Chapter 76 - Very dry.
Even though a few days had passed after he made the bet with Liao Su, You Liangxing did not ask Kang Shengzhe to come out to meet him. Instead, it was Kang Shengzhe who took the initiative to bring up the matter of wanting to visit You Liangxing’s boxing gym.
Truth to be told, it could not be considered a coincidence. To Kang Shengzhe, the development was a matter of course.
As a person, Kang Shengzhe was usually too lazy to give in to nervousness; other than gaming and sleeping, two things which predominantly occupied his mind, there would be an occasional book thrown into the mix. Now that he met You Liangxing, he had a change in his priorities and having a meal with Liang Liang and meeting Liang Liang became the two most wanted things in Kang Shengzhe’s everyday life.
While there have been tales of ‘KK carrying a girl’ on the internet with the live broadcast working as a catalyst, Kang Shengzhe truthfully felt that his own journey of ‘carrying a girl’ had not taken off at all. Especially the past few days – when he wanted to meet for a meal, You Liangxing would reply: No thanks, boxing. And when he wanted to meet up, You Liangxing would also reply: No thanks, boxing.
After it had occurred three times, Kang Shengzhe had his ideas straightened out, “Can I go and watch you box?” He added an afterthought, “It’ll allow me to check out your boxing gym too.”
He did not know what You Liangxing was thinking but it took him a few seconds of silence before he replied: — Sure.
Therefore, the matter was settled.
This afternoon, Kang Shengzhe went out as scheduled. And having taken into consideration his propensity to sleep in, You Liangxing had thoughtfully arranged the meeting time to be late in the afternoon and they were slated to meet at the bus stop which was situated near the boxing gym. Furthermore, because he was afraid that Kang Shengzhe would not be able to find it, You Liangxing went out of his way to pick him up.
Since he had not seen him for the past few days, Kang Shengzhe felt that while he remained the same, he felt like You Liangxing had underwent a lot of changes when he saw him from the distance.
His eyes seemed more alluring; his body, firmer; the pair of arms being exposed from his half-sleeves seemed extremely well-defined, and every strand of hair of his glittered under the sunlight as it swayed.
“So fast.”
Kang Shengzhe said, “I’m a local here, I’m familiar with the area~”
As he said that, he scrutinised You Liangxing. In his heart, he could not resist saying: So handsome~
You Liangxing had been half-way through his training when he came to pick Kang Shengzhe up and his face was slightly flushed from his physical exertion. Despite not meeting Kang Shengzhe for the past few days, there was no sense of strangeness between them and they were about to speak when the sound of hurried footsteps approached from behind them. Following closely, You Liangxing’s shoulder sank.
Liao Su breathed out in short pants: “Brother Liang! Why did you leave so quickly? Why didn’t you call me when you were going to pick him up?”
Staring at the arm that Liao Su had rested on You Liangxing’s shoulder, Kang Shengzhe revealed a puzzled expression.
You Liangxing introduced, “This is my...”
Before he could get his words out, Liao Su had already resumed a proper posture and flitted towards Kang Shengzhe, back ramrod straight. His gaze was fervent and his predilection burned thoroughly in those depths. You Liangxing paused for a moment before he said: “Dorm mate, Liao Su, he’s your fan.”
With the word ‘dorm mate’ tacking onto the loud voice he just heard. Kang Shengzhe immediately understood; thinking about it, they had played a game or two together before and they could be considered as acquainted. Thus, he stretched his hand out and said: “Hello, I’m Kang Shengzhe.”
To be able to shake hands with God K, a figure who he had been following silently, was a pleasant surprise that overwhelmed him. With excitement written all over his face, Liao Su stretched out his own hand instantaneously to hold his. Emotional, he exclaimed, “Oh my god, I’m not washing my hand for the rest of the year!”
Liao Su belonged to the category of people who were noisier by nature, but when there were such people present, it helped to better enliven the atmosphere. After the three were done with their introductions, they walked towards the boxing gym as Liao Su continued to chatter excitedly: “It’s really too coincidental! God K is actually in City A, and he is going to be a student in A University. Both Brother Liang and I are also in A university, and now that we’re talking about that, we’re technically school seniors and junior brother by association, I even met you in school back when&#k2026;”
Liao Su was a true fan and thus, when he was talking to Kang Shengzhe, there were no holds barred on his emotions. Kang Shengzhe still maintained his lazy attitude but he was aware that he had to answer when a conversation was being directed towards him. One sentence was passed and returned like that, and although the pair who were familiar with one another had a new addition, it gave off the feeling that three individuals in question were old friends.
