A few hours later, Ye Xi sat in Bai Yue’s car, utterly despairing, furiously typing complaints to Li Rui.
Li Rui had returned from Europe two days ago and even brought him a souvenir.
At the time, Ye Xi had also shared the news that he had finally gotten together with Bai Yue.
The moment he heard it, Li Rui’s scream nearly pierced his eardrum.
Luckily, Ye Xi had the foresight to hold the phone away.
But since Bai Yue had been calling him to head to the ranch, Ye Xi hadn’t stayed to chat.
Li Rui didn’t want to interrupt his date either, only decisively saying: “Tell me everything when you get back.”
Now, as he really was on the road back to Changhuan City with Bai Yue, the whole thing felt more like walking straight into a trap.
He messaged Li Rui with difficulty: “Zheng Yang just screamed at Bai Yue for ten minutes straight like a madman. I couldn’t get a single word in. His lung capacity is unreal.”
But when it came to fighting, he was fragile as glass.
Li Rui, munching on his little biscuits, clicked his tongue in amazement.
“Why is Zheng Yang everywhere? He’s a graduate now, doesn’t he have his own friends? Doesn’t he travel? Doesn’t he date? Does he have to fixate on you and Bai Yue? Is it because he can’t score some hot older woman and has to mess with you two instead?”
Ye Xi couldn’t help but twitch his lips upward.
When Li Rui’s mouth turned poisonous, one lick was enough to poison himself.
“Who knows,” he said.
“But I kind of get it,” Li Rui typed rapidly. “If my best friend hooked up with my little brother, I’d be stunned too.”
But then, imagining himself in that situation—no, wait. If his best friend became his in-law…
Wouldn’t that be double the joy?!
The two of them chatted idly back and forth. Halfway along the road, Ye Xi and Bai Yue stopped at a small roadside café for a break.
Each had a cup of coffee, sitting by the window.
Halfway through, a light drizzle began outside. The lush little forest beyond the window was full of tall, green trees, raindrops sliding one by one down the glass. Inside, soft voices and music filled the space, easily putting people at ease.
Ye Xi cradled his latte and glanced sideways at Bai Yue.
Since earlier, Bai Yue’s phone had been vibrating constantly until he silenced it; only then did the buzzing stop.
He didn’t even have to guess—it was Zheng Yang blowing up on the other end.
Ye Xi took a sip of coffee and asked slowly: “…Bai-ge, aren’t you even a little worried?”
Leaving the villa had felt like stepping straight from paradise back into the mundane world.
He finally remembered that he and Bai Yue were still just ordinary people, tied down by complicated social ties.
In those misty mountains, he hadn’t had to think of anything, hadn’t had to care about anything—just holding Bai Yue’s hand, strolling, boating, admiring flowers, cooking together in the evening, stargazing from the tower.
It had felt like forever could be that simple.
But now, sitting again in a café, listening to the people behind them chat about work and stocks, those few days of holiday felt like an illusion, shattered at the slightest touch.
It left him strangely discouraged.
Zheng Yang’s furious questioning was like the first horn of reality’s charge, reminding him this love would never be smooth sailing.
Yet strangely, Bai Yue had been calm the entire time. Even while Zheng Yang raged, his face remained indifferent—aside from a few mocking laughs meant to drive Zheng Yang mad, he hadn’t shown the slightest ripple of emotion.
Now, hearing Ye Xi’s question, Bai Yue looked puzzled, countering: “What should I be worried about?”
That paper tiger Zheng Yang—what was there to fear?
Ye Xi bit his lip, troubled. “Just… after all, Zheng Yang is your best friend, and he’s not exactly super close with me. And the two of us—we’re both guys…”
The words grew harder to speak. “Now that we’re together, Zheng Yang might get really angry with you. He might even demand that we break up…”
But Bai Yue cut him off cleanly: “He won’t.”
Meeting Ye Xi’s clear, uncomprehending eyes, he finally remembered something he’d put off too long.
“Did I forget to tell you… Zheng Yang already knows I like you.”
“?!”
Ye Xi nearly spat out his coffee.
He stared at Bai Yue in horror, his voice breaking: “How could he possibly know?!”
Bai Yue gazed out at the dense, leafy trees beyond the window.
“Probably because… my eyes when I looked at you were too obvious.”
