Give Me a Hug

Chapter 31: Innocent Seduction

"Damn it! Normally the physical test is at the end of the semester, so why is it so early this year?!"

Ever since receiving the group message, Lin Shan had been angrily complaining, "I'm not ready to run a thousand meters yet! My ligaments are tight, and I can't even manage a single pull-up. This is just torture!"

"There's still one day until the physical test," Xie Jiaran comforted him. "You can prepare well tonight."

Lin Shan, with a mournful face, said, "But it's almost seven o'clock now. What am I supposed to prepare for? Run ten thousand meters at night or sleep in the splits?"

Xie Jiaran replied, "If they had notified you a week in advance, would you have run ten thousand meters at night and slept in the splits?"

Lin Shan: "...Wahhh, Jiaran, don't expose me, QAQ."

Xie Jiaran sighed and reassured him, "Don't worry, our class monitor will be supervising the test."

"...And I don't want to test my lung capacity. Last time, it was so low even the PE teacher laughed at me—huh?" Lin Shan suddenly realized, "The class monitor will be supervising?"

"Yeah." Xie Jiaran nodded. "The group message mentioned it. Look closely."

Lin Shan reread the message, and his mood brightened immediately: "Oh, she really will. That's great! I don't have to prepare at all. The class monitor will definitely cover for us without any limits, hahaha."

Xie Jiaran reminded him, "At least make it look like you're trying so the class monitor won't have a hard time."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm not an unreasonable three-year-old."

With one problem solved, Lin Shan remembered the unfinished topic: "By the way, Jiaran, what were you about to ask me earlier?"

Xie Jiaran paused his drawing.

Under Lin Shan's curious gaze, he put his hand on his knee, turned his head, and slowly spoke: "I wanted to ask, if someone wants to pursue another person, what should they do?"

Lin Shan repeated, "Pursue someone?"

Xie Jiaran: "Yes."

Lin Shan asked again, "Who is pursuing whom?"

"...Me." Xie Jiaran paused and then seriously added, "Lin Shan, I want to pursue Liang Sunian."

"?"

"???"

"What???!!"

Lin Shan couldn't control his volume, causing the entire art studio to turn and look at him with curiosity.

Luckily, the teacher wasn't there.

"Nothing, nothing. I just spilled paint on my pants, haha... Everyone, continue working. Don't mind me. I'll quiet down now, haha..."

After dealing with the classmates, Lin Shan quickly shrank his neck and hid behind his easel, staring wide-eyed and whispering to Xie Jiaran, "No way, man. So you guys really weren't together before?"

Xie Jiaran shook his head: "We really weren't." He had always denied it seriously, but Lin Shan just wouldn't believe him.

Lin Shan looked conflicted and sighed, "So you're really just 'sworn brothers'?"

Xie Jiaran: "Yes."

"Ah, well..." Lin Shan's face scrunched up like a bun, stuttering, "Have I been away from the straight male world for too long? Do close friends in school nowadays really interact with so much 'bromance'?"