Chapter 61: Confirming His Feelings

You Chong suspected that he might have developed feelings for Lin Hexi.

The art school girl somehow managed to get his contact information and had privately invited him out several times. She even showed up at the Polytechnic Institute’s resting area during their basketball game against the Art College.

Aside from that one time he unexpectedly accepted a painting from her, You Chong didn’t believe he had ever conveyed any intention or interest toward her through his words or actions. However, she remained persistent.

The day after returning from the beach, he agreed to meet with her.

The main reason was that he wanted to clarify things face-to-face, while the secondary reason was to further confirm whether he truly had developed feelings for Lin Hexi.

In fact, You Chong was not someone who looked at homosexuality with a different perspective; since high school, people with same-sex orientation frequently appeared in his social circle.

However, respecting others’ sexual orientations and accepting a drastic change in one’s own sexual orientation are entirely different matters. Although You Chong had never had a girlfriend, he had always believed without a doubt that he was straight.

When puberty hit, he would watch movies stored in his cloud drive, and whenever he accidentally opened a same-sex movie, he would instinctively feel physically uncomfortable.

When he first flipped open a magazine, his eyes would immediately fall on the face of the woman on the insert, completely ignoring the well-defined muscles of the men.

He recalled the time when he first met Lin Hexi.

From the initial dislike and disgust caused by misunderstandings and rumors, to the occasional softening and mixed feelings that followed.

From being annoyed at Lin Hexi’s frequent appearances in his line of sight, to later finding his gaze lingering on Lin Hexi’s face for longer periods.

At first, he clearly rejected any physical contact with Lin Hexi, but at some point, he found himself not only able to tolerate it but also disturbingly accustomed to it.

Later, the roles reversed, and he became the one actively initiating physical contact with Lin Hexi.

By the time he abruptly realized what was happening, it seemed he was already deeply entangled, unable to pull himself away.

From a young age, he had never been one to avoid things, but he needed time to give himself an answer, and to find an answer for his relationship with Lin Hexi.

You Chong took the painting pressed under the coffee table and went to meet the girl.

A few hours earlier, during class, he had set his phone to silent mode and forgot to switch it back, which caused him to miss Lin Hexi’s WeChat voice call.

He sat with the girl in a bubble tea shop in the university town. In just the time it took to finish a cup of bubble tea, You Chong clearly realized the vast difference and the stark contrast between sitting across from a stranger and sitting across from Lin Hexi.

It wasn’t just because the girl wasn’t his type, but rather that during their face-to-face conversation, even though Lin Hexi wasn’t physically present, it felt as if he was everywhere.

It was as if Lin Hexi was constantly present in the very air he breathed.

When the girl recommended the best bubble tea flavor in the shop, it reminded him of that night at the late-night snack shop behind the school, when Lin Hexi called him unexpectedly to tell him how delicious the mango black glutinous rice at the dessert shop was.

Occasionally, when a tall boy with tea-brown hair walked past the window outside, he would instinctively turn his head to glance.

The girl’s face with exquisite make-up entered his sight, but all he could think of was the scene from just ten hours ago: Lin Hexi wearing his jacket, standing in front of him, hands resting on his shoulders, head lowered, eyes closed, letting him kiss him.

As he rubbed his fingertip subtly across the corner of his lips, You Chong raised his eyes to look at the person sitting across from him. “I already have someone I like.”

The girl’s expression stiffened.

You Chong continued, “If that day in the arboretum, my accepting your painting caused you to misunderstand me, I apologize.”

He took out the painting from his bag, the one Lin Hexi had added color to, and slid it in front of her. “I also apologize for altering your painting. If you need, I can offer any compensation.”

Seeing the painting he handed over, the girl was momentarily speechless. After a long while, she murmured in disappointment, “I don’t need any compensation.”

“Your compensation shouldn’t be for me.” She let out a long breath, and said with a soft voice, “I should be the one apologizing to you. Actually, I lied; this painting wasn’t done by me.”

She stood up from the table and, before leaving, said, “Although it’s better for things to be returned to their rightful owner, I don’t know who the owner is. Since the person in the painting is you, you should keep it.”

After she left, You Chong remained seated at the table, unmoving. He took back the painting and examined it closely for a moment, suddenly recalling the scene by the Emerald Lake in the arboretum. He remembered showing this painting to Lin Hexi and the things Lin Hexi said about it.

Thinking back to how Lin Hexi had added color to the painting by chance that day, a strange feeling stirred in You Chong’s heart.

A faint suspicion began to form in his mind, but without concrete evidence, he decided to wait until he received the painting from Lin Hexi before drawing any conclusions.

After remembering that painting, You Chong suddenly recalled that Lin Hexi had mentioned he would come by in the afternoon to deliver it. He fished his phone out of his pocket, only to find a missed voice message from Lin Hexi.

You Chong was about to call back, but Xia Chengfeng’s call came through first.

He answered and asked, “What’s up?”

Xia Chengfeng said, “Guess who I just saw at the publicity department of our school’s youth league committee?”

You Chong wasn’t interested in guessing and deliberately teased him, “Fang Qingning?”

Xia Chengfeng immediately fell silent, and when he spoke again, there was a hint of gritted teeth in his tone, “You Chong, maybe it’s better if you don’t talk.”

