Brother, you smell good - 74

 

| BYSG | Cunning Straight Man | 74

Shen Yu watched everything unfold before him and couldn’t help but laugh. “When we get back, Xiao Xiong is going to make a fuss again.”

Cheng Mofei snorted indifferently and suddenly thought of something. He asked, “By the way, what happened to Old Xiao and Old Sun in our last life?”

Shen Yu replied, “Old Xiao successfully lost weight, but he never found a partner he liked. As for Old Sun, he and his current girlfriend got married after graduation. Back then, I hadn’t met them yet when they got married.”

“That’s fine,” Cheng Mofei said with a smile, taking one of Shen Yu’s hands in his own and playing with it. “This time, we’ll both be able to attend their wedding.”

Shen Yu hummed in response.

The truth was… he had never attended a wedding before. He had only ever seen them on screen.

When he was young and living with Shen Lide’s family, his father and stepmother never brought him along to relatives’ weddings. Later, in university and after graduation, he never had any particularly close friends, nor did he bother to form deep connections with colleagues.

His closest brother, Fang Xiang, had been in a long-term relationship, but due to various trivial matters, they never managed to take that final step into marriage.

He actually really wanted to attend a wedding at least once.

Being able to attend Sun Xinghe’s wedding was truly wonderful.

Cheng Mofei suddenly leaned in closer, his lips brushing lightly against Shen Yu’s ear for a fleeting moment. In a soft voice, he said, “We’ll have our own wedding too.”

…

Xiao Xiong was in the middle of class. The entire afternoon was packed with major-related courses, leaving no chance to slack off. He could only sneak a quick glance at his phone between lessons.

He hadn’t expected that one glance to hit him like a bolt from the blue.

Beside him, Sun Xinghe was still copying notes from the blackboard when Xiao Xiong nudged him with his elbow and whispered, “Check the group chat. What’s going on?”

With some hesitation, Sun Xinghe opened his phone—only for his expression to mirror Xiao Xiong’s.

He let out an awkward laugh and dryly muttered, “What a coincidence… Both of them got together at the same time?”

Xiao Xiong forced a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes, then bluntly stated the truth Sun Xinghe hadn’t dared to voice:

“Maybe it’s more than coincidental, those two got together with each other.”

His small eyes had already seen through far too much.

…

Though Xiao Xiong and Sun Xinghe were shocked to learn that Cheng Mofei and Shen Yu were together, they weren’t exactly surprised. In fact, they accepted it rather well.

The two had always been exceptionally close. Shen Yu had even admitted that he liked men, and although Cheng Mofei had previously been somewhat homophobic, instead of distancing himself after finding out, he continued treating Shen Yu just as he always had.

Looking back, the signs had been there all along.

As the only "one-fourth" of the dorm group, Xiao Xiong happily squinted his eyes while eating his ice cream cake—his first high-calorie treat in ages.

So what if he was the only single one left? His brother's finding love meant he got benefits, too.

Cheng Mofei had even planned to take them on a short trip to the seaside near Yancheng next spring as a way of celebrating his relationship milestone with them.

Originally, he had wanted to treat them to a meal tonight, but after slipping on the snow earlier, he needed to rest. Shen Yu wouldn’t let him go out, so they had to make do with ordering takeout instead.

Outside, snow fell heavily, while inside, the heating was warm and cozy. The four of them sat together, eating and chatting.

Of course, the secrets of their past and present lives were left unsaid. They simply explained that they had taken a liking to each other and had fallen in love.

Meanwhile, hanging comically on the radiator was a neat row of light orange new underwear—freshly washed by Cheng Mofei as soon as they returned from the hospital.

By the time they had eaten their fill and finished their conversation, the underwear was nearly dry. Cheng Mofei took a quick shower and happily changed into the new pair his boyfriend had given him.

On the bathroom shelf, his old orange-scented body wash had been thrown away, replaced by a newly bought, scentless one.

Thinking back to all the jealous fits he had thrown, Cheng Mofei couldn’t help but feel a pang of regret.

At least Shen Yu’s bottle was still there.

Feeling a little guilty, Cheng Mofei squeezed out a bit of Shen Yu’s body wash, lathering it up as the sweet, citrusy scent filled the air. Instantly, his mood brightened.

From now on, what was his was Shen Yu’s, and what was Shen Yu’s was his.

There would be no more distinctions.

