Chapter 53 "I Like You"

Ji Tong took off her coat in the private room, and was now only wearing a wool sweater.

There was some beer stain on the cuff of Ji Tong's sweater. When Ji Tong washed his hands, he rinsed it off. By the time Gu Lin looked over, the cuff was already soaked.

"Don't you find it uncomfortable?" Gu Lin said helplessly.

The restroom was very close to the front desk, so Gu Lin went to the front desk to buy a pack of quick-drying soft towels.

When I returned with the cotton towel, I saw Ji Tong standing by the sink, pursing his lips and typing away rapidly.

Every few seconds, he would quickly tap a string of keys, and then every few seconds, he would quickly tap another string of keys.

"Whose message is this?" Gu Lin walked over, took out a few cotton towels, lifted Ji Tong's right hand, and used the cotton towels to absorb the dampness from the cuffs of his sweater.

Ji Tong: "Didn't you check your phone?"

Gu Lin: "No."

Ji Tong: "...News about A Yuan."

Ji Tong didn't know what to say, so she flipped her phone over.

Gu Lin quickly scanned the message without any expression, seemingly more interested in Ji Tong's wet sleeve than the messages in the group chat.

Once his cuffs were almost dry, Gu Lin spoke slowly, "It won't have much of an impact."

Ji Tong: "?"

Gu Lin: "He rarely wins even if he doesn't make a vow."

Ji Tong: "..."

That's what they say, but...

Ji Tong frowned: "Shouldn't we tell them?"

Ji Tong's voice was somewhat hesitant.

Hearing his tone, Gu Lin rolled up Ji Tong's sweater cuffs twice until the wet parts were no longer touching his skin, then casually said, "Don't want to talk about it?"

“No, not really,” Ji Tong didn’t know how to put it, “it just feels a little strange to say it out of the blue.”

Given A-Yuan's personality, they might end up arguing fiercely.

"Then I won't say." Gu Lin pulled out a soft cotton towel and placed it under the rolled-up sleeve. "Is that sleeve wet?"

“It’s not wet… Let’s get down to business, why are you talking about sleeves?” Ji Tong lightly kicked the toe of his sneakers, thought for a few seconds, “It’s vacation now, let’s wait until winter break is over and talk to them next semester.”

"Um."

Having made up her mind, Ji Tong felt less guilty and walked back to the private room with Gu Lin. A group of people were discussing Gu Lin and Ji Tong's birthdays.

"Lin's birthday is on Teacher's Day, which has already passed, but Tongtong's birthday is coming soon."

"Tongtong's birthday is the easiest to remember, even easier than Lin Ge's, it's the first day of the Lunar New Year."

"Yes, Tongtong observes the lunar calendar, since it's an auspicious day."

That's where his "tong" character came from.

"But having such good days also brings its own set of troubles. After all, it's the first day of the Lunar New Year, a time for visiting relatives and friends. Even if we wanted to get together on that day, Tongtong couldn't find the time. His uncle usually only comes back once a year during the Lunar New Year period because he's always busy, so we usually postpone our get-together until the seventh or eighth day of the Lunar New Year. It'll probably be the same this year... Sigh, Tongtong is back."

"Tongtong, speaking of you, is your birthday still the same as before this year? Or has it been moved to after the fifth day of the Lunar New Year?"

"It should be the same this year..." Ji Tong thought to herself, glancing at Gu Lin unconsciously.

A few days ago, he overheard Gu Lin talking to his family on the phone; his grandfather wanted him to go to Germany for the Chinese New Year.

"Well, we'll see about the exact time later," Ji Tong said.

The two sat back down on the sofa. After Li Yuan and the others finished the first round of games, they started the second round. Tian Zixuan handed the microphone to Ji Tong and asked him if he wanted to sing, but Ji Tong waved his hand.

"Have you booked your plane tickets?" Ji Tong asked Gu Lin.

Gu Lin: "It's still early."

After that phone call, Ji Tong learned from Gu Lin that she had misunderstood; Gu Lin had not "fallen out" with his family, and the villa in Beishan was still under the Gu family's name.

There's something to be happy about, but—

"I'm warning you, if you dare come back with a few more injuries, you're dead." Ji Tong couldn't help but say.

"Not even a small opening is acceptable."

Gu Lin has not told him about the wounds on his back, and Ji Tong only knows that his grandfather hit him, and knows nothing else.

Ji Tong could sense that Gu Lin was still hiding something from him. If it were in the past, he might have used resources and methods to investigate, just like he had asked his father to help investigate the Beishan villa. But now he wasn't in a hurry because he knew Gu Lin wouldn't leave again.