He took a sip of coffee himself and added softly: “That time at the culture festival, when I went looking for you, Zheng Yang knew. He saw that my feelings for you weren’t ordinary, so he came to confront me, asking if I was secretly in love with you. I admitted it. I promised him that at least until you graduated, I wouldn’t interfere with you. But in return, he also wasn’t allowed to interfere with me.”
Ye Xi: “…”
Ge, for something this important, please tell me in advance next time.
He stared at his coffee cup with an indescribable expression. He really couldn’t imagine what kind of scene it would be if Zheng Yang started pressing Bai Yue with questions.
While he was deep in thought, he heard Bai Yue ask:
“If Zheng Yang asked you to break up with me… would you do it?”
Ye Xi froze, then shook his head like a rattle-drum.
What a joke.
Just Zheng Yang? How could he dare to make such an unreasonable demand.
Bai Yue let out a soft laugh.
“Then what do I have to worry about?” he asked.
…That’s true.
Ye Xi silently lifted his cup again. Amid the sound of light rain, the heart that had been racing moments ago slowly calmed down.
……
Two hours later, they arrived at Bai Yue’s apartment.
Meanwhile, Zheng Yang was at home, getting angrier the more he thought about it. Since he already knew Bai Yue’s door code from the last time he stayed over, he grabbed his car keys and stormed over, waiting inside Bai Yue’s place.
When Ye Xi and Bai Yue entered, Bai Yue was carrying luggage, while Ye Xi held a box of small cube-shaped ice creams.
Neither of them noticed the uninvited guest already inside.
Ye Xi ate a few himself, then shoved the last ice cream cube into Bai Yue’s mouth.
“It’s kind of melted…” His cheeks were puffed as he mumbled to Bai Yue, “I just bought vanilla flavor by mistake, not great. The Oreo one tastes better.”
As he spoke, he licked the chocolate from his lips.
Bai Yue had just set down his luggage. Seeing Ye Xi like that, he pulled out a wet wipe to clean Ye Xi’s fingers.
Ye Xi obediently stretched out his hand for him to wipe.
But as he stared at his handsome boyfriend’s face, he couldn’t resist leaning over for a kiss.
Bai Yue’s lips curved as he wrapped an arm around Ye Xi in return.
Zheng Yang, already hearing the noises, came out of the living room with a grim expression, looking like someone owed him billions, ready to start questioning.
But the moment he looked up, he was greeted with this shocking sight—
At the entryway, Ye Xi was tiptoeing, Bai Yue’s arm around his waist. Their luggage was still left in the corner, two black crocodile-textured suitcases tossed aside.
Their lips pressed together, noses brushing, eyelashes fluttering against each other like butterfly wings. In the dim sunlight, the two of them so tall and handsome, they looked like a frame from a romantic movie poster.
But in Zheng Yang’s eyes, this was damning evidence!
He almost couldn’t breathe, choking on his own rage.
“What are you two doing?!!”
Zheng Yang’s voice cracked in a furious roar.
Startled by the sudden shout, Ye Xi jerked, accidentally biting down on Bai Yue’s tongue.
Catching off guard, Bai Yue hissed softly. Realizing whose voice it was, he frowned.
The two turned toward the living room, where Zheng Yang stood pale-faced, like a Confucian scholar from the Qing dynasty, pointing at them with trembling fingers.
It looked like he was about to faint any second.
Still leaning against Bai Yue’s chest, Ye Xi’s expression turned serious. He thought for a few seconds, already prepared—if Zheng Yang really fainted from anger, he’d call 120 immediately.
…..
A few minutes later, Ye Xi and Bai Yue sat on the sofa, separated to opposite ends, facing Zheng Yang’s judgment.
Pacing back and forth in the living room, Zheng Yang showed no signs of fainting. On the contrary, he was full of energy, unleashing curses at Bai Yue.
“You’re utterly shameless, a beast in human clothing!”
“I really misjudged you, to think I treated you as a brother for so many years!”
“What did you promise me back then? You said before graduation you wouldn’t get involved with Ye Xi. He just finished the college entrance exam, and you’ve already seduced him! Don’t tell me you didn’t make a move on him earlier!”
Bai Yue fought to suppress his urge to punch someone. Leaning against the sofa armrest, rubbing his forehead, he sighed in exasperation.
