I like you

The water in the pool was stirred up with layers of splashes, underwater long white legs tightly wrapped around the waist of the darker skin color, the picture looked indescribably astringent.

Gu Zhao's knots rolled and his voice was too muffled for words, "Let go of me first."

"I don't want to." Ji Su, afraid of choking again, picks at him like an octopus and won't let go.

"Behave." Gu Zhao's big hand around his waist loosened, "I can't teach you that."

Ji Su's thighs slid down a bit, inevitably hitting hard muscles.

He stiffened, reacting to the position they were in as an afterthought, and his brain went blank for a few seconds.

Gu Zhao runs one hand down his waistline, resting it on his leg.

Ji Su came back to his senses, his ears reddening to blood, and in a panic, he let go of his hands and legs, almost sinking back into the pool.

Luckily, Gu Zhao reacted quickly, taking him by the waist with his big hands and lifting him firmly out of the water again.

"Cough cough ......" Ji Su complained as she coughed, "Not fun cough cough ...... I'm not learning anymore... ..."

"Okay, then I won't learn it first." Gu Zhao didn't force him, "I'll teach you when you're ready."

Next time we're going to take him to a private pool, it's a little easier to teach.

The pool isn't particularly deep, and Gu Zhao rises straight up in the water, grabbing him around the waist and walking him back to shore.

With her butt on the ground, Ji Su's heart finally dropped back into place and she raised her hand to brush her forehead hair back and looked at the man in the water, "Do you want to swim a little longer?"

"Uh-huh." Gu Zhao gave him a look and dove back into the water.

Ji Su was puzzled by that look, but he sat on the shore and waited for the swimmer to finish.

After a few more minutes, Gu Zhao finally comes ashore.

He was dripping with water, large beads of it rolling down the smooth, full lines of his muscles, and he exuded a wet sensuality.

Ji Su's eyes inadvertently landed on a certain spot, and she couldn't help but widen her eyes and quickly avert her eyes again.

He remembered that just now, in the water, he seemed to have touched ......

But in that situation, it should be normal for the other person to react, right?

"Get up." Gu Zhao leaned down slightly and held out his hand toward him, "Go change."

"Huh? Good ...... " Ji Su immediately ordered herself to stop her rambling thoughts and stood up with one hand on the floor.

Gu Zhao dropped his hand and took the lead in stepping forward.

The swimming pool has separate changing rooms and showers for VIP customers, so Ji Su simply took a shower, put on her own clothes and walked out.

Gu Zhao moved faster than he did, and seeing him out, called in a low voice, "Come here."

Ji Su walks over, "What's wrong?"

Gu Zhao covers his head with the towel in his hand and wipes his dripping hair.

Ji Su tilted his face up, and all he could see through the gap in the towel was the other man's angular jaw.

The lines looked cold and hard, and the big hand rubbing his hair was surprisingly gentle, a strange contrast.

Gu Zhao opened his mouth and asked, "If I didn't stop you just now, are you really going to add that girl on WeChat?"

Ji Su warmly explained, "I was thinking that it's not good to embarrass a girl in public."

Gu Zhao's hand lurched, cupping his face with a towel and lifting it up, "There are so many people who want to add you on WeChat, do you give it to every one of them?"

Ji Su shook his head, "That's not true either, it's only added when there's some embarrassment to refuse."

Gu Zhao's eyes were dark: "What about after adding WeChat?"

Ji Su : "And then it's nothing, I'll talk to the other person on WeChat."

Gu Zhao : "In that case, why bother?"

"Just ......" Ji Su said in a hesitant tone, "It just feels like it might not hurt too much."

Gu Zhao continued, "They are just strangers to you, why do you think so much about them?"

Ji Su frowned slightly, "I don't know."

He is such a character that he will not refuse others and habitually pleases them as if ......

As if that makes everyone else like him.

