The aroma of food wafted through the night market and Ye Yao blew on the octopus ball in his hand and took a bite.
"Eat slowly, don't burn yourself." An arm was around his shoulder and another skewer was passed to Ye Yao's mouth, "Try this."
The man holding the skewer was tall, with impeccably handsome features that could be spotted at a glance, even if thrown into a crowd.
This prominent appearance made people around him stare at him both intentionally or unintentionally, but he didn't give a single glance to the people around him, just looked intently at Ye Yao who was wrapped around him, with the intention that he wouldn't stop until Ye Yao ate his food.
Ye Yao opened his mouth and took a bite: "It's okay."
"Yeah right." Lu Xun took the skewer back and bit down on the spot where Ye Yao had bitten into it, not missing a beat.
Ye Yao's eyes dropped to the octopus ball Lu Xun had taken from his hand, and when it was returned, the topmost ball that he had bitten had disappeared.
The food grabber hummed happily and continued to wander around with his arm firmly around Ye Yao as if his hand wasn't on Ye Yao's body.
*
Lu Xun was not very approachable to outsiders and wasknown as a difficult man to get close to. For Ye Yao, however, this distance was zero.
They could eat the same bowl of noodles, wear each other's clothes, sleep in the same bed, and do whatever he wanted with Lu Xun.
Because they were the best of friends.
Ye Yao knew in his heart that Lu Xun would never be able to distance himself from him as long as he didn't step on Lu Xun's biggest minefield.
And the biggest minefield of all...
"What a coincidence, you guys are playing here too."
A voice came from behind his and Ye Yao stopped and looked back to see a clean, boyish face.
Ye Yao thought about it and remembered that this was a classmate of Lu Xun's after he had gone to university, so he could be considered a good friend of Lu Xun.
The clean-shaven boy said what a coincidence, but the expression on his face was one of surprise with traces of camouflage, looking less like a chance encounter and more like he had been waiting here on purpose for a long time.
"Something wrong?" Lu Xun asked.
The boy didn't say anything right away, his eyes went to Lu Xun's hand tightly wrapped around Ye Yao's shoulder, and then to Ye Yao with a flash of hostility in his eyes.
But this hostility was quickly covered as he smiled coyly at Ye Yao: "Could you excuse me for a moment? I have something I want to say to Brother Lu alone."
Ye Yao nodded and took Lu Xun's hand off his shoulder before gesturing to the mini-mall not far away and saying to Lu Xun, "I'll go over there and wait-"
Before he could finish his sentence, Ye Yao's hand was gripped as he pointed towards the mini-mall.
Lu Xun held Ye Yao's hand, the cheerful expression on his face that he had when he was facing Ye Yao had all but disappeared. His face was expressionless as he looked at the clean-cut boy, a sense of distance instantly coming through from his deep brows.
"If you have something to say, just say it, if not I'll leave first." Lu Xun said directly.
Ye Yao had a vague suspicion as to the purpose of the boys' visit and tried to pull his hand out of Lu Xun's, only to have it gripped tighter.
Seeing that the two would not be separated, the clean-cut boy gritted his teeth and opened his mouth anyway.
He was almost a head shorter than Lu Xun, and when he raised his eyes to look at Lu Xun from the bottom up, he took on an innocent and pitiful look.
"Brother Lu... I've liked you for a long time, can you give me a chance?"
The clean-cut boy looked at Lu Xun's dark brow and felt nervous from the bottom of his heart.
It wasn't that he didn't want to confess when Lu Xun was alone, but he had known Lu Xun for so long that, apart from class time, Lu Xun was either with Ye Yao or on his way to Ye Yao's side.
Lu Xun would not stop to listen to anyone as he'd make his way to Ye Yao's side.
Lu Xun's voice was unmistakable: "I thought everyone around me knew I didn't like men."
"Well ......" the clean-cut boy bit his lip and glanced at Ye Yao .
Of course he knew Lu Xun was homophobic, but he was so repulsed by homosexuality and yet he clung to Ye Yao so closely every day, protecting him like a bead on his eye?
He did have some suspicions about Lu Xun's sexuality because of the relationship between Lu Xun and Ye Yao. And if he didn't get down to it, those two would have to make a pair on their own.
The boy fought again: "I won't interfere with you getting along, Brother Lu, can you give me a week to try?"
Lu Xun didn't bother to speak, he looked down and pulled out his phone, his eyes cold.
Sensing that something was wrong, the boy immediately took a step back and said with a smile, "I can't force you if you don't want to, I will retreat to my original position and be your friend."
Ye Yao was standing next to Lu Xun and could easily see what Lu Xun was doing by glancing to the side.
Lu Xun was unceremoniously pulling all kinds of contact details of the person in front of him to blacklist them, and after he had done so, he raised his eyes to the clean-cut boy, his thin lips curving in a disgusted curve.
"I don't accept someone of the same sex who likes me."
*
It was still summer, but Ye Yao's hands were getting cold.
As they walked back to school, Ye Yao's hand was held.
"What's wrong, why are your hands so cold." Lu Xun asked, "Sick?"
"No, it's just that my body temperature hasn't adjusted with the cold drink." Ye Yao adjusted his voice without moving, while trying to pull his hand out, "Don't hold it."
So much for struggling, but instead the grip tightened.
