Chapter 37: I'm starting to formally pursue you

Ye Yao knew that Lu Xun would go from acting gay to giving up for some time and that Lu Xun would do all sorts of things just to convince him that he was bent.

But Ye Yao had no idea that Lu Xun would move so quickly.

The next day, Ye Yao woke up to the smell of food. He got up from bed and looked down to see a pile of breakfast laid out on the table.

Everyone's desktop has one, but Ye Yao's is the most visible to the naked eye.

Xiao Pang, who also woke up to the smell of food, smiled so much that his eyes narrowed into slits: "Wow, who brought us breakfast? I can't repay you for your kindness, I'll just give my life to you!"

The washroom door was opened from the inside and Lu Xun's laughing voice rang out, "You don't have to give your life to me."

Ye Yao looked over and met Lu Xun's eyes, who winked at him, "After all, I can only accept one person's devotion to me, otherwise my heart would twinge and I wouldn't be able to breathe."

Ye Yao: "......"

What, after thinking he was gay too Lu Xun unblocked something, this familiar flirtation is back.

"Oh~ I understand, I understand, I understand," Xiao Pang was very agreeable and made a gesture of invitation to Ye Yao, "Brother Ye please! Please Brother Ye be the first to eat!"

Ye Yao was crying and laughing, he couldn't say in front of the whole dormitory that he wouldn't eat Lu Xun's food and make Lu Xun look bad, he would choose to talk about it when he was alone with Lu Xun. So he got out of bed and went to the washroom to brush his teeth and wash his face.

Ye Yao is halfway through washing his face when he hears the washroom door click shut. He moved the towel away from his eyes and saw Lu Xun standing next to him.

Lu Xun was half leaning on the edge of the washstand watching him wash his face, and when he spotted him, the corner of his mouth lifted into a smile, "They said the new and improved shrimp dumplings were delicious recently, so I bought you one to try."

There was no one else in the washroom, so Ye Yao lowered his voice and asked directly, "What are you doing?"

"What do you think?" Lu Xun clasped his hands together, "Ye students, you know, we're both gay, what can I do that's not evil?"

Ye Yao didn't say anything for the moment as he washed his face and towel and hung them up before turning to face Lu Xun.

"Do you remember, when we lived in high school, sometimes when I was late for school, you would get up early and go get me breakfast?" Ye Yao said, "Just like now, you also brought me the biggest portion."

It was years ago, and Ye Yao didn't really see the connection between the two events until he mentioned Lu Xun, but then it dawned on him: "No wonder I feel like this is a familiar operation, I've done it before."

Lu Xun doesn't remember much about his own shopping, but he does remember that not long ago he had a cold and fever and Ye Yao went to buy him medicine in the middle of the night.

Lu Xun told Ye Yao, who was stunned: "Did you? I don't remember much, it's a small thing like buying medicine."

"You don't remember going to buy your own medicine in the middle of the night, but you remember the breakfast I bought for you." Lu Xun's eyes tinted with laughter, "You're so double standard, I love it. I'm the same way, isn't that a coincidence, a natural pair?"

"......" Ye Yao's flirtation was still not as flirtatious as Lu Xun's, so he chose to get straight to the point, "Have you noticed that your various behaviours now are still similar to when we were friends? The relationship is still there and hasn't changed."

Ye Yao was convinced that Lu Xun was straight, so he thought the matter was clear. Whether it was during his previous straight days or during the period when Lu Xun now feels bent, Lu Xun is treating him in the same way, which proves that Lu Xun still subconsciously treats him as his best friend.

It can't be that Lu Xun has been bent for years and has liked him since his high school days, can it?

Ye Yao pats Lu Xun on the shoulder and leaves, Lu Xun stands in place for a moment. He goes over and wrings out Ye Yao's towel to make it drier and hangs it up.

How can it be the same? Best friend turned best boyfriend, logical and natural!

Ye Yao doesn't believe in it now, but that's okay, he'll get Ye Yao to believe in it over time.

*

On Monday, everyone started their regular classes.

Unlike winter, this season of spring is more prone to rain.

It was the end of school in the morning, but the sudden rain trapped many people in the school building.

The girls who were in the habit of carrying umbrellas with them happily left with their little sisters, while the gents who were not in the habit of carrying umbrellas for shade were more stuck in place.

"I saw the weather forecast and it's not raining today?" Wen Ke looked out with a sad face, "It hasn't rained for three or four days before, the weather is fine, why is it raining just like that?"

Ye Yao Yao looked up at the sky which had become overcast during the lesson: "I wonder how long it will rain."

As time passed, Ye Yao and Xiao Pang watched as many guys with girlfriends, or girls with boyfriends, were picked up by their dates with umbrellas, while the three single dogs huddled around them.

"How come I don't have a girlfriend to pick me up!" Xiao Pang lamented.

Wen Ke, who had his head down on his phone, quietly moved behind Xiao Pang, poked him on the shoulder and whispered, "Brother Lu has put umbrellas upstairs for both of us, so we can go up and get them."

