| BYSG | Boyfriend | 94 | Extra 9
According to the location that Shen Yu had sent, Cheng Mofei quickly took a cab over.
On the way, Cheng Mofei searched for information about the destination on his phone.
He initially thought it was just a regular bar, but to his surprise, the results he found made him feel like he had fallen into an ice pit.
It was a bar.
To be more precise, it was a gay bar.
Cheng Mofei's Adam's apple quickly bobbed, staring at the search results in disbelief, his mind turning into a muddled mess.
Why would Shen Yu be at such a place?
Shen Yu... he...
The answer was obvious, but Cheng Mofei couldn’t bring himself to believe it just yet.
More than being surprised by Shen Yu's sexual orientation, what Cheng Mofei focused on was something else.
— Could it be that Shen Yu’s recent strange behavior is related to his sexual orientation?
Cheng Mofei immediately remembered what happened that night at the graduation dinner.
At the time, Fang Yuan drew the dare "Kiss the person sitting across from you," and by coincidence, he was sitting across from Fang Yuan, who disgustingly kissed the back of his hand.
The teachers at their high school liked to assign class representatives based on students' weakest subjects to encourage them to improve in those areas.
Fang Yuan was the class representative for chemistry.
By coincidence, Shen Yu’s strongest subject was chemistry.
Fang Yuan often pestered Shen Yu, asking him all kinds of chemistry questions, and Shen Yu was always happy to help his classmates with their doubts.
Many times, when Cheng Mofei wanted to go out for a walk with Shen Yu during breaks to clear his mind, Fang Yuan would always intercept him.
Even during evening self-study sessions, Fang Yuan would occasionally pass small notes to Shen Yu, and Shen Yu would always reply and pass them back, even though the notes were all about chemistry problems.
Including weekends and holidays, Fang Yuan always liked to contact Shen Yu on QQ to ask for homework answers.
Thinking carefully, it was after that night when Fang Yuan kissed the back of his hand that Shen Yu started acting strangely.
Now that he had learned Shen Yu's sexual orientation...
Everything now made sense, Shen Yu liked Fang Yuan.
Not only had Fang Yuan kissed him, but Cheng Mofei found the kiss disgusting, so it was no wonder Shen Yu would be upset.
For a long time, Cheng Mofei had been trying to figure out what had caused Shen Yu to be upset with him, and now that he had finally found the reason, his heart felt even worse.
When Shen Yu suddenly called him to pick him up, it was equivalent to subtly confessing his sexual orientation to him and explaining the unusual behavior from the past few weeks.
It was like giving him an opportunity to back out gracefully.
Of course, Cheng Mofei wouldn’t mind Shen Yu’s sexual orientation. Whether Shen Yu liked boys or girls wouldn’t affect their relationship.
But the moment he thought about how Shen Yu would no longer be as close to him once he was with another guy, and how Shen Yu would likely spend more time with that other guy, Cheng Mofei just couldn’t accept it.
He didn’t think that friendship could be compared to love, but he had to admit that love was unique. If Shen Yu really got together with another guy, they definitely wouldn’t be as close as they once were.
Perhaps... perhaps Shen Yu might even try to "avoid suspicion" with him.
Cheng Mofei felt extremely restless inside and couldn’t help but urge, "Driver, please drive faster."
His house was really far from the bar, and if there wasn’t any traffic, it would probably take around half an hour.
The driver sighed helplessly. "I’m already going as fast as I can. There might be traffic closer to the commercial area. If you’re really in a hurry, I can drop you off at the nearest subway station before the traffic, and you can take the subway, it’ll be faster."
"Alright, thanks," Cheng Mofei knew that urging the driver wouldn't help; it was just making him anxious.
Outside, it had already grown dark. Cheng Mofei sent another message to Shen Yu on WeChat, but Shen Yu still hadn't replied. He had no idea what Shen Yu was doing.
The driver, being talkative, noticed that Cheng Mofei's destination was a bar and curiously asked, "Are you meeting someone?"
Cheng Mofei replied, "No. I'm going to pick up a friend."
The driver gave a small "oh" and then asked, "Is it someone you like?"
