Volume 1: Tears

1: Let’s Talk

At midnight, the topic of “Intimate Photos of Yu Yue and Director Zhao Xi” quietly climbed the trending list.

Under the blurred pictures on Weibo, a large group of people were enthusiastically discussing.

Passerby 1: “Who is this person?”

Passerby 2: “Yu Yue? Is he the son of that Yu Jingnian?”

Passerby 3: “Yu Jingnian’s son? Wow, why would a famous director’s son need to climb up by sleeping with other directors? Doesn’t he already have access to his own dad’s resources throughout the entertainment industry?”

Passerby 4: “Haha, maybe he’s genuinely in love, just likes it? Who says that sleeping with a director means trying to climb the ladder?”

Passerby 5: “But… didn’t I hear before that Yu Yue had an 18th-tier actor boyfriend?”

Passerby 6: “They broke up, it seems. This Zhao Xi, even though he’s not as famous as Yu Jingnian, at least he’s a director. Who you follow for prospects should be clear.”

Passerby 7: “Prospects? Yu Yue is a prospect by himself. Why should he need to sleep with anyone to secure his future? You guys are being too absurd.”

Passerby 8: “Oh, oh, looks like someone’s fans are getting defensive.”

Passerby 9: “Sorry, but your brother has no work and no fame. Can you tell me where his future lies?”

Passerby 10: “Yu Yue’s boyfriend… he’s quite good-looking, I’ve seen him, but he’s just poor.”

…

At 4:30 in the morning, the phone on the bedside table vibrated.

Yu Yue was awakened by the noise, his eyes still closed. He picked up his phone and answered the call.

A sharp and urgent voice came from the other end of the phone, “Is this Mr. Yu Yue? I’m from New Star Entertainment, and I’d like to ask if the intimate photos of you and Director Zhao Xi that are circulating online are real? If they are, does that mean you’ve broken up with your previous boyfriend because you believe Director Zhao Xi has better resources…”

With a “click,” Yu Yue hung up the phone.

A few seconds later, another call came in.

Yu Yue looked at the unfamiliar numbers appearing continuously on his phone and sat at the bedside. He didn’t know who had exposed his phone number, leading to so many people calling.

He powered off his phone.

In the pitch-black room, there was a rustling sound, and after a while, a hand reached out from the side, wrapping around Yu Yue’s waist.

“What’s wrong?” The man’s voice was slightly hoarse.

Yu Yue put down his phone. “It’s nothing.”

He had just closed his eyes, but a few seconds later, the sound of the phone vibrating incessantly in the darkness started again.

This time, it was the man lying next to Yu Yue who reached for the phone hidden under his pillow and answered the call.

Yu Yue couldn’t stop him in time.

The two were so close that Yu Yue could clearly hear the voice on the other end of the phone, using a disguised voice, pressing with questions, “Is this Mr. Xu Yuanzhe? Have you broken up with Yu Yue? Have you seen the intimate bed photos of him and Director Zhao Xi that are trending? Do you have any inside information on whether he’s cheating…”

Yu Yue saw Xu Yuanzhe’s beautiful brows furrow in the darkness, followed by his thin lips uttering a single word, “Get lost.”

The call ended, and then another call kept coming in without respite.

Xu Yuanzhe also powered off his phone.

The room fell silent once again.

Yet in this silence, there was the ticking sound of the small pig alarm clock on the bedside table, as its second hand moved with each tick. There was also the silence between the two, an oppressive silence where they both knew they couldn’t sleep anymore but had to endure it.

Finally, Yu Yue decided to leave the darkness.

He got up, lifted the covers, and said, “I’m going to class.”

Xu Yuanzhe replied, “It’s only 4:30.”

Yu Yue didn’t respond and left the room.

…

In the living room, a warm light was turned on. After Yu Yue had finished washing up, he went to the kitchen.

He pondered what to make for breakfast today but stood in front of the cramped kitchen counter for a long time, not sure what to eat.

A small bug crawled in front of Yu Yue.

In the past, Yu Yue would have definitely called out, rushed over to get Xu Yuanzhe’s help to kill it.

But not anymore.

