The photographs of Xu Yizhu and Ji Xie kissing at the bar were posted online, and it was only a few days later that Zhou Yi informed him about it. Xu Yizhu never expected it to spark a small-scale sensation.
Speaking at lightning speed on the other end of the phone, Zhou Yi teased him, “Not bad, A-Zhu. You stay quiet and pull off major stunts.”
At the time, Xu Yizhu was agonizing over his manuscript. When he received the call, his mind went blank for a second as he retorted, “What did I do?”
Could the novel he was writing have suddenly blown up?
That shouldn’t be possible…
Unable to contain his excitement, Zhou Yi exclaimed, “You have no idea! Someone took pictures of you and Ji Xie kissing and posted them online. Those people online are shipping you two like crazy!”
Still utterly bewildered, Xu Yizhu asked Zhou Yi, “What pictures? Send them over so I can take a look.”
Zhou Yi downloaded the images from the internet and sent them to his phone, clicking his tongue approvingly: “Spicy stuff, Student Xu.”
Opening the image, Xu Yizhu froze.
It was from a few days ago when he and Ji Xie had kissed at the bar. Someone must have secretly photographed them from behind, judging by the angle.
The photo primarily captured Xu Yizhu’s back. He was embedded in Ji Xie’s embrace, and with their height difference of over ten centimeters, Xu Yizhu appeared remarkably petite.
One of Ji Xie’s hands rested on his back while the other gripped his waist. Xu Yizhu’s waist looked slender enough that Ji Xie’s palm easily covered most of it.
Ji Xie was staring straight into the camera with one visible eye, his gaze carrying a hidden warning as if he were publicly declaring ownership.
Xu Yizhu’s breath caught in his throat the moment he saw the photo.
The Ji Xie captured in that lens looked so overbearing, radiating an intense sense of possessiveness.
Zhou Yi sent a few screenshots of the comment section as well, which Xu Yizhu opened and browsed through one by one.
User2556656: Oh my god!! Who is this handsome guy? So alpha!
DontWasteYourWaist: Sigh-ha sigh-ha! My tears are falling unbidden from my mouth! Big brother, I’m ready! Sleep with me!
FairyVibes: Upstairs, your teacup dropped on my face, that’s my husband!
I Can Die But My OTP Cannot Sink: Keeping it real, the person in his arms has such a nice waist, I want to touch it O_o
JingJingJingJing: Sisters! I’m living for the real deal!
BaLaLaLa: I love watching men cry, I love watching men laugh, and I even love watching someone smile while making another man cry T_T
Unable to bear watching any further, Xu Yizhu exited the image browser and continued talking to Zhou Yi: “Where did you even get these? I remember you don’t usually pay attention to this kind of gossip.”
Zhou Yi chuckled twice: “I don’t, but Jingjing likes it. She reads BL.”
Zhou Yi: “I only just realized that when these women ship couples, it is… as spectacular as a stormy sea.”
While Xu Yizhu didn’t mind other people knowing his sexual orientation, he didn’t appreciate having it passively thrust into the spotlight either.
He asked Zhou Yi, “Can the post be deleted?”
Hesitatingly, Zhou Yi replied, “Deleting it probably won’t help much, the photos have already spread everywhere.”
Offering a suggestion, Zhou Yi added, “Why don’t you register an account and make a statement?”
Xu Yizhu sighed in resignation: “Forget it, too much trouble.”
Hanging up the phone, Xu Yizhu deleted the screenshots of the comments and casually saved the original photo into his album.
Disrupted by Zhou Yi’s call, Xu Yizhu lost all his train of thought. He stopped typing, saved the half-finished chapter, and used a burner account to log into the online forum.
This was a dedicated community for sharing daily interactions of pure romance stories. The forum was packed with every conceivable topic across all dimensions. Xu Yizhu navigated to the search engine, dropped the saved image into it, and sure enough, located the original thread published by the OP.
