My Childhood Friend is Secretly in Love with Me - Chapter 8

Guo Jingjing finally threw caution to the wind and shouted, “I saw it! That day at the KTV, the look in your eyes when you watched him was impossible to hide. I’m jealous—so jealous I’m going crazy!”

“So you think I like him, and you intentionally invited me to the restaurant where he works to confess?” Zuo Yi exposed him coldly. “You wanted Qi Yan to misunderstand and think I’m gay so he’d be disgusted by me. That way, you’d have your chance.”

The moment he saw Qi Yan there, he knew what was going on. He and Qi Yan did not have enough fate to accidentally bump into each other every single day.

“I, Brother Yi,” Guo Jingjing said. He had not expected his little scheme to be pierced through so directly.

“You thought I would stay quiet just to maintain roommate etiquette?” Zuo Yi took a sip of water and sneered. “You are too clever for your own good.”

Guo Jingjing was terrified by his sharp gaze. He had never seen Zuo Yi with such an aura. Usually, Zuo Yi was quite lively, the type who would not get angry no matter how much people joked with him.

“Brother Yi, I am sorry. It is my fault, I just,” Guo Jingjing apologized desperately, trying to salvage his image.

Zuo Yi mocked, “Calculating against someone without any bottom line—is that your way of liking someone? Do you not find yourself ridiculous?”

Looking aggrieved, Guo Jingjing grabbed Zuo Yi’s hand and pleaded, “I am sorry, I was being too smart for my own good. I promise I will never do it again! Brother Yi, please do not hate me.”

At that moment, Qi Yan walked out from a hidden door wearing his own white T-shirt. He happened to glance toward Zuo Yi and, seeing the two of them holding hands, pushed open the door to leave as if he had seen nothing at all.

Zuo Yi immediately flung Guo Jingjing’s hand away and chased him outside, grabbing Qi Yan’s forearm. “Qi Yan.”

Qi Yan stopped and looked at Zuo Yi blankly. “Is something the matter?”

“Are you working here because something happened? If you are short on money, tell me. I can give you my scholarship money for your emergency.”

“No need.” Qi Yan’s tone was bone-chilling as he subtly pulled his arm away from Zuo Yi’s grip.

“You,” Zuo Yi was stung by his look of disdain. Since they were kids, Qi Yan had never spoken to him in such a cold tone. Was Qi Yan truly disgusted because he thought Zuo Yi was gay?

Qi Yan frowned and reminded him, “Your friend is still inside waiting for you. Do not spend too much time lingering out here with me and neglect him.”

Zuo Yi glanced back at the restaurant. Guo Jingjing was indeed watching them from inside. Feeling frustrated, Zuo Yi dragged Qi Yan into the mall’s emergency stairwell.

“What exactly do you want to say?” Qi Yan clicked his tongue, frowning as he shook off Zuo Yi’s hand.

Zuo Yi stopped beating around the bush and asked directly, “Are you short on money or not?”

“I said I do not need your scholarship money,” Qi Yan replied.

Hearing this, the fire Zuo Yi had been suppressing finally ignited. “Qi Yan, what the hell do you mean? From the moment I arrived in Jingxi until now, you have not given me a single explanation about what happened back then. Now you are annoyed that I am meddling? Then what was the point of me coming to Jingxi? Back then, you left without a word, vanishing overnight like you fucking disappeared from the face of the earth. I did not even hold that against you, so what right do you have to treat me with this attitude?”

Finally, at the wrong time, in the wrong place, and with the wrong emotions, Zuo Yi let out the words he had hidden in his heart for so long.

Why is it so damn hard to like someone? Should he not feel great after shouting all that out? Why did his heart hurt so much instead? You are so pathetic, Zuo Yi! His head and heart felt like they were going to explode, and he quietly leaned against the white wall for support.

Gradually, Zuo Yi’s aggressive momentum faded along with Qi Yan’s silence.

“I have nothing to explain,” Qi Yan said.

