Any Closer and I'll Lose Control - Chapter 14

“I wasn’t running,” Meng Tang protested, forced to stop when Wei Chuan blocked her path.

“Been out stealing?” Wei Chuan chuckled, glancing at the guy behind her. “Why do you look so guilty?”

“Not at all.” Meng Tang’s eyes darted around, deliberately avoiding his gaze, a clear case of protesting too much. “I was just in a hurry to carve something for you.”

Wei Chuan was about to ask if her hand could even handle a knife when the guy barged in dramatically:

“The senior’s hand is injured; she can’t use a knife. Who do you think you are, acting so entitled?”

“Excuse me,” Wei Chuan looked down at him. “Who are you?”

“I’m-”

“Who you are doesn’t matter to me,” Wei Chuan cut him off with a scoff. “I didn’t ask you to do anything, so why are you butting in?”

“Senior is the treasure of our department. Our professor said-”

“If she’s your department’s treasure, not yours, why are you so worked up?” Wei Chuan sneered. “I was the one who took her to the hospital when she got hurt, which means I saved your department’s treasure. Is this how you treat a savior?”

The junior: “…What kind of robber’s logic is that?”

“I’ve been like this since I was a kid,” Wei Chuan shot back.

“Then you must’ve gotten beaten up a lot.”

Wei Chuan: “You-”

“Alright, you can go first,” Meng Tang interjected, afraid they’d come to blows. She turned to the junior. “I still have something to do.”

The junior glared at Wei Chuan before bidding Meng Tang goodbye with a sudden change in tone.

“Why did you act like that toward him?” Meng Tang’s awkwardness faded amid their childish exchange.

Wei Chuan: “Don’t you like Xu Heqing? I thought you were avoiding me because you’d moved on. I had to give my bro another shot.”

No wonder he’d been so aggressive.

Meng Tang: “…What nonsense are you talking about?”

Wei Chuan was adamant: “It’s not nonsense. You were definitely avoiding me.”

Meng Tang, flustered: “I really wasn’t.”

Wei Chuan continued, undeterred: “And you said you’d treat me to another meal alone. Seems like someone’s already forgotten all about it.”

“I’ll treat you,” Meng Tang relented, exasperated. “When are you free?”

Wei Chuan answered immediately: “Now.”

Meng Tang was stunned: “Now?”

“What, not possible?” Wei Chuan gave her a look that said, See? You’ve moved on.

Meng Tang: “…Then what do you want to eat?”

Victorious, Wei Chuan smirked: “Any cafeteria is fine.”

“The cafeteria?” She’d thought he’d pick something fancier.

“Yeah.” Wei Chuan’s voice carried a hint of exhaustion. “I’ll rest after eating.”

If he was so tired, why waste energy bickering with her?

Meng Tang sighed inwardly and turned to lead the way. “Let’s go then. What have you been up to these days?”

“Mock competitions,” Wei Chuan grumbled. “Organized by a few schools. More exhausting than the actual matches. Just a grassroots event, yet everyone’s trying to spy on others’ tactics while hiding their own.”

Meng Tang stayed quiet, letting him vent.

When they reached the cafeteria, it was still relatively empty. They picked a corner table and sat down.

Wei Chuan ordered noodles and started wolfing them down the moment they arrived, making Meng Tang wonder if his coach had been starving him.

Halfway through, he slowed down.

Seizing the moment, Meng Tang asked, “You’re so busy, no wonder you don’t have time for relationships. Aren’t you afraid Lingyin might already have a boyfriend by the time you confess?”

Wei Chuan scoffed: “Look who’s talking. You’re no better.”

Why did the conversation shift to her again? Meng Tang closed her mouth and buried herself in her meal.

Better not meddle in others’ affairs.

Seeing her lack of response, Wei Chuan said, “I was wondering if you actually like Xu Heqing.”

“What do you mean?” Meng Tang looked up.

Wei Chuan: “Your only interaction with Xu Heqing was when he took you to the hospital. You wouldn’t mistake gratitude for affection, would you?”

