Did My Wife Break Up With Me Today? - Chapter 12

Chapter 12: His right leg, pressed tight against Dr. Xu, was suddenly nudged hard.

Deafening music thundered around them, but Chen Kongqing felt as if his heartbeat was even louder than the bass: “No… it’s not that.”

He kept his body stiff, not daring to move. He knew that in a place like this, physical contact was unavoidable, so he had taken his medicine specifically before coming.

Suddenly, the pressure and warmth on his arm retracted.

“Then let’s go. It should be over there,” Xu Jingmo said, stepping forward.

“Okay.” He followed the man, asking in a small voice, “Cousin, are… are you here for a party too?”

In truth, even he felt it was strange to keep calling Dr. Xu “Cousin.”

“Mm.” The man gave a faint, short response.

Chen Kongqing didn’t say anything more and followed him through the crowd. Before long, he spotted Ling Xiao at a booth. Ling Xiao was holding a glass of liquor: “Ge, you’re here.”

The youth slowly peeked out from behind Xu Jingmo. Several people were sitting in the booth, all youngsters around their age. However, aside from Ling Xiao, he didn’t recognize any of them.

“Find a place to sit,” Ling Xiao said to Chen Kongqing.

The youth nodded, but every spot next to Ling Xiao was taken.

“Sit here,” Xu Jingmo said softly, tilting his head slightly toward the awkward youth.

Chen Kongqing followed the man and sat down on a sofa several seats away from Ling Xiao. His leg was almost pressed right against Xu Jingmo’s. Although both were trying to keep their distance, the space was simply too limited.

Chen Kongqing: “…”

“How come nobody invited me to the party?” A cheerful male voice broke the somewhat stifled atmosphere.

Looking up, it was Gu Chengjing, who had just arrived. The lighting was dim, so Chen Kongqing couldn’t see Ling Xiao’s expression clearly, but his tone sounded surprised: “You… didn’t you say you had a deadline to meet?”

“I can still make it to a party,” Gu Chengjing said with a smile, walking over.

“Hey, hey, sit here! Long time no see, Jing-ge. And these two—Ling Xiao, why aren’t you introducing them?” The speaker was Zhang Cheng, the captain of the basketball team. He squinted slightly at the youth nearby. “Is this Kongqing?”

Hearing his name, Chen Kongqing looked over: “It’s me, Captain Zhang.” Once, on a rainy day, he had brought an umbrella to Ling Xiao and had briefly met the team.

“Rare to see you, Kongqing! Right, that name is beautiful, I remember it!” Zhang Cheng smiled and handed him a drink.

“Thank you, Captain.” Chen Kongqing stood up hurriedly to take the glass.

When he sat back down, he clearly felt the space become even narrower. His leg was pressed firmly against Xu Jingmo’s side. Because of Gu Chengjing’s arrival, the seating had compressed further. Even though he kept his legs tightly together, contact was inevitable.

In the autumn and winter of Kun City, his clothes weren’t thin, yet he could still faintly feel a warmth that wasn’t his own against his thigh. Dr. Xu was currently chatting with the person next to him and likely hadn’t noticed. Consequently, the gap between their legs remained sealed, becoming incredibly intimate.

The air seemed to grow heavy with moisture. Chen Kongqing instinctively glanced at Ling Xiao across from him, harboring a tiny, secret thought: Would Ling Xiao care that I’m sitting so close to someone else?

But Ling Xiao was leaning back, talking to Gu Chengjing, without casting a single glance in his direction.

Before he could even feel disappointed, his right leg—the one pressed against Dr. Xu—was suddenly nudged hard. He pulled his legs in even tighter, shrinking into a small ball, and cautiously turned his head.

It turned out that a few young men next to Dr. Xu were playing a drinking game; they were getting a bit rowdy, pushing and shoving, which affected those nearby.

Xu Jingmo slowly leaned in closer. The sound of fabric rustling echoed in Chen Kongqing’s ears. Hearing it, he felt a strange itch in his own throat.

“Did they hurt you?” The man’s deep voice whispered right by his ear.

