Huo Xiao Obviously Likes You

"Cough, cough cough."

Yu Ning's coughing was extremely deliberate.

He glanced at Huo Xiao, his eyes narrowing warily.

He said nothing, yet it seemed as though he had said something.

Huo Xiao shot him a sidelong glance, raised a brow, and smiled without restraint.

As if to say: Mm-hmm, that's right. Got a problem with it?

Si Di was completely bewildered and couldn't help asking, "What kind of coded conversation are you two having?"

Huo Xiao gave a frivolous, perfunctory reply. "Nothing."

When Si Di looked at Yu Ning again, Yu Ning secretly glanced at Huo Xiao.

Then he lowered his head and drank his juice, keeping his mouth firmly shut.

The atmosphere was rather baffling.

Si Di felt like he was the only one being kept in the dark, but he was not the sort to get to the bottom of everything. If others did not want to talk, he would not press the matter.

After resting for a while, the three of them headed back.

With his long legs, Huo Xiao reached the counter first and naturally pulled up his QR code to pay.

Si Di grabbed him. "We agreed to split the bill. Why did you pay for everything? Here, I'll transfer my share to you on WeChat."

As he spoke, he opened WeChat to make the transfer.

But Huo Xiao pressed down on his wrist, lowered his gaze, and said in a tone that brooked no refusal, "Why bother transferring money back and forth? It was only one meal. You can treat me next time."

Si Di had no way to refuse again and could only agree.

The two walked out one after the other. Yu Ning followed behind, looking at Huo Xiao, then at his phone.

Well.

A free meal.

Before leaving, he even grabbed two mints from the counter. After catching up, he offered them to Huo Xiao and Si Di as if they were his own gift.

Huo Xiao did not take one.

Si Di took both.

He had loved candy ever since he was little, though his family had always kept him from eating it.

Luckily, Qin Wei's parents lived next door—they would secretly slip him a few pieces whenever they had the chance.

He tore open the wrappers and popped them into his mouth, puffing out both cheeks.

Si Di mumbled, "Cavities can grow, but life has to be sweet."

Huo Xiao curled his lips in a low laugh, draped an arm over his shoulders, and said with a hint of indulgence in his voice:

"Come on, little hamster."

Back in the dorm.

The three played a few rounds of games. When the 4:50 alarm rang, Si Di suddenly remembered something important.

He pulled out his Pineapple Phone from beneath his pillow, turned it on, and opened WeChat.

He scanned the code with his old device and verified his identity.

Watching WeChat successfully log in on the cracked, battered phone, Si Di nodded in satisfaction. Leaning over the bed rail, he handed the phone to Yu Ning in the lower bunk.

"Ning-baby, do me a favor. When you turn in the phones, take this along with you."

"Happy to help."

Yu Ning took Huo Xiao's phone along as well and trotted off.

A few minutes later, he hurried back nervously and leaned close to Si Di's ear. "This is bad. When I came back after turning in the phones, I heard a staff member passing by say that there'll be a surprise inspection tonight to prevent trainees from hiding backup phones! Di-baby, hurry up and find somewhere to hide yours."

Si Di looked at the Pineapple Phone in his hand.

The dorm was obviously unsafe. After thinking it over, he climbed down from the bed and found a waterproof sealed bag in his suitcase.

He put the phone inside and headed straight for the restroom.

He slipped into the innermost stall, lifted the lid of the toilet tank, tossed the phone in, and then flushed.

—Whoosh.

The water level rose and fell.

The phone sank to the bottom without affecting the water flow.

Si Di put the tank lid back on and clapped his hands with a touch of pride.

"Perfect."

Even an inspection would never think to check the toilet tank.

Si Di secretly congratulated himself.

But Yu Ning jabbed him with his elbow and teased, "You're really going all out for love. If Huo Xiao finds out there's someone in your heart, who knows how mad he'll get."

"???"

