Desk-mate, Do You Like Me? - Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Although they had exams these two days, the two still couldn’t escape their fate of cleaning the toilets.

Xu Qing planned to use the time he would normally spend eating to clean the toilet so he could nap afterward. Seeing that Xu Qing wasn’t eating, Li Mo also decided not to eat and followed him back to the dorm.

Li Mo took out two mops from the storage room, handing one to Xu Qing and keeping the other.

“Ugh—I really don’t want to clean the toilet anymore—” Li Mo cried out to the heavens. It wasn’t that he was too precious to do manual labor, but the scene in the toilets every day was so horrific that his appetite had significantly decreased.

In contrast, Xu Qing was completely unaffected, eating heartily and even calmly taking out a Snickers bar from his pocket to hand to Li Mo in the toilet.

It wasn’t that Li Mo didn’t want to eat it; he literally couldn’t bring himself to do it…

“Bear with it. We’ll be free in another week.” Xu Qing patted Li Mo’s shoulder, an obvious comfort that failed to work.

Another week… Li Mo had never felt time stretch out so long.

“Li Mo?”

At the doorway, Bai Sheng looked at Li Mo in surprise.

Li Mo was half-heartedly mopping the floor. He was about to ask Bai Sheng why he was there when he remembered that he and Xu Qing started cleaning from the fourth floor, but wasn’t Bai Sheng’s dorm on the fifth floor?

“The faucet on the fifth floor is broken.” As if sensing Li Mo’s confusion, Bai Sheng thoughtfully explained.

Although there was a separate sink in the dorm room, all four people in the dorm needed to use it, and Bai Sheng couldn’t win the scramble.

Li Mo gave an “Oh” of realization and joked: “Then you wash up. You can help me wipe the sink when you’re done.”

“Okay.” Bai Sheng agreed without any hesitation. He turned his head and saw Xu Qing, who was mopping the floor in the stall, staring at them darkly.

Bai Sheng frowned and asked: “What are you doing here?”

Clearly, Xu Qing didn’t want to speak to him.

Li Mo explained: “I ran into his dorm, and it happened to be when Director Yu was checking rooms, so he made us clean the washroom together, the third and fourth floors. We have to do it until next week.”

Bai Sheng hummed, his eyes darkening: “Then where will you rest later?”

Li Mo pointed at Xu Qing’s hardworking back and smiled: “His dorm. It’s quite empty.”

“…”

Bai Sheng glanced at Xu Qing. It was impossible for him not to have heard the conversation, yet he didn’t say a single word of rebuttal.

Could it be… that Xu Qing is planning to make a move on Li Mo?

Even the most oblivious person could sense the friction between Xu Qing and Bai Sheng. Li Mo quietly leaned in and whispered: “What happened between you and Xu Qing? The sparks flying between you two really intrigue me.”

“Nothing much, just a simple dislike. He’s always been above me, after all.” Bai Sheng didn’t want to elaborate. He smiled at Li Mo and walked in to wash up.

Li Mo had a hunch it wasn’t that simple, but since the other person wasn’t talking, he couldn’t keep pressing.

“Qing Qing~” Li Mo squeezed into the stall Xu Qing was in. Two grown men squeezed into one stall, their bodies very close.

Xu Qing was irritated. He pointed at the toilet bowl: “Do you want a bite?”

Li Mo: “…Qing Qing, don’t say such disgusting things so calmly.”

“You think it’s disgusting, yet you squeezed in here?” It was already a bit stuffy today, and with Li Mo pressing close, Xu Qing was already sweating from the heat. “It’s hot and stinky, can you please get out, man?”

“I have something to ask you.” Li Mo directly grabbed Xu Qing’s diligently mopping hand, leaned down slightly, and whispered into Xu Qing’s ear: “Are you and Bai Yueguang… star-crossed or sworn enemies?”

“…”

Xu Qing looked up, staring at Li Mo as if he were an idiot: “That’s all you wanted to ask?”

“I’m curious. I just feel like there’s a story between you two.”

Li Mo’s intuition was accurate. There was indeed a story between Xu Qing and Bai Sheng, but how could Xu Qing easily tell him?

“Go ask your Bai Yueguang,” Xu Qing directly pushed Li Mo out.

Seeing that the stall door was locked, Li Mo shrugged: “Qing Qing, you still say you’re not jealous. Don’t worry, we have the best relationship.”

There weren’t many people in the washroom. Bai Sheng finished brushing his teeth, spat out a mouthful of water, and asked Li Mo: “Are you and Xu Qing… together?”

Li Mo didn’t catch the double meaning. He thought Bai Sheng was asking if Xu Qing was still there: “Always together, yeah. He’s right in that stall.”

Bai Sheng: “…Ah, um, that’s good.”

Is Li Mo too innocent? But his tone when flirting is quite practiced.

It wasn’t that Li Mo was too innocent; he simply hadn’t considered the possibility of a romantic relationship between two boys.

He hadn’t even had a girlfriend, let alone a boyfriend.

After milking the clock for a long time, Li Mo couldn’t let Xu Qing do all the work. Li Mo sped up and finished cleaning the other side of the toilet.

Xu Qing also finished just then. He glanced at the still-dawdling Bai Sheng, and said to Li Mo: “Let’s go downstairs.”

“Got it.” Li Mo waved at Bai Sheng. “We’re leaving, Bai Yueguang.”

They had just started cleaning the third floor when the lunch break bell rang. Xu Qing sighed, thinking he wouldn’t get a proper nap again today.

Li Mo stood at the door of a certain stall, intently staring at the door panel.

