Although An Han woke up earliest in the dorm today, he was the last one to leave.
After watching all his roommates head out, he hurriedly opened his wardrobe to check whether anyone had touched his female clothing.
"It's just not safe enough," he muttered, pulling the entire outfit from the very bottom of the wardrobe and anxiously scanning the room for another hiding spot.
Right now, his state of mind was exactly like that of a kid who'd secretly bought a gaming console behind his parents' backs—no matter how carefully he hid it, he lived in constant fear that one day his parents would find it.
After pondering for a while, he finally stashed the dress, wig, and little leather shoes inside the inner side of his desk. He figured that unless a roommate happened to drop something into that exact corner, it probably wouldn't be discovered.
By the time he finally headed downstairs, there were fewer than ten minutes left before class started.
It normally took nearly twenty minutes to walk from the dorm building to the classroom, but if he ran, he might just make it. However, as soon as he stepped outside, he spotted Su Peng just about to ride off on his bicycle.
An Han swiftly dashed forward and plopped himself sideways onto the bike seat behind Su Peng.
The sudden extra weight threw the bicycle wildly off balance. Su Peng, startled, quickly put both feet down to steady the bike and turned around with an exasperated sigh: "Can't you give me a heads-up before jumping on next time?"
"What if you heard me and just rode off?" An Han grinned, gripping the seat with one hand while pressing his textbook against his thigh with the other. "Hurry up! We're gonna be late!"
"Then why don't you just wake up earlier?" Su Peng sighed again, resignedly pedaling toward the classroom building with An Han on the back.
Sitting sideways behind him, An Han watched the stream of hurried students passing by and cheerfully asked Su Peng, "You didn't go blabbing about my secret to everyone, did you?"
"I did."
"You little bastard!" An Han smacked Su Peng right on the waist.
When riding pillion, the waist was the easiest target for playful attacks.
"We've known each other for years—do you really think I'd go around telling people?" Su Peng didn't even flinch from the hit, but his tone was wounded. "You don't trust me?"
"Of course I do! If I didn't, would I have let you walk away so easily yesterday?"
According to the system's mission, he should've tried seducing him—or at the very least, used threats or bribes—but instead, he'd just made Su Peng promise not to tell. Thinking about it now, An Han felt like he'd lost millions.
Sitting comfortably on the back of the bike, An Han swung his legs lightly and then asked teasingly, "Hey, apprentice—ever thought about trying cross-dressing?"
"No."
"Don't be like that! Anyone who's handsome looks good in women's clothes!"
Su Peng replied coldly, "Piss off."
What a shame.
Ever since An Han had been tricked into wearing women's clothes, he'd been dying to trick someone else into doing the same—otherwise, it just felt unfair. But both Wu Dongming and Su Peng had flat-out refused, one even more stubbornly than the other.
Suddenly, the bicycle jolted violently over a bumpy patch of road, startling An Han into instinctively wrapping his arms tightly around Su Peng's waist. Glancing down, he realized they'd hit that notoriously uneven brick-paved section.
"This part always jars my ass," he complained, hugging Su Peng's waist even tighter.
Su Peng didn't respond. He just noticed that An Han's body felt unusually soft today—but he didn't think much of it.
Once they passed the rough stretch, the classroom building was already in sight.
"Get off," Su Peng braked and turned to look back at An Han.
For a fleeting moment, he thought An Han's quiet, sideways posture on the bike actually looked… gentle and lovely.
"Hold your horses!" An Han hopped off, grumbling as he rubbed his sore backside. "Damn, that hurt like hell."
But the moment he opened his mouth, any trace of that gentle aura vanished instantly.
Why did perfectly decent people have to open their mouths?
While Su Peng silently squatted down to lock his bike, An Han came bouncing over again.
"Apprentice, don't you think I've gotten way more handsome lately?"
Looking up, Su Peng saw An Han's smug, grinning face—and somehow found it oddly endearing.
"No."
"You must be blind," An Han huffed.
Once his physique stats improved enough, he planned to strut around shirtless every day. Combined with his charm stat, he'd become a walking girl-magnet—if his physique didn't somehow backfire, that is.
Su Peng couldn't be bothered to engage with An Han's sudden bout of nonsense. After locking his bike, he grabbed his textbook and headed into the building.
An Han followed close behind, arms full of books, still chattering away: "Don't you notice I've bulked up a bit?"
"I used to be as skinny as a monkey, but now I'm clearly way hotter, right?"
"Yeah, yeah, sure."
"You're so damn half-hearted! I'm never letting you play Dota with me again."
"I already uninstalled it."
"What?! Why'd you uninstall it? Wasn't it fun?"
Su Peng shook his head. "It's alright—I enjoy watching matches, but playing myself is just too tiring."
"You old geezer," An Han muttered. "Even if you quit, it doesn't change the fact that I taught you, so you still have to call me 'Master.'"
If they'd been even closer, An Han would've made him call him "Dad," but since they weren't even in the same dorm, their friendship—though solid after several years—hadn't quite reached that level of intimacy.
When they arrived at the classroom, the professor had just started roll call. An Han quickly slipped into the seat beside Wu Dongming.
"Dongming, did you give Long Ge my WeChat yet?"
"Yeah, check your phone."
An Han immediately pulled out his phone and checked the farthest corner of his WeChat contacts—sure enough, there was a new friend request.
"But just chatting with Long Ge online probably isn't enough," Wu Dongming offered some unsolicited advice. "Even if you don't plan to meet him in person wearing women's clothes, you should at least learn how to do a convincing female voice to prove you're a girl."
"Why does everything you touch turn into such a huge hassle…"
"It's Chen Junjie's fault, okay?"
Although Wu Dongming was technically the culprit, if Chen Junjie hadn't started doubting An Han in the first place, things wouldn't have spiraled so out of control.
Even stranger, Long Xing had also begun suspecting him—but An Han had no idea where things had gone wrong. Regardless, the situation was growing increasingly urgent.
And… the mission to meet Long Xing in women's clothing still hadn't failed.
"An Han!"
"Here!"
After answering roll call, An Han pulled out his wireless earbuds and started searching online for tutorials on voice feminization.
Hmm, doesn't seem too hard.
After watching a ten-minute video, he considered giving it a try—but glancing around at the nearly full classroom, he wisely decided to keep quiet.
He scanned the room ahead, wondering if the boost to his charm and likability stats had attracted any girls' attention.
It hadn't.
Maybe his charm stat wasn't high enough yet? Or did he need to take the initiative?
After all, he was already a junior—during his first two years of college, he'd never given dating a second thought, but now, he suddenly felt the pressure.
Otherwise, his parents would start arranging blind dates for him right after graduation.