Xie Heng no longer took a detour.
After about ten minutes, he arrived at the school gate.
There were many students coming and going near the entrance, so he let Ji Mian down.
“Awake?”
Ji Mian didn’t know how to respond to him, his eyes downcast as he murmured an “mm.”
Xie Heng gazed at his hairline for a while, then shifted his focus to his brows and eyes, finally lingering for a moment on the slightly gleaming ear stud before speaking: “You heard what I said earlier, right?”
“…”
Ji Mian remained noncommittal.
“I like you.” Xie Heng’s lips curved slightly. “I hadn’t planned to tell you now.”
Song Yu had just gotten together with He Chang, and Xie Heng knew Ji Mian hadn’t moved on yet.
Ji Mian was still feeling the effects of the alcohol, his mind hazy, making it extremely difficult to sort through his thoughts.
Xie Heng’s confession was too sudden.
Ji Mian had received confessions from many people and had encountered unexpected situations, but he had never found anything this tricky.
“Heng Ge, you don’t… like guys, do you?”
“You’re different.”
“How am I different? I’m a guy too.”
Xie Heng chuckled softly. “That’s not what I meant.”
Ji Mian fell silent for a moment. “Heng Ge, I…”
“I know the answer. You don’t need to apologize.” He didn’t want to hear Ji Mian say “sorry,” no matter how gentle that tone was.
“As long as you’re not with someone else, I still have hope, right?”
“…”
Ji Mian didn’t know how to tell Xie Heng the truth, but if Xie Heng continued to wait for him, it would be too cruel for this person.
“If…” he tentatively asked, “If you knew it would never be possible in this lifetime?”
“Am I that bad?” Xie Heng furrowed his brows, unable to suppress his self-doubt. “Are you so certain that you’ll never like me in this lifetime?”
He knew he couldn’t compete with Song Yu in Ji Mian’s heart, but he hadn’t expected the gap to be so wide… that Ji Mian would say something like “never possible in this lifetime.”
He had seen Ji Mian reject others’ confessions but had never heard him say similar words to them. Why was he giving him no hope at all?
“No, of course not… Heng Ge, you’re definitely not bad, not at all. I just…” Ji Mian was getting confused by the alcohol and the current situation, his speech becoming incoherent.
As he spoke halfway, he took a gentle breath and stopped.
Xie Heng stared at him, his tone very calm. “If it’s not possible in this lifetime, then we’ll wait until the next.”
Ji Mian's eyelashes fluttered.
Sigh…
The system observed this scene and sighed inwardly. If Xie Heng’s response could have been a bit more hesitant, it wouldn’t…
“Sorry.” Ji Mian’s voice was a bit hoarse.
Upon hearing Ji Mian’s “sorry,” Xie Heng’s heart suddenly sank.
Ji Mian’s voice was soft but decisively almost cruel: “Don’t like me, Heng Ge. There’s no hope.”
The calm Xie Heng had pretended to maintain slowly crumbled. “…Why not?”
“…”
“You’re so nice to everyone else,” Xie Heng’s smile almost faltered, “Why do you have to be so cruel to me?”
“Because you’re different.”
Ji Mian knew that the others would eventually forget him and find new lovers, new lives.
But Xie Heng was different. He and Xie Heng were the same kind of person. Even with the slightest bit of hope, they could walk down a path to nowhere.
He couldn’t just watch Xie Heng walk down a road with no outcome while doing nothing.
The person opposite him remained silent for a long time.
Eventually, when a tear fell from Ji Mian’s eye, he dazedly lifted his gaze, his pupils instantly constricting.
Xie Heng was no longer smiling.
“Heng…” Ji Mian could only utter a single sound, unable to say anything more.
He had never seen Xie Heng cry, nor had he ever imagined he would.
Xie Heng met Ji Mian’s astonished gaze, turned his face away, and raised a hand to wipe his tears.
When he turned back, his expression could be described as calm, except for his eyes, which were a bit red. “Got it.”
Ji Mian remained silent for a long while before saying, “Then, I’ll go back now, Heng Ge.”
“Mm.”
Ji Mian turned to walk toward the school gate. Just a few steps in, his left foot tripped over his right foot, and he suddenly felt a sensation of weightlessness.
But he didn’t fall, because Xie Heng caught his waist.
“You’re still walking in an S line.” Xie Heng’s slightly muffled voice rang out.
Ji Mian: …
Xie Heng sighed and said, “I’ll take you back.”
Ji Mian felt really embarrassed. Just as he was about to say “no need,” Xie Heng’s hand had already moved from his waist to support his arm.
Ji Mian could only lower his head and say, “Thank you, Heng Ge.”
Xie Heng tugged at the corners of his mouth.
Having drunk this much, Ji Mian was not at all hesitant in rejecting him.
---
After that month or so, Ji Mian no longer sat with Xie Heng. Xie Heng didn’t bring breakfast for him in the morning anymore.
Both of them knew full well that since the moment they pierced the paper window of their relationship, they could no longer continue being friends.
Their relationship had changed, and the students in Class Four noticed.
Especially Fan Tao and a few others who were closer to Ji Mian even asked him about the reason, but they received very official responses that revealed nothing.
As for Xie Heng, very few dared to provoke him.
The person most worried in the class was none other than Jia Wenbo.
As their roommate and classmate, he knew how good Ji Mian and Xie Heng’s relationship had been. Now, seeing the two barely speaking even when they occasionally met, he couldn’t help but feel sad.
Jia Wenbo was certain that something must have gone wrong between them.
