Although it wasn’t the first time he had seen Shen Yu’s abs, Xia Shuo still felt his face heat up.
He called out obediently, holding up the shopping bag for Shen Yu to see. “Brother Yu, do you want some grapes? I bought a few at the supermarket downstairs.”
Shen Yu closed the door, looked at him in silence for a moment, then leaned in close to his neck and sniffed. “What’s that smell?”
Thinking he might have been sweating from the heat outside, Xia Shuo quickly sniffed himself as well. “There’s no smell at all.”
“It smells sweet.” It was almost as if he’d picked up a trace of Yan Yan’s perfume.
“Smelly. Go wash up.”
“Going, going right now.” Xia Shuo didn’t want to argue with a clean freak. Maybe some people were just born with hypersensitive noses, what one person thought smelled great, another might mistake for rotten fruit.
Maybe Shen Yu was just born with an extraordinary sense of smell coupled with mysophobia, Xia Shuo figured.
Before long, Xia Shuo came out clean, his hair half-dry, and sat on the couch to blow-dry it.
Shen Yu emerged from his bedroom wearing lounge clothes, the buttons unfastened enough to reveal a large expanse of chest muscle.
Once his hair was dry, Xia Shuo picked up his camera and began reviewing the photos he’d taken that day.
A moment later, his leg was nudged. Xia Shuo looked up to find Shen Yu looming over him, staring down from above. “What are you looking at?”
“Is it really that good?”
“You’re so entranced.”
With that, Shen Yu lowered his head and fed Xia Shuo a grape. “Open up.”
Sometimes Shen Yu felt very easy to get along with, but other times his sense of oppression was overwhelmingly strong.
Like right now, looking down at someone from above gave off a subtle sense of being controlled.
Yet it wasn’t annoying at all, instead, it made one want to actively lean closer.
Xia Shuo obediently opened his mouth.
The flesh of the fruit turned in his teeth, chewed, burst with juice, very sweet.
“Actually pretty good, didn’t step on a landmine.”
Shen Yu shifted and sat down beside him, leg pressing against leg. When Xia Shuo turned his head to take a grape straight from Shen Yu’s hand, he could see a vast expanse of Shen Yu’s chest.
While there shouldn’t be anything shy about two guys, running around half-dressed or unbuttoned all the time made Xia Shuo feel a bit weird.
“Is it really that good? You’re staring your eyes out.”
Recovering his wits from the camera, Xia Shuo tapped the next photo and praised, “It really is quite good.”
The person beside him seemed a bit displeased. “You’ve praised people eight hundred times today. What? Like it? Love at first sight? Heart pounding like crazy?”
“If you like it, go chase her then.”
Putting down the camera, Xia Shuo turned to look at Shen Yu. “Senior Yan is a 23-batch outstanding graduate, a million-follower blogger. She has looks, she has talent.”
After a moment of thought, Xia Shuo added, “And a great personality.”
“Oh sure, everyone in the world has a great personality, only I don’t.”
“Such a little unconscionable wretch.” He fed Xia Shuo another grape.
“Aish, Brother Yu, in my heart you’re the best in the whole world.”
A WeChat notification chimed.
【Yan Yan: Hello~ You can send me the photos now oh.】
Xia Shuo picked up the camera, ignoring whatever look the person behind him was giving. “Brother, lend me your computer to export the files.”
After busying himself for a while, the more Xia Shuo looked, the more satisfied he became. A nine-grid collage wasn’t even enough for him to post.
He happily waited for his WeChat friends to praise his technical skills.
Within minutes, likes and comments poured in. Xia Shuo happily tapped to open them.
【Gao Hao: Damn, stunning, this scenery shot is absolute perfection. Send me the raw files, I’m making them my wallpaper.】
Xia Shuo replied: ? Bro, I shot a person.
【Luoyang: Where’s the person? … Oh, saw them, a bit indistinct like a passerby, but the composition is pretty good.】
【Su Jun: Shuo, change careers.】
Xia Shuo replied: ……
【Liu Qian: Shuo, long time no see, taking up photography again? This scenery really does look nice, where is it? Feels like a good place for a stroll.】
【Su Jun: Babe, let’s just stick to being models, we really aren’t suited to shoot models.】
Xia Shuo was practically moved to tears.
The kind that weep inside.
