After Becoming Arch-Enemies with My Best Bro - Chapter 16

Inside the Go Club’s activity room, Wen Huihan was twirling a pen. He appeared to be listening to the president’s speech, but in reality, his mind had checked out quite a while ago.

This was the first general meeting after recruiting new members. He was attending in his capacity as vice president, while He Chenshuang had been summoned by a professor and couldn’t make it.

Wen Huihan had requested a leave of absence on He Chenshuang’s behalf and came by himself.

Sitting in his seat, he reflected on his “homosexual behavioral trial” from yesterday. The more he thought about it, the more he felt he simply wasn’t being “gay” enough.

He Chenshuang was sensitive to gay men in general, yet he wasn’t sensitive to him. This suggested that as a novice, makeshift gay man, Wen Huihan hadn’t yet grasped the essence of the craft. He wasn’t “gay” enough to strike fear into He Chenshuang’s heart.

That made sense, though. Wen Huihan had been a straight man for twenty years, after all, and everyone needs time to grow. He felt he had untapped potential and a massive amount of room for improvement.

“Why so distracted?”

Wen Huihan turned around to find a girl sitting down beside him, striking up a conversation with a beaming smile.

He smiled back. “President.”

The person talking to him was indeed the president of the Go Club, Lin Mengling.

She had noticed him spacing out earlier, so as soon as she finished her speech, she came over to check on the club’s pillar of support.

Lin Mengling teased, “Is it because He Chenshuang isn’t here?”

Wen Huihan nodded. “Yeah.”

He was debating whether his next move should be a gradual, step-by-step approach, or if he should just go for broke and give He Chenshuang a passionate confession.

The former would allow him to develop quietly and learn from his failures, whereas the latter might lead to a physical brawl with He Chenshuang. The risk factor was significantly higher.

Lin Mengling hadn’t expected him to admit it so readily. She blinked before following up, “You two really do have a great relationship.”

Wen Huihan replied, “Actually, it hasn’t been great lately.”

He had just been pondering how to “gay” He Chenshuang up to show him the true sinister nature of humanity.

“I don’t buy that. You’ve only been apart for a little while and you’re already pining,” Lin Mengling said, not believing a word of it. His expression didn’t look like someone in the middle of a fight, he looked more clingy than her and her boyfriend.

Speaking of which, she had once misunderstood the relationship between Wen Huihan and He Chenshuang. She’d felt it was a bit rude to assume, but who could blame her? These two were inseparable every single day.

He Chenshuang looked like such a cool, aloof guy, yet he was at Wen Huihan’s beck and call with just a single word. Who wouldn’t misunderstand that kind of contrast?

It was only later, when she realized things didn’t seem to be what she thought, that she gradually suppressed the idea. But looking at them now, why did it feel “off” again?

Lin Mengling thought to herself that she certainly wouldn’t be sighing just because she hadn’t seen her best friend for forty minutes.

“Anyway, you were spacing out and missed it, so I’ll just send the file to you. It’s the itinerary for this club activity I planned. Let me know if you have any suggestions.”

Lin Mengling sent him a file over WeChat.

“Thanks. I’ll definitely pay attention next time.”

“Give it a rest. Don’t think I don’t know that He Chenshuang used to be the one listening during meetings, and then he’d give you a private summary afterward.”

Wen Huihan looked shocked as he opened WeChat. “Did he?”

Lin Mengling replied, “He did.”

As soon as Wen Huihan received the file, he immediately forwarded it to He Chenshuang and relayed Lin Mengling’s instructions.

The action was so reflexive that he didn’t even have the confidence to argue with Lin Mengling anymore.

Fine, it seemed she was telling the truth. He Chenshuang really was better at Go than him and could always offer solid advice.

Wen Huihan muttered defensively, “President, my contribution to the club isn’t small either, right?”

Lin Mengling nodded. That was true. Wen Huihan’s contributions weren’t to be underestimated.

First, purely by virtue of his handsome face, he had single-handedly raised the aesthetic average of the entire Go Club and attracted a fair share of “face-con” members. On top of that, he was always at the front lines during club activities, overflowing with energy that naturally boosted everyone’s mood.

He truly was the perfect model of a sunny, handsome guy.

Of course, his most important contribution was bringing He Chenshuang along as a “plus-one.” With two top-tier heartthrobs in their ranks, the Go Club had been the center of attention for the past few years.

Lin Mengling patted Wen Huihan on the shoulder with maternal affection and said sincerely, “Our club really couldn’t do without you!”

Flattered by the praise, Wen Huihan squinted and gave a satisfied smile.