"The person who doesn't like you, it's useless for you to try to please." Gu Zhao looked into his eyes and said clearly, word for word, "Those who like you won't stop liking you just because you reject them."

Ji Su was stunned for a moment, not knowing what to say.

"Ji Su, you have to learn to refuse unreasonable requests." Gu Zhao's voice was deep and serious, "Don't bother to please unimportant people, don't force yourself to do things you don't like."

"I ......" Ji Su only spat out one word and hastily lowered her eyelashes again, not wanting the other to see the watery glint in her eyes.

Gu Zhao let go of his hand and added faintly, "In the future, if you meet someone who is looking for you to ask for WeChat, just reject them directly."

Ji Su : "Good ......"

The two left the swimming pool and took a taxi back to school.

As usual, Gu Zhao sent the person to the dormitory floor and stopped, "Go inside."

Ji Su also stopped and asked, "Do you want to sit in our dormitory?"

Gu Zhao's brow twitched, "Are you inviting me?"

Ji Su nods, "Our dorm is pretty clean, and a few of the other roommates are nice to work with."

Gu Zhao looked at him for a few seconds and raised a hand to stroke a few strands of hair that were sticking up on his head, "I'm not going up there, I prefer to be alone with you."

Ji Su : "Oh ......"

Gu Zhao withdrew his hand, "Go on."

Ji Su turned toward the door of the dormitory building and suddenly turned back and waved, "Good night, see you tomorrow."

Gu Zhao stood under the streetlight, a very faint smile on his handsome face, "Well, I'll see you tomorrow."

*

The weather is getting hot and dry in early June.

Ji Su's studies and life are in order, except for the fact that there is one more person around.

Without realizing it, he and Gu Zhao became very close, always appearing on the same occasions.

The Gu Da schoolmaster is a notoriously high and cold iceberg, with four big words written all over his body -- Don't be close to anyone.

But soon everyone realized that as long as Ji Su was around, that scary aura of the schoolmaster would be tempered.

Ji Su himself was not aware of this intimate atmosphere, but Qiao Jin was the first to become upset.

After class that day, Ji Su casually asked, "Jo, do you want to go to the gym with me?"

Qiao Jin was packing up his books and turned his head at the words, "You're going to find Gu Zhao again?"

"There's a basketball game coming up and he's been training hard lately." Ji Su picked up his backpack, "I'll go bring him a bottle of water."

"You brought him water?" Qiao Jin gestured exaggeratedly, "Come on, the person who wants to bring water to the schoolmaster would have to circle the playground seven or eight times!"

Ji Su was amused, "Even though you're right, I can't afford not to go when he asked me to."

Usually Gu Zhao takes care of him in every way, and if he still refuses to send him a bottle of water, he's not being a good enough friend.

Qiao Jin touched his chin, "Susu, have you noticed that you've been spending a lot of time with Gu Zhao lately?"

Ji Su paused, "Yes?"

"Yes!" Qiao Jin unconsciously raised his voice, "You're spending so much less time with me!"

"Where?" Ji Su let out a laugh, "We both obviously even sleep in the same dormitory."

"That's not it, you've been leaving me behind a lot lately to go play alone with Gu Zhao!" The more Qiao Jin spoke, the more he felt something was wrong, "Susu you say, am I still your best friend?"

"Of course you're my best friend." Ji Su tried to change the subject, "Zhou Yang is playing too, do you want to go with me to find him?"

Qiao Jin: "Yes!"

The two walked to the gym and before they could enter, they heard a scream and a cheer from inside.

Qiao Jin had a knowing look on his face, "It must be Schoolboy Gu Da unleashing his damn charms again."

Ji Su: "......"

Walking into the arena, he did catch a glimpse of Gu Zhao on the field.

Tall boy of more than one meter nine in height, wearing a black basketball uniform, tall shoulders and long legs, deep three-dimensional features can be recognized at once even from a distance.

Gu Zhao plays with his usual cold face, more imposing than off the court, as athletic as a cheetah on the hunt, but with a nonchalant elegance.

