NOVEL NEXT Chapter 19
Page Eighteen The Secret Base of the Two
Sometimes I wonder if I am truly the protagonist…
With this being over twenty chapters, and including the fragmented ones, why hasn’t a girl with a preference for the male lead appeared yet? It’s terrible! Even if I can’t be the harem king, there should at least be a female lead! Who would read a story without a female lead?
Counting on my fingers, the only normal girl seems to be Xiao Hai Tang. As for Ju Zi… let’s consider her half.
Xiao Hai Tang and I have known each other since we were young, but our relationship is more like that of close friends. Our bond feels stronger than any fragile love between couples, but I can’t imagine her wearing a wedding dress and walking down the aisle with me… wait, I can picture myself in a wedding dress though.
Could it be that Xiao Hai Tang’s chest is too flat, making it hard for me to see her as a woman? (Realization)
As for Ju Zi, I mostly feel a brotherly affection towards her along with a sense of guilt, even though she’s been human for only two days. I still treat her as family. Therefore, having Ju Zi as the female lead… no, that would make me feel extremely guilty.
I had also hoped for a scenario where “Onii-chan~ it’s forbidden for siblings to do such things…” “Don’t worry, we’re not actually related!” but before the plot could develop to that point, Xiao Hai Tang took Ju Zi away.
Damn the tall wall monster, one day I will reclaim my sister.
Then there’s Zhao Lei and Tan Linhua. They appear to be girls, but they’re not.
Zhao Lei looks 100% like a girl, but her soul is Zhao Zhao, my childhood friend, a personification of Shu Qin and muscles, a red-haired gorilla who is constantly in a state of agitation.
Although Zhao Lei and Zhao Zhao are different, she is not vulgar and gives off a refreshing, spring-like feeling, but as a girlfriend, she’s very difficult.
Finally, there’s Tan Linhua… ah, my feelings are complicated. I once felt genuine affection for him, of course, seeing him as a real girl.
At first glance, he is undoubtedly a beautiful schoolgirl, but he is a boy.
He pays more attention to his appearance than the girls from the girls’ school next door, but he is a boy.
From being delicate to being mischievous, he always shows you your favorite side, but he is a boy.
He has lustrous black hair and smooth, white skin, with beautifully shaped calves, but he is a boy.
In Tan Linhua’s secret base on the fifth floor, which includes an independent bathroom, there’s even a smart washing machine with drying functions, but… he is a boy.
July 8th, it was noon break, and even though I was still at school, I could enjoy the air conditioning while taking a shower.
“Kai-Chan~ it takes thirty minutes to dry clothes~ do you want to wear mine?” His clear voice, both masculine and feminine, came through the frosted glass of the shower and the water curtain, creating a distant, ethereal effect.
“Do you have men’s clothes? If not, I’ll use a towel.”
“Yes, yes, but I haven’t used them in so long, I need to find them.”
Why was I in Tan Linhua’s secret base taking a shower? It wasn’t a big deal.
This morning, although I didn’t oversleep during self-study, I still didn’t want to go to the cafeteria for lunch.
Lunch was still solved with Zhao Zhao at the usual spot because I really wanted to eat fried noodle bread, so today I followed Zhao Zhao to what they call the “convenience store,” a dark battlefield.
Not only did I get the desired fried noodle bread, but I also got a rare chilled mung bean soup, gaining two rare sources of happiness. It felt like getting a Lilith card from a single summon, I felt incredibly lucky!
But then came enormous misfortune.
As soon as Zhao Zhao and I stepped out of the convenience store, a voice cried out “Ouch!” I instinctively turned around to see a cold noodle (limited fruit flavor) flying gracefully in an arc, enlarging as it approached me, and finally landing perfectly on my forehead.
The noodles, drenched in strawberry jam, added a terrifying touch, the sweet-sour sauce trickling down my neck, staining my white short-sleeve shirt.
The culprit seemed to have bought the cold noodles to eat in class, but tripped on his own right foot, causing the container to slip out and hit my head.