Chen Kongqing felt the itch in his throat intensify. He shook his head: “No…” His leg had been injured before, but he wasn’t that fragile.

Then, one of the standing youths suddenly sat down. “Ugh…” Chen Kongqing swayed with the sofa, his vision wobbling. Now, it wasn’t just their legs touching; their entire bodies were almost pressed flush against each other.

Chen Kongqing suddenly remembered the feeling of Dr. Xu holding his hand during his episode a few days ago. No, I can’t think about that. The youth’s face was uncontrollably turning as red as a tomato.

There was no space to retreat. If he moved any further, he’d be sitting on the floor. Helpless, he could only close his eyes and grip his own knees.

In Xu Jingmo’s peripheral vision, he saw a “little tomato” curled into a ball, as if he were a man-eating monster. The man pressed his tongue against the inside of his cheek and turned his head the other way. “It’s too crowded here.”

The rowdy group apologized and moved to another sofa. Chen Kongqing felt the space around him suddenly loosen as the man beside him retreated to a safe distance.

Before he could catch his breath, he saw Zhang Cheng waving at him.

“Come, come, Kongqing! I’ll finish mine, you drink as much as you like,” Zhang Cheng said, tossing back a glass before looking at the sophisticated man who looked much more mature than the rest of them. “And this is?”

Ling Xiao took over: “This is my cousin. He’s a doctor here in Kun City.”

“Oh! Hello, Cousin! You have one too.” Zhang Cheng handed the man a drink.

Xu Jingmo stood up, picked up his glass of juice, and lowered it to clink against the other’s glass: “I’m driving, so I won’t drink. My apologies.”

Zhang Cheng laughed: “No problem…”

After the pleasantries, Zhang Cheng seemed to remember something. “Kongqing, do you want to sit over here? Sitting so far from Ling Xiao makes the rest of us look like third wheels.”

Chen Kongqing, who had been dazed while holding his glass, snapped back to reality. Strange to say, he wasn’t near an AC vent, yet he suddenly felt a wave of icy coldness around him.

He looked at Ling Xiao with a slight delay. Ling Xiao still didn’t look at him. It was as if he were intentionally avoiding his gaze. Instead, it was Gu Chengjing who spoke: “Kongqing, do you want to move over here?”

“It’s okay, no need to trouble anyone.” He waved his hand, his lips curving slightly. It was just a seat; he didn’t want to bother people.

Gu Chengjing smiled, but his eyes drifted back to Ling Xiao. Ling Xiao looked away and downed a gulp of his drink. The atmosphere turned stifling.

Zhang Cheng: “How about we… play a game? Losers drink. Just sitting here is too boring.”

“Sure!” A basketball teammate agreed. Chen Kongqing found him familiar but couldn’t recall his name.

Zhang Cheng: “What should we play? Ling Xiao, you’re a regular at bars, think of something fun. Once we finish this round, we won’t touch alcohol again until after the match.”

Ling Xiao, uncharacteristically quiet, said, “Anything is fine.”

Chen Kongqing pursed his lips. Feeling thirsty, he took a sip of the drink in his hand. The brandy was harsh; despite being made of grapes, it had an earthy, pungent taste that burned his throat. He couldn’t help but let out a few soft coughs.

The group was still debating what game to play. No one heard his uncomfortable coughing—except for a glass of transparent liquid being pushed onto the table in front of him.

“Here’s some water.”

The youth’s gaze shifted from the glass to Xu Jingmo. But he only shifted his eyes a tiny bit, not daring to look at the man’s face. If he did, he would remember that day—remember holding hands with Dr. Xu. That wasn’t a normal handshake… it was…

He hurriedly lowered his head, biting his numbing lower lip: “Thank you.”

“Alright, let’s play ‘I Have, You Haven’t’.” The group had reached a decision. Zhang Cheng spoke up: “Kongqing, Cousin, is that okay? Cousin, you can just drink your juice.”

Chen Kongqing nodded: “That’s fine.” Xu Jingmo: “I have no objection.”

Zhang Cheng pointed to the end of the sofa: “Great. Let’s go in order of seating. Xiao Bao, you start.”

