Bai Sijun carefully thought about it. From the beginning of the year until now, his savings hadn’t increased a penny. The person responsible for his monthly expenses was an invisible tycoon who could live comfortably for a lifetime solely on royalties.
How did he feel right now?
Unbalanced, incredibly unbalanced.
After leaving the company, Mei Yuchen drove, and Bai Sijun directed him. The two arrived at a large shopping mall not far from the company.
The downtown mall was much larger than the suburban ones, and since it was a Saturday, the place was bustling with people.
On the way, girls passing by were looking at both of them. This time, Bai Sijun knew exactly what they were looking at, so he intentionally distanced himself from Mei Yuchen. However, Mei Yuchen seemed completely oblivious to his intentions. Bai Sijun took a step to the side, and Mei Yuchen followed suit. They remained shoulder to shoulder, and the fragrance of cologne surrounded Bai Sijun.
Unable to resist, Bai Sijun whispered to Mei Yuchen, “Didn’t you notice those girls pointing at us?”
Mei Yuchen glanced at him, indifferent, and asked, “And..?”
“They…” Bai Sijun hesitated for a moment, unsure how to put it, especially since Mei Yuchen seemed to have no thoughts in that direction. He scratched the back of his head and said, “Forget it, it’s nothing.”
After saying this, he turned his head to look at the road, not seeing Mei Yuchen slyly curling the corner of his mouth.
Casually strolling to the second floor of the mall, Mei Yuchen suddenly entered a Longines store. Suburban malls didn’t have many branded stores, so Bai Sijun guessed that Mei Yuchen wanted to take this opportunity to shop.
Mei Yuchen circled the store, then picked a wristwatch and said to Bai Sijun, “Try it on for me.”
Without thinking much, Bai Sijun assumed Mei Yuchen wanted a reference for comparison.
The salesperson put the watch on Bai Sijun’s wrist and kept promoting the design philosophy of the watch. Mei Yuchen remained silent, watching for a while. Then he nodded to the salesperson and said, “This one.”
Bai Sijun discreetly checked the price, over twenty thousand. He couldn’t help but feel a bit sour, thinking how nice it must be to have money.
When Mei Yuchen took out his wallet to pay, Bai Sijun consciously took off the watch. At this moment, Mei Yuchen paused and said to him, “Wear it.”
Bai Sijun looked at him in confusion.
Mei Yuchen continued, “I’m buying it for you.”
Bai Sijun was surprised and quickly pushed the watch box away. “No, no, I can’t accept it.”
Mei Yuchen frowned and asked, “Why?”
Why?
This watch was worth several months of his salary. How could he accept it?
The salesperson looked at Bai Sijun expectantly. Bai Sijun felt awkward saying such a stingy reason, so he could only say, “Wearing this watch on me, others won’t think it’s real. It’s too wasteful.”
Once he said it, Bai Sijun realized it sounded a bit stingy.
Mei Yuchen narrowed his eyes, displeased. “Take it.”
Bai Sijun firmly looked back. “I don’t want it.”
The two stared each other down in the store. In the end, Mei Yuchen conceded, walking out without looking back.
Well, this Mr. Mei is upset again.
Bai Sijun apologized to the salesperson and quickly caught up with Mei Yuchen’s pace.
Mei Yuchen, tall and long-legged, entered the crowd ahead. Bai Sijun caught up with him, grabbing his wrist without thinking and soothingly saying, “Let me treat you to a movie.”
Mei Yuchen stopped, looked at him expressionlessly, and asked, “What movie?”
“Any movie you want,” Bai Sijun replied.
Mei Yuchen pursed his lips, and his tense expression finally eased. “Fine.”
Bai Sijun suddenly realized that although Mei Yuchen often seemed unhappy, he was unexpectedly easy to please.
Mei Yuchen chose a recently released drama film, and Bai Sijun bought the movie tickets and snacks for two. They followed the crowd into the screening hall.
It had been a long time since Bai Sijun went to the cinema to watch a movie. After all, compared to going out to the movies, he preferred staying at home to play games or read.
Thinking back, the last few times he watched a movie were with Xiao Ai, simply because of their regular date nights.
The hands reaching for the popcorn unintentionally touched Mei Yuchen’s hand. Just as Bai Sijun’s mind inexplicably brought up the word “date,” he quickly pulled his hand back.
