My Best Briend's Crush Is A Spoiled, Dramatic Girl [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 1

An Expert at Feigning Tears and Acting Like a Spoiled Brat × A Cold-Faced…

“Tuantuan, I have had an emergency surgery added to my schedule, so I will be arriving a bit late.” The gentle male voice on the other end of the phone explained the delay. His tone was warm and soft, though his voice carried the hoarseness and fatigue of someone who had been pulling all-nighters. “Go ahead and eat first; do not wait for me and go hungry.”

The phone was on speaker mode on the table. Through the receiver, the faint, rhythmic sounds of cutlery scraping against the plate and the soft, muffled chewing of someone with their mouth full were transmitted to the person on the other end.

“Tuantuan?”

The man raised his voice slightly, as if prompting a response.

Ji Tan hurriedly swallowed the steak in his mouth, crudely picked up the brown ceramic pot, and used the rich, sweet cream of mushroom soup inside to wash down the meat that had been stuck in his throat.

Once the food slid into his stomach, Ji Tan took a few satisfied, deep breaths. Wiping his mouth unceremoniously, he quickly grabbed the phone—which he had not even bothered to check before answering—and secretly coughed to adjust his voice.

It was as if nothing had happened.

“It is okay,” Ji Tan said sweetly. “I am not hungry yet. I will wait for Dr. Zhou to come so we can eat together.”

Having already stuffed himself, all that was left was to wait.

Ji Tan was an expert at keeping up appearances.

The man did not call him out on it; his younger partner always needed more tolerance, and he had always been good at providing that.

“Alright then,” the man chuckled. “See you later, Tuantuan.”

“See you later, Dr. Zhou.”

Ji Tan hung up the phone efficiently, finished the last piece of steak on his plate in two bites, and pressed the service bell.

He gestured vaguely at the messy table. “Could you please clear this up?”

“Do you mean you would like to keep the table, sir?” the waiter asked politely. Upon looking up, he met a pair of clear, amber eyes that resembled crystalline glaze against a backdrop of snow and red walls, and he could not help but pause for a moment.

“Yes, please keep the table,” Ji Tan said. His beautiful face naturally carried a hint of a smile, his eyes curving slightly, overflowing with the bright, sun-drenched charm typical of a young man. “Also, could you please bring me a glass of lemon water? I am going to the restroom and will be back shortly.”

The waiter could not help but smile back. “Of course.”

The restroom was not far, tucked away behind a narrow, secluded corridor.

Just as Ji Tan unzipped his pants, his elbow was firmly gripped.

“Who is it?” Ji Tan turned around, annoyed. He was not in a massive hurry, but no one likes to be interrupted when they are on the verge of taking care of business.

Upon seeing who it was, Ji Tan felt relieved that he had not actually started yet; otherwise, having to listen to a heartfelt lecture while trying to do his business would have been infuriating.

He pulled his zipper back up and fastened the button. “Why is it you again?” he said impatiently. “Ji Yunxin, how are you so like a ghost that just will not leave? I keep running into you everywhere.”

He could not even enjoy a meal in peace.

After Ji Tan finished his round of insults, Ji Yunxin showed a hint of embarrassment, yet his demeanor remained as gentle as ever. “Ji Tan, I did not expect to meet you here. I just wanted to ask you to come home this weekend to visit Mom and Dad. They miss you very much.”

Ji Yunxin was slightly older than Ji Tan. A thin person with a sharp gaze usually projects a sense of cold severity, but Ji Yunxin’s temperament was too mild, leaving him with only an upright, handsome look.

Ji Tan did not see it that way. In his eyes, whatever Ji Yunxin displayed was nothing more than cowardice and spinelessness.

Plus, he was an annoying pest who would not stop pestering him.

“Not going,” Ji Tan shook off Ji Yunxin’s hand. He did not even want to use the restroom anymore. “Miss me? You mean they miss my money.”

Ji Yunxin disagreed. “Ji Tan, do not say that. You are Mom’s own son. Her missing you is a mother’s love for her child. How can you say it is because of money?”

Ji Tan nodded absentmindedly, not taking a word of it to heart.

After all, being a stepson who helps a stepmother convince her biological son to return home was quite a role to play.

Ji Tan took two steps back and decisively changed the subject. “Are you sure you want to talk to me here?”

