, "Tong Tong?"

The cool touch and weight of the book cover pulled Ji Tong back from her sudden daze.

"What's wrong?" the man asked.

"N-nothing."

Seeing that Ji Tong's expression had returned to normal, the group left with peace of mind.

Ji Tong, carrying the book, walked quickly towards the dormitory.

He opened the door stiffly, closed it stiffly, and threw the book on the table stiffly.

Tu Jing's call had already been disconnected when she went upstairs.

The call ended, but Ji Tong could still hear Tu Jing's voice on repeat in his ears.

"A kiss will suffice."

"Ke Tongguang was afraid of scaring you, so he spoke very conservatively."

"Holding hands, hugging, and sleeping in the same bed—the theory is correct, but it depends on the person. This approach doesn't apply to you and Gu Lin."

“Your situations are different.”

"But kissing is acceptable."

"Straight men would never accept same-sex kissing, even if it's their best friend; they would feel uncomfortable."

"Practice is the sole criterion for testing truth."

"So, a kiss will tell you the answer."

...

Give me a kiss.

How do we kiss?

Would she just go up to Gu Lin and ask for a kiss? Would Gu Lin agree?

Ji Tong lowered his head, slowly opened his palm, and looked at the lines on it.

From high school until now, he and Gu Lin have touched palms countless times, but he doesn't seem to have experienced any excitement.

On the contrary, the strongest feeling brought by each touch is peace of mind.

A sense of security, like returning home.

Ji Tong has never been in a relationship, but in all kinds of literary works, love is described as passionate, intense, and vigorous. Under the influence of dopamine, norepinephrine, and various hormones, countless signals are generated and fed back to the body, telling you that this is called "liking".

Ji Tong recalled Ke Tongguang's words once again.

Impulsiveness, palpitations, excitement.

He leaned over and lay face down on the table.

Ji Jiu had a full day of classes today, and no one was in the apartment, but Ji Tong still turned on the surveillance footage, not knowing what she wanted to see, and just left it there.

-

Lunch and dinner were still delivered by the club.

Discrete Mathematics was moved to the evening. After the large class ended, Ji Tong returned to her dormitory, and Song Zhenshu called.

Unlike previous audio messages, this one is a video.

Ji Tong answered the phone: "Uncle."

Seeing the wardrobe in Ji Tong's background, Song Zhenshu knew he was in the dorm and breathed a sigh of relief, but still asked, "Why are you wearing a coat in the dorm?"

Ji Tong propped her phone up on the table: "I rescheduled a class and just got back from teaching it."

Ji Tong took off her scarf and noticed that the lighting was quite dim around Song Zhenshu, unlike at Haiyuan.

"Uncle, aren't you at Haiyuan?"

"At your Uncle Yao's house."

As Song Zhenshu finished speaking, Zhu Xuyao ​​squeezed into the frame, gave Ji Tong a "Hi" sign, and emphasized, "It's Brother Yao, not Uncle Yao. Don't listen to your little uncle."

Song Zhenshu pushed Zhu Xuyao's head aside and turned the camera around. Ji Tong saw four or five familiar faces, all of whom were Song Zhenshu's childhood friends.

The uncle and nephew chatted briefly, talking about the weather, the end of the semester, and the taste of the food at the club these days, but they didn't mention Gu Lin.

After hanging up the video call, Song Zhenshu put down his phone, picked up his glass, and took a sip of gin and tonic.

Zhu Xuyao ​​didn't really understand. He pressed down on the stem of the glass with two fingers, pushing the wine down from Song Zhenshu's hand, and said, "You've been thinking about Tongtong these past few days, haven't you?"

"I even made a video call to see if he was in the dorm."

"If you're so worried, why did you let Tongtong know that Gu Lin likes him so quickly?"

Zhu Xuyao ​​asked the question that all his childhood friends wanted to ask.

From their perspective, Song Zhenshu could simply pretend not to know and let them develop their own way.

To put it more sentimentally, it's like fate is taking them wherever it leads, and success isn't guaranteed.

But Song Zhenshu insisted on getting involved.

"What, are you intimidated by Gu Lin's will and want to give him a push?"

After a moment, Song Zhenshu spoke: "There's a reason for this, it's due to the will."

Zhu Xuyao ​​and his friend exchanged a glance: "Then there must be something else."

Zhu Xuyao ​​placed the wine glass aside. Song Zhenshu was too lazy to pick it up or stir it again, so he just sat there.

I don't know how much time passed.

Song Zhenshu sighed: "I'm telling you, I don't really know what Tongtong's feelings for Gu Lin are. Do you believe me?"

