I Treat You as a Brother - Chapter 5

Fang Mo’s mind went blank.

He stared at Xu Xiran’s face with his eyes wide and mouth slightly open, and did not respond.

Xu Xiran, who was originally overjoyed, soon began to smile stiffly: “I’m sorry, did I get the wrong person?”

He started backing up slightly as he spoke and, feeling very embarrassed, planned to return the way he came from to immediately disappear. Fang Mo, with his head exploding at this very moment, quickly reached out his hand to grab him.

“It’s me!!” he yelled.

The roar of his voice resounded like a giant bell. Zou Shun, who was standing right beside him, shuddered in fear.

Xu Xiran was also startled. But he soon regained his smile: “I’ll say! You really look too similar. What are you doing here?”

As he spoke, he reached out and aggressively patted Fang Mo twice.

Fang Mo’s whole body went weak.

“I… I go to school here,” he answered blankly. “You?”

“No way. What is this fate?” Xu Xiran was astounded. “How come I’ve never seen you before? Are you a freshman?”

The enrollment date for freshmen had long passed, and Fang Mo was still dragging his luggage, so he obviously was not.

“We just moved here from the old campus this semester,” Fang Mo explained.

“No wonder,” Xu Xiran smiled again. “You look so eye-catching. If I had seen you before, I wouldn’t have forgotten.”

Fang Mo hehe’d at him.

At this moment, Zou Shun, who had been acting as a quiet background set, finally spoke. “This is… your friend?”

Fang Mo was still hesitating on whether to nod or not when Xu Xiran reached out his hand to Zou Shun.

“Hello, Fang Mo and I are…” he thought for a bit, then continued, “should I say, online friends?”

Zou Shun also extended his hand, but his eyes moved to Fang Mo’s face, his expression beaming.

Fang Mo squinted and looked back, thinking, how long are you planning on holding his hand for? Let go.

___

The luck didn’t stop here. When Fang Mo revealed his dorm building number, Xu Xiran was pleasantly surprised and said that he was in the same building and could take him there.

As he said goodbye to Zou Shun, while Xu Xiran wasn’t looking, Zou Shun gave Fang Mo a big two thumbs up. Fang Mo had a feeling that he would be bombarded on his phone later.

However, right now he didn’t have the heart to figure out how to tell him the truth. He panicked for his life.

Pulling his luggage, he carefully looked at Xu Xiran, who was half a step ahead of him. Fang Mo’s little heart was beating wildly in his chest.

“We really are too destined,” Xu Xiran sighed. “The fact that something with such a small chance can still happen, it really is a miracle.”

Fang Mo nodded vigorously, but because his brain was so muddled, he didn’t realize that Xu Xiran, who was walking in front of him, couldn’t see it at all.

“You seem completely different in real life than when you’re online,” Xu Xiran turned his head and smiled at him. “You’re so talkative online, I didn’t think that in real life you are actually quite introverted. Am I scaring you by being this close with you?”

“No no,” Fang Mo quickly shook his head. “I’m just… too shocked.”

Not only was he shocked by this incredible coincidence, but it was also because Xu Xiran himself made him more dizzy than what he had seen in the photos.

Aside from his appearance, this man’s voice was in Fang Mo’s strike zone. It was low and magnetic, making his back feel numb.

It’s no wonder that so many of his peers couldn’t help but harass him. Fang Mo used to dislike all those shameless people, but now he almost didn’t want to have shame anymore himself1. If there was not a trace of reason left to remind himself that Xu Xiran hated this kind of behavior, he would probably take the risk.

While seriously distracted, Fang Mo accidentally knocked his luggage on the steps when he entered the dormitory building, making a noticeable noise.

“You okay?” Xu Xiran naturally stretched out his hand, held it on the handle of his luggage, and pressed his fingers tightly against his. “This must be heavy. Here, let me help you.”

Fang Mo was about to faint.

This scene perfectly coincided with the dream he had a few days ago, and now his delusions had simply become reality.

“It’s not that bad. It’s not heavy,” Xu Xiran said after lifting the luggage up the steps. “You don’t look weak. Do you not exercise?”

Those words that this person had said seemingly killed the mood a bit.

When he got to the stairs, Xu Xiran asked again, “Do you want me to help you?”

Fang Mo didn’t want to embarrass himself again and quickly grabbed his luggage: “It’s okay, I can do it.”

