When Xiao Cheng arrived at the bar, it was at the peak of its liveliness. As soon as he stepped in, he was disoriented.
The music mixed with the dim, colorful lights, and as people crowded around him, someone even deliberately touched his lower back.
He glanced around the crowd but didn’t spot a single girl.
Only then did Xiao Cheng realize he was in a gay bar.
Jiang Zihe is straight, isn’t he? Why would he come to a place like this?
Xiao Cheng felt a headache coming on, mostly because it was far too crowded, with people constantly trying to take advantage of the chaos. Luckily, he quickly became vigilant after the first incident and didn’t give anyone else the chance.
He regretted not asking more questions before coming here.
No, he thought, he really shouldn’t have answered that call in the first place—he should’ve just gone to bed. By now, he’d probably be lying comfortably under his covers.
Let Jiang Zihe fend for himself:)
The senior, Xu An, had sent him a rough location, but the bar’s layout was so similar throughout that Xiao Cheng couldn’t figure out exactly where they were.
He was about to find a quieter spot to call Jiang Zihe when his wrist was suddenly gripped tightly from behind, pulling him backward.
Xiao Cheng reacted quickly, thrusting his elbow back while grabbing onto a nearby chair’s backrest with his free hand to steady himself.
The person behind him dodged, so Xiao Cheng didn’t hit him, but he managed to steady his steps.
He was about to turn around to see which creep had grabbed him when a body pressed up against him from behind, pinning his hand to the chair’s backrest.
Both of Xiao Cheng’s hands were now immobilized.
“Xiao Cheng,” the person behind him called in a low voice.
Xiao Cheng paused in his struggle, then bent his leg to kick backward with force, only to miss as he’d expected.
Luo Jingshu’s expression turned dark. “If you keep moving, I’ll press you down here and strip you.”
Of course, he didn’t actually mean it.
Luo Jingshu was just trying to scare him. If Xiao Cheng really took his clothes off here in front of everyone, Luo Jingshu would only feel anger.
Xiao Cheng took a deep breath. “Is this funny to you?”
After a breakup, exes should treat each other as if they were dead. Especially in their case, where the breakup was messy, it’d be best to pretend they’d never been together. Ideally, they’d treat each other like strangers.
So why would Luo Jingshu still dare to provoke him?
The person behind him tightened his grip on Xiao Cheng’s hand. “Are you with that girl now?”
Xiao Cheng was momentarily stunned, and then Chu An’s face flashed in his mind. He knew Chu An had taken that photo with some ulterior motive; she probably wanted to send it to someone.
He just hadn’t expected that “someone” to be Luo Jingshu.
He let out a cold laugh, trying to pull his arm free. Who knew what Luo Jingshu ate growing up—this was the second time he had completely overpowered him.
“No, she’s just a friend,” Xiao Cheng said coolly.
He couldn’t miss the resentment and anger in Luo Jingshu’s tone. If he really wanted to annoy Luo Jingshu, he could just go along with his assumption, but Xiao Cheng didn’t want to drag innocent people into this.
Both Xie Zhao and Chu An were innocent.
He and Luo Jingshu had broken up for reasons unrelated to anyone else, but it seemed like Luo Jingshu hadn’t figured that out.
Luo Jingshu unconsciously let out a breath, not even realizing himself that the heavy feeling he’d carried lifted a little upon hearing Xiao Cheng’s words.
He was about to say something more when Xiao Cheng continued, “Don’t worry. You don’t need to worry about others. When I find a boyfriend, I’ll be sure to let you know.”
Luo Jingshu’s face instantly turned cold. Boyfriend?
Who else was Xiao Cheng looking for?
“Xiao Cheng.” Luo Jingshu’s voice held an irrepressible anger and jealousy. “Do you have to talk to me like this?”
Xiao Cheng was even angrier, hissing, “You should be thankful I’m holding back from hitting you. In fact, you should thank your lucky stars I have a good temper. If it were anyone else, you’d be getting beaten up so badly your mother wouldn’t recognize you!”