He just watched the bug crawl past, all the way until it disappeared from his sight, then withdrew his gaze.

After a long silence, Yu Yue turned around and glanced towards the bedroom.

The door was closed, but there was a crack, and he could see that it was still pitch-black inside.

Xu Yuanzhe hadn’t gotten up.

Yu Yue didn’t know what to eat, didn’t know what to do. In the past, these were all things Xu Yuanzhe took care of.

So, in the end, Yu Yue only managed to struggle with a slice of bread from the fridge.

The bread seemed to have been frozen for a long time, a bit icy and hard, and the milk didn’t taste good either.

Until Yu Yue left the house, Xu Yuanzhe hadn’t come out of the room.

At school, it was still dark, and Yu Yue couldn’t tell if it was too early or if it might rain later in the day.

Yu Yue found a seat in the school cafeteria but still didn’t turn on his phone. He used his meal card to buy breakfast, but the greasiness of the meal was so intense that Yu Yue felt he could skip eating for the entire day.

Having grown accustomed to the meals Xu Yuanzhe prepared, Yu Yue couldn’t bring himself to eat outside food.

Gradually, more students started to arrive at the cafeteria.

They passed by Yu Yue in pairs, and their gazes landed on him, followed by whispered conversations as they moved away.

After a while, someone sat down across from Yu Yue.

Yu Yue lifted his head and saw Tang Ziqi’s face.

Tang Ziqi put down his backpack and leaned closer to Yu Yue, asking in a hushed tone, “Did you see the hot search?”

Yu Yue hadn’t actually seen it, but he could guess what it was about, so he replied with an “Mm.”

“What’s going on?” Tang Ziqi asked.

Yu Yue, of course, had no idea what was happening or how these so-called “intimate bed photos” had come about. After thinking for a while, he replied, “I don’t know, probably photoshopped.”

“Damn it,” Tang Ziqi cursed under his breath, “You can go and report them! Who the hell randomly photoshops things like that? I’ll go give them a piece of my mind and Photoshop their faces onto something…”

Tang Ziqi paused halfway through his sentence when he noticed that Yu Yue’s complexion wasn’t looking good; he seemed rather pale.

“Hey, everything okay?”

Tang Ziqi cautiously inquired, “Did you have a fight with Xu Yuanzhe?”

Upon hearing this, Yu Yue found it a bit peculiar and raised his head, “Why would you say that?”

Tang Ziqi replied, “Every time you have a fight with him, you have this expression.”

Yu Yue gradually found it amusing, “What expression? I have no expression.”

Tang Ziqi gestured, “Takes on a pale complexion, looks like you could faint at any moment… and your eyes get a little red, as if you’re about to cry. In summary, you look like you can’t survive without Xu Yuanzhe.”

Yu Yue: “…”

He didn’t respond to Tang Ziqi’s words.

Tang Ziqi was in the know and knew that Yu Yue couldn’t have done the online thing, which is why he dared to ask. Rather than the online rumors, he was more interested in what was going on between Yu Yue and Xu Yuanzhe.

Tang Ziqi asked, “So, did you guys really have a fight?”

After a long silence, it was still raining outside the cafeteria.

Yu Yue glanced outside, shook his head, and said, “We didn’t have a fight.”

After a pause, Yu Yue lowered his head, looked at the extremely greasy fried eggs on his plate, and murmured, “He didn’t even ask me, ‘What happened.'”

…

The rain continued from morning until evening.

Yu Yue actually only had two classes today, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, but he stayed at school all day.

In the evening, the rain still hadn’t stopped.

Yu Yue stood at the library’s entrance and powered on his phone.

Dozens of missed calls popped up, nearly causing his phone to freeze. He deleted them one by one, and his fingers grew sore from the effort. However, among these hundreds of missed calls, he couldn’t find a single one from a contact named Zhe *Ge.

哥(ge) – older brother. Not necessarily biological but used to refer to older males.

Yu Yue checked his WeChat again.

Xu Yuanzhe had sent him a message.

He said, “It’s raining. Did you bring an umbrella?”

The timestamp was 10 in the morning.

Yu Yue hadn’t powered on his phone, and naturally, he didn’t respond to the message.

