Brother, you smell good - 41

 

| BYSG | He Said It Himself | 41

After sending the message, Shen Yu saw that the other side instantly showed "Typing...", but the reply still didn't come.

He wasn't sure if there would be a reply at all, and it was possible that he might be blocked and deleted without any further communication.

Shen Yu didn't mind and wasn't in a hurry. He casually turned off his phone screen and put it into his pocket.

His goal had been achieved, and he would just take it step by step from there.

At lunchtime, Cheng Mofei repeated the question like a broken record, "What did you guys talk about?"

Shen Yu, with food in his mouth, answered vaguely, "It's over."

Cheng Mofei asked, "What?"

Shen Yu replied, "I made things clear with her, and we won't be in contact anymore."

Cheng Mofei responded with an "Oh," purely thinking that Shen Yu wasn't interested in her, and felt quite happy about it. He comforted him, saying, "It's fine, these things should come naturally."

Shen Yu nodded.

He knew that things couldn’t just flow naturally between him and Cheng Mofei; he had to keep taking action.

That evening, while Cheng Mofei went out for a meal with friends, Shen Yu went to the library to study.

In the afternoon, the girl replied to Shen Yu's message: [It's fine, it's fine. You're already the third gay person I've approached. Do I have some kind of special constitution...? [Crying]]

Shen Yu couldn’t help but laugh.

That was just too tragic. No wonder it took her so long to reply. Anyone would probably break down after something like that.

Shen Yu sent her a cute hamster head-pat sticker that he “borrowed” from Cheng Mofei.

The girl replied: [It’s okay! We can still be good sisters! [Happy]]

Shen Yu: “......”

Well, that wasn’t necessary.

The library study room was exceptionally quiet at night, with only the sounds of pen tips scratching paper and pages turning in books.

Shen Yu sat in his reserved spot, casually opening a book before putting on his headphones and fiddling with his phone.

He moved the blue app he had recently downloaded to the most prominent spot on his phone’s home screen.

Although he had realized his sexual orientation a long time ago, he had never actively sought out a partner. He had lost all hope in love and family due to his own upbringing, so he had no desire for either. 

His sexual orientation hadn’t really affected him at that point.

This was also his first time using this kind of app.

After registering and logging in, Shen Yu, out of curiosity, casually browsed through the app.

Not sure what he clicked, he suddenly received a message from a stranger: 【So close, college student? Want to hook up?】

Shen Yu furrowed his brows and quickly exited the app.

……

On the other side, after finishing their meal, a group of people headed to a KTV bar.

Although Cheng Mofei didn’t have much artistic talent, his mother was a music teacher, and he had grown up surrounded by music, so he sang pretty well.

After receiving Cheng Mofei’s message about going to KTV, Shen Yu, who was sitting in the library, rested his chin on his hand and smiled as he typed: 【Record a clip for me to listen to.】

Soon enough, Cheng Mofei sent him an audio clip.

Shen Yu immediately adjusted the volume on his headphones, eagerly but nervously pressing play.

He had no idea what kind of recording Cheng Mofei would send.

The headphones played: “Brother, give me a hug, tell me what’s on your mind…”

Immediately after, Cheng Mofei sent a hamster hug sticker.

Shen Yu: “……”

His silence was deafening.

Cheng Mofei replied: 【I specially requested this song for you, are you touched?】

Shen Yu, with a blank expression, typed: 【So touched.】

Cheng Mofei: 【I’ll give you a hug when I get back.】

Shen Yu: 【^ ^】

"Who are you chatting with? You’re smiling like a flower. Could it be that something’s going on?" Someone next to Cheng Mofei tapped him on the shoulder.

Cheng Mofei glanced at him and grinned, "My good brother, Shen Yu."

Bang! Crash!

The sound of a glass falling suddenly rang out.

"Old Cao, are you okay?"

"Press the service bell and get someone to come clean this up."

"Are you hurt?"

Cheng Mofei's gaze shifted toward the sound, and he quickly grabbed some napkins to wipe off the spilled alcohol from the person’s clothes.

"...I'm fine, I'm fine. I’m just going to the bathroom for a moment," Cao Hong hurriedly stood up and went straight to the bathroom.

He was the one who had introduced that girl to Shen Yu.

That girl was like a little sister to Cao Hong, someone from his hometown with whom he had a bit of a familial connection. They had a good relationship.

When he heard that she had feelings for Shen Yu, as her older brother, he naturally wanted to play matchmaker.

Tonight’s dinner wasn’t limited to just the basketball team members; there were also some other friends and classmates. Cao Hong had originally planned to invite the girl and Shen Yu to the same gathering to create an opportunity for them to interact.

But she turned him down.

She said there was no chance with Shen Yu, and that she had “won the lottery again.”

When he saw this message, his eyelids twitched. She had previously shared with him the painful experience of two guys she liked turning out to be gay. The phrase “won the lottery again” could only be referring to this situation.

After confirming with her multiple times, she finally gave him a definite answer—yes, Shen Yu was gay.

She asked him not to tell anyone about this matter, even though Shen Yu hadn't explicitly asked her to keep it a secret. 

Since he was willing to confide in someone he wasn’t very familiar with, it seemed like he didn’t really care about others knowing. Still, it was his personal business.

Cao Hong had no intention of telling anyone.

But...

He had known Cheng Mofei for over a year, and frequently played basketball together. 

Their relationship wasn't particularly close, but it wasn’t bad either. He had long been aware of Cheng Mofei's homophobia.

Cheng Mofei definitely didn't know about Shen Yu’s sexual orientation, or else he wouldn't have treated him as such a good friend.

As for Shen Yu, Cao Hong wasn’t sure. Either he had no ill intentions and simply saw Cheng Mofei as a friend, or he was a gay man pretending to be straight in order to deliberately get close to Cheng Mofei.

