Chapter 21 - "Hinting."
“You took your time.” Fu Cheng leaned on the table and tilted his head.
Shen Yi put the water glass by Fu Cheng’s hand, “It’s too stuffy inside your room, I needed to take a breather.”
Fu Cheng sat up, took a sip of water from the water glass, and looked at Shen Yi suspiciously, he felt that he seemed a little different from when he went out, “Did you go out to stand in the breeze?”
Shen Yi sat on one side, with one leg on the stool and the other on the ground, tilting the stool back and forth, “Why would you ask that?”
Fu Cheng pointed to his ears, and said, “Your ears are red from the cold.”
“Really?” Shen Yi touched his warm earlobe, it was not cold, but hot.
He said: “It’s a bit cold outside, I need to add more layers tomorrow.”
“Well, I need to wear more too.” Fu Cheng nodded in agreement.
“Fu Cheng…” Shen Yi seemed to have to say something.
Fu Cheng gave him a suspicious “hmm”, Shen Yi smiled again and said, “It’s nothing.”
Shen Yi thought the relationship between him and Fu Yuhe can probably be summed up in two words at present, called – Underground Lover. They were sneaking behind Fu Cheng’s back to engage in shenanigans secretly. The name might not be accurate, but it seemed exciting enough.
The winter weather is cold, and the boys’ enthusiasm for playing basketball has receded a lot, Shen Yi’s entertainment activities have also decreased, but he is used to doing fun things by himself, so he never feels bored.
In December, on Christmas Eve, the sales of apples in the school’s small supermarket were very high. There are also various small packaging cartons for packing apples and gift cards related to Christmas, which were also very popular among students.
Shen Yi and Fu Cheng went out for a meal at noon that day, and when they came back, there were several apple boxes in their drawer, with cards attached to them.
“Wow!” Fu Cheng let out a false exclamation from the side.
Shen Yi stuffed an apple into his hand, “Do eat, I bought it.”
Fu Cheng: “Is this a bribe?” Shen Yi smiled and said: “Yes, so keep your mouth tight.”
Fu Cheng took a bite of the apple.
Shen Yi’s popularity is a matter of course for Fu Cheng. He had an outstanding appearance, and he was also pretty friendly outside of playing basketball.
“You have been bribed to keep it secret for me.” Shen Yi said.
Fu Cheng: “Don’t worry, I’ll keep my mouth shut.”
Shen Yi: “You don’t have to wait for me this afternoon.”
“Ok.” Fu Cheng paused after eating an apple, “Aren’t you going back?”
“No, I want to go somewhere.” Shen Yi said casually.
Fu Cheng asked curiously, “Where are you going? A date?”
Shen Yi said with a smile in his voice, “Yes. Do you want to go with me?”
…
The keyboard sound of “da da da” in the Internet cafe kept ringing, accompanied by the angry reprimand of one or two people, and in a somewhat noisy environment, Shen Yi asked for a private room and sat side by side with Fu Cheng. Fu Cheng held his schoolbag and looked around.
“Don’t be nervous.” Shen Yi handed Fu Cheng a lollipop, “We are both adults.”
Fu Cheng hugged his schoolbag tightly, as if someone would come out to rob him of it, and said, “I’m not nervous.”
Shen Yi himself also took apart a lollipop wrapper, the pink stick was put in his mouth, he was wearing a black baseball jacket, with a baseball hat on his head to keep out the wind, and he didn’t take it off when he entered the Internet cafe.
He nestled lazily on the seat, typing on his mobile phone.
[Shen Yi: Brother, when do you get off work?]
[Fu Yuhe: I’m the boss.]
So Shen Yi changed the context.
[Shen Yi: Hurry up and get off work, bro, I want to eat the mango pastry you brought on Monday.]
Shen Yi turned off the phone screen, and said to Fu Cheng, who was still feeling a little uneasy, “You can go back first.”
Fu Cheng said nervously: “I’m really not nervous!”
Shen Yi: “…Um .”
He smiled with the corners of his lips pursed, always feeling like a bad guy who was leasing the good children down the wrong path.
