My Boyfriend is the Heartthrob, and I’m Just a Passerby.

The embrace lasted a little too long.

Ye Jishu tried to move, but the force from behind only tightened, as if worried he would leave at any moment.

“…”

Well, it could stay like this for now.

Since there didn’t seem to be any intention of leaving the roadside anytime soon, Ye Jishu simply called for a ride using his phone. He then lowered his head and started scrolling through it. Suddenly, the phone vibrated, and a trip notification popped up. It showed that the game he had been following would officially release at midnight today.

So far, he already knew most of the game’s content.

But more than the storyline, he was more interested in its gameplay and mechanics.

It was a horror game.

Games like this usually had a lot of text and occasional puzzles, and the controls typically required nothing more than frantic button-mashing for Quick Time Events (QTEs).

Ye Jishu preferred pure skill-based competitive games, especially those involving player-versus-player combat, which was why he didn’t play these types of games much. If it weren’t for the repeated requests from a familiar account in the comments section, he wouldn’t even be considering trying it.

But from what he could tell, this game had quite a few thrilling interactive elements, so it might not be boring.

While he was thinking, his shirt rustled as it was pulled.

A voice came from behind.

“…What is that?”

“A game.”

Ye Jishu shifted his hand so the other person could see the promotional cover of the game’s release.

But after just a glance, Yan Mei quickly looked away.

Ye Jishu could tell he had no real interest in learning more.

It was probably just because he noticed that Ye Jishu had been checking his phone more than usual today, so he politely asked.

That made sense.

Yan Mei didn’t seem like the type to be absorbed in games.

Completely different from him.

Ye Jishu pressed his lips together, then lowered his head again to continue playing on his phone.

But for some reason, the phone had suddenly lost its appeal.

“Can you come out tomorrow?”

After a moment, Yan Mei spoke again, “There’s somewhere I want to take you. It’s the new aquarium that just opened in the city.”

“…I can’t.”

Yan Mei paused before saying, “But didn’t your math modeling competition just end? What else do you have? Is there some problem? You can tell me, and I’ll help you solve it. Or… do you just not want to spend time with me?”

“I can’t go out,” Ye Jishu replied, not lifting his head. “I need to play a game.”

“…A game?”

His hand, swiping across the screen, stopped. He pointed to the game’s release time.

The phone screen already displayed the words [Reservation Successful]

“This one.”

“I heard the aquarium has seals and other animals you don’t normally see.”

“Mm,” Ye Jishu said, “I’ve been to the aquarium, but I haven’t played this game yet, so I chose to play the game.”

He actually preferred staying alone and avoiding crowded places.

If it hadn’t been for Yan Mei’s frequent invitations, he wouldn’t still be out at this hour, not back in the dorm.

“Is the game really that fun?”

“It’s always something new, so it doesn’t get boring.”

At these words, Yan Mei remained silent.

But the arms loosely draped around Ye Jishu’s waist gradually tightened, and the head resting on the back of his neck burrowed deeper.

“…I hate it when you say things like that.”

By the time the taxi arrived, they both got in without bringing up tomorrow’s plans again.

…

The school had a dedicated building.

Since the film club had been established for quite some time, not a newly formed group, they had long since secured a room on the third floor for their activities.

When the two of them arrived, they were already ten minutes late for the scheduled time.

The sound of a movie playing could be heard from the slightly ajar door.

Ye Jishu felt a bit uneasy about being late.

But Yan Mei didn’t seem to mind. Without greeting anyone, he simply pushed open the half-closed door of the club room.

The lights in the room had been turned off to enhance the viewing experience. As a result, the entire room was shrouded in darkness, making it impossible to discern how many people were inside. Only the bluish glow from the projector cast eerie shadows on the faces of those seated in the front row, making them look particularly ghastly.

A few pairs of eyes stared intently at the screen in front of them.

Creak.

Even though Ye Jishu moved carefully, a soft creak still echoed in the quiet room.

In the stillness, the sound was magnified, like nails scraping a chalkboard, sending a chill down everyone’s spine, jarring them out of their immersion in the film.

Just as a twisted ghost face appeared on the screen.

“AAAAAHHHHHH—”

A scream erupted in the room.

“What the hell?!”

“Who’s moving around? Stop stepping on me!”

The silence in the room was shattered, and everyone else couldn’t hold back anymore, yelling and making a racket.

“…”

Ye Jishu stood amid the chaos.

Click.

Yan Mei switched on the lights, revealing his expressionless face.

The sudden brightness dispelled the fear.

Everyone quickly turned their heads to look at the two who had entered, their faces showing indescribable expressions.

