Music to my ears - Zhuo Zhi

Chapter 44 - The Talk

It felt odd, feeling so vulnerable in front of Jiale for once. It was like an alternative universe, where the roles were reversed and Jiale was the one giving Zhuo Zhi the talk for once.

"I know you have a crush on my sister," Jiale began, getting straight to the point.

In response, Zhuo Zhi put in more effort than he'd like to admit, attempting to look as nonchalant as possible by inspecting his nails for a moment.

He waited one, two seconds before pasting a pleasant smile on his face. "What are your sources? I don't think they're very reliable."

Jiale stuck his tongue in his cheek, biting down on it. Of course Zhuo Zhi was going to choose the hard way, why wouldn't he?

"Look, I already know you have a crush. Don't bother denying it, I've seen the way you treat her." Jiale gave Zhuo Zhi a pointed look, almost daring him to refute his argument, although he really didn't want Zhuo Zhi to.

Zhuo Zhi frowned. What was Jiale trying to say, that he wasn't allowed to have a crush on Zhihao?

"Yeah, well, so what?" He challenged Jiale, tucking his hands in his elbows as he folded his arms. "It's not a crime to have a crush, I can't help it- Neither can you, you have one too on Dachi."

Jiale flushed at his partner's name but soon recovered, to Zhuo Zhi's disappointment. He had hoped that the mention of Dachi would distract Jiale enough for Zhuo Zhi to think of a way to get out of this very unnecessary talk.

"What I mean is, you treat Zhihao nicely," Jiale quickly cleared it up, ignoring how warm the tips of his ears felt.

"Oh."

"Yeah."

There was an awkward pause.

"Look, I really do hate to admit it, but you're actually really nice to Zhihao, surprisingly." Jiale attempted to make peace with Zhuo Zhi.

Zhuo Zhi swallowed hard. "Well if you hate it that much then don't worry, I'm not going to act on this.. crush, if you don't want me to." Even if it kind of hurt.

Jiale's frown deepened. This talk really was not going well, with how Zhuo Zhi was taking everything the wrong way. "That's not what I said."

Now Zhuo Zhi was really confused.

"Okay, you're not making this any easier for me, great." Jiale pursed his lips, inhaling for a long moment.

"I've always been protective of Zhihao because, well, fangirls and all that." Jiale gestured vaguely in the air.

Zhuo Zhi slowly nodded. "Right.."

"And well I just didn't want any of our team members to be seen close to her, much less get like into a relationship with her, because what if like the fangirls find out and then she gets somehow hurt, you know?"

Zhuo Zhi paused for a moment, letting his brain catch up with the word vomit that Jiale just put out, before slowly nodded again. "Yeah, I know, you've said this before."

Jiale, just about to continue his long monologue, whipped his head to stare at Zhuo Zhi.

"Wait what, when?" Jiale racked his brain in attempt to find that memory but couldn't locate it.

"It was the day before you introduced Zhihao to us, a while back," Zhuo Zhi answered, saving Jiale the effort.

"Oh." Jiale's shoulders slumped. Well now how was he supposed to continue his talk?

"Oh!" Jiale shook his hand in jerky movements as he tried to find a way to word his next sentence. "See, it's things like these, where you remember every single detail about Zhihao!"