CH 1

The aroma of food wafted through the night market and Ye Yao blew on the octopus ball in his hand and took a bite.

“Eat slowly, don’t burn yourself.” An arm around his shoulder, another skewer was passed to Ye Yao’s mouth, “Try this.”

The man holding the skewer was tall, with impeccably handsome features that could be spotted at a glance, even if thrown into a crowd.

This prominent appearance made people around him stare at him intentionally or unintentionally, but he didn’t give a single glance to the people around him, just looked intently at Ye Yao who was wrapped around him, with the intention that he wouldn’t stop until Ye Yao ate his food.

Ye Yao opened his mouth and took a bite: “It’s okay.”

“Yeah right.” Lu Xun took the skewer back and bit down on the spot where Ye Yao had bitten into it, not missing a beat.

Ye Yao’s eyes dropped as the octopus ball Lu Xun was taken from his hand, and when it was returned, the topmost ball that he had bitten had disappeared.

The food grabber hummed happily and continued to wander around with his arm firmly around Ye Yao as if his hand was on Ye Yao’s body.

*

Lu Xun is not very approachable to outsiders and is known as a difficult man to get close to. For Ye Yao, however, this distance is zero.

They can eat the same bowl of noodles, wear each other’s clothes, sleep in the same bed, and do whatever he wants with Lu Xun.

Because they are the best of friends.

Ye Yao knew in his heart that Lu Xun would never be able to distance himself from him as long as he didn’t step on Lu Xun’s biggest minefield.

And the biggest minefield of all ……

“What a coincidence, you guys are playing here too.”

A voice came from behind his and Ye Yao stopped and looked back to see a clean, boyish face.

Ye Yao thought about it and remembered that this was a classmate of Lu Xun’s after he had gone to university, so he could be considered a good friend of Lu Xun.

The clean-shaven boy said what a coincidence, but the expression on his face was one of surprise with traces of camouflage, looking less like a chance encounter and more like he had been waiting here on purpose for a long time.

“Something wrong?” Lu Xun asked.

The boy didn’t say anything right away, his eyes went to Lu Xun’s hand tightly wrapped around Ye Yao’s shoulder, and then to Ye Yao with a flash of hostility in his eyes.

But this hostility was quickly tempered as he smiled coyly at Ye Yao: “Could you excuse me for a moment? I have something I want to say to Brother Lu alone.”

Ye Yao nodded and took Lu Xun’s hand off his shoulder before gesturing to the mini-mall not far away and saying to Lu Xun, “I’ll go over there and wait-”

Before he could finish his sentence, Ye Yao’s hand was gripped as he pointed towards the mini-mall.

Lu Xun holds Ye Yao’s hand, the cheerful expression on his face that he had when he was facing Ye Yao has all but disappeared. His face is expressionless as he looks at the clean-cut boy, a sense of distance instantly coming through from his deep brows.

“If you have something to say, just say it, if not I’ll leave first.” Lu Xun said directly.

Ye Yao had a vague suspicion as to the purpose of the boys’ visit and tried to pull his hand out of Lu Xun’s, only to have it gripped tighter.

Seeing that the two would not be separated, the clean-cut boy gritted his teeth and opened his mouth anyway.

He is almost a head shorter than Lu Xun, and when he raises his eyes to look at Lu Xun from the bottom up, he takes on an innocent and pitiful look.

” Brother Lu …… I’ve liked you for a long time, can you give me a chance?”

The clean-cut boy looked at Lu Xun’s dark brow and felt nervous from the bottom of his heart.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to confess when Lu Xun was alone, but he had known Lu Xun for so long that, apart from class time, Lu Xun was either with Ye Yao or on his way to Ye Yao’s side.

Lu Xun would not stop to listen to Ye Yao as he made his way to his side.

Lu Xun’s voice was unmistakable: “I thought everyone around me knew I didn’t like men.”

“Well ……” the clean-cut boy bit his lip and glanced at Ye Yao .

Of course he knew Lu Xun was homophobic, but he was so repulsed by homosexuality and yet he clung to Ye Yao so closely every day, protecting his like a bead on his eye?

He did have some suspicions about Lu Xun’s sexuality because of the relationship between Lu Xun and Ye Yao. And if he doesn’t get down to it, these two may have to make a pair on their own.

The boy fought again: “I won’t interfere with you getting along, Brother Lu, can you give me a week to try?”

Lu Xun doesn’t bother to speak, he looks down and pulls out his phone, his eyes cold.

Sensing that something was wrong, the boy immediately took a step back and said with a smile, “I can’t force you if you don’t want to, I will retreat to my original position and be your friend.”

Ye Yao was standing next to Lu Xun and could easily see what Lu Xun was doing by glancing to the side.

Lu Xun was unceremoniously pulling all kinds of contact information from the person in front of him, and after he had done so, he raised his eyes to the clean-cut boy, his thin lips curving in a disgusted curve.

“I don’t accept that a friend of the same sex who likes me.”

*

It is still summer, but Ye Yao’s hands are getting cold.

As they walked back to school, Ye Yao’s hand was held.

“What’s wrong, why are your hands so cold.” Lu Xun asks, “Sick?”

“No, it’s just that my body temperature hasn’t adjusted with the cold drink.” Ye Yao adjusted his voice without moving, while trying to pull his hand out, “Don’t hold it.”

So much for struggling, but instead the grip tightened.

“What’s wrong with me holding your hand, can’t I?” Lu Xun smiled, but did not let up on the strength of his hand.

