It was close to midnight when they arrived home. Song Mianfeng had always been sensitive to cold, so Lu Yin Zhen went to take a shower first. The bathroom was warm with the heater on, and there was the added warmth of Lu Yin Zhen’s shower. Only then did Song Mianfeng go to take a shower.

The sound of the shower could be heard from the bathroom. Thinking about Song Mianfeng’s unusual behavior tonight, Lu Yin Zhen sat on the bed and opened the browser on his iPad, typing in a name.

When Song Mianfeng finished his shower and came out, he saw Lu Yin Zhen holding the iPad and browsing something while eating popcorn.

As he approached, he saw that it was a Weibo page, and the topic being browsed was about Zhou Yang…

Song Mianfeng’s heart skipped a beat.

“Feng Huang Yu Fei” had just been released, and the topic was filled with fans’ post-viewing thoughts, stills, promotional images, and live photos. Given Zhou Yang’s age and single status, many fans were praising his looks, while others were reminiscing about his “rebirth after Nirvana”. Following the thread, one could easily dig up past gossip.

Lu Yin Zhen didn’t usually use Weibo, so his sudden interest in it was suspicious… Song Mianfeng didn’t know if Lu Yin Zhen had become a fan of Zhou Yang after watching the movie or if he was just casually browsing. After a while, he finally spoke up, “…Are you starting to like him?”

Lu Yin Zhen liked a review from a fan: “Playing dual roles, one of them being a gender-swapped role, his acting is quite good.”

Scrolling down, he saw various flattering photos of Zhou Yang, which Song Mianfeng considered heavily edited, but he couldn’t deny Zhou Yang’s good looks. His masculine features had a touch of femininity, and when he smiled, there was a hint of flirtatiousness that revealed a hidden charm, enticing to the extreme.

Suddenly, Song Mianfeng felt a sense of crisis.

His current boyfriend was becoming a fan of his ex-boyfriend – this was truly a complicated situation…

“You’re not allowed to look at him.” Song Mianfeng snatched the iPad away and placed it back on the pillow. “Look at me.”

“I have something to tell you.”

Lu Yin Zhen looked puzzled. “Hmm?”

Song Mianfeng took a deep breath and said, “Zhou Yang… he’s my ex-boyfriend.”

Lu Yin Zhen didn’t react much, just looked at him calmly, as if waiting for him to continue.

Song Mianfeng’s thoughts were in disarray. He had struggled the whole way thinking about how to broach the topic, worrying about how Lu Yin Zhen would react once he knew. He had even planned how to comfort his jealous boyfriend. The two candies he had prepared for that purpose were still in his pocket. Now, he found himself applauding Lu Yin Zhen’s astute observation, reasonable assumptions, and logical deductions – how could his boyfriend be so smart?

“Now that you know, Zhou Yang is my ex-boyfriend, and I took those photos…”

With determination at first, then faltering, and finally, dwindling to almost inaudible. Song Mianfeng’s voice grew softer as he spoke.

“I can’t believe I watched a movie starring my boyfriend’s ex.” Lu Yin Zhen rubbed his forehead and sighed softly. “Now, Zhou Yang’s face is all over my mind. To be honest, it’s unsettling.”

“So why are you still browsing his topic?” Song Mianfeng asked.

“Men have a strange sense of comparison,” Lu Yin Zhen chuckled, laughing at his own jealousy that had sprung up when he saw those photos, and laughing at himself for searching through a bunch of Zhou Yang’s pictures to nitpick. “I suppose you must have taken many photos of him, loved him, felt passionate about him. Thinking about it that way, it’s inevitable to feel jealous.”

“But I also think that you must have been disheartened by him, given up on him,” Lu Yin Zhen continued in a low voice, “which makes me even more jealous.”

“And sad.”

“I want to hug you.”

Song Mianfeng smiled slowly, opened his arms, and embraced his beloved, who had accidentally knocked over a bottle of old vinegar: “You’re so smart. Why confine yourself to the old issues of the past?”

“In fact, it’s not as distressing as it seems.” Song Mianfeng’s smile faded slightly, his tone calm. “At that time, we had already begun to argue frequently and cold war was rampant. Our relationship was barely hanging by a thread… ‘Not suitable’ sounds like an excuse, but we really weren’t suitable for each other. There were ideological differences, even betrayal. Breaking up was torturous for both of us. A peaceful breakup, at least, gives us a dignified end.”

The nude photos were taken by him, but he had nothing to do with their leakage.

Later, he found out that it was an investor who wanted to coerce Zhou Yang into submission. After being rejected, the person resorted to some means to obtain those photos and used Song Mianfeng’s existence to threaten Zhou Yang.

At that time, Zhou Yang was already a somewhat famous newcomer in the entertainment industry, and many people were eyeing him, wanting to drag him into the mud. So when the photos were leaked, they caused a huge backlash online… If he had stepped forward to admit that he was the photographer and Zhou Yang’s boyfriend, it would have led to accusations of promiscuity, but if he had done so, it would have pushed Zhou Yang into the abyss of homosexuality. Therefore, he could only endure silently and wait to discuss with Zhou Yang first. But Zhou Yang’s phone was off, his agent’s phone was unreachable, and there was no one at home. Those days, he had completely lost contact with Zhou Yang. Later, someone managed to suppress the online storm.

In the end, Zhou Yang compromised. To protect him and to continue his acting career, Zhou Yang accepted the coercion.

This storm of criticism, which should have been borne by both of them, was ended unilaterally by Zhou Yang.

The word “hardship” sounds so pleasant, doesn’t it? If I claim to have hardships, you must understand and forgive.

But he didn’t want to understand, nor did he want to forgive.

He didn’t want to accept this kind of harm disguised as love. Guilt could be repaid and compensated in other ways, but betrayal was betrayal. When love fades, it fades. Forcing it to continue only resulted in further harm.

These matters need not be mentioned again.

Song Mianfeng took out two candies from his pocket and placed them in Lu Yin Zhen’s palm. “To cheer you up, don’t be jealous, don’t be unhappy, and don’t feel distressed. I can’t bear it.”

They were the kind of milk ball candies wrapped in transparent paper, small and round, coated with a layer of fine white sugar on the surface. They were cheap candies, and the sweetness of the milk candy was sickeningly sweet.

Lu Yin Zhen, however, unwrapped and ate both candies, then exchanged a sweet kiss with Song Mianfeng.

Life is short, why dwell on the past and make oneself unhappy.