NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 13
Page Twelve “The Maiden’s” Secret Base
At the end of the last chapter, I felt that something very ominous was about to happen, and I sensed that the author was up to something.
For this reason, I specially kept an eye out, confirming there was no one following me before entering the restroom, and then I checked each stall after entering.
In what I considered an infallible state, I took off my glasses, got some water, and washed my face.
I had already gone this far, but why…
“Wah!”
Just as I splashed water on my face, a voice, neither clearly male nor female, rang out beside me.
I was flabbergasted.
After all, she was someone I once had a crush on. Even without turning around, I knew who this voice belonged to… But where did this mischievous little demon come from?
I had thoroughly checked every nook and cranny of this restroom, yet she seemed to have respawned like a boss in a game, suddenly popping up behind me.
“Hey, what a coincidence… Lín Huā… classmate?”
Though I still faced the sink with my back to her, I could see in the mirror her delicate face, now pale with shock.
“A girl? Eh?” Tán Lǐn Huā, still dazed, looked at my wet face and then at the familiar large-framed glasses on the sink. Her elegant eyebrows furrowed as she tried to piece together the puzzle, her slender finger tapping her tilted head, looking quite troubled.
Even though I knew she was a boy, these little actions were still rather cute, weren’t they?
“Could it be Kǎi? Wait, you, you, you are actually a girl! And so beautiful…” His train of thought eventually led to this conclusion, perhaps triggered by my previous confession, a faint blush spreading across his cheeks.
In his mind, he was probably imagining a gender-bending romantic comedy where a boy dressed as a girl confessed to a boy dressed as a girl, a refreshing and pure school romance.
“Stop! I am undoubtedly a man.” I waved my hand, dispelling his strange mental image and stopping his wild fantasies.
“We’re at a boys’ school, I just look a bit feminine.” Come to think of it, he had told me something similar before…
This self-deprecating comment was met with a shake of Lǐn Huā’s head, her long black hair swaying.
“It’s not just a bit feminine! Kǎi, Kǎi-Chan is the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen.” After saying this, he sighed, grudgingly muttering, “Compared to me, who relies on makeup and skincare to look good…”
What truly matters is always clearer to those who lack it than to those who possess it.
Isn’t the thing I’ve been worried about all along exactly what Lǐn Huā seeks?
I wanted to pat her head, but remembering she was a cute boy, I decided against it.
“Stop being so pessimistic. The ‘girl’ I liked isn’t just some superficial beauty. Do I seem like a shallow man who decides everything based on looks?”
This wasn’t just empty reassurance.
Lǐn Huā wasn’t just cute on the outside; her personality was also very likable. She was obedient and understanding, occasionally playful to make you laugh. Although I didn’t know she was a boy before, spending time with her was genuinely enjoyable.
To think the one who understands men best is indeed a man himself?
I’m not sure if my comfort worked or if she adjusted her mindset, but Lǐn Huā quickly shook off her gloom and returned to her usual cheerful self, the “school flower.”
She hopped onto the sink, curiously taking my large-framed glasses, examining them before putting them on.
These glasses, which would look ridiculous on anyone, were my most important disguise. When Lǐn Huā put them on, she instantly transformed from the “school flower” to a plain girl.
“They’re heavy… These glasses are just regular lenses? Kǎi-Chan is so beautiful, wearing such outdated glasses seems like a waste.”
Hmm? Why did she switch from calling me “Kǎi” to “Kǎi-Chan”? Did my face give her a sense of familiarity? Just the name “Kǎi-Chan” sounded like someone who raised pigs.
“No, no, no, I have no intention of cross-dressing. How can I live normally without covering up?”
Besides, this is the twisted Abīci Hell, who knows how many perverts like Zhào Zhào there are in this school. If the truth were exposed, wouldn’t I be…
Looking at Lǐn Huā’s short skirt and long legs, it was almost tempting.
“In this school, after a year, you haven’t been… That’s a miracle.”
Facing my somewhat impolite question, Lǐn Huā sneered, “Hmph, those who want to… aren’t even as big as me. Why should they touch me?”
“Stop! Your character is going to fall apart!”
“Wait… cough… Kǎi-gege, what does this ‘touch’ mean?”
“It doesn’t matter. Just be normal.”
“Kǎi-Chan, you were much gentler before you confessed.”
Of course, I didn’t know she was a boy back then. I was genuinely trying to pursue her, so how could our mindsets be the same?
“Rather, where did you come from? When I entered the restroom, I checked all the stalls and didn’t see anyone.”