【Ceda Photography (258)】
Club President Shen Zhiqiang: This photography session has concluded successfully. Thank you everyone, you’ve all worked hard. @All members
Feng Yue: Yan Yan posted a short video.
Zhang Wude: Go, she posted 20 photos.
Su Asan: Awesome, awesome, the President alone took up 5 of them.
Ouyang Chao: A master is truly a master, this portrait charm is amazing, and the lighting is so beautiful.
Zhang Wude: @Feng Yue, is the 8th one yours? I saw you post it on your Moments.
Feng Yue: Yes, yes, hehe.
Zhang Wude: You’re improving fast, pretty good.
Guan Yun: Is that last silhouette photo also taken by our club?
Xia Shuo opened the short video, flipping through page by page, growing disappointed with each one, until the very last.
Woah!! He took that one.
Mhm… out of so many photos taken, only a silhouette was selected.
Did that mean none of his front or side profile shots of people were usable?
Xia Shuo sighed.
Someone in the chat tagged him.
【Ceda Photography (258)】
Feng Yue: @Xia Shuo, Shuo, it got selected, Niu*3!
Guan Yun: Not gonna lie, that last one has a lot of atmosphere. Like a beauty from the northern lands, standing aloof from the world, maxed-out ambiance.
Even though he was praised, Xia Shuo still felt a lingering trace of disappointment.
Xia Shuo: Thanks thanks. 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Leaning back in his computer chair, Xia Shuo re-read Yan Yan’s newly published post.
The first photo was a close-up frontal shot. Light fell across her face, half-bright and half-shadowed, but her gaze hit the mark, and the shadow of her eyelashes falling on the corner of her eye made it even more unique. Composition, focus, expression, all perfection. Xia Shuo zoomed in to check every corner, not a single flaw. Truly outstanding.
The second photo was a half-body shot. Yan Yan leaned against a wooden window, turned slightly toward the screen. A gentle breeze blew through her hair, a few strands catching across her profile, adding a lively touch to an otherwise ordinary-feeling composition.
The timing was captured to perfection.
The third photo…
Xia Shuo flipped through them one by one, analyzing each carefully, right up until the final silhouette.
That was the one he took. At a first glance it looked nice, but looking closer, the background was slightly overexposed, and the composition fell a bit short. While it had atmosphere, the technical flaws were also quite obvious.
“It really lacks a bit of substance,” he whispered in conclusion.
If all the others were实力派 (powerhouses), he figured he was most likely the human-connection hire who only got his spot on the final slide because he helped carry the luggage.
In the video’s comment section, his clubmates began leaving notes. Since they all had their own social media photography handles, they naturally claimed their respective shots in the photo comments.
Looking at the last photo, Xia Shuo felt a bit embarrassed, hesitating whether to reply and claim it.
In the comments, Feng Yue had already tagged his handle: The second-to-last one is me, the very last one is my bro. Thanks everyone for the love, open for reciprocal model collaborations.
That comment section was quite spectacular.
Sugar Mandarin Enthusiast: Shuo-shuo hasn’t given up on photography yet? If all else fails, can he just take pictures of himself?
My Cat Is Called Rich: Or take pictures of his brother?
Boundless Good Luck: I actually quite like watching his livestreams. Shouldn’t he just change careers to a streamer? I look at photography elsewhere.
Twist and Bubble: Why hasn’t Shuo-shuo been livestreaming lately?
Rain: Yue-yue, when are you and Shuo going to livestream again? I love watching you two.
Chestnut Baby: Shuo-bao, I’ll support you forever. Keep it up, you’ll definitely get better and better.
Looking at his backend gaining dozens of new followers in a flurry, bringing his total up to around 6,000 fans, Xia Shuo saw new comments appearing beneath.
AAA Building Materials Sister Wang Is Most Beautiful: Woc, the guy looks so damn top-tier, why is his photography skill like an elementary schooler’s?
Gudong Demon Child reply: Don’t insult elementary schoolers okay? Elementary schoolers take better pictures than him, look, this is what my younger sister took of me.
AAA Building Materials Sister Wang Is Most Beautiful reply: Sister is so pretty, little sis’s photo skills are indeed way better than the blogger’s.
Fine, fine, fine, Xia Shuo’s energy was drained. Xia Shuo fell silent. Xia Shuo surrendered. Xia Shuo despaired. Xia Shuo collapsed…
Not seeing him come out for a while, Shen Yu knocked on the study door and walked in.
