NASAY CH 32

Feng Jia stood in shock for a full three minutes, chewing over the two sentences Huo Xingzhou had just said. Finally, he let out an earth-shattering exclamation, 

“What the hell!”

“You’re serious?!” 

Feng Jia’s shout caught the attention of passing students, so he quickly lowered his voice.

 “The person you like is… Luo Xing?”

Huo Xingzhou nodded.

“But… you’re both guys.”

 Feng Jia glanced around cautiously, then whispered even softer, his face turning pale with shock.

“So what if we’re both guys? I can’t like him just because of that?”

 Huo Xingzhou frowned.

Feng Jia hesitated, looking at him nervously before blurting out, 

“But… will your mom agree to this? And your dad—he’s an intellectual. If he finds out, won’t he break your legs?”

“I haven’t planned to tell them yet.” 

Huo Xingzhou chuckled. Luo Xing didn’t even know about this himself, so how could he tell anyone else now?

 “I’m only telling you for now. Don’t go spreading it around.”

Instead of feeling honored to be the only one in the know, Feng Jia felt more anxious. 

“But… do you two really have a future? Even the class president’s dads had to overcome so many obstacles to be together. And they’re adults! You’re still a student. Don’t act impulsively.”

“I’m not being impulsive. I’ve thought it over thoroughly,” 

Huo Xingzhou said with a smirk.

Feng Jia grew even more uneasy. He had known Huo Xingzhou for several years and was all too familiar with his personality—once he decided on something, there was no changing his mind.

“What if the teachers find out and expel both of you? Maybe you should think it over again,” 

Feng Jia said hurriedly, then suddenly remembered something. 

“Wait… that time on my birthday… when you ate grass…”

Feng Jia’s mouth fell open as he recalled how, on his birthday, Li Lefan had teased Huo Xingzhou, asking him to demonstrate something.

At the time, Feng Jia thought Huo Xingzhou would be furious.

But instead of getting angry, he had actually gone along with it.

Li Lefan had joked about how it was boring to choose a guy and suggested picking a girl. But looking back now, it was clear—Huo Xingzhou had done it on purpose!

“You… you animal!”

 Feng Jia said indignantly.

Huo Xingzhou accepted it with a smile. “Thanks.”

Feng Jia was silent for a moment, growing increasingly nervous. 

“So, when you two lived together… you didn’t… do anything inappropriate, right?”

Huo Xingzhou looked at Feng Jia’s worried, slightly twisted expression and sneered, 

“He’s just a kid. He probably can’t even tell the difference between me and a strawberry. What could I do to him?”

“Good, good.” 

Feng Jia let out a sigh of relief and nodded. 

“Yeah, Luo Xing does seem like a good kid. Unlike us—wait, hold on!”

Huo Xingzhou tilted his head. 

“What now?”

“Who confessed to who?”

A flicker of thought crossed Huo Xingzhou’s mind, and he chuckled, 

“I’m still chasing him. I didn’t want to scare him off, so I haven’t let him know yet.”

“Huh?” 

Feng Jia stared at him, dumbfounded.

 “Wait, so it’s still unrequited? What if Luo Xing doesn’t like you back?”

“Is there anyone who wouldn’t like me?”

 Huo Xingzhou thought of Luo Xing’s soft, gentle demeanor and snorted, 

“I just haven’t said it yet. If I did, he’d probably hug my leg, crying, and beg to say yes.”

“Keep dreaming,” 

Feng Jia rolled his eyes. Realizing the topic had gone too far, he quickly pulled it back. 

“No wonder you’ve been so obedient lately, sitting in the classroom every day doing practice exams. Don’t tell me… you’re studying for college because of Luo Xing?”

“What else?” 

Huo Xingzhou raised a brow. 

“For the love of education? That’d be insane.”

Feng Jia didn’t dislike Luo Xing. After living in the same dorm for two months, he had to admit Luo Xing was neat and well-behaved. He kept the bathroom and dorm spotless and sometimes even helped Feng Jia tidy up his things.

Compared to the always-cursing Huo Xingzhou, Luo Xing was practically an angel.