After hesitating slightly, she continued, “About this… Since you know Kǎi-Chan’s secret, I’ll share mine too. This old teaching building was designed with separate bathrooms for boys and girls on each floor, but after it became a boys’ school, only the boys’ bathroom remained. Where did the girls’ bathroom go?”
This school has only boys, from students to teachers, social workers to security guards. There’s no need for a girls’ bathroom.
However, when we first enrolled, curious students investigated this.
“Weren’t they turned into storage rooms in the teachers’ offices?”
“Hmm~ On the first to fourth floors, yes, but on the fifth floor, where the student council office is, there’s no storage room.”
I reacted dramatically, throwing my head back in surprise, “Impossible!”
She jumped down from the sink, spinning around playfully, and somehow produced a copper key.
“That’s right! It’s impossible! The secret door to the fifth-floor girls’ bathroom is hidden in this boys’ restroom! Can Kǎi-Chan find the path to the secret garden of thousands of maidens? Let’s wait and see!”
Lǐn Huā spoke with the tone of a game show host, pushing her large-framed glasses and handing me the key… Are you a secret room escape NPC? What’s this secret garden?
Fortunately, it wasn’t a puzzle, and the answer was obvious. I circled the spacious boys’ restroom and immediately focused on the cabinet labeled “fire hydrant” at the end of the stalls. This was clearly a fake fire hydrant. Not only was it a different type of lock, but the cabinet was much larger than a normal fire hydrant.
“This is really simple…”
Inserting the key and twisting, a mysterious door to the girls’ bathroom appeared, though it should more accurately be called a “dog hole” due to its size.
A boy dressed as a girl said proudly, “Come in, Kǎi-Chan. Inside is my pride, my secret base!”
“The girls’ bathroom!”
A boy dressed as a girl using the girls’ bathroom as a secret base? Lǐn Huā’s pride in this base made me feel uneasy.
“Of course it’s been modified! It can’t still be a girls’ bathroom!”
Because of the size of the door, I had to crawl in, but fortunately, the walls were narrow, and I soon stood up.
As Lǐn Huā said, the girls’ bathroom had been completely transformed, leaving no trace of its original purpose.
Inside was decorated like a maiden’s bedroom: floral white wallpaper, red-and-white checkered carpet, a pink bed, racks full of dresses, a simple shower, and a vanity table cluttered with bottles. The overwhelming femininity of this room was like a fairy tale to me. In a boys’ school, such a room was unimaginable, making me wonder about Lǐn Huā’s background. A normal person couldn’t create such a secret base in school.
Come to think of it, her morning and afternoon outfits sometimes differed. Could she have changed in this room? Looking at the colorful dresses, I felt that staying here any longer might trigger some bad scenarios…
Lǐn Huā crawled in after me, and seeing this “beautiful girl” crawling like a dog, my teenage brain couldn’t help but think of some dirty thoughts, like putting a leash on her…
But her long hair dragging on the ground, combined with the fact that we were in a boys’ restroom, made me feel a bit dirty.
“I was eating lunch here just now. I finished and went out, and saw you washing your face.”
“Eating lunch? Oh, I haven’t eaten lunch yet.” Hearing this, I remembered that I came to the fifth floor to eat lunch.
Guessing that Zhào Zhào must have bought bread by now, I greeted Lǐn Huā and planned to leave.
“I actually have plans to eat lunch with a friend. He should be coming up soon.”
With a hint of regret, she said, “Ah, what a shame. I was hoping to chat with Kǎi-Chan here.”
Just crawled in, Lǐn Huā turned around and crawled back through the dog hole. Though I knew she was a boy, her posture made her seem even more… provocative—no, I meant her legs were round.
“Remember to keep this a secret, okay?” Even though I didn’t think she was a gossip, I reminded her.
“Don’t worry, please keep the secret base a secret too.”
It felt like the barrier caused by the confession was gradually fading. Although being deceived by her cross-dressing form was unpleasant, I didn’t dislike her.
Staring at her face, now plain with the large-framed glasses, I thought about writing her name in my notebook. This seemed to be her long-held wish.
Taking off the glasses and returning them to me, she fidgeted, “When Kǎi-Chan confessed to me… I was really happy… If I were a real girl, maybe I would have accepted you.”
“… Oh no, it’s that feeling again! Now, I have the power to turn that ‘if’ into reality… Writing her name would give me such a cute girlfriend. Without the Tower of Babel, Lǐn Huā would be perfect.”
At that moment, someone walked in from the restroom entrance, breaking my reverie.