After My Childhood Friend Misunderstood That I Had a Boyfriend - Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Fingerplays Brushing Against His Palm

There was a red light ahead, and Zhou Jinyan brought the car to a halt. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Chu Xi blinking, looking very much like he was anticipating an answer.

The rain pattered rhythmically against the glass. Did Chu Xi like watching movies?

Zhou Jinyan remembered that Chu Xi’s father was a famous director, and thinking back to the photoshoot he’d stumbled upon today, he figured Chu Xi must love films.

I do.” The red light turned green, and Zhou Jinyan accelerated, giving Chu Xi a clear reply. What kind of movies do you like?

Zhou Jinyan asked, feeling a strange, inexplicable desire to understand Chu Xi better.

Eh… EH!?

Why was Zhou Jinyan asking what he liked?

But it was a good sign. Zhou Jinyan was taking the initiative to ask about his preferences and was willing to get to know him. Did that mean Zhou Jinyan already had a bit of a crush on him?

Chu Xi had no actual dating experience, but he believed in the philosophy of “boldly hypothesize, carefully verify.” He blinked and decided to ask if Zhou Jinyan would be willing to go to a movie with him.

I watch all genres, Chu Xi prefaced. I haven’t seen The Tiny Moon which just came out. Have you seen it? If not, let’s go together.

Zhou Jinyan paused for a moment. He hadn’t heard of it.

But since he was driving and couldn’t search for an answer online, he could only say: Sure.

He agreed first to prevent Chu Xi from asking someone else.

He actually said yes!

It seemed Zhou Jinyan really did have some feelings for him. Chu Xi thought back to that cup of hot coffee from their first encounter—now that he was actually spending time with him, Zhou Jinyan didn’t seem as cold as the autumn weather at all!

Chu Xi suppressed the corners of his mouth that wanted to curl upward. “Then when are you free? Is an evening screening okay?”

Zhou Jinyan: “That works. Let’s do the weekend. Saturday or Sunday are both fine.”

Chu Xi’s eyes lit up. “Then I’ll book the seven o’clock show.”

The weekend was perfect! According to Chu Xi’s observations, many couples went out on dates during the weekend. Plus, since it was near dinner time, maybe they could even grab a meal together?

Okay. Zhou Jinyan was still thinking about the Jiangshang Film Festival Chu Xi had mentioned earlier, so he steered the conversation back. That Jiangshang Film Festival—are there still tickets available?

Chu Xi thought for a bit. “There should be.”

Considering Zhou Jinyan’s current attitude toward him, did he want to attend together?

Chu Xi’s face turned slightly red. Is this the ‘ambiguous phase’? Is this the ‘push and pull’ mentioned in Jian Yu’s documents?

It was such a strange and novel feeling. No, he couldn’t overthink it.

Do you want to go? If you can’t buy a ticket, I can take you in, Chu Xi said proudly. I have a friend who is a volunteer there; we can use the staff entrance.

There was no “volunteer,” of course—only Director Chu, carrying the weight of the production on his shoulders.

At another intersection, Zhou Jinyan turned his head to look at Chu Xi. From this angle, those deer-like eyes looked moist and bright under the streetlights—spirited yet well-behaved.

Zhou Jinyan retracted his gaze. The rain outside had stopped. In a good mood, he said, “Alright, let’s attend together.”

The week flew by. On the 26th of this month, Chu Xi’s high school anniversary celebration began.

From elementary school to university, Chu Xi had stayed in the same city. His high school was a bit far from his university and not directly accessible by subway, so he simply hailed a taxi.

After arriving and greeting his teachers, he watched several artistic performances. Then, Fu Ling and the others dragged Chu Xi to a reserved restaurant for dinner.

At the venue, Fu Ling had booked a private room. Someone had put up a banner that read: The Three-Year Term is Up: High School Classmates Return for a Reunion. It was hung right where you could see it upon entering.

Chu Xi laughed for a long time. “Who did this? It’s so funny.” He couldn’t resist taking a photo—another piece of content for his WeChat Moments.

Fu Ling: Lao Zhang did it. Three years later and he still loves being ‘abstract’.

Chu Xi reminisced about high school, matching the faces in the room to his memories. Everything felt both foreign and familiar.

However, there was a girl sitting next to Fu Ling whom Chu Xi had glanced at several times, unable to match her with any classmate.

Chu Xi whispered to Fu Ling, “Who is that?”

Fu Ling took the opportunity to introduce her: My girlfriend. He spread his hands. I assumed there wasn’t a rule against bringing family?

Someone started cheering: “No, no rule! I couldn’t tell, Fu Ling—you’re the first one among us to escape the single life!”

Right! I thought Chu Xi would be the first!

The room was noisy for a while until the door opened and waiters filed in, filling the empty table with dish after dish.

Since there were many girls present, Fu Ling suggested ordering milk tea for delivery, an idea that received overwhelming support.

Zhou Siyuan handed her phone to Chu Xi: “What do you want to drink?”

Chu Xi took the phone. Is it a delusion? He felt like he saw… fanaticism in Zhou Siyuan’s eyes?

Let me see. Chu Xi looked away, figuring he was overthinking things. He saw which one was being ordered the most and followed the crowd, adding it to the cart. I’m done.

Zhou Siyuan was screaming internally. He’s even prettier in person than in photos! It’s not high-level editing! And his voice is so nice! Ahhh, I can’t take it, I really want to find him a husband.

Zhou Siyuan suppressed her excitement: Mhm, okay!

