WHBU Chapter 2

Chapter 2 – Ex-boyfriend

Novel Title: 我们已经分手了 (We Have Broken Up)

Author：御小凡 (Yu Xiaofan)

Translator: K (@kin0monogatari)

Protagonists: 刘帆 (Liu Fan -MC), 陈谦 (Chen Qian -ML)

*Please read at Novels Space.space, the original site of translation. TQ*

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The person glanced at them, closed the car door, and walked over.

Liu Fan thought; who the hell is this?

This must be Chen Qian. He was wearing a white shirt and trousers, with sleeves rolled up to the elbows, revealing strong, muscular forearms. He wore a watch on his wrist. His outfit was simple and understated. Yet he had a tall, broad-shouldered frame. It was evident through his clothes that he had a firm waist and a straight back—a typical successful person’s demeanour.

Standing next to Yu Huilin, if one looked like an insurance salesman, the other looked like an insurance buyer.

He walked at a leisurely pace. But his long legs quickly brought him to them. Yu Huilin, perhaps intimidated by his aura or just naturally friendly, glanced at his watch and said, “Chen Qian, you’re here. We’ve been waiting for a few more of you. The private room is on the third floor. You can go up with Liu Fan.”

Chen Qian raised an eyebrow to show he heard. But he didn’t acknowledge Liu Fan at all. He brushed past him to head to the elevator in the lobby.

Liu Fan instinctively wanted to greet him but felt ignored, leaving him puzzled as he followed behind. Fortunately, Liu Fan’s legs were not short. So he wasn’t left too far behind. The elevator opened just as he reached it, and he entered together with Chen Qian.

The elevator was lavishly decorated, exuding a strong sense of opulence. With only the two of them inside, Liu Fan felt the atmosphere was extremely awkward. He considered whether to greet Chen Qian again. But when he looked up, he met Chen Qian’s gaze in the mirrored walls.

Ding.

The elevator door opened. Chen Qian strode out without a backward glance. The private room already had quite a few people seated. Yu Huilin hadn’t exaggerated—this time, a lot of people had shown up. Although most of their high school classmates were locals, it wasn’t easy to gather everyone even though many stayed in the city after college.

“Liu Fan!” As soon as Liu Fan entered, he was grabbed by someone. “Where have you been all these years? We’ve been trying to find you but couldn’t.”

“I went to City B to further my studies!” Liu Fan, with his sharp eyes, spotted a lot of White Rabbit candies on the coffee table and wanted to go over there.

“We wanted to get you out for a basketball game. But when we asked around, you were out of town. Damn, you didn’t even come back during the holidays.” Huang Xiaolong, in his usual carefree manner, slapped Liu Fan on the back and put an arm around his neck. “Speaking of which, Chen Qian also… Oh! Chen Qian!”

Huang Xiaolong was the captain of the high school basketball team. Anyone who played basketball in school was like a brother to him. He acted like a big brother, taking care of the group. Chen Qian didn’t treat Huang Xiaolong with the same disregard he showed Yu Huilin. He nodded at him.

“Come sit, come sit.” Huang Xiaolong pulled Liu Fan down onto the sofa and, with a wave of his arm, a crowd gathered around them. His high school charisma was still intact.

Chen Qian silently took a seat on a chair at the edge of the sofa. His expression was stern. His eyes showed either a hint of melancholy or impatience, but at least he wasn’t being rude.

Stealing a few glances with the corner of his eye, Liu Fan couldn’t help but marvel. He had to admit that people do grow up.

The Chen Qian he remembered wasn’t like this.

In high school, Chen Qian had a bad temper and was too good with his hands, often getting involved in fights. The bathrooms, the playground, the hallways, even the library bore witness to his battles. There were also so-called ‘big brothers’ from outside trying to recruit him. But Chen Qian had no interest. He found it all annoying, never showing mercy when fighting. But high school was the peak of youthful impulsiveness. Everyone kept provoking him, losing repeatedly, but still challenging him.

