Chapter 8
Su Yi woke up at seven the next morning. Or rather… she barely slept at all throughout the entire night. It wasn’t excitement, exactly—more that Han Lingfeng’s room inexplicably made her feel pressured.
The bed of an esports god! How many fangirls dreamed of this very spot!
She couldn’t exactly call herself a fangirl of Han Lingfeng, but he really was incredibly easy on the eyes. In this day and age, who didn’t love a gorgeous man?
And yet here she was, sprawled across that very bed in a starfish position…
Harsh sunlight filtered through the blinds and landed on her brown eyes. She raised a hand to shield them, rolled over twice, and finally climbed out of bed.
Gathering her change of clothes and toiletries, she headed for a shower.
Every room in SNM’s base came with a private bathroom. When Xu Ruiqi had mentioned this before, Su Yi marveled: *Tsk tsk, impressive. Only this team would splurge like that.*
Inside Han Lingfeng’s private bathroom, all his daily essentials were neatly arranged on the cabinets and shelves. Terrified of messing up his space, Su Yi carefully moved all his bath products onto the counter beside the sink to clear room for the shower.
Only after everything was properly arranged did she step in.
…
Half an hour later, the front door of SNM’s base swung open.
Han Lingfeng dragged his exhausted body inside, still feeling groggy. A four AM flight, and he’d barely slept the night before. If his relatives hadn’t gone absolutely berserk pressuring him to find a girlfriend during this trip home, he never would have changed his ticket and flown back this early in such a sorry state.
At that moment, it was seven-forty AM Beijing time. The old lady next door had already had her chickens crowing twice, yet the entire base was as silent as a castle.
Shouldering his backpack, Han Lingfeng climbed to the second floor. When he reached his room, he found the door locked.
He reached out and twisted the handle. It wouldn’t budge at all.
Since last month, his door handle had been doing this—automatically locking from the inside. Normally in this situation, Han Lingfeng would detour through Xiao C’s room next door via the shared balcony.
*Too much of a hassle. Today I absolutely need to tell Tai Yi to get someone to fix this damn lock.*
The two rooms shared a balcony. Han Lingfeng walked to the sliding door on the outside and inexplicably noticed that his curtains had been drawn.
Han Lingfeng: “…………”
He was fairly certain he hadn’t closed the curtains when he left.
Pausing briefly, Han Lingfeng reached out and slid the door open. It hadn’t been locked. He pulled it aside, lifted the blinds, and was instantly stunned by what he saw inside.
His bed sheets… when had they turned yellow?
And with a goddamn Pikachu pattern, no less.
Who had such terrible taste, swapping his bedding for something this childishly whimsical?
He frowned, took two steps back, and surveyed the room. Aside from the bedding set, everything else was his.
From the bathroom came the sound of running water.
Someone was using his bathroom? Showering in there? Could someone please explain what was going on?
Han Lingfeng stood frozen in place, gazing into the distance, trying to figure out whose shower in the base might have broken.
Then the water stopped. About two minutes later, Han Lingfeng watched with his own eyes as a girl walked out of the bathroom in a sky-blue nightgown, towel in hand, drying her hair.
Clearly, when their eyes met, the entire atmosphere solidified.
Her hair was long, dripping wet and draped over her chest. Her freshly showered skin glowed with a faint pink. Han Lingfeng stared at her in a daze, then clearly watched as both her cheeks and the slender, fair column of her neck flushed crimson—a vivid blush spreading across porcelain skin.
Her eyes began darting around in panic.
If one phrase could describe Su Yi’s current state of mind, it would be: *I choose death.*
Probably because she suddenly noticed another person in the room, Su Yi instinctively let out an “Ah!” then crouched down, draping the towel over her head like a proper ostrich.
However, the sound—
It rang across the heavens.
Why was Han Lingfeng in her room? No no no, this was his room to begin with. But wait, didn’t Tai Yi say Han Lingfeng wouldn’t be back until this afternoon?
She must be dreaming, right!
Okay, at least she was wearing a bra. No no no, the real issue was… she was currently bare-faced!
Hearing the commotion, hurried footsteps sounded outside the door. Han Lingfeng inhaled sharply and immediately stepped forward, grabbing the air-conditioning blanket from the chair and draping it over Su Yi.
The room next to Han Lingfeng’s belonged to Tai Yi. He knocked, his voice carrying through the door: “What’s going on?”
“…”
When no sound came from within, Tai Yi raised his leg to kick the door open—only for it to swing open on its own. His kick hit nothing but air.
Stumbling two steps, Tai Yi looked up and saw Han Lingfeng standing in the doorway. Behind him, on the bed, was a mysterious fluffy blob.
Tai Yi froze, stammering, “W-Wind God? Why are you back?”
Han Lingfeng wore a ‘I’d like to ask you the same thing’ expression, pointing at the blob behind him. “The fact that our new support is in my room—something you should have told me earlier.”
