Chang Qi sat in a lounge chair, turning to look at Li Yi. He was wearing casual clothes, a paper bag by his feet—probably holding his work uniform.
He turned off his phone screen and stood up, heading toward Li Yi.
“What are you—” Li Yi’s outstretched index finger hadn’t yet withdrawn. He sniffled and asked back, “Why didn’t you go to class?”
His voice was a bit rough, likely from the cold.
There were still a few scattered customers in the café, all sneaking a break on a workday. Two or three servers were cleaning tables and floors, washing cups. The sound of glass clinking was particularly clear in the bright, quiet morning sunlight.
It felt like that sound hit right at the center of Li Yi’s heart.
“I was waiting for you.” Chang Qi had already reached Li Yi and looked him square in the eyes without blinking, then extended his hand.
His figure and shadow cast a soft veil, blocking some of the dazzling sunlight. The only thing shining brightly was the emotion flickering and dancing in his eyes.
“What are you—what are you doing?” Li Yi’s cold-affected speech was a little slurred, and he leaned back, trying to step away, but his feet seemed rooted to the floor.
Why did this little puppy seem different from a few days ago?
It felt like he was baring his teeth.
Chang Qi glanced at him, pushed aside the divider between the staff area and customer seating, strode over to the coffee station, greeted a colleague, and grabbed a cup.
“A latte again?” he asked.
“Uh?” Li Yi was frozen in place, then after a moment replied, “Yeah, latte.”
Watching Chang Qi deftly start making the latte, Li Yi thought for a moment and added, “With sugar. As much as possible.”
Swept by the cold, his mouth was bland and tasteless; his taste buds desperately needed sweetness to wake up and come alive.
Chang Qi turned his back to him, a small smile tugging at his lips.
“Try this.” He brought over a cup and pushed it toward Li Yi.
It wasn’t coffee at all, but ginger tea.
Ginger tea with honey.
“Don’t drink coffee when you’re sick,” Chang Qi pulled out a chair and sat across from him, resting his elbow on the table and propping his cheek with his palm.
“Mm.” Li Yi stirred the tea casually with a spoon, the honey at the bottom swirling up in delicate threads, bringing a faint sweetness that warmed his heart.
“Aren’t you going to class?” Li Yi asked again.
Chang Qi looked at him and asked back, “Aren’t you going to work?”
Li Yi cleared his throat twice, his voice a little hoarse. “I took a sick day.”
“I took a sick day too,” Chang Qi mimicked his tone.
“You?” Li Yi cupped the warm cup, looking down at the reflection in the tea. “You look fine to me—how did you get sick?” He coughed a few more times.
“Well,” Chang Qi copied his phrasing again, “I look fine, but I still get sick.”
Li Yi’s lips twitched in a small smile.
Chang Qi glanced at the watch on his wrist and furrowed his strong brow. “I have to get back to class.”
Then, he reached out and tousled Li Yi’s hair messily, smiling brightly, “See you later.”
Li Yi’s long, narrow eyes widened, and he dropped the spoon back into the cup.
“Oh, right.” Chang Qi had already opened the door but stopped, thinking of something, and came back. “I already paid your bill, remember to reply to my message, okay?”
Then, like he was afraid someone would scold him, he grabbed his things and rushed into the subway station.
Only then did Li Yi realize the words Chang Qi said when he first walked into the café—
“Why didn’t you reply to my messages?”
Since when did they exchange contact info?
No, actually, since when did Chang Qi even have his contact info?
As far as he remembered, he never gave it to him.
But when he left the house, his brain had completely shut off—he only took his keys and forgot both his phone and his money.
Luckily, Chang Qi was at the café and had paid for him. If he hadn’t been there and he had foolishly ordered a latte and then found himself unable to pay, that would have been embarrassing beyond words.
Wait, now’s not the time to think about that…
After Chang Qi ruffled his hair, Li Yi’s mind was a complete mess, jumping from one thought to another.
