TBS Chapter 17

Xie Ge never imagined that the person who showed up would actually be someone he knew—and not just an ordinary acquaintance.

He and the newcomer locked eyes and spoke in unison: “Why are you here?”

Xie Ge was puzzled. Liang Dong was just as confused. In both of their eyes, the other was someone who absolutely shouldn’t be appearing at Xu Miao’s home.

“This should be my question to you,” they said almost simultaneously.

Taking advantage of Xu Miao’s inattention, Xie Ge secretly rolled his eyes at Liang Dong, then very deliberately leaned in close to Xu Miao and hooked his arm around Xu Miao’s, pretending to be casual as he asked, “How do you even know Xu Miao? He’s never mentioned you to me.”

To Liang Dong, the question held no malice. He was certain he’d known Xu Miao far longer than Xie Ge had. He’d been to this place more times than he could count, and out of all those visits, this was the first time he’d ever seen Xie Ge here.

Liang Dong moved about naturally as if he were in his own home. He set the groceries he was carrying on the low cabinet by the door, opened it to take out his own slippers and changed into them. Only then did he answer Xie Ge:“Miao Miao’s always like this. He never introduces people on his own.”

Liang Dong picked up the bag again and headed inside. He only paused briefly as he passed the dining table.

“I never said I wasn’t coming today. Eating takeout again?”

Xu Miao responded naturally, “Slept too heavily. Forgot.”

Xie Ge glanced at Liang Dong, then back at Xu Miao. The longer he looked, the stranger he felt. He leaned his body sideways to bump Xu Miao and asked, “Why does he call you Miao Miao? I haven’t even called you that. Does he come here every day?”

“Mm, pretty much,” Xu Miao said, his legs sore from standing, so he leaned against Xie Ge for support. “His current rental is far from his company. Mine’s closer. We used to live together, so we’re used to it. He comes at noon to use the kitchen, and I just eat with him a bit.”

The amount of information in those sentences was huge.

Wait—Liang Dong cooks now? Didn’t he once swear to him that he’d never set foot in a kitchen in this lifetime? And now, not only had he entered the kitchen, but he’d entered his boyfriend’s kitchen.

Xie Ge picked the part he found most unacceptable to question: “How long did you two live together?”

“Six or seven years?” Xu Miao thought for a moment, then corrected himself: “Last year I had a sudden situation here, so we stopped living together.”

His already unsteady breathing grew even messier. The arm around Xu Miao’s waist unconsciously tightened.

Six or seven years… Xie Ge’s vision went black. He almost wanted to close his eyes and faint into Xu Miao’s arms.

“How could you live with him that long? What exactly is your relationship?”

Xu Miao turned his head toward him, seeing nothing unusual. “Roommates. We started living together in college.”

The corner of Xie Ge’s mouth twitched twice, his tone turning sour.

“Then why were you still living together after graduation?”

“Rent’s expensive. Back then I really needed someone to split it with, or I’d have been sleeping on the street.”

After answering Xie Ge’s questions, Xu Miao had one of his own. He asked directly, “So… you and Liang Dong know each other?”

“He’s my brother. But that’s not the point.” Xie Ge brushed off Xu Miao’s question quickly. It wasn’t that he didn’t care, but that he needed emotional rescue more than Xu Miao needed answers. “He’s not the old roommate you told me about, right? You said that was a girl.”

“That’s because I was a girl back then too,” Xu Miao said.

That single line nearly choked Xie Ge half to death. During the brief silence that followed, Liang Dong slipped in a perfectly timed line:
“Miao Miao, ask him if he can eat spicy food.”

Almost instinctively, Xie Ge snapped back,
“Quit pretending! Don’t you already know if I can eat spicy food? Wow, you really want to act like you’re the man of the house, huh?”

Liang Dong’s hand paused ever so slightly as he was serving the food. Since his back was turned, no one saw the smile on his face.

“That’s not what I meant. You’re misunderstanding.”

Xie Ge’s expression stiffened. After a moment of silence, he said, “You know you’re really fake, right?”

Without looking back, Liang Dong replied evenly, “All I know is you’re still as rude as ever.”

Oh, rude, huh? Xie Ge thought. So what if I’m rude? Haven’t we always been rude to each other? This isn’t the first time.

The tense, sword-drawn atmosphere existed only in Xie Ge’s imagination. Liang Dong didn’t particularly care about Xie Ge’s presence. His shared past with Xu Miao wouldn’t vanish just because someone else appeared—whether that person was Xie Ge, Zhang San, or Li Si.

What he meant was this: Xu Miao was destined to attract many people to linger around him. Whether Liang Dong knew them or not, it wouldn’t affect his bond with Xu Miao.

People who came into Xu Miao’s life would eventually leave for all sorts of reasons. But he wouldn’t. He was a close and loyal friend of Xu Miao’s.

Xie Ge’s anger was deliberately redirected by Liang Dong into nothing more than a childish tantrum. Even Xu Miao seemed to think so. Out of nowhere, he spoke with a hint of teasing in his tone: “You really are pretty rude.”

“Utterly slanderous! False accusations! Nonsense!” Xie Ge blurted out a jumble of phrases, trying to defend himself. But then he remembered the things he’d done not long ago and realized he didn’t exactly have the moral high ground. Sheepishly, he added, “I’m just sharp-tongued but soft-hearted. The things I say don’t represent my real feelings.”

The page that had been metaphorically turned was flipped back again. Xu Miao couldn’t help recalling the past. He reached into his pocket and pulled out that little slip of paper Xie Ge had once given him—the one with the phone number of a psychologist who supposedly treated homosexuality.

The slip of paper, which Xu Miao had never unfolded, was now opened in front of both parties. Xie Ge immediately reached for it, but when Xu Miao told him not to move, he obediently stopped.

On the paper was a string of numbers both of them knew well. Xie Ge turned his face away to avoid it, but Xu Miao pinched his chin and turned it back. “I didn’t know Liang Dong was moonlighting as a psychologist.”

“There’s a lot you don’t know… Wait, no!” Xie Ge’s eyes went wide. He stared at Xu Miao like he was about to start an interrogation.
“Why do you have Liang Dong’s number memorized? How many times have you actually called him?”

That question was a little tricky to answer. To keep Xie Ge from spiraling further, Xu Miao decided to soften the truth. “I just glanced at it a couple times and remembered. Memorizing numbers isn’t hard.”

“Really?” Xie Ge’s voice pitched higher, full of disbelief.

Xu Miao nodded sincerely. “Really.”

“Then let me ask you—what’s my phone number? You’ve got ten seconds to say it.”