DCTMOAS Chapter 63

For someone who’s naturally cheerful, maintaining a strict, serious front is like running a marathon barefoot through a cactus field—next to impossible.

All week, Chu Cheng had been trying hard to suppress his usual smile. Still, he kept getting caught by Big Bro and fined every time.

By payday at the end of June, he secretly did the math. His total fines for the month added up to 1,100 yuan. After subtracting rent and daily expenses, he discovered—horrified—that he still owed Yu Siting 400 bucks.

Chu Cheng massaged his forehead and sighed at the absurdity of it all.

Waking up at the crack of dawn and working my butt off all month… and in the end, my entire paycheck ended up in my coworker’s pocket. Is this even legal employment anymore??

On Friday afternoon, during the usual post-school routine, Chu Cheng hopped into the passenger seat of Yu Siting’s car, for once feeling zero guilt about hitching a ride.

The car was noticeably missing one Lu Yan. Chu Cheng glanced around and asked, “Where’s my darling son?”

Yu Siting pulled the car out of the teacher’s lot and replied, “He got invited out by Mu Yiyang and Bai Xiaolong.”

“These kids hang out together now?” Chu Cheng raised an eyebrow. From what he remembered, Lu Yan and Mu Yiyang were always bickering—didn’t exactly seem like besties.

“Aren’t boys that age all like that? They clash constantly, but still insist on sticking together,” Yu Siting said.

Chu Cheng thought about it for a moment and found the logic quite reasonable.

With work being so hectic at school lately, he and Yu Siting had been eating at the cafeteria almost every day. Finally getting a weekend off, he wanted a change of pace. “Then how about we eat out before heading back?”

“Sure. Where do you want to go?” Yu Siting agreed, and then added with a pleased tone, “If I remember right, I still have 1,100 yuan left in my meal allowance this month.”

Chu Cheng gritted his teeth, embarrassed. “No need to emphasize—I’m not skipping out on the bill.”

According to their previous agreement, all the money deducted from Chu Cheng’s paycheck had to be used to treat Yu Siting to meals and entertainment.

“Then it’s up to Mr. Chu to choose dinner,” Yu Siting said with a smile, slowly driving along the congested road outside the school gate.

They hadn’t decided where to eat yet when suddenly two flyers were shoved through the passenger-side window.

Startled, Chu Cheng looked down at them and saw they were promotional leaflets for a grand opening of a large arcade in a shopping mall.

“Whoa, opening an arcade on the day high schoolers go on break, and even handing flyers to both the homeroom and assistant homeroom teacher? This boss knows what he’s doing,” he said, flipping the flyer over and commenting with interest on the token-exchange gimmick.

“Want to check it out?” Yu Siting guessed from his expression that Chu Cheng wanted to join the fun. He glanced at the address printed on the flyer. “That mall has a few new restaurants upstairs. If we go there for dinner, we can drop by afterward.”

Yu’s plan sounded excellent. Chu Cheng nodded in agreement.

They ended up having Italian food—a newly opened restaurant frequently recommended online. The ambiance and flavors were both solid.

After dinner, they took the elevator down a few floors and walked just a bit before arriving at the arcade from the flyer.

The brand-new storefront was lined with congratulatory flower baskets beneath its glowing neon sign. Inside, the decor was cyberpunk-inspired, the arcade machines dazzling with colorful lights stretching out of sight.

People of all ages had flocked there, voices overlapping, creating a bustling and electric atmosphere.

Chu Cheng wandered through the crowd leisurely. “Looks like the marketing paid off. Pretty packed in here.”

“They nailed the hype.” Yu Siting gestured toward the token exchange counter near the entrance with a tilt of his chin. Almost everyone in line there was holding the same flyer.

Chu Cheng joined the short queue behind them and, following the promotion rules, exchanged the flyer for a stack of shiny silver tokens. He turned them over in his hands with curiosity.

There were so many people that they moved toward a quieter corner. Chu Cheng picked a vacant two-player fighting game machine, sat down, and turned to ask, “Mr. Yu, do you know how to play this?”

“Haven’t touched one in years,” Yu Siting said casually, resting his palm on the arcade joystick. His posture was straight as a ruler, and the cool detachment on his face didn’t quite match the chaotic, playful vibe around him.

Clink—the sound of a coin being inserted.

