Lonely Rock: Love Songs Dedicated to the Stars

Yuma looked at Hoshika standing next to her and asked.

Yuzhen didn't really care about this. He had accompanied his older brother to similar social events when he was in junior high school. As long as he ignored the girls' attempts to flirt with him, they would get bored and treat him like he was invisible.

However, Yuzhen is Xingge's boyfriend now, and his participation in this kind of event would probably make Xingge feel very insecure. Yuzhen still thinks they should respect Xingge's wishes.

"Go if you want."

"Then I'll come along, but I won't talk to those girls. I'll just be a pretty face. You guys will have to figure it out yourselves."

Upon hearing this, Xingge glanced at Youzhen and the other boys again.

……

Xingge didn't know why she had agreed to let Youzhen participate in this kind of event. She had suddenly had the idea to go with her after hearing Youzhen's decision to attend the mixer. However, she didn't want to go because she was jealous; she was just worried that the silly girl would get harassed by the girls and wouldn't know how to get away. She wanted to help Youzhen. At least, that's the reason Xingge gave herself on her way home.

"Hoshigo, I sent you a message asking you to buy some salt and soy sauce when you go home." Mrs. Ijichi stood in the entryway, looking at Hoshigo, who had just entered the house. "Why are you empty-handed?"

Xingge, who had just kicked off her shoes, quickly took out her phone to check, and sure enough, it was there. However, she had been thinking about the social event the whole time, so she hadn't seen it at all.

"I haven't changed my shoes yet, I'll go out and buy some."

Yuzhen hadn't changed his shoes or taken off his coat yet, so he figured that now was the most convenient time for him to go out.

"Then I'll have to trouble you, Yuuma."

"It's okay."

After Yuma closed the door, Mrs. Ijichi noticed that Hoshika's condition was not right, so she pulled Hoshika to sit down on the sofa.

"What are you thinking about? You seem distracted."

"I wasn't thinking about anything."

"Is it about Yuuma?"

She noticed that Xingge's gaze immediately shifted away as soon as she brought it up. She knew her daughter too well; Xingge was definitely thinking about Youzhen again, but was too embarrassed to say it aloud.

"Why are you hiding it from your mother? Just tell her."

Xingge thought about it for a while, and finally decided she should ask. So she told her mother what had happened after school that day.

Mrs. Ichichi listened and nodded, trying her best to suppress her laughter as she listened. She barely managed to hold it in after Hoshika finished speaking.

"So, you don't want Yuuma to go, but you also don't want to interfere with Yuuma's choice?"

"more or less."

"You two are really something. You want to respect his choice, but he wants to respect your opinion." Mrs. Ichi looked at her helplessly. "If you don't want him to go, you should just tell him directly. You regret it after he went."

"But will telling him scare him?" Xingge scratched his head. "Will he think I'm very controlling? That I have to interfere in things like this?"

"How could that be?" Mrs. Ichi patted her shoulder. "Isn't this normal for couples in the throes of new love? It's perfectly normal not to want your partner to have contact with other people of the opposite sex."

"Is this normal? Were Mom and Dad like this back then?"

"Of course, I would get jealous back then too."

"So how did you do it?"

“I locked myself and your father in the school’s sports equipment room.”

Hearing her mother say something that sounded dangerous while smiling, Xingge suddenly felt that her desire for control wasn't so strong after all.

……

I don't want you to go.

As soon as Yuzhen returned, Xingge pulled him into the room, and then Xingge sat down facing him, bowing her head and uttering those words. Unfortunately, Yuzhen couldn't see her face or her expression.

Why are you suddenly bringing this up?

Yuzhen didn't understand why she suddenly changed her mind.

"Actually, I didn't want you to go to the social event in the first place." Xingge raised her head, but her eyes still darted around as she spoke, and she didn't dare to look directly at Youzhen's face. "But it's probably too late to say all this now. You'll definitely do your best to fulfill the promises you made to others, right?"

"Indeed, I will keep this promise."

Yuma reached out and cupped her face in her hands, looking into her eyes.

"Senior Xingge, are you jealous?"

"Say what you want." Xingge was pulled into his arms. "Am I being too controlling? Did I scare you?"

"I wasn't scared. But is this really considered controlling? I think it's pretty normal." Yuma let go of her hand. "I'm happy because it means I'm important to my senior."

"Can I come along?"

"Let's ask Aikawa and the others about this."

Yuma messaged them to ask, and the answer she received was yes.

"It seems there are no problems."

Chapter 44 Social Gathering

"I heard everything."

Lady Ijichi appeared beside them at some point, and Yuma and Hoshika could tell from her smile that she wanted to make fun of them.

“Xingge is a girl, but Youzhen and the others are boys. It’s not appropriate for you to just go over like this.” She suddenly cupped Xingge’s face and looked at her carefully. “Mom, let me dress Xingge up as a boy.”

"Huh?" ×2

Half an hour later, Yuuma looked at the black wig in his hand and had a strong sense of déjà vu. He had worn women's clothing before, and now Hoshika was going to wear men's clothing. But it wasn't so bad for a girl to wear men's clothing; it was nothing compared to the level of embarrassment Yuuma felt when he wore women's clothing.

