Absently glancing at the clock, Bai Sijun had only read less than ten pages by noon. On the other side, Mei Yuchen’s typing slowed down, indicating continuous revisions.
Checking the time, Bai Sijun asked, “Shall we order lunch?”
Mei Yuchen looked up at him, “Can you cook?”
A seemingly ordinary question, but Bai Sijun always couldn’t figure out what Mei Yuchen was thinking. So, he couldn’t help but speculate on his intentions.
Was he merely asking if he could cook, or was he sarcastically questioning the need to order takeout?
Feeling a bit confused and overthinking, Bai Sijun replied honestly, “I can make scrambled eggs.”
Mei Yuchen chuckled as if to say, “I shouldn’t have expected much.” He said, “Let’s just order takeout.”
Bai Sijun casually opened the food delivery app and asked, “Anything good around here?”
“They’re all about the same,” Mei Yuchen paused, “I’m bored with all of them anyway.”
Bai Sijun stopped swiping on the screen and put away his phone, saying, “How about you let me make scrambled eggs for you?”
Actually, Bai Sijun had rarely set foot in the kitchen. His posture with a spatula was as awkward as holding a pen, and his mother, in despair, once said he had no talent for cooking. At the time, Bai Sijun thought he could always eat takeout, but now, hearing Mei Yuchen say he was tired of it, he suddenly felt the same way.
Mei Yuchen slightly raised an eyebrow, “Sure.”
Bai Sijun flexed his wrists, asking, “Do you have rice at home?”
“No,” Mei Yuchen replied indifferently, “No eggs either.”
“…I’ll go buy some.”
Before leaving, Bai Sijun checked the kitchen’s inventory. There were pots, bowls, and utensils, but no rice, oil, or salt. He bought a dozen eggs, a small bag of Thai rice, two sausages, a small bottle of oil, and a bag of salt from the convenience store nearby. When he arrived at the kitchen ready to get started, surprisingly, Mei Yuchen also entered, looking like he was going to observe.
If Bai Sijun were a skilled chef, he wouldn’t mind someone watching. However, he just wanted to make all the ingredients edible, at least without causing stomachaches, and he didn’t want to expose this fact. So, somewhat nervously, he said to Mei Yuchen, “Why don’t you wait in the living room.”
Mei Yuchen scoffed, looking bored, and left the kitchen. Only then did Bai Sijun feel free to start.
He first rinsed the rice, then cracked the eggs, and chopped the sausages. Unconsciously, a faint fragrance of rice filled the air as it cooked in the electric rice cooker, adding a touch of vitality to the empty house.
“Bai.” Mei Yuchen’s voice drifted from the direction of the living room. Bai Sijun looked over and saw Mei Yuchen, who was sitting on the single sofa with his back turned, now leaning forward with a look of anticipation. “I’m hungry.”
Bai Sijun checked the rice cooker’s display, indicating five more minutes. He replied, “It’ll be ready soon.”
During these five minutes, Bai Sijun took out a new wok and spatula, suddenly remembering something. He asked, “Do you have an apron?”
The half head behind the sofa turned around, and Mei Yuchen replied, “No.”
Bai Sijun sighed softly, “Never mind then.”
Staring at him for a while, Mei Yuchen suddenly said, “I’ll go buy one.”
Bai Sijun couldn’t understand him once again. This person, who found making coffee troublesome, was willing to personally run an errand for an unimportant item? He said, “Actually, it’s not necessary.”
“No.” Mei Yuchen decisively denied, heading towards the entrance. “I want to see how you look in an apron.”
Bai Sijun: “…”
He wasn’t sure if Mei Yuchen was teasing him or what. Suddenly, he realized, could it be that straight guys and gay guys think differently? Otherwise, why does he always fail to follow Mei Yuchen’s train of thought?