Xu Qing thought he was grossed out and walked over to look: “Someone smeared…”

Li Mo quickly covered Xu Qing’s mouth, genuinely afraid that Xu Qing’s uncensored mouth would say something that would make him lose his appetite.

Xu Qing then looked at the door panel.

On the yellowing white door panel, a line was written in black marker: SSY, be a good boy, stay there, I’m coming for you. Please reply when you see this~

Xu Qing commented: “That sentence is too cringey…”

Li Mo didn’t think so: “It’s alright… Don’t you want to know who SSY is?”

Xu Qing firmly said: “No.”

“Song Shuyao? Song Shihan?” Li Mo made excited guesses. “Aiya, just hearing the name makes me think it’s a cute little girl.”

Hehe…

Xu Qing ruthlessly burst Li Mo’s bubble: “Hey, this is the boys’ dorm. Didn’t you see the part that says ‘Please reply when you see this’?”

Li Mo: “…”

It couldn’t be what I’m thinking, could it…? No way, no way, no way?!

A gay man is this close to me!

“Then this SSY…”

Xu Qing coughed: “Knowing too much isn’t necessarily a good thing.”

…Wow, I don’t even know how to describe this.

Li Mo felt it was necessary for him to learn about the male x male community.

“Hurry up and mop. I need to sleep.” Xu Qing handed him a rag, indicating that he should wipe the graffiti off.

“It’s a shame to wipe it off…”

Li Mo’s attention was still on the three letters “SSY.” He reached for the rag but couldn’t quite grab it. Without paying attention, his foot slipped.

The entire floor heard a heavy thump.

In the afternoon, Li Mo headed straight to the exam room. Unluckily, he ran into Tang Dawei on the way.

“Brother Mo, at noon today…” That huge noise came from the washroom. Tang Dawei knew only Li Mo and Xu Qing, the two who were being punished, were there at that time.

Looking at Li Mo, the corner of his school vest was torn, and there were two long, conspicuous red marks on his arm. His ear tips were red enough to drip blood.

“Go take your exam.”

Li Mo scratched his head, his tone a little flustered.

Tang Dawei narrowed his eyes. They had reached the correct floor, and he waved goodbye to Li Mo: “See you later, Brother Mo. Tonight, I set sail on a distant voyage~”

“Get lost.”

In Exam Room 16, Yu Wencheng and Wu Xiuxiu, as invigilators, were already seated by the podium. Seeing Li Mo look so out of sorts, Yu Wencheng was startled: “Are you sick?”

Li Mo shook his head: “Didn’t get enough sleep…”

“…”

Xu Qing was already in his seat, keeping his head down and deliberately avoiding looking at Li Mo.

I was so tired I was an idiot. Why didn’t I just step aside…

Xu Qing’s mind was filled with the memory of the washroom at noon. Li Mo’s foot slipped, and he consequently pushed Xu Qing to the ground. His clothes were soaked, and his head hurt from the fall.

Li Mo wasn’t much better off. Two long lines had been scraped onto his arms by the floor.

Li Mo dropped into his seat, propped his hands on his legs, and looked at the glasses guy on his right like a gangster big brother: “Hey, you. What are you still pretending for? You’re the one who reported me this morning, right?”

The glasses guy instantly didn’t dare to speak. He only dared to be sneaky. If he were genuinely confronted head-on by someone like Li Mo, he wouldn’t have the courage.

Seeing the glasses guy ignore him, Li Mo nudged his stool with his foot: “I’m talking to you.”

“Ah, ahem!”

Yu Wencheng’s cough was utterly deliberate. Li Mo turned around and saw Wu Xiuxiu staring at him with a mix of gloom and anger.

Xu Qing coughed lightly from the front. Li Mo abandoned his gangster boss posture and retracted his long legs.

The afternoon exam went very smoothly. No one looked for trouble, except for Wu Xiuxiu frequently staring.

Li Mo stretched and saw that Xu Qing in front of him had almost reached the door, so he immediately followed him.

“Qing Qing~”

“Get lost.” Xu Qing showed no mercy.

“Aiya, why so cold.” Li Mo was about to put his hand on Xu Qing’s shoulder, but then remembered the sentence he saw in the toilet at noon, and his hand instantly behaved itself.

I really need to look into this…

Leaving the school gate, Li Mo happened to run into Meng Tang, also a non-boarder.

Meng Tang greeted him: “Wow, you’re out early today, or have I just not seen you before?”

“No, I usually leave later.”

“Not eager to go home? That’s a sign of a troubled mind.”

Li Mo hooked Meng Tang’s neck and whispered: “Hey, let me ask you something. Do you know anyone with the initials S.S.Y. who is a guy? Do you know anyone?”

Meng Tang thought hard for a long time before finally naming one: “Shen Shuyi!”

Li Mo: “…”

It couldn’t be that coincidental, could it…?

“Do you know Shen Shuyi?”

Meng Tang’s previous shout wasn’t quiet. The two of them were in a corner by the school gate when a very refined-looking person came up to talk to them.

“Who are you, bro?” Meng Tang was startled.

“I’m in Grade 12. Technically, I’m your upperclassman.” The upperclassman smiled. “Are you Shen Shuyi’s…?”

Li Mo replied: “Classmates.”

“Ah, perfect.” The upperclassman mysteriously took a letter out of his uniform pocket and handed it to Li Mo. “Could you please give this to him tomorrow? Don’t read it beforehand, junior~”

Creepy. Your smile is so creepy, upperclassman!

After walking some distance away with Meng Tang, Li Mo was still in a daze: “Who was that guy?”

Meng Tang was also confused: “Does Shen Shuyi have friends in Grade 12?”