This realization is like an ark; after a flood, it eventually comes to a stable rest on the majestic Mount Alarat, where it remains undisturbed.

There was no umbilical cord connecting him and Gu Lin, but there was a red thread binding them together.

Despite her rationality, Ji Tong couldn't help but feel a little down when she thought about how long it had been since they last saw each other.

"I had already made up my mind," Ji Tong said dejectedly.

Gu Lin: "Have you thought about what?"

Ji Tong glanced at him and told the truth: "...If you don't go home for winter break, I'll take you home for the New Year."

Gu Lin paused for a moment.

"How should I bring it?"

Ji Tong knew what he was asking, rubbed his fingers together, coughed, and said somewhat embarrassedly, "Let's talk about brothers first."

"Ji Tong," Gu Lin said abruptly, using his full name.

Ji Tong: "..."

Gu Lin only called out one name and didn't say anything more, but Ji Tong understood from it that he meant, "Try letting me hear the word 'brother' again."

“‘First,’ didn’t I already say ‘first’?” Ji Tong said immediately.

After saying that, he tugged at the fuzz on his cuff: "You know my mother studied art, she's met a lot of people in the industry, like us... there are many of us. She's also very perceptive, cough... maybe she'll notice something while she's observing."

Gu Lin originally thought that he had only acted on a whim.

"What if we find out?"

Ji Tong tore off two more strands of sweater lint and threw them into Gu Lin's palm: "So what if they found out? We can only admit it."

The sweater's fluffy fibers floated lightly like drifting catkins, yet Gu Lin felt their weight.

He moved his long fingers slightly, gathering the tuft of fluff and hooking it around Ji Tong's fingertips.

"What if Auntie doesn't agree?"

Ji Tong lightly tapped Gu Lin's palm twice with her fingertips, and then paused for a long time.

"If we don't agree, then we won't be able to live in the big villa."

"We can only go back to the apartment and be a pair of star-crossed lovers."

He didn't talk about the distant future, or the unseen future; he only talked about the present, about the moment.

Gu Lin was there.

Just like that apartment you can go back to anytime.

After Tian Zixuan and the others finished singing a song, they turned around and saw the two of them with their legs touching and their hands linked.

Tian Zixuan was completely impressed.

Are their fingers stuck together and inseparable?

Just as she was about to pull Li Yuan to look, a sharp microphone whistle suddenly came from the corridor outside the private room, followed by a heated argument.

In an instant, the entire private room fell silent.

"What's that noise? What happened?" someone asked hurriedly.

Duan Qiwei, who was closest to the door, peered out through the transparent glass strip in the middle of the private room door and listened intently for a while.

"It sounded like a couple was arguing; I heard them talking about breaking up or something."

Li Yuan suddenly put down the dice cup: "Break up?"

Ge Guang quickly put down his wine glass: "Couples arguing?"

Ten seconds later, everyone in the private room except Ji Tong and Gu Lin was pressed against the door.

"Hey, don't push me, I can't see."

"Wow, so many people!"

"Let me see, let me see."

"Hilarious, the music next door has stopped too."

“I can’t hear anything at all,” Li Yuan nudged Duan Qiwei beside him. “Everyone step back a bit, I’ll open the door.”

Ji Tong was worried that they would get beaten for eavesdropping, so he got up and was about to walk over when Li Yuan opened the door a crack.

Without any instruction, the music in all the private rooms stopped simultaneously, leaving only a woman's voice in the entire corridor—

"You told me you took the train home yesterday, is that how you got back? Is there any truth in what you're saying?"

Don't you think you're meddling too much?

"Am I meddling too much? If a girlfriend asks her boyfriend where he is or what he's doing, does that mean she's meddling too much? Fine, then let's break up now, and I won't ask you another question in the future."

Ge Guang felt like going out and punching someone: "How can a guy like this have a girlfriend?"

Just when everyone thought it was already outrageous, the boy suddenly laughed.

"Break up? Did I ever say we were together? Did I ever confess my feelings to you? Did I ever say I liked you?"

Ji Tong, who was about to head towards the door, suddenly stopped.

The room was filled with gasps of breath.

"You don't think that kissing a few times means we're seriously dating, do you? Please, we're adults, let's not play those high school romance games. At most, things are still unclear between us, we don't have to take responsibility for each other. If we feel it's right, we'll continue; if not, we'll break up. It's that simple."