A restroom, even if empty and clean, is not the best place for a conversation.

Ji Yunxin finally realized that.

“Ji Tan,” Ji Yunxin looked at him apologetically, with a hint of pleading. “After you are done, let us go outside and talk, okay?”

As he spoke, Ji Yunxin moved aside to give him space.

Ji Tan walked toward the urinal, visibly irritated. He lifted his sky-blue hoodie, revealing a slim, supple waist that looked like a tender willow swaying in the spring breeze. His skin, translucent as fresh snow, easily commanded one’s entire attention.

Ji Yunxin was stung by that striking, soft, porcelain-white skin and awkwardly looked away, his expression flustered.

Ji Tan was not the type to get stage fright.

However, he was the type of person who felt uncomfortable unless he was up to something mischievous.

A bad idea popped into his head without a second thought—simple, like eating or drinking—and Ji Tan was eager to put it into action.

He completely lost the urge to do his business. He let his hands fall from the waistband of his white jeans and asked suddenly, “Ji Yunxin, what did you come to the restroom for?”

Ji Yunxin, who had been looking down, looked up in a daze.

“What else would someone do in a restroom?” Ji Tan muttered to himself, stepped to the side, and tilted his chin at Ji Yunxin, ordering, “You go first.”

Right, what does one do in a restroom? A grown man certainly would not be here to touch up his makeup.

Ji Tan had blocked all of Ji Yunxin’s exits, so Ji Yunxin had no choice but to accept Ji Tan’s kindness.

Ji Yunxin did not have Ji Tan’s thick skin. With someone staring at him, he felt an irrepressible shyness.

Moreover, Ji Tan’s gaze was unmasked; it was as if the moment Ji Yunxin unzipped his pants, Ji Tan would begin to critique him condescendingly, not stopping until he had humiliated him completely.

Ji Tan was certainly capable of that.

Thus, Ji Yunxin chose a bathroom stall. “Ji Tan, wait for me a moment.”

Ji Tan’s reply lacked his earlier perfunctoriness; he raised an eyebrow with a playful grin. “Of course.”

Ji Yunxin felt uneasy, but he could not find a flaw in Ji Tan’s behavior, so he gritted his teeth and walked in, locking the door just in case.

Ji Tan walked out with a light step. He found a table near the restroom, picked up a steel knife from the setting, and weighed it in his hand, a satisfied smile blooming on his face.

If he wedged this into the door gap, Ji Yunxin definitely would not be able to get out.

Ji Tan and Ji Yunxin were both the burdens of a reconstituted family; Ji Tan was brought by the mother, and Ji Yunxin by the father.

Ji Tan loathed this stepbrother, as well as the younger son the mother gave birth to later, who was showered with affection.

Ji Yunxin, on the other hand, was kind to both his younger brothers.

Yet, this only made Ji Tan hate him more. He had no interest in playing “happy family” with his mother and stepfather, so Ji Yunxin, the middleman trying to bridge the gap, inevitably suffered for it.

It had been over ten years, and Ji Yunxin had suffered quite a few losses at Ji Tan’s hands, yet he still had not learned his lesson.

But that just made things convenient for Ji Tan.

“Consider it your bad luck,” Ji Tan nimbly wedged the solid steel knife into the gap. Still unsatisfied, he adjusted the angle and planned to use the equally hard fork to fix it in place.

When they were young, Ji Yunxin had been bullied by Ji Tan often. Once they grew a bit older, Ji Tan was adopted by Ji Yunxin’s aunt, and the two rarely saw each other.

Now that Ji Tan’s adoptive mother had passed away, his biological mother wanted to take him back.

There was no need to guess why: she had given her six-year-old son away to her husband’s sister, and now that she wanted him back, it was likely out of greed for the massive inheritance Ji Tan had received from his adoptive mother.

Ji Tan would not give them a single cent.

But cutting ties with the Ji family completely was not realistic yet, mostly because the Ji and Zhou families had a marriage arrangement between their children.

Ji Tan had his eyes on the Zhou family’s eldest son—a Ph.D. student who was now an attending cardiologist at a top-tier hospital.

A very respectable job, a very decent person.

Ji Tan liked him a lot.

Whether it was the Ji or Zhou family, the original marriage agreement had not specified which child was to marry whom.

That meant he had to compete for it.