Zhu Xuyao: "Didn't you say Tongtong likes Gu Lin?"

Song Zhenshu: "I like it."

"But campus dating and social dating are completely different things."

“I’ve been through it, I know it very well.”

The campus environment is too small, and cognitive biases cause various limitations. Because everyone has "nothing," as long as they are attracted to each other, they can be together without considering anything external. They don't care about the other person's family background, upbringing, or experiences, and may even imitate their peers.

Song Zhenshu pursued a double major, majoring in diplomacy and minoring in art history. His relationship was public almost as soon as he entered the university, and he was surrounded by same-sex couples, both male and female.

It was much later, at a party, that Song Zhenshu overheard one of the ex-sex couples say to him, "Zhenshu, I thought I liked him, just like you guys. I was happy when I saw him, and I missed him when I didn't see him. I didn't resist holding hands or hugging him, but that's how it ended."

He can't accept kissing, let alone sex.

That person had drunk a lot of alcohol.

"I'm confused too. I don't even know what I am."

Song Zhenshu wondered if Ji Tong would become the second "muddled person".

Not to mention him, even Gu Lin didn't seem as calm.

Gu Lin himself was well aware of this, which put him in a dilemma.

He was also afraid.

He was afraid that the outcome wouldn't be what he wanted, and he was afraid that many years later, when he looked back, he would think, "If only I had just stayed friends."

Too many worries become mental obstacles.

So Song Zhenshu became the one who broke the ice.

He thought, if Tongtong really is... then it's better to cut ties while it's still early.

After hearing his story, his friends also fell into deep thought.

Only Zhu Xuyao ​​looked left and right, clicking his tongue and hissing.

Song Zhenshu's ears hurt from listening: "Just say what you have to say, stop clicking your tongue."

"You've been babbling on and on, aren't you just afraid that Tongtong is half-gay? You guys are the same," Zhu Xuyao ​​spread his hands around, "I think you're just overthinking things."

"As soon as you mentioned that Gu Lin was going back to Germany, Tongtong immediately proposed to him. How could she not be completely gay?"

"Anyway, Guan Yu would never propose to Zhang Fei."

"I think Tongtong is more completely gay than you."

"Maybe they'll kiss tonight, officially become a couple tomorrow, and get married in Germany after graduation. Then you'll be sitting at the head table... wait, no, you're the uncle, so you're already at the head table. Perfect, Tongtong and Gu Lin will save on matchmaker fees, and you'll even have to pay Tongtong... ugh, with Tongtong and Gu Lin like this, who's marrying whom? Will you be providing a dowry or betrothal gifts... Seriously, you're throwing such good wine at me?!"

Zhu Xuyao ​​was carried away by his two friends, who covered his mouth and took him away from his left and right sides, leaving Song Zhenshu alone, holding his forehead and leaning against the bar.

Kiss tonight, and become a couple tomorrow?

You're dreaming.

He just finished video chatting with Tongtong.

-

After hanging up the video call, Ji Tong went into the bathroom to take a shower.

He has been very quiet for the past two or three days, and as a result, Li Yuan and the other two have become less noisy.

After showering under the showerhead, Ji Tong dried herself with a towel and realized she hadn't brought her pajamas when she went to put them on. So she called out towards the door, "Gu Lin, my pajamas—"

Ji Tong stopped speaking and moving at the same time.

The three people outside the door, including Li Yuan, trembled slightly. They had naturally heard the name "Gu Lin," but pretended not to.

"Tongtong, are you calling us? Atian was playing the presentation slides, it was too noisy, we couldn't hear you."

"Oh," Ji Tong's voice came from behind the bathroom door, "It's nothing, I just forgot my pajamas. Does anyone have a spare pair?"

"You're just grabbing a nightgown and asking if I'm free? Tongtong, wait a minute, is it on your bed?" Li Yuan called out again, "I see it," and quickly pulled off the nightgown, ran towards the bathroom, and handed it in through the crack in the door, "Put it on quickly, don't catch a cold."

Ji Tong took it, put on her pajamas, and came out.

Li Yuan glanced at Ji Tong out of the corner of his eye and saw nothing particularly unusual.

The paper has been finished, and Ji Tong didn't want to review or do any practice problems today, so she went to bed early.

He was holding his phone, about to open the surveillance footage, when a message popped up on WeChat.

Ji Tong casually clicked on it, and the moment she saw the profile picture, her heart skipped a beat.

[The person under guardianship: [“Uncle Chen’s chat history”]]

Ji Tong paused for several seconds before clicking on it.