One day, with only Ji Mian and him in the dormitory, Jia Wenbo couldn't hold back any longer and asked, “Xiao Zhou, what happened between you and... Xie Heng?”
“Hmm?”
“Because it feels like you two haven’t sat together in class for a long time.”
“Oh, it’s nothing. I just... think it’s more convenient to act separately.”
Jia Wenbo pursed his lips.
Convenient to act separately? He didn’t think so. Several times, he had seen Xie Heng sitting behind Ji Mian, his gaze always fixed on Ji Mian’s back, almost boring holes into his clothes.
And sometimes, when Ji Mian was behind Xie Heng, he would occasionally glance in the latter's direction.
The feeling was too subtle; Jia Wenbo always thought it was more than just a simple desire to act separately.
“Are you sure you guys didn’t have any conflict?”
“No, really, there’s nothing.”
“Okay... By the way, Xiao Zhou, my birthday is in a couple of days.”
“Oh!” Ji Mian turned around. “I remember it’s November... 17th?”
“Right. I was thinking of inviting everyone out for a meal. Will you come?”
“Sure.”
“Then I’ll invite Xie Heng too. Just the four of us from the dormitory; you should be fine with that, right?”
“……”
Although Xie Heng had mentioned wanting to move out last semester, for some unknown reason, his bed was still reserved until now.
So, even though Xie Heng hadn’t lived in the dormitory for almost a year, strictly speaking, he was still their roommate.
Ji Mian’s eyes flickered, but he still said, “Of course, there shouldn’t be any problem.”
Jia Wenbo breathed a sigh of relief and picked up his phone, gathering the courage to send a message to Xie Heng.
When he opened the chat box, he realized the last time he had messaged Xie Heng was actually six months ago…
It really took some courage to communicate with Xie Heng; only someone with Ji Mian’s personality could break the ice with him in just a few days.
【Jia Wenbo】: Xie Heng, are you there? [smile]
【Jia Wenbo】: I’m having my birthday on the 17th of this month and would like to invite our dorm to dinner. Will you come?
Two seconds later.
【Xie Heng】: Sure, thank you.
Another two seconds passed.
【Xie Heng】: Happy birthday [cake emoji]
Jia Wenbo raised his eyebrows in surprise, not expecting Xie Heng to be so easygoing.
【Jia Wenbo】: [grin]
—
On the evening of the 17th, the four of them from the dormitory arrived at the restaurant Jia Wenbo had reserved, the most expensive and best-rated one near their school.
Though Jia Wenbo appeared introverted, he was actually the richest among them. The combined living expenses of the other three in the dormitory didn’t add up to his alone.
Ji Mian and Chen Xu only discovered last semester that they were living with a rich second generation.
Later, when they asked him about it, Jia Wenbo explained that due to his personality, he had originally intended to move out, just like Xie Heng. He had even planned to ask Xie Heng for renting advice but didn’t expect to enjoy living in the dormitory so much that he ultimately decided against moving out.
Jia Wenbo had reserved a table for four, a square one with two people on each side.
He followed Chen Xu as he found a seat and quickly took the spot next to him.
Thus, Ji Mian and Xie Heng could only sit together at the other side of the square table.
Usually, with Ji Mian around, their dorm rarely experienced any awkward silences. But today, sitting next to Xie Heng, the conversation was notably sparse.
Jia Wenbo felt more and more convinced that there must be some conflict between Ji Mian and Xie Heng.
“Um, let’s order first. What do you guys want to eat?” He ordered a couple of dishes and passed the menu to Chen Xu.
However, when Chen Xu glanced at the dishes on the menu, he found many he had never heard of before, and since they were all quite pricey, he sighed and shook his head, saying, “You go ahead; I can eat anything.”
Jia Wenbo looked at Xie Heng, who replied, “I’m the same.”
“……”
In the end, the menu landed in the hands of the most unreserved Ji Mian.
He flipped through it a couple of times, then looked up to ask for everyone’s opinion: “How about adding a fish? Is everyone okay with that?”
“Sounds good.”
“Sure.”
Xie Heng nodded as well.
After adding a few more dishes, Jia Wenbo handed the list to the waiter.
About half an hour later, their dishes finally arrived.
The few big guys had impressive eating capacity, and within ten minutes, they had already devoured half of the food on the table.
But Jia Wenbo noticed something: Xie Heng had seemingly not touched the fish that was in front of him the entire time.
Jia Wenbo's heart sank.
Had their relationship deteriorated to such an extent that they were unwilling to even take a bite of what the other ordered?!
Fortunately, Jia Wenbo was quite observant. If it had been other guys, they probably wouldn’t have noticed such small matters. Chen Xu, sitting nearby, had been focused on his food, completely oblivious to the undercurrents at the table.
What shocked him most was that Ji Mian seemed to notice this too. His eating slowed down, his gaze lingering between the fish and Xie Heng, looking somewhat distracted.
“What’s wrong?” Noticing Ji Mian looking at him, Xie Heng paused with his chopsticks and turned to face him.
Jia Wenbo quickly cleared his throat to intervene: “Xie Heng, don’t you like fish?”
“Hmm.” Xie Heng was still staring at Ji Mian’s dazed expression. After more than a month, their eyes met up close again, and his heart raced uncontrollably.
“Oh, is it because of the bones?” Jia Wenbo desperately tried to save the situation, fearing that Ji Mian might hold a grudge against Xie Heng because of this.
Xie Heng casually replied, “Yeah, my tongue is clumsy; I can’t pick the bones out.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he saw the person he was watching tremble slightly.
With a clatter, two chopsticks fell to the ground.