Meng Xin never made it to the library.
Instead, he sat on a campus bench, hugging his backpack and contemplating life.
He stayed in the same position for a long time, letting the cool night breeze wash over him.
The wind was chilly, but he didn’t feel cold at all. His mind kept replaying Bian Ting’s words—”I like you.” Every time it echoed in his head, the temperature around him seemed to rise a few degrees.
After who knows how long, Meng Xin finally moved a finger.
Then, he sent his mom a message.
Despite looking calm, the text held a hint of quiet panic:
[Mom, I think I might be gay.]
His mom, Xu Ruoying, replied almost instantly:
[0.04, that one?]
Meng Xin had hoped that the “0.04” referred to the probability of him being gay. But unfortunately, he knew all too well what his mom was talking about. 0.04% was their nickname for Bian Ting.
Meng Xin: […Possibly.]
Meng Xin: [Maybe]
Xu Ruoying: [Oh, no wonder you’ve been video calling him every day at home.]
Meng Xin: [.]
Meng Xin: [Is video calling not normal?]
Xu Ruoying: [Video calling is normal. Video calling every day is not normal.]
Meng Xin: […………]
Meng Xin: [Mom, why didn’t you say something earlier?]
Now that he had already turned gay, wasn’t it a bit too late?
Xu Ruoying: [You were hiding under the covers while doing it every night. I didn’t want to embarrass you by pointing it out.]
Meng Xin: […Okay.]
Meng Xin: [Mom, aren’t you going to say something else?]
Meng Xin had never been in this situation before—he had no idea what kind of storm awaited him.
Xu Ruoying seemed to actually think about it for a moment before replying.
Xu Ruoying: [Don’t forget the elders’ advice.]
Meng Xin had to think for a while before remembering what she was referring to.
His face turned red as he quickly typed back: [It hasn’t gotten to that point!!!]
Xu Ruoying: [Even if it does, just be careful.]
Xu Ruoying: [Did you tell him what I asked you to tell him last time?]
Meng Xin: [I already told you, bros don’t talk about that stuff…]
His skin was too thin to keep going down this road. Quickly, he changed the subject: [Mom, do you have anything else to say?]
Xu Ruoying: [Be safe.]
Meng Xin: [Besides that.]
Xu Ruoying: [Then no.]
Meng Xin couldn’t believe it: [Mom, am I not the only child in this family? I just told you I might be gay, and you’re not even going to say a few words about it?]
Xu Ruoying: [Son, you’re not still dreaming about waking up and realizing you’re the sole heir to some massive conglomerate, are you?]
Xu Ruoying: [Relax. You’re an only child simply because we were too lazy to have another kid. There’s no throne to inherit. You can do whatever you want.]
Meng Xin: […Got it.]
Her words were blunt, but after talking to Xu Ruoying, Meng Xin felt like his path forward had become much clearer.
Being gay… didn’t seem like such a big deal after all.
As Fan Da said, the world wouldn’t stop spinning just because there was one less straight guy.
Whether he was straight or not didn’t seem to make much of a difference.
At that moment, Meng Xin’s phone vibrated.
A new message popped up.
Bian Ting: [Still not back?]
Meng Xin’s hand shook so hard that he almost dropped his phone.
He quickly replied: [Coming back now.]
Stuffing his phone into his pocket, he stood up and headed toward their dormitory.
The walk back to the dorm felt unusually nerve-wracking.
—Why was Bian Ting urging him to return? Was it because he had confessed and was now waiting for a clear response? If so, what should he say? Accept or reject? Did he really have to deal with such a complicated question just after realizing he was gay?
—Did he even like Bian Ting? If Bian Ting asked him that, how was he supposed to answer?
—Did becoming gay automatically mean he had to start dating a guy? Wasn’t that too fast?
…
Meng Xin overthought every possible scenario, afraid that Bian Ting would spring a question on him that he wasn’t prepared to answer.
But when he got back to the dorm, he realized—
—He had worried for nothing.
Because Bian Ting didn’t ask anything at all.
