LMMY chapter 79

Sheng Min leaned against him and slept for another half hour. Li Xuan’s shoulder grew a little numb from the weight but was filled with joy.

How could holding someone in his arms make his heart feel so full and content? Even the most complex programs he’d ever written could not produce such an outcome. So when Sheng Min stirred slightly under the blanket, seemingly about to wake, Li Xuan felt a hint of regret.

“What time is it?” This time, Sheng Min seemed more awake, his gaze no longer as hazy as before.

“Around eight,” Li Xuan replied, reluctant to let go. He tentatively asked, “Want to sleep a bit more?”

Sheng Min gave a questioning hum. “Weren’t we going to eat?”

“We don’t have to. It’s up to you.” Li Xuan pinched Sheng Min’s fingertips, paused, then lowered his voice. “Do you remember waking up just now? I thought you’d forgotten.”

His tone held a mix of regret and pride, with a barely concealed upward lilt. Sheng Min thought for a moment, memories returning, but he avoided Li Xuan’s gaze and answered evenly, “… I don’t remember.”

Li Xuan didn’t expose his act, but the smile on his lips was impossible to suppress. Sheng Min lightly pushed him. “You’re holding me too tightly. I can’t breathe.”

“I’ll loosen up,” Li Xuan said, though his arms remained firmly wrapped around him. Sheng Min stopped resisting and let him hold on.

He soon heard Li Xuan call his name again.

How many times had it been today? Sheng Min thought with slight helplessness but responded indulgently, with a hint of joy in his voice, “I know.”

Li Xuan chuckled, his laughter resonating softly in his chest. “What do you know?”

Sheng Min quickly leaned up to peck his lips, his brows lively and bright. “I know everything.”

After lingering a while longer, they finally got up. Stepping out of the lounge, Li Xuan suddenly remembered he’d left his laptop in the conference room in his rush earlier.

“I’ll go grab it, and then we can head out for dinner. What do you want tonight? Seafood, maybe? There’s a private kitchen nearby that’s pretty good.”

“Alright.” Sheng Min nodded. “Has everyone else left?”

“Probably. I told them to go home after the meeting… The lights are all off outside. Wait here while I check.” As Li Xuan spoke, he pulled out his phone to make a reservation but noticed two missed calls from Qi Boyuan.

Frowning slightly, he called back while opening the door, only to hear a phone ringing from the next room.

Li Xuan hung up immediately, shut the door, and in the next second, his own phone began to ring. A knock followed.

“Li Xuan?” Qi Boyuan called from outside. “You’re still here?”

Li Xuan frowned and glanced at Sheng Min. The latter gestured toward the lounge. “Do you want me to step aside?”

“No,” Li Xuan said after some thought.

“Then open the door.” Sheng Min smiled faintly. “It’s fine.”

Li Xuan gave him another look before unlocking the door. Qi Boyuan, who had been ready to leave after receiving no response, turned back at the sound of the lock and started to speak.

“Li Xuan, I’ve been trying to tell you—”

His words halted abruptly when he caught sight of Sheng Min. Stunned, he stood there speechless. Sheng Min was the first to break the silence, smiling politely. “Hello, we meet again.”

It took Qi Boyuan a while to recover, his response awkward and stammering. “H-hello.” Panicking, he even handed Sheng Min a business card. After fumbling around, his eyes darted back to Li Xuan like saucers.

“What were you saying?” Li Xuan asked, coughing slightly. For a brief moment, he hesitated between admitting the truth and brushing it off.

Qi Boyuan’s next sentence made the choice for him: “So it really was you in that video?”

“And for the record, I didn’t come back to catch you in the act.”

Sheng Min excused himself to the pantry for some water, leaving the two alone in the office. Qi Boyuan hurriedly clarified once the door closed.

“Watch your words. Catch who in the act?” Li Xuan shot back, irritation laced in his tone. “Why do I keep running into you? Weren’t you supposed to be having dinner with Zhou Jia after the meeting?”

“I was,” Qi Boyuan protested, genuinely aggrieved. “But halfway there, Jia Jia sent me a video, asking if it was you… Here, this one.”

“Stop scrolling. I’ve seen it. What did you say?”

“What could I say?” Qi Boyuan sighed. “I told her it looked like you—the clothes matched, and the timing fit—but in my mind, there was no way you’d act out like this, so I said I didn’t know. Then she hit me with, ‘I’ve got something to do at school, so I’m not waiting for dinner.’”

Li Xuan raised an eyebrow. “So I ruined your date?”

“Can we not be so petty?” Qi Boyuan groaned. “I was just explaining why I came back to the office.”

Li Xuan remained unimpressed, waving his phone. “And the calls? Were they just about the video?”

“Why are you interrogating me like a suspect?” Qi Boyuan clicked his tongue. “I was calling about work. Check your email if you don’t believe me. When you didn’t answer, I thought you’d left. I even came to your office half an hour ago and didn’t see you.”

As he spoke, Qi Boyuan’s gaze flicked toward the lounge room door, his expression freezing slightly.

“What are you imagining now?” Li Xuan asked, uncharacteristically flustered as he tossed a pen at him.

“What could I possibly be imagining?” Qi Boyuan retorted. “It’s not what I think, right?”

Li Xuan didn’t respond, and Qi Boyuan concluded, “So it’s exactly as I thought.”

“Are you homophobic?” Li Xuan finally spoke.

That was as good as an admission. Qi Boyuan stared at him for a long moment and then replied more cautiously this time, “Not at all, but I didn’t know you were gay.”