As Liu Fan would say, “You just have a face that invites trouble. You looked too aggressive.”

Chen Qian’s troublemaking was a constant headache for the homeroom teacher. But fortunately, he never got involved with outsiders. So calling his parents in was the extent of the consequences.

So, every time Chen Qian got into a fight with a classmate at school, he would also end up fighting with his father when he got home. With his spiky hair, he never wore his school uniform properly. He looked like a lion that hadn’t yet marked its territory, full of aggression. In school, the only one who dared to hang out with him was Liu Fan.

Who would have thought he’d turn out like this now. He was dressed impeccably, wearing a diamond watch, sitting there with a cool, brooding demeanour. And he was actually pulling it off quite well.

While Liu Fan was thinking this, he reached for yet another White Rabbit candy. The table was already littered with candy wrappers from the ones he’d eaten.

The conversation was lively, with some people clearly keeping in regular touch and asking deeper questions. “You’re getting married by the end of the year?”

“Pretty much, trying to get it done before the New Year. You all better be there.”

During a break in his candy eating, Liu Fan glanced at the speaker. Oh, it was Feng Xu.

Huang Xiaolong shifted the topic back to Liu Fan. “Where are you working now, Liu Fan? What are you doing?”

“I’m a copywriter at a design company,” Liu Fan replied.

“Never figured you had a knack for writing.” Huang Xiaolong turned his head and asked, “What about you, Chen Qian? At least we knew Liu Fan went out of town for school. You disappeared completely. Where did you strike it rich?”

The group’s attention instantly shifted to Chen Qian, who, by the looks of it, was doing quite well for himself. As expected, he said, “I didn’t go anywhere. I just stayed in City C. I’ve started a small company.”

“Whoa! You’re a boss now.” Feng Xu joked, “Can we rely on you, Mr. Chen?”

“Just a small business, nothing worth mentioning,” Chen Qian said. “I hope everyone can support me whenever possible.”

Amidst the laughter and lively exchanges, everyone began swapping business cards. Soon, business cards were flying everywhere. Liu Fan, meanwhile, silently sucked on his candy, feeling somewhat perplexed.

… Who is this guy?

Time really was a sculptor’s knife, transforming a little troublemaker into a handsome and successful man.

Liu Fan couldn’t help but marvel at the change. Just then, a business card was delicately presented to him between two slender fingers. He followed the fingers up to their owner.

Hmm, nice watch indeed.

Seeing Liu Fan glance over, Chen Qian raised an eyebrow slightly and casually asked, “Don’t recognize me anymore?”

The question was asked as if he hadn’t just ignored Liu Fan earlier.

“Come on, how could I forget?” Liu Fan brushed it off, taking the card and reading it aloud: “Fanyu Cultural Communication Co., Ltd.”

General Manager, Chen Qian.

“Cultural communication?” Liu Fan tucked the card into his pocket. “You’re quite the cultured man now, Mr. Chen.”

“What culture? I’m just selling ad space. You guys are the ones playing with pens,” Chen Qian replied casually. After a moment’s pause and seeing Liu Fan take the card without any further reaction, his brow furrowed slightly. But he quickly relaxed and asked nonchalantly, “So, you’re at a design company? What kind of design work do you do?”

“I help other companies with things like designing their corporate identity, VI… You know, logos, promotional brochures, and website PPTs. All that stuff can be done separately,” Liu Fan explained. This job was actually quite frustrating. Clients always wanted something high-end and classy. But often the more they revised according to their ideas, the more it turned out to be like a mess. Liu Fan often found himself consoling Liu Mengjiao after she worked overtime and countless revisions, only to hear the client say, “Let’s just stick with the first version.”

Liu Mengjiao had seriously considered flipping tables and storming out with a knife in hand. But Liu Fan always managed to hold her back. While she might not resort to violence, she was certainly fierce enough to take on the clients.