Fine, if they want to be together… as long as it’s mutual…

“Wait a minute!”

 Feng Jia suddenly grew serious, staring at Huo Xingzhou like a soldier on high alert. 

“Do you remember Zhang Ting?”

“Who?”

“You know, that girl from Liu Mengya’s class who confessed to Luo Xing last time in front of the school gate.”

Huo Xingzhou seemed to not recall, so Feng Jia reminded him, 

“Luo Xing said he already liked someone. Don’t you remember?”

“I remember.”

“Doesn’t this mean you’re stealing someone’s crush? Don’t you have any shame?”

 Feng Jia looked at Huo Xingzhou incredulously. A guy this handsome could have countless girls flocking to him with just one word that he wanted a girlfriend. Yet he insisted on liking a guy—a guy who didn’t even like him back.

Life really is tough. A straight man can only sigh.

Seeing that Huo Xingzhou remained silent, Feng Jia asked again, 

“And what about last time, when you asked my cousin about his mom? Does she seem like she’d approve of you being with Luo Xing?”

“Her?” 

Huo Xingzhou chuckled dismissively.

 “She no longer has the right to interfere in Luo Xing’s life.”

“Fair enough.”

Winter had arrived, and the classroom was a bit chilly at night. Originally, Huo Xingzhou had planned to take Feng Jia out for barbecue, but Cheng Limin mentioned before the evening self-study session that he had something to discuss later. Huo Xingzhou couldn’t just skip class openly.

Feng Jia seized the opportunity to extend his barbecue request to a month and a half later, giving Luo Xing a few meaningful glances before leaving.

Luo Xing was reviewing the test Huo Xingzhou had taken the previous night and noticed that he had made quite a few mistakes again. He frowned a little, tugging at Huo Xingzhou’s hand, which was busy playing a game. 

“Huo Xingzhou, stop playing. You made a lot of mistakes on last night’s paper.”

Huo Xingzhou quickly eliminated an enemy in the game, then exited the game entirely and tossed his phone onto the desk. He looked down at Luo Xing’s reddened hands, took his pen from him, and rubbed his hands between his own palms.

“Are you cold?” 

Huo Xingzhou asked.

“Not really.” 

Luo Xing placed his left hand on the test paper. 

“Look at this question…”

“Later.”

 Huo Xingzhou held his wrist, saying out of nowhere, 

“Christmas is coming soon.”

“Huh?” 

Luo Xing blinked, then nodded. 

“Yes, it is. Why?”

Huo Xingzhou opened his social media feed and showed it to him with a disappointed expression.

 “Everyone’s giving gifts to the people they like. No one likes me, so no one’s giving me a gift. Feng Jia even made fun of me for it today.”

Luo Xing’s heart skipped a beat. Was he… hinting that he wanted a gift from him?

Seeing that Luo Xing remained silent, Huo Xingzhou grabbed his hand and asked, 

“Do you remember when I gave you Wind in the Blood? You said you’d give me a gift in return. Remember?”

“You said you hadn’t thought of what to get and would tell me later.” 

Luo Xing looked into his eyes cautiously. 

“Have you thought of something?”

“Anything will do. I’m not picky,” 

Huo Xingzhou said after a moment’s thought.

“I’ll think about it,” Luo Xing said quickly.

“Alright.” 

Huo Xingzhou smiled in satisfaction, leaning back with his hands behind his head. This kid is way too easy to trick, he thought. I’ve got to keep a close eye on him so some random guy doesn’t steal him away.

“What do you like…” 

Luo Xing began, but before he could finish his sentence, the lights went out all at once. The streetlights outside and the entire teaching building went dark as well.

The whole campus was plunged into darkness.

The students in the classroom were startled. Some girls screamed, followed by a burst of excited chatter and laughter.

A power outage meant no evening self-study session.

Luo Xing widened his eyes, clenching his fists in the dark. His back was instantly drenched in cold sweat, and he couldn’t stop trembling.

