HCILH Ch. 22

Chapter 22: In the Rain

Hou Mo’s sleep quality was truly high. Even with an extra person beside him, he still slept soundly throughout the night without being disturbed.

Every morning, it was always Sang Xian and the others who woke Hou Mo after getting out of bed; only then would he crawl out to wash up.

After getting up, Sang Xian raised his hand to nudge Hou Mo, but he was taken aback for a moment when he saw short black hair. He shifted angles to confirm that there were indeed two people in the bed.

Even just seeing the back of a head, Sang Xian still knew whose curly hair it was.

Deng Yiheng’s bed was head-to-head with Hou Mo’s. He propped himself up, looking at Sang Xian’s expression, and found it a bit strange. He then followed suit and glanced at Hou Mo’s bed, pausing mid-motion to get out of bed.

After a moment’s hesitation, Deng Yiheng took out his phone to take a picture of Hou Mo. After snapping the shot, he had to turn his phone half a circle to see the right side.

That’s right, lying beside Hou Mo was Sui Houyu.

Sang Xian stood on the floor, looking questioningly at Deng Yiheng.

Deng Yiheng shrugged with both hands raised, equally puzzled.

Sang Xian wasn’t in a convenient position, so Deng Yiheng had to reach over to wake Hou Mo.

Hou Mo opened his eyes, intending to turn over and take it easy before getting up, but before he could roll over, he was startled awake.

He was trying to keep his eyes wide open for the first time upon waking up.

He was lying face to face with Sui Houyu, so close that he could smell the fragrance of Sui Houyu wafting through his nostrils.

Was that… a hint of grapefruit?

He looked at Sui Houyu, who was sleeping peacefully, with his curly black hair cascading down, a strand resting on his nose, and the “canopy” over his eyelids trembling slightly. Yet, he remained in sweet slumber.

Even while sleeping, Sui Houyu’s lips were tightly pressed together, a stubbornness mixed with cuteness.

Hou Mo’s gaze drifted downward, and he noticed that Sui Houyu was still wearing the clothes from last night.

During the day, Sui Houyu wore his school uniform, but at night, he would change into a T-shirt and shorts for a shower, and after returning to the dorm, he would switch to pajamas. The epitome of a delicate boy.

But yesterday, he hadn’t changed into pajamas and ended up sleeping next to him.

The key question was, how did he end up next to him?

He cautiously pulled his leg back from Sui Houyu, cursing his bad habit of straddling the bed, and despite having someone beside him, he still managed to sleep soundly.

Propping himself up, he mouthed to Deng Yiheng, “What’s going on?”

“We wanted to ask you the same thing,” Deng Yiheng replied in a hushed tone, mainly out of respect for Sui Houyu’s notorious temper, his response barely above a whisper.

Hou Mo was puzzled and asked again: “Did he get into the wrong bed?”

Deng Yiheng found that a bit ridiculous: “He’s on the lower bunk; that’s a bit far-fetched, right? If he made a mistake, it would be to go to Sang Xian’s bed instead.”

Hou Mo looked at Sui Houyu, then back at the bed, hesitating: “How do I get down?”

As he said this, he attempted to climb over Sui Houyu, but just as he was stuck on top of him, Sui Houyu suddenly woke up and opened his eyes wide, startling Hou Mo, who exclaimed: “What the heck!”

The position they found themselves in was quite awkward, and Hou Mo was too startled to move any further.

Deng Yiheng felt that the scene was too embarrassing to witness and covered his eyes.

Sang Xian, however, whistled, clearly enjoying the show as if he had raised a pig that finally found some cabbage to nibble on.

This cabbage was indeed impressive, a jade-green beauty trimmed with diamonds, shiny and adorably cute.

Hou Mo looked down at Sui Houyu beneath him, gulping heavily, feeling guilty despite having no ulterior motives, and hurriedly explained: “I just wanted to get down.”

This was indeed his first time viewing someone from this angle. Only someone with Sui Houyu’s small face could withstand such scrutiny.

“Then get down.”

“Okay.”

Hou Mo hurriedly scrambled off Sui Houyu as if he had done something wrong.

Once on the floor, he saw Sui Houyu sitting up and straightening out his wrinkled clothes and then remembered to ask: “How did you end up sleeping in my bed?”