Si Di had been about to leave after hiding his phone.

His hand was on the stall door, but after hearing that, he pulled it back.

Si Di was puzzled. "What does me dating someone have to do with Huo Xiao?"

Yu Ning pursed his lips and innocently raised both hands, wearing an expression that said, I know, but I don't want to tell you.

The two stared at each other for several seconds.

Only when he saw Si Di frown did Yu Ning click his tongue helplessly.

He leaned closer and whispered, "Huo Xiao likes you so obviously, and you still haven't noticed?"

Huo Xiao?

Liked him?

Si Di's brain crashed. After a long while, he finally said, "How is that possible? Did Huo Xiao ever say anything or do anything? Yu Ning, are you misunderstanding something?"

"Misunderstanding my ass!"

Yu Ning shot him a look of exasperation. "You're usually such a smart person. Why are you so dense when it comes to feelings?"

"Actually, I thought something was off during yesterday's theme song evaluation. Think about it—Huo Xiao is usually so arrogant. When other people talk to him, he either ignores them or responds with cold sarcasm. Even when his manager brought him over before filming, he spoke to his manager coldly."

"But yesterday, you openly challenged him. What did he say? With his personality, he should have just given you a cold glance and ignored you with that lofty attitude. But he didn't. Not only did he respond to you, he said he would wait for you at the top."

When they had come to the restroom to hide the phone, they had checked that there was no one else inside.

The surroundings were quiet.

They had not heard anyone else come in either.

Yu Ning had no reservations. Though he kept his voice low, he spoke boldly and confidently. "Think about it carefully. Waiting for you at the top—does that sound like he sees you as an opponent? He clearly sees you as a partner!"

Si Di listened very seriously.

After thinking about it, he still did not believe it. "What's wrong with being partners? Huo Xiao probably responded because I was the only trainee who dared to challenge him, so maybe he sees me as both a rival and a friend?"

"Bullshit!"

Yu Ning swore decisively and poked Si Di in the forehead with One Yang Finger. "Are you stupid? Even if you couldn't tell from the theme song evaluation, you should've figured it out during lunch today!"

Si Di's face was full of question marks.

"...No wonder you're so capable professionally. So you traded away your emotional intelligence for it. Fine, fine. Let this love expert enlighten you."

Like a master pretending to be profound, Yu Ning patted Si Di's shoulder and said, "At lunch, Huo Xiao acted casual, but he was actually testing you the whole time."

"He asked what exactly was going on between you and Qin Wei because he saw Qin Wei as an imagined romantic rival."

"He said he was easy to get along with and told you about all his living habits because he wanted to close the distance between you two."

"As for asking whether your company had a dating ban, he was laying the groundwork for the future."

"Most importantly, after learning that your company did not forbid its artists from dating, Huo Xiao looked so pleased that he couldn't hide it. He even openly told you that his company didn't restrict artists from dating either. What did that mean? He was practically telling you that if the two of you got together, there would be no obstacles at all!"

Si Di's head buzzed.

After listening to Yu Ning's lengthy analysis, he struggled to squeeze out one sentence. "Why would guys have so many twists and turns? If they dislike someone, they fight. If they like someone, they chase them. Yu Ning, aren't you reading too much into this?"

"..."

Yu Ning was furious.

These days, being a teacher really was not easy.

When you met a student who just would not get it, they could give you a stroke!

The two stared at each other. After a few seconds, Si Di said blandly, "This stall is too small. How about we go outside and talk?"

Yu Ning nearly spat out a mouthful of blood. He took a deep breath and pushed open the door as he angrily said:

"Who wants to keep talking to you? You idiot, your brain just won't work. Huo Xiao is practically one step away from directly telling you he likes you, and you still can't see—"

His voice cut off abruptly.

Yu Ning took one step out of the stall, then stopped short. Staring blankly at the man calmly washing his hands by the sink, he gulped.

"Q-Qin PD..."