After Becoming Arch-Enemies with My Best Bro - Chapter 24

This couldn’t be right!

Wen Huihan stood frozen, feeling that the words He Chenshuang had just uttered were as incomprehensible as a foreign language.

What did he mean by “When did you find out?” He didn’t know at all!

Not only did he not know, but just moments ago, he was contacting a rental agent to find an apartment because He Chenshuang refused to believe he was an iron-willed straight man.

Sexual orientation isn’t an easy thing to explain. He couldn’t exactly go out and start a passionate heterosexual relationship just to prove his normalcy to He Chenshuang, that would be a complete lack of principles and responsibility.

Wen Huihan couldn’t bring himself to do something like that. For the sake of their relationship, he could only choose to pack his bags and leave the dorm, returning a harmonious and “green” environment to He Chenshuang.

Yet, in just a few minutes, the situation had taken a sudden turn… He Chenshuang actually had a secret crush on him? He Chenshuang was the real gay one?!

Did one of these two miserable brothers have to be gay?

And could that person please not be him?

Wen Huihan closed his eyes in utter shock. The information overload was too much, his brain was about to crash, and he needed to shut down and restart.

He Chenshuang kept his eyes lowered, taking in every flicker of Wen Huihan’s expression.

Shock, daze, panic… He Chenshuang was like a precision scanner, analyzing each complex emotion one by one. Only when he realized the other party didn’t show an expression of disgust did his face soften slightly.

He admitted he was acting out of selfishness, insisting on speaking the truth aloud and witnessing Wen Huihan’s reaction with his own eyes before he would let it go.

Wen Huihan’s reaction was indeed significant, but not as violent as imagined. Even so, He Chenshuang’s brow remained furrowed, his eyes like gathering ink-dark clouds. “What, is it so strange? Haven’t you been testing me all this time?”

Wen Huihan: “Haha?”

He let out an awkward laugh. What was this? First a sudden turn, and now a narrow escape?

Since He Chenshuang had put it that way, how could he not understand the current situation? It turned out that all those brain-dead actions he had performed recently were seen as “testing” in He Chenshuang’s eyes?

If it were a real test, fine, but the problem was he had been completely clueless, yet he had actually managed to test something out.

Wen Huihan thought with grim humor that He Chenshuang used to call him a fool, yet in his eyes, he was apparently such a clever and strategic person.

Was this a case of “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”?

“Haha… you found me out?” It took Wen Huihan only three seconds to decide to play along. “You’re quite sharp, kid.”

He Chenshuang’s gaze landed on his face, making Wen Huihan feel a wave of guilt, but fortunately, the other didn’t notice anything amiss.

After confirming that Wen Huihan wouldn’t be scared into running away again, he finally slowly withdrew his restraining hand. “You haven’t answered my question.”

Though he withdrew his hand, He Chenshuang didn’t back away. He stood tall and blocked the path forward, so even if Wen Huihan wanted to run, he couldn’t. The deterrent force was absolute.

Wen Huihan silently caught a glimpse of He Chenshuang’s expression. Although he looked calm right now, he inexplicably felt a sense of “quiet madness” coming from the man.

Sexual repression, brother? Of all the people to crush on, you had to pick a straight man like me.

How could Wen Huihan answer? He had no idea when he had been targeted by his best brother. Was this guy a secret agent in his past life? How could he hide it so well?

The good news: He Chenshuang wasn’t coming to get him because he was a “filthy gay” and wanted to confront him.

The bad news: He Chenshuang himself was gay, and it seemed he really was here to confront him.

So, was He Chenshuang here to settle accounts? He certainly didn’t look like he was confessing his love. After all, who confesses by cornering someone in a dorm? Being gay doesn’t make you special, does it?

Wen Huihan knew he was in the wrong, but He Chenshuang wasn’t innocent either. He was gay, and he didn’t mention such a huge thing sooner!

“I’ve known for a long time!” Wen Huihan pulled a stiff face and feigned toughness. “You were being way too obvious.”

Upon hearing this, He Chenshuang let out a low chuckle.

Wen Huihan’s heart tightened at the sound, not understanding what was so funny about his statement.

He Chenshuang pulled a chair over with one hand and sat opposite him, his long legs crossed casually in a posture of negotiation.

“Tell me, then. How was I obvious?”

Wen Huihan was stunned. What did He Chenshuang mean by this? Was he planning to find the gaps in his behavior so he could be more discreet the next time he crushed on a straight man?

Why did he have such a strong desire to learn? And why on earth should he provide He Chenshuang with reference materials?

Under He Chenshuang’s blunt and forceful gaze, he felt nervous for some reason and turned his head away. “I refuse to answer.”

He Chenshuang, however, spoke unhurriedly:

“Give me one point, and I won’t hold the fact that you stole my blanket that night against you.”