If it was the former, then fine. If it was the latter...

The whole night, Cao Hong had been somewhat distracted, wrestling with this thought, unsure of what to do.

—Should he tell Cheng Mofei about Shen Yu’s sexual orientation?

It wasn’t until he saw the earlier scene that Cao Hong couldn’t hold back any longer.

He had been sitting close to Cheng Mofei, and he saw him play the song "Brother, give me a hug" to record a message for someone on the other end. 

At first, Cao Hong couldn't be sure if it was Shen Yu on the other side. Maybe it was another friend of Cheng Mofei’s? 

But then Cheng Mofei confirmed it himself.

That was when Cao Hong couldn’t hold back anymore.

Cheng Mofei considered Shen Yu such a good friend. No matter what the reason was for Shen Yu’s actions, he shouldn’t be hiding his sexual orientation from Cheng Mofei.

Cao Hong turned on the faucet, splashed his face with cold water, and returned to the KTV private room.

The service staff had already cleaned up the broken glass and tidied the floor.

He went straight to Cheng Mofei.

"Old Cheng, come here for a second. There's something I need to tell you."

Cheng Mofei, looking doubtful, stood up and followed him to a corner at the end of the KTV room.

Cheng Mofei asked, "What’s up?” He was acting all mysterious.

Could it be related to Shen Yu and that girl? Didn’t Shen Yu already make things clear with her and end it? 

Was she still not giving up?

Once they were sure they were alone, Cao Hong didn’t waste any time and asked directly, “Do you know that Shen Yu is gay?”

Cheng Mofei’s expression instantly hardened, and his voice no longer had its usual easygoing tone. “What nonsense are you talking about? Who told you that Shen Yu is gay?”

Meng Feng had already been "dealt with," and Cao Hong had easily gathered evidence of his illegal activities. He was now in prison, trying to reform himself, and wouldn’t be out for years.

But there was still a possibility that someone else might try to smear Shen Yu...

This was the first time Cao Hong had seen Cheng Mofei like this. He knew Cheng Mofei was probably angry, but hadn’t directed it at him, which showed how much he valued Shen Yu. 

It was clear that Shen Yu had made a huge mistake by hiding this from him.

“Shen Yu said it himself,” 

"He told you?"

"No, he told my little sister, the girl who added him on WeChat on the first day of the basketball game."

"Where's the chat history?"

"Here, you can take a look for yourself."

Cheng Mofei’s chest rose and fell as he took the phone, his fingers trembling slightly as he opened the chat history.

【Sorry, there’s something I’ve been thinking about, and I’ve decided it’s better to be honest with you. Actually, I don’t like girls.】

Cheng Mofei’s grip on the phone tightened, his fingers turning white from the force, almost as if he was about to crush it.

Cao Hong said, "Now you believe me, right?"

So Shen Yu really had said that he had made things clear with her, and he won’t contact her again. So that was how it was said.

Suddenly, Cheng Mofei seemed to realize something, his gaze lifting from the phone screen. 

Eagerly, he spoke up, "What if... this is just an excuse to reject her? He’s someone who doesn’t know how to say no, and in a moment of panic, he just made up an excuse like this."

Cao Hong sighed, feeling somewhat helpless. Although there was a slight chance that Cheng Mofei’s theory could be true, it was incredibly unlikely—almost zero. He still leaned more toward the idea that this wasn’t just an excuse, but the truth.

However, it was understandable that Cheng Mofei didn’t want to believe it.

Cao Hong knew that saying more wouldn’t help, so he sighed and suggested, "You can ask him directly."

He didn’t want to ruin the relationship between the two of them; he just didn’t want someone as homophobic as Cheng Mofei to remain in the dark about something like this.

Cheng Mofei didn’t say anything more. He handed the phone back to Cao Hong and left in a daze.

He didn’t return to the private room, but instead left the KTV altogether.

The cold night air gave him a headache.

He lifted his hand and patted his head, trying to shake off everything he had just heard and seen, but it was in vain.

The more he tried, the clearer it became.

He really didn’t want to confront Shen Yu about this.

They were good brothers, and there shouldn’t be any lack of basic trust between them, nor should there be any doubts.

But that chat history had become a hurdle for him.

Besides confronting Shen Yu, he couldn’t think of any other way to deal with it.

Feeling frustrated, Cheng Mofei found a nearby place to sit, and after thinking for a while, he pulled out his phone and started searching—"How to tell if someone around you is gay."

At least... if he could find more "evidence," he would be fully prepared to confront Shen Yu, knowing he had everything in hand.

There were quite a few people asking similar questions online, and many answers were given.

Cheng Mofei carefully read through each one.

【Look at selfies. Gay men and straight men have very different selfie habits. The type where they pose with white socks showing in a seductive way—those are definitely gay.】

Shen Yu didn’t take many selfies, and he rarely posted on his Moments.

【Gay people generally have very good relationships with girls, they often having many female friends.】

Shen Yu didn’t have any close female friends or "sisters" like that.

【Check if they have any dating apps on their phone, like Little Blue, Little Red, etc. Something like this [image].】

This one Cheng Mofei hadn’t noticed before.

A phone was a more private thing and could reveal a lot of secrets.

But Cheng Mofei didn’t know Shen Yu’s lock screen password, and even if he did, it would be wrong to open his phone without permission.

How could he find a legitimate reason to look at Shen Yu’s phone...?

Cheng Mofei’s gaze wandered, then fell back on his own phone.

He had an idea.

Without hesitation, Cheng Mofei slammed his phone screen against the protruding rock.

Bang. 

Crack.

Perfect.

The screen went black, and it wouldn’t turn on anymore.

Cheng Mofei strode towards the direction of the school.

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