| BYSG | Men's Underwear | 57
Cheng Mofei froze completely.
He recognized every word in the message sent by Aunt Shen, but when put together, he couldn't make sense of it.
What did "the person Shen Yu has a crush on" mean?
How come he didn’t know that Shen Yu had someone she liked?
But he knew for sure that Aunt Shen wouldn't ask such things without reason.
Cheng Mofei’s Adam's apple bobbed as he quickly typed: 【What did Shen Yu say to you?】
He wasn’t sure if it was because of the heater in the dormitory, but Cheng Mofei felt a bit of sweat on his palms.
He also wasn’t certain whether Shen Yu's mother had learned this from Shen Yu, or if she was just probing. He really hoped Aunt Shen had only heard it through others.
However, things didn’t go as hoped.
Shen Xunyan didn’t notice his probing and thought that Cheng Mofei must know all about it, replied without hesitation: 【He said it’s someone he’s known for a long time, wants to take things beyond friendship, and has made good progress recently. He plans to pursue them but I wasn’t sure if they are already together.】
For a long time...
He knew that Shen Yu had a close childhood friend, a boy around his age who had grown up with him. He was also in his first year of college this year, but at a university in the south.
Shen Yu often chatted with that person and shared his daily life, could it be him?
"Planning to pursue them..." Recently, Cheng Mofei had spent a lot of time with Shen Yu and hadn’t noticed any signs of him pursuing someone in his daily life, unless it was through online communication.
The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed.
Childhood sweethearts can develop feelings over time.
That was perfectly normal.
Perhaps the “very polite, very reliable, very cute” person Shen Yu described that day was referring to that person.
Yet, Cheng Mofei gripped his phone tightly, biting his lip, as his mood plummeted.
If he was already planning to pursue someone, why hadn’t Shen Yu mentioned anything to him?
Was their relationship not close enough for him to share these things?
If Aunt Shen hadn't gossiped to him, would Shen Yu only tell him after he started dating?
A sudden, unknown fire ignited in his heart, threatening to consume him entirely.
Clatter.
The bathroom door suddenly swung open.
Shen Yu peeked out from behind the door, his voice following: "Brother Fei, can you grab me a new dry towel? It's hanging in the wardrobe, the green one."
The fire flickered, losing some of its intensity.
Cheng Mofei took a deep breath, responded, and put down his phone. He turned to the wardrobe and began searching.
Shen Yu kept the wardrobe very tidy, and there was a faint scent of oranges inside.
—Not long ago, Shen Yu had dried the orange peels from the ones he had eaten, repurposed them, and placed them around the dorm as air fresheners.
Soon, his movements came to a halt again.
...What is this?
Thinking of Shen Yu still waiting for him, Cheng Mofei suppressed his urge to investigate further, quickly found the towel, and handed it over.
Shen Yu had shampoo bubbles on his head, he was likely feeling that his hair smelled like hot pot, so he was washing it too.
Shen Yu was used to drying his hair with a few dry towels until it was about half dry before using a hairdryer. Since the dormitory had the heating on now, he wouldn't even need the dryer; it would dry by itself later.
"Thank you, Brother Fei." After receiving the towel, Shen Yu locked the bathroom door again.
Cheng Mofei's heart raced like it was on a roller coaster as he quickly turned back to Shen Yu's wardrobe.
He hadn't closed the wardrobe door earlier and had left things a bit messy, so he had plenty of legitimate reasons to return to the "scene" and tidy up.
Picking up the box he had seen earlier, Cheng Mofei felt his throat go dry, as if a hand was gripping his neck, making it hard to speak or breathe.
In his hand was a box of unopened light orange men's underwear, and clearly not Shen Yu's size.
Although he didn’t know Shen Yu's exact size, this size was similar to what he used, and Shen Yu's size would definitely be smaller than his.
Was it a gift for that person?
If that was the case, giving such a private item as underwear... it really meant they were going to be together.
The flickering flame that had been dampened instantly ignited within him.
Cheng Mofei really wanted to confront Shen Yu, but he was also afraid of doing so.
What would he confront him about?
Shen Yu hadn’t done anything wrong; he simply… had someone he liked and was pursuing that person.
If Shen Yu wanted to tell someone, he could choose to do so. It was his business.
If he rashly questioned him, it would only make Shen Yu feel like his privacy was being invaded, which would create resentment.