As the meal progressed, everyone chatted about high school and their current lives. The first drop of rain hit the glass, followed by a downpour that drummed against the window. Someone started complaining.

This rain is never-ending. It’s been raining all week. I just started an internship, and it specifically pours whenever I get off work.

Exactly, I’m so annoyed. Once I didn’t bring an umbrella and got soaked like a drowned rat.

Chu Xi chimed in: Same. I’ve had an umbrella in my bag for a week now. You can’t survive without one this week.

As everyone was talking at once, a phone rang. Zhou Siyuan gestured for silence. “It’s the delivery driver.”

The room quieted down. Half a minute later, Zhou Siyuan announced bad news: “The rain is too heavy. The delivery guy took a fall and can’t deliver. Other riders aren’t taking orders either. The milk tea is stuck at the shop with no one to bring it.”

Chu Xi frowned at the news. That’s too bad.

Zhou Siyuan happened to catch this expression. She closed her eyes. Lord, a ‘beauty crit.’ He’s way too good-looking.

After a pause, Zhou Siyuan announced good news: “It’s fine though. My brother is driving home and will pass by that shop. I’ll send him the pickup code and have him pick it up and drop it off here.”

Seeing the “OK” reply from Zhou Jinyan, Zhou Siyuan felt her brother was exceptionally majestic for the first time.

With the crisis resolved, the group continued chatting. Toward the end, Zhou Siyuan asked Chu Xi if they could take a photo together. Though confused, Chu Xi complied.

After the photo, Zhou Siyuan excitedly revealed the reason: “I’ve followed your Instagram and Little Red Book for so long! You’re so beautiful. Someone I hate said your photos were heavily edited—hmpf, she just has bad character and even worse taste.”

So… Zhou Siyuan was actually his fan??

Chu Xi’s eyes widened. He did post daily life snippets, behind-the-scenes footage, and finished photos on Little Red Book, but he only had about 10,000 followers. He actually had a fan right here??

Chu Xi found it unbelievable.

Zhou Siyuan seemed to remember something: “By the way, Chu Xi, when are the final photos for that ‘Forest Elf’ set you teased coming out? The behind-the-scenes stuff was already so gorgeous!”

Chu Xi was a bit dazed. “In a few days. I haven’t finished picking which ones to post.”

Zhou Siyuan: “I’m so looking forward to it!”

Just then, her phone rang. She answered it. “My brother is here. Does someone want to help grab the tea? He says there’s a lot, but only one person needs to go down.”

Chu Xi felt a bit awkward staying with a fan and volunteered: “I’ll go. I have an umbrella anyway.”

Chu Xi took his umbrella from his bag and slipped out. Once outside, the surreal, floaty feeling finally dissipated. He took a deep breath; this “grounded” feeling felt more real.

The rain was truly heavy tonight. Chu Xi avoided the puddles, hopping across the pavement like he was playing hopscotch. It took some effort to reach the Cullinan SUV.

When Zhou Siyuan told him the model and license plate, his first thought was: Why is the Cullinan so common?

He’d seen one at the forest park last time too. That one belonged to Zhou Jinyan—surely this one wasn’t his as well? Unfortunately, Chu Xi hadn’t memorized Zhou Jinyan’s plate, so there was no way to verify.

The Cullinan’s wipers were working rhythmically, clearing the water from the glass. Zhou Jinyan sat in the driver’s seat, waiting for the person Zhou Siyuan said was coming.

When he saw that it was Chu Xi, Zhou Jinyan raised an eyebrow in surprise. From his perfect vantage point, he watched Chu Xi’s entire approach.

Zhou Jinyan couldn’t help but smile. Kind of cute. Like a naughty kitten playing with water.

Zhou Jinyan felt a fresh sense of novelty. It was the feeling of seeing someone you thought you understood perform an action you rarely saw them do.

The distance wasn’t far, and soon Chu Xi was standing by the vehicle.

How should I call out to him?

Chu Xi thought for a moment, walked to the driver’s door, curled his fingers, and rapped on the window with his knuckles.

Knock, knock.

Zhou Jinyan raised an eyebrow. A sudden streak of mischief hit him. He pressed the window button, and the glass slid down slowly.

When Zhou Jinyan’s face suddenly popped out from behind the window, Chu Xi nearly slipped.

Zhou Jinyan!? Chu Xi’s eyes went wide. Had he found the wrong person?

But the model was the same. Chu Xi was stunned. Could Zhou Jinyan actually be Zhou Siyuan’s brother?

Good lord, I’m not living in a TV drama, am I? It can’t be that much of a coincidence… so there’s only one truth!

Chu Xi said awkwardly: “Um, I think I found the wrong person. I wasn’t looking for you.”

Droplets of rain, carrying the chill of autumn, drifted into the car. Zhou Jinyan looked at the clearly dazed Chu Xi. “You didn’t find the wrong person.”

Zhou Jinyan: “The milk tea is in the back seat. That umbrella from last time is back there too. Give me the umbrella first, then we’ll take the tea inside together.”

Chu Xi forced himself to snap out of it. “Oh, okay.”

Chu Xi opened the back door and sure enough, he saw the long-handled umbrella they had shared the other day. He picked it up and gestured for Zhou Jinyan to get out.

Chu Xi: “Here, your umbrella.”

Zhou Jinyan: “Thanks.”

As Zhou Jinyan took the umbrella, Chu Xi was about to let go, but the other man’s calloused fingerpads brushed against his fingertips and nearly swept across his palm.

So hot.