DPPM Side Story – ZhouShen (Part 6)

|| “Do you want to be with me?” 

Zhou Ziqiu’s actions told him that he was too late to escape. 

As Shen Jiayan timidly stepped back, Zhou Ziqiu aggressively stepped forward.

He stepped back again, and Zhou Ziqiu advanced further.

He continued retreating until he had nowhere left to go, cornered against the wall and trembling. Zhou Ziqiu stood right in front of him, one hand braced against the wall, leaning down slowly.

With a 12 cm height difference and contrasting body types, Zhou Ziqiu practically enveloped him, his handsome face and the mole on his Adam’s apple inching closer.

Shen Jiayan had grown up watching idol dramas, often imagining scenarios like this. However, he always pictured himself as the one doing the kabedon, not the one getting kabedon-ed. 

At this moment, Shen Jiayan felt deeply humiliated.

But looking at Zhou Ziqiu’s long arms, long legs, broad shoulders, and especially his unfriendly eyes, Shen Jiayan was certain he couldn’t win in a fight against Zhou Ziqiu. So, he cowardly clutched his backpack and shrank back even more. “What… what do you want…?”

“What do you think a hormone-driven boy does when he meets his online love interest dressed as a sexy girl, in a hotel, just the two of them?” Zhou Ziqiu squinted slightly, looking both mischievous and dangerous.

Shen Jiayan, having suffered a serious illness and nearly dying from falling off a cliff when he was young, had parents whose only requirement was that he lived safely. Thus, they protected him well and gave him a very sheltered life, leaving him clueless in such an unexpected situation.

Seeing Shen Jiayan’s wide eyes, not scolding, not pushing away, and not thinking to call the police, Zhou Ziqiu suddenly felt a surge of anger.

He was the one cornering Shen Jiayan now.

But if he hadn’t discovered that it was Fei-ge taking the job at the time, would that idiot Fei-ge be the one cornering Shen Jiayan now?

Would Shen Jiayan be cowering here, not moving a muscle?

An inexplicable rush of anger and jealousy surged through Zhou Ziqiu. He raised his other hand to grip Shen Jiayan’s chin, lifting his face as he leaned in for a kiss.

The moment Shen Jiayan realized Zhou Ziqiu’s intention, he held his breath, squeezed his eyes shut, and froze completely.

It was over – Zhou Ziqiu was going to kiss him.

They had just met in person, was it really okay to kiss right away?

No, they were both guys, was it really okay to kiss?

Wasn’t Zhou Ziqiu into girls? What did this have to do with Shen Jiayan? Did this person like boys or girls?

At least he had been chewing strawberry-flavored gum on the plane, so the kiss should taste sweet.

Shen Jiayan, with his eyes tightly shut and lips pursed, let his thoughts run wild, his mind racing at a hundred eighty miles per hour. Yet, the anticipated kiss didn’t come.

One second passed, nothing.

Two seconds, still nothing.

Ten seconds, and still nothing.

After a long time, Shen Jiayan finally realized something was off. He slowly opened his eyes and saw that Zhou Ziqiu had already straightened up and was standing in front of him, quietly watching him.

His eyes were calm, but there was a faint, indescribable sadness between his brows.

Shen Jiayan didn’t realize how his tightly closed eyes, furrowed brows, and pursed lips had made him look so rejecting and resistant. Therefore, he couldn’t understand why Zhou Ziqiu suddenly looked so sad.

He blinked in confusion, a habit when he was puzzled, making him appear even more at a loss.

Zhou Ziqiu wanted to reach out and touch Shen Jiayan’s soft, curly hair, but he dropped his hand halfway, sighing lightly. “You see, you don’t accept it. But I genuinely liked you, really liked you. Just because you turned out to be a guy, doesn’t mean my feelings for you changed from that kind of liking to just brotherly affection. So we can’t be friends. At least, I can’t be friends with you.”

After saying that, he took out a rectangular box from his bag and placed it on the table. “This is a gift I bought for you. Although everyone says online dating isn’t reliable, I always thought that with my academic performance, I could definitely get into a university in Beijing. Then we could end the long-distance relationship, and our future seemed promising. So, I bought this gift, intending to give it to you and ask if you’d really like to be with me.”