“We’re here, this is it.”
Liao Su pushed open the door first, with You Liangxing and Kang Shengzhe following behind him. As Kang Shengzhe was entering, he stretched his hand to grasp at something, and he happened to wrap around You Liangxing’s neck and his palm plastered itself on side of his neck.
Due to the sudden contact, You Liangxing was taken by surprise and he jerked, accidentally elbowing Kang Shengzhe’s waist. However, the big and tall person behind him did not even frown at the unexpected impact.
You Liangxing asked, “What are you doing?”
Kang Shengzhe’s palm was resting against You Liangxing’s neck, and as long as he shifted his thumb a little, he would basically be holding the entirety of his neck. In spite of that, he chose to hold only one side of it, and he could feel the pulsating of the artery underneath You Liangxing’s skin.
“Your body is really hot.”
You Liangxing’s brows wrinkled: “I just warmed up.” After he said that, he paused and said strangely: “The one who’s hot is you.”
Even though the person Kang Shengzhe was asking about was You Liangxing, the subject in question felt that if they had to compare the heat of their skins, he felt that Kang Shengzhe’s hand was scalding and the intensity of the heat on his neck was aching.
Kang Shengzhe pondered about it briefly and said: “Perhaps.” Despite that, he did not relax his hold and any bystander would find their postures odd if they were called to comment on it. You Liangxing was about to fling his hand away when Kang Shengzhe suddenly leaned closer to his ear to say: “Liang Liang~”
You Liangxing’s ears trembled as Kang Shengzhe continued to murmur, “I really missed you~”
Words conveyed, he retracted his hand, and as if nothing had happened, he pushed You Liangxing into the boxing gym by his back.
You Liangxing turned his head back to look at Kang Shengzhe, but that person’s facial expression did not change at all. In fact, he still looked indolent as if the words that should not be said to another man hadn’t come out from his own mouth.
Liao Su, who had been walking ahead, urged: “Brother Liang, hurry up.”
Once they entered the boxing gym, it could be observed that the four corners were meant for training: there were hanging sandbags, a circle sparring ring, and apart from that, there were many warm-up and fitness equipment.
Since Kang Shengzhe had come to the boxing gym under the name of checking it out, the pair – You Liangxing, who had the responsibility to introduce and Liao Su who was armed with enthusiasm – took Kang Shengzhe around the boxing gym for a tour.
However, because they had informed the gym in advance, they were not too far into their jaunt when a coach that the gym dispatched came over specially to give Kang Shengzhe an explanation. Evidently, amicability was the strongest strategy when it came to advertising something no matter which industry it was. In their eyes, Kang Shengzhe, in big and bolded letters, was already a customer.
Just as they were walking, someone called from the side: “You Liangxing! The coach is calling you.”
To begin with, You Liangxing had been training halfway when he had to stop to go out and fetch Kang Shengzhe and for the coach to call him back was very normal. Had it been under normal circumstances, You Liangxing might have told the coach to delay his training for a while more but after the matter of Kang Shengzhe holding onto his neck, he had a change of mind. Therefore, he responded: “En.”
Kang Shengzhe stiffened. “You’re leaving?”
You Liangxing nodded, not only because he wanted to hide away temporarily, but also because he wanted to avoid the thoughts that the abrupt collapse of Kang Shengzhe’s expression would tease to the surface. “Liao Su and Coach Wang will show you around, they’re more professional than I am.”
Kang Shengzhe wanted to speak but chose to stop himself at the last second. In the moment where he hesitated, You Liangxing had already left without looking back once, leaving him to the machinations of the excited face number one by the name of Liao Su and excited face number two coach.
“Come come come, let’s continue.”
Kang Shengzhe: “......”
Liao Su’s zeal was very high, fuelled by both the bet and because he wanted to bridge the distance between him and Kang Shengzhe. In the eyes of a sports student like him, there was nothing that could elevate and revolutionise a friendship more than exercising together and his introduction of the various fitness machines were very enthusiastic as a result. His ideas were very in line with the coach’s intention to drag the person in, and together, they started to sing different tunes in pursuit of the same result. Exuberantly, the pair tried to instil the benefits of exercising to Kang Shengzhe.
“As humans, exercise is really something you can’t do without. Although it is hard to perceive it when you are still young, it can have a great impact when you are older. Judging from how tall you are, your skeletal structure and proportions are decent but what will happen when you are older? You might have a large belly and bucket waist, and how unappealing would that be...”
“Right, that’s right, being unappealing is one thing, and ensuring that your body is healthy is another. It doesn’t matter if we’re talking about your shoulders or legs, exercising now can bring great benefits to you in the future.”
