HOW TO DEAL WITH A TSUNDERE GONG
Chapter 36 – Facade

While looking at Xu Bai Chuan’s fading figure, Tang Jin pursed his lips and shook out the clothes hugged to his chest.

There was once a time when Xu Bai Chuan would obediently stand there and be hugged by him, but now he could only watch on as the remaining warmth of the jacket gradually dissipated. Tang Jin unhesitatingly took off his overcoat and put on Xu Bai Chuan’s jacket.

That remaining warmth quickly disappeared due to the cold air, and the ice-cold lining touching his skin caused goosebumps to arise. Tang Jin thought: ‘I’m going to warm the jacket this time.’

He inputted Xu Bai Chuan’s birthdate and unlocked the phone. It had a default screensaver and wasn’t in the least bit gaudy.

A message popped up immediately: 【When are you returning?】

The message was sent at 7 p.m. At that time, Tang Jin stood at the neighborhood gates and typed out this line letter by letter.

He called for a taxi to drive to the hotel he had booked. Before entering the taxi, he turned around to look at the name of the neighborhood. Then, he got in the vehicle and left.

Xu Bai Chuan immediately regretted his actions when he arrived home. He had foolishly worried about nothing. Tang Jin wasn’t stupid, would he really have no backup plan? And even if Tang Jin was that stupid, he had many options at the time— He could have benevolently booked a car and hotel room for him, then left him right afterward. How could he still be worried about a big adult like Tang freezing to death outside? What a pity that he had been confused by those masculine charms and made the worst decision.

There were many times when he vaguely felt that Tang Jin somewhat likes him, but reality proved over and over again that his inkling was like the weather forecast: inaccurate 9 out of 10 times. But he wasn’t wrong this time.

Xu Bai Chuan fell asleep with a heavy heart and when he awoke the next day, he felt around on the bedside to habitually check the time. When he didn’t feel anything, he sat up and after looking around, he remembered that his phone was in Tang Jin’s hands. His drowsiness vanished at once.

He got off the bed and opened the curtains to see that the world outside was still dark blue. Venus shined especially bright from the east. His apartment didn’t have a clock and since he wanted to rid himself from the feeling of being pressed for time after he left the Tang household, he didn’t even wear a watch. With no other alternative, he turned on his laptop to check—5 a.m.

He didn’t close the browser the last time he switched off the laptop. Now that the device was connected to wi-fi, a little red dot appeared on the Weibo tab of the browser. After pressing on it, he discovered that a fan had liked every single Weibo post he wrote from beginning to end. Not paying any heed to it, he closed the laptop and went to boil water in the kitchen.

When something is no longer there, it’s presence becomes stronger than ever. Just like how Xu Bai Chuan was no longer by Tang Jin’s side, the phone was no longer in Xu Bai Chuan’s hands.

In this way, he could understand Tang Jin’s feelings a little. While boiling water, he thought of his phone more than 10 times. This was truly strange— Normally when he was writing a novel, reading or exercising, he would not touch his phone for 4-5 hours straight. For instance, when he was at piano school yesterday, he immediately put his phone on silent and set his mind on learning piano. There wasn’t a single time he checked his phone for the whole afternoon…Oh right, he forgot to check whether anyone was looking for him before he gave his phone away.

Forget it. There shouldn’t be anyone looking for him and even if there was, it wouldn’t be for anything urgent.

Xu Bai Chuan brewed a cup of coffee, sat down to read a book and when it was 6 o’clock, he entered his bedroom and put on a jacket to prepare for his morning jog. He never expected to see Tang Jin the moment he pulled open the door.

Wearing Xu Bai Chuan’s jacket from yesterday, Tang Jin’s face was pale, his eyes were bloodshot and his eyes-bags were almost larger than his eyes. The bag in his hand emitted a burst of aroma. Once he saw Xu Bai Chuan, Tang Jin’s serene gaze settled on his face and the hand holding the bag tightened which made a crinkling sound.

The logo on the bag belonged to a breakfast store and though the contents weren’t obvious, there were definitely pan-fried buns inside. From Tang Jin’s manner, Xu Bai Chuan suspected he had robbed a tomb in the depths of the night, stayed up all night to cook a human meat bun for him and was then scared to be found out. Otherwise, there was no other explanation for the vague sense of panic mixed in with his current elation.

Xu Bai Chuan slowly walked out and extended a hand. “Phone.”

Since Tang Jin didn’t move, Xu Bai Chuan was about to repeat himself when he suddenly found that the rim of Tang Jin’s eyes were becoming redder and redder.

Ignoring Xu Bai Chuan’s hand that was hanging in midair, Tang Jin suddenly took a step forward and hugged him without warning. His voice carried a nasal resonance, “I really…like you.”

The author has something to say:
There’s a reason he doesn’t celebrate his birthday ah! I’ll write it in the extras.
Aside from having a cheap mouth, he did everything that needed to be done. It’s true, trust me.

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