“Okay, okay! I’ll go first!” Xiao Bao thought for a moment. “I’ve drunk a whole bag of fermented mung bean milk.”

Everyone started drinking in unison. Chen Kongqing honestly took a large gulp, the alcohol burning his throat before it even hit his stomach. “Cough, cough…”

Next, the seemingly straight-laced Mu Mu said something shocking: “I’ve been ‘the other person’ in someone else’s relationship.”

The table exploded. Xiao Bao downed a glass: “Mu Mu, I didn’t think you were that kind of person!”

“Listen, I just had bad luck! I didn’t know he had a boyfriend. I was made ‘the other person’ without knowing!” Mu Mu explained.

Zhang Cheng: “That’s more understandable. If you knew and did it anyway, that would be…”

As soon as he said this, several people’s expressions became subtle. Gu Chengjing stared at Ling Xiao with a trace of resentment and downed a full glass. Ling Xiao kept his head down, looking at no one, and swallowed a mouthful of liquor.

Chen Kongqing was busy struggling with the harsh taste of his drink, his eyes fixed on his glass. He didn’t notice the veins throbbing on the man’s forehead beside him.

Xu Jingmo expressionlessly took a sip of tart grape juice, the look in his eyes as murky as the bar’s lighting.

Next was Zhang Cheng’s turn. He grinned: “My sexual orientation is ‘female’.”

He hadn’t expected that being straight in the sports department would actually make him a minority. Sure enough, a group of people picked up their glasses.

Chen Kongqing hadn’t realized that Gu Chengjing also liked men. Surprised, he instinctively glanced at Xu Jingmo beside him.

The man noticed his gaze. He locked onto it, picked up the freshly filled glass beside him, tilted his head back, and drained it in one go. Chen Kongqing froze, his blood rushing to his face.

Before he could recover, Gu Chengjing dropped a bombshell: “I’m not a virgin.”

This was a significantly higher “rating,” and the group hooted and cheered. Xiao Bao sighed and took a drink: “Man, I really didn’t want to admit that.”

Chen Kongqing felt hot before; now he felt like he was burning. He didn’t know how to lie, and there was no point in lying about this. He calmly took a sip of his drink, but noticed Ling Xiao didn’t move to drink. His heart dimmed slightly. He knew Ling Xiao had an ex-boyfriend; it was… normal to have…

Thinking this, he felt a little better.

“Whoa! Kongqing, why did you drink? Hahaha, Ling Xiao, you’re failing here!” Xiao Bao’s eyes went wide as he pointed at Ling Xiao, laughing.

Chen Kongqing’s ears turned deep red, and heat flooded his face.

“Yeah, Ling Xiao, what’s up with you? Are you a monk?” Xiao Bao continued teasing. “Last time Kongqing came to our department, so many juniors wanted to add his WeChat. You better step it up.”

The teasing was aimed at Ling Xiao, but Chen Kongqing felt his face getting hotter and hotter. His neck felt heavy, and he didn’t dare look up.

Ling Xiao gave a stiff laugh.

“Yeah, Ling Xiao, what’s the deal?” Gu Chengjing joined in, a bright smile on his face. Except for a slightly odd tone, there was nothing unusual.

Zhang Cheng, however, gave Ling Xiao and Gu Chengjing a meaningful look. “Kongqing is so excellent; Ling Xiao, you should cherish him.”

While Chen Kongqing was wishing for a hole to crawl into, he was also wondering if he should say something to help Ling Xiao out.

At that moment, Xu Jingmo beside him reached out, opened a bottle of plum sparkling water, and refilled his own glass. The amber liquid swirled.

Following the movement of the glass, Chen Kongqing’s gaze inadvertently lifted. The neon lights of the bar swept across the room.

In an instant, his gaze was locked.

As Xu Jingmo lifted the glass, his chin tilted slightly, and the cool liquid rolled into his mouth. He looked down slightly, his gaze like an invisible rope, winding around Chen Kongqing again and again.

Chen Kongqing felt as if he were being constricted, unable to catch his breath.