TF01 57

For the first time in his life, Shi Yi had kissed a man.

It wasn’t until the kiss ended and they pulled apart that he fully realized the person he had nearly lost control with was his good buddy, Ying Ming.

Compared to him, the other man at least looked composed.

Apart from his unsteady breathing, which betrayed the same restless desire he struggled to suppress, Ying Ming’s expression wasn’t nearly as awful as Shi Yi’s.

After a while, he finally pushed himself up from the ground, brushing off the mess on his clothes. With a teasing smile, he said, “See? This is what happens when you go too far with the fun.”

There was no trace of awkwardness between his brows, only a hint of something deeper.

Shi Yi frowned but said nothing. He got up as well and checked the time. “It’s late. I’ll take you home.”

Their car was still parked back at the bar, which meant they had to walk all the way back.

Ying Ming reached into his pockets for a cigarette but hadn’t brought any. After searching twice and coming up empty, he grew slightly irritated. Running a hand through his hair, he muttered, “Alright, let’s go.”

The world had felt deafeningly loud when they ran out. As they walked back, it was as if everything had fallen silent, like they were the only two people left.

The stark contrast was straight out of a TV drama, one of those so-called reversals. One moment, they were in paradise. The next, they had crashed straight into hell, no transition whatsoever.

Although calling their situation hell didn’t seem entirely appropriate.

Ying Ming walked ahead with his hands stuffed in his pockets. He had worn a coat earlier, but he had tossed it aside when they were dancing in the bar and hadn’t thought to grab it when they left. Now, the night wind was biting at him, but at least it cleared his head.

After a while, he turned back to glance at Shi Yi. “Don’t overthink it. Got a little too excited and lost your mind for a second, that’s all. Even at the Oscars, people kiss all the time. It’s not a big deal.”

He arched a brow and shot Shi Yi a relaxed hand gesture, as if telling him to lighten up.

Shi Yi, trailing behind, simply watched him without responding.

Inside, he was sneering.

From the moment he met Ying Ming, this guy had always been good at bullshitting. And even now, after everything that had happened, he was still at it.

Too excited?

Bullshit. Did he think Shi Yi was a fucking idiot?

Shi Yi’s life had always been planned out in advance.

School, career, family, future development. Before other kids even understood what those things meant, he had already been exposed to them. It wasn’t that anyone had drilled these ideas into him. Just by observing the world around him, they had quietly taken root in his mind.

By the time he realized that these expectations would eventually shape his life, he had already begun to resist.

He hated being associated with his family name. He hated the way teachers would subtly bring up his father. He hated parent-teacher conferences. More than anything, he hated the fake, ingratiating smiles other parents put on when they saw him.

When you start questioning every compliment you receive, it’s only natural to start questioning your own worth as well.

That was why he insisted on forging his own path after graduation. Even knowing it would cause dissatisfaction among his family and worry his parents, he refused to compromise or back down.

As for his future family, he had his own plans.

His parents weren’t the type to demand he marry someone from an equally prestigious background, but they still had to meet the person first and approve before things could be settled. In other words, even if they didn’t expect wealth and status, they still wanted someone on the same level.

His father had put it bluntly: “At the very least, you need to have a common language. If your worlds are too far apart, your life together won’t last.”

It made sense. Shi Yi agreed with that himself.

Choosing a life partner wasn’t something you did by grabbing a random person off the street. If you were going to spend decades together, you had to pick wisely.

But no matter how firm he was in his own beliefs, bringing a man home was out of the question.

He didn’t even need to consider the possibility. The mere thought of it was so ridiculous, it was almost terrifying.

Subconsciously adjusting his glasses, Shi Yi still wasn’t entirely used to having something perched on his face. It felt a little uncomfortable. He took them off, rubbed his brow, and when he lifted his head again, the sudden shift in vision made him sway slightly.

Ying Ming turned around abruptly and caught him just in time.

“Better if you don’t take off your glasses so often.” He only let go after Shi Yi put them back on. “Most people with nearsightedness just have trouble seeing without them, but for you, this kind of visual distortion could lead to accidents.”

He had asked a doctor before. In the future, Shi Yi might develop stereo blindness, where everything that should be three-dimensional would appear as flat, two-dimensional images. His depth perception would continue to deteriorate, and eventually, his other eye’s vision would also be affected.

Shi Yi frowned. “If I had known, I should have just injured both eyes back then. At least it would have been balanced.”

The offhanded self-deprecation hit Ying Ming like a needle. His brows furrowed for a moment before he slowly eased them. Instead of responding, he patted Shi Yi’s shoulder in disapproval. He didn’t pull away afterward, and the two of them walked side by side in silence.

The entire way back, neither of them spoke.