Under the thumb of the Ji family, Ji Tan could not completely sever ties—at least, not until he had successfully secured his target.

It was a difficult situation.

“What are you doing?” A low, male voice sounded near his ear, like a cold, murmuring stream in a deep autumn valley, carrying a chilling quality that seemed capable of washing away sins.

Ji Tan shuddered instinctively. He turned around rigidly and, upon seeing that all-too-familiar face, his eyes instantly reddened.

Zhou She anticipated Ji Tan’s reaction and cut him off immediately. “Hold it back.”

Ji Tan’s beautiful, light-colored eyes were already brimming with pathetic, watery mist. He pouted in displeasure at Zhou She’s stern tone.

“Give it to me,” Zhou She held out his bony, well-defined hand, palm up, revealing thin callouses.

It was as if by handing over his weapon, Zhou She would use that powerful, calloused hand to crush it into dust.

Ji Tan reluctantly placed the fork he had not yet managed to wedge into the door into Zhou She’s hand.

Zhou She felt the weight of the fork and asked impatiently, “What was this for?”

He doubted Ji Tan was up to anything good.

“Fixing it,” Ji Tan explained the process from start to finish. “Wedge the table knife into the gap between the restroom door and the internal bolt, then use the fork head to fix the knife in place.”

Ji Tan spoke fluently and rapidly.

Zhou She did not even understand it the first time, which showed just how adept Ji Tan had become at doing bad things.

Zhou She looked at the knife stuck in the restroom door, withdrew his gaze, and tossed the fork into the trash bin.

“What do you have to say?” Zhou She raised his eyelids. Deep within his pitch-black pupils lay a chilling, captivating frost. He calmly received Ji Tan’s hesitant, wavering gaze.

Ji Tan stammered, starting with a syllable. “Old…?”

Zhou She did not blink, allowing Ji Tan to scrutinize him and let his gaze wander brazenly over his face.

“Old what?” The corners of Zhou She’s lips were flat, and the emotions in his eyes were shallow. “Are you failing to recognize people again?”

Zhou She did not believe that someone could fail to distinguish between the boyfriend they had been dating for two months and his brother, even if they were twins.

Zhou She caught the genuine confusion in Ji Tan’s eyes and knitted his brows slightly for a brief moment.

In half a month, Ji Tan had misidentified him three times.

It was not that the frequency of Ji Tan’s mistakes was low, but that Ji Tan had only met Zhou She three times, and he had misidentified him every single time.

Zhou She could not understand it. Aside from having identical looks and voices to Zhou Wenbo, their hairstyles, clothing preferences, and temperaments were completely opposite. How could Ji Tan manage to get it wrong every time?

And it did not seem like Ji Tan was faking it.

The expression of confusion on Ji Tan’s face was visibly authentic.

Zhou She did not have the hobby of pretending to be Zhou Wenbo, nor did he have the bizarre quirk of teasing people to see if they could tell the difference. He gave the answer directly to Ji Tan, who was still wondering if he was his boyfriend. “Ji Tan.”

Hearing Zhou She call his full name, the mist in Ji Tan’s light-colored eyes dissipated. His pale cheeks stretched softly as his tone made an awkward turn. “Old… brother.”

Zhou She remained unmoved.

Ji Tan possessed a clever and beautiful face, but in Zhou She’s eyes, Ji Tan only had two tricks: one was acting like a crybaby after doing something bad to avoid punishment, and the other was starting a sentence when he could not recognize someone.

Then, he would decide whether to call them “darling” or “old brother” to save the situation.

Zhou She did not think these little tricks of Ji Tan’s were of much use.

But Zhou Wenbo was a sucker for them.

After all, the person who was six years older than Ji Tan and was called “younger brother” was not Zhou Wenbo.

Ji Tan’s noisy crying was not exactly hurtful to his actual boyfriend, Zhou Wenbo; it was just a harmless, cute little flirtation.

Zhou She’s gaze lowered. When Ji Tan looked up, it allowed people to clearly see his bright, vibrant face and observe his naturally pouting lips, which looked as if he were holding two small, smooth pearls in his mouth.

It was a face that “hid pearls in the mouth.” People with this facial feature were generally beautiful and blessed.

Zhou She did not deny Ji Tan’s traits. As for the reason, he could only think of the saying: The foolish have their own luck.

Zhou She evaluated him sharply: “Idiot.”