Chapter 2: The Steel Straight Guy Hardcore Blow-Dries Her Hair, and the Yandere Junior Blushes

Lin Ci leaned against the door panel, cold sweat streaming down his back from fright.

He looked at Gu Mianmian, countless thoughts spinning through his mind.

Had she discovered something after all?

“You… what did you mean by that just now?” Lin Ci asked tentatively.

Hearing Lin Ci’s words, Gu Mianmian looked a little confused.

She said in a low voice.

“Only Senior is this good to me. No one else would ever look after me.”

After hearing that, Lin Ci finally let out a breath.

So it was just that this girl had lacked love since childhood and treated ordinary roommate mutual help as some enormous blessing.

He silently cursed himself for being so paranoid.

Right.

Who would ever imagine a grown man could turn into a stunning beauty overnight after one sleep.

This matter itself violated the basic laws of materialism.

Yet the counselor’s message still sat on his phone.

Facial entry.

ID card.

Lin Ci looked at the time on the screen and felt a headache coming on.

That night at 10:30, Lin Ci closed the dorm door.

Gu Mianmian was still washing up in the public washroom.

Only he was in the dorm.

Lin Ci dragged a stool over and sat in front of the full-length mirror, casually propping his phone on the table.

He opened a photo-editing app and took a frontal shot facing the mirror.

The woman on the screen had skin so white it seemed to glow, a clear collarbone, and coldly beautiful features.

Lin Ci scratched his head looking at it.

He tapped the edit function and started manually remodeling this face.

He widened the jawline all the way.

He shrunk the eyes by 40%.

He wiped away the eyelashes, thickened the nose bridge, and changed the eyebrows into a straight monobrow.

After half an hour of fussing, Lin Ci stopped and enlarged the edited photo.

Instantly a distorted face with a square jaw appeared on the screen.

The features were coarse and extremely bizarre.

“Damn, what the hell did I even cook up here.”

Lin Ci’s mouth twitched slightly.

He decisively tapped delete all.

He lifted his head and looked at himself in the mirror again.

Long hair spilled over his shoulders.

That face was so good-looking it had no flaws to pick.

“No, bro, who the hell even are you?”

Lin Ci let out a long sigh at the woman in the mirror.

His chest rose and fell with it.

That movement made the collar open a little, revealing a stretch of snow-white skin.

Lin Ci’s face darkened.

He quickly pulled the pajama collar tight.

This body’s assets were too generous.

The slightest carelessness and things would slip out.

As a twenty-two-year-old steel straight guy, he felt ashamed of his current figure.

Just as he was getting irritated, his phone vibrated.

A message from the counselor popped up.

[Student Lin Ci, why didn’t you come to the administration building this afternoon? Facial collection is very important. It concerns your graduation file.]

Lin Ci scratched his hair and typed quickly.

[Counselor, really sorry. I left my ID card in the car and just went to report it lost and apply for a replacement.]

The other side replied after two minutes.

[Hurry and get a temporary ID. It must be entered into the system by Friday at the latest.]

Today was Monday.

All told, he only had five days left.

Lin Ci tossed his phone onto the table and tipped his head back against the chair, staring blankly.

Five days.

Where was he supposed to find a way to get past facial recognition.

He couldn’t actually go get reverse plastic surgery.

Forget it.

Take it one step at a time.

Worst case, on Friday he would fake being sick and ask for leave.

Drag it out a day at a time.

By 11:00 at night, the lights in the dorm hallway had dimmed.

Lin Ci took a cup and walked out of the dorm, about to go fetch some hot water.

Just as he reached the public restroom doorway, he suddenly heard the sound of running water inside, mixed with faint gasping.

Lin Ci pushed the door open.

He saw Gu Mianmian squatting by the sink, washing her hair with cold water.

Water had soaked her old hoodie completely through, plastering it to her back.

She was shivering as she washed, her lips already purple from the cold.

Seeing this, a surge of anger rose in Lin Ci’s chest.

She strode over in two steps and twisted the faucet shut hard.

“I already told you last time not to use cold water. Use my card. Are your ears just for show?” Lin Ci said with some impatience.

Gu Mianmian jumped at Lin Ci’s voice and lifted her dripping-wet head.

Cold water kept streaming down her cheeks.

She looked at Lin Ci.

Her lips moved, but she did not dare make a sound.

The restroom was extremely quiet.

Only the sound of water dripping from the pipes remained.

Looking at her pitiful appearance, most of the fire in Lin Ci’s heart immediately dissipated.

“Get up.”

He grabbed her arm and pulled her up from the floor.

Gu Mianmian’s hands were ice-cold even through the wet clothes.

“Come back to the dorm and dry off properly. You’ll catch a cold if you keep this up.”

Lin Ci tugged her wrist and strode toward Room 302.

Gu Mianmian followed obediently.

Once inside the dorm, Lin Ci shut the door behind them.

He dug a clean towel out of the cabinet and draped it straight over Gu Mianmian’s head, rubbing it a few times at random.

“Wipe first. Don’t get the floor wet.”

Gu Mianmian gripped the edges of the towel with both hands and stood obediently in place, not daring to move.

Lin Ci turned and pulled out the hair dryer, plugged it in, and pointed at the chair.

“Sit down.”

Gu Mianmian walked over slowly and sat.

The hair dryer let out a whirr as it started running.

Warm air blew out.

Lin Ci stood behind her, one hand holding the dryer, the other threading through her hair.

The hair was fine and soft, the ends a little dry and brittle.

Lin Ci’s fingers accidentally brushed her scalp.

Gu Mianmian’s body jerked hard.

Her neck went taut.

“Don’t move around. If I burn you, I’m not taking responsibility.”

Lin Ci grumbled, but his hands lightened a little.

The hot air blew the bangs away from Gu Mianmian’s forehead.

The instant the cover was lifted, a complete face was exposed under the light.

Lin Ci’s hand holding the dryer paused.

Without the bangs blocking it, Gu Mianmian’s features were fully revealed.

A graceful nose bridge, slightly upturned lips, and a pair of dark eyes.

Because she always kept her head down year-round, no one had ever paid attention to what she looked like.

Looking now, this face would be top-tier even in the art department.

Lin Ci was stunned and blurted out.

“You’re this pretty, why do you hide behind bangs every day?”

The words had barely left his mouth when Gu Mianmian froze.

The rims of her ears rapidly turned red.

The red spread, tinting even her neck a light pink.

She hurriedly turned her head away, avoiding his gaze, and answered in a muffled voice.

“I… I’m not pretty.”

Lin Ci laughed.

“Come on. I— Senior here has seen plenty of people. Pretty is pretty. What’s there to be insecure about.”

He reached out, turned Gu Mianmian’s head back to face forward, and continued drying her hair.

“From now on, tie your bangs up. Don’t go around with your hair all loose every day.”

Gu Mianmian did not argue.

She lowered her lashes.

They trembled lightly.

The dorm was filled with the scent of shampoo mixed with the milky fragrance on Lin Ci.

The hot air wrapped that scent around Gu Mianmian completely.

The hair dryer was very noisy.

Lin Ci was only focused on whether the hair was dry and did not notice the movement below.

Gu Mianmian sat on the chair, her fingers creeping forward.

She carefully extended two fingers and lightly clutched the hem of Lin Ci’s pajamas.

Her fingertips tightened more and more, pinching deep creases into the thin fabric.