Just like that, Xia Zichen had given away his first kiss.
He was still a little dazed. Fortunately, Gu Xu didn’t make any further move, which kept Xia Zichen’s heartbeat from spiraling too fast, though his face still felt warm.
Gu Xu lightly brushed the corner of Xia Zichen’s lips with his finger—the spot he had just kissed—and said softly, “Even though I’d really like to pretend to be a gentleman… or a proper man of restraint, it’s honestly very hard when I’m with you.”
Xia Zichen finally came back to himself and instinctively stepped back, straightening up as he silently looked at Gu Xu.
Though Gu Xu’s action had been sudden, Xia Zichen didn’t feel repulsed.
He didn’t dislike it.
Gu Xu took Xia Zichen’s hand and smiled.
“I think you can understand this. A man can feel desire without love—but if he truly loves someone, desire will always follow.”
Xia Zichen pressed his lips together lightly. The faint cool sensation from before still lingered.
“Before you nod your head, I won’t do anything too excessive.”
Gu Xu smiled as he looked at Xia Zichen’s slightly flushed face.
Xia Zichen looked up at him and said quietly, “It’s getting late. You should head back.”
“Okay.” Gu Xu nodded, clearly unwilling to let the embarrassed Xia Zichen stay in that awkward state any longer.
“Oh right—the pastries are still in the car. I forgot to bring them up. Come downstairs with me to get them.”
They had both been so focused on the computer that Xia Zichen had completely forgotten about the pastries.
“Okay.”
It wasn’t right to make Gu Xu bring them upstairs again, so Xia Zichen put on his coat and went downstairs with him.
Gu Xu put on his coat as well and left the dorm first. After locking the dorm room, Xia Zichen followed him downstairs.
“Want me to take you somewhere to see the night view? We can grab dinner before coming back.”
After unlocking the car, Gu Xu suddenly asked.
“The computer’s still on.”
Xia Zichen opened the back door and picked up the pastries.
“Next time.”
“That works too.”
Gu Xu stood beside the car without getting in.
Seeing that Gu Xu had no intention of leaving yet, Xia Zichen searched for something to say. Standing there in silence felt strangely awkward.
“This car yours?”
“No.”
Gu Xu replied, “It’s my older brother’s. Going home to get mine would’ve taken too long, so I borrowed one from him.”
Judging from his tone, Gu Xu clearly had his own car too.
That made sense. A wealthy young master owning a car was perfectly normal.
“Want to learn how to drive?”
Gu Xu patted the car hood.
“I can teach you.”
Xia Zichen shook his head.
Even if he learned, he wouldn’t have money to buy a car. Better not waste the time.
Gu Xu said nothing more. His gaze shifted to somewhere behind Xia Zichen.
Confused, Xia Zichen turned around and saw An Jing and Tang Hui standing not far away.
Tang Hui wore no obvious expression, but the look in his eyes was worth examining.
An Jing, meanwhile, wore an extremely suggestive grin—the kind people had when they thought they had uncovered incredible gossip.
“My roommates,” Xia Zichen said as he turned back to Gu Xu.
“Mm. I’ve seen one of them before. At the restaurant.”
Gu Xu had always had a good memory, especially regarding anything connected to Xia Zichen.
“Yeah. That’s An Jing. The one beside him is Tang Hui.”
Xia Zichen introduced them.
“Want to meet them?”
“Next time.”
Gu Xu smiled faintly.
“Okay.”
Since An Jing showed no sign of approaching, Xia Zichen didn’t insist. There would be plenty of chances later.
Besides, An Jing already knew who Gu Xu was, so formal introductions weren’t necessary.
“Go upstairs. The wind’s picking up.”
Gu Xu adjusted Xia Zichen’s coat for him.
“See you in-game tonight.”
“Okay. Drive safely.”
Xia Zichen stepped back onto the walkway and waved.
Gu Xu got into the car and rolled down the passenger-side window.
“Get upstairs soon.”