Their voices weren’t loud, and only those nearby could hear them clearly. To anyone further away, their posture looked almost intimate, as if they were flirting.
Jiang Zihe, clearly drunk, squinted at Xiao Cheng for a moment, shaking his head vigorously. “Who’s that?”
He looked kind of like Xiao Cheng.
Xiao Cheng didn’t notice Jiang Zihe’s figure, all his attention on Luo Jingshu behind him. He was furious, and in that moment, he’d completely forgotten what he’d come here to do.
“If you’re going to hit me, just do it. Don’t act like you’re doing me a favor,” Luo Jingshu scoffed in reply.
Xiao Cheng had already kicked him once, and he hadn’t dodged, right?
Luo Jingshu stared at Xiao Cheng’s flushed face for a moment before leaning in slightly, his voice soft. “Are you mad about what I said? Let me explain, can I?”
He refused to believe Xiao Cheng actually wanted to break up. He was sure Xiao Cheng was just angry, and once he’d cooled down, he wouldn’t want to break up anymore.
Luo Jingshu pursed his lips, not knowing why the thought of breaking up with Xiao Cheng made him feel inexplicably irritated.
Perhaps it was because Luo Jingshu was deeply intrigued by Xiao Cheng; maybe when he grew tired, he wouldn’t feel so anxious anymore.
Xiao Cheng felt like he was playing the lute to a cow—Luo Jingshu hadn’t believed a word of what he’d said. It was impossible to get through to this person.
Luo Jingshu never believed he was wrong. Furthermore, he was convinced Xiao Cheng loved him, so under this double illusion, he couldn’t even begin to believe Xiao Cheng’s talk of breaking up.
Xiao Cheng was both angry and hurt. He was furious at Luo Jingshu’s casual manipulation of his emotions—despite everything, he refused to let him go. And he was heartbroken to realize that, to Luo Jingshu, his feelings were nothing more than expendable capital to be used.
Xiao Cheng suddenly calmed down at the height of his anger, a new idea forming in his mind.
He restrained his anger and said, “Fine, explain yourself.”
Luo Jingshu froze for a moment, not knowing where to start.
He wanted to say it was just an angry remark, but he vaguely sensed that if he admitted he didn’t just see Xiao Cheng as a casual fling, it would be like indirectly admitting he liked him.
The person behind him stayed silent for a long time. Xiao Cheng clenched his teeth so tightly that his jaw hurt.
It felt like he was back on that night, reliving how he’d felt when he heard those words from Luo Jingshu.
Didn’t he say he wanted to explain? And now he couldn’t find anything to say?
After a long silence, Luo Jingshu finally spoke, his voice low. “Just think of it as nonsense.”
“We had an argument the day before.”
His words were confusing, but Xiao Cheng understood what he meant.
Luo Jingshu was trying to say that he’d said those words because they’d argued, and he was still angry?
Luo Jingshu furrowed his brow, his lips moved, and he murmured, “You didn’t even try to comfort me.”
There was a hint of awkwardness and grievance in his tone.
After their argument, Xiao Cheng hadn’t sent him any messages the whole day. Luo Jingshu had been both angry and uneasy at the time, which led him to say something like that.
From the moment they met until the argument, Xiao Cheng had never been harsh with him or ignored his feelings. This was the first time Luo Jingshu had felt Xiao Cheng’s indifference, filling him with disbelief and grievance.
Those words hadn’t been sincere.
He’d just been angry. Plus, Jiang Yi had been incessantly saying how much he liked Xiao Cheng, so Luo Jingshu, unable to set aside his pride, had said those words out of spite.
He never thought Xiao Cheng would hear it.
Nor did he expect Xiao Cheng to break up with him over it.
But he couldn’t say any of this. Just managing to say, “You didn’t even try to comfort me,” was already as vulnerable as he could allow himself to be.
Xiao Cheng couldn’t hear his thoughts or understand his true intentions.
He could only find it laughable.
“One bit of nonsense, and you think it can just erase everything?”
