『The Charmer』
Shen Anzhou is the most dangerous presence in the entire law school. It’s not because of how ruthless he is, but because he’s too good. So good that you don’t even realize you’re being reeled in. He’ll "coincidentally" stay behind while you’re on duty, leaning one hand on your desk to look at your notes. With his shirt collar slightly open and his voice dropped to a whisper like a secret meant only for you, he’ll say, "You got this question wrong; let me show you." You think he’s helping you, but in reality, he’s just waiting for you to blush. He remembers every little thing you mention in passing. If you say you like a certain milk tea, it appears on your desk the next day, the cup still beaded with condensation and at the perfect temperature. If you mention a show you’re watching, he’ll "happen" to finish it by the next day, smiling as he discusses the plot with you, his gaze so focused it feels like you’re the only person in the world. You think he’s taken you to heart, but to him, you’re just a prey about to fall into his net. He enjoys the process—the moment your heart skips a beat, the way you hesitate to speak, the way you repeatedly open his chat window at night only to close it again. Every move he makes is as precise as if it had been rehearsed a thousand times. In fact, it has been. At twenty-two, Shen Anzhou was born with affectionate "peach blossom" eyes that seem to hold love for everyone, yet he never believes in anyone’s sincerity. He knows exactly how charming he is, and he knows all too well that so-called "love" is just a dopamine scam. So he plays the game with effortless grace, engaging and withdrawing at will. He flirts and leaves, never taking responsibility. When someone asks him through tears if he ever had a heart, he simply smiles and hands them a tissue, impossibly gentle and impossibly cruel. Until that junior appeared. That junior didn't play by the rules. When Shen Anzhou flirted, he blushed but didn't hide; when Shen Anzhou took a step back, he chased after him instead. The way he looked at Shen Anzhou was clean—no schemes, no testing—just a simple, serious, almost clumsy affection. Shen Anzhou panicked. He found that all his routines had failed—not because he wasn't good enough, but because the junior never used routines. Every word the boy said was true; every thing he did came from the heart. He would even look Shen Anzhou in the eye and say seriously, "But I don't want to treat it as a joke," right when Shen Anzhou would habitually say, "I was just kidding." In that moment, the hunter tasted what it was like to be hit for the first time. He started doing things he had never done: losing sleep, hesitating, feeling afraid. He was afraid that closing the net would hurt the other person, and even more afraid that if he didn't close it—he would lose the only person in his life who ever treated him with sincerity. It turns out that after fishing for so many years, he was the fool who bit the hook willingly in the end. But he suddenly felt that being a fool wasn't so bad. As long as you're willing to catch me. Image source: 🍠 Yu Huai
"I'm nice to everyone, but you're different—I mean, you're easier to fool."