Once he finished the hot ginger tea and got back home, he checked his phone—no new messages on WeChat or QQ.
He shook his head, thinking that little Chang Qi was definitely growing up, getting better at bluffing people.
When he sat back down at his desk to continue reviewing his authors’ manuscripts, the little QQ icon at the bottom right corner of his computer desktop started jumping impatiently.
His computer was logged in only to his work account, not any personal ones—for convenience communicating with authors and to avoid mix-ups.
A quick click revealed messages from Duck Neck.
Despairing Duck Neck: Why didn’t you come?
Despairing Duck Neck: ?
Several messages all sent while Li Yi was on his way to the café.
Li Yi glanced at them and suddenly snapped his laptop shut with a loud snap.
Damn…
He silently cursed. So that was the message?
But that was Duck Neck’s message, so how did Chang Qi know Duck Neck messaged him?
Wait—how did Duck Neck know he hadn’t come?
Li Yi stared at the screen for a long time. Duck Neck was a premium QQ member, so their messages came in a pink, girly bubble with little hearts floating out.
Li Yi looked at those little hearts floating out again and again, and after a while, a thought popped into his mind.
Chang Qi was Duck Neck. Duck Neck was Chang Qi.
He hurriedly flipped through the emails Duck Neck sent yesterday—the coffee shop story, Shen He in the barista apron, and Lu Ze, the bespectacled, somewhat stiff office worker. Wasn’t that just what he experienced every morning?
And that half-body photo Duck Neck sent yesterday and then retracted—wasn’t that just his work uniform?
Li Yi held his head in his hands, silently cursing himself for being so dumb.
After a while, he looked back at the sketches and felt a little unfair—why did Chang Qi draw himself so tall, handsome, and heroic, while Li Yi was just some bespectacled, stiff office worker?
Wait, why was he even putting himself and Chang Qi into this?
It wasn’t wrong to admit he had some feelings for Chang Qi, but why did he so naturally imagine himself as the “uke” (the more submissive role)???
Li Yi boiled some water and gulped it down. After calming down, he felt like Chang Qi had totally played him.
Editor·Gua Pi Pi: What should I reply?
Despairing Duck Neck: Anything is fine qwq
This reply pulled Li Yi back. The guy looked so sunny and energetic in real life, but why was he such a soft, delicate “girl” online? Could it be that he was one of those who liked dressing up as girls on the internet to attract guys?
But with Li Yi’s experience reading BL comics and novels, one phrase popped straight into his mind:
“Shoujo uke.”
Oh my god…
Li Yi shuddered at this hidden trait.
The whole day went by with Chang Qi—aka Duck Neck—not bothering him much, but Li Yi barely looked at any manuscripts. His mind was full of the fact that Chang Qi was Duck Neck, Duck Neck was Chang Qi; Chang Qi was sunny and energetic, Duck Neck was soft and delicate—it was like some kind of split personality.
Before going to sleep, a sudden thought struck him.
Chang Qi asked him, “Do you like me?”
Not just once, but multiple times.
Li Yi suddenly covered his face with the blanket.
Sleep, sleep. What are you thinking about?
The next day he returned to work as usual and stopped by the café, but Chang Qi wasn’t there. For more than a week straight, Chang Qi was gone. When he asked the staff, they only said he was off for school exams.
The current issue’s manuscript was sent on time to the comic platform, and the story of Shen He and Lu Ze’s meeting and getting to know each other was well-received, but the next issue’s script hadn’t arrived yet.
On Duck Neck’s author column on the platform was a note: “Preparing for finals, taking a break, will be back after exams qwq~”
The story was stuck just before they confessed their love.
The weather grew colder, and without realizing it, another New Year had passed.
In January of the new year, snow began to fall over the provincial city from the pale gray sky. On a Friday after work, Li Yi suddenly had a craving for cake, and on a whim turned into the café.
The warm aroma greeted him as the winter wind stayed outside the door.