Fu Cheng turned on the computer at the side and watched TV, Shen Yi didn’t ask him anymore, just tapped on the keyboard for a while with a lollipop in his mouth, and looked at the screen with his chin resting on his palm.
After a while, Fu Cheng came over and asked him what he was doing.
Shen Yi said: “Finding something interesting.”
“What is it?” Fu Cheng was full of curiosity.
Shen Yi said softly: “It’s interesting for me, but not for you.”
Fu Cheng didn’t hear clearly: “What?”
Shen Yi: “It’s nothing, go and play your own game.”
Fu Cheng thought it was a game, and looked at his screen twice, only to see a large list of unidentifiable URLs, so he turned his head and continued to watch his own TV. Fu Cheng went to answer the phone, and when he came back, he said that his brother had come to pick them up. Shen Yi glanced at his mobile phone, and Fu Yuhe messaged him back ten minutes ago, saying that he was in a hurry. He thought that Fu Yuhe would get off work later today.
Shen Yi found almost everything he was looking for. He closed the website, opened the mini-game, and played for half an hour. After half an hour, Fu Cheng received a call from his brother and left the Internet cafe with Shen Yi.
After they left, a few gangsters with yellow hair and exposed ankles also followed them out.
“Do you think they are following us?” Fu Cheng tried his best to make himself walk naturally and did not turn his head to look at the people behind him, so as not to meet their eye, lest he was mistaken for provoking the other party.
Shen Yi didn’t have his worries at all, he turned his eyes around, and he was sure who Fu Cheng was talking about – they were easy to recognize, and they didn’t look like good people at first glance.
They had followed them all the way from the school gate.
“They’re following us.” Shen Yi said.
As soon as he finished speaking, the young people who met Shen Yi’s eyes behind him started walking faster.
Realizing that the other party was following them, Fu Cheng also quickened his pace. When the distance shortened, Fu Cheng’s keen intuition told him that he was in a crisis. He pulled Shen Yi’s wrist and started running, all the way to the front of Fu Yuhe’s car.
The black car was parked in the parking space, Fu Cheng supported his knees and was out of breath, Shen Yi’s breathing was still steady, just a little bit faster.
The window of the back seat opened, and Fu Yuhe’s face was exposed inch by inch in Shen Yi’s field of vision. He glanced sideways, his eyes saw the hands holding the two of them, and his eyes paused slightly.
Before Shen Ye had time to let go of Fu Cheng’s wrist, Fu Cheng clenched it tightly, borrowing some strength to stand still. He panted and called “Brother”. Shen Yi’s eyes under the cap were crooked, and he also called “Brother” This scene is inexplicably like a younger brother bringing his younger sister-in-law into the house. The two of them looked very close to each other.
Fu Yuhe knew that Fu Cheng had a very good relationship with Shen Yi, but when he got a glimpse of the “closeness” between the two of them, he had a conflicted opinion.
Theoretically speaking, this was normal, but with his excessive possessiveness, he subconsciously didn’t want others to get too close to Shen Yi. This kind of almost pathological thought was slowly eroding his heart. This was when Fu Yuhe discovered that when Shen Yi was talking and laughing with a girl, he didn’t know “himself”.
He looked at Shen Yi’s and Fu Cheng’s holding hands with dark eyes, clenched his fist, and when he raised his eyes, the expression in his eyes disappeared, and he returned to normal. He noticed the “little tail” behind Shen Yi and Fu Cheng.
“Who are they?”
Not far away, the yellow-haired gangsters didn’t continue to approach, just looked in their direction.
“I don’t know.” Shen Yi looked innocent and blank, “We don’t know them.”
He turned his head to look over, those people hesitated for a moment, then turned and left.
Shen Yi: “Ah, let’s go.”
“Are you worried? Rest assured.”
Fu Yuhe: “…”
He paused as he pinched his fingers, his heart beat wildly, and he looked at him with the corners of his mouth drawn in a slight unnoticeable smile.
“Get in the car.”
