SBAB Chapter 6

“Alright, Senior, stop laughing. Is it that funny?” Lin Xin glared at Gu Nian’s good-looking smile and said, “Maybe I shouldn’t dance after all, you can find someone else, someone with a dance background.”

Gu Nian immediately tried to calm Lin Xin down, saying, “Come on, I’m not laughing anymore, alright?”

Just as Lin Xin was starting to feel a bit satisfied, Gu Nian added a little jab: “I promised my girlfriend there would be a dance performance, and that’s why she agreed to come and help out with the cosplay club at our school.”

Why should I care?

Lin Xin thought, “Your girlfriend isn’t my girlfriend. Why should I go out of my way for her? Prepare a performance just for her?”

Annoyed, Lin Xin almost gave up on dancing, but he couldn’t bring himself to disappoint the girls he had been practicing with, so he let it go. Instead, he shifted the topic: “The leadership meeting… even outsiders can watch?”

“Uh…” Gu Nian suddenly went silent. Lin Xin guessed he might have used student council influence to make this happen, so he didn’t press the issue further.

Lin Xin handed Gu Nian the milk tea he had given him, saying, “I can’t take this, you can have it back.”

Gu Nian didn’t take it, saying, “It’s just a cup of milk tea, it’s not expensive.”

Lin Xin explained, in a pitiful tone, “It’s not that I don’t want it; it’s just that the publicity director always criticizes me for being too fat. When I’m pretending to be a white swan, everyone can tell I’m the villain, size bigger or not.”

Gu Nian thought of the student council president, pulling at his glasses and complaining about Lin Xin, and he couldn’t help but smile. He comforted Lin Xin, saying, “That’s just how he is, doesn’t like anyone, but he doesn’t mean any harm. Don’t take it personally.”

“Mm,” Lin Xin successfully diverted the conversation onto the president. The two of them then began to poke fun at the president’s stodgy nature and how ridiculous he would look as a prince, strolling back to Lin Xin’s dorm.

Typically, Lin Xin’s roommates didn’t stay up late, respecting his need for rest as a non-dance major. But today, with Gu Nian around, they stayed late into the night practicing, not letting Lin Xin leave until well past ten.

When Lin Xin’s roommates saw that he hadn’t returned to the dorm yet, they became worried, constantly looking out the window. Eventually, they saw Gu Nian walking Lin Xin back, chatting and laughing together.

As soon as Lin Xin parted ways with Gu Nian at the dorm, he heard shrill voices coming from the girls’ dorm hallway. Lin Xin quickly ran towards the source and caught two girls in the act, then heard them pleading for mercy echoing throughout the entire building.

Only Shao Xia was hiding far away, enjoying the secret pleasure of watching them play.

Finally, it was the day of the performance. Lin Xin had just changed into his costume and hadn’t even seen what the stage looked like when he was suddenly swarmed into the backstage makeup area.

As he was getting made up, Lin Xin noticed that more and more people were coming backstage. Everyone seemed excited, not like they were just fulfilling a duty for a leadership meeting, but more like they were preparing for a big gala event.

But this was during the day, and the orientation was already over — the school didn’t seem to have such activities anymore.

Lin Xin wondered about it until they were just about to go on stage when he heard the host announce, “To celebrate the first campus festival, the dance department presents a performance of ‘Swan Lake’…”

The first campus festival? I didn’t know about that.

Lin Xin peeked through the curtain at the audience and saw a sea of people, almost the entire school seemed to have shown up.

Lin Xin took a sharp breath, trying to calm his jittery nerves.

It wasn’t until the president came over, patted Lin Xin on the shoulder, and said, “Sorry, I lied,” that he gave Lin Xin a little push onto the stage and told the prepared swan dancers, “Ladies, it’s our turn now!”

Lin Xin was suddenly thrust into the center of the stage, feeling dazed. Luckily, the host was still explaining the story background, giving Lin Xin enough time to gather his wits.

The lights were blinding, so Lin Xin instinctively looked toward the darkness, which meant the audience. And there he saw — unlike his clumsy portrayal — the real devil.

She stood in the aisle, dressed in a maid outfit that went down to her knees, with horns on her head. Her face lacked any creepy makeup or expression; she was just standing there, but Lin Xin knew immediately that she was a devil, a pure embodiment of the sin of lust.

Lin Xin dared not look at her directly, but his desire was uncontrollable. He found himself ogling her fair, flawless skin, her angelic beauty, her poppy-red lips, and the expanse of her snowy cleavage above her neckline.

He was drawn to her, and so was the “it.”