“I absolutely wouldn’t,” Meng Tang replied stiffly. “What about you? You say you like Lingyin, but you didn’t even know she was upset.”

“What happened to her?” Wei Chuan seized the opportunity to ask.

Meng Tang: “It’s a family matter. I can’t really tell you, but I can say she’s coming home with me for National Day.”

“Coming home with you?” Wei Chuan finished the last bite of his noodles. “Where are you from?”

“Yanqing.”

“A beautiful place where mountains meet the sea.”

Meng Tang was surprised. “You’ve been there?”

“Passed by, never visited.” Wei Chuan’s eyes curved slightly. “I’d like to go someday.”

Meng Tang gave a nonchalant “Oh” in response.

The noodles at the first floor of the North Canteen were famously delicious. Meng Tang had ordered a small portion, and there was still some broth left. She picked up her spoon and took a sip.

“By the way, did you look me up?” Wei Chuan finished his meal, pulled out his phone, and scrolled through it. “No new followers. You didn’t just glance and move on, did you?”

“Cough, cough-” Meng Tang choked on her broth, just like Yang Ke had that day.

Her face visibly flushed red in an instant. Wei Chuan found it amusing. “What did I say?”

“You didn’t just glance and move on, did you?”

The words Wei Chuan had just spoken suddenly replayed in Meng Tang’s mind. She abruptly stood up, stammering, “I-I have something to do. I-I have to go.”

Wei Chuan sat there for a while, unable to figure out what he had said wrong, then awkwardly got up and returned to his dorm.

The dorm was on the third floor. He climbed the stairs in a few strides and happened to see Xu Heqing leaving the room.

“Where are you going?” Wei Chuan asked casually.

“Got some things to take care of,” Xu Heqing replied.

Wei Chuan didn’t press further but slung an arm around him and walked a few steps toward the end of the hallway, stopping near the stairwell. “Going home for National Day?”

“Maybe.” Xu Heqing answered absentmindedly.

Wei Chuan: “What does ‘maybe’ mean?”

Xu Heqing: “It means I could go or not.”

“I have a three-day break,” Wei Chuan seized the opportunity. “How about we tell the other two and go somewhere?”

“Li Zhuo is going out with his girlfriend,” Xu Heqing glanced at Wei Chuan. “Liang Heng already bought his ticket home.”

“That fast?” Wei Chuan muttered. “Then it’s just the two of us. I have three days off, you know how it is. Three women make a drama, and my house has five, counting my mom and aunt. I don’t feel like going back to listen to their chatter.”

Xu Heqing teased him, “Not my problem.”

“Are we brothers or not?” Wei Chuan punched him lightly.

“Fine, where do you want to go?” Xu Heqing asked with a smile.

“How about Yanqing?”

“Why there?”

Wei Chuan explained, “I ran into Meng Tang today and talked about the holiday. She mentioned Xie Lingyin is going back with her. I’ve never been to Yanqing, so I thought it might be nice. It’s not far anyway.”

Xu Heqing frowned. So that’s what Xie Lingyin had called about?

“Are we going or not? Give me a straight answer.”

“You’re going for someone, aren’t you?” Xu Heqing mercilessly called him out. “And dragging me along.”

Wei Chuan was unashamed. When his friend pointed it out, he admitted openly, “So, are you coming or not?”

“Fine, I’ll go with you.”

Wei Chuan was delighted and gave Xu Heqing a hearty slap on the shoulder. “Good brother.”

“Get lost, you hit so hard.”

Wei Chuan chuckled a couple of times, saying he wouldn’t keep him from his business, then turned away, lowering his head to pull out his phone.

Meng Tang gathered her clothes for a shower, Xie Lingyin had already left.

Shi Lan and Yang Ke weren’t in the dorm tonight either, leaving it unusually quiet.

She undid her hair tie, and as her long hair cascaded down, her phone on the desk buzzed once.

Meng Tang sat down, pulled her chair closer, and turned on the desk lamp.

She froze when she saw the message. Wei Chuan had sent her a smug-looking sticker followed by a text:
[Got a surprise for you.]