Zuo Yi was fuming. It felt like his iron-hard fist had punched a bale of soft cotton; he was out of moves.

“Qi Yan, you will not tell me anything. What do you actually take me for? Is our lifelong friendship worth less than someone you have known for only a year?” He did not know what state of mind he was in when he said those words. All he knew was that his vision was blurring and his head felt heavy, as if he were deprived of oxygen.

Just then, Qi Yan’s phone rang. He picked it up. “Hello, Guan Guan.”

Whatever the person on the other end said, Qi Yan gave a simple “Mm” and replied, “I will be there right away.”

After hanging up, Qi Yan noticed Zuo Yi’s bloodshot eyes and froze for a moment before saying he had to leave.

Damn it, getting fed dog food in the middle of a fight. Zuo Yi muttered bitterly, “Bros before hoes, my ass.”

Qi Yan heard it, but because he was in a hurry, he did not pay it any mind and walked away quickly.

Watching him leave without looking back, Zuo Yi slammed his clenched fist against the wall. After a few loud thuds, his knuckles instantly turned red.

After such an ordeal, he had no appetite left. Once he calmed down, he prepared to head back into the restaurant to say goodbye. Regardless of what happened, Guo Jingjing was still his roommate, and they had to live together. He had to keep things separate.

Right now, Zuo Yi really wanted to swim, to exhaust every ounce of his physical strength and then go back to the dorm to sleep like a log. That way, he would not have to think about anything. To hell with who Qi Yan is, to hell with whether he is broke; he did not want to care about anything anymore.

Guo Jingjing, having been rejected, also had no heart to eat. However, seeing a table full of untouched food, he did not want to waste it, so he packed it all up to take back to school with Zuo Yi. During the trip, neither of them said a word. Guo Jingjing followed Zuo Yi to the school’s swimming center. Before entering the locker room, Zuo Yi suggested he go back to the dorm to rest, but Guo Jingjing refused, and Zuo Yi did not press further.

Guo Jingjing watched helplessly as Zuo Yi swam non-stop for nearly an hour with no sign of slowing down.

In the pool, Zuo Yi was like a fish trying to tire itself to death, pushing with all its might through a boundless sea—forgetting the goal, losing direction, and ignoring time, until its strength was spent and it sank to the bottom.

Guo Jingjing was worried that his state of mind was wrong. He remembered that at the KTV, he had saved Ding Wenxiao’s number to get closer to Zuo Yi. Having already offended Zuo Yi today, he did not dare force him to stop. He could only call Ding Wenxiao. Perhaps only a childhood friend could help ease this anxiety. He dialed the number.

Soon, the roar of a motorcycle echoed outside the swimming center. Guo Jingjing ran out to see Ding Wenxiao hopping off a Kawasaki H2. His eyes lit up. He thought to himself that she was truly worthy of being Brother Yi’s childhood friend.

He led Ding Wenxiao into the pool area, where Zuo Yi was still pushing himself. In her anxiety, she put her fingers to her lips and blew a loud “hooligan whistle,” something Zuo Yi had taught her when they were kids.

Having just finished a lap, Zuo Yi recognized the familiar, messy whistle and finally stopped. Treading water in the middle of the pool, he saw that it was indeed Ding Wenxiao. He shot Guo Jingjing a displeased look. Standing on the deck with a dark expression, Ding Wenxiao roared, “Get out of the water right now!”

He instantly lost all his strength and could not swim another stroke. After getting out, he endured a lecture from Ding Wenxiao, while Guo Jingjing took the opportunity to slip back to the dorm.

Zuo Yi took a quick shower and brought Ding Wenxiao to the sports field, where they sat for a long time in silence.

Finally, Ding Wenxiao spoke up. “What kind of madness was that? Tell me who messed with you, and I will go kill them.”

Zuo Yi laughed and bumped her shoulder. “With your small frame, who are you going to kill?”