“Give me two points, and I’ll watch that gay anime you wanted to show me until the end.”

“Give me three points, and the matter of you taking my first kiss while I was asleep…”

He paused slightly. “I can continue to pretend I don’t know about it.”

Wen Huihan: “…?”

He whipped his head back in shock, startled by He Chenshuang’s outrageous words, nearly jumping out of his chair.

Forget the first two points, but how had he taken He Chenshuang’s first kiss?

And what did he just say? He Chenshuang really was faking sleep in the car that day!

Wen Huihan felt guilty at first, thinking he had wronged his brother, but since He Chenshuang, as the one with the crush, was being so righteous about it, he felt he couldn’t let this behavior slide. Otherwise, where would his dignity go?

He could frankly admit his mistakes, but one thing was one thing, and he would never admit to something he didn’t do.

So, he questioned loudly, “I kissed your chin! How many mouths do you have on your chin?”

He Chenshuang’s expression was cold. “You were the first person to kiss me. Why doesn’t that count as a first kiss?”

Wen Huihan: “That’s not how it works! Then I could also say it was my first time kissing someone, so you stole my first kiss too!”

He Chenshuang seemed to think about it seriously for a moment. “Is that so? Then I should take responsibility for you.”

Wen Huihan: “…”

Scheming gay!

How had he never noticed this guy was such a pervert before?

Comparing him to the now “unmasked” He Chenshuang, Wen Huihan realized his previous understanding of gay men was too shallow. No wonder He Chenshuang hadn’t realized he was role-playing.

It was also lucky he was slow on the uptake, otherwise, if He Chenshuang found out, he’d be mocked for the rest of his life.

Wen Huihan threw everything to the wind and spoke frankly, “No need, okay? Just consider it a reward from me, your male god.”

He Chenshuang looked thoughtful. “There are rewards for crushing on the great Male God Wen?”

Wen Huihan: “…Don’t twist the facts.”

Please get the logic straight. He didn’t do it because He Chenshuang was gay, so don’t make it sound like he was encouraging people to crush on him.

Having reached this point, Wen Huihan had completely forgotten about looking for an apartment. He had to argue about those first two points with He Chenshuang to win back some face.

“First of all, I wasn’t stealing your blanket then. I was just trying to test your reaction. Didn’t expect that, did you? You exposed yourself completely! That’s when I was certain.”

Wen Huihan spoke with great conviction, having smoothly stepped into the role. “Secondly, I don’t need you to watch that gay anime with me. You’re dreaming.”

He wasn’t a fool. He wouldn’t watch it with He Chenshuang. He had already pivoted from being “straight-leaning-curved” back to being a total straight man.

Straight men don’t watch gay anime with gay men, and it was now obvious who actually wanted to watch it.

He Chenshuang curled his lips. “Is that so? I thought you were recommending a new series to me.”

“You thought too much,” Wen Huihan said coldly. “It was just a test.”

He remained calm on the surface, but inside he was secretly gloating.

So many brain-dead actions could actually be explained as “testing.” Suddenly his head didn’t ache, and he didn’t feel guilty seeing He Chenshuang.

He had been agonizing over how to explain to He Chenshuang that his brain had glitched because of lack of sleep, but now, a perfect reason was right in front of him.

To think such a good thing existed, all thanks to He Chenshuang telling him about his crush!

The more Wen Huihan spoke, the more confident he became, effectively becoming the lead in this negotiation. “And you need to understand your position. You’re the one secretly doing… that… to me, so you can’t demand that I answer your questions.”

Although the current direction was a bit unexpected, the situation was much better than he had anticipated.

There’s no pain without comparison, he even felt that He Chenshuang’s crush on him wasn’t that big of a deal anymore.

Now that they both had dirt on each other, Wen Huihan decided to be merciful. He wouldn’t hold it against He Chenshuang for betraying him by secretly turning gay, and in return, He Chenshuang couldn’t mention the stupid things he had done. It was perfectly fair.

Realizing this, Wen Huihan felt refreshed and proposed a truce. “Let’s both take a step back and act as if none of this ever happened. How about it?”

He was thinking of setting some ground rules to wipe the slate clean, but He Chenshuang just stared at him, silent and calm.

Wen Huihan felt a bit nervous under his gaze. Did he not agree? Or was the price not enticing enough?

Wen Huihan gritted his teeth and added more. “OK, one more thing: I’m not moving out.”

Since they were going to act as if nothing happened, maintaining the status quo was best. Besides, moving out would make going to class inconvenient.

“Not moving?” He Chenshuang raised an eyebrow. “Aren’t you afraid I’ll continue to have a crush on you?”

Wen Huihan’s heart tightened again. Seriously, could He Chenshuang say these things without blushing?

He comforted himself by thinking that all gay men were like this, it was just that He Chenshuang had disguised it too well before and had stopped pretending now.