OP: Went to a bar gathering with my sisters today and happened to catch the owner and his boyfriend. So sweet!!
1L: OP is so lucky to get a live broadcast.
OP Reply: The owner is super doting on his boyfriend, all cuddles and lifts! Spending a fortune for the sake of his beloved!
Recalling the events of that day, Xu Yizhu’s cheeks began to burn hot.
He replied to the OP: Was he really that doting though?
Presumably browsing the thread in real time, the OP fired back quickly: Friend, did you buy your eyes at the dollar store? The owner is obviously pampering his boyfriend to pieces, okay?
Concluding that he was just a boring troll looking for an argument, the OP stopped replying to him. Xu Yizhu scrolled down to read more comments, growing increasingly outrageous with each one, utterly fearless of getting their accounts banned.
He logged out, checked his phone, and noticed that Ji Xie hadn’t reached out to him all day.
Finding this rather unusual, Xu Yizhu sent Ji Xie a voice message.
Z: Busy today?
It took over ten minutes for a reply to trickle back.
X: Missed me?
Z: Heh O_o
X: See you in ten minutes.
While Xu Yizhu wasn’t quite used to Ji Xie’s sudden disappearance, as for whether he missed him…
As long as he didn’t voice it out loud, no matter what actions he took, he could always deny it.
Shutting down his computer, Xu Yizhu stood up, brewed a cup of fruit tea in the kitchen, and carried it back to the living room.
Glancing casually at the time, he pulled a magazine from beneath the coffee table and leaned back against the sofa to flip through the pages.
When the doorbell rang, Xu Yizhu put down the magazine he had been staring at for ages without turning a single page and walked over to open the door.
Outside, Ji Xie was hauling a bulky black 26-inch suitcase.
Xu Yizhu: “Are you going on a business trip?”
Pressing one hand against the doorframe, Ji Xie leaned in close with a smile and said, “Teacher Xu, the neighbor upstairs had a water leak that ruined my place. Asking for refuge.”
Stubbornly refusing to yield, Xu Yizhu replied, “Not taking any.”
“Don’t be like that,” Ji Xie coaxed in a wheedling tone. “I’m very well-behaved. I can do laundry, cook, and warm the bed, you know~”
Stepping aside to let him in, Xu Yizhu persisted with his rejection: “No, if you’re here, it’ll interfere with my work.”
Dragging his suitcase inside, Ji Xie closed the door and trapped Xu Yizhu right against the shoe cabinet. “How could that happen? I promise to be good and not disturb you, alright?”
Half-convinced, Xu Yizhu asked, “Did your place really flood?”
“Really, I’ll take you over to see it if you don’t believe me,” Ji Xie said. “It’ll take at least half a month to clean everything up.”
Hesitating for a moment, Xu Yizhu agreed, “Fine then. But I only have one bed here.”
Ji Xie smiled: “I sleep very quietly, I won’t kick you.”
Waiting for him to finish, Xu Yizhu stated with a calm expression: “Two choices. Either you sleep on the sofa, or… you can make do with the coffin next door that you previously lay inside.”
Ji Xie: “”
Returning to the sofa, Xu Yizhu poured himself a cup of tea and asked, “Still want to stay?”
Gritting his teeth inwardly, Ji Xie endured and replied, “Staying!”
If you aren’t willing to swallow your pride, you’ll never win a wife. Especially a wife who says one thing and means another, you can’t afford to care about saving face.
Coaxing, badgering, and acting spoiled; there’s no way a wife can escape that.
Xu Yizhu nodded: “Alright then, I’ll take you in. From now on, you’re in charge of cooking.”
Ji Xie: “Got it.”
Xu Yizhu: “You’re handling all the housework.”
Ji Xie: “No problem.”
Casting an indifferent, level glance at him, Xu Yizhu added: “As for everything else… we’ll discuss it later.”