Liao Su and the coach took turns to pitch the benefits of exercising to him, and their words dug into hearts and lungs with its intentions. Kang Shengzhe made a show of listening earnestly, and he would respond to their words from time to time: “You’re right, en, yes, that makes sense.”
After they spoke for over twenty minutes and looked over all the fitness equipment, the coach saw that he was displaying a serious expression. Happily, he asked: “How is it, would you like to start working out?”
Kang Shengzhe said: “No.”
Coach: “......”
The coach thought he had heard it wrongly and he exchanged looks with Liao Su. He could not help asking: “Why not, exercising can bring you untold amounts of benefits.”
The moment he started talking about the benefits of exercising again, Kang Shengzhe nodded again. The coach felt like there was hope, and after he advocated it for awhile more, he asked again: “So do you want to come here to work out?”
Kang Shengzhe waved his hand: “No.”
Coach: “......”
Having spoken up until now, how could the coach be unaware of Kang Shengzhe’s attitude? He understood the logic behind exercising, but it was plain to see that he had zero intentions of even starting.
The coach said: “If you are worried about the price, we can still bring it down a little on our end. Since you are acquainted with You Liangxing and Liao Su, you can ask them for their opinion. Our gym is quite decent; recently, we have been offering discount packages to beginners and the membership encompasses the entire year. You should consider it a little.”
Kang Shengzhe shook his head and replied: “It’s not the issue of money.”
The coach said: “Then...”
“I’m too lazy to move,” said Kang Shengzhe.
Coach: “......”
After working in the industry for so many years, this was the first time the coach had met someone who could say the word ‘lazy’ so blatantly and casually to him. He quietened down for two seconds and officially gave up.
Although his teammate left, Liao Su still continued to attack. He abandoned the coach’s mode of attack and proved it with his actions.
“God K, regarding the matter of exercising, it is something you can easily find joy in after you try it. As the proverb goes, getting started is always the hardest part; but once you get started, it definitely gets easier later on. I mean, look at this machine, it can train your arm strength, after lifting it in a set of thirty, your arms will start getting sore and your back will start sweating, but it feel particularly satisfying.”
“And you can even run, and my god, running, this exercise, I would genuinely recommend it to you. You can feel every muscle moving and it feels really good; every time I run, I feel like I’m going to ascend to the heavens.”
The longer Liao Su preached, the higher he felt, and he hated the fact that he couldn’t write out an entire piece regarding what he had learned from experience and came to realise in order to teach by precept and example. After he exhausted all the words he could possibly say in a vigorous manner, he saw Kang Shengzhe open his mouth just as he was about to ask him how he felt about it.
Then, Liao Su finally understood.
No hope, there really was no hope.
Truthfully speaking, every person who came to a place like a gym would usually be persuaded by the coach who was in charge of doing the introductions, and every few sentences of cajoling was akin to an injection of chicken blood; they would feel like they could have perfect biceps in two days and they could have a perfect body that was worthy of envy in three. And if you were to think in the inverse, if a person could remain unmoved after the frenzied promotion of both Liao Su and the coach, Kang Shengzhe could be considered as the unconventional and other representation of staunch will.
Seeing the undeniable and helpless truth stare back at him, even Liao Su had to lay down the flag and muffle the drums. Sighing, he said: “Let’s go and see Brother Liang.”
Once You Liangxing was mentioned, Kang Shengzhe was inspired with a never seen before enthusiasm. His initial calm and faint expression brightened and he said happily: “Okay~”
With such a sharp contrast, Liao Su was a little unsettled.
However, no matter how unsettled his heart was, he still had to lead the way. Liao Su brought Kang Shengzhe towards the boxing ring. Despite the distance, they could still hear the sound of boxing gloves impacting the sandbags with a large force. The sound might be dull and loud, but the power condensed within those fists was unmistakable.
Kang Shengzhe asked: “That’s Liang...... You Liangxing?”
Liao Su: “If it’s not him, who else could it be? If that punch were to land, even your shit would get punched out.”
... That was honestly a possibility.
Kang Shengzhe’s thoughts sped along another tangent and he could not answer at that moment. As they walked closer he finally saw the boxing You Liangxing in high definition.
For an instant, Kang Shengzhe’s eyelids jumped and he unconsciously licked his lips. The air conditioner was blowing fiercely but he felt like he had just walked into the gym and saw the side of You Liangxing’s neck. He felt very dry.
You Liangxing was... not wearing a shirt.
T/N: KK is a thirsty boi.
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