“Whatever. I only have one requirement: you can’t just casually mention your… crush… on me anymore.”

“My what?”

“Your crush on me!”

He Chenshuang laughed again, a very light sound.

Wen Huihan felt he might have PTSD, otherwise, why did he feel a chill down his spine whenever He Chenshuang stared at him or laughed?

Just as he was about to surrender and lower his standards again, He Chenshuang finally spoke. “Sure. I’ll try my best.”

Wen Huihan let out a huge sigh of relief. He hadn’t expected it to be solved so easily.

“Then it’s a deal. I’ll just pretend I don’t know anything, and you should be careful too. No breaking the rules.”

He Chenshuang gave a smirk. “Fine, then you can just pretend you don’t know.”

Wen Huihan decided to take back the comment about He Chenshuang being a “scheming gay.” After all, they were brothers for many years, he was quite reasonable.

Though there had been some turbulence and the outcome was very unexpected, fortunately, things weren’t as serious as he had imagined. Everything was within a controllable range.

Having perfectly settled this matter, he explained the situation to the rental agent, put down his phone, and suddenly didn’t know what to do.

The other two roommates wouldn’t be back until tomorrow, so he had to spend tonight alone in the dorm with He Chenshuang. This wouldn’t have been anything special before, but today was different. It was uncertain whether He Chenshuang would be willing to follow the rules.

He Chenshuang had just unlocked the door, saying he was going downstairs to pick up a delivery, and had been gone for five minutes.

Wen Huihan thought about it and simply hid in bed to play dead.

He still needed to cool down. Since he had woken up early, he could use the time to catch up on sleep.

Perhaps because the heavy stone in his heart had finally been lifted, he quickly fell asleep, only waking when he felt someone tap on the edge of his bed.

“Come down and eat.”

Wen Huihan was startled awake.

He rolled over and sat up, carefully lifting a corner of the bed curtain. He Chenshuang had already walked back to his seat.

Wen Huihan looked through the gap. “I’m not hungry.”

He Chenshuang: “Transfer the money to my WeChat.”

“Actually, I’m a little hungry.” Wen Huihan immediately got out of bed. He had thought He Chenshuang was treating him. He couldn’t give He Chenshuang any openings.

He hadn’t felt hungry during the verbal sparring earlier, but as he unpacked the food, he realized he had likely passed out from hunger.

After transferring the money to He Chenshuang, he ate for a while, then suddenly slowed down. He stole several glances at He Chenshuang and finally couldn’t help but ask, “He Chenshuang, let me ask you something.”

He Chenshuang turned to look at him.

Wen Huihan: “Cough, I forgot to ask earlier. I’m just a bit curious, is it because I’m so excellent that you… crushed… on me?”

While lying in bed, he had been thinking: He Chenshuang didn’t usually look like a gay man, sometimes he was even straighter than Wen Huihan himself. How could he have a crush with no warning at all?

Then he remembered Lin Qihao’s “gay circle delicacy” theory and felt it made perfect sense.

Thinking it over, he felt it must be because he was so handsome, smart, and strategic that he perfectly hit He Chenshuang’s aesthetic preferences.

As everyone knows, people are only humbled by beings stronger than themselves. He Chenshuang must have fallen hopelessly in love with him based on this point.

If that were the case, it was only human nature, and he could slightly forgive He Chenshuang’s betrayal.

Under Wen Huihan’s highly expectant gaze, He Chenshuang said flatly, “You broke the rule.”

Wen Huihan: “…”

Perhaps because his expression changed so quickly, He Chenshuang found it a bit amusing. He asked, “You really want to know?”

Wen Huihan pulled a stiff face. “Not particularly. Did you think it was something to be proud of?”

He lowered his head and ate quickly, deciding to skip the topic. He shouldn’t have been curious, he’d just given He Chenshuang more leverage.

“Not exactly.”

After answering, He Chenshuang added calmly, “Is there anything else you want to know? Take the opportunity of this rule-break to ask everything at once.”

Wen Huihan immediately sat up straight and faced He Chenshuang. “Really? Then I have one more question: back at the hotel, did you ever actually come back to sleep?”

He had thought about it for a long time afterward. Even though he was quite unconscious after falling asleep, if there was another person beside him, it should be impossible not to notice.

Connecting it to He Chenshuang’s move to change rooms the next day, he was really a bit suspicious.

He Chenshuang looked at him and pulled back the corners of his mouth. “No. I was in the bathroom pouring beer over my head, beer flowing into my eyes, and I was crying and shouting at the mirror that Wen Huihan is a big fool.”

Wen Huihan: “Damn, how come I didn’t hear a sound?”

He Chenshuang: “You fool, because I’m lying to you.”

Wen Huihan: “…”

He once again took back the statement that He Chenshuang was a reasonable and good brother. He Chenshuang was just a stinky gay man, and he didn’t deserve forgiveness!