Having worked in this job for many years, the driver had seen all kinds of people, from those heading to the bar to those coming out of it. He was used to it.
Cheng Mofei hesitated, "No, he's..."
He instinctively wanted to say that the other person was a guy, but suddenly remembering Shen Yu's sexual orientation, he realized that guys could like other guys too. Out of nowhere, he stopped himself.
The driver, reading between the lines, automatically assumed Cheng Mofei had stopped himself because it was someone he liked.
The driver glanced at Cheng Mofei, who seemed to be young, probably still just a kid.
He chuckled and said, "You came all this way to pick someone up, looking this anxious, and still say it’s not that? Liking someone is nothing to be ashamed of."
Cheng Mofei helplessly replied, "Really, it’s not like that. We’ve known each other since kindergarten. He’s my best friend, and he’s always treated me like an older brother."
Just then, they happened to hit a red light at an intersection that lasted a while. The driver smoothly stopped the car and didn’t say anything, just fiddled with his phone for a moment.
A few seconds later, the car's Bluetooth began playing an audiobook: "We grew up together as childhood sweethearts. Since we were little, I followed behind him, calling him 'brother' over and over. Unexpectedly, when I was eight, he confessed his feelings for me in front of all our classmates..."
Cheng Mofei: "..."
Cheng Mofei: "Driver, please stop listening to these kinds of books."
The driver smiled at him through the rearview mirror and deliberately said, "Alright, alright, I’ll take that back. It’s clear you don’t feel that way about him. He should be single right now, right? Once he has a boyfriend, you won’t have to go through all this trouble to pick him up anymore. You’ll just be his best relationship advisor."
Cheng Mofei was lost in thought.
The sky was already so dark, and a place like a bar... He wasn’t sure if Shen Yu had been drinking. If someone else, especially another guy, had gone to pick Shen Yu up, how could he have been at ease?
How was it "hard" for him? How could picking up Shen Yu be difficult?
Best relationship advisor... Did Shen Yu subtly want to tell him about his sexual orientation in order to get his help in pursuing Fang Yuan?!
Cheng Mofei's face darkened, almost blending into the night.
Finally, the red light turned green, and the driver, with his eyes narrowed and a smile on his face, continued driving, the car moving quietly.
Cheng Mofei leaned against the window, his lips pressed together in thought.
He admitted that, deep down, he might be a bit jealous, and he also knew that Fang Yuan was definitely not a good match for Shen Yu.
First of all, Fang Yuan’s grades were just above average. There was no way he could go to the same university as Shen Yu.
Shen Yu would likely secure a spot at his dream school, Yanda University, while Fang Yuan might end up going to a university in Yancheng City, which would still be somewhat nearby.
If Fang Yuan chose a school in another city, they’d be in a long-distance relationship right after getting together. That wouldn’t be good.
Moreover, although Fang Yuan was average looking and not at all unattractive, he was definitely not handsome. Cheng Mofei privately thought that someone as good-looking as Shen Yu deserved someone who matched his looks.
Finally, from what he knew, Fang Yuan came from an average family and had even applied for financial aid, while Shen Yu's family was well-off.
Being with Fang Yuan might mean Shen Yu would have to downgrade his lifestyle, or worse, bear most of the financial burden in the relationship. This kind of "inequality" could spark conflicts.
Given all that, Cheng Mofei thought Shen Yu shouldn’t be with Fang Yuan.
The thought of Fang Yuan taking his place by Shen Yu’s side, even kissing Shen Yu, made him feel like his world was falling apart.
But what if Shen Yu had really decided on him?
Cheng Mofei anxiously tapped his fingers.
This is Shen Yu's first love, and first loves had a certain kind of filter, didn’t they?
If Shen Yu really had decided on Fang Yuan, what should he do?
How could he stop Shen Yu from being with him?
How could he... stop all those messy guys from ruining the relationship between him and Shen Yu?
The driver’s earlier question, "Is it someone you like?" suddenly kept replaying in his mind.
An idea, one that made his heart race, suddenly surfaced.
— What if he and Shen Yu got together? Wouldn’t that solve everything?
Cheng Mofei felt like his entire body had turned crimson from that thought.
Was he thinking too much?!
