At nine in the evening, Lin Nan put on his sneakers and left the dormitory with high spirits.
The university had two sports fields. One was surrounded by dormitory buildings and consisted of eight basketball courts joined together and enclosed by wire fencing. Chen Yao often went there, but it clearly wasn't a place for running. Besides, Lin Nan's height meant he had absolutely no talent for basketball.
The other field was farther away, with a rubber track surrounding a soccer field. Inside was artificial turf. Most of the school's major events were held here, including the first semester's military training.
Lin Nan headed straight for the larger field. Though it was already late, bright lights around the track illuminated the grounds. Looking inward, at least dozens of people were jogging on the track while some couples and friends sat chatting on the grass.
He had never imagined so many people would exercise at night. Wasn't this generation of college students supposed to be lazy and dismissive of physical education?
Somewhat hesitantly stepping onto the track, Lin Nan took a deep breath. Phone in hand, he began a slow jog around the inner lane.
During last semester's physical test, his thousand-meter run time had been middle of the pack in his class. Though he hadn't met the passing standard, at least he had finished with the main group.
Therefore, he had been fairly confident in his stamina—until delivering takeout crushed that confidence.
It was bad enough that Lilith's soul had affected his memories and behavior, but who knew it could impact his stamina, too? Could it even influence his secondary sexual characteristics?
He finished one slow lap, already breathing heavily.
His legs were growing weak and sore, his feet numb and painful. The cold air rushing into his lungs left his throat dry as he gasped for breath.
Lin Nan wanted to persist for a second lap, but his calves were burning and his thighs occasionally went weak, making his body sway. Worried he might fall if he kept running, he gradually slowed from a jog to a fast walk.
But suddenly, an inexplicable heart palpitation struck his brain. His heart seemed to stop for an instant, and every hair on his body stood on end. Like a mouse encountering a cat, or finding a cockroach in takeout halfway through eating—this causeless fear made him instinctively stop in his tracks.
His heart began racing violently, beating so fast he could barely breathe, cold sweat streaming down. But quickly, this sensation began to fade, returning to normal moments later.
He turned to look around at his surroundings and the ground but found nothing that would cause such fear.
"Must be Lilith's tricks again." Lin Nan muttered in confusion, once again blaming the otherworldly soul. "It couldn't be a heart problem, right? I shouldn't have that condition..."
There had been too many inexplicable things lately, so Lin Nan couldn't be bothered to dwell on this one. He pushed it from his mind and continued walking to recover his strength, planning to alternate between walking one lap and jogging the next.
But after walking just half a lap, that suffocating heart palpitation returned without warning. This time, he endured the discomfort, looking around the moment the palpitation began.
At that moment, a long-haired girl was jogging toward Lin Nan. He suddenly realized that as this girl got closer, his racing heartbeat grew more and more intense.
The girl noticed Lin Nan standing still and slightly lifted her head, revealing a delicate, exquisite face.
Lin Nan's breath caught in his throat.
That face flashed past, and as the girl moved away, Lin Nan's accelerated heartbeat gradually returned to normal.
What was that about?
He fell into deep thought, no longer in the mood to exercise. He walked back toward the dormitory while pondering.
Finally, as he stepped through the dormitory entrance, a Chinese idiom suddenly came to mind.
Could this be what they call "love at first sight"?
He placed his hand over his heart in confusion.
But would love at first sight make you scared out of your wits?
"What's wrong?" Sitting not far from the entrance, Chen Yao looked up at Lin Nan, standing with one foot in the doorway, hand on his chest, and head tilted. "Why are you clutching your conscience?" (TN: Means clutching your chest, usually where your heart would be. Typically done to show sincerity.)
"It's not that." Lin Nan quickly dropped his hand and immediately put on a fawning expression, grinning as he walked over and hooked an arm around Chen Yao's neck from behind. "I need to ask you something. Come to the balcony with me."
"I'm not that kind of person!"
Chen Yao didn't struggle, though. As he protested, he noticed Lin Nan's arm felt unusually soft. Up close, the milky fragrance coming from Lin Nan seemed stronger, making him a bit light-headed.
"Let's go!"
Lin Nan dragged Chen Yao to the balcony where they faced each other.
As mentioned before, Lin Nan and Chen Yao had known each other for seven years, becoming friends since their first year of middle school and now sharing a dormitory. So Lin Nan immediately told Chen Yao about what had just happened.
"Why did my heart start racing when that girl got close?" Lin Nan asked Chen Yao seriously. "And when she was far away, it was fine. Have you ever experienced something like this?"
"I have!" Chen Yao thought of Lin Nan's crossdressing at his house recently and boasted, "I'm a relationship expert. You've come to the right person with this question."
Honestly, if he hadn't known that beautiful girl was his brother of many years, he might not have been able to control himself.
He looked Lin Nan up and down. Although Lin Nan's current posture appeared somewhat feminine, compared to his crossdressing look, it was worlds apart. At least when crossdressing, his butt had looked perkier, and his chest more prominent... Come to think of it, had Lin Nan used some kind of padding then?
"So, what do you think is going on?" Lin Nan hadn't noticed Chen Yao's strange gaze and instead pressed this fellow lifelong virgin for answers.
Seeing Lin Nan's eagerness, this virgin straightened up proudly and explained with conviction: "It must be love at first sight!"
"Huh?" Lin Nan asked in great surprise. "I can believe love at first sight would make your heart race, but why was I kind of scared... It felt like grabbing a cockroach when opening a door in the dark."
Chen Yao was silent for a moment. After much thought, he devised another good excuse: "This must be the woman destined to dominate you for life! Think about it—spending decades after marriage under this woman's shadow, how could you not be scared?"
It seemed... to make some sense.
But Lin Nan wasn't an idiot. After being fooled for a moment, he immediately realized this person had zero relationship experience yet claimed to be a relationship expert, basically making everything up as he went along.
So he could only stare silently into Chen Yao's eyes until Chen Yao awkwardly started whistling and changed the subject: "Oh right, we need to register for the October competition. You should practice on my computer for a bit. I'm going downstairs to buy some cola."