Chu Cheng looked at him with a grin, his refined features bathed in the machine’s sudden cool-blue glow.

“Let’s give it a shot.”

“Alright.”

The two of them selected their characters. Chu Cheng was quick to pick a fiery, stylish-looking gunslinger. Meanwhile, Yu Siting seemed disinterested in the options, and at the very last second of the countdown, he randomly landed on a muscle-bound Barbie.

“Long-range vs. melee—Mr. Yu, you’re in trouble.” Chu Cheng smirked. As the Fight prompt flashed on the screen, he rushed in, taking the first move and immediately opened fire to suppress Yu’s character.

Yu Siting controlled the muscle-bound Barbie, rolling to dodge attacks, but his familiarity with arcade games was nowhere near the internet-addicted youth beside him. He was basically just getting pummeled.

“This game costs four tokens per round. Don’t you think you’re being a little too eager?” Watching his health bar rapidly deplete, Mr. Yu switched tactics and tried verbal distractions.

Chu Cheng let out a snort of laughter, but his hands showed no mercy, denying his opponent any chance to counterattack. “Mr. Yu, your way of begging for mercy is so subtle, I honestly can’t understand it.”

“I just want you to last a little longer.” Yu Siting finally figured out what each button did, though his character had less than one-fifth of their health left.

Just as the round was about to end, the gunslinger’s firepower suddenly stopped.

Out of the corner of his eye, Chu Cheng spotted two familiar student figures entering the arcade and immediately stopped attacking, ducking down and whispering, “Oh crap…”

Yu Siting noticed the change, looked up, and saw it too—two students from Class 7. He then turned back to the assistant homeroom teacher, who looked like he was trying to disappear into his seat, and asked with amusement, “Why are you hiding?”

Only then did Chu Cheng realize that Yu Siting was still standing right next to him, tall as ever. He quickly tugged at the hem of his shirt. “Don’t let them see us! I’ve worked hard to build this stern teacher persona!”

Yu Siting was just getting the hang of the game and continued playing unfazed. He asked coolly, “You really think you have that kind of image?”

“Of course I do!” Chu Cheng ducked lower, but as he did, he caught sight of his own plummeting health bar. “Hey! Don’t sneak attack me!”

Mr. Yu didn’t even glance at him. Eyes fixed on the screen, he calmly delivered the final blow: “You’re already done.”

Sure enough, just as he said it, the muscle-bound Barbie unleashed a flurry of kicks, sending the gunslinger crashing to the ground in a dramatic KO. Game over.

“Fine, fine, I surrender! Just hide already, I’m begging you~” Chu Cheng tugged frantically at his sleeve, but the other man didn’t budge an inch.

Yu Siting wasn’t feeling cooperative. “Are you sure I’m the one who needs to hide?”

“Holy crap—isn’t that our class monitor?”

“Meng Xin, pinch me…”

While the two were bickering, the two students approaching them had already spotted the “target” and froze in place.

To make matters worse, one of them was Yu Siting’s class rep. Under the neon glow of the arcade lights, locking eyes with their homeroom teacher, they knew escape was impossible. Bracing themselves, they shuffled over.

Chu Cheng, however, looked even more panicked, groaning, “I’m doomed. Caught hanging out at the arcade after work… How am I ever going to maintain discipline again?”

“Whether or not you can keep them in line has nothing to do with things like this,” Yu Siting said calmly, arms crossed, looking directly at the students without the slightest attempt to hide.

“Mr. Yu,” one of the students greeted nervously, noticing that someone was crouching next to him. Judging by the figure, it was easy to guess, “Mr. Chu? You two… came to play too?”

Chu Cheng: “…”

The assistant homeroom teacher didn’t want to look up. The back of his head practically had “my reputation is ruined” carved into it.

Yu Siting stifled a laugh, then smoothly picked up the conversation, replying casually, “Yeah. You two want to take me on?”

The students instinctively glanced at the screen behind them, which still showed the results of the last match. The victorious muscle Barbie had barely a sliver of health left.

One of them widened his eyes—was the battle that intense?

While his classmate was still stunned, Meng Xin snapped out of it first and quickly refused, “N-no no, we were just shopping for school supplies at the mall. Saw a crowd here and came to check it out.”

