Lin Nan timidly peeked around the corner of the dormitory building, looking toward the glass doors at the entrance.
Beside him were Liu Xuefei and Lina, two girls whose relationship wasn't particularly good, but who now had a common goal. They were enthusiastically trying to persuade Lin Nan, working together with remarkable unity.
"There are hardly any people outside, no one will notice."
"Xuefei has even lent you her safety shorts, so you don't need to worry about accidentally exposing yourself."
"Most of your classmates have probably gone home for National Day anyway. How could you possibly run into someone just by going out for a meal?"
Lin Nan was starting to be swayed by their persuasion. His hands nervously fidgeted with the hem of his clothes as his face turned crimson with intense embarrassment.
He swallowed hard and looked toward the glass doors again. Indeed, there weren't many pedestrians visible.
Cross-dressing was already difficult for Lin Nan to accept, but now they wanted him to go outside dressed as a girl, which made him feel even more hesitant. His head felt like a bowl of porridge, unable to think clearly.
Eventually, he was half-pushed, half-coaxed out of the girls' dormitory building.
Outside the dormitory, he glanced around at the pedestrians. His eyes could only spot three to five people, but Lin Nan still felt as if hundreds of eyes were focused on him, staring intently. He felt as if he had been stripped naked and thrown onto the street. His already flushed face grew even redder.
One of the pedestrians seemed to sense something and turned to look in Lin Nan's direction. He immediately lowered his head, wanting to bury his face into the pavement, completely unwilling to make eye contact with anyone.
"Let's go, let's go," Liu Xuefei clearly enjoyed seeing Lin Nan in this shy state and casually grabbed his arm.
Lina glanced at her disapprovingly. Although she had confirmed that Lin Nan wasn't Lilith, if Lilith were to revive, she would be using Lin Nan's body. Not to be outdone, Lina grabbed his other arm with a humph, still feeling as if she had been made a fool of.
Compared to the mere minutes it took to walk from the boys' dormitory to the cafeteria, it was at least a ten-minute walk from the girls' dormitory. During these ten-plus minutes, Lin Nan felt as if he had forgotten how to walk. With his head hanging low and a blank expression, he was practically dragged forward by the two girls. Anyone who didn't know better might think he was being kidnapped.
His mind had shut down from embarrassment, and all he wanted now was to get through the day as quickly as possible.
The ten-minute journey felt like years to him. After enduring the gazes of pedestrians, they finally arrived at the cafeteria, only to realize it was peak mealtime. Even though many students had left campus for the National Day holiday, the cafeteria was still crowded.
Lin Nan became even more timid, hanging his head low as the two girls "escorted" him to order fast food before finding a place to sit.
"Eat up! It's my treat today!" Liu Xuefei said generously.
Hearing someone else was paying, Lin Nan finally showed some interest, but hesitated and asked, "Aren't you eating?"
"Feasting my eyes is enough! Besides, I'm on a diet lately."
Honestly, Lin Nan couldn't understand why these girls who were already so thin always talked about dieting. Liu Xuefei was skinny with hardly any chest or hips, probably weighing only about ninety jin. If she lost any more weight, she'd be nothing but skin and bones.
Having only been feminized for just over a month, he couldn't yet understand the female mindset. At any rate, he never needed to diet himself—his parents' living allowance wasn't enough for him to eat lavishly anyway, so he couldn't gain weight even if he wanted to.
With someone else paying, Lin Nan ate more freely.
He was trying his best to relax both physically and mentally when, halfway through the meal, he suddenly heard two familiar voices from behind him.
"What's up with Lin Nan being so strange lately?" The familiar voice from behind made Lin Nan's body tremble slightly.
"What's it to me? You don't happen to like her, do you? You specially called me to accompany him during National Day, but then he turned off the air conditioner and kicked me out."
"That's because you were smoking, isn't it?"
This voice was also very familiar, but Lin Nan didn't dare turn around to confirm. He continued to shovel food into his mouth, trembling slightly.
Lina noticed Lin Nan's change in emotion and looked back, confirming that the two men behind them were indeed Lin Nan's friends. A chilling smile immediately appeared on her face.
Lin Nan quickly covered Lina's mouth with his hand, trying to threaten her with a fierce glare.
However, his threatening gaze had no effect whatsoever. Lina freed herself from his grasp and cheerfully tapped Chen Yao on the shoulder. As Chen Yao looked at her in confusion, she said, "I heard Lin Nan took out a fruit loan."
Chen Yao turned around bewildered, looking at Lina with complete confusion.
But the information she revealed made Chen Yao immediately tense up. "What did you say?"
Just as he asked, Chen Yao saw another girl with long black hair angrily smack Lina on the head, and then apologize in a nasal, somewhat androgynous voice: "She has problems in her head."
The voice sounded incredibly familiar, but he felt it would be impolite to stare directly at the girl's face just to satisfy his curiosity.
So he suppressed his curiosity and continued speaking to Dong An, "You don't understand. Lin Nan has been hiding everything from me lately, making me so anxious. I'm afraid something might happen to him."
Dong An gave him a sidelong glance and said, "I suspect you're gay."
"Bullshit, I've known him for almost ten years. What's wrong with being concerned?" Chen Yao denied vehemently.
Meanwhile, Lina was looking at Lin Nan beside her with a mischievous gaze. Lin Nan's face was frozen in an awkward smile as he continued eating, not daring to say another word.
If his voice was recognized, then his cross-dressing adventure would definitely involve Chen Yao's intervention, and dealing with Liu Xuefei was already difficult enough.
He had thought today's outing would be merely difficult, but now it seemed to be at least hell-level difficulty. Who knew why Chen Yao would coincidentally come to the cafeteria for lunch? He usually preferred ordering takeout.
So he began eating his lunch even faster, trying to finish quickly and leave.
But Lina ate very slowly, not rushing at all. Lin Nan felt she probably just wanted to see him embarrassed.
"How about we go out and have some fun afterward? Maybe see a movie?" Liu Xuefei suddenly suggested.
Lin Nan's expression became even more rigid. He had planned to just stay in Lina's dorm for the day, but coming out for lunch was already unexpected. If they went out to play, they would definitely encounter more pedestrians.
If someone recognized that he was actually a "man"...
Yet something in his heart urged him to do even more embarrassing things, even making him want to go out wearing a short skirt with nothing underneath.
That would be too shameful!
Fortunately, although Lilith greatly influenced Lin Nan's thinking, according to Lina, Lilith now only had soul fragments hidden within him. No matter how great the influence, she couldn't control his actions at present.
"Maybe we shouldn't go," Lin Nan suggested hesitantly.
However, this sentence was overheard by Chen Yao behind him. Lin Nan hadn't intentionally used his nasal voice, which immediately made Chen Yao suspicious.