“But now it seems unnecessary.” Zhou Ziqiu’s tone was so calm that no emotion could be discerned. With downcast eyes and fingers lightly brushing the velvet, he looked up at Shen Jiayan and said softly, “But this gift was bought for you, so I’ve decided to give it to you. As for what you want to do with it, that’s up to you. I’ll refund your companion fee and the money for the skins. But don’t look for another companion in that group. If you need, I can recommend a few reliable ones.”

“It’s getting late. Rest early.”

With those final words, Zhou Ziqiu picked up his backpack and walked into the night.

He had said too much, the information was too dense, and the implications too complex. It wasn’t until the door had been closed for a while that Shen Jiayan fully understood what Zhou Ziqiu had meant.

‘Zhou Ziqiu likes me?’

‘That kind of liking?’

‘Even after knowing I’m a boy, he still likes me?’ 

—And it was Shen Jiayan himself had suggested they could be brothers.

Even Shen Jiayan, not particularly bright, realized how foolish his words had been.

What about him? What were his feelings towards Zhou Ziqiu?

He had never considered the possibility of being with a guy, but when he thought Zhou Ziqiu was going to kiss him earlier, amidst all the thoughts racing through his mind, not one was of rejection or resistance.

Shen Jiayan didn’t quite understand.

He walked to the table, picked up the rectangular box, and opened it. Inside was a platinum chain with a finely crafted strawberry-shaped red crystal pendant. The workmanship was exquisite, and the color was beautiful. It was evident that a lot of thought had gone into choosing it, and it wasn’t cheap.

Zhou Ziqiu wasn’t some rich kid – otherwise, he wouldn’t be working as a gaming companion. The price of this necklace likely meant many sleepless nights and skipped breakfasts.

Thinking about this made Shen Jiayan’s heart ache, a sourness rising that made him want to cry.

He suddenly felt like a jerk, having fooled around and ended up deceiving someone’s feelings. Zhou Ziqiu had even left without him realizing it in time to stop him, making him seem particularly heartless.

At the very least, he couldn’t let Zhou Ziqiu spend money in vain.

Suppressing his sorrow and with reddened eyes, Shen Jiayan took out his phone, intending to tell Zhou Ziqiu that he didn’t need to refund the companion fee or the money for the skins.

But when he took out his phone, there was already a transfer record in the WeChat interface. When he sent the word “Gege,” it was only met with a red exclamation mark.

[The message was successfully sent, but it was rejected]

Zhou Ziqiu blocked him.

Zhou Ziqiu was angry and ignored him.

He wanted to add Zhou Ziqiu back.

But what right did he have to add Zhou Ziqiu back?

Would adding him back imply that he wanted to be good brothers and friends?

That would be too stupid.

But besides being good brothers and friends, he didn’t know what else he could be, Shen Jiayan didn’t know himself.

He only knew that if he hadn’t made up his mind, he shouldn’t casually provoke others, giving them meaningless hopes and speculations, and then innocently saying he didn’t know anything.

He was very slow to react, but once he realized it, he didn’t lose face.

He understood this principle, but why was he still so sad?

Seeing that red exclamation mark, seeing that strawberry necklace, thinking that he would never hear Zhou Ziqiu’s voice again, never enjoying Zhou Ziqiu’s exclusive protection again, never exerting his dominance in the game again, his heart felt suffocated.

He crouched down, hugged his knees, buried his head, feeling as sad as a wilting mushroom, not telling anyone.

For the first time in his life, he had difficulty sleeping, and when he couldn’t sleep, he heard someone next door checking in late into the night. The next morning, when he got up to pack, the person next door was also up.

He had brought a lot of things because he had originally planned to spend three days in Nanwu with Zhou Ziqiu. But now that Zhou Ziqiu didn’t want him anymore, he didn’t feel like looking for Song Yan either, so he just packed up and planned to return to Beijing.

It seemed like the person next door was also going to the airport because shortly after he got into the taxi, another car left the parking lot and they traveled together.

What a coincidence.

Shen Jiayan, feeling sad, tired, and frustrated, was overwhelmed by emotions and didn’t think about the peculiarities of the situation. He just felt sad and wronged because he hadn’t received any messages from Zhou Ziqiu until takeoff.