Is this some kind of comedy effect? If he intended it, the calculation was too perfect, wasn’t it?
My joy plummeted instantly, but the other party apologized earnestly, so I couldn’t easily get angry. If I had to look on the bright side, I’d say, “It’s lucky, at least it wasn’t spicy noodle soup (limited fiery scorching red oil hell flavor)!”
Reporting to the teacher, I only got a response, “Alright, then go home early this afternoon!” But I didn’t want to leave school looking dirty, and besides, I was still emitting the fruity scent of the cold noodles.
Then I found Tan Linhua, who readily agreed to let me use the shower. I formally entered this girlish secret base.
Turning off the shower, drying off, but Tan Linhua hadn’t brought the clothes yet.
Hearing banging noises outside, he was rummaging through drawers to find men’s clothes… Do they really exist? After all, I’ve never seen him wear men’s clothes!
Wrapping a towel around my waist, I stepped out of the shower.
“If you can’t find them, it’s fine. I’m only here for half an hour anyway, I won’t leave.”
“Ah, Kai-Chan! Why did you come out—ah wah wah wah! No! No! No! No!” Perhaps hearing the sound of the shower door, Tan Linhua popped his head up from the sea of clothes on the racks, but upon seeing me, he screamed and rushed over.
He took three steps at a time to reach me, but I recoiled slightly from his startled reaction.
“What’s wrong? You wouldn’t be saying… you’d be shy seeing me without a shirt… we are both men, right…”
“Shy? How could that be!” He ripped the towel off my waist, and immediately a censor appeared over my lower body, seriously! Now it’s my turn to be embarrassed!
I covered Xiao Chang Kai and ran back to the shower, even knowing he’s a man, my face was still warm. “What are you doing!”
Tan Linhua grabbed the towel and followed me in, tying it around my chest… hmm, this is how women tie towels…
“Phew, you should tie your towel like this! Otherwise, seeing your bare face without glasses and your open chest would cause my brain to malfunction!” He sighed in relief, wiping his forehead as if he had accomplished something significant.
Am I some kind of Hideyoshi Miike?
“What about when you bathe yourself?”
“…No problem, it’s different from your situation. When I take off my makeup, my facial structure is still very masculine.”
I seemed to have asked an inappropriate question, his words full of unhidden melancholy, making me feel uneasy.
I glanced at the countdown timer for the dryer on the washing machine and leaned back onto Tan Linhua’s soft bed, despite it being a boy’s bed, it had a peculiar fragrance.
“Hey, Linhua, do you… want to become a real girl?”
“…Yes, after graduating high school, I plan to go to Thailand for surgery.” Though it was a sensitive topic, Tan Linhua didn’t avoid it, answering honestly.
He lay down beside me, shoulder to shoulder, gazing at the white ceiling, a scent of bath gel wafting through.
“Gender reassignment surgery is very harmful to the body… you must know this already, right?”
“Of course! I struggled internally before making this decision.”
After a brief silence, he spoke again: “Kai, can I ask you something… now, do you still like me?”
Linhua truly gave me a tricky question. Considering his feelings, I should lie to comfort him.
Because of the confession incident, there was an awkward barrier between us, making it awkward to greet each other. But yesterday, knowing each other’s secrets shattered this fragile wall, though our interaction changed.
Previously, I saw her as a girl I liked, now I see him more as a male friend.
“I like you, but not in a romantic way anymore.” In the end, I told the truth.
“Oh… I actually still like you… especially after seeing you without your glasses… I was going to ask, if I undergo the surgery, would you accept me…”
Hmm? Was he asking me to take him in…? I was surprised and turned to look at him, but he turned his head away, hiding his expression.
“Even after surgery, from a chromosomal perspective, I’m still male… sorry, I don’t do that.”
“Indeed… to most people, even after surgery, I’m just a fake… sorry, Kai-Chan, for asking you such a strange—”
“Miracle!” I interrupted his self-pity, somewhat mystically asking: “Linhua, do you believe in miracles?”
“Miracles? Even if they exist, they won’t happen to me, right?”
“Wait, and hope!”