After all, he wasn’t a little girl, so Xu Xiran didn’t say anything more. The two of them went up a floor, and Fang Mo, with a stirring in his heart, began to look forward to the next development of his dream.

“Which floor do you live on?” He asked.

Xu Xiran raised his hand and pointed up: “Fourth floor, I’m at 406.”

Fang Mo’s dream was shattered in an instant. There’s no such thing as something this good in this world. His room was 301.

Xu Xiran climbed the stairs fast and Fang Mo could only try to keep up. When they got to the third floor and had to say goodbye, he was reluctant to part.

“If you need any help in the future, you can always find me. You want to add my number?” Xu Xiran took initiative and took out his phone from his pocket. “If there’s anything you’re unfamiliar with, you can ask me.”

Seeing him this enthusiastic and sincere, Fang Mo suddenly felt a bit guilty.

“Oh also,” Xu Xiran put his phone in his pocket, then suddenly reached out and grabbed his arm, leaned over, and put his mouth close to his ear. “Let me tell you, on your floor, I don’t know if it’s 304 or 307, there’s a small, skinny guy surnamed Liu that you should be careful of.”

Half of Fang Mo’s body went numb, and his brain melted into a pot of paste. Being in the presence of the faint scent of soap on Xu Xiran’s freshly-cleaned body was so charming that it made his intelligence drop rapidly: “Ah? What? Why?”

“Tch,” Xu Xiran clicked his tongue, made a “don’t you know” expression, and gestured with his hand. “He’s the one.”

Fang Mo looked at his side profile from a distance, and continued to feel dumb and confused: “What one?”

Xu Xiran stepped back and looked a little embarrassed: “Don’t laugh when I say this. I don’t know where he got my WeChat from, but he always sends me ambiguous messages, and occasionally tries to purposely touch my butt.”

When he said all this, he looked like he couldn’t bear it, and was extremely uncomfortable.

Fang Mo finally came to his senses: “Damn, what the hell! This man is sick! That’s just too much, how can he be like this!”

“Keep your voice down,” Xu Xiran called out from behind. “It’d be dumb if someone heard.”

Perhaps for straight men, being harassed by the same sex is a very shameful thing that cannot be said out loud. Fang Mo immediately closed his mouth, but he was still very angry. He wanted to see who this Liu guy was, who had already touched the places he wanted to touch.

Seeing his serious and silent expression, Xu Xiran seemed to misunderstand and began to comfort him: “You don’t need to worry too much. As long as you keep an eye out, he won’t be able to do anything to you.”

Seeing Fang Mo nodding quietly, he suddenly smiled.

“You’re so lively when you’re chatting online, how come you’re so stunned?” He put his hand on Fang Mo’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, he should be the only one with problems in this building… not including the newcomers.”

Fang Mo, the newcomer with problems, froze and asked, “Then… can you take me to the dining hall later?”

___

After saying goodbye to Xu Xiran, Fang Mo’s intelligence quickly recovered as time passed. While slowly heading back to his room, he secretly pondered a thought. Xu Xiran had already intentionally or unintentionally touched his hand, arm, shoulder, and back today. Since this type of physical contact seemed normal, surely he could take advantage of this and do the same next time, right?

The dorms here were all quadruple rooms, but Fang Mo saw only one person after pushing the door open.

Hearing movement, the other person turned around immediately and his eyes slightly widened, showing a somewhat surprised look. Fang Mo had long been used to this, and charmingly smiled back. He knew he belonged to the good-looking crowd, and that even straight men were able to tell the difference between good-looking or not in their own gender.

“Hello, I saw that the door wasn’t locked so I just came in,” he pulled his luggage and walked in. “I just moved here this semester. My surname is Fang, name is Fang Mo.”

Hearing this, the other person immediately got up from his chair and reached out his hand. “Hello hello, I’ve heard about you. My name is Liu Xiaochang.”

Why was it so common for college students these days to greet each other with a handshake?

Fang Mo looked at the short, skinny figure across from him and felt that something was off.

When the two shook hands, as he was about to withdraw, he felt the other person lightly scratch his hand.

Fang Mo scrunched his eyebrows and realized that things were not as simple as they seem.

The original is more like “Fang Mo used to dislike those people who don’t have face, but now he almost didn’t want his own face”