I Treat You as a Brother - Chapter 15

Fang Mo felt down because of this.

After they ate together, Xu Xiran took him around the school and familiarized him with the library, the auditorium, the gym, the basketball court, the convenience store, the coffee shop, the mala1 soup stalls and more, then treated him to some milk tea.

This could be counted as a date, but when Fang Mo looked at the two-dimensional girl on the cup of milk tea that he had previously neglected, his heart felt all sorts of mixed feelings.

This was his rival.

Xu Xiran had treated him to milk tea for another purpose. With today’s cup, his collection point card would be full after two stamps, which could be exchanged for an acrylic keychain.

“It’s too sweet. Every time I drink mine, I get dizzy and end up wasting it,” he said to Fang Mo. “Do you like it? If you do, I can treat you again tomorrow.”

Fang Mo sighed, “Treat Zou Shun tomorrow, he likes it sweet.”

~

After eating dinner, Fang Mo went back to his own room, and while Liu Xiaochang was away, he called Zou Shun to complain.

Never did he expect that the tone on the other side of the line would sound more depressed than his.

“Didn’t you go see your crush today? What happened?” Fang Mo asked.

Zou Shun was silent for a while, then faintly said, “I want to kill that mutt and then kill myself.”

Fang Mo was shocked by his sudden declarations of crime. “What did he do to you? Don’t get so worked up! Calm down, you can tell me everything. If there’s no other choice, you can call the police!”

“…He gave me a bottle of fragrance water.” Zou Shun said.

“Hah?” Fang Mo didn’t understand, “Is that not good?”

“He gave me women’s perfume,” said Zou Shun. “I happily accepted it and asked him why he suddenly thought of giving this to me. Guess what he said?”

Fang Mo had guessed it but did not dare to say it out loud.

Zou Shun didn’t wait for him to answer and continued, “He said it was a gift for his blind date, and after he bought it, he heard the girl say that she didn’t like the smell of the perfume.”

“Eh…” How devastating, he guessed it right.

“The fact that I didn’t smash the perfume bottle on the spot or slash him to death with the glass was all from my own willpower,” said Zou Shun.

“……”

Fang Mo wanted to comfort him, but unfortunately, he couldn’t find the right words to say. Zou Shun’s mouth was always full of poison but his heart was always soft. His words just now were fierce, but at that time, he must have forced himself to smile.

“I asked him why he was so interested all of a sudden, to take me to dinner in such a remote place,” Zou Shun said. “And why did he give it to me? Because it cost him 1,800 yuan, and he had already bought it and it was a pity to throw it away. He had only met her twice, yet he was really willing to do that.”

“In the end, he still gifted it to you, right…”

“He can fuck off! Do I appreciate it?” Zou Shun shouted. “I want to smash him to death with that bottle!”

“…Did you take it?”

Zou Shun said nothing.

It seemed like he did. He may be fierce in front of Fang Mo, but in front of that man, he must have politely expressed his gratitude.

“Even if it was for that reason, his first thought was to give it to you, and he even went out of his way to give it to you in person instead of just delivering it to you, right?” Fang Mo said.

“Because I asked him to dinner.”

“He didn’t owe a meal, did he?”

“…In the end, he paid,” Zou Shun said. “He said that I was still a student and was embarrassed to make me pay, and said that once I graduate and find a job, then I can treat him back.”

“Isn’t that good?! He specifically came to give you something and treat you to dinner, it sounds quite…”

“Quite what?” Zou Shun asked, already knowing the answer.

“Quite… quite worth your time,” said Fang Mo.

He personally felt that the man’s actions were somewhat ambiguous. But he was also afraid that if he said that, it would raise Zou Shun’s hopes up more, and make him more miserable if things didn’t work out.

“He also asked me to watch a movie together after school starts next week.” Zou Shun said.

“I don’t understand this,” Fang Mo said. “That sounds pretty good, why are you so angry?”

“I’m helping him pick out another gift for his girl, and then watching a movie while we’re there.” Zou Shun said between his gritted teeth.

“This…” Fang Mo hesitated for a moment, “Did you agree?”

“…I’m so angry,” Zou Shun wailed on the other end of the phone, “Momo I’m really so angry! I actually agreed!”

Fang Mo let out a long sigh, “There’s nothing you can do, straight men are just that dumb. Don’t feel sad, I’ll treat you to milk tea tomorrow.”

~

In an instant, Zou Shun chugged down two entire cups of milk tea.

Xu Xiran finally got the keychain that he had wanted so much. He couldn’t help but appreciate it for a while before carefully putting it away. Then, he cheerfully bought a cup for Fang Mo and received a new collection point card.

