Ye Qingyang was still caught up in his deep “master-disciple” bond with Zhang Ye when suddenly Lu Jingcheng’s voice came from behind, “What are you two doing? Let go.”
Zhang Ye hurriedly released his grip and smiled apologetically at Lu Jingcheng.
But Lu Jingcheng was not swayed by his flattery. He coldly snorted and pulled Ye Qingyang aside.
“In broad daylight, in front of everyone, what exactly are you doing?”
“I wasn’t doing anything,” Ye Qingyang replied innocently.
“Not doing anything, yet you’re standing there holding hands and looking all tearful. Shouldn’t you at least loosen your belt a bit?”
Ye Qingyang internally: …And here you are showing off your literature skills again!
Lu Jingcheng frowned. “You should minimize your contact with Zhang Ye.”
Ye Qingyang smoothed things over, “I’m just tutoring him. That’s all.”
Lu Jingcheng snorted. “Just tutoring, huh? And you still want what kind of relationship with him?”
Ye Qingyang sighed helplessly, “I don’t want anything. No relationship at all.”
“That’s more like it,” Lu Jingcheng reluctantly accepted.
Ye Qingyang looked at him, thinking that if he mentioned Zhang Ye wanting to join their evening study session, Lu Jingcheng would definitely explode, so he wisely kept quiet.
Even so, that evening when he went to Zhang Ye’s house for tutoring, Lu Jingcheng’s expression was sour.
Ye Qingyang muttered to himself, “I’m just going to teach, not cheating.”
Lu Jingcheng internally: !!!
“You’re thinking about cheating,” he thought.
“Of course not,” Ye Qingyang replied. “Besides, work doesn’t count as cheating.”
“Work doesn’t, but who knows if you’d cheat with a work partner?”
Ye Qingyang chuckled lightly, “What are you thinking? I don’t like Zhang Ye that way.”
Lu Jingcheng nodded—obviously, you like me instead.
Relieved at that thought, his mood lightened slightly.
“Go ahead,” Lu Jingcheng said.
Ye Qingyang got into the car and went to Zhang Ye’s place.
With the monthly exams approaching, Zhang Ye adopted the “last-minute cram” approach and studied diligently. His basics were weak, so there were many questions he couldn’t answer. Two hours in, he still had half a test left.
“Extra session?” Zhang Ye looked at the remaining blank section, “Otherwise, I won’t sleep peacefully tonight.”
Seeing his diligence, Ye Qingyang didn’t want to dampen his enthusiasm. “Alright, I’ll tell Lu Jingcheng.”
Zhang Ye was speechless. “You still have to tell him? He’s my senior, not my master. Why do you need to report to your own student?”
“That’s different,” Ye Qingyang said. “He’s the favored one, so he naturally gets special reporting privileges.”
Zhang Ye clicked his tongue. “You really spoil him. Our treatment is so unequal for the same master.”
“Who told you we’re close?” Ye Qingyang shrugged, unapologetically double-standard.
Zhang Ye: …What can I even say? Fine, the favored senior is amazing!
Ye Qingyang stepped out and called Lu Jingcheng. “I might be another hour before I finish here. Just study in the dorm for now. I’ll check your papers when I return.”
Lu Jingcheng: ???
“Weren’t you supposed to teach only two hours?”
“Zhang Ye still has half a test left. With exams coming, he’s motivated. I can’t just leave him,” Ye Qingyang explained.
“Then how did you promise me before?”
“This is a special situation. Only this once, won’t happen again,” Ye Qingyang reassured.
Lu Jingcheng: …
He was fuming silently, feeling that Ye Qingyang was paying far too much attention to Zhang Ye.
Before Zhang Ye appeared, Ye Qingyang’s focus had been solely on him: his grades, his company. Now, with Zhang Ye in the middle, Ye Qingyang split his evenings, even staying out late for Zhang Ye, leaving Lu Jingcheng alone.
He felt… like a consort waiting for the emperor’s notice, growing increasingly unsettled.
This tutoring could not continue—he had to make Ye Qingyang quit, or soon he’d need to book appointments to see him.
Later, when Ye Qingyang returned with some roasted chestnuts to coax him, he offered them, “Hot, I got them for you.”
“Don’t use that to placate me,” Lu Jingcheng said, peeling one and tasting it. “I need to talk.”
“Go ahead,” Ye Qingyang obediently sat, ready to listen.
Lu Jingcheng fed him a chestnut and said, “After this monthly exam, tell Zhang Ye you won’t tutor him anymore. If he wants, I can find someone—graduates from Qinghua or Beida.”