“President, your profile picture is pretty cute. Did you draw it yourself?”

Wen Huihan’s phone was still on the WeChat interface. He noticed that Lin Mengling’s avatar looked hand-drawn and quite unique.

“You noticed! Does it look good?” Lin Mengling said. “It’s a matching couple profile picture I drew for me and my boyfriend.”

Wen Huihan zoomed in on the image. “It looks great! President, could you draw a pair for me too? I’ll pay.”

The moment he heard “couple profile pictures,” his gears started turning again.

Couple profile pictures, as the name implied, were only for couples. If he proactively invited He Chenshuang to use them together, He Chenshuang would definitely think he had an ulterior motive.

Imagine a “bro” suddenly wanting to use matching couple pictures with you, it would be incredibly eerie and suspicious no matter how you looked at it.

Lin Mengling felt her brow twitch. “This is so sudden. Are you in a relationship?”

What was going on? Was the “ship” she was rooting for about to sink?

Wait, no, she had just liked Wen Huihan’s social media post a few days ago where he claimed he was swearing off love forever.

What had happened in just a few short days? She desperately wanted to know.

“Not yet, but I have the intention.” Wen Huihan didn’t reveal who he was planning to use them with. Since the couple pictures wouldn’t actually be used anyway, he just wanted them to freak He Chenshuang out.

Lin Mengling replied, “Alright then. Don’t worry about the money, it won’t take long. Just consider it a club perk.”

She was an Art major and took commissions regularly. Drawing a simple, low-tech avatar was child’s play for her.

Wen Huihan was deeply moved. “Thank you, President!”

He gave Lin Mengling a brief description of the style he wanted. First, draw him, and then draw him leading a dog.

The dog, of course, was for He Chenshuang.

Lin Mengling’s expression became hard to describe. “Is your relationship… legitimate?”

There were many “funny” matching couple pictures like this online, but the puppy was usually reserved for the guy.

She looked at Wen Huihan. How could a guy with such a handsome face and a great personality be so “bad” to a girl, making her use a dog avatar?

Wen Huihan asked cautiously, “What’s wrong, President? Is it too insulting? If it doesn’t work, you can draw the dog to look cooler. Just base it on He Chenshuang, draw it like a dog with a human face.”

Lin Mengling: “…”

Was it possible that drawing a human-faced dog was actually more insulting?

The sheer amount of information was a bit much. She needed to digest this before picking up her stylus, while also figuring out how to make a dog look like He Chenshuang.

Dear Lord, was her “ship” sinking or not?

Lin Mengling smoothed her brow. “Just leave it to me.”

Wen Huihan was very supportive. “Great, I’m really looking forward to it.”

After leaving the activity room, Wen Huihan planned to meet up with He Chenshuang. He had just asked on WeChat when he would be finished, and He Chenshuang had replied instantly, telling him to come over.

On the way, Wen Huihan picked up two cups of milk tea and headed toward the teaching building.

He was walking with his head down, scrolling through his phone. Since there weren’t many people around at this hour, he didn’t pay much attention to what was in front of him. After a while, he walked straight into someone, milk tea and all.

He quickly took two steps back. Before he could even get the word “sorry” out, he met He Chenshuang’s slightly amused eyes.

Wen Huihan immediately retracted his apology. “Damn, why didn’t you say anything?”

He Chenshuang raised an eyebrow. “I wanted to see if you would actually walk into me.”

Give me a break, you just wanted to see me make a fool of myself, Wen Huihan thought with a cold huff.

“For me?”

The milk tea was taken from his hand, and He Chenshuang took a sip without any hesitation.

Wen Huihan tried to gross him out on purpose. “I spat in that.”

He Chenshuang took another sip. “Mh. No wonder it tastes so good.”

Wen Huihan: “…”

Keep acting tough. Once I fully deploy my ‘gay domain,’ you won’t be able to escape even if you beg me on your knees.

Neither of them had any more classes, so they walked toward the dorms side-by-side.

Wen Huihan wanted to go back and watch some shows. He had searched for several “pure love” BL anime online and planned to hide under his covers to “observe and learn.”

Vincent had told him he should just watch adult gay films. Wen Huihan was once again shocked by the bluntness of gay men. After some thought, he decided to take it slow.

Mainly, even if he watched those, he couldn’t exactly use them on He Chenshuang. He should probably stick to something “wholesome” in the dorm.

As Wen Huihan was lost in thought, He Chenshuang said casually, “What are your plans for National Day? I bought tickets.”

“Going home, what else… wait, tickets for what?”