“Yeah, I know.”
Gu Xu said nothing more. He started the car and drove away, disappearing from Xia Zichen’s sight.
“Well, well, little Zichen.”
The moment Gu Xu left, An Jing rushed over and slung an arm around Xia Zichen’s neck.
“I told you—you definitely knew Gu Xu. You still denied it.”
Xia Zichen smiled helplessly.
Even he himself hadn’t realized he had “known” Gu Xu that early.
“Confess. Everything.”
An Jing dragged Xia Zichen upstairs as he spoke.
“My dad knows him.”
Xia Zichen made up a lie.
Since Gu Xu didn’t want others knowing he was Canmo Wuhen, Xia Zichen wouldn’t say anything either.
It wasn’t that he didn’t trust An Jing.
But they all spent time together casually, talking freely. If someone accidentally let something slip, it would only create trouble.
“If I’d known, I wouldn’t have made up that neighbor-big-brother story. If I’d stuck with my original guess, I would’ve been right.”
An Jing sounded genuinely regretful.
Back when they had lied to Shen Yicheng, An Jing actually had considered saying Xia Zichen’s father knew Gu Xu, but later changed the story.
“Just say I fooled you.”
After all, Xia Zichen hadn’t told An Jing the truth either.
Tang Hui opened the dorm door and looked at the two of them with silent exasperation.
Though he had questions too, he wasn’t in a hurry.
When Xia Zichen felt ready to talk, he would tell them.
Back in the dorm, the still-running computer naturally became the center of attention.
While enjoying Gu Xu’s thoughtfulness, Xia Zichen also felt he had created a huge problem for himself.
He now had to keep making up explanations to patch over all the lies he’d told earlier.
With the new computer, running dungeons became incredibly smooth.
There was no more sudden lag or freezing.
The visuals were far sharper than before, and the wider screen gave him a much broader field of view. Without the cramped feeling of his old setup, Xia Zichen could observe the battlefield much more clearly.
After joining a faction, Xia Zichen started doing siege battles and battlegrounds with Canmo Wuhen.
Previously, he had only watched massive thousand-player battles from afar.
Now that he was in the middle of them, the experience was thrilling—but also overwhelming.
Tianfeng Yage regularly organized siege battles and battleground runs, so no one needed to join random pickup groups.
Even with organized coordination, once hundreds of players mixed together, everyone was nearly swallowed by the sea of bodies. Forget teammates—it was hard enough finding yourself.
But faction warfare was all about the atmosphere.
Even if you got buried in the crowd and couldn’t find anyone, once the battle ended, it still felt exhilarating.
At first, Xia Zichen struggled to keep up in the chaos.
But he quickly adapted.
Jian Lang handled command over voice chat, so even when teammates got separated, only one or two would truly stray far.
As for Xia Zichen, he kept his focus entirely on Canmo Wuhen.
As long as he followed Canmo Wuhen, he felt safe.
He never had to worry about being surrounded with no one coming to rescue him.
After several battles, he found it genuinely enjoyable.
Their contact in real life also became more frequent.
Compared to Xia Zichen, Gu Xu was much busier, so they couldn’t meet often.
But they texted and called every day.
Whenever he had time, Gu Xu would take Xia Zichen out to eat, and Xia Zichen never refused.
An Jing and the others had clearly noticed the changes in Xia Zichen lately.
It wasn’t anything dramatic.
He simply smiled more than before.
He also seemed to be in a good mood every day.
After dinner one evening, Xia Zichen planned to grab takeaway coffee from the café near the corner.
An Jing had nothing better to do, so he tagged along.
It was peak dinner hour, so the roads were crowded with students. The two deliberately chose a quieter route.
“Tell me, little Zichen.”
After holding it in for so long, An Jing finally found a chance to ask.
“Are you dating someone lately?”
“What?”
Xia Zichen clearly had no intention of answering.
“You’ve been in a really good mood lately. And you’re always on the phone.”
