Chapter 5

After coming back.

I was the first to go upstairs, planning to take a shower to wash off the smell of grease-and that vague, indescribable restlessness.

I turned off the faucet and reached for the bathrobe hanging nearby, but my hand found nothing.

A mischievous thought quietly surfaced.

I pulled the bathroom door open a crack and raised my voice toward the outside, “Xu Qing! Can you help me? I forgot my clothes, could you hand them to me?”

My bedroom was at the very end of the hallway.

I heard him answer from downstairs, “Okay,” followed by the sound of footsteps coming up, unhurried and steady.

I hid behind the door.

The footsteps paused outside.

Then, I heard the doorknob of the room next door being turned!

My heart leapt-next door? That’s…

“Wait! Not that one!” I shouted in a panic.

But it was too late.

He had already turned on the light in the room.

That room was where I kept all the Xu Qing memorabilia.

Tournament posters, team merchandise, even a few custom dolls-slightly rough, but with features that vaguely resembled him…

Help!

I practically scrambled to grab a towel and wrap it around myself, yanking the bathroom door open and rushing out.

Xu Qing was still standing at the doorway of that room, his back to me.

His figure seemed pinned there, motionless.

The bright light in the room enveloped him, and illuminated every item on the walls and shelves-everything about him.

All of it, exposed without a trace of concealment before the original owner’s eyes.

The air was dead silent.

All I could hear was my own heartbeat, pounding like a drum.

It’s over.

Completely over.

All my disguises, all my pretenses, shattered utterly in this moment.

I stood barefoot on the cold floor, like a thief caught red-handed.

Shame and panic threatened to drown me.

Xu Qing slowly turned around.

There was no mockery or contempt on his face, nor any anger at being offended.

His gaze was deep, and his lips curved, ever so slowly, into a faint, complex smile.

His voice was lower and huskier than usual, each word landing clearly on my heart:

“So…”

He paused, his eyes sweeping over the posters and those slightly clumsy custom dolls, finally returning to my face.

His tone carried a strange, confirmed calm.

“So you still kept all these.”

“My number one fan.”