Ye Yao was silent for a long time and then sighed softly, “If you keep hugging me like this, people who don’t know will misunderstand that you like boys. Even if you try to clarify, they will only think that you are hiding your sexuality, so there will always be boys confessing their love to you.”

At the end of the sentence, Ye Yao was greeted with a familiar hug.

The tall youth embraced him from behind, pouring his breath onto the skin of his ear with abandon, turning that small patch of skin into a searing heat.

Ye Yao heard Lu Xun’s laughing voice, “What do you care what other people think, I can’t even hug you just so they don’t get the wrong idea, right?”

*

When he returned to the dormitory, Lu Xun was still holding Ye Yao’s hand.

The other two roommates in the dorm took one look and burst into laughter.

“Oh Brother Lu, on your honeymoon with Ye Yao again?”

“Other couples are better off with a small farewell than a new marriage, but you two are good, you don’t need a small farewell to be newly married every day.”

Lu Xun, a homophobe, didn’t get angry at all when he heard that he and Ye Yao were being joked about, instead he smiled and put the snack he was carrying on the table: “Jealous of our love? Here’s your wedding candy, eat it.”

After a couple of bites, Xiao Pang turned to Lu Xun Ye Yao and gave him an eight-tooth smile and a thumbs up: ” Brother Lu Ye Yao, good luck for a hundred years!”

Wen Ke, who was burying his head in the food next to him, reacted by turning around and giving a thumbs up: “Have a baby soon!”

Ye Yao :”……”

Early birth a hammer.

Lu Xun frowned and put his arm around Ye Yao’s waist, “Don’t listen to them.”

Ye Yao is stunned and is about to say something when Lu Xun smiles again, returning to his jokey self.

Lu Xun touched Ye Yao’s belly and smiled: “We are still in love without having children.”

“……” Ye Yao couldn’t stand it anymore and slapped Lu Xun away, “Go away!”

*

After a shower and covered in moisture, Ye Yao lies down on the bed.

In the dormitory Xiao Pang and Wen Ke are playing a game downstairs, while Ye Yao buries his face under the covers and slowly relaxes his body.

On the way back, not only were his hands cold, but his heart was cold too.

His heart went cold when he saw Lu Xun not hesitate to black out people he called friends and say outright that he would not accept someone who was attracted to him as a friend.

Because he …… also likes Lu Xun .

Without even noticing it himself, this friendship had quietly changed. By the time he realised it, it had become a blazing fire that could not be extinguished, let alone returned to friendship.

Lu Xun is a straight man who doesn’t have to be suspicious in the slightest, able to accept all kinds of joking flirtatious words between the two of them, but completely unable to accept serious affection from the same sex. Once Lu Xun finds out what’s on his mind …… their relationship is over.

Xiao Pang and Wen Ke have gone to bed, but there are still occasional low voice commands coming from their direction, and they are obviously still playing the game with their headphones on.

Ye Yao was lying with his eyes closed in distraction when there was a sudden rustling in his ears and when he opened his eyes, he saw the curtain of his bed being lifted open and a tall figure had climbed into his bed from below.

Ye Yao could have guessed who was climbing into his bed in the middle of the night, even if he was blind and guessed with his feet.

Lu Xun expertly lifted Ye Yao’s blanket and got inside.

The single bed in the dormitory is not wide enough to begin with, and two people who are both very tall squeeze in like this, leaving little room to move around.

Ye Yao tried to carve out a space for himself to move, but a pair of strong arms were placed around his waist and he was instantly shackled in Lu Xun’s arms.

Lu Xun adjusts his position, finds an excellent angle and stops contentedly.

Ye Yao held back, trying to treat this as a normal friendship and ignoring Lu Xun’s behaviour. But Lu Xun was holding him down so tightly that he could clearly feel Lu Xun’s hard abs pressed against his stomach.

Further down the page is ……

The person he likes is so close to him, and it is against human nature to not react at all. Ye Yao felt that he could not resist and pushed Lu Xun away from him before it became obvious.

“Grass, it’s summer and you don’t mind the heat.” Ye Yao whispered a curse.

“Yo, our good student has burst out.” Lu Xun laughed lightly and also lowered his voice, “What’s hot, the air conditioning is on, can’t you take one off, I’ll take it off for you?”

Seeing that Lu Xun was about to come up again, Ye Yao hurriedly reached out against Lu Xun to keep him away and tried to intimidate him, “What are you taking off, if you sleep like this, I’ll be tempted by you one day and touch you secretly at night.”

As Lu Xun calms down, Ye Yao wonders if this threat has gone too far and stepped on Lu Xun’s homophobic minefield, when he hears Lu Xun open up again.

Lu Xun’s tone rose slightly, and instead of being annoyed, his voice sounded pleasant: “Is there such a thing as a good thing?”

Ye Yao’s hand was grabbed and immediately brought to rest on the firm abs of another man.

“Here, touch.”

Ye Yao :”……”

Straight men of steel are truly lawless.

Ye Yao couldn’t stand it any longer, so he withdrew his hand and turned over to the wall, leaving his back to Lu Xun. This way, even if he reacts in a way he shouldn’t, Lu Xun won’t be the first to notice and it will give him time to cover up.

Lu Xun laughed a little and once again hugged from behind.

As they cuddled close together, Ye Yao could clearly feel the pounding of Lu Xun’s heart, one after another, disturbing him.

Ye Yao adjusts his breathing and closes his eyes.

He had to keep his feelings completely hidden, and no matter how much he liked Lu Xun, all he could show was friendship.

Let’s hope his acting is good enough not to show any cracks, otherwise …… will just have to pull away from Lu Xun.

Let’s hope there will never be a day like this.