An Jing continued.
“You and Canmo Wuhen were always close. I thought maybe you two would develop something in real life.”
“But lately, it feels like you’ve been in contact with Gu Xu more.”
“You’ve always kept your distance from people. But you’ve gotten unusually close to Gu Xu.”
An Jing carefully organized his words.
There was too much he wanted to ask.
Since he knew Xia Zichen liked men, girls around him didn’t concern him.
The suspicious ones were the guys.
“Even though I haven’t seen much, I can tell Gu Xu treats you really well.”
An Jing sighed softly.
“I’ve never heard of him going out of his way for anyone before.”
“And even though I haven’t met Canmo Wuhen in person, I have a really good impression of him.”
“He’s steady, not arrogant, and most importantly, he works really well with you.”
“To be honest, both of them seem great.”
“If something could happen with either one, that’d be nice.”
“You only get four years of university. You should at least fall in love once.”
Xia Zichen laughed.
“Aren’t you single too?”
“I’m always searching.”
An Jing tossed his hair dramatically.
“But seriously—Gu Xu’s family is on a completely different level.”
“It won’t be easy.”
“If you like him, prepare yourself mentally.”
That single sentence struck directly at Xia Zichen’s deepest concern.
It was the issue he had worried about from the start.
And the issue he kept trying to ignore.
But clearly, this wasn’t something that would disappear just because he ignored it.
Even someone else had noticed.
That meant the problem was obvious—and difficult.
After a long silence, Xia Zichen finally said, “Don’t think too much.”
“Some things won’t be solved no matter how much you think about them.”
“You can imagine everything perfectly, but reality might turn out the exact opposite.”
“That feels awful.”
“So… let nature take its course.”
He didn’t want to think about how far he and Gu Xu could go.
Whether the outcome was good or bad, some external factors were simply beyond his control.
All he could do was take things one step at a time and cherish what was in front of him.
Even if he lost it someday, at least he wouldn’t regret it.
For Xia Zichen—
As a gay man—
Perhaps this was the simplest and most attainable form of happiness.
Thursday night, after leaving the arena, Canmo Wuhen asked:
“Dungeon?”
“Not today.”
Back when all he did was run dungeons, Xia Zichen hadn’t thought much of it.
But now he was also doing battlegrounds and siege battles.
He was tired.
“Mm. Which dungeon are they running tonight?”
Unless they truly needed help with something difficult, Canmo Wuhen wasn’t planning to join either.
“I’ll ask.”
Canmo Wuhen rarely spoke in guild chat.
Before, Jian Lang had acted as his mouthpiece.
Now Xia Zichen handled it.
Guild Chat
[Chenxi]: Which dungeon tonight?
[Sunflower]: Healer god, no dungeon tonight.
[Chenxi]: Why?
[Yiji Zhanluo]: Reporting to our guild leader’s wife—Guild Leader is corpse camping. No time for anything else.
[Chenxi]: Corpse camping who?
Xia Zichen frowned in confusion.
Jian Lang wasn’t exactly gentle, but he’d never heard of him corpse camping someone.
And to even skip dungeon runs for it…
Whoever it was must have seriously offended him.
[Sunflower]: Butterfly Dream Heartdrunk. Quite a few guild members went to join him. I’m heading over after dailies too!
[Yiji Zhanluo]: Wait for me—going together!
Xia Zichen thought carefully about the name before remembering.
Butterfly Dream Heartdrunk was Jian Lang’s disciple.
Though he hadn’t seen her around in a while.
At the mention of that woman, Xia Zichen also thought of Baicao Zhe.
This corpse camping was probably related to him.
PM — Canmo Wuhen: I’m going to check on Jian Lang.
Jian Lang and Baicao Zhe’s issue was something Canmo Wuhen couldn’t ignore.
PM — Chenxi: I’m coming with you.
After asking the guild for the location, Xia Zichen followed Canmo Wuhen as they flew out of the main city…