Li Xuan shrugged. “I didn’t know before either.”

He said it casually, but his expression relaxed, with a hint of rare lighthearted joy. It was an unusual look for him—Qi Boyuan couldn’t even recall him being this exuberant when their project launched, and the gloom Li Xuan had been carrying these past few days seemed completely swept away.

“I actually suspected it.” After a moment, Qi Boyuan spoke hesitantly. “There are only a handful of people around you, and I’ve met most of them. Every time someone mentioned Sheng Min, you’d react like your tail had been stepped on… I suspected it several times, but I kept dismissing the thought. It’s not even just about gender—you two seem like you’re from completely different worlds, like there’s no way you could fit together…”

Li Xuan remained indifferent to the long-winded explanation until the last part. He immediately raised his head. “What doesn’t fit?”

“Well…”

That stumped Qi Boyuan. Reflecting on the two times he’d seen them together, and now armed with the new understanding of their relationship, he couldn’t actually pinpoint anything that felt out of place. He had to admit that his own preconceived notions had misled him. “Fine, stop glaring at me. You’re dating him, and I’m just an outsider—it’s not my place to comment. I’ve got no problem with it, and I won’t spread it around.”

Li Xuan hummed in acknowledgment and added, “What opinion could you possibly have? Even if you did, I’d fire you.”

“Then you’d be at a loss—I’d still have your money, and my work wouldn’t be done.” Seeing Li Xuan’s rare smugness, Qi Boyuan couldn’t help but ask curiously, “How did you two meet?”

“I picked him up off the street,” Li Xuan said with a soft chuckle.

……

In the restaurant with Sheng Min….

Sheng Min and Li Xuan were the last customers at the restaurant. After finishing their meal and descending the staircase, the sound of the staff’s “Please come again” followed them, the glass door closed, and the lights inside dimmed.

The restaurant was located in an old wooden building by the riverside. Though the exterior had been renovated as part of the city’s modernization efforts, the small, high windows remained unchanged. Streetlights couldn’t reach inside, leaving only faint moonlight tracing the wood grain.

The last step of the staircase led directly to the riverside road, a rare cool spot in N City’s summer. At night, elderly people and children often came to enjoy the breeze, but now the crowds had dispersed, leaving only two or three stray cats gracefully leaping over the white marble railing.

Li Xuan looked into Sheng Min’s bright eyes. After a moment, he reached out to gently touch his soft bangs. “I’m so lucky. I can’t believe such a big blessing fell into my lap.”

His tone was so sincere that Sheng Min didn’t know how to respond. He cleared his throat to cover his awkwardness. “You’re talking nonsense.”

Turning away to walk ahead, Li Xuan quickly caught up and lightly grabbed his hand.

Five meters ahead, they could already see the parking lot sign.

“Let’s take another walk,” Li Xuan stopped and quietly suggested.

So they strolled along the riverside road a few more times, even buying two portions of brown sugar jelly cake from a vendor about to pack up. Using the night as their shield, they held hands openly, like any ordinary couple.

When they passed under streetlights or encountered pedestrians, they would quietly let go, their hands brushing against each other’s skin. At the next intersection, they’d instinctively clasp their fingers together again, even as a thin layer of sweat dampened their palms.

By the time they parked under Sheng Min’s building, the car radio’s mechanical voice was announcing midnight.

Li Xuan couldn’t help but think of that night by the bridge in the ancient town.

Who was Cinderella didn’t matter. After midnight, tomorrow and every tomorrow after that, the pumpkin carriage would never turn back into a pumpkin.

“I’m going up now,” Sheng Min said.

Li Xuan’s gaze lingered on him, unwilling to look away. “Rest early.”

Sheng Min responded with a soft “mm.” The two exchanged a glance and couldn’t help but smile again. Li Xuan quickly unbuckled his seatbelt and leaned over to kiss him.

“I’m really leaving now,” Sheng Min whispered after they parted.

“Go on,” Li Xuan murmured, resting his forehead against Sheng Min’s collarbone. “I can’t exactly use ‘thirsty and need tea’ as an excuse to follow you upstairs.”

Sheng Min touched the shell of his ear and softly said, “If you want to come up, you don’t need an excuse.”

Li Xuan froze and suddenly looked up, but Sheng Min had already averted his gaze.

“Don’t tempt me,” Li Xuan said, wrapping his arms around Sheng Min’s waist again with a faintly suppressed complaint. “Don’t you have to film tomorrow after finishing your program?”

“I meant that your bed hasn’t been dismantled yet,” Sheng Min slowly explained.

Li Xuan tilted his head and playfully bit Sheng Min’s lip, too reluctant to hurt him, so he merely brushed over it with his tongue.

They lingered for a long time before Li Xuan, concerned about Sheng Min’s rest, finally let him go.

“Drive slowly, and text me when you get home,” Sheng Min reminded him.

“Okay.” Li Xuan nodded and got out of the car to walk him to the building. “Go ahead. I’ll watch you go up.”

Sheng Min agreed, but after walking a few steps, he unconsciously stopped and turned back to look at Li Xuan.

The night breeze was gentle, carrying a faint scent of jasmine, like invisible threads binding them together.

Li Xuan sighed, both sweetly and helplessly, and went up to embrace him again. “Go sleep. If you keep this up, I really won’t leave.”

“Then… see you next week.”

Li Xuan touched Sheng Min’s face gently and whispered, “Goodnight.”