Wen Huihan immediately whipped his head around. Seeing his confused look, He Chenshuang simply handed him his phone.

He leaned in to look and found they were tickets for the e-sports tournament he wanted to see most, and there were two of them.

“When did you snag these?” Wen Huihan looked at He Chenshuang in shock, forgetting to drink the milk tea at his lips.

The corners of He Chenshuang’s mouth curved slightly. “Half a month ago.”

“Wait, then why didn’t you say anything? Why keep it such a secret?”

“Forgot.”

Wen Huihan was truly speechless. How could he forget something like that?

As a long-time e-sports fan, he had always wanted to see a match live to experience the atmosphere.

Unfortunately, the tickets were notoriously hard to get. He had failed every single time, yet He Chenshuang, who never even followed e-sports, had managed to grab them. What kind of god-tier hand speed was that?

But since He Chenshuang got them, it was the same as him getting them. He decided to forgive the world for three minutes.

“How much were they? I’ll transfer the money to you.”

“Not much, don’t worry about it.”

Young Master He didn’t care about the cost, it was just a casual favor. But business was business, Wen Huihan wouldn’t take advantage of him, so he looked up the price and sent it over WeChat.

Whether He Chenshuang accepted it or not was his own business.

Wen Huihan bumped his shoulder hard against He Chenshuang’s. “To show my gratitude, I’ll give you a surprise tonight.”

“A surprise?” Disbelief was written all over He Chenshuang’s face. “Make sure it isn’t a shock.”

Wen Huihan claimed it was impossible, but in reality, it very well might be a shock.

That evening, he received the two avatars from Lin Mengling. They were indeed lifelike.

His own was exceptionally handsome and realistic. As for the dog one, it was actually drawn to look quite majestic, cool, and handsome.

What was that supposed to mean? Did He Chenshuang have such a good image in the President’s eyes?

He stared wide-eyed, trying to find traces of He Chenshuang in the puppy avatar. Finally, Lin Mengling gave him the answer.

[Lin Mengling: You wouldn’t know, would you? Didn’t you notice the puppy has been looking at you the whole time? It’s exactly like He Chenshuang!]

[Darkened Wen: …]

Really? I don’t believe it for a second.

Whatever. He Chenshuang wouldn’t use it anyway, it was just meant to provoke him.

Wen Huihan thanked Lin Mengling profusely on WeChat, then opened his chat with He Chenshuang, pondering an opening line.

What was He Chenshuang doing right now?

He poked his head out to look. He Chenshuang was grinding through practice problems again. In the entire dorm, he was the only one who seemed to have zero free time.

Wen Huihan reflected for a moment and decided he would go to the library to work hard tomorrow.

For now, the most important task was to give He Chenshuang a “taste of his own medicine.”

He stared at the chat interface for a long time, still not knowing how to start. After all, spoken words leave no trace, but text messages create a record. He was afraid he’d find it cringey if he looked back on it later.

Even worse, it could be used as blackmail by He Chenshuang. In the end, Wen Huihan decided to just “shoot his shot.” Why bother with an opening line? He’d just speak from the heart.

[Darkened Wen: Use this as your profile picture. Surprise!]

He sent the two images over.

After sending them, he didn’t even look closely. He flipped his phone over and bolted into the bathroom.

He Chenshuang’s phone vibrated a few times on the desk. He picked it up, took a look, and raised an eyebrow.

Just then, he noticed Wen Huihan’s figure fleeing in a hurry and couldn’t help but chuckle.

Five minutes later, Wen Huihan sauntered out of the bathroom as if nothing had happened. He had composed himself.

He was a man destined to become the King of Gays. If he could say such gay things yesterday, why should he be afraid of He Chenshuang having some leverage?

What a joke.

Wen Huihan picked up his phone nonchalantly, intending to see how He Chenshuang had replied.

 “Quote: [Image]”

[He-the-Great:?]

Why the question mark? Scared stiff by my genius move, aren’t you?

Wen Huihan smiled slightly, but the smile quickly froze on his face.

Wait, something was wrong with that image.

Wen Huihan’s eyes widened. He had sent the wrong picture!

He had accidentally sent a selfie to He Chenshuang!

The selfie was one he’d taken on the high-speed rail. He’d wanted to mimic a villain from a drama and had taken several photos with exaggeratedly “sinister” expressions, then forgotten to delete them.

Wen Huihan frantically tried to unsend it, but the window had already closed. He Chenshuang’s next message appeared like a ghost haunting him.

[He-the-Great: You could be a child model]

Wen Huihan: “…”

I didn’t ask for your critique!

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