Brother, you smell good - 43

 

| BYSG | Warm | 43

Cheng Mofei unconsciously swallowed and quickly replied, "You go first."

Shen Yu didn’t bother to be polite and spoke directly, "I want the post about us on the school forum to be deleted."

He didn’t go straight to the point but approached it step by step, first bringing up another topic.

Hearing this, Cheng Mofei’s heart sank.

Of course—if Shen Yu was gay, he definitely wouldn’t tolerate that post remaining.

Shen Yu was giving him a hint, and testing him.

Thinking carefully, Shen Yu’s decision to come out to that girl was also a subtle way of giving him a hint—

That girl might tell Cao Hong, and Cao Hong might tell him.

Shen Yu had calculated everything perfectly.

He was revealing the truth to him in such a gentle way.

Because Cheng Mofei was homophobic. He would never be friends with a gay person, and he had even told Shen Yu countless times that he would stay away from them, even advising Shen Yu to do the same.

Shen Yu had already been making a special effort to consider his emotions and feelings.

Some time ago, Shen Yu’s sudden coldness was most likely because of this.

After struggling with it, Shen Yu still decided to try telling him the truth—he didn’t want to keep it from him anymore.

That also meant Shen Yu really didn’t want to lose him as a friend.

That night, under the umbrella in the rain, he had asked Shen Yu if something was wrong. Shen Yu had said he wasn’t ready to talk about it yet and would tell him later.

And now, the time has come.

"Okay," Cheng Mofei heard himself say. "I’ll contact the forum administrator later to have it deleted."

Shen Yu responded with a soft "mm." 

He had initially planned that if Cheng Mofei asked why he suddenly wanted the post removed, he would take the opportunity to come out to him. But unexpectedly, Cheng Mofei agreed so readily without asking anything.

Left with no choice, Shen Yu tossed the question back: "Do you have something you want to say to me?"

"You…" Cheng Mofei’s throat felt dry and uncomfortable, as if an invisible rope was tightening around his neck, making it hard to breathe, let alone speak. 

His whole body felt off—especially his stomach. He had eaten too much tonight, drank alcohol, and been chilled by the night air. Ever since throwing up earlier, he had been feeling a dull discomfort.

After a long pause, Cheng Mofei stammered, “Just ignore those messages.”

Shen Yu: “?”

Cheng Mofei gripped his arm tightly, his expression serious. “Those gays are no good. Don’t let them fool you.”

Shen Yu: “……”

Now it was completely certain that Cheng Mofei had seen the messages from that app.

But… his reaction was a little strange.

Could Cheng Mofei really not tell that he was also gay? 

Did he actually think he had downloaded that app purely out of curiosity?

Cheng Mofei always managed to be clueless in the weirdest ways. Shen Yu figured this might just be another one of those moments.

Not bothering to hint at it anymore, Shen Yu stated plainly, “I’m also gay. I like men. I’ve been this way before I met you.”

Hearing those words from Shen Yu at last, Cheng Mofei, who had already prepared himself for this, wasn’t surprised at all. Instead, he let out a breath of relief.

He really didn’t want to confront Shen Yu. Even with the truth right in front of him, he didn’t want Shen Yu to feel like he was doubting him. 

No matter what happened, he wanted to stand by his brother unconditionally.

Shen Yu taking the initiative to confess was a huge relief.

Cheng Mofei let go of him, as if all the tension had drained from his body, and leaned against the sink. “I know… Cao Hong told me tonight why you turned that girl down.”

That actually surprised Shen Yu.

So Cheng Mofei had already known about his sexuality earlier in the evening, yet he hadn’t resisted his hug when they returned to the dorm? 

He had even hugged him back.

Did he throw up just because of those messages on the app? Or was it also because of him?

To be fair, those messages had made even Shen Yu feel nauseous. If not for wanting Cheng Mofei to find out about his sexuality, he would have uninstalled the app long ago.

Gathering his courage, Shen Yu asked, “Since you already know… don’t you have anything else to say? I hid it from you for so long, are you really not mad?”

Cheng Mofei, his head spinning a little, only caught onto the word “mad.” He let out a short, cold laugh. “I’m angry to death.”

“I’m sorry.” Shen Yu lowered his head, not daring to meet his eyes. No matter the reason, lying and keeping secrets had been wrong.

Cheng Mofei: “How could they send you those kinds of messages?”

Shen Yu was stunned for a moment and looked up in confusion.

Wasn’t Cheng Mofei focusing on the wrong thing?

Just as Shen Yu lifted his gaze, Cheng Mofei suddenly rested his head on his shoulder, chuckling softly. His voice was muffled against Shen Yu’s ear.

“Did you really think I wouldn’t treat you as my brother anymore? Do you think I’m that kind of person? Wasn’t it you who said, ‘A person’s character isn’t determined by their sexuality’? We’ve known each other for so long, we’re so close—don’t I already know what kind of person you are? …How could I ever stop being your friend just because of this?”

Shen Yu suddenly felt warmth rising in his eyes.

He had always known Cheng Mofei was loyal and valued his friendships deeply, yet he had still spent so long worrying about this moment.

“But you did hide it from me for so long, and that’s not okay…” Cheng Mofei grumbled. 