Huang Wenjie and Gao Yinghang were already in the dorm. Seeing Meng Xin walk in with his backpack, Huang Wenjie asked in surprise, “Are you hot? Your face is so red.”
Gao Yinghang glanced outside. “Is it hot today?”
“Seems fine to me. I don’t feel anything,” Huang Wenjie said.
Meng Xin responded, “I ran back.”
Huang Wenjie looked doubtful. “You’re not even out of breath, just blushing?”
“…”
“My face is always red.”
Meng Xin pushed Huang Wenjie’s face aside and subtly glanced in Bian Ting’s direction.
Bian Ting seemed to notice his gaze and casually greeted him. “You’re back.”
Meng Xin: “…Yeah.”
And that was it.
Bian Ting just went back to what he was doing.
Meng Xin: “…?”
That’s it?
Feeling unsatisfied, Meng Xin made up excuses to walk past Bian Ting—pretending to grab something, pretending to go to the bathroom—looping behind him five or six times.
But Bian Ting didn’t ask anything. He didn’t push for an answer.
Why isn’t he asking?
Meng Xin couldn’t hold back anymore. On his seventh pass, he reached out and poked Bian Ting. “Why did you tell me to come back?”
Bian Ting’s reason was completely straightforward: “If you didn’t come back soon, the dorm curfew would’ve started.”
“…That’s it?”
“Yeah.” Bian Ting paused, then asked, “What else would there be?”
“…Nothing.”
Meng Xin gritted his teeth. “Absolutely nothing.”
On his eighth pass, he cursed at Bian Ting behind his back.
Damn gay guy!
Meng Xin figured it was because Huang Wenjie and Gao Yinghang were in the dorm. Even if Bian Ting wanted to ask, he probably couldn’t.
So he made a plan—he turned off his phone’s silent mode, set it to ring, and kept his WeChat screen open, waiting for a message to pop up.
Bian Ting was smart. If he really wanted to ask, there were a thousand ways to do it—like sending a text.
However, Meng Xin waited and waited.
Even after lights-out, he still didn’t receive a single message from Bian Ting.
Meng Xin couldn’t believe it. He lifted his bed curtain and glared at Bian Ting from across the room.
—He was already on the verge of becoming gay, yet the main culprit had no reaction at all!
Hah. Fine, friendship over!
At 3 AM, Meng Xin suddenly sat up in bed, eyes wide open.
He grabbed his phone and fired off a message to Bian Ting.
Meng Xin: [Bian Ting, I’m cutting ties with you!!!!!!]
The moment he sent it, regret hit him hard. He immediately retracted the message.
Just as he withdrew it, a new message from Bian Ting popped up.
Bian Ting: [Still straight?]
Then, Bian Ting also retracted his message.
Now, the chat window contained nothing but two system notifications saying their messages had been withdrawn.
The night was deep, and the only two faint glows in the dorm came from their phone screens, illuminating the WeChat conversation.
Meng Xin’s screen showed “Bian Ting is typing…”
Bian Ting’s screen showed “Meng Xin is typing…”
They both typed for a long time.
Neither of them sent anything.
After a while, Meng Xin finally broke the silence.
Meng Xin: [Did you see that?]
Bian Ting (instant reply): [I saw it.]
Meng Xin: [I was just joking.]
Feeling awkward, Meng Xin added: [You’re still awake? Hahaha.]
Bian Ting: [I was serious.]
Then, Bian Ting directly re-sent the question he had just retracted.
Bian Ting: [Still straight?]
Meng Xin suddenly felt a bit nervous and avoided giving a direct answer.
Instead, he asked: [What if I am? What if I’m not?]
Bian Ting: [If you are, I’ll keep liking you in secret.]
Meng Xin: [And if I’m not, you won’t like me anymore?]
He suddenly recalled that Bian Ting had once said, “I like straight guys.”
—Wait. Could it be that Bian Ting had some kind of weird preference? If he wasn’t straight anymore, would Bian Ting lose interest?
Bian Ting: [Then I won’t have to be so subtle anymore. Right?]
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