Shen Yi straightened up, and turned his head to look at Fu Cheng who was still panting, “Are you okay?”
Fu Cheng’s face flushed red from running, and said, “I am okay.”
Shen Yi: “Then get in the car first. My hand is about to be crushed.”
“How can I…” Fu Cheng let go of him muttering to himself, and went to pull the door of the rear seat, but he didn’t pull it.
Um?
He pulled again.
Fu Yuhe raised his jaw, “Sit up front.”
Fu Cheng: “…Okay brother.”
He sat in the front passenger seat, without saying a word, murmured in his heart.
Shen Yi opened the door of the rear seat and sat inside, intentionally or unintentionally put his schoolbag near the door, and sat in the middle by himself.
“What were you doing in the Internet cafe?” Fu Yuhe asked.
Fu Cheng in front tensed his body and replied obediently: “Watching TV.”
Shen Yi: “Brother, it’s normal for us to go to Internet cafes at our age.”
Fu Yuhe glanced at him, and Shen Yi smiled brightly. He stretched out his hand frankly and squeezed Fu Yuhe’s hand, before taking it back as if nothing had happened.
Wearing a cap, Shen Yi looked like the definition of the boy-next-door.
His movements were so natural that it took Fu Yuhe two seconds to even react.
Neither the driver in front nor Fu Cheng noticed.
Fu Yuhe stroked the back of his right hand twice with his left thumb, “Indeed…it’s normal.”
He looked at Shen Yi from the corner of his eye. In terms of physical contact, Shen Yi was proactive and enthusiastic, a little too eager in fact, obviously, he didn’t give any clear promises, but Shen Yi didn’t seem to care, like a moth drawn to a flame, he was seamlessly immersed in this love, other than that, he never took the initiative to ask for anything.
Was it just for him, or…someone else would be fine for him too?
What is it like for Shen Yi to be with someone else?
With what Fu Yuhe had seen so far about Shen Yi was that he was as bad as a cat stealing fish.
Fu Cheng in the car saw that his brother had no intention of pursuing it, so he called out to Shen Yi and started chatting in a rambling manner, turning his head from time to time, even if the two people in the back seat wanted to do something like holding hands, they couldn’t do it.
Fu Yuhe looked out of the car window and didn’t interrupt their chatter.
The car soon arrived at the Fu family’s villa.
“It’s so cold. It would be dark when you go back.” Fu Cheng said at the door while changing his shoes.
Shen Yi took off his cap casually: “It’s okay, there are street lights.”
Fu Yuhe: “I heard from Fu Cheng that you live near here.”
“Yeah.” Shen Yi responded, “If you are free, brother, you can come over for some tea.”
To Fu Cheng’s ears, they were polite and in line with his personality. However, in Fu Yuhe’s ears, it was a naked invitation.
Inviting someone with whom you have an ambiguous relationship back to your place. There are only too many meanings that can be explained in the context of the adult world, and none of them were normal.
Fu Yuhe glanced at Fu Cheng who entered the living room unconsciously, and said in a whisper: “Don’t say such things in front of Fu Cheng.”
“Why?” Shen Yi put the shoes aside and arranged them neatly.
Fu Yuhe stood in front of Shen Yi, with his shadow hanging over Shen Yi, “Now is not the time to let him know.”
Shen Yi smiled and raised his head: “Brother, it can’t be that you think I’m hinting something to you.”
Fu Yuhe: “……”
Shen Yi got up and unexpectedly kissed the corner of Fu Yuhe’s lips, his translucent eyes were sly, “If I want to do something, I would never beat around the bush.”
He said bluntly, “I will tell you directly.”
Fu Yuhe put his hand to his lips, and his heartbeat several times faster, he quickly turned his head and looked towards the living room with a guilty conscience, but he didn’t see Fu Cheng’s figure, he turned his head back: “You…” are you crazy?
“So, brother, do you want to come to my place next time? Let’s do something interesting.” Shen Yi blinked, and his voice was soft as if with endless affection, he burrowed into Fu Yuhe’s chest. Wrapping his heart tightly, teasing his tightly wound-up nerves.