That was terrifying!

Suddenly, a voice broke the silence in the activity room.

“Wow, that was scary. I almost had a heart attack.”

The movie had been paused.

When the screen froze, someone raised their head from behind the control panel on the far left, revealing a pair of brown eyes.

His sleeves were rolled up, showing clean, fresh forearms.

His sleeve slid down because he had lifted his arm to pause the movie. He used his elbow to rub his face, pushing the sleeve back up again.

It was a clean, fresh face, and the first word that came to mind was “gentle.”

“Let’s continue.”

He said that as he pressed the button to resume the movie and then left the control panel.

Ye Jishu’s gaze left his face and fell back on the activity room, now illuminated by the light.

A large projector hung on a white wall, the device playing the movie, and all the chairs in the room had been moved to the corner and stacked up. The floor was covered with a large mat, and everyone was sitting wherever they found space.

In the crowd, a few spots were left open.

No one else moved to take those spots.

It was obvious that everyone knew someone was meant to sit there.

But the issue was that the space—

Was only enough for two people to sit.

Ye Jishu himself.

Yan Mei.

And the other guy.

There are three people.

One was his nominal boyfriend, whom he had never met before.

The other was a friend with whom he had been in the same club for nearly half a year since the beginning of the semester.

It was clear who didn’t fit in.

“…”

Got it.

Ye Jishu was about to take a step back and make room for the two of them, but the young man walking toward them only hesitated briefly before turning to the corner. He grabbed a chair from the stack and dragged it to the doorway, sitting in it with his back to them.

He discreetly resolved an awkward situation.

After doing that, he looked up with a smile, speaking naturally.

“Looks like I picked the right movie. I’ll stay here and keep watch over everyone. Even if you’re scared, you can’t leave early.”

As his words fell, groans rose from the crowd.

“Senior, that’s so mean!”

“Why did you pick such a scary movie? I thought it was going to be a romance. Good thing I didn’t bring my girlfriend—”

“Definitely sneaking in some personal preferences.”

The young man continued to smile, his expression unchanged.

“Isn’t something gory and violent nice? It’s really stress-relieving to watch.”

Ye Jishu’s gaze shifted to the screen.

The movie playing was a classic gore film.

The Human Centipede.

The brown eyes on the young man’s face were fixed intently on the screen.

Saying something like that while having such a clean and gentle appearance created a strange dissonance.

What was it exactly…

Ye Jishu was staring at his profile when he suddenly felt a tight grip around his wrist.

Before he could react, Yan Mei was already pulling him further into the activity room.

He didn’t sit in the open space, and he didn’t seem interested in staying to watch the movie.

Seeing this, a question mark popped up in Ye Jishu’s mind.

“…”

Wait, where are we going?

Out of the corner of his eye, Ye Jishu noticed that while the senior continued watching the screen, his expression had briefly frozen.

Though he quickly returned to normal, a person’s first reaction in that instant was often genuine.

Ye Jishu: “…”

Not a mistake.

The guy clearly cared a lot about Yan Mei’s every move.

This is what it feels like to have a heartthrob boyfriend.

Even if he went to the dorm to buy a drink, eight out of ten people secretly liked him.

Yan Mei didn’t say anything, but his actions had already drawn everyone’s attention.

Even though the movie was getting more gruesome, no one was really focused on it anymore.

The sharp, prickly stares moved from their clasped hands to Ye Jishu himself, following them until they disappeared into the film club’s storage room.

The door closed.

The space dimmed.

Dust suspended in the faint light like floating sparkles, creating a dreamlike illusion of drifting through a dream.

The room was cramped and narrow.

With just one turn, they were almost pressed body to body.

It felt like a small world left only for the two of them.

Yan Mei was slightly taller.

But their height difference became insignificant when he lowered his head and gently rested his forehead against Ye Jishu’s.

Yan Mei’s dark eyes seemed to shine in this faint light as they stared at him.

The confined space was so small that Ye Jishu could almost hear Yan Mei’s heartbeat and feel his breath, making it impossible for him to turn his head away.

Ye Jishu tried to put some distance between them.

But as soon as he moved, he backed into the already cracked and worn wall. Yan Mei immediately caught both his wrists.

“Aren’t you going to watch the movie?”

“I wasn’t here to watch the movie in the first place.”

“…”

“Do you remember what day it is today?”

Was this some kind of deadly question?

Ye Jishu’s expression showed his confusion. What day was it?

Yan Mei softly replied, “It’s Tuesday. Four months ago, in a place similar to this, you confessed to me, and I said yes. Do you remember?”