32 Dirty House

Ye Delun eyes squinted at the bright light. The door creaked as it opened to reveal a curled-up Ye Delun. He rubbed his eyes and tried to adjust to the blinding light of the morning sun. A dark silhouette stepped up and covered the light for him.

"Get up, we're here." Yin Meng said. His dark blue eyes planted daggers deep into Ye Delun's skin. His suspicion from before was still there based on the fact that the suspicion bar hasn't at all lowered, and the man in front of him didn't seem to favor him all that much. Ye Delun guessed that he was only doubting him because of his gut.

'Why am I always the suspicious one...?' He thought. Everyones' gut feeling just seemed to be too good for him. If this wasn't a game he was sure that he would have been tossed out.

He tried to move, but because of the long time he was in an awkward position, his legs had fallen asleep. This makeshift body he was in was a little too large for the trunk. He shifted around but the space was too small for him to get out by himself.

This was one of the moments he wished he was back in his small body.

"You can't just expect him to get out by himself, look at the guy." Shen Lin gestured towards the pathetic grown man who was stuck on trying to get his arm out from under him. She gently pushed Yin Meng aside and lifted Ye Delun up from his shoulder.

"Ah, thank you." Ye Delun thanked her quietly as he stretched his arms.

"Here, let me help you out." Xiang Tingfeng lifted him up from his armpits and took him out of the trunk.

'eh.'

Even when he had turned into a large man, Xiang Tingfeng, the ultimate large man, was still lightyears ahead of him.

"Is this really the house?" Yang Lan asked Yin Meng. She studied the worn-down building in front of her. It was a relatively large manor, the yard was dead and the weeds were overgrown. The brick path had a layer of dirt from the lack of sweeping and the front stairs were crumpled into pieces. "It looks a little too... dirty."

"A little?" Li Yusheng grimaced as he kicked away a stray can someone had left behind. "This looks like some delinquents high-school hot spot." He covered his nose as he passed by a spot filled with cigarette buds and crushed beer cans. "When was the last time someone came here to clean this place?"

"Way too long ago." Kang Maixiu stepped past the both of them and made his way to the door. Xiang Tingfeng followed close behind him. "I couldn't even break the windows before, but I don't even see one intact here..." Xiang Tingfeng told him.

"Yeah, and I doubt the inside looks any better." Kang Maixiu took one glance at the rusty door handle before pulling a pair of medical gloves out of his pocket.

"Gloves? Is that really needed?" Shen Lin raised her thin eyebrow.

Kang Maixiu looked repelled as he stared at the handle. " It's disgusting, there's no way I'm touching that with my bare hand." The polymer glove wrapped around his hands.

"Maixiu... you still carry those around..." Xiang Tingfeng said. Kang Maixiu had always disliked dirty things, but he had thought that he had grown out of it. It seems like he was wrong.

Ye Delun wasn't surprised. A cold, germaphobe medical student. What else should he expect?

Kang Maixiu tried to open the door, but it wouldn't open. "Xiang Tingfeng." He said as he backed away from the door. He put his hand out and to keep Yang Lan behind him.

"I got it." Without a run-up, Xiang Tingfeng threw his shoulder at the door. The rusted joints couldn't hold, and the door easily fell over.

"Was that really necessary?" Shen Lin sighed. "We could have just gone through one of the windows." She pointed towards one of the many empty windowpanes. The glass laid on the ground below it. They could have easily walked through one of them as if they were a door.

"..Oh."

Although Xiang Tingfeng seemed a little embarrassed, both Ye Delun and Yang Lan stared at him with stars in their eyes.

"Wow." Said both of them.

"Xiang Tingfeng, that was so cool!" Yang Lan said as she bounced around the large man. "It didn't even stand a chance!"

"Yeah, do it again. Do it again." Ye Delun spoke as he enthusiastically pointed to the opposite door next to it.

"Huh?" His big brown eyes widened. "E-eh no guys, I don't, I don't think. The door was rusted, and, and I didn't. We, we should."

[The character 'Xiang Tingfeng' is embarrassed by both of you and doesn't know how to feel about it!!]

[+20]

[Your favorability with the character 'Xiang Tingfeng' has gone up! Work hard, Ye Delun!]

'Eh, wait. That's not what I wanted.'

"Come on, let's go. We don't have time for this." Yin Meng interrupted the studdering Xiang Tingfeng and strode past them through the entrance.

Ye Delun admired the fallen door for a moment longer. He wondered if maybe sometime in the future, he would be able to knock down a door like that.

'So cool...'

"It smells like animal shit in here."

"Maixiu, come on don't swear..."

The house interior looked exactly the same as the house in their dreams, from the flooring, the dangling chandelier, and the same area with several sofas. Except, a layer of dust covered everything in sight.

[You enter your home, the place you've lived in for years. It looks dirtier from how you remember.]

[You're embarrassed at how you were not prepared for guests.]

"Alright, let's split up. Xiang Tingfeng and Kang Maixiu, you guys can come with me. Shen Lin, can you take care of the others?" Yin Meng said.

Shen Lin put her hand on her hip, "That's a pretty big burden you're giving me."

A sigh left his mouth, "Yeah, I'll make sure to pay you back later."

"Good." She gave a hearty laugh. Her hair danced around her frame. "Then you can buy us all a drink when we get out of here."