Still Frame Chapter 30
byChapter 30: A Mistaken Crush (1)
Li Hangzhou also followed the sound and looked over. In the bright afternoon sun, he shivered unexpectedly.
“Liu Xin?”
He withdrew his gaze and noticed that Zhang Liuxin’s eyes seemed unfocused, as if he was spacing out. He reached out and waved a hand in front of him: “Are you tired? Should we take another break?”
Zhang Liuxin shook his head and smiled: “No, let’s continue.”
He corrected Li Hangzhou’s posture, then returned to his own position, preparing to feed Li Hangzhou a couple of balls to try.
This placed him on the same side as Lü Zixia, separated by a noticeable distance. He subconsciously glanced over and was surprised to find Lü Zixia looking at him too, his gaze filled with a kind of scrutiny that Zhang Liuxin couldn’t decipher.
The next second, a fiercely driven ball shot over. Lü Zixia reacted too slowly and missed it. He deliberately sighed and winked at Zhang Liuxin, looking playful, but without any intention of greeting him. He said lazily, “Wen Jin, why are you hitting so aggressively?”
“Too weak.”
The court was spacious, and Wen Jin’s voice carried clearly.
Why was Wen Jin here? He wasn’t the type to play sports in a public setting like a school.
Zhang Liuxin couldn’t help but wonder.
“Liu Xin,” Li Hangzhou clapped his hands, pulling Zhang Liuxin’s thoughts back, “Let’s go.”
“Alright.”
Li Hangzhou was a quick study. Once Zhang Liuxin started playing, he focused entirely on the game. After several rallies, both of them were drenched in sweat.
“Let’s go,” Li Hangzhou walked closer, frowning at his appearance. “The corners of your eyes are getting red.”
Seeing those beautiful green eyes tinged with red, Li Hangzhou felt a sudden pang of sympathy. He said, “We’ll play again next time.”
He handed Zhang Liuxin a wet wipe: “Good thing I brought wet wipes. Wipe yourself down.”
“Thank you.”
Zhang Liuxin smiled helplessly: “It’s been a long time since I’ve exercised this intensely. I guess I overestimated myself.”
“No way, I didn’t even see you heavily panting.” Li Hangzhou took off his headband, grabbed his towel to wipe the sweat from his forehead, and put away Zhang Liuxin’s tennis racket for him.
“Thanks,” Zhang Liuxin felt a bit self-conscious. “I sweated so much, I feel like I smell.”
Li Hangzhou leaned in like a large dog, pretending to sniff: “No, you don’t.”
The young man’s warm breath was close, making Zhang Liuxin uncomfortable. He pushed him away by the shoulder: “That’s enough, let’s go.”
The adjacent court was still in the heat of battle. As Li Hangzhou walked past, he couldn’t help but exclaim, “They’re amazing, they look like professional athletes.”
Zhang Liuxin focused intently on the path ahead, responding casually, “Mhm.”
People like Wen Jin and Lü Zixia, if they chose to learn something, would certainly master it. Zhang Liuxin wasn’t surprised.
On the way out of the court, they encountered quite a few people, all seemingly rushing over.
Zhang Liuxin heard someone say, “Hurry up, what if they leave soon? It’s Wen Jin and Lü Zixia, you rarely see them, okay?”
“That’s enough, they aren’t celebrities, are they? They’re just handsome and rich. Why are you acting like a rabid fan?”
“If they were just ordinarily rich and ordinarily handsome, there’d be no need to look, but that’s Wen Jin, okay? Besides being handsome and super rich, he’s also a genius. I’ve never seen a 20-year-old doctoral student, so just come with me to see him.”
“…”
“Heh, quite the spectacle,” Li Hangzhou said with interest. “I thought there wouldn’t be such influential figures once you got to university, but there’s always someone better out there. I watched seriously just now; Wen Jin and Lü Zixia play so aggressively, and they didn’t stop the whole time, like two machines.”
Zhang Liuxin didn’t know how to respond. Wen Jin’s image was almost indelible in his mind. Humans are strange creatures; the more you fear something, the more you anticipate it, and the more you try not to care about something, the more you care.
“Liu Xin, what’s wrong? Haven’t you recovered yet?”
Li Hangzhou noticed Zhang Liuxin seemed odd. Perhaps it was his imagination, but ever since Wen Jin and Lü Zixia arrived, Zhang Liuxin had been a bit distracted. Although he still played well, while waiting to retrieve the ball, he stood rooted to the spot, looking lost in thought.
“Nothing,” Zhang Liuxin said. “It was a great game today, I just feel like my stamina has dropped again.”
“I don’t think so. There were a few balls you hit that I couldn’t even return,” Li Hangzhou rubbed his neck. “I didn’t realize you had such good explosive power, Liu Xin.”
“Oh, right,” Li Hangzhou suddenly remembered. “Do you play basketball? Want to play basketball sometime?”
Zhang Liuxin: “No, I’m not good at shooting hoops.”
“That’s fine, I can teach you.” Li Hangzhou said, “Basketball is pretty fun too. Tian Ke and I were on the school team in high school.”
Hearing him mention Tian Ke, Zhang Liuxin asked, “Do you and Tian Ke play together often?”
“Yeah, we played a lot in high school, but less so in university. I always feel like that guy is hiding something from me, but he won’t talk about it.”
Li Hangzhou sighed: “I feel like we’ve drifted apart since university. Maybe he’s dating, who knows. By the way, Liu Xin, you’re roommates, do you know if he’s dating?”
“I don’t know.” Zhang Liuxin wasn’t very close with Tian Ke.
“What about you? Are you dating?”
