This hotpot restaurant had great food and offered student discounts, so business was booming. Even on weekdays, there were long lines.
After they finished eating and walked out of their private room, the booth area outside was still packed with people. The air was filled with the aroma of hotpot and the lively chatter of voices.
Su Zhiyan came out of the restroom to find Shen Nianjing leaning against the wall waiting for him.
There was a huge green plant at the corner that spread out in all directions with lush growth. It lined up perfectly with Shen Nianjing’s head, creating an effect similar to the trending “flower crown[mfn]
[/mfn]” heritage style photos online, except his was a “grass crown.”
Su Zhiyan held back his laughter. “Let’s go.”
Shen Nianjing saw his expression. “What’s wrong? Was the mouthwash that good?”
“Peach flavored, it was not bad. If you want to try it I can buy you a couple bottles.”
Shen Nianjing burst out laughing. “Then you better pay for my medical bills too.”
They strolled out of the restaurant where Wen Bei and the others were waiting outside, along with some other customers waiting for tables.
“Good thing we came early, otherwise we probably would have had to wait half an hour too.” Zhou Zhou glanced at the waiting area and sighed. “Our school really has good looking people. I feel like there are handsome guys everywhere.”
“Thanks for the compliment.” Qin Qi made a heart gesture at him.
“Get lost!” Zhou Zhou kicked at him.
As the group walked outside, a rushing figure whooshed past them from the side, laughing and shouting at someone waiting for a seat at the restaurant entrance, “Xia Shi—”
“You better give me a good explanation, suddenly coming back like this!”
They seemed like they hadn’t seen each other in a long time. The person was very excited and threw a punch at the other guy.
The person called Xia Shi didn’t get angry either, just smiled and ruffled the other person’s hair.
Su Zhiyan was looking down at his phone reading a message from his senior when he suddenly felt the space beside him become empty. He stopped and looked back.
Shen Nianjing was standing five steps away, facing the direction of the hotpot restaurant entrance.
He put away his phone and walked over. “Let’s go.”
Shen Nianjing didn’t respond, staring blankly in one direction.
Su Zhiyan raised an eyebrow and waved his hand in front of him twice. “What are you spacing out about—”
The next second, his hand was suddenly grabbed by Shen Nianjing.
Su Zhiyan froze, looking at where their hands were clasped together.
Shen Nianjing’s hand was trembling slightly.
Su Zhiyan stared at his hand for a moment, then looked up with slightly furrowed brows and a hint of helplessness in his eyes. “Come on~”
Shen Nianjing paused and turned to look at him.
The central air conditioning from the hotpot restaurant blew wind outside, making his bangs flutter in the breeze. His eyes showed a trace of panic.
Su Zhiyan’s chest tightened.
He knew that look all too well.
When they first met and he told Shen Nianjing his name, Shen Nianjing had looked at him with those exact same eyes.
Su Zhiyan pulled his hand back and followed Shen Nianjing’s previous line of sight. He only saw two people walking into the restaurant with their arms around each other’s shoulders, laughing.
He turned back to look at Shen Nianjing who was still standing there in a daze, his expression serious.
Obviously Shen Nianjing knew those two people, just like how he had somehow known Su Zhiyan before, even though they’d never met.
“You—” he started to speak.
“Hey!” The lively voices around them enveloped them, and suddenly an arm was slung over his shoulder. Su Zhiyan turned his head to see Wen Bei looking at him with an ambiguous expression, saying meaningfully, “Why are you guys lagging behind? We’ve been waiting forever.”
Su Zhiyan paused, then smiled and shook his head. “Got it, let’s go, let’s go.”
Shen Nianjing wasn’t in any state to answer questions right now. Better to let him calm down first.
He still remembered how every time he tried to ask before, Shen Nianjing would dodge the question. Even when drunk, he refused to speak, preferring to cover his mouth and nose tightly and nearly suffocate himself. Su Zhiyan glanced over, taking in Shen Nianjing’s somewhat pale complexion.
Asking now probably wouldn’t get him any answers either.
That was fine.
Su Zhiyan swept away his gloomy mood and pulled out a smile.
Shen Nianjing had promised that when the time was right, he would definitely tell him. He believed those words.
–
After the group dinner, Su Zhiyan didn’t see Shen Nianjing for several days straight.
On Friday, it rained heavily. The classroom felt stuffy, so someone pushed open the windows on both sides. The cold autumn wind blew in with a chill.
Su Zhiyan lay on his desk scrolling through his phone. The cool breeze blew gently, making his hair tickle his face.
He scratched his chin and lowered his eyelashes to browse through the chat records on his phone.
From Tuesday until yesterday, Shen Nianjing hadn’t replied to any of the messages he sent.
Su Zhiyan moved his phone aside and stared out the window with a slightly dazed look, a trace of melancholy showing on his face.
The class they took together on Thursday had ended, and he hadn’t run to Shen Nianjing’s classroom to wait for him like before just to get a good nap.
There was no point in waiting anyway.
His friend informed him that Shen Nianjing had taken three days off, which connected with the weekend.
Su Zhiyan let out a soft sigh and buried his head in his arms.
Today he wore a gray-blue sweater that was soft and warm. It felt comfortable to rest his head on it. He slowly closed his eyes, feeling the fatigue from his sleepless nights ease a bit.
Wen Bei saw him lying there. “Are you feeling sick? You didn’t eat breakfast either?”