"What's wrong with me holding your hand, can't I?" Lu Xun smiled, but did not let up on the strength of his hand.
Ye Yao was silent for a long time and then sighed softly, "If you keep hugging me like this, people who don't know will misunderstand that you like boys. Even if you try to clarify, they will only think that you are hiding your sexuality, so there will always be boys confessing their love to you."
At the end of the sentence, Ye Yao was greeted with a familiar hug.
The tall youth embraced him from behind, pouring his breath onto the skin of his ear with abandon, turning that small patch of skin into a searing heat.
Ye Yao heard Lu Xun's laughing voice, "What do you care what other people think, I can't even hug you just so they don't get the wrong idea?"
*
When he returned to the dormitory, Lu Xun was still holding Ye Yao's hand.
The other two roommates in the dorm took one look and burst into laughter.
"Oh Brother Lu, on your honeymoon with Ye Yao again?"
"Other couples are better off with a small farewell than a new marriage, but you two are good, you don't need a small farewell to be newly married every day."
Lu Xun, a homophobe, didn't get angry at all when he heard that he and Ye Yao were being joked about, instead he smiled and put the snack he was carrying on the table: "Jealous of our love? Here's your wedding candy, eat it."
After a couple of bites, Xiao Pang turned to Lu Xun Ye Yao and gave him an eight-tooth smile and a thumbs up: " Brother Lu, Ye Yao, good luck for a hundred years!"
Wen Ke, who was burying his head in the food next to him, reacted by turning around and giving a thumbs up: "Have a baby soon!"
Ye Yao : "....."
Seriously.
Lu Xun frowned and put his arm around Ye Yao's waist: "Don't listen to them."
Ye Yao was stunned and was about to say something when Lu Xun smiled again, returning to his jokey self.
Lu Xun touched Ye Yao's belly and smiled: "We are still in love without having children."
"......" Ye Yao couldn't stand it anymore and slapped Lu Xun away, "Go away!"
*
After a shower and being covered in moisture, Ye Yao lied down on the bed.
In the dormitory Xiao Pang and Wen Ke were playing a game on the lower bunks, while Ye Yao buries his face under the covers of his upper bunk bed and slowly relaxes his body.
On the way back, not only were his hands cold, but his heart was cold too.
His heart went cold when he saw Lu Xun not hesitating to block out people he called friends and say outright that he would not accept a person who was attracted to him romantically.
He felt cold because he ...also liked Lu Xun .
Without even noticing it himself, this friendship had quietly changed. By the time he realised it, it had become a blazing fire that could not be extinguished, let alone returned to friendship.
Lu Xun was a straight man who didn't have to be suspicious in the slightest, able to accept all kinds of joking flirtatious words between the two of them, but completely unable to accept serious affection from the same sex. Once Lu Xun found out what's on his mind ...their relationship would be over.
Xiao Pang and Wen Ke had gone to bed, but there were still occasional low voice commands coming from their direction, and they were obviously still playing the game with their headphones on.
Ye Yao was lying with his eyes closed in distraction when there was a sudden rustling in his ears and when he opened his eyes, he saw the curtain of his bed being lifted open and a tall figure had climbed into his bed from below.
Ye Yao could have guessed who was climbing into his bed in the middle of the night, even if he was blind and guessed with his feet.
Lu Xun expertly lifted Ye Yao's blanket and got inside.
The single bed in the dormitory was not wide enough to begin with, and two people who were both very tall squeeze in like this, leaving little room to move around.
Ye Yao tried to carve out a space for himself to move around, but Lu Xun held him tightly in his arms.
Lu Xun adjusted his position, found an excellent angle and stopped contentedly.
Ye Yao held back, feeling unable to hold back any longer, and pushed Lu Xun away a little.
"Fuck, it's summer and you don't mind the heat." Ye Yao whispered a curse.
"Yo, our good student has burst out." Lu Xun laughed lightly and lowered his voice too, "What's hot, isn't the air conditioning on? I'm an air conditioner in human form too."
Seeing that Lu Xun was about to come up to him again, Ye Yao quickly reached out and put his hand against Lu Xun to keep him away and tried to intimidate him, "If you sleep like that, I might fall for you one day and touch your face at night."
As Lu Xun calmed down, Ye Yao wondered if this threat has gone too far and stepped on Lu Xun's homophobic minefield, then he heared Lu Xun open up again.
Lu Xun's tone rose slightly, and instead of being annoyed, his voice sounded pleasant: "Is there really such a good thing?"
Ye Yao's hand was grabbed and was immediately brought up to Lu Xun's face.
Ye Yao :"......"
Iron straight men are truly lawless.
Ye Yao couldn't stand it any longer, so he withdrew his hand and turned over to the wall, leaving his back to Lu Xun. This way, even if something happened, Lu Xun would not be the first to notice it, giving him time to cover up.
Lu Xun laughed a little and once again hugged from behind.
Ye Yao could clearly feel the pounding of Lu Xun's heart, one after another, disturbing him.
Ye Yao adjusted his breathing and closed his eyes.
He had to keep his feelings completely hidden, and no matter how much he liked Lu Xun, all he could show was friendship.
He hoped his acting was good enough not to show any cracks, otherwise ...... he would just have to pull away from Lu Xun.
He hoped there would never be a day like that.