Ji Xie felt an overwhelming urge to toss the person—who looked ready to tail-waggingly strut to the skies—onto the sofa and have his way with him right then and there.
“Done talking?” Ji Xie asked him.
Completely oblivious to Ji Xie’s brewing urges, Xu Yizhu replied flatly, “Done.”
Abandoning his suitcase right where it stood, Ji Xie covered the distance to Xu Yizhu in two long strides, parting the younger man’s thighs with his knee and pressing himself into the space between them.
Alarm bells ringing in his mind, Xu Yizhu swallowed hard: “What are you doing?”
Reaching out, Ji Xie unbuttoned the collar of his shirt, his voice dropping into a low, alluring timber while tiny flames flickered in his eyes: “Just checking the quality of the sofa.”
Pushed backward onto the sofa behind him, Xu Yizhu instinctively bent his knees to trap Ji Xie between his legs.
“Don’t clamp your legs, clamp here instead.” Reaching down, Ji Xie gripped Xu Yizhu’s ankle and hooked it around his own waist and hips.
Panic fluttering in his chest, Xu Yizhu felt his throat go bone-dry. He tried sliding backward away from him, only to be yanked right back. “Trying to run?”
“No…” Xu Yizhu evaded his scorching gaze with a guilty conscience.
“Such a good boy, Ge,” Ji Xie leaned down, brushing his tongue against Xu Yizhu’s earlobe as his breathing turned ragged. “I like you so much, Teacher Xu.”
With nowhere left to hide, Xu Yizhu licked his parched lips and obediently nested into his embrace.
With every spot Ji Xie kissed, his tone softened further as he coaxed him.
“Ge, let me sleep with you tonight, okay?”
“The sofa is too small, your legs won’t stretch out.”
“There’s no heater, you’ll catch a cold.”
“Ge… won’t you let me sleep with you?”
Stirred into a hazy, intoxicated daze by his prodding, Xu Yizhu wrapped his arms around his neck, kissed him back, and mumbled intermittently, “N… No.”
Halting his movements, Ji Xie wore an aggrieved expression: “How can you be so cruel? Can you bear to see me curled up on that tiny sofa?”
Nuzzling against the spot over Ji Xie’s beating heart, Xu Yizhu murmured, “I refuse to be tempted by you. I refuse to let you manipulate me.”
His affectionate movements resembled a little cat begging to be held.
“Just once, I’m begging you, okay? Begging you doesn’t count as letting me manipulate you.”
Xu Yizhu still shook his head.
“But I like you so much. I want to hold you, kiss you, and do things together with—”
Annoyed by his nagging, Xu Yizhu forcefully pulled his head down close to his own and commanded, “Stop talking nonsense, kiss me.”
“No.” Pulling back just enough to create distance, Ji Xie looked heartbroken. “You don’t like me, I’m not kissing.”
Lowering his gaze, Xu Yizhu revealed thick, uncurled lashes that obscured the emotions swirling in his eyes.
“I do like you,” he whispered softly.
Terrified of mishearing, Ji Xie asked again, “What did you say?”
Driven to exasperation, Xu Yizhu raised his voice: “I like you, you idiot!”
If he didn’t like him, why would he allow him to step into his world over and over again?
Ji Xie had stubbornly smashed a crack into Xu Yizhu’s previously cold and gray world, letting the light flood in.
“I like you, Ji Xie,” Xu Yizhu said softly. “And thank you for making me like myself again.”
Caught up in deep affection without even realizing it, Xu Yizhu had likely begun falling the moment Ji Xie stood behind him in the pitch-black room and told him not to be afraid.
Through all the days and nights of the past, Xu Yizhu had walked entirely alone. For all the years and seasons to come, Ji Xie would remain by his side.
Xu Yizhu: “I don’t believe in love, but I believe in you.”
Ji Xie pressed a kiss to his brow: “You are my love.”
What is love?
Xu Yizhu is.