The phone rang twice more before Gu Xi tapped the green button.
He held it away from his face, just in case.
Sure enough—
"Gu Guuuuuu! Where are you?! I've been waiting since forever!!" came the high-pitched wail from the other end. Sweet, airy, overly dramatic. Like someone had mixed bubble tea with helium.
"...It's been ten seconds."
"Hmph! For me, that's forever! And you didn't call me once over the break! Five whole days!"
Gu Xi rubbed his temple with a sigh.
Su Daji.
Known school-wide as one of the Top Five Male Beauties, heart-throb of Class 2, and the national treasure youngest son of the Su family.
Every girl dreamed of feeding him fruit with her fingers.
Every boy wanted to be him—or on him.
His soft golden hair curled naturally at the tips. His eyes were shaped like almonds, with naturally upturned corners. His lips were full, and his cheeks flushed easily with color. He had the kind of voice that sounded like it belonged on a variety show—sugary and shrill in just the right way.
By all accounts, someone like him should have had nothing—absolutely nothing—to do with Gu Xi.
And yet.
Two years ago, Gu Xi had caught Su Daji hunched in the back corner of the library, nose buried in a questionable manga involving demon queens, tentacles, and lots of strategically placed fog.
Their eyes had met.
A beat of silence.
Su Daji had gasped.
And Gu Xi had calmly asked, "Chapter 72, right?"
A handshake later, they were bonded for life.
A weeb's blood oath.
From then on, they were 'Besties'—in name, in phone contacts, and unfortunately, in cutesy nicknames Gu Xi now deeply regretted.
"Stop calling me Gu Gu," he muttered into the receiver.
"No! You're my Gu Gu forever!" Daji chirped. "Besides, you sound super tsundere lately. I like it~"
Gu Xi held back a groan.
"Did you read Blade Princess: Crimson Edition yet?! The new volume dropped two days ago!"
"I was busy."
"Gu Gu!"
"I was working out," Gu Xi said flatly.
Silence.
Then: "...Excuse me?"
"I said I was working out."
"Who are you and what have you done with my Gu Gu?!"
Gu Xi ignored the dramatic gasp. He stepped onto campus as Su Daji kept blabbering in his ear, waving one hand while his voice climbed into scandalized octaves.
"You missed the hottest female character drop of the year," Daji continued. "She's got black thigh-high boots, a whip made of lightning, and her catchphrase is—wait, wait, let me send it—"
"No need."
"I sent it already! Open it! And come to the cafeteria! I saved you a seat!"
"Fine," Gu Xi muttered. "Ten minutes."
"Oh! And you'd better be ready for next month's exams! Did you finish the last five sets of mock papers I gave you? I color-coded them."
"Yeah, yeah. I'll bring flowers to your grave if I fail."
"Love you~!"
Click.
Gu Xi stuffed the phone back in his pocket.
Even now, the nickname 'Gu Gu' made the back of his neck itch.
From the corner of his eye, he noticed two upperclasswomen passing by. One did a double take—her eyes flicking to his arms, exposed beneath his rolled-up uniform sleeves. Her gaze dropped down—shoulders, waist, then paused ever so slightly at his hips.
Then both of them whispered something, glanced again.
And when he looked up?
They saw his face—and turned away.
Just like that.
"Figures," he muttered.
In this world, beauty wasn't body alone—it was the face first, always.
Even now, after losing weight, building shape, smoothing his skin—he was still only average. Still just "slightly likable when not speaking."
It was almost funny.
Gu Xi sighed and crossed the courtyard, hand in his pocket, steps steady.
He wasn't here to be admired.
He was here to win.
And maybe, on the side… get yelled at by a blond prince about fan service and thighs.