Being a designer was tough indeed. Fortunately, working on copywriting in the design company seemed a bit easier. Liu Fan often thanked his lucky stars he wasn’t in design. Otherwise, he might have been driven mad. But copywriting had its own challenges; it wasn’t easy either.

“VI design?” Chen Qian pondered for a moment. He had a habit of slightly pursing his lips when thinking. It was a habit that hadn’t changed since childhood. His lips, a bit thicker than Liu Fan’s, gave his face a more distinct outline when he did this, making him look warm and approachable.

… What a mess!

Liu Fan chuckled wryly and suppressed the thoughts that popped into his head.

Blame it on their long-standing familiarity.

He and Chen Qian had a classic childhood friendship. They were neighbours when they lived in the old house areas, inseparable on the same street. Even after the city’s redevelopment moved them to different neighbourhoods, they still hung out together every day. Somehow, what started as a good friendship eventually turned into a romantic relationship.

Two naturally gay guys meeting so early in life—it was fate. But that was all in the past now. After all, they had broken up a long time ago.

Chen Qian didn’t notice the wild horses galloping in Liu Fan’s mind and continued, “How about this? Give me your business card. Our company is actually looking to do exactly that kind of thing. Why go elsewhere when we can work with your company?”

Liu Fan hadn’t expected that a class reunion could lead to a potential business deal. It was unexpected. It reminded him that he had received a business card but hadn’t exchanged one himself, which might have been a bit rude. But he was just an office-bound copywriter; his company hadn’t provided him with business cards.

“Sorry, I don’t have a business card. Can I just give you my phone number?”

Chen Qian showed a hint of disdainful dissatisfaction, pausing for a moment before reluctantly nodding. “Alright, I’ll have my assistant contact you.”

“Okay,” Liu Fan said, looking around for a pen but unable to find any paper. Chen Qian calmly handed him another business card, indicating he could write on the back.

Huang Xiaolong casually observed their interaction and chuckled, “You two have been inseparable since high school. It’s nice to see you’re still close.”

“We were young and didn’t know better back then. We enjoyed our little clique,” Chen Qian replied politely, putting Liu Fan’s card with his phone number back into his cardholder. He then subtly distanced himself from Liu Fan, “It’s been a long time since Liu Fan and I saw each other again.”

Liu Fan felt a pang of sadness hearing this. After all these years of friendship, it hurt to hear him act like they were strangers now. But Chen Qian wasn’t wrong; they hadn’t seen each other in a long time, and their past conflicts were irreparable. Liu Fan’s greatest strength was his forgiving nature—he only held a grudge once in his life. Right after high school, he quickly moved past it. There was no need to dwell on past conflicts. He nodded in agreement, “Yeah, it’s true. This is the first time we’ve met since graduation. Without this reunion, we probably wouldn’t have met again in our lifetimes. Hahaha.”

Chen Qian: “……”

Huang Xiaolong, with his peculiar sense of humour, led the way, “Why talk nonsense? We all gathered here as classmates. How could we never see each other for a lifetime? Hahahahaha.” Others joined in laughing. And as they laughed, it seemed genuinely funny, turning the atmosphere into a joyful ocean.

Only Chen Qian sat there with a dark expression. He looked quite out of place. Finally, he managed to squeeze out a fitting response, “Heh.”

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*Author’s Note:

Chen Qian: “Heh.”

Liu Fan: “?????”

Sometimes, facing someone as forgiving and straightforward as Liu Fan, you just have to be direct with any grievances, Mr. Chen.

-Yu Xiaofan

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*Translator’s Note: From what I remember, CQ is still in love with LF. It’s just that he was sulking all this time and LF never came back to coax him. For years!!! LF is really a simple-minded person so he left it all behind. Again. Without proper communication, all relationships fall apart. *sighs* -K

*GLOSSARY: