Your boyfriend is great. He's mine now. - Chapter 6

It was direct, cold, and almost heartless.

Gu Linyuan withdrew his gentle expression, looked at Shen Xubai for a few seconds, and then let out a light sigh. “Senior, I live here, too.”

“…”

Shen Xubai found it even more absurd. He had dealt with quite a few wealthy second-generation heirs, and without exception, they all lived in villas by the mountains or the water, or at the very least, in incredibly expensive, sprawling apartments in the city center. This excuse was pathetic.

However, Shen Xubai didn’t want to say anything more; after all, he had already said what needed to be said. The elevator numbers rose slowly, and Gu Linyuan stepped out onto the eighth floor with him.

“Ah, Senior, what a coincidence.”

What a coincidence, indeed especially since they had just seen each other in his apartment two hours ago. He felt like he was being played for a fool.

Shen Xubai felt a surge of unnamable anger. He simply stopped in front of his door and looked at Gu Linyuan calmly. He wanted to see how the other party would finish this act.

Gu Linyuan looked back, puzzled. After a while, he seemed to have grasped something. Under Shen Xubai’s cold, sharp gaze, he calmly entered his passcode.

The door opened.

Gu Linyuan seemed completely at ease and incredibly enthusiastic. “Senior, would you like to come in and take a look?”

Shen Xubai hadn’t experienced a moment this awkward where he wished the ground would just open up and swallow him in a long time. He lowered his eyes, searching intently for a crack in the floor.

Gu Linyuan stared with interest at the tips of Shen Xubai’s ears, which were turning a faint red. Beside his trembling eyelashes was a very pale, brown mole. Gu Linyuan’s eyes began to darken, and a obsession that bordered on paranoia emerged from the depths of his gaze.

Shen Xubai missed the look Gu Linyuan was giving him. He tried his best to appear unflappable. “Sorry, I misunderstood just now.”

Gu Linyuan took two steps forward. The sunlight filtering through the window stretched his figure out infinitely, completely engulfing Shen Xubai. It was a posture of extreme aggression. The two were too close; Shen Xubai was left speechless, overwhelmed by the scent of sandalwood and the bursting hormones radiating from Gu Linyuan.

Just as he was about to move his feet, he heard Gu Linyuan say, “You didn’t misunderstand.”

Shen Xubai’s lashes flickered slightly. The calm, unrippled surface of the lake was starting to stir.

“Senior, I would be a pretty good choice. Consider me.”

Shen Xubai tried to peel back Gu Linyuan’s intentions. The man’s pupils were a shade darker than the average person’s, which made him appear very unapproachable, like a deep, ancient well just glancing at the surface was enough to make one feel a sense of dread.

“Senior, if you don’t say anything, I’ll take that as a yes.”

The profundity was replaced by a frivolous laugh. That sense of dread quietly dissipated, replaced only by annoyance.

“I won’t consider it.”

Even though Xiao Yu was a bastard, he was right about one thing: he (Shen Xubai) was sick, and no one could stand him.

Even after his confession was rejected, Gu Linyuan kept his smile, though the words that came out seemed slightly gritted. “It seems Senior really likes Xiao Yu.”

That strange, oppressive feeling returned. Shen Xubai had a feeling that Gu Linyuan’s gentleness was merely superficial, and the true core of the man was something no one could ever fathom.

He didn’t want to get tangled up further, so he said coldly, “That’s none of your business.”

Gu Linyuan’s fingers, which were hanging at his side, twitched imperceptibly, forming a stiff arc. He took a deep breath and resumed his gentle, gentlemanly appearance. “Sorry, I was too abrupt.”

Shen Xubai turned around, entered his passcode, and coldly shut the man out.

There seemed to be a sickening scent lingering in the air. After washing his hands, Shen Xubai tossed his other set of toothbrushes and cups into the trash, then threw away his face towels, bath towels, and razors as well. He hesitated for a moment between calling a housekeeper or doing it himself, then resigned himself to putting on rubber gloves.

Under non-essential circumstances, he didn’t like others entering his territory.

The bathroom items were easy to deal with; next was the bedroom. Bed sheets and covers were easy to toss, but the mattress and sofa were harder to manage. Shen Xubai gave up for now, thinking he’d worry about it when the new mattress arrived tomorrow.

Doing chores was a way for him to relieve stress, and he needed a release now. He disinfected everything over and over again, cleaned repeatedly, and only then went to take a shower.

The sunset carved strips of orange light onto the floor. Shen Xubai held a beer, his gaze following the mottled light and shadows. They say people tend to feel lonely and melancholic at dusk.

He discovered he was gay during his second year of high school. It took him a long time to accept it.

Xiao Yu was in his grade. He started pursuing Shen Xubai during their freshman year. The Xiao Yu of that time was simple, clean, and passionate he hadn’t yet been stained by the vices of a rich, idle heir. Every day, aside from attending classes, he would find every possible way to stick by Shen Xubai’s side.

At first, Shen Xubai refused, but Xiao Yu wouldn’t be chased away. Eventually, Shen Xubai began to ignore him. Xiao Yu would often be discouraged and dejected, only to be “revived” the next day. Gradually, he got used to the other person’s existence. He couldn’t say he loved him, but he didn’t hate him, either.

It wasn’t until their senior year that the Xiao family found out about their relationship. Xiao Yu’s mother found him, and the situation was quite humiliating. He didn’t know how Xiao Yu found out, but Xiao Yu disappeared for a week.

When they met again, that dazzling boy was covered in bruises it was hard to imagine the Xiao parents could strike him so harshly. Xiao Yu had come running to him, limping, his eyes filled with love and joy. He said: His parents agreed.

In that moment, it was hard for Shen Xubai not to be moved, so he accepted Xiao Yu’s pursuit. But he couldn’t get past that mental hurdle. He laid out his situation simply: they could date, but he didn’t accept sexual intimacy.

Xiao Yu was so overjoyed at the time that he forgot himself and agreed to everything.

But he didn’t know when that respect had started to change. Xiao Yu began hitting the bars, holding all kinds of parties, and frequently getting dead drunk, then calling him to come pick him up. Sometimes, he’d see Xiao Yu acting ambiguously with others, but Xiao Yu’s gaze was always frank. When looking at him, it was clingy, as if he could only see him in the whole world.

He hadn’t thought too much about it, but such situations became more and more frequent, and their arguments and cold wars became increasingly common. The root cause was probably his refusal of intimacy.

Today’s Xiao Yu was a stranger so much so that those years of time felt like a hallucination he had fabricated.

Three years of feelings, just ended like that in a rush.

The quiet room was broken by a ringtone, interrupting Shen Xubai’s brooding.

“What’s wrong?”

On the other end of the line was his junior, Su Chen, one of his few friends.

“Did you break up with Xiao Yu?”

Shen Xubai didn’t know how news spread so fast. “Yeah. How did you know?”

“Xiao Yu posted in the group chat that he’s throwing a bachelor party tonight. The whole world knows now.”