There were so many flaws in Zheng Yang’s accusations he didn’t even know where to begin.
Zheng Yang grew more and more enraged, consumed with grief and indignation.
He didn’t even dare imagine what had happened between Ye Xi and Bai Yue these past few days while he was away.
The thought alone made him want to drag Ye Xi to the police.
His gaze shifted to Ye Xi, who, since Zheng Yang started cursing at Bai Yue, had been staring blankly in confusion.
Wait a minute.
Something wasn’t right with this script.
Wasn’t Bai Yue supposed to be Zheng Yang’s sworn brother, closer than family?
And wasn’t he Zheng Yang’s estranged younger brother, the one he could never get along with? Shouldn’t Zheng Yang be lashing out at him instead, furious that he’d “seduced” Bai Yue?
Why was all the scolding aimed at Bai Yue?
But before his confusion settled, Zheng Yang started yelling at him too—though in a way he didn’t expect.
Seeing Ye Xi obediently sitting there in his pale-blue striped shirt, soft fair face looking innocent and unworldly, Zheng Yang’s heart twisted with rage.
“And you—are you crazy, getting together with Bai Yue? Do you know what kind of bastard he is? He’ll chew you up, wipe you clean, and sell you off while you’re still counting his money!”
Zheng Yang stormed around the room.
“You’re so young, and already dating a man—you even… even took the initiative to kiss him.”
Just saying those words nearly made him collapse.
Unbelievable.
The image he had just seen—he wished he had gone blind.
Clinging to his last shred of reason, Zheng Yang demanded:
“Tell me, did he force you? Or did he trick you with sweet talk?”
He was answered by Ye Xi’s silence and Bai Yue’s cold laugh.
Bai Yue thought, if it weren’t for eighteen years of friendship, Zheng Yang would already be strung up and beaten, then hung from a tree for three days.
He glanced at Ye Xi, who now just looked utterly bewildered, staring at Zheng Yang like at a rabid husky—wanting him to calm down, yet afraid he’d bite.
“Are you done yet?” Bai Yue asked coldly.
His sharp tone carried weight, and Zheng Yang instinctively froze.
But soon he snapped back and sneered: “No. I could curse a scumbag all day and not get tired.”
…Unbelievable.
Bai Yue pinched his nose bridge, speechless.
“Can’t you use your brain? Ye Xi and I can’t just be in love? He’s an adult, with his own judgment and reason, and the ability to resist. If I really tricked or forced him, would he have come home with me so willingly? Would he have kissed me first?”
He had pitied Zheng Yang, shocked and unprepared, giving him a few minutes to rant.
But the more Zheng Yang spoke, the more ridiculous he sounded.
Bai Yue crossed his arms, especially displeased with phrases like “chew you up and sell you.”
Zheng Yang scoffed: “In love? Fine. Even if you confessed right after his exams, it’s been what, half a month? And Ye Xi’s already so devoted he ran away with you? No way unless he’s fallen in love with money. Don’t tell me you didn’t sweet-talk him into it.”
Bai Yue was so angry he laughed.
“Or—have you considered the possibility that Ye Xi already liked me?”
“Don’t talk nonsense…” Zheng Yang snapped, refusing to believe it. What a joke.
He’d rather believe Ye Xi liked Li Rui.
At least Li Rui was cheerful and good-natured, a childhood friend of Ye Xi’s.
But the next moment, a calm, clear voice came from the other end of the sofa.
“I’ve always liked Bai Yue.”
“Since my first year of high school, I’ve secretly had a crush on him for a long time. He didn’t trick me, he didn’t force me—I confessed first. Everything was my choice.”
A sharp silence fell.
Zheng Yang turned stiffly, stunned, meeting Ye Xi’s eyes.
Ye Xi was a little nervous, but he’d long grown used to showing no expression, especially with Zheng Yang. He even clenched the hem of his shirt tightly.
He was prepared. Even if Zheng Yang cursed him as shameless for seducing Bai Yue, he’d take it.
Because it was true—he had fallen for Bai Yue first.
But in the very next second, he watched his “fragile” older brother—who had never beaten him in a fight, only ever shouted—finally collapse under the repeated blows, coupled with the fact he had skipped lunch.
Overstimulated, his eyes rolled back, his legs gave out, and he collapsed onto the floor.