"Damn it, I can't take it anymore." Duan Qiwei grabbed the fruit plate next to him and was about to walk outside when Ge Guang and Cui Mingying stopped him.

"Calm down, calm down, this kind of man—"

A crisp "slap" echoed through the crack in the door, reaching everyone's ears clearly.

"Okay, let's break up. I've done it, now we can go our separate ways."

"I can take the risk, but remember, you'd better avoid me in the future, or I'll take pictures of you every time I see you."

As soon as the girl finished speaking, the entire corridor was silent for two seconds. Then, a "Good!" came from the nearest private room, followed by voices from other private rooms. Some even shouted "Well done!" into the microphone.

The boy seemed to realize that many people were watching, and some were even taking pictures with their phones. His face turned ashen, and he quickly left. The girl, on the other hand, immediately booked a new private room and sent a pitcher of honey lemon tea to every private room along the corridor.

After finishing their gossip, Li Yuan and Ge Guang were still not satisfied and continued to berate the boy. In the middle of their rant, they suddenly turned their heads and looked at Nie Hongchang.

Nie Hongchang felt a chill run down his spine from being stared at: "Why are you looking at me?"

Li Yuan: "You're the only guy in the room with a girlfriend, who else would you look at if not you?"

Ji Tong suddenly felt a little thirsty, so she picked up the honey lemon tea and took a sip.

Ge Guang looked at Tian Zixuan: "Xuanxuan, did Chang Gou confess to you?"

Nie Hongchang: "..."

When we were exchanging gifts, we were still "brothers," but now we're just "dogs."

Nie Hongchang's face turned completely red with anxiety: "Of course I'll sue! I'm not that kind of indecent person. Before Xuanxuan agreed, I didn't even touch her hand, let alone kiss her... or anything like that!"

Ji Tong choked on a mouthful of lemon tea.

Tian Zixuan defended her boyfriend: "I've sued him, and we even had a ceremony."

Li Yuan looked earnestly at the girls present: "Sisters, remember this: never date a guy who's all 'ambiguous,' who doesn't even confess his feelings but just starts holding hands and kissing you right away. Avoid this pitfall! These are all lessons learned from experience! If you ever unfortunately run into one, call me, and I'll take care of him!"

Ge Guang: "Get him!"

Duan Qiwei: "Get him!"

Ji Tong lowered his head and remained silent.

Tian Zixuan: "The words may be rough, but the principle is sound. A formal confession is indeed necessary when you're in a relationship. Putting aside everything else, you should at least have an anniversary. If you don't have a formal confession, you won't even be able to find an anniversary later."

Ji Tong casually picked up a bottle of beer from the table, opened it, and took a sip.

The group made a ruckus until nearly 10 p.m., and only when everyone was drunk did they stop the karaoke machine.

"It's only ten o'clock?" Li Yuan glanced at his phone. "Isn't it too early to go back to school now?"

Ge Guang and his companions also felt that there was still more to say.

"Will school be able to start again soon?"

"Don't say such heartbreaking things, you're about to cry."

"Do you have anything else to do later?" Li Yuan asked after a few seconds of thought.

"What else could happen after the exams are over?"

"What time did the people who need to catch the high-speed train buy their tickets for tomorrow?"

"I knew we'd be drinking today. All the tickets are for the afternoon and evening. Guang Ge is even more amazing; he bought tickets for the day after tomorrow."

“Okay,” Li Yuan clapped his hands, gave a thumbs up and pointed in a certain direction, “There’s a Golden Hot Spring just two streets away. It just opened around New Year’s Day. They say it’s the pinnacle of the bath industry. Want to go?!”

"Go! Go! Go."

"Count me in."

"There's no reason not to go for a massage, let's go!"

"Okay, I'll book a group deal right away. Raise your hand if you want to go."

Apart from two girls who had other arrangements, everyone else raised their hands, leaving only Ji Tong and Gu Lin.

Li Yuan turned to look at the two people sitting on the sofa. Before he could speak, Gu Lin said, "You two go first. I'll take him back to change his clothes. We'll talk later."

Li Yuan: "Okay, okay, then Brother Lin, give me a call when you come over later."

Gu Lin: "Mm."

Li Yuan and Zhou Tian went to pay the bill, while the rest of the people went to wash their hands in a noisy commotion.

After washing up, they walked out of the karaoke bar. Ji Tong and Gu Lin were the last to leave, and because they were close together, they would occasionally rub their hands together.

