TF01 69

Neither of them had any real experience being with a man.

Shi Yi didn’t, and neither did Ying Ming.

They both had a decent number of past relationships, but few they had truly invested in. More importantly, none of those experiences could be used as reference points. From the moment they woke up that morning, they had talked all the way into the afternoon. After dinner, they were completely at a loss for what to do next.

Ying Ming wasn’t a talkative person. Once he had done everything there was to do, he simply watched as Shi Yi sat on the couch flipping through channels with a bored look. The atmosphere in the warehouse had started to feel a little awkward.

They used to spend almost every day together, always hanging around each other, and even then it never felt like enough. Now that they were actually living together, it somehow felt like the distance between them was too small.

Ying Ming walked over, sat on the couch, and glanced at Shi Yi.

“If you don’t want to watch anything, stop torturing the TV. If it breaks, you’re paying for it.”

Shi Yi turned his head and raised an eyebrow. “Fine. If it breaks, I’ll replace it with a bigger one.”

“This one’s not enough for you?”

“Almost. Just not exciting enough.”

Ying Ming laughed. “Nothing wrong with the TV. You’re just not stimulated by the content.”

Shi Yi had been flipping through channels nonstop, only pausing slightly longer on sports. The rest of the time he was holding the button down like he meant to scroll right through to the end of the dial.

He finally tossed the remote aside and slumped back into the sofa, clearly bored.

“No idea what to do…”

“What do you usually do on weekends?”

“Eat. Sleep. Sometimes business dinners. Or I’d hit you up.”

Shi Yi frowned a little. He had never really thought about it before, but now that he did, it hit him how dull his routine had actually been. Ying Ming lit a cigarette, took two drags, and asked, “Do you even remember what we usually did when you asked me out?”

Shi Yi frowned harder. “Dinner…?”

Thinking about it now, he really couldn’t recall anything specific. Most of their meetups had some purpose, but when he tried to search his memory for details, there wasn’t a single standout moment. All that remained was the vague impression of Ying Ming being nearby.

It was strange.

Shi Yi scowled slightly. “Am I starting to get dementia?”

Ying Ming couldn’t hold back a smirk. “Yeah, that’s possible.”

He took two more drags from his cigarette, then stood up and grabbed his coat from the rack, tossing it onto the sofa.

“All right, Grandpa Dementia, get up. You’re coming to the supermarket with me.”

Because of his status, Ying Ming usually avoided crowded hours when running errands. He preferred to go during less busy times, like mealtimes or late at night. Actors lived on irregular schedules, and that was something Shi Yi would come to understand sooner or later.

As Shi Yi pulled on his coat, he glanced over and saw Ying Ming crouched on the floor playing with Smoke Ring. He casually stuffed the lighter and cigarette pack into his pocket, then looked up again to find Ying Ming already by the door.

“What are you getting?”

“No idea. Just wandering.” He had lived alone for so long that it had always been a solo operation. One person, one stomach, no fuss. It had taken him the whole day to fully accept the reality of now living with Shi Yi. With two people instead of one, there were things he would have to stock up on.

And realistically, there was no point expecting Shi Yi to think about any of that.

They both liked trench coats. The streetlamp outside was still dim and fuzzy. After locking the door, Ying Ming instinctively walked on Shi Yi’s right side and couldn’t help but shrink back slightly.
“Damn, it really is getting colder.”

Home was definitely warmer. The wind slipping down his collar out here wasn’t doing him any favors.

Shi Yi reached out and tucked his collar up for him.

“You didn’t dress warm enough.” Under the coat, he was only wearing a thin sweater. With Ying Ming’s build, it looked a little too light. Then again, Shi Yi wasn’t bundled up either. He had long since gotten used to this kind of weather. Layering too much just felt awkward.

Ying Ming didn’t answer. He still had the cigarette between his lips and was taking the occasional drag. At the mouth of the alley, he paused and stubbed it out.

Passing through this stretch again with Shi Yi still left a sour feeling.

That bastard Zhao Zicong. He really had gone too easy on him back then.

He took a deep breath. The night wind slipped into his chest. Ying Ming frowned but said nothing, his pace picking up slightly as if he wanted to hurry through this stretch of road. Shi Yi glanced at him and could easily guess what was on his mind, but he stayed quiet.

He knew that his eye injury was something Ying Ming would probably carry with him for the rest of his life.

Ever since it happened, Ying Ming had always walked on his right side. His right eye had almost no peripheral vision, and unless Ying Ming leaned close or he turned his head, he couldn’t see him clearly.

Getting used to seeing this way had taken some serious adjustment.

But like he had said before, even after paying such a high price, he still didn’t regret that it had been him who got hurt instead of Ying Ming.

He turned slightly, looking at Ying Ming’s profile under the streetlamp. There was no expression on that face, but Shi Yi smiled faintly, with a quiet sense of satisfaction.

That smile didn’t go unnoticed.

Ying Ming glanced sideways at him, wordlessly asking what that was about. Shi Yi only shook his head without saying anything. Ying Ming didn’t press further. The supermarket wasn’t far from home. They walked down the sidewalk for a while and soon arrived.

Sure enough, there weren’t many people inside. Shi Yi was a little surprised.

“Doesn’t look like it from outside, but it’s actually pretty big in here.”