Just as Luo Jingshu was about to respond, Xiao Cheng sneered, “Whether it was nonsense or your true feelings, you know better than I do.”
“Luo Jingshu, our issues aren’t just this one thing.” Xiao Cheng reminded him, “From the beginning, you never told me the truth.”
“You hid your real identity, showed me false affection, and conspired with Jiang Ying to deceive me.”
“Are you going to say those were all accidents too?”
Luo Jingshu couldn’t deny any of it. After a long silence, he finally spoke, his voice heavier than before, “Then what do you want me to do?”
“I’ve told you many times already, I want to break up.” Xiao Cheng gritted his teeth. “From now on, let’s never see each other again.”
Luo Jingshu’s expression turned tense, with a slight hint of panic in his eyes. “Impossible!”
“Everything else is negotiable, Xiao Cheng, but breaking up is absolutely out of the question.” His tone was firm, allowing no refusal.
He’d thought it through—he didn’t want to break up with Xiao Cheng.
For the first time, Xiao Cheng wondered if he hadn’t been clear enough before.
“I told you two days ago that I wanted to break up, and didn’t you agree then?” Xiao Cheng was so shocked that his initial reaction wasn’t anger but confusion.
Luo Jingshu pursed his lips. He’d already pulled enough tricks, so one more wouldn’t make a difference. He seemed to have lost all shame. “Just think of what I said as nonsense too.”
Xiao Cheng tried his best to hold back. “I don’t want to be with you anymore. If you keep clinging to me, it’s just pathetic, do you understand?”
Luo Jingshu’s eyes turned red as he looked down, staring at Xiao Cheng’s face. His lips moved, and he whispered, “Then just think of me as pathetic.”
“Brother Cheng, I don’t want to break up.”
“Luo Jingshu, are you out of your mind? Do you even know what you’re doing?”
Was this really the same Luo Jingshu who had said he was just playing around?
Luo Jingshu didn’t know. He didn’t even know what he was thinking.
He had only one thought: he couldn’t let Xiao Cheng leave.
And he definitely couldn’t watch him be with someone else.
Ever since he’d seen that photo on Fu Ju’s phone, Luo Jingshu had been firm in this conviction.
Xiao Cheng was his chosen canary, and he hadn’t even gotten him fully tamed yet. Why should he let someone else have him?
The thought of Xiao Cheng possibly being with someone else, giving his former tenderness to another, was utterly unbearable to Luo Jingshu.
Xiao Cheng nearly cursed him out as an idiot. How did he not realize Luo Jingshu was so twisted? He still couldn’t see the fault in himself.
Thinking that pouting would get Xiao Cheng’s forgiveness.
“Just forgive me this once. I won’t lie to you again, okay?” Luo Jingshu wanted to get closer, but he restrained himself, worried Xiao Cheng would show disgust.
He didn’t want Xiao Cheng to hate him even more.
Xiao Cheng took several deep breaths to contain his anger. Perhaps he had been too gentle with Luo Jingshu in the past, so even when he was angry, Luo Jingshu thought he wasn’t truly mad.
Xiao Cheng gave a bitter laugh. “I remember you’re turning eighteen by the end of the year, right?”
Luo Jingshu’s eyes brightened. “You remember my birthday.”
Xiao Cheng scoffed silently to himself. How could he forget? He’d even prepared a birthday gift like a fool.
Xiao Cheng felt a sharp pang when he remembered the excitement and anticipation he’d felt while making those plans. He looked down slightly, concealing his red-rimmed eyes from Luo Jingshu.
“On your birthday, I want to give you something.”
A final farewell to his first love.
He wanted Luo Jingshu to understand that they were done.
From the moment he’d found out about Luo Jingshu’s lies, Xiao Cheng had never considered staying together.
Luo Jingshu’s heartbeat quickened, and he couldn’t help but ask, “Does this mean you’re willing to forgive me?”
Xiao Cheng’s lips curled in a mocking smile.
“We’ll see.”