Sui Houyu appeared quite nonchalant, getting out of bed and retrieving his school uniform as he answered: “I must have been sleepwalking…”

“Sleepwalking?!” Hou Mo was astonished.

“Yeah.”

Looking at Sui Houyu, Hou Mo felt that he couldn’t pursue the question further, especially with the expression on Sui Houyu’s face that screamed “If you ask again, I’ll hit you.”

Finally, he took his toiletries and headed to the washroom.

As he washed up, he couldn’t help but wonder if Sui Houyu was really sleepwalking.

He had never seen Sui Houyu sleepwalk before; however, he did notice that Sui Houyu had been suffering from insomnia lately, often hearing him tossing and turning at night.

Could he really have crawled onto his bed during a sleepwalk?

He knew that Sui Houyu could fall asleep when close to him; maybe he came to his bed because of insomnia?

But he quickly dismissed that thought.

He had checked on Baidu, and someone with Sui Houyu’s physique wouldn’t feel tired, right? Sleeping or not, it was all the same; he was always full of energy. Would he really need to come to him just for that?

Sui Houyu had managed for so many years; had he suddenly decided to seek him out without any notice?

The buzzing of his electric toothbrush continued as he adjusted the angle of his brush.

Earlier, Sui Houyu seemed to have asked him about being gay; could it be that Sui Houyu wanted to seduce him after finding out he was gay?

Though he was indeed interested in guys, he wasn’t planning on dating right now.

Was Sui Houyu being a bit too forward?

Throwing himself into his arms?

Climbing into his bed uninvited?

He usually appeared cold and aloof, yet he didn’t expect him to be so bold.

Had he perhaps been too gentle with Sui Houyu recently, leading him to misunderstand?

He was generally nice to everyone, so that didn’t prove that Sui Houyu had a chance with him.

How should he decline?

Should he just say it directly? If Sui Houyu countered by saying he was being overly sentimental, he would end up at a disadvantage.

Should he emphasize once more to Sui Houyu that he wasn’t gay?

After finishing washing up, Hou Mo dried his hair while looking at his reflection in the mirror.

The large mirror in the washroom was covered in water stains, mostly due to the splashes from the boys washing up.

Even with the mirror fogged up, Hou Mo’s incredibly handsome face remained visible.

He was really handsome.

So handsome that even Sui Houyu couldn’t resist.

Carrying his toiletries back, he was still pondering how to politely and non-confrontationally decline Sui Houyu’s advances.

It was a real headache.

*

For Science Class Seventeen, the sports day felt like a game.

Their class had many athletes, both male and female, plus Sui Houyu, who was almost superhuman, making it easy to win. Losing would require a lot of effort to suppress their abilities.

While discussing the events, a group gathered around Hou Mo.

Hou Mo held the sign-up sheet, asking, “So, no one is signing up for the 800 meters?”

Deng Yiheng shook his head: “Just hearing ‘800 meters’ makes me feel nauseous.”

Others shook their heads in agreement.

Ran Shu, who had been eavesdropping, couldn’t help but ask, “W-why not? Don’t athletes run the 800 meters?”

“Run?” Deng Yiheng raised his voice. “Have you heard of the ‘800 meters death race’?”

“W-what’s so deadly about it?”

“Running two laps at full speed means you’ll be incapacitated for at least ten minutes afterward.”

“Don’t you all run it often?”

Hou Mo, twirling his pen, replied, “One afternoon, we ran ten 800-meter races in a row. Deng Yiheng was sick after the eighth one, and others were incapacitated for a while. Since then, they’ve had psychological scars.”

Ran Shu turned to Sui Houyu: “How about you go?”

Sui Houyu replied with a casual “mm.”

Hou Mo glanced at Sui Houyu, then wrote his name down.

Looking at the others, he sighed and added his name as well.

He knew the others either couldn’t run or were simply averse to the event, traumatized by their coach’s harsh training.

The athletes in their group signed up for short-distance races and jumping events, while only the 800 meters remained awkward at the end.

When signing up for the relay, they continued discussing. Ran Shu chimed in again: “Brother Yu, Brother Yu!”

“Can he do it?” Hou Mo asked.

“In… in my Brother Yu’s dictionary, the words ‘can’t’ don’t exist.”