Huo Xingzhou heard his uneven breathing and thought he was scared. He reached out to grab his hand and was shocked to find it trembling uncontrollably. “Luo Xing? Luo Xing?”

Luo Xing didn’t respond. His slender fingers were trembling so badly that they couldn’t be still in Huo Xingzhou’s hand.

Suddenly, Huo Xingzhou remembered—Luo Xing couldn’t hear. In the darkness, he could neither hear nor see, so of course, he must be panicking. He quickly turned on his phone’s flashlight and pulled Luo Xing into his arms, gently comforting him, 

“Don’t be afraid. I’m right here.”

Luo Xing’s lips were trembling, and his hands were tightly clasped together. In the darkness, painful memories rushed over him like a tidal wave. He struggled to suppress the emotions, forcing himself not to show any sign of distress.

He couldn’t—he mustn’t let Huo Xingzhou find out.

“I’m… I’m fine…” 

Luo Xing said with difficulty, but his hand unconsciously held onto Huo Xingzhou’s fingers, refusing to let go.

Feeling his small movements, Huo Xingzhou smiled happily and leaned close to his ear, whispering, 

“Last time when I was your human pillow, I said there’d be a fee. Do I need to charge you for hugging you this time too?”

“What?” 

Luo Xing couldn’t hear clearly and instinctively repeated the word.

With infinite patience, Huo Xingzhou chuckled, 

“I said, you’re adorable.”

He still couldn’t hear!

Luo Xing realized that his hearing had worsened. Now, even when someone spoke directly into his ear, he couldn’t hear anything—only the sensation of warm breath brushing against his ear.

I’m going deaf.

The thought hit him hard. His eyes reddened with anxiety as he realized that if it were dark, he wouldn’t be able to see or hear what Huo Xingzhou was saying anymore. He hated himself for not being able to hear.

Noticing his distress, Huo Xingzhou gently tapped his ear and lowered his voice even more amidst the noise, whispering, 

“Actually, what I said was… I like you and want to kiss you.”

Luo Xing’s heart skipped a beat. Panicking, he pulled his hand away and retreated toward the wall, desperate to avoid him. He didn’t want Huo Xingzhou to know that he couldn’t hear well, didn’t want him to discover his disability.

The classroom was filled with noisy chatter and shouts, but to Luo Xing, it was nothing but faint, distant buzzing—unreachable and incomprehensible.

He felt terrified, trying in vain to catch something, anything. His ears were straining as if they were standing at full attention, but still—he heard nothing! Nothing at all!

Huo Xingzhou, who had spoken without thinking because Luo Xing had been nestled in his arms, his soft breaths warming his heart, suddenly realized that he might have frightened him.

“Luo Xing, are you mad?” 

he asked quickly.

Luo Xing stayed silent.

“Luo Xing?”

Still no response. A wave of panic washed over Huo Xingzhou. Could it be that he can’t even hear me now? He could hear me before when I spoke right next to his ear…

Suddenly, his phone screen lit up. He glanced at it—there was a message in the class group chat.

Cheng Limin: Due to a temporary circuit failure, evening self-study is canceled. Please be careful when leaving and avoid overcrowding to prevent accidents.

The students cheered and rushed out of the classroom in a lively stampede.

“Brother Zhou! Barbecue?” Feng Jia called out loudly.

Huo Xingzhou glanced at Luo Xing in the darkness, his brows furrowed. 

“Not going.”

“Buzzkill. I’ll call Li Lefan and the others then.” 

Feng Jia shrugged and started gathering people, throwing his arm around Li Lefan’s shoulder as they pushed their way out of the classroom.

The classroom gradually quieted down. Listening to the noisy voices fading away outside, Huo Xingzhou remained seated, his brows knitted tighter and tighter. When the classroom was almost silent, he stood up and gently tugged at Luo Xing’s arm, startling him.

“W-What is it?”

 Luo Xing stammered, clearly frightened.

Huo Xingzhou handed him his phone and, without waiting for a response, bent down slightly and scooped him up from the chair. Holding him firmly, he said, 

“Let’s go back to the dormitory.”

He didn’t care whether Luo Xing heard him or not.