This Is All A Ploy

It didn't take long for the teacher and the other participants to arrive. Soon, all the places were taken and the time for the workshop to begin was approaching. While Su Yan was still nervous thanks to the school-like atmosphere Nie Chang looked at the door as if he was waiting for something.

Su Yan stepped closer and tugged at his sleeve. "Ah Chang, why are you staring at the door like that?", he whispered as quietly as he could. He glanced at the teacher in the front but the man didn't seem to mind.

"Just wait and see." Nie Chang patted his hand and gave him a reassuring smile. Honestly, it was quite cute to see Su Yan this nervous. It was just sad that he couldn't take advantage of that now.

With the minutes ticking by, Nie Chang became restless and started looking at his watch. Only five more minutes … Where was that person?

Su Yan only became more confused but he also started to feel a bit miffed. This was their outing. Why did it seem like Nie Chang was waiting for someone else? Shouldn't he be paying attention to him instead? It couldn't be …

Su Yan paled. He had a hunch what this could be about and he didn't like it one bit. But looking back at how this day had played out it was highly likely. First, there was Nie Chang's strange behavior, then all the talk about the person he liked and that kiss to make sure he understood that two men definitely could be in love …

Su Yan had a sudden realization.

This Nie Chang! He had been preparing for this moment the whole day! Actually, this wasn't an outing between friends at all! This guy, he … he wanted to introduce him to the person he liked!

Su Yan was fuming. He clenched his fists and leveled Nie Chang with an angry stare. What caregiver? This guy was a selfish asshole! He had tricked him into going out and done all those things just so that he wouldn't be able to say anything bad about this new relationship!

Most likely, it wasn't even that the person didn't reciprocate his feelings or that he didn't know about it. This was all a ploy! A ploy to make him sympathize with him so he, as a friend, wouldn't be able to get in the way of their love!

Before Nie Chang knew what had happened, a certain someone viciously stepped on his foot. Nie Chang doubled over and gave a low groan. He looked at Su Yan and wanted to tell him off but the words got caught in his throat. Su Yan looked really angry right now.

Nie Chang blanked. Hadn't everything been alright until now? What had he done? "Ah Yan, what …"

"Hmph." A certain someone crossed his arms and turned his head away, giving him the cold shoulder. He was obviously sulking but Nie Chang still couldn't figure out where he had gone wrong.

He suppressed the pain in his foot and limped the two steps Su Yan had distanced himself from him. He gently grabbed his shoulders. "Ah Yan, whatever it is I made you angry with I'll apologize for it. Mn?"

Su Yan wriggled out of his grip but naturally, Nie Chang wouldn't give up that fast. He caught him once more and pulled him against his chest. "I'm sorry. Now don't be like that anymore. I can't stand it if you're angry at me." His voice was getting lower and lower until he only whispered into Su Yan's ear. The pain in his foot was already forgotten. He was actually happy to have another opportunity to hug Su Yan this close.

The other participants, as well as the teacher, were curiously looking over before hastily turning away. That guy was obviously coaxing his boyfriend. They shouldn't disturb the sweethearts.

Su Yan was easily persuaded. His tensed muscles relaxed already and he actually leaned against Nie Chang. Mn, maybe his friend wouldn't cruelly abandon him just because of that person …

Before he could make his final decision the door opened. Su Yan spun around and viciously glared at the person standing in the door. Then, his eyes widened and he looked up at Nie Chang with misgivings in his eyes.

"Ah Chang, is something wrong with your eyes? That's obviously a woman!"

Nie Chang lifted his brows and didn't even look over. "What are you talking about?"

"The person you like. You said it's a man but this is obviously a woman! You've clearly been lying to me! Or do you actually want me to believe that you didn't notice?"

Nie Chang finally took a glance. Indeed. A young woman had entered and she was looking around for a free working station.

Nie Chang turned back to Su Yan. "What made you think that she's the person I like? I don't even know her."

"What? But … you … you always looked at the door!"

Nie Chang finally saw the light and a happy smile crept up on his lips. "So … you were jealous because you thought I had invited the person I liked." He was laughing inwardly. Su Yan was jealous! That could only mean that he wasn't uninterested. No, he actually reciprocated his feelings. He just didn't know yet. It was still just a subconscious reaction.

"I … You …" Su Yan turned away and ignored him. Instead, he focused on what was happening in the front.

The woman who had just come in had run over to the teacher when she noticed that there wasn't any unoccupied workstation. "But I really registered for the course!", she repeated right now.

The teacher shook his head and looked at his list, frowning. Indeed, the woman's name was on there. "Well, it seems something went wrong … You see, we only have ten workstations. I'll call the office." He took a look at his watch and frowned even more. There were only two more minutes until the start of the course. He really didn't want to resolve this now.

Just when he took out his phone and wanted to give the office a call, Nie Chang piped up: "Teacher, the course should be starting soon. How about this? Ah Yan and I came together anyway. We wouldn't mind working together."

"Ah?" The teacher looked over and lowered his phone. "That … That won't do. You paid for it, after all. How can I make the two of you work together?" Though, the two really didn't look like they would mind, considering how they were still hugging even now.

"What else can be done? The office could only give us another room. We'd lose time like that and Ah Yan and I have something else to do after this. We can't stay longer. We don't mind anyway. Just go ahead."

"Oh … Alright. I'll ask the office to give you a discount."

"Thank you, thank you." Nie Chang hugged Su Yan closer and lowered his head.

When Su Yan turned around a little, he could actually see a triumphant smile on his lips. He gaped. It couldn't be … his friend had something to do with this? How had he done it? He wanted to ask but he was afraid someone would hear so he kept quiet for now.

His hunch was right, though: Nie Chang had hacked into the website and changed the open spaces for registering to eleven. Thus, there was one person more than the room could accommodate. Naturally, he had planned from the very beginning to use this to work together with Su Yan. He had been lucky, though, that the woman came this late. It made it so much easier to get his desired outcome without having to discuss too much.