"Huh?" Xiao Pang was stunned and also hurriedly lowered his voice to make a secret exchange with Wen Ke, "What about Ye Yao?"

Wen Ke pushed up his glasses and his eyes were full of hatred, "Are you stupid, Ye Yao will of course be picked up by Brother Lu himself!"

Xiao Pang instantly understood and looked back around the corner to the stairs where he saw Lu Xun waiting with his head halfway out.

They didn't have a girlfriend to pick them up, but Ye Yao did have a boyfriend to pick them up.

This little love affair really gets under his skin sometimes.

Xiao Pang immediately hooked Wen Ke's neck: "I think I saw my goddess upstairs, I'll go and try to talk to her! Wen Ke, go and give me courage, if the rain stops, Ye Yao, you go first and don't wait for us!"

Ye Yao responded and continued to wait alone for the rain to stop.

Or else he could just dash back when the rain let up and change out of his wet clothes when he got back to the hostel?

Alone, waiting for the rain to stop, the young man in white has a picturesque brow. Not far from him several girls jostle, and finally one of them gathers the courage to stand out and walk up to him.

The girl's cheeks blushed slightly: "Classmate, did you not bring an umbrella, I ...... I'll give you a ride?"

Ye Yao froze and then smiled, "Thank you, but someone has come to bring me an umbrella, so don't bother."

The girls return disappointed and Ye Yao continues to wait for the rain to stop.

The umbrella was, of course, an off-the-cuff lie told by Ye Yao.

It's not that we can't call Lu Xun. Lu Xun has no classes for the last two periods of the day and should be in the dormitory. But this building is remote, the dormitory building is a really long distance to here, the weather is not good for cycling, the school bus is also overcrowded, you can walk close to half an hour.

Asking the errand boy to buy an umbrella for him was much more convenient than having Lu Xun deliver it, and he didn't want to bother Lu Xun too much for various reasons.

Let's wait a little longer, maybe the rain will stop later.

A low male voice sounded behind him, "Classmate, did you not bring your umbrella, let me walk you to the dormitory."

Ye Yao subconsciously shook his head, "No, thanks-"

Before he could finish his words of thanks, the man came up behind him, "No chance really? I'll ask again in a minute then."

Ye Yao: "......"

With this familiar sassy way of speaking, Ye Yao would be foolish not to recognise who this man is.

His heart tightening, he turned his head to Lu Xun and asked softly, "What brings you here?"

Lu Xun raised an eyebrow: "I didn't even send you a message asking if you had an umbrella, so I must have come straight over, is there any need for doubt, who do you take me for?"

Ye Yao suddenly realised, " Xiao Pang, they were also sent away by you, right?"

Lu Xun spun the umbrella on the ground and said in a serious manner, "As the saying goes, there are 36 ways to love, but being alone is the best-"

Ye Yao was once again defeated by the thickness of his skin. He didn't let Lu Xun finish his sentence, he picked up his umbrella and held it up, pulling Lu Xun into the rain and mist, away from the crowd.

"Are you completely unaffected by talking slutty in public?" Ye Yao couldn't really resist asking.

"Just expressing myself as I please." Lu Xun is pleased with himself as he tries to take the umbrella from Ye Yao's hand, but Ye Yao doesn't let go.

Lu Xun had come all this way to give him an umbrella, so he shouldn't have put Lu Xun through the trouble of holding it.

"If you don't let go, then I'll just hold your hand." Lu Xun didn't back down, "You know I'm dying to hold it, so if you don't let go I'll just take it as a yes."

Ye Yao: "......"

Lu Xun reached his hand out again and this time Ye Yao let go.

The raindrops kept hitting the surface of the umbrella, making a snapping sound. The world beyond the umbrella is cut off by the rain, a heavy mist separates them from the rest of the world, and the only thing that is not cut off is the space between the two of them inside the umbrella.

Ye Yao did not speak as he noticed that the umbrella was slowly tilting in his direction.

The umbrella wasn't small, but it was still difficult to completely envelop two grown men, not to mention the fact that they weren't even walking shoulder-to-shoulder, leaving a gap in between.

With the umbrella tilted like this, the rain would have drenched most of Lu Xun's other shoulder.

Ye Yao pushed the tilted umbrella back, but after a short while it tilted again and he had to reach up and take hold of the pole above the handle and apply pressure to push the umbrella through again.

An umbrella is pushed back and forth between the two men, and Lu Xun reluctantly puts it in the middle.

"You're going to get wet like that, don't you know?" Lu Xun said.

"You'll do that too." Ye Yao replied.

"Why? You care about me." Lu Xun curled his lips, "I feel bad for getting you wet, but you feel bad for getting me wet too?"

How can you not be heartbroken?

Ye Yao did not say the words, and he pursed his lips.