[Uncle Chen: Gu Linlin is quite clever. Knowing it's cold outside these days, she's been staying in her usual spot, the cat bed behind the stairs.]

[Uncle Chen: Did Tongtong make the cat bed? The blanket inside is still very clean, and there's a rope-knotted carrot and a pom-pom.]

[Uncle Chen: Ping An added some cat food last night, but the kitten didn't eat much and didn't seem very hungry.]

[Uncle Chen: Don't worry, during this finals week, you all study hard. Don't worry about the cat, I'll look after it for you.]

Ji Tong read through it line by line.

So much had happened in the past few days that it was only now that he suddenly remembered that he and Gu Lin had originally planned to visit Gu Linlin over the weekend.

Two more messages popped up on WeChat.

[Guardian: Photo.jpg]

[Guardian: Photo.jpg]

It was Uncle Chen who took the photo of Gu Linlin.

Gu Lin didn't say a word more.

Ji Tong gripped her phone, looking at the picture of the kitten, then at the extremely familiar profile picture.

He hadn't dared to open Gu Lin's chat window for the past few days, for fear that he wouldn't be able to resist contacting him.

Now, the longing has broken through a crack, and it's unstoppable.

I want to see Gu Linlin.

I want to see Gu Lin.

I really want to.

Ji Tong couldn't hold back any longer. He flung open the bed curtains, leaped off the bed in three quick steps, and without even changing out of his pajamas, simply threw on a coat and pants, slippers, grabbed his phone, and ran out.

The three roommates were not brought back to their senses until the dormitory door was slammed shut with a loud "bang." They didn't even have time to put on their clothes before they hurriedly chased after it, grabbing the stair railing and looking down, only to catch a fleeting afterimage.

"Tongtong! Where are you going? It's below zero outside tonight!"

"Damn it, why did you run out in slippers?"

"Scarf, scarf, thuh!"

Li Yuan was frantic, like a headless fly. Only Cui Mingying reacted, rushed back to the dormitory, took out her phone, and dialed a number.

"Brother Lin, I don't know what happened to Tongtong, she suddenly put on her coat and ran out... Hey, hey?"

The phone went dead.

Before the call ended, Cui Mingying seemed to hear the copper doorbell of the apartment vibrating.

-

The taxi stopped at the west gate of the apartment building. Ji Tong quickly unbuckled her seatbelt, opened the door, and got out: "Thank you, Master—"

Before he could finish saying the word "Fu", his wrist was suddenly grabbed.

That person had great strength.

Ji Tong turned his head abruptly, his eyes filled with astonishment.

Gu Lin closed his eyes briefly, took Ji Tong's cold hand into his palm, bent down to say "thank you" to the taxi driver, closed the door, and led Ji Tong towards the residential area.

The two even dressed very similarly.

Ji Tong was wearing pajamas, and Gu Lin was also wearing pajamas.

Gu Lin was dressed even more lightly than Ji Tong, as if he had rushed out even more hastily than Ji Tong.

The two walked through the community path, entered the apartment building, took the elevator, and arrived at the 21st floor.

The automatic sensor lights in the corridor turned on and off, but the two of them didn't say a word.

Gu Lin unlocked the door with his fingerprint, and it opened immediately.

Go inside and close the door.

Gu Lin's tense back finally relaxed little by little, but he never let go of Ji Tong's hand.

Gu Lin slowly turned around, his throat tightening, about to speak—

"Gu Lin." Ji Tong suddenly raised her hand, interrupting Gu Lin before he could finish speaking.

Ji Tong gripped Gu Lin's clothes tightly around his neck and shoulders.

His back was pressed against the wooden door.

Right next to my ear is that lucky cat-shaped brass doorbell.

Ji Tong took a deep breath and spoke without thinking.

Give me a kiss.

"Kiss me now."

Reason, integrity, prudence, patience, and waiting—all the principles that Gu Lin held as his guiding principles were completely devoured by the seduction of the phrase "Give me a kiss."

Desire takes over and instantly annihilates everything.

Gu Lin could wait no longer. He reached out and, with an almost forceful force, lifted Ji Tong's chin, like a carnivorous beast about to bite off its prey's throat, and lowered his head to kiss him.

The moment their breaths mingled, Ji Tong felt a tingling sensation all over her body.

It felt like every bone in my body was colliding, and my heart was pounding violently, as if I had just gone through a grand migration.

They came from the dry season of life to a completely new habitat.

Life thrives there.

Ji Tong's grip on Gu Lin's shoulders and neck tightened even more, and only one thought remained in her mind.

It's not that Gu Linqin is so fierce.

This isn't what kissing used to feel like.

Instead—

Great, I'm gay!