By the time they reached the bar, the place was still as lively as ever. It seemed their absence hadn’t made a difference to anyone inside.

Then again, that was how most things were.

What seemed huge to you was often nothing to others. It was only when you took it to heart that it became impossible to let go.

Shi Yi offered to take Ying Ming home, but he refused without hesitation. “We don’t even live in the same direction. By the time you drop me off and head back, it’ll be way too late. I’ll just call a car.”

He stood by the roadside, watching as Shi Yi got into the car.

But just as the engine started, Shi Yi stepped back out again. Seeing Ying Ming’s surprised expression, he grabbed the coat from the back seat and handed it over. “You should put this on.”

The guy was already too thin, and standing there in the night wind made him look even more out of place.

Ying Ming took the coat, furrowing his brows slightly before giving Shi Yi a teasing look. “Hey, are you mixing up our ages again? I’m not your little brother. You don’t need to keep up this gentlemanly act like you’re taking care of a woman.”

The words had a bit of a sting to them.

But he did it on purpose.

At a time like this, a few well-placed jabs were better than letting things spiral into something neither of them could make sense of. He saw Shi Yi’s expression freeze for a moment, but the man said nothing, simply turned back to the car and drove off.

The taillights left behind two lingering streaks in the night, carrying a faint sense of farewell.

Ying Ming held the coat but didn’t put it on. Leaning against a nearby lamppost, he rocked slightly on his heels, lost in thought.

For some reason, a memory surfaced.

That film he did with Wang Yiqi had been shot too early.

If they were filming now, he might have understood the protagonist’s emotions much more clearly.

That feeling…

That feeling he had struggled to grasp back then, the slow build-up of desire stuffing his chest, only to be washed away bit by bit under the weight of reality, leaving behind nothing but numbness. A hint of sorrow, but more than that, a quiet resignation.

After that night, neither Shi Yi nor Ying Ming reached out to the other.

One kiss had pulled them back to where they started, like the first time they met. Or maybe, deep down, they both wanted to go back. A relationship built on mutual admiration but not too close. Meeting up occasionally, but never thinking too much about each other when they were apart.

Shi Yi had been pouring most of his energy into work. After everything that had happened, many of the original plans had either been put on hold or pushed back. Most of the company affairs had been left to Ou Yang, but now that he was taking over again, it was only natural that things would not be easy.

One particular issue with a patent application had caused some trouble. At first, he had not paid much attention to it, but when the deadline approached, it got stuck, delaying the entire project. Because of this, Shi Yi had to make several trips to the relevant departments. The lawyer handling the matter had been following him around, and it took nearly three days to finally resolve it.

Although Wang Le was staying at his place, he was barely home, always heading out early and returning late. Shi Yi had no idea what he was busy with and did not have the time or interest to ask. Reissuing documents was not something he could help with anyway. It was up to Wang Le to figure things out himself.

He had temporarily assigned an assistant to run errands for Wang Le, only calling when something required his say.

After a full week of being tied up with work, he finally had some time to sit down for a meal with Wang Le. Just when the agreed time was approaching, Wang Le called to change the location.

“You really have to personally pick the restaurant? Did we not already book a table?”

Shi Yi muttered in frustration as he reversed the car. His patience had been wearing thin lately. Even Ou Yang had asked if something was wrong, but he had not been able to give an answer.

That night’s events were not something he was deliberately trying to forget, but he had not dwelled on them either.

Or maybe, just like Ying Ming had said, it really was just an accident. Nothing that needed to be dealt with. Neither of them was ever going to become gay. This was not even a multiple-choice question. It was just a plain statement with no room for consideration.

On the other end, Wang Le apologized twice before explaining that the place they had originally booked felt a little too small, so he figured it would not be suitable.

“Small?” Shi Yi frowned. “Are you planning to eat lying down?”

They had booked a private room, and it was still too small? It had not even been that long since they last met, but Wang Le’s standards seemed to have grown.

But there was no need to waste time thinking too much about it. Shi Yi adjusted his route according to Wang Le’s instructions. Fortunately, the two locations were not far apart, so it was not much trouble.

When he arrived, he told the hostess at the entrance that he had a reservation under Mr. Wang. The staff smiled and led him upstairs to the second floor.

A VIP room.

What the hell was this about?

Pushing the door open with suspicion, Shi Yi’s frown deepened the moment he saw who was inside.

Now he understood why Wang Le had said the previous place was too small.

Kou Jing, Ying Ming, Wang Yiqi, Wang Le, and even that guy he had only seen once at Ying Ming’s place were all scattered around the room, occupying nearly every corner.

Wang Le stood up when he walked in. “Shi Yi, you’re here.”

“Yeah.”

He nodded, looking at the people gathered in front of him, and could not help but laugh.

What the hell was all this?