“Hey! Little Chen! Baby?”

Jamin called out a few times before Fang Chen snapped back to reality and quickly handed the ticket back.

“What’s wrong with you?”

Fang Chen hesitated for a moment, then shook his head. “Nothing.”

Maybe he was overthinking it. It couldn’t be such a coincidence.

But Jamin, propping his chin on his hand, didn’t seem to mind and instead couldn’t help but talk to Fang Chen again about his new boyfriend.

Fang Chen’s mind was in a jumble, only half-listening.

The two sat for a while longer. Jamin’s phone rang. He glanced at the caller ID, his face immediately breaking into a smile, and he quickly answered.

It was unclear what was said on the other end, but Jamin’s smile grew wider. After hanging up, he immediately grabbed his bag and stood up. “Baby, my boyfriend is here to pick me up. I have to go.”

Fang Chen quickly nodded. “Okay, see you tomorrow.”

Watching Jamin walk out, Fang Chen hesitated for a moment, then quietly stood up and followed him to the door, stopping and looking outside.

Jamin was passionately embracing and kissing the man.

It was the “bullhorn” man from that day.

Today he was wearing a gray tank top. His back was to Fang Chen, and because he was standing right under a streetlight, Fang Chen could see clearly that there was an eagle tattooed on the “bullhorn” man’s shoulder.

Fang Chen silently complained to himself, why do foreigners seem to like getting tattoos? He inexplicably thought of Seth again. Did he have any?

After spacing out for a few seconds, Fang Chen shook his head vigorously.

Why am I thinking about him!
I must not be corrupted by money!!

But he didn’t know if it was because he had thought about it for those few extra seconds, but when he went back that night, he actually saw Seth downstairs from his dorm.

The man was wearing a black shirt and pants, his entire body hidden in the night. He was leaning against the car door with a cigarette between his lips, only a single scarlet ember glowing and dimming. He had his eyes slightly lowered, his expression idle and淡 (dàn – indifferent/calm).

Wasn’t he supposed to be a star boxer who was as elusive as a dragon? Even a single visit to the school would cause a commotion. What was with these past few days? He kept running into him.

Fang Chen grumbled in his heart, wanting to pretend he hadn’t seen him, but the man seemed to have sensed him and looked up in his direction.

Oh! No!

But the next second, a smile appeared on the young man’s face. He looked very well-behaved and honestly walked over to greet him. “Seth, what a coincidence. What are you doing here? Do you live in the student apartments too?”

Probably not, right?
Rich people should live in their own villas.

Seth stared at him for two seconds, paused, and then extinguished the cigarette in his hand. “I’m waiting for a friend.”

Fang Chen nodded. “Oh.”

The two were silent for a while.
Why did every conversation with Seth devolve into this kind of awkward situation?

Fang Chen’s toes began to tentatively dig into the ground, trying to build a new building, then worked their way up to a castle.

He was debating whether to take the initiative to say goodbye when, fortunately, Seth spoke. “Why are you back so late?”

Fang Chen let out a small sigh of relief in his heart and quickly picked up the topic. “I went to have dinner with a friend. Have you eaten?”
Basic Chinese etiquette!
First ask if they’ve eaten.

Seth paused for a moment and said, “No.”

“…”
If you haven’t eaten, then go eat!!
Why say it in a way that makes it impossible for people to respond!!!

Fang Chen bit the bullet. “Uh… I got some fried chicken to-go from the burger joint. Do you want some?”

“Is it convenient?” Seth asked politely.
But before Fang Chen could speak, he quickly added, “Thank you.”

Fang Chen choked, very reluctantly handing over the bag in his hand. He had planned to have this fried chicken for lunch tomorrow.

“It might be a little cold. You’ll need to heat it up in the oven when you get back.” Fang Chen licked his lips. “But their food tastes good.”

“Okay.”
Seth’s gaze fell on his lips, paused for two seconds, then casually moved away. “I’ll try it when I get back.”

Since they had run into each other anyway, why not take the initiative and ask?
Fang Chen hesitated for a moment, then said in a small voice, “Excuse me, can I ask, is there a person named Chuck in the logistics department of your boxing club?”
Fang Chen gestured. “His arms are quite thick, with several muscles.”

In the night, the gray-blue eyes darkened.
The man narrowed his eyes, but his tone remained as usual. “There are quite a few people in the club. I don’t know many of them.”

Fang Chen regretted asking as soon as he had. He felt it was too presumptuous. He slapped his head and said repeatedly, “Sorry, I was just asking casually. Just pretend you didn’t hear it.”

“It’s fine.” The man’s tone was polite. “I’ll ask for you when I get back. I’ll let you know if I hear anything.”

Fang Chen waved his hand to say it was fine, but Seth tilted his chin up. “It’s getting late. Go back and rest.”

Not long after the person had left, Joey came out of the dorm building and got directly into the car, flattered. “You actually came to pick me up personally today?”
Every time the club had a meeting, Seth was either absent or late. This was the first time he had ever taken the initiative to say he would come to the student dorms to pick him up.

Thinking of Seth’s sexual orientation, Joey’s expression became wary. “You know, I have a girlfriend.”

Seth gave him a cold glance. “Girlfriend? Are you talking about last week’s, or yesterday’s?”