He didn’t usually shop in places like this. Corner stores for things like lighters or drinks were fine, but proper supermarkets? That was different. He didn’t buy clothes here, and household items were always handled by the part-time worker who picked them up and asked him to settle the bill later. Back in school, someone had always taken care of the day-to-day details. Shi Yi had lived on his own for a while, but when it came to actual domestic life, his skillset was mostly limited to figuring out how to kill time.

Ying Ming motioned for him to pull over a shopping cart, then walked a few steps ahead and started going down the aisle.

“You come here often?”

“Depends. At least once every week or two.”

Two men like them wandering slowly through a supermarket still stood out. From the moment they walked in, a few people had already been staring. Luckily, Ying Ming didn’t care at all, and Shi Yi hadn’t noticed. They moved down the aisles at a leisurely pace. Shi Yi looked around.

“I never really paid attention to what supermarkets were like.” The shelves were taller than he expected, and oddly intimidating.

Ying Ming had originally meant to tease him, something like “Young Master probably hasn’t stepped into a supermarket more than a handful of times.” But when he glanced up and saw how genuinely interested Shi Yi looked, he swallowed the words back down.

Forget it. No point killing the kid’s enthusiasm. If he ended up never wanting to come again because of one sarcastic remark, that would just be annoying.

Shi Yi really did pick out quite a few things along the way. When he first moved in with Ying Ming, he hadn’t brought anything at all. He’d figured there was nothing worth carrying over. But once he was inside the supermarket, he started to feel like he was missing a lot of personal items. So he went through the aisles grabbing whatever seemed useful. By the end of two rows, the cart was already half full.

Ying Ming didn’t say anything. The vibe of this place didn’t suit Shi Yi at all, so watching him push the cart and shop like this was almost absurd. Some of the other shoppers they passed also turned to look at Shi Yi more than once, especially the women. Their eyes held open appreciation.

From a looks standpoint, Shi Yi was definitely the type people noticed.

His features were sharp, with a strong masculine presence. His name suited him well. Even without knowing anything about his background, it wasn’t hard to guess he had been raised in a very traditional, tightly controlled environment. His eyes were always steady, and his brows carried a kind of stubbornness that never wavered.

Back when Ying Ming had still been struggling with whether or not he and Shi Yi had a future together, he had asked himself what exactly it was he liked about the man. From the face to the personality, he had never come to a clear answer. If he had to name one thing, it was probably the force of presence.

There was something about Shi Yi’s energy that pulled people in.

Most of the second-generation elites he had come across, whether they came from wealth or power, were honestly just stupid. It might have sounded harsh, but it was the truth. This circle wasn’t a normal one to begin with. To put it bluntly, it was chaos, a circus. The more someone leaned on their background, the less reliable they tended to be. They handed everything off to their little circle of bootlickers and sycophants. When it came to anything serious, they would never get things done cleanly or decisively. People like that only knew how to live off others. Whether it was their father or their mother, it didn’t matter. They walked around under someone else’s name, carried someone else’s banner, and once the crowd outside started calling them “Young Master This” or “Young Lord That,” they completely lost their grip on reality.

Those loudest and flashiest types were usually the ones everyone secretly looked down on the most. To their faces, it was all glamor and praise. Behind their backs, they were the jokes passed around over dinner. The only ones who didn’t realize it were the people themselves, still floating in their own fantasy of luxury and indulgence.

Shi Yi was different from those people because he had always stayed clearheaded.

He didn’t exactly keep a low profile, but he wasn’t flashy either. He never went out of his way to avoid things, but he never courted drama. That quiet sense of balance gave him a distinct personal presence. No matter how noisy others were, no matter what was going on around him, he always seemed to know exactly what he wanted. He wasn’t immune to praise or criticism, but he carried himself with a kind of weight.

And that boyish side of him, hidden beneath the calm surface, never really interfered with the front he put up for the world.

Ying Ming’s scattered thoughts gradually landed on Shi Yi’s profile. He was holding some drink, studying it like it was serious business. Ying Ming leaned forward with a flash of mischief in his eyes.

“Whatever Little Brother Shi wants, just grab it. Big Brother’s got you covered.”

The sudden interruption caught Shi Yi off guard for a second. Then the way Ying Ming called him “Little Brother Shi” made his skin crawl. He frowned and shot him a glare.

“Did you miss your evening meds, or did you take the wrong ones at lunch?”

Ying Ming had a terrible habit of provoking him, and one day it was definitely going to end with the two of them going at it hard, totally out of control. Shi Yi’s reaction was exactly what Ying Ming had hoped for. He even looked a little pleased as he gave a small nod and smiled slowly. It was the kind of smile that hovered dangerously close to indulgence, and with both hands stuffed in his pockets, he followed behind Shi Yi at a lazy pace.

Maybe the look in his eyes had gotten too soft, because someone passing by couldn’t help turning back for a second glance.

Shi Yi paused and waited for the surrounding people to move along. Once it had cleared out a little, he grabbed Ying Ming and pulled him forward.

“What, you feeling the urge to hit the restroom again?”

Ying Ming grinned wickedly and raised an eyebrow.

It might have been a little twisted, but he liked watching Shi Yi get riled up. The tension in him was tight and reactive, and something about it kept drawing him in. Just like Smoke Ring at home. It always looked like a deadpan little thing, but while it sat there putting on airs, its tail would be dragging all over the floor. Step on it once, and you’d hit the mark every time.