Bro! So that's where you were

"And that concludes our opening ceremony. Again, I am Mao Pheng from the Faculty of Social Sciences—" says the male host.

"And I am Fang Shaomei from the Faculty of Architecture—" the female host then adds.

Both hosts, "And we officially welcome all of you to S University!"

···

"I heard the higher years aren't required to attend the ceremony," Zhifeng said as he and Wenming sluggishly exited the auditorium along with the other students. From beside him, his friend let out a yawn. The ceremony had been six hours too long, with a couple professors and some alumni making hour-long speeches that can honestly bore anyone to death.

"It isn't. But I'm helping the school paper with some photos," Wenming says as he held up the camera that he had slung on his neck. "The one assigned had some sort of emergency and they didn't have anyone else free today. Mei Rong begged me to go."

Zhifeng raised an eyebrow at the other male. "Mei Rong? A new girlfriend?" he asks. Wenming immediately hit the back of Zhifeng's head with a pamphlet.

"No! She's a senior's younger sister. She writes for the school paper. We're in the same year and her department is in the same building as ours," Wenming tried to explain. However, Zhifeng did not miss the subtle reddening of his friend's ears.

"... Sure."

It was obvious to him that Wenming had no plans on admitting he had a crush on this 'Mei Rong.'

"Anyways, I have to meet up with others in my department tonight. Do you want to come with? They already know I have a younger brother starting this year."

It was Zhifeng's turn to whack Wenming's head. Wenming winced. "Who is your younger brother? We're only half a year apart."

And even if Wenming was really a bit older than him, they've been friends for too long that Zhifeng knew how immature the other still was. Some people even mistake Zhifeng as the older of the two most of the time.

"I'm joking. I'm joking. They just know I have a friend from back home that started to study here too. They asked me to invite you since I told them that we're close. So..." Wenming nudges Zhifeng's arm. "Will you go?"

"I'm not sure. I was thinking of doing a livestream tonight so I might not be able to," is what Zhifeng replies with. He had already taken the week off last week to focus on his move to Beijing, after all.

"Come on, brother Zhi. It's just one night. You haven't experienced a night out in Beijing, have you?"

"Ming, I really can't. I already announced to my viewers that I was streaming tonight since I'm a little behind on hours." As a live streamer, Zhifeng was required by the platform to stream a fixed amount of hours per month.

"Fine, fine. But I'm making you join us next time. No excuses. I'll even drag you out of your room in pyjamas if I need to," Wenming threatens.

"Yes," Zhifeng frowns as he began to search for his phone inside his pockets. Empty. Empty. Empty... "I'll go with you next time."

Wenming looked pleased. "Good. Now, let's go eat? Those talks made me really hungry. I'll show you around the campus and introduce you to some of the good but cheap restaurants."

"Sure but... can I go back inside really quickly? I think I left my phone back at my seat."

Back in the auditorium, Zhao Huang's departure was effectively blocked by a large number of female students who kept asking for his contact details. The tall male looked quite helpless as he tried to find any means of escaping. Just as he was about to give up, he suddenly hears an unfamiliar male voice call out.

"Bro! So that's where you were. We've been looking for you everywhere."

Zhao Huang turns to look at where the voice came from and was surprised to find the male he had accidentally exchanged glances with earlier. Not knowing who he was, Huang had only stared at him dumbly. The other male, who was now skeptically getting eyed by the women around Huang, looked a little panicked. Honestly, Zhifeng didn't even know what had gotten into him when he saw the uncomfortable tall male being surrounded by women. He only planned to get his phone, after all.

Not wanting to get his cover blown by this tall male, Zhifeng courageously approaches Zhao Huang. The crowd of women parted slightly to let Zhifeng through. While he wasn't a head turner like the taller male, Zhifeng was still quite good looking by normal standards. As for Zhifeng who had been attempting to hide his anxiousness the entire time, he leans his face close to Zhao Huang's ear. "I saw you getting surrounded and wanted to help out a little. You can play along if it's fine with you," he whispers.

For a moment, Zhao Huang was a little stunned by the other's words. However, this male didn't seem to have any hidden agenda so Huang just slightly nodded his head.

After getting permission, Zhifeng stepped back a little, grabbed the taller guy's wrist, and turned to face the crowd with a sheepish smile. "Hello, I understand that my friend is quite good-looking but I'm very sorry because my friend and I have to go now. We're running a little late for a 'very' important event and we would appreciate it if you beautiful ladies can give way. I assure you that you girls will have plenty of time to see him around campus."