No one is ever unhappy when their beloved cares for them, and he was naturally happy and secretly touched by Lu Xun's gesture. If Lu Xun were his boyfriend, he would probably hold Lu Xun's hand and let Lu Xun put his arm around his shoulders to narrow the distance between them, so that the umbrella would be big enough to hold them.

But to be honest, when they both used to be straight men as friends, they got along pretty much the same way.

From so many previous tries, he really couldn't believe that Lu Xun would bend so easily.

Lu Xun is so disgusted by homosexuality that if this is all a disguise, Lu Xun, who pretends to be bent, will be in pain. If he says yes because he is tempted to try, Lu Xun will obviously suffer twice as much when further contact takes place.

And in order to maintain their relationship, Lu Xun will most likely choose to force a smile and pretend he likes it.

He didn't want that to happen.

He didn't want to make Lu Xun suffer by just being happy with himself.

Ye Yao frowned, looking a bit like he didn't know what to say. Lu Xun grunted, and instead of taking Ye Yao back to the dormitory, he turned off to the side and into a small wooded area.

No one would come out on a rainy day, everyone was in a hurry to get back to their dormitories and it was easy to find a place to talk quietly, and there was no one in these small woods.

"What's the point of coming here?" Ye Yao queried.

Lu Xun said mysteriously, "There is something good here."

He led Ye Yao inside to a large bush of flowers in full bloom.

"I spent almost a class looking for this ground, beautiful, isn't it?" Lu Xun narrows his eyes.

"Beautiful, enjoying the flowers in the rain, Brother Lu is so elegant." Ye Yao said, "Do you still want to write a poem?"

Lu Xun shook his head a little: "It's not impossible, but I have something more important to say to you, and although I think you already know it, the ritual is still necessary."

Ye Yao's heart stirred slightly and he turned his head, moving his eyes from the flowers to Lu Xun's face and saw the seriousness in his eyes.

Lu Xun spoke clearly, word for word, as he looked into Ye Yao's eyes, "I've officially started courting you, Ye Yao."

The raindrops hitting the umbrellas and the leaves did not prevent the words from reaching Ye Yao's ears.

He looked steadily at Lu Xun and listened to this bold and passionate statement of pursuit.

Lu Xun hooked his lips into a smile, "I'm not a decent person, I won't ask for your permission to chase you about this. Since you don't believe me, you might as well take this time to see if it's true or not."

Lu Xun leaned forward slightly, dropped his head and whispered in Ye Yao's ear, "Ye Yao is so smart, he must be able to tell if I am sincere or not, right?"

Ye Yao looked slightly sideways and saw the aggressive look in Lu Xun's eyes at that moment, and felt his heart beat at the same time.

He knows he should stay away from Lu Xun, but he also knows he simply cannot.

Unlike in the past, Lu Xun is now determined to cling to him as long as he has no intention of breaking up with him for good.

He could only soldier on.

Ye Yao whispered, "I wish."

*

Ye Yao and Lu Xun are back on the main road back to the hostel.

Ye Yao's opinion on the matter of chasing people would not affect Lu Xun's actions in any way, so Ye Yao did not throw cold water on the matter.

"I know what you're worried about, and I'll make you forget about that him." Lu Xun spoke of this, his face clouded again and he began to gnash his teeth.

Ye Yao: "......"

Does Lu Xun even know that he is pursuing someone he is interested in?

One man rode past them on his bicycle in the rain. He raised his hand to wipe the water from his eyes, and with his other hand he lost his grip and skidded into a puddle, making a splash.

The water splashed straight towards Ye Yao and Lu Xun, who reacted quickly and stepped in front of Ye Yao.

In the past, Lu Xun would have held Ye Yao directly in front of him, but now he has changed his approach and is just holding him back without making physical contact with Ye Yao.

The boy on the bike got off and came over in a panic: "Ah, sorry sorry sorry, I didn't mean to, I didn't expect it to slip suddenly, I'll wash this jacket for you?"

"Forget it." Lu Xun said.

When the boy apologised again and left, Lu Xun took off his jacket and looked at it, which was stained.

Lu Xun said deeply, "This is a medal of love that I left behind to protect someone."

Ye Yao couldn't resist tearing it down: "Your medals will be gone as soon as you wash them with water."

"Hmph, what a poisonous mouth, I like it." Lu Xun laughed coldly.

Ye Yao was speechless, and in order to prevent Lu Xun from catching a cold, Ye Yao took off his coat and offered it to Lu Xun, who refused it harshly.

Lu Xun emphasises, "I only wear the jacket my boyfriend gives me."

Ye Yao took his hand back, "...... don't wear it and pull it out."

As Lu Xun is still wearing a thicker layer, Ye Yao picks up his pace and hopes to reach the hostel as soon as possible.

Halfway down the road, Lu Xun spoke again, "I didn't just hug you."

Ye Yao: "...... I know."

"In the past, when I held hands and hugged you, I was acting as a friend." Lu Xun said. Lu Xun said, "In the future, when I hold hands and hug you, my position is that of your suitor, asking for your mercy and looking forward to further development with you, do you understand?"