So this message lay dormant on the chat interface like a stone sinking in the sea.

Xu Yuanzhe didn’t ask anything further either.

Yu Yue lowered his gaze and scrolled through messages for a long time but saw no sign of the rain stopping.

He sent a message to Xu Yuanzhe: “I didn’t bring an umbrella. Are you coming to pick me up?”

After sending the message, Yu Yue returned his phone to his pocket.

He waited for ten minutes, but there was no response, so he decided to walk through the rain himself.

In reality, the rain wasn’t heavy, and the way back home wasn’t far.

Yu Yue pulled his cap down to cover his head, providing some shelter from the rain.

As he arrived home and unlocked the door with his key, he was met with the sight of Xu Yuanzhe, who was just about to leave with an umbrella in hand.

The two of them locked eyes for a moment.

Xu Yuanzhe said, “I was in the shower, and I just saw it.”

Yu Yue replied with a quiet “Mm,” and then he walked past Xu Yuanzhe into the house, changing his shoes.

Xu Yuanzhe was still standing at the door with an umbrella.

Yu Yue didn’t look back and went straight into his room.

He took a shower too.

While in the shower, Yu Yue’s mind wasn’t occupied with the scandalous intimate photos circulating online. Instead, he thought about something he had read online once: “People who like you will chat with you while they’re in the shower, and those who don’t like you will always find a way not to respond to your messages.”

The bathroom light had gone out again.

It flickered while Yu Yue was in the middle of his shower.

After finishing his shower and coming out, Xu Yuanzhe was waiting by the bedroom door. He asked Yu Yue, “Have you eaten dinner?”

Yu Yue didn’t answer. He used a towel to dry his wet hair and, through the dim light, looked at Xu Yuanzhe.

Before truly understanding Xu Yuanzhe, when he still considered Xu Yuanzhe a friend, Yu Yue hadn’t realized just how good-looking Xu Yuanzhe was.

In fact, Xu Yuanzhe had a stunningly beautiful face that was rare even in the entertainment industry.

He had slightly longer hair because Yu Yue had mentioned once that he liked it that way. So, Xu Yuanzhe hadn’t cut it, and he often tied back his somewhat long hair. When Yu Yue playfully pulled on his hair tie, his favorite moment was when the hair tie came loose, and Xu Yuanzhe’s hair cascaded down.

Xu Yuanzhe had slim eyelids that made him look affectionate when he gazed at people and cold when he was indifferent.

Unlike Yu Yue, who had a boy-next-door appearance that everyone loved when he smiled.

Seeing that Yu Yue wasn’t talking, Xu Yuanzhe walked over and hugged him, planting a kiss on his ear before asking, “Are you angry?” He paused and added, “I genuinely didn’t see it. I’m sorry.”

Yu Yue remained silent.

After a while, he slowly pushed Xu Yuanzhe away.

Stepping back a bit, his back pressed against the table behind him.

The room was too small, and it was easy to bump into things wherever they went.

So, Yu Yue leaned against that table, looked at Xu Yuanzhe, and said, “Let’s talk.”

Xu Yuanzhe’s fingers hanging by his side moved a little, but he didn’t speak.

Yu Yue gazed into Xu Yuanzhe’s eyes and suddenly felt a twinge in his heart, as if a string had been plucked, and it hurt faintly.

After a long silence, Xu Yuanzhe asked softly, “Talk about what?”

Yu Yue said, “I feel like…”

His voice was very soft, almost a murmur, “You don’t seem to like me as much anymore.”

TN:

This is the second Broken Mirror( Reunion) type of story I’m taking up. It is similar to my other project, Blue Moonlight, in some ways so that might be why I was attracted to it in the first place. Support the author if you can HERE.

Disclaimer: I am a MTLER. This means that what I output will have a lot of discrepancies and won’t fully encompass the intentions of the author and the original language. ANy sense of poetry or style by the author will be lost in translation. There might also be a lot of grammatical mistakes as English isn’t my first language and some random pronoun/name changes that I might miss while editing. I would appreciate feedback on any of the above issues in order to make your reading process more smooth and enjoyable.