From a nobody online dating to a top love brain - Chapter 26

Yu Nan raised his phone and held it up in front of Milk Tea’s face, making sure he clearly saw the message.

Pei Yunchuan immediately fell silent, pulled out his phone, and replied: “My lips are sealed, rock solid.”

He awkwardly smiled at Bei Yuye and said, “A girl we met at the convention, just happened to be on the same route.”

Bei Yuye, not thrilled by Pei Yunchuan’s fiery red lips, turned his head away. Pei Yunchuan had been pushing him to leave quickly so they could take the same subway and head back to school together.

Has the iron tree bloomed? Love at first sight? No wonder he was so eager to take the same subway—he just wanted to show off this girl.

When they got off the subway, Yu Nan’s plan fell apart. He messaged Milk Tea to take the junior back first while he changed clothes on his own, at least wanting to avoid being seen in the dress by his dorm mates.

Pei Yunchuan followed through, telling Bei Yuye that the “girl” needed to use the bathroom, and they should head back first.

Bei Yuye asked, “Which school is she from?”

Pei Yunchuan responded, “Same as ours.”

“Then why don’t you wait for her? It’s late, it’s not safe for a girl to go back alone,” Bei Yuye suggested.

Still mindful of Yu Nan’s request, Pei Yunchuan shook his head. “Can’t. We need to go first.”

“You won’t get a girlfriend like that. You should stay here and wait for her—her opinion of you will soar,” Bei Yuye advised seriously.

Pei Yunchuan, with his dense mind, was quite the frustration. If he got a girlfriend, maybe he’d bother Yu Nan less.

He anxiously messaged him: “He refuses to leave and insists on waiting for you to come out.”

He then offered a solution: “You can come to my dorm and change first before heading to yours. It’s fine, no one’s there.”

Yu Nan, already on the verge of a breakdown, saw the message. He hadn’t even finished taking off the complicated dress, so he put it back on, lowered his head, and walked out of the bathroom.

He stuck close to Milk Tea, walking hunched over, but at least he had changed back into his regular shoes, making it easier to walk.

Bei Yuye thought of Yu Nan. Wasn’t he with Pei Yunchuan at the convention?

He asked, “Where’s the senior?”

Pei Yunchuan forced an awkward laugh. “He left early, haha.”

The girls’ dorms were in front of the boys’ dorms. As they continued toward the boys’ dorms, Bei Yuye pointed out, “Any farther, and we’ll be at the boys’ dorms.”

Pei Yunchuan quickly covered, “She insisted on walking me back to my dorm. She’s just really nice, you know?”

Yu Nan, the “really nice” one, didn’t dare lift his head. When they finally reached the entrance of Pei Yunchuan’s dorm, Bei Yuye parted ways with them.

Even though Yu Nan was still in a dress, many eyes were on Pei Yunchuan, who was much more flamboyant. Yu Nan convinced himself that all the attention was directed at Pei Yunchuan.

True to Pei Yunchuan’s word, the dorm was empty. Yu Nan rushed to the bathroom to change out of the dress, borrowing some face wash as well. When he emerged, he was back to being a clean, refreshed young man.

As he left, he ran into someone familiar on the stairs—it was that senior.

Chu Luoyang was chatting and laughing with a friend as they climbed the stairs. When he glanced up and saw Yu Nan, with his wet hair hanging over his forehead and a damp collar, holding a bag as he walked down, his hand reacted faster than his brain, grabbing his arm.

Yu Nan’s usually calm amber eyes widened in shock at Chu Luoyang’s sudden touch. Chu Luoyang held the gaze for a long moment.

It wasn’t until his friend asked who Yu Nan was that Chu Luoyang quickly let go and said, “Just a junior I know.”

Yu Nan, as timid as ever, bolted past him, zipping downstairs.

To his dismay, Chu Luoyang followed him outside.

“Do you have a boyfriend?” He asked.

Yu Nan replied, “I’m seeing someone.”

He even borrowed Milk Tea’s line: “Do I look like someone who’s into guys?”

Chu Luoyang looked at him, who was holding his bag timidly, and nodded seriously. “You absolutely do.”

Yu Nan, unable to continue the conversation, turned to head back to his dorm, thinking that as long as he shook off this senior, he’d never have to deal with him again.

“Do you think there’s a chance for us?” Chu Luoyang pressed.

“Of course, I’m being a bit forward, but—”

Yu Nan cut him off, “You are being forward.”

“Can I chase after you in a few days?” Chu Luoyang persisted.

“No, you can’t. I have someone already,” Yu Nan flatly refused.

Chu Luoyang replied, “You don’t.”

Meanwhile, Bei Yuye, thinking his senior had long returned to the dorm, was surprised to see he hadn’t. He leaned on the balcony, waiting for him to come back.

When his senior finally appeared, he noticed someone else was with him—someone unfamiliar. His instincts immediately raised alarms, so he rushed downstairs.

Yu Nan wanted nothing more than to shove his lovey-dovey chat with Bei Bei in Chu Luoyang’s face to drive him away.

“Then let’s not talk about the future. Can I at least have your contact information?” Chu Luoyang asked.

Yu Nan snapped, “You already have my contact info, don’t you?”

“But I don’t think it counts unless you give it to me yourself.”

“Ridiculous.” Yu Nan didn’t want to argue anymore and turned to head into the dorm.

He immediately spotted another familiar face—his junior, who seemed to be rushing down the stairs but slowed when he saw him.

After climbing back up together in silence, Yu Nan reached his dorm. The junior pulled out a cup of milk tea and handed it to him, saying, “It’s still warm. Here, have it.”