…

When he stepped out of the shower, he noticed Shen Yu fiddling with his phone.

Curious, Cheng Mofei walked closer and saw that Shen Yu had downloaded a pink-colored app onto his device.

Shen Yu glanced at him and explained, “It’s a couples’ app. I registered an account for you and sent you an invite. Once you join, you’ll be able to share all my updates.”

With that, he stuffed the phone into Cheng Mofei’s hands and headed into the bathroom to take his own shower, leaving Cheng Mofei to figure it out on his own.

At first, Cheng Mofei simply thought that Shen Yu wanted to use a couples' app with him to document their relationship. He was quite happy about it.

But as his phone fully synchronized with Shen Yu’s account, his expression gradually grew heavier.

He was reading Shen Yu’s diary—entry by entry—starting from the very first day of his rebirth up until now.

The more he read, the more his heart clenched.

Damn it.

Back when he was still a clueless straight guy… he had made Shen Yu suffer so much.

Especially that day at the basketball court, Shen Yu had overheard his conversation with that guy who had been pestering him. He had misunderstood when Cheng Mofei said that "it was impossible" between them. 

But that wasn’t what he had meant at all.

No wonder Shen Yu had distanced himself for a while. He must have felt incredibly hurt.

That day, Cheng Mofei should have just told that guy to get lost right from the start.

Cheng Mofei was so frustrated that he coughed a few times, causing a sharp pain to flare up in his ribs again.

But no amount of physical pain could compare to the ache in his heart.

He kept reading, going through every single diary entry until he reached the one from yesterday.

[Tomorrow is December 6th, the anniversary of my past life. It’s a special day. The orange peel bouquet is finally complete today. I want to confess to him on this day—I hope some kind of lucky buff will bless me.]

Idiot.

What lucky buff did he even need?

If his past self had fallen for Shen Yu, then in this life, it was inevitable too. There was never a question.

The couples’ app allowed both of them to write diary entries together, with each person’s text appearing in a different color. Shen Yu had chosen blue, while Cheng Mofei had picked orange.

Cheng Mofei created a new entry for December 6th and, in bold orange letters, wrote—

[I will continue to love you.]

In the love letter he had written for Shen Yu before, he had already poured out everything he could say. But after learning all these secrets today, these six words were what he wanted to tell Shen Yu the most.

From now on, he would always stay by Shen Yu’s side, making sure he lived a happy, healthy life—just like a little hamster well cared for and cherished.

His little hamster.

…

Inside the bathroom, Shen Yu deliberately took his time showering, giving Cheng Mofei the space to explore and process everything on his own.

Shen Yu hadn’t written a formal love letter to Cheng Mofei, but he felt that his diary entries were, in a way, delicate love letters of their own.

When he stepped out of the bathroom, he saw that Cheng Mofei had already climbed into his bed—bringing his own pillow along.

…This guy was really making himself at home.

Shen Yu’s eyes curved slightly in amusement. After hanging up the laundry from the washing machine, he followed suit and climbed onto the bed as well.

Before they knew it, it was already ten o’clock.

Meanwhile, Sun Xinghe was on a voice call with his girlfriend, eagerly sharing the news about their two dorm mates getting together.

His girlfriend, overwhelmed with excitement, nearly jumped out of her seat. Shyly, she admitted, "Actually… I’ve always shipped them! I never told you because I didn’t want it to affect how you interacted with them."

Sun Xinghe: "…"

Come to think of it, when the campus forum first leaked the post about Shen Yu’s sexual orientation, it was his girlfriend who had shared it with him. At the time, he hadn’t thought much about it, he just assumed she had stumbled upon it while browsing.

“From now on, make sure to keep feeding me their couple content, got it?”

Sun Xinghe: "…Got it, my lady."

Meanwhile, Xiao Xiong was gaming. After what felt like the nth time of being the lone single player in a team full of couples, he finally had enough. Frustrated, he rage-quit and decided to follow his sister’s workout video instead.

Reality had already bombarded him with enough couple moments—why did he have to suffer through them in a game too? 

Was there no justice left in this world?!

…

Shen Yu slipped under the covers, moving closer to Cheng Mofei. Glancing at his phone screen, he saw that Cheng Mofei was busy replying to comments on his Moments feed.

Shen Yu immediately opened his WeChat and, sure enough, found a Moments post related to him.