He could not answer her question. He could not exactly say he had been holding a grudge over Qi Yan’s silent departure all this time, and that after reuniting, he was drowning in jealousy every day because Qi Yan was dating Sister Guan Guan. Ding Wenxiao would not be able to handle that. The three of them shared a bond from childhood, and he did not want to break the balance of their friendship.

However, Ding Wenxiao saw right through him. “Guo Jingjing said you bumped into Brother Yan while eating, and you have been like this since you two talked. Did you have a fight?”

“I know you two better than anyone. One of you swallows everything that happens, and the other cannot hide a single thing in his heart. When you and Brother Yan get together, it is like a dud firework meeting a Gatling gun—just a pointless mess.”

What a hell of a metaphor. Zuo Yi was finally amused and cursed with a laugh, “If I am a Gatling gun, you are a rocket launcher.”

“Get out of here. I am an everlasting fairy wand, lighting the way for you two since we were small.” Ding Wenxiao took the opportunity to lie down on the grass.

Zuo Yi lay down beside her. “Yes, yes, yes. You are the Fairy Wand, the brightest one.”

They laughed together, lying on the grass of the sports academy field, feeling the cool late-summer evening breeze and watching the scattered stars in the night sky. It was peaceful.

After a moment, Ding Wenxiao continued, “Though I do not know what happened between you two, on his birthday outside the KTV, Brother Yan asked me for your contact info. Has he reached out?”

“No,” Zuo Yi replied.

Ding Wenxiao said, “Maybe he got busy and forgot.”

“Yeah, busy working and dating,” Zuo Yi said sourly.

“Working and dating?” Ding Wenxiao heard the shocking gossip. “Hurry up and spill!”

Zuo Yi explained, “The place where we ate today just happened to be the restaurant where he works.”

“And then?”

“And then,” Zuo Yi paused, “he went on a date with Sister Guan Guan as soon as he got off work. He was in such a rush.”

Ding Wenxiao felt something was off. A girl’s intuition is strong. From the brief meeting on the birthday, she could see that Sister Guan Guan had a good upbringing and was very casual. That day, she had worn a T-shirt and jeans, not the behavior of someone dressing up for a boyfriend’s birthday, nor a materialistic girl who would bleed her boyfriend dry.

Furthermore, she did not see any chemistry between Sister Guan Guan and Brother Yan. Instead, it was Zuo Yi’s roommate who had been clinging to Sister Guan Guan. They were so intimate that she did not believe Brother Yan would be blind to it.

Ding Wenxiao voiced her doubts. “Xiao Yi, honestly, I do not think Sister Guan Guan is Brother Yan’s type. Are we misunderstanding something?”

Zuo Yi pursed his lips. Just seeing the nervous way Qi Yan answered the phone was enough to know there was no misunderstanding. When had he ever seen Qi Yan like that before? Zuo Yi did not want to talk about Qi Yan’s love life anymore, so he turned back to teasing her. “Then what type do you think he likes? Does he like fashion trendsetters like you?”

“Damn it, Zuo Yi, do you have any conscience? I flew over here on my bike because I heard you were in trouble, only to be mocked by you!” Ding Wenxiao sat up in a huff and punched Zuo Yi with her fists.

Zuo Yi had always loved teasing her. Seeing she was truly getting angry, he sat up and ruffled her hair. “How is that mocking? Our Xiao Xiao is the most excellent, most beautiful girl in the world. It would take the most, most, most excellent man to be worthy of standing by our Princess Xiao Xiao’s side for the rest of her life.” He then pinched her reddened cheek. “In the future, you have to bring any boyfriend to me first so I can check him out. Only a man understands men; I will not let there be even a possibility of you being mistreated.”

This talk warmed Ding Wenxiao’s heart. She slapped his hand away. “Forget it, I do not trust your taste. When we were kids at the aquarium, you ignored the mermaid show and insisted on looking at that ugly humphead wrasse that looked like Shrek. Who knows if your taste in men is just like your taste in fish, only liking the weird ones.”

Zuo Yi rolled his eyes and thought to himself: My taste in men must be top-tier. Otherwise, how would I have fallen for Qi Yan?

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