Had his mind gone crazy?!
"Driver, pull over," a voice suddenly came from the back seat.
"Huh?" The driver was momentarily stunned.
"I'll take the subway from here."
"We haven't reached the traffic-prone area yet. The nearest subway station is over there, and we'd have to detour..."
Cheng Mofei interrupted him directly, "No need. Just pull over, I’ll run over to the subway on my own."
The car stopped at the side of the road. The person in the back seat couldn’t wait to open the door and get out, quickly sprinting toward the subway entrance.
The driver watched his retreating figure with a smile, humming a random tune, lightly tapping his phone, and resumed listening to the audiobook he hadn’t finished.
...
By early June, the temperature was starting to rise. Cheng Mofei, wearing a short-sleeved shirt, had already worked up quite a sweat by the time he reached the subway entrance.
His heart raced even faster.
He tried to convince himself, this was just a normal increase in heart rate from exercise.
But even after he left the cool air-conditioned subway station and boarded the train, Cheng Mofei’s heartbeat showed no signs of slowing down.
He could feel it, not just his heart, but his face and ears were also flushed, burning with heat.
He...
He really wasn’t opposed to the idea of being with Shen Yu at all.
Rather than saying he wasn’t opposed, it was more accurate to say that he even felt a sense of anticipation.
A voice inside his mind kept repeating: as long as he and Shen Yu were together, they would always be the closest of relationships, and no one could come between them.
It was too tempting.
But... how could he have these feelings for Shen Yu?!
They were best friends, their friendship had lasted for so many years. If Shen Yu ever found out that he secretly had these feelings, they probably wouldn’t even be able to stay normal friends anymore.
Cheng Mofei's chest rose and fell rapidly.
But if he didn’t do anything, Shen Yu would end up with someone else.
At that point, he would really drift further and further away from Shen Yu.
They had always been the best of friends growing up, and he couldn’t accept the idea of Shen Yu being with another guy while he was left to be just an ordinary friend.
No.
Even if it meant losing the chance to be just ordinary friends, he had to try to fight for it.
….
On the other side, at the bar.
Shen Yu was sitting with two guys who had been trying to flirt with him, one of whom had even handed him a drink.
Shen Yu didn’t touch the drink. He only engaged in casual conversation with them as long as they didn’t make any inappropriate moves.
He didn’t drink alcohol, and even if he did, he wouldn’t drink something from a stranger.
However, he had come to this bar with the intention of meeting people, getting to know the community, and engaging with others. So, he wasn’t exactly trying to avoid the situation.
Apart from these two guys, he had also talked to quite a few other people that day.
The reason he called Cheng Mofei earlier, asking him to pick him up, was a sudden idea. He thought it would be a subtle way to come out to Cheng Mofei about his sexual orientation.
He purposely didn’t reply to the messages Cheng Mofei had sent. He figured Cheng Mofei would have already realized the bar was a gay bar. Shen Yu wanted to give Cheng Mofei some time to process everything on his own.
He just didn’t know when Cheng Mofei would arrive.
He was getting a little bored.
These two guys were too boring, and their intentions were too obvious. Though their words weren’t overtly explicit, they still made him feel uncomfortable.
If he hadn’t been waiting for Cheng Mofei, he probably would have left already.
After an unknown amount of time passed, Shen Yu’s phone suddenly vibrated.
It was a message from Cheng Mofei: [I’m here, where are you?]
Shen Yu immediately stood up, ready to leave and meet Cheng Mofei.
But just as he was about to go, the guy who had handed him the drink suddenly grabbed his arm, holding him in place.
"You’ve got the drink, and you’re not even going to have a sip before leaving?" The voice was dripping with a careless, almost threatening tone.
Shen Yu furrowed his brows and was about to respond, when suddenly a figure rushed over, pulling the guy’s hand off his arm and standing protectively behind him.
"What kind of trash drink is this? Why pressure people into drinking when they don’t want to?" It was Cheng Mofei.
The guy winced in pain, pulling his hand back, his tone turning hostile. "Who the hell are you? What’s it to you? Got a problem?"
“Yes,” Cheng Mofei steeled himself, "I’m his boyfriend."
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