He saw that Su Zhiyan’s milk and bread were sitting on the desk untouched, and the person was unusually lying there lazily sleeping.
“You’re not running a fever again, are you?” Wen Bei leaned closer to ask.
Su Zhiyan turned his face, looking sleepy with the red marks from his sweater still on his face. “No.”
But Wen Bei was startled. “Why do you look so awful? You looked fine this morning.”
Fine my ass… he was dying of exhaustion.
Su Zhiyan forced himself to sit up and shook his head. “Just a bit tired.”
Wen Bei paused, staring at him with wide eyes. “You…”
He said something shocking. “Did you and Shen Nianjing break up?”
Su Zhiyan: “?????”
Trust Wen Bei to say something like that. The moment those words came out, Su Zhiyan was instantly wide awake.
“Huh?” He frowned, clearly not understanding what Wen Bei meant.
“Aren’t you two dating? You’ve been in such bad shape lately, did you… have a fight?” Wen Bei’s tone was unusually careful, very considerate of his friend’s heartbreak.
Su Zhiyan was stunned.
“N-no,” he stammered.
Wen Bei raised one eyebrow with a very doubtful expression, not looking convinced at all.
“We’re not,” Su Zhiyan shook his head in denial, then realized what he said and shook his head again to deny it again. “I mean, not that we’re not anymore, but we were never dating in the first place. Who told you we were together?”
Su Zhiyan thought this was ridiculous. What the hell? It was one thing for other people to ask him this, at least they were people he wasn’t that familiar with who got confused after reading the forum, but why was Wen Bei asking about this?
He had even clearly told Wen Bei before that they were just friends.
Wen Bei still had that suspicious expression.
“Do I look like I’m gay?” Su Zhiyan said.
He looked at Wen Bei with a straight face.
Wen Bei: “…”
“Um,” he hesitated for once, “you don’t.”
Su Zhiyan pursed his lips. “Right.”
“You look like someone gay guys would be into.”
Su Zhiyan: “…”
This guy really talked too much.
The seats around them gradually filled up with classmates. There were people sitting in front and behind them, so Su Zhiyan and Wen Bei stopped talking and started listening to the lecture after signing in on the attendance system.
Su Zhiyan propped his head up with one hand, feeling troubled. His gaze fell on the dense text in his book, but the words seemed to crawl like ants. He couldn’t focus on them at all.
Wen Bei had always thought he and Shen Nianjing were… that kind of relationship?
What kind of relationship?
He couldn’t even say the word “couple”?
That didn’t make sense.
Su Zhiyan’s head felt fuzzy. He clicked his tongue and slapped his head hard, trying to clear his mind.
Same-sex couples were so common nowadays. Even if he hadn’t experienced it himself, he’d seen plenty of examples. But his interactions with Shen Nianjing were clearly completely normal, so why did outsiders think—
Su Zhiyan suddenly widened his eyes.
His behavior really did seem kind of off.
Finding out Shen Nianjing’s class schedule, specifically waiting for him after class, asking friends about where he worked part-time and making special trips there, even chasing after him about the competition… Su Zhiyan helplessly closed his eyes.
He could almost hear the sound of the sky falling.
During National Day, he spent all day in the library with Shen Nianjing, and they got caught up in rumors. Although rumors weren’t reliable, they didn’t come from nowhere, right?
Su Zhiyan’s mind was screaming frantically.
What the hell was all this about!
What about Shen Nianjing? Did he think the same way?
He slowly opened his eyes, his eyelashes trembling.
Shen Nianjing had shown some unusual behavior before, and he had noticed it.
At first Shen Nianjing kept staring at him, and he thought the guy was just bored and acting weird. Later when they got closer, Shen Nianjing often avoided eye contact…
No wonder Shen Nianjing had been hiding these past few days.
He must have scared him off!
Su Zhiyan’s brows relaxed as he finally sorted out his thoughts.
So not only the people around them, but even Shen Nianjing probably thought he was chasing him.
That’s why he suddenly felt uncomfortable during their interactions, and why he suddenly started avoiding him after promising they’d maintain their friendship.
After all, from Shen Nianjing’s perspective, Su Zhiyan was the one who didn’t stick to the “just friends” boundaries first.
What a mess… A worried look flashed across Su Zhiyan’s face.
This misunderstanding had to be cleared up, otherwise not only would it leave a wrong impression with Shen Nianjing, but it would also further affect their relationship.
When that happened, forget friendship, he wouldn’t even be able to guarantee his sleep!
Su Zhiyan pressed his lips together and looked anxiously out the window.
How should he explain this?
Right now, Shen Nianjing wasn’t replying to his messages at all, and he didn’t know where he lived, so he couldn’t find him anywhere.
Wait… Home? Su Zhiyan suddenly sat up straight.
His expression brightened.
Oh right, that guy Shen Nianjing was still tutoring Su Zhiyao.
So if he went home tomorrow afternoon, wouldn’t he run into him?
After finding a solution, Su Zhiyan let out a long breath and finally calmed down.
That evening, Su Zhiyan lay on his dorm bed looking at messages from Su Zhiyao.
[Little sister: Gege, Mom told me that Brother Shen said yesterday that something came up at home, so he won’t be tutoring me for now /crying]
[Little sister: Gege, do you know what happened at Brother Shen’s house? I really like his lessons /sobbing]
“!” He suddenly sat up in bed.
Su Zhiyan stared at those words and took a deep breath.
Great, he thought angrily, Shen Nianjing, you better never show up in front of me again!!!
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