Even though it was just the usual training, there were quite a few people who came to watch.

"Qiao Jin, Ji Su!" At that moment, Wang Mingzhe's voice rang out, waving at them vigorously, "Come on, come on, come on, I've saved you the best viewing spot!"

Ji Su walked over and took a seat in the first row, raising her eyes to look for the figure on the field.

Gu Zhao saw him, too, and smiled at him from a distance, halfway across the field.

"Ahhhhh Gu Zhao just laughed!"

"What what? Who did Gu Zhao smile at?"

"It looks like he's looking in our direction!"

......

There was a loud discussion behind her, which Ji Su automatically blocked out and returned with an arched eyebrow.

He couldn't help but think of that time, also in the gym, when he had summoned up the courage to smile at Gu Zhao, only to be completely ignored.

Who would have thought that in just a few months they would become great friends.

"Clunk", Gu Zhao shot a three-pointer with his hands.

"Brother Gu is awesome!" Wang Mingzhe called out, and then turned his head to ask, "The basketball club is having a get-together in the evening, do you guys want to go with us?"

Ji Su politely declined, "I'd better not go, after all, I don't know the others well."

"What's the big deal, you just need to be familiar with me, Wang Mingzhe!" Wang Mingzhe proudly waved his hand, "Qiao Jin, don't you think so?"

Qiao Jin laughed loudly, "Yes, yes, yes! Who can have a bigger face than you, Brother Wang?"

Ji Su smiles back, "Later."

During the intermission, Gu Zhao walks towards the rest area.

Ji Su stood up with the mineral water in her hands and had just taken two steps when she was stopped by a male voice behind her, "Ji Su!"

He turned and responded politely, "Hello."

The good-looking boy opened his mouth and introduced himself, "My name is He Yun, I'm also a member of the music club, do you remember me?"

Ji Su nodded slightly, "Remember, once you lent me an umbrella."

"Yes, yes, yes!" He Yun nodded repeatedly, "Great, I didn't realize you remembered me!"

Ji Su asked, "Are you up to something?"

He Yun looked like he wanted to say something, "That ...... you and Gu Zhao are not very familiar?"

Ji Su had a bad feeling in his stomach and only answered vaguely, "Uh-huh."

"I've liked Gu Zhao for a long time, but I've never dared to talk to him ......" He Yun had a shy and expectant expression on his face, "Can you give me his micro signal?"

Ji Su: "......"

He's not a moon goddess, why does someone always come to him to pull the strings?

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone that you gave me this micro signal." He Yun pleaded evenly, "Seeing as we're both members of the music club, and I've even helped you before, will you help me this time?"

Usually, by this point, Ji Su should be shaken up.

But in this moment, something Gu Zhao had said to him echoed in his mind.

"Ji Su, you need to learn to refuse unreasonable requests."

Ji Su pursed her lips and her eyes became firm, "I'm sorry, I can't give you Gu Zhao's micro-signal."

"Why?" He Yun still didn't give up, "It's just a micro-signal, whether I can add it or not, I won't make it difficult for you."

"Because one size does not fit all, I can't privately give you his wechat number." Ji Su's tone was calm, "If you really want to add Gu Zhao's wechat, you can ask him for it yourself, he's in person right now-"

A turn of her head caught her off guard and she ran into a pair of dark, sunken eyes.

Gu Zhao stood there with a towel in his hand, wondering how much he had heard.

He Yun also saw him and was about to open his mouth when he met the cold and piercing eyes and ran away without saying a word.

Ji Su: "......"

So he spent half a day talking, but the effect is not as powerful as a look from Gu Zhao?

Gu Zhao stepped out on his long legs and walked towards him.

Ji Su unscrewed the cap of the mineral water bottle in his hand and handed it forward, "Hard work."

Gu Zhao took the mineral water and drank most of it in one gulp.

