MTB - Chapter 28
Chapter 28: Fleeing in Disarray
In the thirty seconds they stared at each other in silence, Yun Yang could clearly hear her own heartbeat.
She was only just now realizing that trust and attraction were two completely different concepts. Reason told her to treat those words as mere flirting and that maintaining their relationship at its current level was the best choice, but Yun Yang found she couldn't help wanting to get closer to Tang Yuelou.
So close that they would become each other's one and only.
The thought suddenly surfaced in her mind, and Yun Yang’s breath hitched. The spoon in her hand fell into the bowl with a clatter.
—She looked into Tang Yuelou's eyes, unable to say a word. Tossing out a quick, “I’m done eating. I have class this afternoon, so I’m heading back,” she grabbed her coat and bag and fled in disarray.
This proved that a person's brain could short-circuit in a critical situation. For instance, as Yun Yang was leaving, she had completely forgotten that she didn't have class that afternoon—a fact Tang Yuelou was well aware of.
Yun Yang's mind was a mess. For a moment, she couldn't even think of a place to go, so she simply returned to her dorm.
It was fifteen minutes before the first afternoon class. When Yun Yang walked in, Guan Yan was in the middle of changing, holding a hanger up to herself in front of the full-length mirror. Yun Yang hadn't expected anyone to be in the dorm, so both of them jumped when the door opened.
Guan Yan: “Why are you back?”
Yun Yang: “Why are you in the dorm?”
“Look at you. You haven't been staying in the dorm for so long, you don't even know I'm back. I've been living here for a week already.” Guan Yan winked at her suggestively. “Didn't you go to lunch with Teacher Tang? I saw you two leave together after class this morning.”
Yun Yang: “We finished eating, so I came back.”
“And then?”
She didn't know what “and then” there was. She flopped onto a chair, emptied her mind, and casually changed the subject. “Don't you have class? It's in five minutes. Can you make it?”
“Skipping it. They don't take attendance anyway. We're going out for karaoke tonight… Help me see which of these two tops looks better?”
Yun Yang watched her hold the two tops against herself and asked, “Who are you going with?”
“A few friends from the Drama Club, you know all of them,” Guan Yan pouted. “A certain someone was supposed to come, but a certain someone has been bewitched by a siren lately, so lost in pleasure she’s forgotten her home, almost forgetting about her pack of scoundrel friends…”
“I'm going too,” Yun Yang said.
“Huh? I wasn't finished. Jiang Jie will be there too. Is it awkward between you two now?”
“A little awkward, I guess, but I'm still going.”
She was a woman of action. She immediately grabbed a basin and went to the bathroom to wash her hair. The phone she'd left on the desk was still vibrating. Guan Yan was momentarily stunned, dropping what she was holding to stop her. “Wait, what's going on? You have a call! It's from Teacher Tang!”
Yun Yang glanced at her hand with a deadpan expression. “Could I trouble you to put on some clothes first? There's a lesbian here.”
Guan Yan let out a mock scream and clutched her chest. “Pervert!”
In the end, Yun Yang went. Part of the reason was to avoid Tang Yuelou, but the main reason was boredom—or so she told herself.
“…Halfway through the performance, the microphone suddenly had a problem. We were on stage shouting at the top of our lungs, totally panicked. It's a good thing you didn't come see it, or we would have made a fool of ourselves in front of you.”
“Tell me, is it possible for someone who's perfect in every way, and also a huge flirt, to be single into their thirties?” Yun Yang suddenly asked.
Jiang Jie choked.
The private KTV room was a scene of chaotic revelry. Guan Yan and a few others, arms slung around each other's shoulders, had been howling their way through “King of Love Songs” for what felt like an eternity. Yun Yang wanted to sing but couldn't muster the interest, and she wanted to leave but felt too agitated. She stared at the glass of iced Coke in front of her, spacing out for the entire duration of the song without realizing it. When she finally snapped out of it, she saw Jiang Jie watching her with a complicated expression.
“I suppose it's possible,” Jiang Jie said with a forced smile. “What do you mean by ‘perfect and a huge flirt’? People like that are too rare.”
Yun Yang blurted out reflexively, “Like you, for example?”
She regretted it the moment she said it. The two stared at each other for a moment, then Jiang Jie laughed.
She tilted her head and lit a cigarette, slowly exhaling a puff of white smoke. “I get it, I know you're not interested in me like that. By the way, is there someone you like?”
In a futile attempt to cover up her feelings, Yun Yang took a sip of her juice but didn't deny it.
“I'm a little envious of her,” Jiang Jie sighed, half-joking, and continued, “Are you two together?”
Yun Yang hesitated for a moment, then shook her head.
She really couldn't say if they were together or not—they had done everything a couple would do. Tang Yuelou took care of her, was good to her, and brought her into her social circle under the guise of a “girlfriend,” but she never gave her a chance to understand her, nor had she ever given her a single promise.
Yun Yang once thought she didn't need promises. She had always believed she could see through Tang Yuelou's little tricks—it was nothing more than waiting for her to be the first to break the silence and confess. Yun Yang would absolutely not give her that satisfaction.
But this woman was really strange, she thought. Tang Yuelou was a person full of contradictions. From her perspective, this person was so close, yet also so far away. An ambiguous distance was the easiest way to make someone lose their sense of boundaries, and she didn't know if she should try to take another step forward.
“This person… it's not Guan Yan, is it?” Jiang Jie asked hesitantly.
Yun Yang's mind was a tangled mess of emotions she hadn't had time to sort out. The question made her spray a mouthful of juice all over the front of her white top, staining it orange. Forgetting to grab a napkin, she coughed while refuting the idea with every fiber of her being, “No, cough cough, why—why would you think that? Cough cough cough, impossible…”
The group of singers all turned to look in unison. Jiang Jie, both embarrassed and amused, quickly got up to get her a napkin. “Sorry, I didn't mean it. You two are just so close, it's really easy for people to get the wrong idea. Besides, I don't know who could possibly reject you, other than a completely dense straight girl.”
At that moment, Yun Yang was in no mood for such half-sincere compliments. She waved her hand. “I haven't confessed, so I haven't been rejected either.”
Jiang Jie paused, letting out a soft “Ah.” She looked a little confused. “Then why are you so unhappy today? I thought you'd either been rejected after confessing, or you couldn't say it for some reason.”
Yun Yang stiffened and subconsciously retorted, “I just can't…”
She didn't finish her sentence, because she felt like Jiang Jie had a point—that's right, what exactly was she running from?
A normal person's logic is “fall for someone -> suspect they like me back -> pursue them -> confess,” and then you either get together or get rejected. Why was she hiding instead? Was it just because the other person was Tang Yuelou?
“You're right. I think… I'm just a little scared.” Yun Yang glanced at the missed calls on her phone and ran a hand through her hair in frustration. “I don't know her.”
—But I'm afraid I've already fallen in love with her.
YY PLEASE CONFESS ALREADY
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