He took off his wig and picked up the middle school uniform lying on the sofa. It was the one he wore when he was in middle school; it was a little small for him now, but it would be about right for Hoshino. He had just gone home and brought the uniform to Ijichi's house.

Xingge sat beside Youzhen, watching her take out her sewing kit and start altering the clothes. She realized she had absolutely no idea how many things this guy was capable of. "You can do this kind of thing?"

"I learned this when I had nothing else to do. Would you like to learn it, senior? I can teach you."

"Let's talk about it later."

This outfit is too small for Yuma, but it's a little big for Hoshika, so Yuma is trying to make the sleeves a bit narrower.

According to Aunt Yidizhi, it wouldn't be appropriate for Xingge, a girl, to go to a social gathering with the boys, especially if she were prettier than the other girls; it would make them lose face. Therefore, she hoped Xingge would dress up as a boy and blend in.

Knowing that Yuma knew some needlework, the alteration work was handed over to Yuma, while Aunt Ichichi went to research how to make Hoshika look like a boy through makeup. She seemed to have found a tutorial and called Hoshika into her room.

"That should be about right."

Yuzhen picked up the altered clothes and examined them carefully again, making sure there were no problems. He put away the needle and thread, intending to let Xingge try them on.

"Senior... Ah!"

Sitting next to her, Xingge was already made up, and Youzhen almost didn't recognize her at first glance. Xingge's current appearance is somewhat similar to the kind of female character in anime who is drawn as male but not actually female. Her hair was tied up by her aunt and covered with a wig. Although her face still has some feminine features, they are not very obvious when combined with her current dead fish eyes.

"Wow, that's amazing. You don't even look like Senior Xingge anymore."

Yuma leaned closer and looked at her face more closely.

Hoshigo's face flushed slightly because Yuuma was so close. She reached out and pushed Yuuma's face away, then took the clothes from his hands.

When she came out of the room again, she was wearing the uniform that Yuma had altered, and she looked just like a handsome, unruly male student.

How does it look?

She felt a little uncomfortable with everyone staring at her, and she subconsciously reached out and scratched her head.

"It looks great, and it's hard to recognize it."

Yuma found it more and more novel the more she looked at it.

"Did the older sister turn into a younger brother?"

Hongxia moved closer to Xingge and looked up at her. She looked different from the older sister she usually knew.

"Let's go to the mixer with Yuuma like this." Aunt Ijichi walked up to Hoshika and adjusted her wig, which had been partially showing.

……

The next day after school, Yuma and Hoshika returned to Ijichi's house. Everyone helped Hoshika with her makeup, and then the two of them went to the agreed-upon location together.

"W-This is Ijichi-kun?"

Aikawa and the others could hardly recognize Xingge after seeing her with makeup on.

"Stop being so surprised, let's hurry up and go. It seems like it's almost time for our appointment."

Yuzhen stood in front of Xingge, and the few guys who were still surprised realized that he was being rude and quickly looked away.

The girls had already arrived at the store entrance. After meeting up with everyone, they walked together to the door of a private room on the second floor. During this time, Ijichi Hoshika remained silent. Following the instructions given by Aunt Ijichi, she pretended to be not very familiar with Yuuma, and at first, no one noticed anything amiss.

As Xingge entered, she tripped, but Youzhen caught her quickly.

"Are you alright? Be careful."

"I see."

A slight blush rose to Xingge's face. Only after she regained her balance did Youzhen withdraw her hand that was supporting her.

They were both careless. Although Xingge deliberately acted as if she wasn't familiar with Youzhen, they were still subconsciously keeping an eye on each other.

The girl sitting opposite them looked at the two of them, lost in thought. The two, who clearly didn't know each other well, were sitting together, and Kenzaki Yuuma kept glancing at the handsome boy next to her.

In their eyes, Yuzhen was a tall, cool-looking boy, while Xingge, who was dressed up next to him, was different. He was relatively shorter and gave off a slightly arrogant vibe. With these two boys sitting together, and Yuzhen always subconsciously taking care of Xingge in various ways, the girls became more and more excited watching them.

Yu-chan was completely oblivious to these details. Their way of getting along had almost become a habit. Although they pretended to be quite convincing on the surface, they didn't notice the details at all.

Xingge felt great; it was her first time participating in such an event. Yuzhen still subconsciously looked after her in some ways in front of the girls, and Xingge's gaze towards them grew increasingly smug. However, she seemed to have completely forgotten that she was now dressed as a boy.

The other boys didn't notice any of this. They only knew that the girls' eyes were basically focused on Xingge and Youzhen the whole time. They felt that they had underestimated the two of them. It seemed that this social event could only be treated as a dinner party for friends in the end.

After the social gathering, on the way home, Youzhen held Xingge's hand.

"How are you feeling now?"

He leaned slightly forward, a smile Xingge knew all too well on his face. Xingge knew that when Youzhen had that smile, it meant he was about to tease her.

"It's alright, someone's performance was barely satisfactory."

"You're not being honest, senpai. You seem really proud of yourself," Yuma teased Hoshika. "Does that mean you're really proud of being my girlfriend?"

"Are you some rare Pokémon? Why should I be proud of getting you?"

Xingge looked at the narcissistic guy in front of her with the eyes of someone looking at an idiot.