He drank so fast that all the water he couldn't swallow in time ran down his jaw and onto his collar, wetting his basketball jersey and hugging it tightly to his body, emphasizing the outline of his firm, bulging pecs.

Ji Su looked at it and peeked at it again with a real bit of envy in her heart.

Couldn't he, in his lifetime, really build such perfect muscles?

Gu Zhao drops his eyes, "What are you looking at?"

"Didn't see anything." Ji Su hurriedly lifted her face, "By the way, that thing just now ......"

He was thinking about how to organize his words when he heard Gu Zhao say in his ear, "Well done."

Ji Su: "Huh?"

"I said-" Gu Zhao ran a hot, wet finger, a handful of his cheek, "You're doing fine."

Ji Su blinked her eyelashes, her ears inexplicably hot.

Whenever Gu Zhao spoke to him in that tone, he felt like a little child being praised.

Gu Zhao's throat twitched slightly and his fingertips tweaked the red earlobe.

"By the way, just now Wang Mingzhe said you guys are having a get-together tonight." Ji Su remembered that, "He invited me to go with Xiao Qiao."

Gu Zhao withdrew his hand, "Do you want to go?"

Ji Su was a little hesitant: "I ......"

Gu Zhao faintly said, "Go if you want to go, don't go if you don't want to go."

Ji Su smiled, "I'll go then."

Anyway, Gu Zhao was there, and he knew everyone else, so there was no need to be too pretentious.

Gu Zhao responded, "Good."

*

After training, we all went to a potluck near the school.

The basketball club was divided into two tables, and Ji Su, as usual, sat obediently at the seat next to Gu Zhao.

Everyone was chatting and drinking, and soon someone got the idea to have a drink with Ji Su.

Ji Su hadn't had a drink since the last time he was drunk, but at a dinner party like this, one drink was too much.

He was about to lift his glass when a large hand pressed it down.

Gu Zhao switches to his other hand, picks up the glass in front of himself, and pours the wine into his mouth.

"Good! Brother Gu is bold!"

"No, whose cup is this anyway?"

"Who wants a drink?" Gu Zhao spoke in a careless tone, "Come drink with me."

"Forget it, don't dare, don't dare!"

"Who dares to drink with Brother Gu! Don't you want to die!"

......

As the crowd talked, another person shouted, "Brother Gu, what is your relationship with Ji Su, protecting him so much?"

The table went eerily quiet at these words.

Ji Su's heart skipped a beat and she instinctively looked to her side.

In the midst of this silence, Gu Zhao asked back, expressionlessly, "Does it matter to you?"

"Hahahahahahahaha!" The style of this statement was so Gu Zhao that the crowd burst into laughter.

Ji Su breathed a secret sigh of relief and silently took a sip of her juice.

"I say you big men, you really don't have a clue in your hearts!" Wang Mingzhe slapped the desktop hard, "You don't even look at what Ji Su looks like, what do you look like?"

Zhou Yang chimed in with a smile, "Exactly."

The subject was dropped, and the table resumed its bustle.

It was after nine o'clock when the gathering was over.

Although people don't really dare to make a mess Gu Zhao, but after all, it is a social gathering, and in the end, we still had a few drinks.

Gu Zhao leaned back in his chair, his long fingers pinching his brow.

"Did you drink too much?" Ji Su looked at him worriedly, "Let's take a cab back."

"It's not far from my house." Gu Zhao looked to him, "Go home and stay the night tonight."

Ji Su didn't think much about it, "Okay, I'll take you back then."

After greeting the others, Ji Su helped Gu Zhao to get up and together they walked out.

On the way home, Gu Zhao wrapped his arms around his thin shoulders, looking as if he was leaning on Ji Su, but in fact he didn't even bother to exert any force.

For the third time, Ji Su skillfully pressed the code and pushed open the door.

He helped Gu Zhao over to the couch and was about to put the man down when he somehow tripped and the whole thing fell on top of the other man.