Clearly, this person had come to pick him up last night because he was worried he might get lost. He didn’t hesitate to come, but why was he willing to let him go alone this morning?

‘Men are truly fickle creatures, ah…’

After confirming for the last time that Zhou Ziqiu hadn’t sent him any messages, Shen Jiayan turned off his phone with red eyes, closed his eyes, and let the plane take him away from this sad city.

He didn’t think it was a big deal that Zhou Ziqiu was ignoring him. After all, Zhou Ziqiu had many good friends, and he had many good friends too.

He could find someone else to play games with, could spend a lot of money to find a professional player to play with, could quickly rank up, could be active in various groups every day, just like before.

He just wouldn’t use a voice changer anymore – once bitten, twice shy.

He wouldn’t play Daji anymore because there was no one to help him steal the blue buff every day.

He didn’t dare to indulge himself anymore because others would get angry at him for messing up, and they would think it was silly of him to dance with Daji’s tail wagging.

He wouldn’t call anyone “Gege” anymore.

He wouldn’t even play “Nine Swords” anymore.

He should feel like his days were almost the same as before.

But it didn’t.

It was common for him and Song Yan to not contact each other for ten days or half a month, so even if he didn’t contact Zhou Ziqiu, he shouldn’t be too sad.

Even if he wasn’t used to it at first, he should get used to it eventually.

But he was still sad.

Still, the days went on. 

Every day was sadder than the day before.

He wanted to hear Zhou Ziqiu’s voice.

He wanted to hear Zhou Ziqiu’s gentle laughter every time he made a mistake during the game and hurriedly danced as Daji.

He wanted to be able to run to Zhou Ziqiu’s side immediately after provoking someone, exerting his dominance.

This kind of sadness grew day by day.

It wasn’t until his eighteenth birthday that it finally erupted.

At midnight that day, “Nine Swords” sent him a text message: [Congratulations to our dear Fox Immortal “The Sweetest Little Milk Strawberry in the World” for your birthday! Log in quickly to claim your exclusive birthday gift~]

He logged into the game.

The login point was Zhou Ziqiu’s home.

But there wasn’t a swordsman in a white tiger-striped robe waiting for him at home.

Shen Jiayan looked at the full backpack of items he had collected to nurture high-level spiritual root babies, rubbing his eyes sadly.

As he rubbed his eyes, he suddenly noticed the system message flashing in the lower right corner.

He opened it and froze on the spot.

[Cupid]: Dear [The Sweetest Little Milk Strawberry in the World], your romantic partner [The Handsomest Zhou Xiaoqiu in the World] submitted a divorce application to you on January 15, 2021. Since you have not responded for more than 7 days, it has been automatically approved. You are now single and not eligible to conceive spiritual root babies. If needed, please seek another partner and visit the Cupid’s Office.

“…”

“???”

‘Zhou Ziqiu divorced me?!’

When Shen Jiayan realized this, his brain blanked out for a moment.

And the next second, his brain blanked out for two moments.

Because when he opened Zhou Ziqiu’s profile, he found that Zhou Ziqiu already had a new romantic partner, and they even had a baby.

He had bought this account for Zhou Ziqiu on Taobao because Zhou Ziqiu had never played online games before. It was because he wanted to play but was not good at it that he started researching various strategies. If he didn’t log in, Zhou Ziqiu wouldn’t log in either. It could be said that Zhou Ziqiu only played this game for him.

But now, after just over two months, how could Zhou Ziqiu log in and divorce himself, and then marry someone else and have a baby?

The sadness, grievance, and heartbreak that he had suppressed for two months finally couldn’t be held back any longer. It surged out uncontrollably. He took out his phone, found Zhou Ziqiu’s number, and called. As soon as the call was connected, he cursed directly, “Bastard! Jerk! Trash!”

The person on the other end of the line was obviously stunned by his outburst, but also because he heard the sobbing in his voice, he patiently and gently asked, “What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong?! How dare you ask what’s wrong?! I bought the account for you! I named it for you! I bought the couple outfits for you! How could you take it and marry someone else and have a baby?!!!”

