After making the commitment at the gym that day, the rhythmic sound of typing, which had initially sounded reassuring to Bai Sijun, suddenly made him feel uneasy.
Mei Yuchen’s typing speed was incredibly fast, like an emotionless typing machine. The clacking sound resembled a relentless march, making Bai Sijun realize that danger was getting closer.
Snap!
Mei Yuchen suddenly hit the Enter key, startling Bai Sijun. He feared the next line would be, “I’m done writing, let’s do it.”
Mei Yuchen looked up at him and said, “I sent you seventy thousand words, take a look first.”
Bai Sijun was shocked. Seventy thousand words in less than two weeks? Was he writing online fiction or publishing a book?
Keeping a calm demeanor on the surface, Bai Sijun opened his email. However, upon glancing at the document Mei Yuchen sent, he almost spat out blood. “Can you please use proper punctuation!”
Commas and periods were scattered randomly, and quotation marks were used haphazardly, not even up to the level of an elementary school student.
Bai Sijun immediately felt that this unfinished work must not be leaked to outsiders. It wasn’t about fearing plagiarism but about preventing people from saying this was the level of an award-winning author like Mei Yuchen.
“Aren’t you my editor?” Mei Yuchen blinked innocently. “Proofreading is your job.”
Bai Sijun was left speechless. Mei Yuchen’s hard work in typing was obviously with ulterior motives, yet he had to maintain the professional attitude of an editor and proofread for him. It felt like he was willingly handing himself over to Mei Yuchen’s schemes.
With a sigh, Bai Sijun reluctantly began to edit the article.
Before Mei Yuchen started writing, he had discussed the ideas for this new book with Bai Sijun. This time, he placed the story in a high school, with the protagonist being an introverted first-year male student.
Bai Sijun roughly knew that the story involved the male student befriending another male classmate and gradually overcoming his shadows with his help. However, the specific details were unclear to him.
Of course, Mei Yuchen was not a writer of youth literature. The story began with the suicide of a senior student, pointing to a case of school bullying. The male protagonist unintentionally overheard conversations among senior students and became entangled in the events.
In the first ten or so pages, Bai Sijun patiently corrected Mei Yuchen’s punctuation. However, as he continued reading, his eagerness to know the subsequent plot grew so much that not even the messy punctuation could deter him from flipping through the pages.
Seventy thousand words weren’t short, and Bai Sijun practically read it in one go. The cursor stopped at the point where the male protagonist was pushed down the stairs by an unknown person. Bai Sijun looked up at Mei Yuchen and asked, “What happens next?”
Mei Yuchen raised an eyebrow and replied lazily, “I’m still writing.”
Bai Sijun followed up, “Who pushed him? The English teacher?”
Mei Yuchen smirked, “Spoilers aren’t fun.”
“Mei,” Bai Sijun softened his tone, “just tell me who pushed him, okay?”
“I’ll show you when I finish writing,” Mei Yuchen smiled, changing the subject. “Is the punctuation fixed?”
Bai Sijun choked, “Uh, forgot…”
He returned to his editing task, and reminded Mei Yuchen, “Write the next part quickly.”
Mei Yuchen suddenly fell silent, and Bai Sijun subconsciously glanced at him, finding him looking at him with a playful expression.
“What?” Bai Sijun asked.
“Impatient much?” Mei Yuchen teased.
Only then did Bai Sijun realize something was off.
“I didn’t mean it that way…” Bai Sijun hurriedly explained fearing Mei Yuchen was having naughty thoughts again, “I just want to see the rest of the plot.”
“I know,” Mei Yuchen lowered his eyes, refocusing on the screen but still with a hint of a smile on his lips.
Bai Sijun couldn’t be bothered to explain further. He knew that his ‘chrysanthemum’ was already in jeopardy. Moreover, the unexpected excitement of this new book far exceeded his expectations, creating a strong desire to continue reading. In order to see the conclusion of this book sooner, he was willing to give up his long-defended chrysanthemum.
He returned to the beginning to fix the punctuation, this time adopting the gaze of an editor, carefully reviewing the text.
“Mei, you used an idiom incorrectly here,” he frowned.
“Hmm?” Mei Yuchen looked up.
“You described them as ‘情投意合’ (mutual understanding and agreement), which is indeed used to indicate two people getting along. However, it’s mostly used in romantic contexts. It might be better to use ‘志同道合’ (like-minded) here.”
Mei Yuchen fell silent for a moment and suddenly asked, “Do you remember mentioning the protagonist’s secret at the beginning?”
Bai Sijun replied seriously, “I do.”
“He likes men.”
Bai Sijun paused for a moment. He looked back at the computer screen and said uncertainly, “I couldn’t tell completely… Well, there were some hints, but readers wouldn’t think in that direction.”
