I’m the male ghost in the escape room. A young couple got scared by me, and the guy grabbed me and ran. I screamed wildly, and he kissed me, saying, “Don’t be afraid, honey, I’m here!”
Who’s your honey?! You grabbed the wrong person! I’m a guy!

01

No one told me that playing a male ghost meant losing my innocence!
And to a guy, no less!
If it weren’t for the pressures of life, who would still be working part-time as a ghost in an escape room while going to college?
I was doing my job well, scaring the couple by suddenly pulling back the red curtain and screaming.
Both of them were frightened, which made me feel accomplished.
But then the guy, ignoring his screaming girlfriend, grabbed me and ran.
What the heck…!
Why is he dragging me?
For the first time as a ghost, I got scared by a customer. In the dark, I was dragged along, screaming.
“Ahhhh—!”
He’s not going to hit me, is he? Dude, I was just doing my job, don’t take it seriously!
Before I could explain, he twisted around and kissed me.
I was pinned against the wall, my brain stopped working, and my lips were ruthlessly mashed as he said,
“Don’t be afraid, honey, I’m here!”

02

Who’s your honey?! You grabbed the wrong person! I’m a guy!
In the darkness, I couldn’t see his face clearly. I tried to push him away but couldn’t match his strength. He kept me pinned to the wall, kissing me for half an hour, until my legs went weak.
By the time he let go of my lips, I had already given up struggling, sliding to the floor in a daze.
I had been kissed to tears.
After the game ended, I finally saw his calm, handsome face.
I understood.
That half hour was the remaining time of the game, not this guy’s limit.
Before he left with his girlfriend, he casually apologized.
“Sorry, bro, I kissed the wrong person.”
That made me look like a tearful little wife in front of my boss.
His model-like face could rival a celebrity’s, and I wiped away my tears.
“It’s fine, bro, no big deal. But I do feel sorry for your girlfriend.”
You’ve messed with the wrong ghost now, buddy.
Before he left, I thought I saw him wink at me, giving a subtle, ambiguous look.

On the way back to school, I cried the whole way.
When I got to my dorm, my eyes were so red that people noticed.
My roommate looked concerned.
“What kind of part-time job were you doing? You look so humiliated, like you’ve been… violated.”
“Do you have a gambling dad, a sick mom, a little sister in school, and a broken version of yourself?”
I rubbed my eyes.
“No, it’s just some dust in my eyes.”
When I opened my eyes again, I saw the guy who kissed me.
In my roommate’s phone screen.

03

One of my roommates was showing off his phone to everyone in the dorm.
“Have you seen the confession wall? This guy doesn’t seem to be from our school, but at least ten people have posted confessions about him!”
“Wow, he’s such a bad boy!”
“Damn, this guy looks so hot, he could totally be a celebrity!”
“Where, where, where?”
Our dorm’s Liang Qing, who likes to claim he’s a straight guy, was swooning with heart-eyes.
“He’s so handsome that even a straight guy like me is falling for him! I wanna call him hubby! I’d love to date him!”
I pursed my lips and hung my clothes by the bed.
“Don’t get your hopes up, he’s got a girlfriend.”
Liang Qing rushed over.
“What? You actually know him?”
“I don’t know him, just saw him with his girlfriend.”
I changed into some comfortable sportswear and headed out to buy food.
As soon as I left the dorm, I saw him in person.
Like me, he was also wearing simple, stylish sportswear, but it looked much better on him.
He saw me and his eyes lit up, running over to grab my hand.
“Finally, I found you!”

04

An apology?
I pulled my hand away from his grasp.
“It… it’s fine, really.”
He awkwardly withdrew his hand.
“I really owe you an apology for what happened earlier. How about I treat you to a meal?”
I’ve got a fear of trendy guys, and even though he was wearing sportswear, he paired it with an earring and had a light scent of cologne, looking way out of my league.
I dodged him and brushed him off.
“Sure, maybe when I’m free sometime…”
“When’s that? How about today? No time like the present!”
So I took him to the school cafeteria.
His name was Gu Yu, and while we were eating, I realized just how many heads he turned. It made me so nervous I was sweating.
But he was a good guy and, like me, didn’t like cilantro.
By the end of the meal, we’d gone from awkward small talk to hitting it off, even adding each other as friends.
He said it’s called “no misunderstandings, no friendship,” and that having more friends is always a good thing.
After dinner, he walked me back to my dorm. Before bed, I got a message from him.
[Goodnight.]
Ugh—
Why does this feel a bit off?
Out of the six guys in my dorm, including my childhood friends, none of them has ever sent me a “goodnight” message.
Isn’t it a bit too intimate for two guys to say goodnight to each other?
But when I looked at his cool profile picture…
Maybe it’s just a trend among cool guys to say goodnight to each other.
So I politely sent back a “Goodnight.”
The next morning, I woke up to a message from Gu Yu:
[Good morning.]
I started to wonder.
Do cool guys all do this?
To avoid seeming uncool, I sent back a “Good morning” too.
For the next few days, while Gu Yu was back at his school, we sent each other “Good morning” and “Goodnight” messages every day.
No other conversations—just those repetitive words.
Until Friday night, when Gu Yu messaged me:
[Do you have time? Let’s have dinner together.]
All the guys in my dorm who had girlfriends rushed off for the weekend to spend time with them. What about his girlfriend?
[Aren’t you spending time with your girlfriend?]
[She’s busy, and I’m bored. There’s no one left in my dorm; everyone has someone to be with.]
Although we got along, we weren’t that close, so I hesitated.
Then he sent another message:
[It’s so dark in the dorm, seems like the power’s out.]
It sounded so pitiful, so I agreed.
Gu Yu quickly caught a ride to my school, saying he wanted to try the stir-fried shrimp tails from a place nearby.
While I was struggling to peel my fifth shrimp, Gu Yu placed a few peeled shrimp into my plate.

Lhaozi’s Note: Hi there, hope you enjoyed all or some of my translations, see you in my other Translations.