The other student quickly followed up, “Yeah, it’s nothing special, we’re just about to leave. Meng Xin’s coming to my place to do homework. Goodbye, teachers!”

Seeing that Mr. Yu had no objections, the two exchanged glances and beat a hasty retreat, blaming each other as they walked off.

“I told you we shouldn’t go in. You had to see what was going on.”

“How was I supposed to know they were here playing too?”

“Are you stupid? That’s clearly a sting operation! They chose peak hours on purpose to catch people.”

“Right? I wouldn’t be surprised to see Mr. Chu alone, but how likely is it for the two of them to come together?”

Their voices faded as they walked away.

Chu Cheng squinted up at Yu Siting, looking indignant. “What do they mean it’s not surprising to see me?”

“Maybe…” Yu Siting paused, choosing his words carefully, “you have more of a childlike spirit?”

Chu Cheng rolled his eyes, got up from his seat, clapped his hands, and casually glanced toward the membership recharge board near the front desk.

He hadn’t quite gotten his fill from the last round. But the membership tiers were pretty pricey, and it felt wasteful.

“If you want to keep playing, just get a membership,” Yu Siting said. “It’s anonymous and has no expiration. If you don’t finish it, you can save it for later.”

Chu Cheng was tempted. “Then I’ll get one for my good son.”

He walked to the counter, about to scan the code with his phone, but Yu Siting stopped him.

“Mr. Chu, you’ve lived in my house this long and you still can’t tell the difference between social classes,” Yu Siting said while paying. “Master Lu’s monthly allowance is more than a teacher’s salary. You and I are the ones in the working class.”

Chu Cheng wasn’t buying that forced categorization. “You mean I’m the only one who’s actually working class!”

After topping up the card, Chu Cheng still couldn’t let go of the previous match and insisted, “Pick the muscle Barbie again.”

Yu Siting teased, “You’ll just lose again.”

“Are you kidding me? You caught me off guard earlier while I was distracted—want to try that again?” As a non-professional but extremely dedicated gamer, Chu Cheng absolutely could not tolerate such mockery. He was itching for a rematch.

“Not worried about being seen by students anymore?” Yu Siting reminded him. Since the arcade had been bold enough to pass out flyers at the school gate, there were probably more familiar faces around.

But now Chu Cheng was full of confidence: “As long as I’m with you, I can just say I’m ‘investigating under orders.’ Who’s gonna question me?”

“Fair point.” Yu Siting smiled and nodded, continuing to humor him.

Chu Cheng and Mr. Yu battled for dozens of rounds. He ruthlessly thrashed him over and over until his wrist ached. Only then did he finally let the poor human game prop off the hook, satisfied at last.

Just a dozen steps out of the arcade, Chu Cheng reached into his pocket and suddenly realized there were still a few tokens left from the flyer exchange, heavy in his hand.

“No point holding on to those. Just use them,” Yu Siting said, stopping in his tracks.

Chu Cheng was already tired from all the games and was thinking about casually giving them away. Then, suddenly, he noticed a row of mini karaoke booths lined up along the wall of the arcade.

He looked down and counted—he had just enough tokens for one song.

Yu Siting asked, “Going in?”

“But your one song costs a thousand bucks—I really can’t afford that,” Chu Cheng replied, thinking back to the thank-you banquet. He still vividly remembered how captivating Yu’s voice had sounded.

Yu Siting glanced at the promotional poster by the door and said grandly, “Just think of it as a customer appreciation event. I’ll gift you one song for free.”

“Can I choose the song?”

“If it’s one I know.”

Sitting in the tight, cozy space of the mini karaoke booth was completely different from a regular KTV—it felt fresh and a little thrilling.

Yu Siting’s charming voice was already something you could never get tired of hearing. And now it was free? Even better.

While he wasn’t paying attention, Chu Cheng cheekily swiped the card again to queue up a few more songs. Of course, Yu noticed—but he didn’t kill the mood or call him out, just quietly let the little rascal keep adding to the playlist.

Midway through, Mr. Yu went out to buy some drinks. It wasn’t until the music inside the booth stopped that Chu Cheng noticed his phone vibrating.

It was a call from Xu Chuan.

He picked up, and his old friend’s aggrieved voice came through: “Chu Cheng! You promised you’d run dungeons with me over the May holiday to farm that cosmetic, and then ghosted me! Summer’s practically here now—where the hell have you been?”