The neighborhood’s convenience store wasn’t far, and Mei Yuchen quickly returned. In the fifteen minutes of his absence, Bai Sijun found a recipe online and had almost an eighty to ninety percent grasp of what to do. He was even feeling a bit eager to try.
However, when he saw the colorful things in Mei Yuchen’s hands, his enthusiasm for cooking diminished by half.
“wasn’t there anything simpler?” Bai Sijun asked with a headache.
“I specifically chose these for you,” Mei Yuchen said innocently.
Bai Sijun resignedly sighed; he really couldn’t understand him. He raised his hand to take the apron, but unexpectedly, Mei Yuchen dodged his hand and said, “I’ll help you.”
Without thinking much, Bai Sijun withdrew his hand, and Mei Yuchen put the apron over his head. Then, with both hands, he grabbed the strings on both sides of the apron.
The apron’s knot was tied behind the waist, and Bai Sijun subconsciously wanted to turn around. However, at this moment, Mei Yuchen suddenly pressed down on his waist, keeping him in place. Then, he reached his hands through Bai Sijun’s ribs and tied a knot behind him.
When he was tying the knot, the two were very close, and Bai Sijun could almost hear the gentle sound of his breath. He waited, somewhat dazed, for Mei Yuchen to finish tying the apron. When Mei Yuchen stepped back, Bai Sijun heard him whisper in his ear, “Your waist is so slender.”
Bai Sijun’s ears turned slightly red, and he stiffly turned around, facing the stove. In a semi-commanding tone, he said, “Go wait in the living room.”
Mei Yuchen smiled, turned, and left the kitchen.
Actually, Bai Sijun didn’t mind the contact between guys. In college, he even shared a bed with a roommate. But Mei Yuchen was different. Knowing that he liked men, such contact always made him feel a bit awkward.
The oil in the pan gradually heated up, and Bai Sijun poured the beaten eggs into the hot oil, quickly stirring with the spatula.
—Maybe he shouldn’t think like this. It was a clear difference in treatment, and Mei Yuchen didn’t do anything wrong. It was his own thoughts that were problematic.
When the eggs turned golden, Bai Sijun added the chopped sausage. Once all the sausage was evenly coated in hot oil, he poured in the pre-cooked white rice.
—Yes, he shouldn’t be biased, categorizing gays as different from normal people was clear discrimination, and that’s not right.
Adding salt and turning off the heat, a pot of fragrant fried rice was done. Bai Sijun sighed in relief, and with it, certain tangled thoughts in his mind also eased.
He picked up a small spoon, took a bite—perfectly seasoned. However, he wasn’t sure about Mei Yuchen’s taste. He turned around and said, “Come and try to see if the saltiness is right.”
Mei Yuchen returned to the kitchen, and Bai Sijun reached for a clean spoon for him. However, at this moment, Mei Yuchen suddenly held his right hand, scooped a spoonful of fried rice from the one Bai Sijun used, then slightly lowered his head, placing the spoon in his mouth.
Bai Sijun stood frozen, feeling as if the scene in front of him had slowed down infinitely. After Mei Yuchen put the spoon in his mouth, his eyes slowly lifted, and his beautiful eyes stared straight at him. Since Mei Yuchen was still holding his hand, they were extremely close. Bai Sijun even had a kind of illusion that what Mei Yuchen was biting into wasn’t a spoon but his finger.
The slow-motion scene’s background music was the pounding sound of a heartbeat. Mei Yuchen raised his eyebrows, and in his eyes, Bai Sijun saw a charm he had never seen before. At that moment, he was actually stunned.
Maybe it was only a second, or perhaps it felt as long as a century. Mei Yuchen straightened up, smiled with a slight tilt of his eyes, and said, “Not bad, but did you forget to add green onions?”
He wasn’t good at all.
Bai Sijun picked up a plate to serve the rice, furrowing his brow, and said, “If you find it distasteful, don’t eat it.”
Mei Yuchen, still suppressing laughter, chuckled and said, “Not at all, I don’t mind.”