Zhang Liuxin was startled by Li Hangzhou’s immediate follow-up question, asked in a slightly urgent tone. He saw an unknown expectation in Li Hangzhou’s eyes and instantly felt awkward. He quickly averted his gaze and said, “No.”
Li Hangzhou smiled, his eyes curving: “Really? Do you have someone you like?”
Zhang Liuxin paused, then shook his head under Li Hangzhou’s overly direct gaze: “No, I’m not interested in that right now.”
The smile on Li Hangzhou’s face gradually faded. Then he said, “Ah, so what do you want to do in the future, Liu Xin?”
Noticing Zhang Liuxin’s discomfort, Li Hangzhou slightly increased the distance between them and asked, “Go into television, into a newspaper? Or become a reporter or host?”
“A reporter,” Zhang Liuxin said firmly. “I want to be a reporter.”
“That’s great. I’ve met Teacher Dai at Silver Mirror Station. Do you know him?”
Zhang Liuxin relaxed and said, “Of course, I know him. Teacher Dai is a very excellent senior.”
Li Hangzhou: “That’s wonderful. Do you want to meet him? I’m going to Silver Mirror Station next month to film a promotional video. If I’m lucky, I might run into him.”
Zhang Liuxin really wanted to meet the famous Reporter Dai, but Li Hangzhou was going for work, and he had no reason to tag along: “I shouldn’t disturb you while you’re working. I’ll try to intern at Silver Mirror Station in the future. I’ll have a chance to meet Teacher Dai then.”
“It’s fine, Liu Xin. Usually, my mom accompanies me, and sometimes I bring one or two friends. It’s normal. Silver Mirror Station is huge, and plenty of people visit every day.”
Zhang Liuxin shook his head: “Hangzhou, thank you. Will you continue to be a host in the future?”
Seeing his firm refusal, Li Hangzhou didn’t press the issue. Instead, he said, “Yes, after graduation, I’ll aim to join Silver Mirror Station. I want to have my own program there. Maybe we’ll become colleagues someday.”
“Then I wish you success in achieving your dream.” Zhang Liuxin said.
After that day, Zhang Liuxin didn’t see Wen Jin or Lü Zixia again, which he figured was normal. The campus was huge; there weren’t that many coincidences.
Li Hangzhou, however, actively asked him out several times, either for basketball or tennis, and even invited him to check out new restaurants around the school, a part of his self-media work. Zhang Liuxin wondered where he got such boundless energy.
And… the most troubling thing was what Tian Ke said one night.
“Liu Xin, while no one else is in the dorm, I have a question for you.”
Zhang Liuxin was currently chatting online with Qu Shuhua about club activities. He put down his phone, already having a bad feeling, but he couldn’t just cover his ears and run out. He braced himself and said, “Go ahead.”
“It’s just… I feel like you and Hangzhou have been spending too much time together recently?” Tian Ke said awkwardly. “I don’t mean that you shouldn’t be friends, but do you know that Hangzhou likes boys?”
Zhang Liuxin’s eyelid twitched. He wasn’t entirely surprised, but what was Tian Ke’s intention in telling him this?
“No, I didn’t know. But why are you telling me? Sexual orientation is private.”
Tian Ke hadn’t expected him to be so blunt. He gave a dry laugh: “I thought you knew since you’re so close. I just wanted to say that if you both liked girls, it wouldn’t matter, but everyone who knows Hangzhou is aware of his orientation, so your closeness might lead to misunderstandings.”
Zhang Liuxin was momentarily unsure how to respond. He picked up his phone and rapidly switched between several apps before finally saying, “You don’t need to worry about that.”
Tian Ke’s expression soured. He turned back around with a sullen face and didn’t speak to him again.
Although Tian Ke’s sudden intervention made Zhang Liuxin uncomfortable, the words he spoke forced him to pay attention.
So, when he went out with Jiang You to eat at a collaboration restaurant, he tentatively asked her, “Do you have someone you like right now?”
Jiang You was busy taking countless photos of her beloved merchandise. It took her a moment to react before she pushed up her glasses and turned around: “What did you say?”
Zhang Liuxin sighed: “Never mind, finish your photos first.”
After perhaps hundreds of photos, Jiang You finally put her phone away: “Ask away. Are you consulting me about relationship problems?”
They had been friends for a long time, and Jiang You knew Zhang Liuxin well. It was rare to see him look so awkward and troubled.
“No, it’s just…” Zhang Liuxin didn’t know how to explain it clearly, so he decided to just blurt it out. “I feel like I’m getting too close to a friend. I want to put a little distance between us, but he’s genuinely a very nice person.”
“What, does your friend like you?” Jiang You guessed tentatively.
“I don’t think so,” Zhang Liuxin chewed on his straw, distressed. “It’s so annoying.”
Jiang You burst out laughing: “It really is a relationship problem then. You’re so popular, Liu Xin, ‘the beautiful mixed-race youth with captivating emerald eyes’?”
That was what their high school foreign teacher had said the first time he saw Zhang Liuxin. Yet, the blonde, blue-eyed foreign teacher was surely more noticeable than Zhang Liuxin, a student with black hair who had lived in Yinzhou almost his entire life.
Zhang Liuxin was mortified and shivered: “Forget it, I won’t ask you.”
Jiang You said, “Don’t stop. What about you? Do you have someone you like? Now that I think about it, I’ve known you for so long, and I’ve never seen you interested in any girl or boy.”
At the mention of this, a cold face flashed through Zhang Liuxin’s mind. He looked out at the bustling crowd outside the window, his gaze drifting aimlessly.
There was someone. Someone he seemed to like, but someone who seemed impossible.