Chu Cheng gave a sheepish laugh. “I’ve been so swamped. After work every day, I collapse into bed on the spot. Before I even open my eyes, I’m already doing lesson-planning in my head.”

Xu Chuan was shocked. “Your job’s sucking the life out of you harder than my PhD program.”

Chu Cheng said leisurely, “It’s different, Dr. Xu. You’re improving for yourself; I’m responsible for the future of our nation’s youth.”

Xu Chuan begrudgingly accepted that excuse. After a pause, he asked, “But what’s all that noise in the background? Your students rioting?”

“Nope, it’s just the sound effects from the karaoke booths at the arcade,” Chu Cheng replied while casually tapping the cheer and applause buttons on the screen.

“God damn it!” Xu Chuan swore in outrage.

Chu Cheng responded slowly, half truth, half nonsense: “I really have been working nonstop. Today’s my first break. And this is just… a casual inspection, seeing if any of our kids are getting addicted to arcades. The coupon from the school gate? Totally reimbursable. Consider this a school-funded mission.”

Xu Chuan: “You think I believe that?”

“Seriously. Even our homeroom teacher knows—want me to have him say a few words to you later?” Chu Cheng kept scrolling through the playlist, his elegantly jointed fingers sliding across the screen, occasionally tapping the add button.

“You mean that Bentley teacher of yours? Then the two of you are basically on a government-funded date.” Xu Chuan grumbled in a low voice, then suddenly sounded a little nosy. “So what’s going on between you two exactly? You still haven’t told me about that trip.”

Chu Cheng was focused on his search and answered absentmindedly, “Still the same as before.”

Xu Chuan let out a skeptical “Hng” and kept pressing, “No progress at all?”

“You’ve been out of high school too long—you don’t get how campus life works now. The two of us are up earlier than the roosters and go to bed later than the dogs. Even if we bump into each other, we don’t have the energy for anything else.”

What Chu Cheng meant was that he was just too busy with work. But Xu Chuan latched onto something else entirely.

“Ah~ I get it. So basically you’re saying you’ll let things develop during summer break, huh? No students around to bother you then.” Brother Chuan felt like he’d grasped the core of the issue and went on, “When you’re back in Beijing, remember to invite me out so I can meet him. Actually, wait—if you end up officially dating by then, won’t I just be setting myself up to feel like a third wheel?”

Chu Cheng paused mid-swipe, a few unexpected images flashing through his mind. After a beat of silence, his voice came out with an awkward, slightly bashful tone: “The students are moving up to third year soon—it’s a critical time for their college entrance prep. As their leaders, it’s probably not appropriate for the two generals to be falling in love in the middle of the battlefield…”

Xu Chuan gave a pained hiss on the other end: “You’re still being rational about this? I’ll bet you one yuan—once the feelings heat up and the sparks start flying, if even one of you is into it…”

Just then, Mr. Yu came back in from grabbing drinks. He placed a cup of butterbeer coffee beside Chu Cheng, interrupting his phone call. The motion made Chu Cheng lose track of what Chuan was saying—he only caught a few lingering words.

Sparks flying?

Chu Cheng’s gaze drifted toward Yu Siting, who had already returned to the singing booth. Sitting on a tall stool, he looked elegant and striking in his slightly mature gentleman’s outfit—high-end and impeccably tailored.

Thanks to his height, his feet could still touch the ground. His long legs were wrapped in sleek black slacks that draped just right, making them look even longer and straighter.

Yu Siting gently tapped the screen, flipping through his “busking playlist.” He said, “It’s already dark. How about one more song before we head home?”

No one responded.

He tilted his head curiously and noticed the appreciative gaze aimed his way. He gave a slight smile.

“How about two songs then?” he offered generously, adjusting his sitting position so his broad chest faced Chu Cheng directly. The change in posture made the muscles of his thighs subtly tense—visibly impressive.

Xu Chuan finally finished his endless rant, tossing one last question into the phone like a grenade:
“…So when the time comes, can you even resist?”

“Mm~” Chu Cheng bit the inside of his lip, his reply deliberately ambiguous.

---

Author’s Note:
Papa Gong just did a live peacock display.

Xu Chuan: Hello? Is this 315^[1]? Yes, I’m reporting a fraud—he told me he’s straight as steel.