"Tangquan is just two streets away, a 15-minute walk. Shall we take a short walk?" Li Yuan said, looking at the navigation. "It'll be a good opportunity to cool off from the alcohol."

The others nodded.

"You guys go ahead, Gu Lin and I will wait for Yi Ran and the others to take a taxi."

Yi Ran is a girl who has other plans.

Li Yuan was relieved to hear Ji Tong say that. He told Yi Ran and the other girl to send a WeChat message when they got home, and then looked at Ji Tong: "Tong Tong, you and Brother Lin should go home early too. Call us if you need a massage."

Ji Tong nodded.

Li Yuan led the large group towards Tangquan. Ji Tong and Gu Lin saw the two girls off to their car and then stood quietly by the roadside.

A dozen seconds later, Ji Tong could no longer hold back and grabbed Gu Lin's wrist, leading him into the alley next to the karaoke bar.

He only had enough patience to walk a few more steps, and he stopped at the alley entrance, not even afraid of people coming from outside.

It's called an alley, but it's actually just a narrow path separated from the KTV by the wall of the adjacent hotel.

Because of its good location, it's surrounded by mid-to-high-end venues, and it's very clean inside and out.

Ji Tong grabbed Gu Lin's wrist and slammed him against the wall.

The words of Li Yuan, Nie Hongchang, and Tian Zixuan burned him like quick-burning tinder for two hours.

Ji Tong knew that his relationship with Gu Lin wasn't "ambiguous," and neither of them could be irresponsible. He didn't lack confessions, and neither did Gu Lin. But one of Tian Zixuan's words struck Ji Tong like a blow to the heart—

If I don't confess my feelings, I won't even have an anniversary to look forward to later.

Ji Tong looked at him intently until she saw her own reflection in Gu Lin's eyes.

"Gu Lin, I..."

"I've already filed a complaint." Gu Lin suddenly spoke, as if he knew what Ji Tong was going to say and cut him off in advance.

"I've already confessed." Gu Lin repeated.

Ji Tong was a little confused: "When?"

“On New Year’s Eve,” Gu Lin raised his hand and gently stroked Ji Tong’s chin, “when you held onto that balloon.”

Ji Tong was taken aback, and was about to speak—

"When he said he wanted to marry me."

"When they told me not to go back to Germany."

"When I kiss you."

"Yes, they are."

The music from the KTV lobby next door came and went. Ji Tong was stunned for a long time, feeling like a seashell gently being washed by the tide of "liking," floating on the softest ripples.

He hooked his finger around Gu Lin's, waited for his brain to start working again, and took a deep breath.

"So you've already confessed your feelings."

When you make a wish to be together forever.

"When you hand over your ID card and passport to me."

"When you kiss me."

"Yes, they are."

“Hmm,” Gu Lin chuckled softly, “but there’s still one sentence missing.”

"What."

"I like you." Gu Lin stared into those eyes, his gaze fixed on them with an expression that seemed to want to lock the person firmly into his gaze.

"The kind of love where you want to be together forever."

"I like you too." This time Ji Tong answered quickly, his heart exploding like a firework. He tightened his grip on Gu Lin's fingers, "The kind of liking where we're together forever."

"Then let's set the anniversary for January 1st?" Ji Tong asked, afraid that she would forget, and quickly struck the gavel to make the decision.

"Um."

Ji Tong smiled and shook his finger for a long time.

"Gu Lin, I don't think I've ever called you 'boyfriend' yet?"

"Shout it now."

"Boy friend."

"Um."

After Ji Tong finished shouting, she was a little embarrassed and lowered her head to bury it on Gu Lin's shoulder. After only a short while, her chin was lifted up by a hand.

Ji Tong looked at him and asked, "What's wrong?"

Gu Lin gently pinched his cheeks twice.

"Can I kiss my boyfriend now?"

Ji Tong paused for a moment, then tilted her head slightly upwards: "Okay."

Ji Tong had tonsillitis and was also dealing with a lot of exams and papers, so the two of them rarely kissed during this time. Even when they did, it was just a simple touch. Ji Tong still hadn't really learned how to kiss.

Until the jaws were pried open—

A loud "thump" rang in my ears.

Ji Tong was stunned for a moment.

Is my heartbeat really that loud?

Ji Tong vaguely sensed something was wrong. He gently pushed Gu Lin's shoulder away and, following his memory, looked towards the alley entrance—

Li Yuan slid a meter and fell to the ground.

Not far behind them stood a group of people, frozen in place like ice sculptures.

Apart from the two girls who had to leave.

Not one was left out.

Ji Tong: "………………"