Shen Jiayan felt really wronged, really sad, really heartbroken, to the point where he couldn’t hide the tears in his voice.

Zhou Ziqiu, hearing this, felt really distressed, “I didn’t…”

“You didn’t?! I saw it when I logged in! Don’t even think about denying it!”

This was the first time Shen Jiayan had ever gotten angry since Zhou Ziqiu had known him, and it was the first time he had gotten angry with a sobbing voice.

For a moment, Zhou Ziqiu didn’t know whether to feel distressed or amused. He just explained softly, “When you bought the account for me, you didn’t bind it to your phone. When I wanted to log in that day, I found that the account had been stolen and I couldn’t log in. I wanted to tell you, but I thought you already knew, so I didn’t say anything.”

“…”

Awkward silence.

Shen Jiayan stopped crying and stopped getting angry. He just felt embarrassed, awkwardly shifting his feet, and asked uncertainly, “Really?”

“Yes, really, you would have known if you had asked.”

“…” Shen Jiayan pursed his lips, “So you didn’t divorce me?”

“No.”

“And you didn’t marry someone else?”

“No.”

“And you didn’t have a baby with someone else?”

“No.”

“…”

After another brief silence, Shen Jiayan licked his lips lightly and spoke up, “Then let me tell you one more thing.”

“Hmm?”

“I miss you. Zhou Ziqiu, I miss you so much.”

Shen Jiayan tried to sound cool, but when he actually said it, tears still couldn’t help but fall onto the keyboard and into Zhou Ziqiu’s ears.

Zhou Ziqiu’s knuckles tightened instantly as he held his phone, his throat inexplicably dry, unable to produce any sound. It wasn’t until a while later that he finally uttered softly, “Mhm, Shen Jiayan, I miss you too.”

Suppressing countless emotions, this sentence was the last straw that broke Shen Jiayan’s composure. Tears couldn’t stop falling, his voice choked with sobs, “You liar, you don’t miss me at all. You didn’t even come to see me off when I left.”

“I did come, you just didn’t notice.”

Shen Jiayan: “?”

When did Zhou Ziqiu come to see him off?

Zhou Ziqiu: “Who do you think stayed in the room next to yours that night?”

“…”

–Ah, so it was him. 

Shen Jiayan felt a bit foolish, muttering, “Then why didn’t you come find me when I was playing games with someone else?”

Zhou Ziqiu chuckled softly on the other end, “Who do you think was the anonymous hero who eventually agreed to take your order?”

“…” Shen Jiayan felt even more foolish, continuing to be stubborn, “But you don’t care about me, you don’t pay attention to me, you don’t care about me.”

“Do you really think the information Xia Zhiye gave you was prepared by a science student?”

“……”

Well… 

Shen Jiayan was momentarily speechless, he just poked at his mouse pad, making one final attempt at being stubborn, “Then why didn’t you send me a WeChat message?”

Zhou Ziqiu answered without hesitation, “Because I’m afraid I’ll still like you, but you only see me as a brother, as a friend, and that’s a bit cruel.”

Zhou Ziqiu’s calm voice dispersed softly in the night, and the corners of Shen Jiayan’s eyes, which had finally calmed down, started to sting again. Shen Jiayan looked down at the mouse pad with “The Sweetest Little Milk Strawberry in the World” and “The Handsomest Zhou Xioaqiu in the World” written on it, pursed his lips, finally made up his mind, and called out, “Zhou Ziqiu.”

“Hmm?”

“I have something else to tell you.”

“Okay, go ahead.”

“I think I might like you.”

“…”

“Not the kind of liking as good brothers or good buddies or good gaming partners, but the kind of liking where I don’t want you to marry someone else and have babies with them, I only want to marry you and have babies with you. It’s the kind of liking where even though I’m a boy and you’re a boy, I still want to be with you forever.”

“…”

“So, do you still like me?”

“…”

“I really like you, I miss you so much.”

The pure and clean voice of the young man in the spring night was both anxious and brave in its directness.

No evasion, no hesitation, no reluctance, just telling him fearlessly and unabashedly at the moment of understanding his own feelings—

I like you, I miss you, I want to be with you.

“So, Zhou Ziqiu, do you want to be with me?”