Ye Qingyang hesitated with chestnuts in his mouth. Zhang Ye had been diligent and enjoyed the work, so he didn’t want to quit just yet.
“I actually like this job.”
Lu Jingcheng: !!!
“Say what? You like it?! Ye Qingyang, tell me honestly—do you like the job or the person you’re tutoring? What’s your relationship with Zhang Ye?! Suddenly extending hours, staying out late for him, and now saying you like it?!”
Lu Jingcheng slammed the chestnuts onto the table. “Weren’t you head over heels for me? How can you juggle two at once?!”
Ye Qingyang: ????
“I like you?”
“Otherwise?” Lu Jingcheng demanded. “You said everything you did was to get my attention. You call me your consort every day, and now you play this double game?!”
Ye Qingyang: !!!
He wanted to cry. “I wasn’t trying to get your attention romantically, just as a friend! Just a friend! And the consort thing was just playful teasing for Bai Le’s sake, not serious!”
…
Lu Jingcheng’s angry interrogation paused.
Ye Qingyang nervously smiled. “I did say I wanted to get your attention, but I was clear—it was to make friends, not as a boyfriend.”
Lu Jingcheng: !!!
“You just want to be friends?!”
Ye Qingyang nodded pitifully. “Yes, friends, just friends.”
“You don’t like me?” Lu Jingcheng was shocked.
Ye Qingyang: …Of course not, dear.
He slowed his voice, gentle. “I do like you, Lu Ge, the most of anyone I’ve met, but this liking is purely platonic, like comrades, friends in arms.”
Lu Jingcheng: …
He stared in astonishment, speechless. It dawned on him—Bai Le and others had assumed Ye Qingyang liked him, but he had never explicitly said so.
His heart sank, realizing he had been the only one misreading the situation. He looked away, avoiding Ye Qingyang’s gaze.
Seeing him like this, Ye Qingyang felt a chaotic mix of guilt and tenderness. He nudged the chestnuts toward Lu Jingcheng. “Eat some chestnuts.”
Lu Jingcheng muttered “Hmm,” took two, but didn’t eat, lowering his head over the test.
After a while, he picked up his pen. “You go on, I still have work to finish.”
Ye Qingyang observed his silent profile, murmuring, “I really like you. You’re the one I like most now, that’s why I treat you as my best friend.”
Lu Jingcheng: “Hmm,” silent.
Ye Qingyang anxiously asked, “Can we still be friends?”
“Hmm,” Lu Jingcheng nodded.
But he kept his head down, unable to meet Ye Qingyang’s eyes.
He wasn’t the type to fake emotions—everything was honest. He couldn’t immediately accept that Ye Qingyang’s feelings were just friendship, so he avoided looking at him.
Ye Qingyang quietly returned to his desk, glancing at him from time to time, only seeing the slight curve of his back, expression hidden.
He thought, could it be that Lu Jingcheng actually liked him? Otherwise, why would he share a bed, help with everything, even play along with the consort games?
So…
Ye Qingyang’s heart raced as he realized, Lu Jingcheng must like him, just never said it.
To Lu Jingcheng, they weren’t friends—they were lovers.
Ye Qingyang covered his face, wishing he could turn back time and not say he wanted to get Lu Jingcheng’s attention.
He lay on the bed, heart in turmoil.
That night, Lu Jingcheng unusually didn’t share the bed. Ye Qingyang watched him silently climb onto his own bed, wanting to ask if he wasn’t coming to sleep, but thought better of it.
Friends don’t have to share a bed. Since Ye Qingyang only considered him a friend, Lu Jingcheng wouldn’t sleep with him.
He turned restlessly, the dorm unusually tense. Normally, they’d lie together at this hour, chatting beyond academics. Now, Lu Jingcheng was silent, and he didn’t know what to say.
He stared into the dark room, hoping tomorrow morning, the silence between them would ease.
Hugging this thought, he fell asleep. In his dream, a vast sea stretched before him. Across it stood Lu Jingcheng, back turned. Ye Qingyang shouted his name, but Lu Jingcheng didn’t hear, never turning around.
The waves crashed, jolting him awake.
Morning had come. Ye Qingyang looked toward Lu Jingcheng’s bed—empty.
He sat up sharply. “Lu Ge?”
No response.
He got up and saw breakfast on the desk, the buns he had mentioned yesterday from the dorm cafeteria.
Next to the buns was a note. Ye Qingyang picked it up, reading:
I went to school to memorize vocabulary. Didn’t wait for you. Left first.
A pang of heartache hit him—Lu Jingcheng was avoiding him.