[The fortune-teller said I’m destined for big romance this year. Master [ox][ox].]

Shen Yu: "…"

He couldn’t help but laugh helplessly, recalling the day when they were on their way back from the hospital after Cheng Mofei’s sleepwalking treatment. Cheng Mofei had insisted on stopping at a street stall to get his fortune read by a so-called "master."

At the time, Shen Yu hadn’t understood why Cheng Mofei put any faith in that stuff. But later, he realized it wasn’t really about the fortune—it was about the belief Cheng Mofei had in it.

The post was accompanied by a photo of an orange peel bouquet, a small cake, a photo of them together, and a screenshot from the couples’ app showing their status for the day.

There were already plenty of likes and comments under it—congratulations, best wishes for 99 years together, and so on.

Cheng Mofei, like a happy fool, replied to comment after comment, refreshing the page multiple times to check for new likes and comments.

When he realized Shen Yu was watching him, he suddenly thought of something and quietly asked, "Did I post anything on Moments when we were together in our past life?"

"No." Shen Yu shook his head.

Cheng Mofei: "?"

Cheng Mofei was furious: "I never posted? How can I be in a relationship and not share anything on Moments?"

Shen Yu explained, "At that time, you were so happy and drank too much. You ended up posting on the big screen outside the office building all night, saying 'Congratulations to Cheng for finding love.' It went viral online, with people asking who Cheng's little wife was. You were afraid I’d get mad, so you tried to bury the heat and didn’t dare post on Moments after that."

Cheng Mofei: "…"

He rubbed his nose, feeling a little guilty on behalf of his past self. Then, he suddenly had an idea and grinned, saying, "When we get our marriage certificate, let's post one saying 'Congratulations to Cheng for getting married.'"

Shen Yu gave him a look that seemed to say, "You’ll understand once you’re in my shoes."

It wasn’t that Shen Yu minded too much. It was just that in the past life, he had been too sensitive, twisted, and insecure. The more high-profile Cheng Mofei was, the more he felt insecure. 

But not this time. In this life, he had enough confidence to stand beside Cheng Mofei as an equal.

Cheng Mofei quickly glanced at the other two people in the dorm. Seeing that they weren’t paying attention, he swiftly planted a kiss on Shen Yu's face, which was right in front of him.

In his heart, he secretly planned to move the task of buying bed curtains higher up on his agenda. That way, kissing Shen Yu would be much easier in the future, without needing to sneak around like a thief, trying to find the right moment.

Shen Yu, unaware of his thoughts, simply smiled with his lips pressed together.

Shen Yu couldn’t help but chuckle to himself. Only a kiss on the cheek… The innocent little puppy, when would he ever get to have a real kiss?

Suddenly an idea popped into Cheng Mofei head, and he curiously asked, "By the way, how did I confess to you in our past life?"

Shen Yu hummed softly, "I also got a love letter and flowers."

Cheng Mofei: "What did the love letter say? What kind of flowers?"

Shen Yu: "The love letter wasn’t as long as yours, it was just some cheesy love words. But there were a lot of flowers. The entire trunk of the car was full."

Cheng Mofei made a mock sound of dissatisfaction. "Ohh…" 

His heart is secretly competitive, the sense of rivalry quietly rising.

It wasn’t that he minded, but being jealous was a whole other matter…

He definitely couldn’t be outdone.

After Cheng Mofei asked that question, Shen Yu suddenly remembered something that had always puzzled him. He decided to share it with Cheng Mofei: "By the way, you used to be so homophobic. In our past life, I never noticed it at all. I wonder if something happened later that changed you."

The answer to that question might only be known by the past Cheng Mofei.

Cheng Mofei furrowed his brows at the question. "Tell me, in detail, about everything that happened from the first time we met to when we got together in our past life."

Shen Yu was taken aback, feeling a bit confused, but he still nodded. "Okay."

…

As lights-out approached, Xiao Xiong was still down below, working out to some low-volume music. 

He wasn’t sure if it was because he’d indulged in high-calorie food today, but he was pushing himself to burn off those extra calories by exercising. Truly self-disciplined.

Shen Yu spoke until his mouth went dry, finally sharing every little detail of how Cheng Mofei and he got together in their past life.

Cheng Mofei, with his fist tightly clenched, let out a soft, but pointed four-word evaluation under Shen Yu's gaze: "Cunning homophobic straight man."

Shen Yu: "?"

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