Gu Zhao had been drinking and his body was incredibly hot, and Ji Su lay on his broad, firm chest, the mellow yet cold scent of wine lingering on the tip of his nose, and for a moment he was dizzy, as if he were drunk himself.

He didn't snap out of it until some palpable shift in his body, which was pressed together in one place, made him panic and try to get up.

As a result, the more he panicked, not only did he not get up successfully, but his palms pressed hard against his rolling pecs.

Gu Gu opened his eyes and a fire flared in the bottom of them.

Ji Su shuddered and quickly withdrew backward, sitting on her butt on the carpet.

Gu Zhao takes a deep breath, sits up from the couch, and extends a hand toward him.

"I'm fine ......" Ji Su braced himself on the coffee table and climbed to his feet, "I'll go get you a glass of water."

Gu Zhao lay back against the sofa, one hand resting on his forehead, a pair of sunken, bottomless eyes always following the figure.

Ji Su poured a glass of lukewarm water and returned to the couch, kneeling on one knee and handing the glass of water to her thin lips.

Suddenly, a scene from the same scene flashed in his mind, only with the protagonists switched.

That's how Gu Zhao seemed to take care of him the last time he was drunk.

Only Gu Zhao's drink is more than a little better than his ......

In the middle of his walk, his hand shook and spilled some water.

"I'm sorry ......" Ji Su subconsciously apologized, reaching out to wipe the water off Gu Zhao's chest.

Slightly cool fingers grazed over his chest, the knuckles soft and smooth, and Gu Zhao frowned, lifting his hand to grasp his fingertips.

Ji Su made a move to withdraw his fingers but couldn't.

Gu Zhao's voice was low and raspy, "I said there's no need to apologize to me."

"I forgot ......" Ji Su Inexplicably a little nervous, no words to say, "In fact, tonight you don't need to hold back the wine for me, otherwise you wouldn't have gotten drunk."

Gu Zhao didn't answer, taking his hand in his large one and moving it slowly down to where it finally landed on his heart.

"Knock, knock, knock ......"

The sound of a strong, powerful heartbeat, one heavy, hit him in the palm.

Ji Su's fingertips curled and his heartbeat was disturbed as he stammered, "What, what's wrong, are you uncomfortable somewhere ......"

The tail end fades into the air.

Gu Zhao was staring intently at him, his dark, dark eyes full of complex emotions he couldn't read, but enough to make his heart skip a beat.

"Ji Su." Gu Zhao spoke in a muffled voice, "Aren't you always asking me why I'm so nice to you?"

Ji Su heart rate is getting faster and faster, vaguely feeling that something terrible is about to break out of the ground.

Gu Zhao didn't give him a chance to flinch and asked himself, "Because I like you."

"With a loud bang, Ji Su's mind exploded and he went blank.

It took several seconds, maybe a little longer, for the downed brain to reboot.

Like?

Gu Zhao said ...... like him?

"Gu Zhao, don't joke around." Ji Su's first reaction was to feel ridiculous, "Are you drunk?"

He tried again to draw his hand back, only to have it clasped tighter.

"I'm sober." Gu Zhao stared at him for an instant, "And you know damn well I'm not kidding."

"I ......" Ji Su tried to say something but lost his voice for a moment.

"Of course you can reject me, once or twice, a hundred times or a thousand times." Zhao Gu's voice was low and his tone was as solemn as it had ever been, "But I won't give up on you just because you reject me."

Ji Su's heart was in turmoil, and over the deafening sound of her own heartbeat, she vaguely heard that familiar voice again.

"Those who don't like you, it's useless to try to please. Those who like you, won't stop liking you just because you reject them."

It turned out that until this moment, he hadn't really heard the words.

During this long and suffocating silence, Gu Zhao laughed very, very slowly, "Ji Su, I'm one of those people."

"Even if I crash and die in front of the south wall, I will never take a step back."