Yu Nan, pleasantly surprised, took it. “Thank you.”

“Was that other person a senior too? I don’t recognize him,” Bei Yuye asked casually.

Yu Nan replied, “A senior from third year. I don’t know him well.”

“Senior, do you want to play a game? I’ve been playing a lot recently,” Bei Yuye asked eagerly.

Yu Nan, bored, logged in. “Sure.”

After adding each other as friends in the game, Yu Nan noticed Milk Tea was online, so he casually invited him too. Since it was just a match, it would help him gain some experience.

“Is that Seer your friend, senior?” Bei Yuye asked, noticing the Seer was playing quite recklessly but getting beaten by the hunter.

Yu Nan suppressed a laugh, recognizing another person taken aback by Milk Tea’s skills. “That’s your friend.”

Bei Yuye glanced again at the character’s ID: Milk Tea is Super Sweet.

“Pei Yunchuan?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“Why is he casting a bird on himself while you’re going to save someone?” Bei Yuye had hesitated to criticize the Seer earlier, thinking it was Yu Nan’s friend.

Pei Yunchuan’s signature move: no matter how intense the in-game situation gets, his bird always goes to himself—except when the hunter’s chasing him. Then, the bird somehow ends up on whoever’s fixing a machine nearby.

Yu Nan chuckled softly, “It’s just a casual match, no worries.”

He wouldn’t team up with Pei Yunchuan for ranked games anyway.

Several rounds passed, and every time he ended up on the chair, Bei Yuye was quick to declare, “I’ll go rescue.”

After a few matches, Yu Nan realized that not only was Bei Yuye highly skilled, but he also had good game sense. Milk Tea, on the other hand, lacked game sense. Even after years of playing, he wouldn’t dare let him handle the final generator.

“Junior, you’re really good at this,” Yu Nan said, thoroughly enjoying his gaming experience.

Bei Yuye shyly looked down, all his weekend practice paying off. He had been playing from the moment he opened his eyes to the moment he closed them.

Just then Yu Nan received a photo from Bei Bei. He noticed a glint by his ear. Focusing more, he realized Bei Bei was wearing earrings, something he hadn’t noticed before.

He asked, “Is your ear okay?”

Bei Bei sent a picture, showing his whole ear was red, especially his earlobe, with the black earring gleaming.

Bei Bei: “Nan Nan my ear hurts sooo much.”

Yu Nan replied: “Let me blow on it for you.”

Bei Bei: “I can’t blow on it myself.”

Yu Nan: “Then it’ll just keep hurting.”

Bei Bei: “You won’t even comfort me!”

Yu Nan honestly didn’t know how to comfort someone, so he asked, “How do you want me to comfort you?”

Bei Yuye sent him a post he had saved for a while, something he had wanted Yu Nan to say to him for ages.

Bei Bei: “You can learn those PUA lines. That green tea girl one is what I’ve been practicing lately. I accidentally sent you too much.”

Yu Nan opened the post and, after reading the awkward and cringeworthy phrases, sighed helplessly.

Following the script, he messaged: “I’ve met many handsome men, but I only chose you.”

Bei Bei: “Oh, Nan Nan, you’re so good to me.”

Yu Nan immediately forwarded the PUA post to the group chat, asking for advice: “My boyfriend is teaching me how to PUA him—what do I do?”

Doggo was the first to respond: “If it’s Lil Clip, that’s normal.”

Dreams are everything followed quickly: “If it’s Lil Clip, that’s normal.”

Watch the Sword: “Clip, clip, clip, until you have everything you need.”

Dreams are everything: ” @Milk Tea, where’s that heartthrob? Haven’t heard from him in a while.”

Milk Tea appeared: “He just roasted me about how bad my gameplay was.”

Milk Tea: “Don’t wanna talk about him, that heartless man.”

Watch the Sword: “You didn’t help me with my tasks yesterday.”

Milk Tea countered with nonsense: “Wanna see a picture of me in a dress? Press 2 and I’ll send it to you privately.”

Watch the Sword: “What’s wrong with you?”

Watch the Sword: “2.”

Milk Tea: “You bad man. Not gonna show you.”

Yu Nan laughed: “Wanna see Milk Tea in a dress? Press 1 and I’ll send it privately.”

Watch the Sword: “Messing with me?”

Watch the Sword: “1.”

Yu Yu: “You bad man. Not gonna show you.”

Watch the Sword: “…”

Kitty posted a video in the group chat.

Kitty: “Look what I found, something fun.”

Yu Nan clicked in—it was a video of a cosplayer taking selfies with different people, one photo after another, and in the background of every single one, Milk Tea was running by in a dress.

The caption of the video read: “Haha, so funny. The same person is in the background of every shot.”

Yu Nan scrolled through the comments.

“Not Good, Not Bad”: “I saw him today too. Didn’t dare ask for a picture.”

“Fu Fu Bubble”: “He’s super handsome! There was also a cute guy in a Lolita outfit with him.”

Yun Nuo: “He’s so free, like a monkey returning to the wild.”

“Duck Quack”: “He’s the mute handsome guy from our school!!!”

Kitty @Milk Tea: “Why do you always go viral? You should post your own video and ride this wave of fame.”

Milk Tea: “Not interested.”

Yu Nan advised: “Don’t you love singing? Post a video of you singing, and see how many videos it takes to improve.”

Milk Tea: “Good idea.”

Before long, he sent his account to the group and tagged everyone: “Follow me.”

Yu Nan immediately followed back. To get Milk Tea to listen, you had to speak his language.

He even gave him some encouragement in the group chat: “Keep posting. If a record label signs you, your voice could be immortalized forever.”