“So, there’s no ‘can’ either?” Hou Mo countered.

Ran Shu was momentarily speechless before sighing, “Lo… logic’s pretty airtight, huh.”

Hou Mo turned to Sui Houyu and asked, “Do you want to run the 4x200m or the 4x100m?”

Sui Houyu replied, “Two hundred. I’m bad at starting, but I can handle the later legs.”

The ones good at starting were mostly track athletes, specially trained for this. When compared to students from other classes, they could easily dash out several body lengths ahead right at the start.

Hou Mo licked his lips. In the 4x200m, he always ran the final leg. Was Sui Houyu trying to build chemistry with him by running this race together?

And what about buying a tennis racket all of a sudden? Was he planning to learn tennis… for him?

Sui Houyu was way too fond of him—what was he supposed to do about that?

Just thinking about it made Hou Mo feel conflicted.

“Uh… I’m running the last leg, so you…” Hou Mo hesitated.

“Then I’ll take the second leg or maybe switch to the 100m team.”

“Hm?” Hou Mo looked at Sui Houyu in surprise.

 “I’m annoyed whenever I see you.”

“…” Hou Mo’s face froze, and his Adam’s apple bobbed stiffly.

Still, when it came time to write their names, Hou Mo was back to normal.

This had to be a ploy to get his attention.

A rather unique one.

After finalizing the events, they moved on to discuss customized uniforms for the team.

Ran Shu turned to ask Sui Houyu: “Brother Yu, is there anything you like?”

“Everyone dresses like Baojie^[1] with a shovel,” Sui Houyu replied. After all, Baojie was his ideal type.

“Ah… thank goodness you didn’t go with a Zoro theme.” He doesn’t have the physique for that.

Deng Yiheng, who was perpetually in his “edgy phase,” spent all 365 days of the year focused on looking cool.

“How about we all dress as delinquents—like the characters from Crows Zero^[2]? Our whole group needs to exude some serious energy.” He even included Su Anyi. “And Su Anyi can get a hime cut and wear a skirt. Super badass.”

Sui Houyu shook his head first: “No, that’s dumb.”

Deng Yiheng persisted: “Okay, how about suits and ties? Go for a successful businessman look.”

Sui Houyu shook his head again: “Isn’t that just our school uniform?”

Deng Yiheng was left speechless.

At this point, someone suggested that all the boys wear Tang suits and the girls wear qipao.

The boys’ look would feature a Tang suit and long robes with intricate embroidery and buttoned collars. Black, as the primary color, would give off a bold vibe.

They even discussed getting matching retro-style black round sunglasses, handheld fans, and bead bracelets for everyone.

Ran Shu glanced at the reference photos and mumbled, “Not bad… Kind of like Majima Yoshiki’s style^[3].”

“Who’s Majima Yoshiki?” Sui Houyu looked up and asked.

“Oh, not safe for kids.”

Sui Houyu stared at the photo and muttered: “Looks more like a lineup of groomsmen.”

Ran Shu burst out laughing.

Still, everyone was having a great time planning, so Sui Houyu didn’t spoil the fun.

*

The morning sky was overcast, and by the afternoon, it started drizzling.

Soon, it turned into a downpour.

Thick clouds stretched across the sky, lowering the horizon. The gloomy weather plunged the outdoors into a hazy darkness. Raindrops the size of beans hit the ground, kicking up dust, as the relentless rain blurred the world.

Due to the heavy rain, the athletes skipped their afternoon training.

It was Hou Mo’s first time joining them for the self-study period, and the difference was immediately obvious.

It was loud.

These athletes were really loud.

Someone leading the chaos pulled a ping-pong paddle from their desk drawer and pretended to serve a ball toward the back row.

Hou Mo raised his head and sneered before pulling out another paddle from Deng Yiheng’s drawer, returning the ball in one swift motion.

At this point, more people joined in.

The athletes started playing ping-pong as if it were tennis, adding to the chaos by using two balls at the same time. They were having a blast.

They had good aim after all their training, even with the small paddles, and they were surprisingly good at it.

A tennis player who couldn’t play ping-pong wasn’t a real athlete.

Sui Houyu, trying to read, was driven to the brink by their noise. He looked up just in time to see Hou Mo, standing in the aisle, smoothly returning a shot with precise aim.