Joey was choked and turned his head away. He happened to see a paper bag and said in surprise, “What’s this? God, you actually eat fried chicken?”
Seth was extremely strict with his schedule and diet. He usually ate customized nutritional meals and rarely ate out, let alone high-calorie foods like fried chicken.

The man reached out with a large hand, snatched it back, and his tone grew cold. “Don’t touch my things.”

Joey held up his hands. “Ok!”

“Do you know Chuck? He’s also in the logistics department.”

“Chuck?” Joey scratched his head. “I don’t really remember. You know, a few new people have come recently. I need to go back and ask. What’s up? Is there something special about him?”

Seth’s lips curled up with sarcasm and coldness.
He lit another cigarette, took a drag, and then said, “So much nonsense.”

Fang Chen received a message from Seth the next morning. There was indeed a person named Chuck in the club.
The man paused, then casually mentioned that Chuck was not muscular.
“He’s probably just fat, or maybe he has a large frame.”
“Muscles are produced by tearing muscle fibers through training.”

Fang Chen put his phone on speaker and placed it on the dining table, turning around to open a package.
Hearing the voice on the other end, Seth paused and then asked him, “What are you eating for breakfast?”

“Frozen pizza I brought back from the shop before.” Fang Chen twisted the oven knob, setting the temperature.
This time, he kept his mouth shut and didn’t ask if Seth had eaten breakfast.
He was afraid that the two pieces of frozen pizza in his fridge would also be snatched away.

“Thank you for helping me find that person.”
Knowing that Chuck was indeed a member of the club, Fang Chen was slightly relieved. The tickets shouldn’t be fake then.

There was a two-second silence on the phone. Seth calmly asked, “Chuck, is he your friend?”

Fang Chen hummed in affirmation. “He’s my friend’s boyfriend. I was afraid he’d get scammed.”

After a while, a laugh came through the phone.

Fang Chen pursed his lips and said in a small voice, “What are you laughing at?”

“Nothing,” Seth said. “I’m in a good mood this morning.”

Perhaps because this phone call had dispelled Fang Chen’s suspicions, or perhaps because the morning pizza tasted good, Fang Chen was also in a happy mood today.
Because he had class in the morning, he only arrived at the pizza place at noon.
As soon as he arrived, he was pulled aside by Jamin.
“Little Chen, there’s an opportunity to make a fortune. Do you want in?”

Fang Chen, “…”
Scams in China always started with this opening line.
He said cautiously, “I still think it’s better to earn money through labor.”

Jamin rolled his eyes. “It was your idea in the first place, have you forgotten?”

“???”

“Didn’t you suggest I sell the extra ticket? I asked Chuck last night. He said he could get more tickets, but they won’t be free. It’s a thousand dollars each.”
Jamin waved two fingers in front of Fang Chen. “We can resell them and make two thousand dollars per ticket!”

It did sound like a hugely profitable venture.
But yesterday, Fang Chen had just felt that there was something wrong with that ticket. Today, he was being asked to resell tickets. It was inevitable that he would be suspicious.
He pursed his lips. “So… are you going to buy them?”

“With such a good opportunity, of course I will.” Jamin paused, then his face fell. “But I don’t have enough money on hand. I can only buy ten for now.”
“What do you think? I’m even thinking of you for such a good thing.”

Fang Chen didn’t believe in free lunches at all. The only thing that fell from the sky was unlucky people like him who transmigrated into a book.
But if he let Jamin resell the tickets on his own, Fang Chen was a little worried. He always felt that this matter was too fishy.
“You know I can’t come up with any money.” Fang Chen threw up his hands. “I made a little from selling the watch last time. I’ll buy three for now.”
“But—” Fang Chen’s tone changed. “Can we trade in person?”

Jamin nodded. “Of course.”

In front of Fang Chen, Jamin called his boyfriend. The person on the other end agreed at once, saying he would wait for them at a coffee shop tomorrow.
After hanging up, Jamin showed his phone to Fang Chen. “We’re about to get rich.”
The screen went dark, and Fang Chen saw Jamin’s lock screen. His eyes nearly popped out. “You, you, you… what is this picture?”

“What’s wrong?” Jamin looked down at his own phone and laughed. “It’s a picture of Chuck I took after we did it last time. His butt is very perky, right?”

“…” Fang Chen really wanted to wash his eyes.

Jamin was still muttering to himself, “But he won’t be competing in the matches. His body is still a bit worse than a regular boxer’s.”

Fang Chen couldn’t help but ask one more question, “Do all boxers have good bodies?”

“Of course.”
Jamin flipped through his photo album and showed a picture to Fang Chen. “This is a screenshot from Seth’s last match video. God, look at these muscles, look at this body proportion…”

Jamin’s words echoed in his ears, but Fang Chen couldn’t hear a single word.
He was completely captivated by this picture, his eyes widening in shock.

The Seth he had seen these past few times was always well-dressed. He only felt that he was tall, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist. When he was held by him, he could feel the muscles through his shirt. But he never expected that with his clothes off, the man’s bare upper body would have such beautiful muscle lines, the muscles firm and defined, like carved ravines.

For a full ten seconds, Fang Chen’s gaze fell on the man’s chest muscles.

He swallowed lightly.

He remembered that day, in the abandoned factory, he had stumbled into Seth’s arms in a panic, his whole face buried in something hard and springy.

So that place…

Was Seth’s chest muscles?