He found a dejected Xia Shuo. Walking over, he circled behind Xia Shuo and massaged his shoulders. “What’s wrong?”
“Rejected while chasing someone?”
Xia Shuo pressed against the hands kneading his shoulders. “Brother, why is everything I do so unsuccessful?”
“Ever since I was little, none of the wishes I’ve made ever came true.”
“Unlike you, Brother. You excel at everything.”
Xia Shuo looked at the trophies filling the study, so many they couldn’t even fit on the shelves and had to be stored away in cabinets.
“Brother, when we were eight we both went to learn traditional Chinese painting, practiced for half a year, and entered a competition together. You won a provincial award, and I got a consolation prize.”
“At ten we went swimming together. You were picked by the coach and even invited to the district team, while my breaststroke was still sinking.”
“At twelve we joined a math special training camp. You won first prize, I didn’t even make it to the finals.”
“At fifteen, during the school sports meet, you broke the track record for long-distance running, while I tripped face-first into the dirt the second I started the short sprint.”
At this, Xia Shuo felt the pressure on his shoulders grow slightly heavier, but he optimistically added, “Though it was a blessing in disguise, I got to rest for a few days without going to class. It’s just that it must’ve been hard on Brother, carrying me to the infirmary and scaring you half to death.”
Seeming to recall something funny, Xia Shuo chuckled. “Brother, are you Superman reincarnated? How come you’re good at everything?”
“Unlike me. In my past life, I must have been an idiot.”
Shen Yu released his shoulders and instead pinched the back of his neck. Xia Shuo comfortably tilted his head back. “Brother, did you practice massage too?”
“You aren’t an idiot.”
“Huh?”
“Brother, are you just comforting me?”
Shen Yu lowered his gaze to look at him. Xia Shuo tilted his head up, catching the long, delicate eyelashes casting shadows in the light, fluttering softly.
“You’re just too fickle. You want to try a bit of everything, dabble in everything, and the moment it loses its novelty, you let it go. The moment you find it boring, you throw it away.”
“But Shuo-shuo, everything reaches a point where people get tired of it. Being able to persist and achieve results doesn’t rely purely on passion alone.”
“But Brother…”
“If you didn’t want to go to painting class, you skipped it. On rainy days you didn’t swim, on sunny days you didn’t swim, if you overslept you didn’t go, if you were in a bad mood you didn’t go, and if you were in too good a mood and wanted to go play, you still didn’t go.”
“The second something lost its freshness and interest, you abandoned it.”
Xia Shuo opened his mouth. “But Brother, I’ll never get tired of you.”
“In our third year of high school, I spent every class break with you, tackling the most painful math problems, memorizing the hardest classical Chinese texts, but I never once felt tired of it.”
“Was it because you didn’t genuinely care for those other things in the first place?”
Shen Yu didn’t answer.
Because it wasn’t that Xia Shuo never grew tired, it was simply that Shen Yu’s calculated scheming kept Xia Shuo constantly feeling a sense of novelty toward him every single day.
“Brother, I really feel like photography is my true love now. Look, quick, how do my photos look?”
“You said that last time too.”
“What?”
“You said the guitar was your true love.”
“But after playing it for a month, it sat gathering dust in the corner.”
“Brother, this time is really different.”
“Fine, fine, fine.”
Shen Yu looked at them carefully for a moment. Growing anxious, Xia Shuo urged him for an evaluation, “Say something, Brother.”
“Pretty.”
With eyes glowing, Xia Shuo looked at Shen Yu and pulled him into a hug. “I told you so, Brother. It’s just that no talent scout has discovered me yet. I’m definitely going to become a master photographer of our generation.”
Feeling the warmth of the person in his arms, Shen Yu spoke softly, “It’s because you look good.”
After getting excited for a while, Xia Shuo grew drowsy and went off to sleep.
Shen Yu pulled Xia Shuo’s calves back under the blanket he had kicked off and closed the bedroom door.
Back in the study, Shen Yu put on rimless glasses. His entire bearing was now one of frigid detachment, entirely unlike the warmth he showed Xia Shuo, even his gaze iced over. If Xia Shuo had woken up to see this right now, he definitely would have been startled.
He opened the laptop Xia Shuo never touched, entered a long password, and clicked on an app named “Lock.”
The page opened. After inputting verification, the latest entry displayed: He said he’ll never get tired of me.
A red progress bar loaded.
Confidence score evaluating…