“... Congratulations.” Shang Jue congratulated dryly.
“According to the doctor, if things go well, I’ll remember everything soon,” Lu Yuxing said, looking deeply at him.
Shang Jue only smiled. “That’s great.”
His acting was flawless, and Lu Yuxing gave up on probing further, speaking directly, “You haven’t been to the hospital lately.”
Shang Jue expressed surprise, “Baby, are you mad at me?”
Lu Yuxing instinctively denied it. “Why would I be angry?”
“Oh. It’s good if you’re not mad. I thought you might be unhappy because I haven’t visited you recently.” Shang Jue continued his fabricated story, “Your brother is in the hospital, and I’m worried that if I keep going, he’ll find out about us.”
“...”
Every time Lu Yuxing spoke with Shang Jue, he felt a dull ache in his left atrium. It was probably frustration building up inside.
“My brother,” Lu Yuxing's tone was unusually hesitant, “doesn’t know, doesn’t know about my... relationship with you?”
“Um... after all, I’m a boy.” Shang Jue smiled at him.
“...” Lu Yuxing felt he should say “sorry” to this person at that moment.
Yet he didn’t want to; he was resisting it from the inside out.
Bringing things to Shang Jue was obviously a mistake. Lu Yuxing realized he couldn’t interact with this person; even simple conversations could give him a heart attack.
He averted his gaze, not wanting to look at him anymore. However, his eyes caught sight of the car that Shang Jue had parked, and he furrowed his brow. “Is that your car?”
At the mention, Shang Jue turned to look.
He saw the front passenger window had been rolled down, revealing someone’s half-leaning head inside.
He Yang with his black hair blowing in the wind, was trying to eavesdrop, completely oblivious to the fact that the two subjects of the gossip were watching him.
Shang Jue’s lips twitched slightly, explaining, “Baby, don’t misunderstand. He’s just my friend.”
“I’m not misunderstanding.” He didn’t trust this person at all.
“I’m leaving,” he said next.
“Wait.” Shang Jue called him back.
Lu Yuxing thought Shang Jue had something more to say. However, before he could open his mouth, he saw the person suddenly lean in closer to him, their faces almost just ten centimeters apart.
Shang Jue was slightly shorter than him, tilting his chin slightly upward.
That posture seemed like he was about to kiss him goodbye.
In an instant, Lu Yuxing’s breath caught!
His legs reacted faster than his brain, instinctively stepping back!
His body wobbled several steps due to the loss of balance.
His usually indifferent face had no relaxed muscles; it was filled with shock, resistance, and a complex expression that was unusually intense.
Seeing Lu Yuxing in such a flustered state made Shang Jue want to laugh, though he didn’t show it on his face, extending his hand in concern to steady him.
“Baby—”
Before he could finish saying “baby,” Lu Yuxing swatted his hand away with considerable force, making a sound like a slap when their skin met.
Both of them froze in place.
Before Shang Jue could say anything, Lu Yuxing's face turned pale as he muttered, “Sorry,” wanting to say something else to Shang Jue, but he was truly afraid of experiencing that situation again.
Kissing a man... was undoubtedly a significant challenge for him, considering he was also male.
He repeated “sorry” again and then hurriedly left the scene.
Lu Yuxing didn’t walk far.
He stopped under a shadow of trees that were hard to notice, watching the person still standing at the school gate.
Shang Jue lowered his head, slowly rubbing the skin on the back of his hand where Lu Yuxing had slapped him.
The northern wind was especially fierce at night, making Shang Jue's thin black coat flutter like a piece of paper.
He had a great figure, with a bone structure as beautiful as a top model's, long limbs, broad shoulders—naturally a perfect clothes hanger. When the wind lifted the hem of his coat, it revealed his slender waist.
After a moment, he knelt down on the spot, resting his elbows on his knees, using his palm to cover the right side of his face. From a distance, one could only see the back of his hand and the wrist bone exposed from the sleeve that had slipped down.
He was probably feeling sad.
Lu Yuxing frowned.
-
Shang Jue didn't have the strength to stand up until he had laughed enough.
His sense of humor wasn't very high, but it was somewhat unique; once he was amused, he would laugh for a long time before he could stop. Laughing always consumed a lot of energy.
When he got up, his legs felt a bit numb from squatting. He pinched his cheeks to relax the muscles that had become sore from laughing.
Back in the car, He Yang had already closed the window, his face full of hesitation.
In a good mood, Shang Jue glanced at him and said, "If you have something to say, just say it."
"Shang Jue... he’s lost his memory. Isn’t it a bit wrong for you to lie to him like this?"
"It is wrong. But I never said I was doing a good deed."
"…"
Before He Yang could say anything, Shang Jue interrupted, "I’m telling you the truth not to ruin the mood."
He Yang said, "If Lu Yuxing wakes up, he’ll definitely want to kill you."
"Oh." Shang Jue imagined the look on Lu Yuxing's face when he discovered the truth and couldn't help but chuckle.