Another ball came flying just as Hou Mo turned away, heading straight for Ran Shu. Without thinking, Sui Houyu grabbed a book, rolled it into a tube, and smacked the ball back.

“Whoa!” someone shouted in surprise.

Deng Yiheng, watching the whole thing, started clapping. “That works too? Impressive!”

Sui Houyu tossed the book onto the desk and barked, “Sit down!”

Hou Mo, startled by the sudden command, obediently sat down.

The other athletes followed suit, sitting down without realizing it.

Deng Yiheng whispered, “What’s his deal?”

Someone reminded him: “He’s the class monitor.”

“Oh, right. If you didn’t say anything, I would have forgotten about that.”

Once everyone was seated, Sui Houyu ordered: “Academic representative, write the assignments on the board. Get them done.”

No one responded.

Sui Houyu turned his gaze to Hou Mo.

Realizing what he meant, Hou Mo muttered, “Oh, right. I’m the academic representative.”

He got up, walking toward the blackboard, asking along the way: “What are the assignments? Which subjects gave homework?”

Someone handed him a notebook with everything written down. Hou Mo copied it onto the board—typos and all.

At least his handwriting was decent.

After finishing, Hou Mo returned to his seat, stretched, and flipped through his textbook. A moment later, he groaned: “Damn, that’s a lot.”

Deng Yiheng, flipping through his own books, nodded in agreement. “Yeah.”

Hou Mo slumped over his desk: “I’m not doing it. I’m not submitting it.”

“I’ll not submit with you,” Deng Yiheng added, lying down as well.

Sui Houyu, still writing, glanced at the two of them.

He could understand Deng Yiheng, but Hou Mo?

With an attitude like that, how was his performance still so good? 

Are they really not bluffing?

The room was quiet for a while until Shen Junjing from Class Sixteen called from the door, “Let’s go. The coach said the rain’s lightened up—we’re heading for practice.”

The athletes groaned in unison.

Shen Junjing looked at Sui Houyu: “Brother Yu, the coach wants you too.”

After hesitating for a moment, Sui Houyu stood up, seeing that the others were packing their things.

Su Anyi quickly handed him an umbrella from her drawer.

Sui Houyu took it with a nod: “Thanks.”

Walking into the rain with the umbrella, he was immediately surrounded by four athletes crowding in close. They were all tall, leaving little room under the umbrella.

Hou Mo enthusiastically offered: “Come on, come on, let me hold it.”

Sui Houyu could only resign himself to being squished in the middle.

When they reached the training area, everyone started their warm-ups indoors, and Coach Wang approached Sui Houyu. “You’re not used to getting wet in the rain, so just observe today and learn from them.”

The other athletes let out exaggerated groans.

Coach Wang brought a chair for Sui Houyu, who sat on the sidelines with the umbrella, watching the others train.

Deng Yiheng ducked under the umbrella for a moment, prompting Sui Houyu to ask: “Why train in the rain? Won’t you catch colds with your low body fat?”

Deng Yiheng, panting, explained: “We might face any conditions during competitions, so we practice in all weather—tailwinds, headwinds, crosswinds. Sometimes, tournaments don’t stop for rain, even if the courts get slippery and the balls heavy. We have to adapt.”

Sui Houyu noticed that many of the athletes had taken off their shirts to avoid the discomfort of wet clothing.

Sang Xian stood out among them, his well-defined physique drawing attention. He looked more like a fitness trainer than a high schooler.

He exuded both allure and physical prowess.

Hou Mo, however, remained dressed, combing his wet hair back into a slicked-back style and shaking off the water from his arms.

Even with his soaked shirt clinging to him, his powerful build was evident—shark-like muscles and a lean waist. 

The most striking feature was probably the astonishingly long legs, both straight and long.

Noticing Sui Houyu’s gaze, Deng Yiheng suddenly laughed and explained, “Senior Brother never takes off his shirt, avoids changing clothes in front of us, and even takes showers separately in a single room.”

“Is it because he’s gay?”

“No, isn’t he particularly pale? It’s pink there^[4], like cherry blossom pink. In middle school, he drew a lot of attention, and since then, he hasn’t let us see him again.”

Sui Houyu couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow upon hearing this.

Cherry blossom pink?

He suddenly felt a bit curious.