“…” Oh, so that fluffy blob was their new support.
“She was just showering. Very awkward.”
“…………”
What what what? Showering?!!
Tai Yi looked at the drooping fluffy creature, then at Han Lingfeng’s perpetually stoic face, which now bore an uncharacteristic flush of red. He immediately grasped the severity of the situation.
Tai Yi’s face went pale, his voice trembling. “Is there any room for damage control?”
Han Lingfeng sighed. “Your mind’s in the gutter. I didn’t see anything.”
“…” *Bro, saying it like that makes it sound even more suspicious!*
Hearing these two dig themselves deeper, Su Yi reached out and pulled the blanket off her head, revealing her damp hair. She looked at Tai Yi with utmost sincerity: “Manager, please believe me—I really am wearing a nightgown!”
“…………..”
Tai Yi felt this was no longer about whether he believed her. If he said one more word, these two might actually kill him to keep the secret.
Afterward, Han Lingfeng dragged Tai Yi downstairs, leaving Su Yi in the room above to change.
“You should have told me she’d already arrived,” Han Lingfeng said, sitting on the sofa with his hand pressed against his forehead, looking thoroughly pained. He was already sleep-deprived, and this incident made his headache even worse.
Tai Yi was already on the floor, clinging to Han Lingfeng’s leg and wailing, “How was I supposed to know you changed your flight! I was busy dealing with academy team stuff yesterday and didn’t have time to prepare a room. She arrived at the base in the middle of the night, and since you weren’t here, I figured borrowing your room would be fine. I was so exhausted I completely forgot to message you on WeChat.”
“…”
As if remembering something, Tai Yi added, “I know you’re not a germaphobe. You don’t mind this kind of thing.”
After hearing this, Han Lingfeng paused. “She replaced all my bedding.”
“…”
“You’re taking the blame for this.”
“I’ll take it, I’ll take it.”
Han Lingfeng rubbed his throbbing temples, saying nothing. Then he clearly heard the man hugging his leg ask in a strange tone, “You really didn’t see anything you shouldn’t have, right?”
“I’m considering…” whether actual murder to silence witnesses might be the better option!
“Considering what? Whether to marry her or something?”
“…”
No sooner had Tai Yi finished speaking than a loud thud echoed from the top of the stairs. Both men turned to look and saw Su Yi, now changed into a pink baseball jacket, sprawled on the floor.
She slowly picked herself up, leaned over the railing, and gave the two men below an inexplicably awkward smile. “Um… I just wanted to ask—where’s the hair dryer?”
*Holy crap?* She felt like she’d just overheard these two saying something weird?
The atmosphere seemed to freeze.
Two seconds later, Han Lingfeng stood up from the sofa. Only then did Tai Yi realize he’d been clutching Han Lingfeng’s leg this entire time. And that scene had been witnessed by Su Yi.
His image as team manager was probably beyond repair.
Forget Han Lingfeng wanting to silence him—Tai Yi figured hanging himself with a strand of spaghetti would be less painful.
Ignoring the near-petrified Tai Yi, Han Lingfeng strode up the stairs and said to Su Yi, “Follow me.”
Su Yi nodded, face burning, and silently followed Han Lingfeng back to his room. This time, she only stood at the doorway, absolutely refusing to set foot inside again.
Han Lingfeng retrieved a hair dryer from the drawer beside his desk and looked at her, saying coolly, “Come in.”
“???”
“Don’t you need to dry your hair?”
“But…” *I absolutely do NOT dare step into your room again!*
Han Lingfeng saw through her hesitation. Sitting down in his chair, he said thoughtfully, “The rug outside my door is wool.”
“Sorry!” Realizing her hair was still dripping everywhere, Su Yi was startled into stepping inside immediately. The last thing she wanted was to ruin someone’s carpet.
Han Lingfeng walked over and pressed the hair dryer into her hands. “There’s an outlet in the bathroom.”
“Oh…” Su Yi’s mind went blank.
Seeing her dazed expression and recalling what just happened, Han Lingfeng asked, “Are you okay?”
“Huh?”
He explained, “About earlier—I didn’t know it was you in the room. I thought Coffee or the others were using my bathroom.”
Su Yi was silent for a moment, then rubbed her nose. After all, it wasn’t his fault. She was the one who’d occupied his room in the first place, and since Tai Yi hadn’t notified Han Lingfeng, the whole misunderstanding happened.
Thankfully, she had the habit of putting on her underwear after showering. Otherwise, things would have been truly mortifying.
Su Yi waved her hand and laughed. “Don’t worry about it. Nothing was seen anyway.”
“…”
“Uh… I mean, it all ended well, um…”
Watching her fumbling awkwardness, Han Lingfeng’s lips curled up ever so slightly. “Once you’re settled, I’ll help you clean up the room next door.”
“…”
“Don’t want me to?”
“Yes yes yes!” Su Yi nodded vigorously, like a pestle pounding rice.