A few girls started to complain because of Zhifeng's words but the crowd began to disperse nonetheless.

Zhao Huang hadn't even been able to thank Zhifeng yet when the male began to tug on his arm. "Come on, we can part outside. Some of these girls won't probably give up that easily until you're gone," the slightly shorter male mutters as he began to pull the other towards the exit. Zhifeng could already tell that some were already glaring at him for interfering with their chances to contact the tall male god. Though there were also a few that found Zhifeng also good-looking and secretly began to take photos of the two males. Zhao Huang can only obediently follow Zhifeng out of the auditorium.

Wenming immediately spotted the two as they went out of the door. A brief look of surprise appears on the face of Zhifeng's friend when he saw who was with Zhifeng. Wasn't that the tall guy who was turning heads he had complained about? Why was he with Zhifeng? Wenming instantly became curious about Zhifeng's new companion.

"Hey, Zhi!" Wenming waves his hand to call out to Zhifeng who also spots him quickly. Zhifeng didn't hesitate to walk his way with the tall male at tow. It was then that Wenming realized that his friend was holding onto the stranger's wrist.

"Ming, sorry I took long. Had to help out uh..." Zhifeng had said once they were near Wenming but stopped when he realized that he still did not know the tall male's name. "I'm sorry, who are you?"

The tall male uses the opportunity to finally introduce himself with a bow. "Hello, I'm Zhao Huang. I am a returning student from the Business Management department. It's nice to meet you both." Then, he turns his attention to Zhifeng. "Thank you for rescuing me back there. I didn't think they'd surround me like that... What's your name?"

"Xiao Zhifeng. Nice to meet you too," Zhifeng was first to respond. He then points to Wenming. "This is my friend Xu Wenming."

"Hello, Mister Zhao," despite his confusion, Wenming still politely greeted the other.

"Ah, ah... no need to call Mister," Zhao Huang said with a dismissive wave. After all, they were only a few years apart. It was then that Zhifeng realized that he had forgotten that he was still holding the other's wrist. Zhifeng quickly let go before Zhao Huang or Wenming could point it out. "I'm not that old. Please call me Huang or Brother Zhao."

"Brother Zhao," Wenming tried it out. "Hmm... brother, you said you were a returning student? Did you just get back from the military?" he asked. After all, it was not unheard of to pause university to enlist in the military.

"Military? Well, not really... I had to leave because of my job. I still enrolled in online classes from this university, though. But then I figured I could try attending my last year of classes in person. Since you two are in the orientation... I'm guessing you're both freshmen?"

"Ah... no, no," it was Wenming who answered. "It's my second year. I only went to take pictures for the school paper. But little Zhi here is a freshman so I'm also planning to show him around."

"I see..." Zhao Huang was casting glances at Zhifeng who had suddenly became buy with his phone. Huang still felt that the other was familiar for some reason. But he didn't think he's ever heard of the name Zhifeng before. "Well, I'm also fairly new to the campus so I can't be much help to you. Anyways, I guess you two have plans so I'll get going. Thank you for earlier again."

Zhao Huang was about to step back when he was stopped by Wenming.

"Ah, Brother Zhao! How about we add each other on QQ? Do you have it?"

"QQ? I do, yeah," Huang nodded and began to pull his phone out from his back pocket. He glanced at Zhifeng again. If one were to examine closely, it was quite obvious it was Zhifeng's QQ he really wanted. In all honesty, Zhao Huang rarely adds other people's contact information. However, this Zhifeng did help him out with earlier so it would not be too bad to have his contact. Unfortunately, Zhifeng failed to notice his gaze since he was frowning about something he had read on his own phone. "I can add you both..." Zhao Huang manages to say.

Wenming had to resist the urge to hit the back of his younger friend's head when he saw how preoccupied Zhifeng was. "Of course. Here, let me scan your code and I'll message you, Brother Zhao."

The two males easily exchanged contacts. Seeing how out of it Zhifeng was, Wenming also decided to secretly give Zhifeng's QQ account information to Zhao Huang.

"Then, I'll see you two around," Huang said as he once again glanced at the inattentive Zhifeng. He pursed his lips. "Zhifeng, Bye..." He then took a few steps back before finally turning away and leave.

Zhifeng, who had been called by his name, finally manages to come to his senses. "Ah?"

However, Zhao Huang has already left.