During college, he had gone to the movies with his roommates. However, back then, it was always in groups of three to five people. He had never been in a situation where he watched a movie alone with another man and shared a bucket of popcorn.
His thoughts seemed to drift in a strange direction, and he quickly stopped them, focusing on the plot of the movie.
However, it had to be said that the movie they chose… was really a failure.
The director seemed to want to convey too much in the film, resulting in a confusing narrative, and the transitions between scenes were somewhat abrupt.
In short, it was hard to get into.
Seemingly, Mei Yuchen also felt the same way. In less than half an hour, he leaned on Bai Sijun’s shoulder and fell asleep. From then on, Bai Sijun’s thoughts, like a wild horse, uncontrollably scattered in this dim space.
He realized that the way he and Mei Yuchen interacted was somewhat strange because no guy had ever laid on his lap or leaned on his shoulder to sleep.
Of course, there was only Mei Yuchen, who was gay, around him, so he wasn’t sure if this was the way interaction between gay men worked.
If it was, then he must be overthinking.
But there was another possibility. Maybe…
Mei Yuchen liked him.
This sudden thought flashed through his mind, startling him. He quickly picked up the cola and gulped down several sips.
He suddenly remembered a sarcastic post he had seen online, where a gay man who came out had straight men around him worried about being secretly loved. Still, that gay man said he wasn’t desperate; he wouldn’t be interested in those dead straight men.
Most of the replies below were in agreement, stating that gays were even pickier than girls.
Bai Sijun considered himself to have a decent appearance, but in the eyes of gays, especially the fastidious Mei Yuchen, he wasn’t sure how many points he would score.
No, why was he even concerned about this?
On second thought, Mei Yuchen was thirty-two years old and had never been in a romantic relationship. It indicated that he was probably a loner. Moreover, looking at the style of his works, the word “like” with its innocent connotations didn’t seem to fit.
So…
Could it be that Mei Yuchen wanted to sleep with him?
Bai Sijun was shocked once again, and he quickly sucked the cola to the bottom. The empty cup made a popping sound, barely suppressing his rapidly accelerating heartbeat.
Mei Yuchen was awakened by the sound, lifted his head to glance at him, then sat up straight and continued watching the movie.
Bai Sijun’s head felt swollen, and he hadn’t recovered from the shock of that moment.
Although he didn’t understand gays, he was still good at understanding the thoughts of young girls. In the past, even if he saw through a girl’s feelings towards him, he would never think in such an adult direction.
In any case, this should still be related to Mei Yuchen’s identity as a writer.
Many writers’ works often contained a hint of sensuality. Even Nobel Prize winner Mo Yan was no exception.
Mei Yuchen’s works often flirted with the edge, combined with his captivating almond-shaped eyes. Therefore, Bai Sijun thought it wasn’t strange if Mei Yuchen’s thoughts went a bit awry.
The sound of fingers rubbing against popcorn interrupted Bai Sijun’s thoughts. He couldn’t help but look towards the side.
Mei Yuchen was eating popcorn absentmindedly. In a short time, the popcorn bucket was emptied. He picked up the empty bucket from the armrest, looked down at it, then rummaged through a pile of unpopped corn, picking out perhaps the last piece of popcorn.
The popped corn was plump, shimmering with buttery light under the faint glow of the screen, looking very sweet.
When Mei Yuchen brought the popcorn to his mouth, his movements suddenly stopped.
The next moment, without any warning, he looked at Bai Sijun and then offered the popcorn to his mouth.
The dialogue of the actors echoed in the theater, but at this moment, Bai Sijun felt deaf; no sound could enter his ears. He stared blankly at Mei Yuchen, and in the world, only the eyes that met him in the darkness remained.
Mei Yuchen raised his hand slightly, as if urging. He loved sweets so much that he must be reluctant to part with the last piece of popcorn.
Bai Sijun’s head was a little dizzy. He didn’t know why but opened his mouth directly and caught the popcorn Mei Yuchen handed him.
In the moment of biting down, the aroma of butter immediately filled his mouth. Bai Sijun’s head spun, and he thought that this popcorn was indeed very sweet. It was so sweet that his heart felt like it had fallen into a honey pot.
