Long Xing staggered along with one hand on the wall. He turned back, and his gaze met the girl's beautiful wide eyes at just the right moment.

He froze, his eyes widening in shock.

For a moment, the scene fell into a strange silence.

His eyes instinctively dropped to the girl's face. Maybe because she'd just been running, her cheeks were flushed under the light. Fine beads of sweat covered her forehead, dampening her bangs and making her look even more pitiful and lovable.

Her chest rose and fell sharply. She was breathing fast, and there was a trace of wariness in her eyes, like a stray kitten.

An Han forced out an awkward, stiffly polite smile.

Busted. He really recognized me...

Brother Long had gone to a club gathering today. He'd left the dorm around dusk. An Han had thought he'd already come back long ago, but who the hell would've guessed they'd run into each other this perfectly in the middle of the night? And get recognized at a glance too!

The more you fear something, the more it comes true. It had always been like this for him, ever since he was little.

Getting caught crossdressing by a roommate he'd lived with for nearly three years was unbearably humiliating. But for the mission, he could only force down the shame for now.

An Han tried hard to keep a straight face and walked toward Long Xing expressionlessly. Since he'd already been recognized, there was no point hiding anymore. Better to bribe him into keeping quiet while he had the chance.

"You..."

Long Xing, who had been drunk a second ago, instantly perked up. He straightened his body, puffed out his chest, ran a hand through his hair, and put on his most handsome pose.

Then he asked gently, "Miss, what a coincidence. You heading back to the dorm too?"

"???"

An Han, who had just walked up to him, was completely dumbfounded.

He stared at Long Xing blankly. At that moment, his brain stopped working.

What the hell? What is this? What girl?

An Han stood there in a daze, only to see Long Xing lean closer.

"Miss, what's your name? I'm Long Xing. My friends usually call me Brother Long."

So you didn't recognize me at all?!

Then why the hell were you staring at me for several minutes?!

Now he didn't dare say a word. The second he opened his mouth, he'd definitely be exposed as a man.

So he put on a guarded look, crossed his arms over his chest, took two steps back, and shook his head hard.

"Don't be scared. I'm not a bad guy."

Long Xing gave him a warm, sunny smile.

Then An Han's gaze dropped to the large tattoos showing beneath his short sleeves. After that, he looked at the buzz cut that made him look like some ex-convict.

Long Xing was definitely the handsome, sturdy type, whether it was his face or his build. But no matter how you looked at him, his vibe screamed dangerous.

Back when they first started freshman year, An Han had genuinely thought this guy was some former street boss who'd turned over a new leaf and fallen in love with studying. That was why he'd respectfully started calling him Brother Long.

Long Xing smoothed his hair again, flashed a row of bright white teeth, and put on his most harmless smile.

Even though his features were upright and decent, smiling only made him look more like a mob enforcer from a crime drama.

Doesn't it hurt to keep rubbing that stubble of yours?

An Han silently moved another two steps away, slipped past Long Xing, and continued toward the school's back gate.

It was already deep into the night. All the school's entrances had been locked shut. If he wanted to get back in, climbing the wall was the only option.

He skillfully made his way to the fence by the back gate and looked around for the stepping stone usually left there.

"That stone got moved."

Long Xing stubbornly followed behind him.

When did that happen? How come I didn't know?

An Han turned back in confusion, only to see Long Xing spread his hands helplessly.

"Otherwise I'd already be inside."

The school's iron fence was probably over two meters high. At least with An Han's jumping ability, he couldn't even reach the top. And even if he could, he didn't have the strength to haul himself over.

Long Xing probably could've done it.

But he was drunk.

"Miss, how about we work together?" Long Xing edged closer with a shameless grin. "I'll get you up first, then you pull me up?"

No wonder Long Xing was being so proactive tonight. Usually, this guy barely spoke around girls. In all these years, he hadn't made a single female friend.

An Han looked up at him and stayed silent, not knowing what to do.

If he wanted to finish the mission, he had to get back to the dorm. But if he wanted to get back, he'd have to risk exposing himself and work with Long Xing to climb back into school.

He absolutely couldn't speak.

An Han instantly understood the key issue here.

As long as he didn't talk, in the middle of the night, even if his crossdressing wasn't exactly flawless, he could still probably bluff his way through under cover of darkness. Especially with Long Xing drunk like this.

But if he spoke, Long Xing would definitely recognize his voice.

So he pressed his lips together and nodded hard.

"Miss, why aren't you talking?" Long Xing asked, clearly puzzled. "Don't tell me you're mute?"

Can you even talk like a normal person?

An Han really had been about to use being mute as an excuse. But now that Long Xing had said it first, using that excuse himself would feel way too deliberate.

Without thinking much more, he took a step back and kept staring at Long Xing with the same wary caution. His eyes moved back and forth between the tattoos on Long Xing's arm and that buzz cut.

He tried hard to recall how heroines in TV dramas looked when they ran into villains by chance. That pitiful, frightened expression. He even secretly pinched the soft flesh at his waist, and his eyes instantly reddened.

"I really am not a bad guy!"

Long Xing was getting anxious. "Aren't you trying to get back to the dorm? I can't get in either. If the two of us climb over together, won't it be easier?"

His words were slurred, and even standing there, he swayed unsteadily from side to side.

An Han hesitated, then nodded.

He really did need Long Xing's help to get back to the dorm. It was way too late. The school guards weren't going to kindly open the gate for him.

"An Han?"

He instinctively looked up, only to find Long Xing studying him curiously. The shock made him quickly turn his head away again, hiding his face in the shadow of the streetlamp.

His heart pounded wildly. His toes curled tight inside his shoes. His throat was dry. At this point, he was already thinking about how to explain his crossdressing to his roommate.

Should he just cleanly admit he's a pervert? It wasn't like they'd be surprised anyway.

"The moment I saw you, I thought you looked a lot like my roommate. I almost thought he'd snuck out in the middle of the night to crossdress."

Long Xing scratched the back of his head and laughed awkwardly.

"You're not his relative or something, are you?"

"..."

"Why haven't you said a single word this whole time?" Long Xing muttered. Then he turned and walked to the fence by the back gate. "Come here. Step on me first and climb up, then pull me."

An Han hurried over, only to see Long Xing already crouching half-squat with his back against the fence.

"This..."

Maybe he was getting older. He just felt like this kind of thing was too dangerous. Back when he was a kid, he would've dared jump down from three meters up without a second thought.

"Hurry up," Long Xing urged.

An Han grabbed the bars tightly with both hands and carefully placed one foot on Long Xing's bent thigh, held parallel to the ground.

Okay... pretty stable...

Long Xing's eyes were immediately drawn to the little leather shoes under the girl's feet. His gaze traveled up from the shoes to those delicate ankles, then to the shapely, slender calves, and then to the evenly full thighs with that subtle softness to them.

His arms inevitably brushed against An Han's legs. The smooth feel of the black stockings made the heart of this lifelong single man tremble.

While he was distracted, Long Xing suddenly felt the weight on him lighten. He looked up and realized An Han had already climbed to the top and was now sitting astride the fence, looking down at him.

"Pull me up."

He stood, jumped hard, and grabbed the top of the wall with both hands. But after drinking, he didn't have the strength to keep climbing.

An Han, however, jumped down from the top without even looking back and walked away.

"Holy crap! Help me out here!" Long Xing wailed at the carefree figure leaving on the other side of the fence. "You can't forget your roots as a person!"

Help my ass! If I help you get in, how am I supposed to get back to the dorm?!