And it would expose Aunt Shen…
Suddenly realizing something, Cheng Mofei hurriedly restored Shen Yu's wardrobe to its original state and returned to his seat.
He had forgotten to reply to Aunt Shen's message.
Shen Xunyan: 【Are you still there, Xiao Cheng?】
Cheng Mofei quickly typed: 【Sorry, Auntie, Shen Yu asked me to get him a towel just now. What I know is pretty much the same as what you know; Shen Yu doesn't like to talk about these things with others.】
Shen Xunyan: 【Oh, that's fine.】
Worried that Aunt Shen might think too much, Cheng Mofei gritted his teeth and continued typing: 【Once they’re together, I’ll definitely let you know.】
Shen Xunyan: 【Great, I’ll be waiting for the good news then.】
...
When Shen Yu, fully dressed, came out of the bathroom, he noticed Cheng Mofei was nowhere to be found and casually asked, "Where's Brother Fei?"
Sun Xinghe replied, "He said he went to play basketball."
Shen Yu responded with an "Oh," not thinking too much about it.
After all, he needed to take a shower anyway, so it was efficient to wash up after playing.
Cheng Mofei kept playing until the basketball court was completely empty.
Running outside at night was too cold and could easily lead to getting sick, but the indoor basketball court had heating, so he didn’t have to worry about that.
Gradually, Cheng Mofei broke a sweat, and his energy was nearly depleted.
He had thought he could vent some frustration, but instead, the unease in his heart felt even heavier.
The guys he played basketball with were packing up. One of them, recalling how Cheng Mofei hadn’t said a word the entire time, wore a cold expression as if he was about to explode the basketball court, casually asked, “Brother, are you feeling down?”
Cheng Mofei finished the last bit of water in the bottle and glanced at him. Right now, he was particularly sensitive to the term “brother.”
Unbeknownst to them, the large basketball court was left with only the two of them.
Cheng Mofei tightened the cap on his bottle and replied, “Not great.”
The guy didn’t rush to leave and casually asked, “What’s wrong? What’s wrong?”
Cheng Mofei said, “My brother is planning to pursue someone, but he didn’t tell me.”
The guy’s voice involuntarily rose a few pitches. “Is that even a brother?”
Cheng Mofei’s expression darkened even more. He crumpled the empty water bottle in his hand, his gaze sharp enough to cut.
“We are the best of brothers.”
No one could question the bond he had with Shen Yu.
The guy fell silent for a moment.
Clearing his throat, he finally said, “Well, there’s actually another possibility.”
Cheng Mofei asked, “What possibility?”
The guy said, “Is it possible that he thinks you won’t get along with his partner? My girlfriend’s friend didn’t dare to tell her when she started dating because she wasn’t optimistic about that guy. They only got together officially later, and not long after, they broke up. Sometimes, outsiders see things more clearly.”
Cheng Mofei was taken aback, suddenly feeling enlightened.
But he knew nothing about the person Shen Yu liked; there was no way Shen Yu wouldn’t tell him for that reason.
Could it be... that the guy had some issues with him?
Was that why Shen Yu didn’t want them to have any interaction?
The more he thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.
After all, why would Shen Yu share this kind of information with Aunt Shen, a family elder, but not with him?
The problem had to lie with him.
Could it be related to his previous struggles with homophobia?
It was likely that Shen Yu had shared his situation with that guy; it was perfectly normal for a gay person to dislike someone who held homophobic views.
But now, under Shen Yu's guidance, he had already overcome his fears; even if that guy had some reservations, he shouldn’t put Shen Yu in a difficult position.
After all, they were such good brothers.
If he were in that guy's position, he definitely wouldn’t let Shen Yu be caught in the middle.
…That guy was definitely not a good person.
Seeing the look on Cheng Mofei's face, which seemed ready to blow up the entire basketball court, and maybe even the school. The guy quickly grabbed his bag and left, hoping to avoid the fallout.
Now, the basketball court was left with only Cheng Mofei.
After a moment, he couldn’t help but let out a cold laugh, violently throwing the crumpled water bottle into the trash can.
Does that person have a problem with him?
He didn’t have a good impression of that guy either.
That phrase “outsiders see things more clearly” was very accurate.
He was determined to find out exactly what kind of person that guy was.
He needed to gather as much information as possible about him before Shen Yu started dating.
If the guy turned out to be a morally questionable scumbag, he would have to persuade Shen Yu to reconsider and stop him before it was too late.
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