“Don’t you already have one?” Fang Mo didn’t understand.

“I only have one,” Xu Xiran said. “I want to keep this one for my collection, and I want another one for practical use.”

Fang Mo scrunched his eyebrows and said nothing. Zou Shun bit his straw and looked at them, not saying a word.

Xu Xiran happily took them to the club activity room.

Initially, Fang Mo didn’t need to come today, but firstly, he wanted to accompany Zou Shun, secondly, he was a little curious about the event itself, and thirdly, he wanted to try to get closer to Xu Xiran, so he joined in on the fun. As soon as the door opened, he and Zou Shun were immediately startled. Inside, it was bustling with activity and everything was in total disarray.

He had secretly done his homework before and wanted to have a preliminary understanding of the fans who liked this kind of anime. He thought he would see rows of bookshelves filled with all kinds of manga or loads of video game equipment, along with a couple of odd-looking boys with thick glasses or anime T-shirts or pimples all over their faces.

He didn’t expect that the vast majority of the room was full of girls, and they were girls who were not bad looking either.

The girls were standing or sitting, all busy with their own handiwork. One was lying on the ground, using acrylic paint to paint patterns on the fabric.

When Xu Xiran started to say hello to everyone, there was not much of a response.  It was not until someone looked up that people realized there were two male strangers beside him.

~

Zou Shun’s collapse was visible to the naked eye.

He was surrounded by a group of girls, both skinny and thick, and should have been envied by others. However, he only looked flustered and didn’t know where to look, so his whole body stiffened.

Because Fang Mo had mentioned it beforehand, Xu Xiran probably knew why he wanted to help. He was worried that the girls would become more interested in Zou Shun when they knew his orientation.

“You really look just like it. It’s so fitting! Your skin is also so good. It’ll be so easy to put on your makeup!”

The girls chattered, feeling very satisfied with him.

Zou Shun, who was already not that tall, blinked his eyes and shrank himself even more.

Fang Mo should have really wanted to save him, but he could barely even protect himself. The girls were enthusiastic and bold and forwardly asked him if he was interested in getting involved in the club.

“No, no, I don’t know anything about this stuff, I just came here with my friends.” Fang Mo shook his head repeatedly.

“Didn’t I watch it with you? I’ve explained so much to you, how can you not understand?” Xu Xiran exposed him in front of everyone. “You’re at least half an expert.”

Fang Mo held his forehead, “But there’s probably no role that fits me here…”

He was talking nonsense. Although the majority of the characters in this story were girls, compared to other harem animes, which usually had male supporting characters shown as either weak or vulgar, this anime actually had quite a few handsome and charismatic male characters. Because of this, the anime was quite popular among girls, and plus with its outstanding character designs, it had become a recent big hit in the cosplay circle. Xu Xiran was sure that he had emphasized this point on the night he and Fang Mo appreciated this work together.

With Fang Mo’s appearance, it should be easy to take on the role of some of these characters.

Seeing his obvious resistance, Xu Xiran stopped pushing. Unfortunately, some of the people present disagreed with him, and their ideas went too far.

“Of course there is, how can there not be,” a girl laughed, “You’re so handsome, you must not look bad in women’s clothes.”

Fang Mo scoffed on the spot, “No, no, I’ll just watch.”

He silently backed away and hid in the corner.

Xu Xiran also scoffed, then thought about it and smiled. He followed Fang Mo and whispered to him, “Are you really not going to try? I think you are quite suitable.”

“You’re insane!” Fang Mo stared daggers at him.

“Don’t get so worked up. There was a short guy in our club who refused to do it and was forced to try it by these girls,” Xu Xiran said, “Now he’s happier than ever. Have you ever heard the saying that women’s clothing is worn either zero or countless times? Once you experience it, you never go back.”

“The person you’re talking about… isn’t you, right?” Fang Mo gave him a guarded look.

“I said that he was short,” Xu Xiran quickly denied, “I’m a little taller than you, aren’t I?”

“Then…” Fang Mo stretched out his pinky, “Is he ‘that’?”

“Of course not,” Xu Xiran understood immediately. “He’s straight, he just likes looking at himself in the mirror.”

Fang Mo was shocked. Straight men really were unfathomable.

“Why haven’t you tried?” he asked Xu Xiran.

Xu Xiran sighed regretfully, “I’ve tried before, but it just didn’t look good so I gave up. I’m one of the few who made myself quit after trying only once.”

Fang Mo was speechless. After a moment of silence, he quietly moved a few steps to the other side, in an attempt to distance himself from Xu Xiran.

Author’s note:

Momo: My love for this straight man is being rigorously tested every minute.

Mala means spicy and numbing