You Chong laughed, “If I remember correctly, Zhou Xuan said you’ve been chasing after her lately, right?”

Xia Chengfeng sighed softly and admitted, “Yes.”

You Chong didn’t ask further and got to the point, “So, why did you call me?”

Xia Chengfeng stopped beating around the bush, “I saw Lin Hexi at the publicity department of the youth league committee.”

You Chong looked surprised, “What’s he doing there?”

“To be honest, I was a bit surprised too,” Xia Chengfeng explained briefly. “Recently, our department collaborated with a few other schools in the university town to organize a painting competition, and he came to register and submit his work.”

You Chong remembered seeing the competition flyer in the university town yesterday afternoon. “Did he submit a piece?”

“He did,” Xia Chengfeng recalled for a second, sounding surprised. “And I have to say, his work isn’t any worse than that of the third-year students in our department.”

You Chong frowned slightly, wanting to ask where Lin Hexi got a piece to submit, but suddenly stopped himself. Lin Hexi had only seen the competition flyer yesterday afternoon, so he shouldn’t have had time to produce a new work in such a short period.

But aside from new works, Lin Hexi did have a finished painting on hand.

Without saying a word, he had taken the painting meant for You Chong and submitted it for the competition. As he realized this, You Chong couldn’t help but darken his expression.

After ending the call with Xia Chengfeng, he pulled up Lin Hexi’s number from his contacts and dialed.

Completely unaware that Xia Chengfeng had seen him at the publicity department, Lin Hexi, after submitting his work, lost the motivation to attend the rest of his classes and headed back to his rental outside the school.

Not long after he returned, You Chong’s call came through.

Lin Hexi answered the phone with a calm expression but didn’t speak first.

Unaware of Lin Hexi’s indifferent mood through the call, You Chong’s tone sounded rather displeased. “Lin Hexi, did you take the painting you were going to give me and enter it into a competition?”

Surprised at how quickly he found out, Lin Hexi recalled the photo Fang Qingning had sent. Feeling no guilt whatsoever, he responded with a very brief “Mm.”

Hearing his perfunctory response, You Chong grew even more displeased. “Don’t you have anything to explain to me?”

Lin Hexi replied in a casual tone, “Why should I explain anything to you?”

You Chong’s voice was low and pleasant, sounding as if it was right next to his ear. “Didn’t you say you would give it to me today?”

Lin Hexi paused slightly, desperately suppressing the strange emotion rising within him. “I don’t want to give it anymore.”

You Chong furrowed his brows, clearly dissatisfied with his answer. “Why don’t you want to give it anymore?”

Lin Hexi was silent for a second before quickly snapping back, his voice tinged with a faint indifference. “I just don’t want to give it anymore. Why would I need a reason?”

You Chong’s expression darkened. “Then what about last night? Last night at the beach—”

Lin Hexi interrupted him, speaking even faster, “Aren’t you straight?”

You Chong’s expression froze.

“You’re straight, so you should be even more aware than I am of how to deal with what happened last night.” Lin Hexi’s voice was clear and steady over the phone. “You probably don’t want your future girlfriend to know that you’ve kissed a man. And I don’t want my future boyfriend to know either, so let’s just pretend it never happened.”

You Chong didn’t speak, but anger appeared in his furrowed brows. He repeated, emphasizing each word, “Pretend it never happened?”

Lin Hexi replied, “Pretend it never happened.”

The phone line suddenly fell into silence.

“Pretend it never happened, huh?” A second later, seemingly infuriated by his words, You Chong finally spoke, his anger flaring up. “If that’s what you want, then fine, let’s pretend it never happened.”

He hung up the phone, his face barely concealing his anger as he gripped his phone tightly and looked out the floor-to-ceiling window.

And then he saw Zhao Du and someone from the neighboring dorm standing outside.

Noticing You Chong’s foul mood, the two hesitated, unsure whether they should greet him.

As he suppressed the emotions visible on his face, You Chong stood up, pushed the door of the bubble tea shop open, and walked outside. He asked with a calm expression, “Weren’t you guys going to the library?”

“Just came out to print some materials,” said the person next to Zhao Du, looking inquisitive. “What about the girl you were on a date with? Has she already left?”

Upon hearing this, You Chong’s expression turned slightly displeased. “Who said I was on a date with anyone?”

Without hesitation, the person immediately threw his teammate under the bus: “Zhao Du said it.”

Zhao Du had no choice but to explain awkwardly, “It’s not that I have a big mouth. It’s just that on our way to the library, we happened to run into Lin Hexi, and he happened to ask about your whereabouts, so I mentioned it.”

You Chong frowned and glanced at him. “You saw Lin Hexi at school?”

Zhao Du nodded.

You Chong’s tightly furrowed brows gradually relaxed as he pieced together the situation. A slight smile tugged at his lips, and all his anger dissipated completely.

He had initially thought that Lin Hexi had backed out at the last minute due to regret, but it turned out he was simply mad at him.

This worked out even better; it saved him the steps and time needed to probe Lin Hexi’s true feelings.

You Chong’s mood lifted instantly.

Pretend last night never happened? He narrowed his eyes slightly—impossible. Not in this lifetime.

He turned his gaze to Zhao Du, raised his eyebrows and said, “Thanks, I’ll treat you to a meal next time.”

Zhao Du looked back at him with a face full of confusion.