“This isn’t over… First, uninstall that stupid app, and then we’ll have a proper talk…”

Cheng Mofei’s voice gradually faded, his breathing labored as he clutched his stomach, trying to suppress the discomfort. The sound of his strained breaths echoed beside Shen Yu’s ear.

Shen Yu immediately realized something was wrong and quickly checked on him. “What’s wrong? Your stomach hurts?”

Cheng Mofei had looked unwell for a while now, but Shen Yu had assumed it was just because he had thrown up earlier and hadn’t thought much of it.

Now, it seemed like his stomach was genuinely in bad shape—he even had a slight fever.

Maybe it was gastroenteritis.

“I’m taking you to the hospital.”

—

Finally seated in the car heading to the hospital, Shen Yu asked, “What did you eat tonight?”

Cheng Mofei answered, “Seafood, barbecue, alcohol.”

Cheng Mofei glanced at the phone in Shen Yu’s hand and reminded him, “Uninstall the app.”

Shen Yu: “…”

With no choice, Shen Yu unlocked his phone and uninstalled the app right in front of him—completely unaware that someone had secretly deleted all the unread messages before he did.

Feeling the need to explain, Shen Yu added, “I only downloaded that app so you’d find out. I don’t actually use those things.”

Hearing that, Cheng Mofei felt much more at ease.

He had figured as much. Shen Yu was too outstanding—there was no way he’d need an app like that to meet people. 

Even at Yanda University, there were already plenty of people lining up to get his contact information, both men and women alike.

Shen Yu speculated that Cheng Mofei’s stomach issues were probably due to the seafood and barbecue he ate, maybe something was undercooked or not clean. 

Add in the alcohol, and possibly ice in his drinks—since Cheng Mofei loved adding ice to everything, plus the chilly night air and the emotional stress he’d been under… it all added up.

Seeing Cheng Mofei so uncomfortable, Shen Yu held back from saying anything, patients hated being nagged.

Cheng Mofei closed his eyes, leaning against the seat. His discomfort made even speaking a struggle.

There were so many questions he wanted to ask Shen Yu, but in his current state, he was afraid of saying the wrong thing. So, he forced himself to stay quiet.

Thankfully, they arrived at the hospital quickly.

It was the same hospital Shen Yu had visited last time when he was sick, who would’ve thought they’d be back so soon?

Since Cheng Mofei’s condition wasn’t as severe as Shen Yu’s had been, he hadn’t called Xiao Xiong and Sun Xinghe to come along.

Shen Yu, already familiar with the process, smoothly handled registration, consultation, IV treatment, and medication pickup.

Meanwhile, Cheng Mofei, with his broken phone, could only sit there pitifully, staring at the IV drip while waiting for Shen Yu to return with the medicine.

Next to him, another young man suffering from gastroenteritis had buried his head in his girlfriend’s embrace, whining softly.

His girlfriend comforted him patiently, “It won’t hurt, baby. You’ll feel better after the IV. Tomorrow morning, I’ll make you some porridge.”

Cheng Mofei internally rolled his eyes.

They both looked like they were in their twenties, why was this grown man acting so dramatic?

The girl cooed, “Here, let me put a warming patch on your stomach.”

The guy obediently lifted his shirt, and she carefully placed the patch over his stomach.

“Thanks, baby,” he murmured sweetly. “You’re my real warm patch.”

Cheng Mofei: Ugh.

Silently, he turned away, shutting his eyes in pain, both from his stomach and the unbearable secondhand embarrassment.

A while later, Shen Yu finally returned with the bag of medicine.

By then, the overly affectionate couple had already finished their IV and left, sparing Cheng Mofei from further suffering.

Along with the medicine, Shen Yu also brought back a box of warming patches.

“It’ll help warm your stomach and make you feel better,” Shen Yu said.

Cheng Mofei stared at the little kangaroo on the packaging, pressed his lips together, and shifted his gaze elsewhere. After a moment of hesitation, he gave a quiet, begrudging hmph in response.

Shen Yu placed the medicine beside him, tore open one of the warming patches, and said, “Lift your shirt.”

Cheng Mofei obediently lifted his shirt.

Shen Yu carefully placed the patch on the innermost layer of his clothing, right over his stomach.

“All set. Be careful, it might get pretty hot. Let me know if it feels uncomfortable.”

Cheng Mofei rarely used warming patches. The cold in Yancheng only lasted briefly in October before the heating systems turned on, making everywhere warm and cozy. 

Besides, he was strong and not particularly sensitive to the cold.

But soon, the patch started to heat up.

It was warm and soothing… it really did feel much better.

Cheng Mofei instinctively lifted his free hand and touched the warm spot on his stomach.

Shen Yu glanced at the IV drip, which was almost finished, and then said, “You don’t have a morning class tomorrow, right? I’ll bring some porridge for you. Make sure to take your medicine after eating.”

“Okay.”

For some reason, Cheng Mofei’s mind wandered back to the earlier conversation between the couple.

Shen Yu really knew how to take care of people.

He wondered who would be the lucky guy to get all of this care in the future.

That thought made Cheng Mofei feel inexplicably irritable.

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