“At the end, he will have a dream, and his male classmate will be the subject,” Mei Yuchen explained. “But I plan to leave it ambiguous, not explicitly written.”
In other words, all these details earlier were laying the groundwork for the ending.
Bai Sijun quickly scrolled up using the touchpad and started reading from the beginning.
When the cursor stopped at the first page again, Bai Sijun suddenly recalled his feelings when reading Mei Yuchen’s works before.
If you don’t read until the end, you’ll never know what he really wants to express. After reading the ending, you immediately want to go back to the beginning and be struck by that sudden realization.
He had only read seventy thousand words, learned a bit about the ending, and now as he reread the beginning, he already had that feeling.
The former Mei Yuchen had truly returned. He was no longer the unsuccessful writer who could only write mindless romance novels. His writing had once again regained the power to captivate people.
Bai Sijun couldn’t help but feel a myriad of emotions. Even though his name hadn’t appeared on any book’s information page yet, for the first time, he felt that the job of an editor was so meaningful.
Mei Yuchen, sitting on the side of the couch, suddenly laughed, “What’s the matter? You look like you’re about to cry.”
Bai Sijun sniffed, suppressing the tumultuous emotions in his heart, and said to him, “It’s nothing, just… It’s just so good.”
Mei Yuchen lazily typed on his computer while Bai Sijun proofread on the other side of the couch. The only sound in the living room was the rhythmic tapping of the keyboard, and unconsciously, the outside view beyond the French windows was already covered by the night.
Summer nights grew dark late. Bai Sijun checked the time and realized it was already past eight. He stretched lazily and asked Mei Yuchen, “Are you hungry?”
“A bit,” Mei Yuchen closed his computer. “Do you want to cook, or should we order takeout?”
Bai Sijun flexed his fingers and asked, “How about scrambled eggs with rice?”
Mei Yuchen, with a slight smile, said, “Sure.”
Bai Sijun was much more leisurely than Mei Yuchen and had improved his cooking skills during this time. However, it was already late, and he was afraid Mei Yuchen would be hungry, so he made a simple dish of scrambled eggs with rice.
He remembered the scene of the first time he cooked scrambled eggs with rice for Mei Yuchen. At that time, he was still trying to convince himself that it was normal for him to touch him, and he shouldn’t think otherwise. However, in retrospect, it seemed that Mei Yuchen had set his sights on him since that time.
After dinner, the two returned to the sofa in the living room. Mei Yuchen lay lazily on Bai Sijun’s legs, digesting, while Bai Sijun massaged his fingers.
“Bai, you’re really too good,” Mei Yuchen, like a contented cat, hummed comfortably. “Without you, what would I do?”
Bai Sijun had never been good at responding to affectionate words. He dryly replied, “You’d still have to be self-reliant without me.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Mei Yuchen’s expression tightened. He pursed his lips and asked unhappily, “What about without me, have I made any impact?”
Bai Sijun’s finger-massaging movement paused for a moment. He hadn’t really thought about this question.
He imagined the scenario of him and Mei Yuchen reverting to their previous relationship. Mei Yuchen had brought new perspectives in his life. Work was no longer the only important thing in his life. And he found new perspectives about love as well.
“Yes,” Bai Sijun grabbed his hand, intertwining their fingers, and honestly said, “You have.”
The next moment, Bai Sijun suddenly felt the world spinning in his eyes. When he came to his senses, he was already pinned down on the couch.
“Bai, didn’t you want to know who pushed him down the stairs?” Mei Yuchen stared at him intently, his eyes revealing an unusual impatience.
Bai Sijun was stunned and instinctively replied, “Yes.”
“I’ll tell you now.” Mei Yuchen paused. “if….”
He said this, but his hands were not honest as they explored downwards. Bai Sijun pressed down Mei Yuchen’s hands, thinking that he really didn’t see through his little tricks just now. It was truly a miscalculation.
“Focus on writing your book.”
“I can’t wait.”
“Then finish your work first.”
Mei Yuchen didn’t gain any advantage from Bai Sijun. He lazily retreated to the other side of the sofa, and a pair of beautiful Phoenix eyes stared menacingly at Bai Sijun.
Bai Sijun was left staring numbly. Mei Yuchen had never looked at him with such eyes. He couldn’t help but reflect on whether he had gone too far. He tentatively asked, “Are you… blaming me?”
Mei Yuchen snorted, and resentfully replied, “I want you to taste this kind of feeling too.”
Bai Sijun raised an eyebrow with a puzzled look, “What feeling?”
Mei Yuchen said, “When the time comes, no matter how you beg me, ask me for it, I won’t give it to you.”
Bai Sijun sighed, his mouth twitching. He considered himself to have strong willpower, so he raised his eyebrows, provocatively retorting, “Let’s see if I’ll beg you.”
