I got ready and went to the karaoke bar with my roommates that night.

I honestly didn’t expect to see Xu Yang there. But the moment I stepped into the private room, there he was, dressed in black, sitting quietly like he did the first time I met him—cool and untouchable, like a flower on a high mountaintop, pristine and unreachable.

When he noticed me enter, his dark eyes focused directly on me. Feeling a bit guilty, I avoided his gaze and quickly sat down on the other side of the room.

I nudged my roommate next to me and whispered, “What’s going on?”

Being one of Xu Yang’s biggest fans, my roommate answered enthusiastically, “I just invited him as a shot in the dark. I didn’t think he’d actually come!”

I was speechless.

Not knowing the turmoil inside me, my roommate was all the more excited to see Xu Yang and suggested we start a game of Truth or Dare.

I didn’t mind, but I figured Xu Yang wouldn’t participate in something like this. Surprisingly, though, he didn’t refuse.

The game began, and it was a game where you spun a bottle to choose someone. My luck wasn’t great—on the first round, it landed on me.

Accepting my fate, I chose Dare. My roommate drew a card for me, and, unlucky as I was, I got one of the more challenging dares.

My roommate read it out loud: “Invite the third person to your left to do push-ups with you, face to face.”

I looked around—first, second… oh no. The third person was Xu Yang.

I froze. But not one to back down, I swallowed my nerves and asked him, “Uh… would you be up for it?”

After all, face-to-face push-ups meant one person had to be below the other. I didn’t think someone like Xu Yang, so composed and dignified, would agree to such a game. Resigned, I picked up a glass, ready to drink as a forfeit. But to my shock, Xu Yang stood up.

Standing in front of me, nearly six feet tall, he looked down with those dark eyes and said, “Fine, but I’ll be on top.”

Wait—what?

How was that going to work?

I soon found out.

One of my roommates quickly interjected, mentioning that in Dare, the participants could choose their positions, either on top or bottom.

I shot him a glare, suspecting he was just sucking up to Xu Yang. And it seemed his tactic was working—Xu Yang, now above me, chuckled lightly.

“Okay, thirty reps!” my roommate announced.

As Xu Yang lowered himself into position, he got close—so close I could almost feel his breath.

Trying to steady my heart, which was pounding so loudly it was embarrassing, I avoided his gaze, but my eyes drifted down to his toned abs. Images of that photo with his abs flashed in my mind, unbidden.

What if…?

No, no, no—what am I thinking? This is ridiculous.

Worried that my mind would keep wandering, I decided to close my eyes and pretend I was a rock. Yet even with my eyes shut, I could still feel his presence, and his soft laughter rang in my ears.

Finally, the thirty push-ups were over, and I hurried to stand up, pretending nothing had happened, grateful the game moved on without further embarrassment.

The bottle spun, and I watched it nervously as it passed me. But it stopped in front of Xu Yang. Before anyone could say a word, he said, “Truth.”

Our roommate, curious as ever, asked the question on everyone’s mind: “Is your girlfriend pretty?”

Without missing a beat, Xu Yang answered, “Of course, she’s the most beautiful in my eyes.”

The room exploded in excited cheers. Anyone lucky enough to be deemed Xu Yang’s girlfriend must be stunning, they all agreed.

I forced a small smile, but a faint bitterness crept into my chest. Of course, he still liked my sister.

I lost interest in the game after that and stayed a couple more rounds out of politeness, then slipped away back to my dorm. Once there, I opened my phone, hesitated, and finally typed a message.

[I don’t like you anymore. Let’s break up.]

It wasn’t exactly a lie—my sister really had fallen for someone else. I couldn’t keep up the pretense for her anymore.

To make sure it stuck, I blocked Xu Yang after sending the message.

Then, on my own account, I messaged him too.

[Hey, sorry, I can’t help you anymore. My sister likes someone else.]

Xu Yang seemed distracted, probably still at the party, and took a while to reply with just one word.

[Okay.]

Staring at that one simple word on my screen, my eyes inexplicably grew misty. How ridiculous I was, catching feelings for someone who only had eyes for my sister.

With a deep sigh, I tried to push it all out of my mind and go to sleep. But the unresolved emotions lingered, keeping me up into the night.

It was around midnight when my roommate came back, unaware I was still awake and started talking to the others.

“Man, you should’ve seen it. After Xu Yang looked at his phone, his face went dark. He looked totally devastated, even teary-eyed.”

“Yeah, and he’s such a nice guy. How could someone lead him on, only to reject him later? That’s messed up.”

“Right? If you don’t like him, fine, but breaking his heart like that? Shameless.”

Their righteous anger made me pause, and I started to wonder if I had been too harsh. Maybe I should have reassured him instead.

Just as I considered sending him a comforting message, a new notification popped up from my sister.

[Hey, could you send me some money?]

Still caught up in my frustration, I shot back an irritated response, blaming her for the mess I found myself in with Xu Yang.