"Want to kill me? That’s quite something to look forward to."
He Yang said, "You’re being a bit unethical by deceiving him."
Shang Jue shamelessly replied, "Yeah."
"Isn’t that also illegal?" He Yang asked uncertainly.
"I’m not cheating him out of money, nor am I after his looks. By your logic, everyone who lies in this world should be thrown in jail."
It’s at most a moral issue.
Seeing he couldn’t sway Shang Jue, He Yang pouted. It was like trying to reason with a wall. When the time came for retaliation, he couldn’t say he hadn’t warned him.
He glanced at Shang Jue’s perfect profile, silently mourning for Lu Yuxing for a few seconds.
Good luck, brother. You’ve messed with a devil!
---
When Lu Yuxing returned to the dorm, he hadn’t said a word. The two guys in beds one and four occasionally glanced at him, observing and messaging each other on WeChat, their fingers almost igniting the keyboard.
[Ge Zhicheng]: Yingzi, Lu Ge has been back for half an hour, and he still hasn’t said a word?
[Lin Xuying]: I don’t know. He was fine when he went out to deliver things to Shang Jue.
[Ge Zhicheng]: We agreed to teach Lu Ge how to check the class schedule in the school system tonight. How do we get started now?
"Ge… Zhicheng?" Lu Yuxing suddenly turned his head.
Ge Zhicheng froze, as if he had been called out by a military training instructor, and quickly replied, "I’m here! Lu Ge!"
"What do you mean by a complicated relationship?"
Ge Zhicheng took a moment to remember that it was Lu Yuxing who had asked him about his relationship with Shang Jue while in the hospital. He had answered with "quite complicated."
"Uh… a complicated relationship means," Ge Zhicheng didn’t want to lie but also couldn’t say the whole truth, so he carefully chose his words, "it’s a bit delicate?"
Lu Yuxing fell silent for a moment and then got up to go to the balcony for some fresh air.
The sliding door between the balcony and the dorm closed, isolating the sounds from inside.
Ge Zhicheng muttered, "Yingzi, why do you think Lu Ge is so hung up on this? Could it be that even with amnesia, he still dislikes Shang Jue?"
"That can’t be, he doesn’t even remember our names."
"Should I just tell Lu Ge directly that he and Shang Jue are actually arch-rivals?" Ge Zhicheng muttered to himself. "But Lu Ge doesn’t know anything right now; wouldn’t that just annoy him more?"
"Besides, during the days after Lu Ge's accident, it was Shang Jue who helped him in the hospital. Looking at it this way, it seems like their relationship isn’t that bad."
Lin Xuying pondered for a moment, "We don’t really understand the grudges between Lu Ge and Shang Jue anyway. I think we should just stay out of it. If Lu Ge asks in the future, we can just say we don’t know and avoid lying."
Ge Zhicheng nodded in agreement, finding this perspective very reasonable.
Outside on the balcony, Lu Yuxing leaned against the railing, deep in thought, remembering the kiss that almost happened.
Since his amnesia, he hadn’t been able to find any evidence to contradict Shang Jue’s claims.
He couldn’t prove that what Shang Jue said was false.
What if what the other party said was true?
If it was indeed as Shang Jue claimed, that they had been a couple for nearly a year… then Lu Yuxing’s actions over the past year would make him seem like a terrible boyfriend.
First, he confessed to Shang Jue and managed to turn a straight guy, but he himself was too afraid to come out to his family and friends.
Shang Jue took care of him for an entire day after his accident, yet when he woke up, not only did he deny their relationship, but he also mocked Shang Jue in various ways.
Lu Yuxing took a deep breath.
Moreover, judging by the instinctive aversion he felt towards Shang Jue since his amnesia, it had been less than a year, yet he had already grown tired of his partner.
Perhaps he had even had thoughts of domestic violence...
Lu Yuxing admitted that every time he saw Shang Jue’s face swaying in front of him, he felt an impulse to fight him...
“…”
Lu Yuxing turned his gaze to the sink mirror and suddenly found the face hidden in the darkness to be particularly unfamiliar.
In three years, had he really changed this much?
The phone in his coat pocket flickered in the dark.
Someone had sent him a message.
Lu Yuxing opened it to take a look.
【Shang Jue】: Goodnight, babe~
Lu Yuxing: “…”
He stared at the message.
To deal with the trouble that was Shang Jue, there were two options: either break up or continue the relationship.
He was inclined to choose the former—convenient, quick, and more in line with his wishes.
But the solitary figure he had seen in the evening breeze flashed through his mind, as if it had shot an arrow into his conscience.
Losing his memory was not an excuse to evade responsibility. Until he found evidence to prove that guy was lying, he had to take responsibility.
He had to take responsibility.
With great difficulty, he forced his fingers to move and, feeling flustered, typed a few words on the screen.
【Lu Yuxing】: Mm.
【Lu Yuxing】: Goodnight.
…
He had to take responsibility.
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