There weren’t many customers inside. Li Yi took off his scarf and walked to the familiar counter, bending slightly and seriously inspecting one cake after another.
The shop had put out many new products, all kinds of fancy and colorful ones, but the Black Forest cake—he didn’t know if it had been taken off the shelves or sold out, but in any case, it wasn’t there.
“The Black Forest cake is sold out,” a familiar voice said.
Li Yi looked up and met a pair of eyes, smiling generously, full of warm sunlight.
After a moment, Li Yi asked, “You finished your exams?”
Chang Qi looked in a good mood, with his eyes and eyebrows both saying, “Yeah, I finished.”
“Oh.” Li Yi nodded. “How’d they go?”
“The results aren’t out yet.” Chang Qi shrugged.
The conversation was a little awkward.
“Want to order something else?” Chang Qi went on. “The Black Forest is sold out, but we have new stuff, like this mango one—maybe give it a try?”
“No thanks,” Li Yi thought for a moment. “Not this one.”
He had never liked sweets much; dark chocolate with a bit of bitterness was about the only thing he could tolerate.
He looked carefully again—there was no dark chocolate anywhere, only the really sugary, sweet-looking kinds.
“Then I won’t have anything,” Li Yi straightened up, adjusted his scarf, and was about to leave the café when Chang Qi stopped him with a soft voice.
“Then do you want me?”
The voice was so quiet, only the two of them could hear.
“I still have one last piece of Black Forest cake here.”
“Do you want it?”
By the time Li Yi ate the cake, he was already at home—in his living room.
“Give me the spoon,” Li Yi said, his face a little flushed.
“No,” Chang Qi held the small spoon, scooped a piece, and gently brought it to Li Yi’s lips, coaxing like a child, “Ah, open your mouth.”
Li Yi had no choice. He opened his mouth and took a bite.
One small piece of cake, you take a bite, I take a bite—they ate it slowly, sweetly, like honey mixed with oil, for almost half an hour.
Chang Qi threw the plastic spoon and paper box into the trash can. When Li Yi was distracted and zoning out a bit, Chang Qi secretly leaned in and kissed the corner of his mouth.
He even had an excuse ready for the stolen kiss—said there was chocolate at the corner of his lips.
But Li Yi suddenly turned his head for some reason. What was supposed to be a quick peck at the corner of the mouth suddenly changed—his lips met his perfectly.
What followed quickly got out of hand.
The long kiss gradually became sticky and tangled, tumbling from the small sofa in the living room all the way into the bedroom.
When he was pressed down into the soft bedding and buttons were being undone, Li Yi suddenly pushed Chang Qi away and sat up.
This was way too fast. They just got together, and it was already about to reach home base.
Though his body’s reaction had already betrayed him, even looking a bit eager.
Looking at Chang Qi, his eyes were red like a child’s, and he looked a little hurt, his voice whiny, “Just give me one more kiss…”
Li Yi hadn’t even finished wiping his mouth.
Didn’t you just kiss me???
Wait, isn’t that shoujo uke side of his showing a little too much?
Chang Qi reached out and pulled Li Yi, pushing him back onto the bed. “Just one more kiss…”
Li Yi wasn’t strong enough to resist. His wrist was pinned down, unable to move. His knee slid between his legs, gently rubbing, teasing, like scratching an itch through a sock.
Chang Qi’s little move stirred Li Yi’s reaction immediately, and so, with mutual consent and half pushes and half pulls, they finally reached home base.
That night, Li Yi finally fully experienced Chang Qi’s hidden shoujo uke side and other traits.
“You just, you just gimme one more fuck…”
He said it three times in a row.
“Does it hurt? Sorry, wawa, I’ll be gentler…”
Then he moved more forcefully.
“Ahhhh wawa don’t cry QAQ, sob sob…”
Then he started crying himself.
Li Yi had to bear the ache while comforting this seemingly changed Chang Qi, grit his teeth, and wiped the tears of this person with the hidden shoujo uke side.
What kind of person had he gotten himself into?
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