On the way back to the dormitory, the lights from the playground pierced through the bushes and trees on both sides of the road, casting shadows on the ground.

There were not many people around, and the night had completely fallen. The summer night was quiet and cool. Shi Sheng walked, feeling as if the sensation of lips was still there, but for some reason, he felt uneasy in his heart.

They say communication is the most important thing between lovers, that any dissatisfaction should be expressed promptly, but he didn’t know if he should speak up. He walked faster and faster until he was suddenly pulled into Lu Lin’s arms.

“Hey, what did I do to upset you?” Lu Lin squeezed his cheek, expressing his dissatisfaction.

“What did you do to upset me, you didn’t upset me,” Shi Sheng raised his head, feeling a little stifled in his heart. After hesitating for a long time, he only managed to say one sentence, “You just don’t play fair.”

“How am I not playing fair,” Lu Lin chuckled slightly, lifting his chin and forcing him to look up. “Can’t you see that guy is interested in you? And he even gave you a ride back?”

“So is that your reason for publicly kissing me?” Shi Sheng was not happy, although being kissed felt good, and he could tell that Lu Lin’s kissing skills were becoming more proficient, but still, after thinking about it, he said, “I’m not your possession, nor am I something to show off. You didn’t even ask me, you just did this suddenly in front of our colleagues—”

Shi Sheng pursed his lips and decided to be more direct. He looked seriously at Lu Lin, “I like it when you kiss me, and I like it when you assert your dominance, but I think I need to be respected.”

Lu Lin was taken aback, and Shi Sheng broke free from his grasp and walked ahead.

He realized his mistake and quickly pulled Shi Sheng back. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s too late!” Shi Sheng hissed fiercely.

“I’m sorry,” Lu Lin held him tightly from behind, admitting his fault, “I did make a mistake in this matter and didn’t consider your feelings.”

Shi Sheng’s eyebrows raised, and his momentum weakened by half.

“Otherwise, should I give you another forced kiss too, to even things out?” Lu Lin took advantage of the situation, leaning in close to Shi Sheng’s face, rubbing his cheek against him, and murmured in a hoarse voice, “If you feel like revenge isn’t enough, tomorrow during training, I’ll let you kiss me in front of the entire team.”

“You’re clearly taking advantage.”

Lu Lin leaned his chin on his shoulder and earnestly extended three fingers. “That was my negligence, and I won’t make the same mistake again next time.”

The wind rustled through the leaves, and a magnetic voice sounded by his ear. Shi Sheng’s anger gradually subsided. “Alright then… I forgive you…”

After a long time, the two of them continued walking forward, feeling much lighter. Shi Sheng felt that today might be worth remembering as their first attempt at getting along.

“So, was the person who gave you a ride back your new colleague?”

“His name is Junzi Yu,” Shi Sheng added, “Today was the first day we met. I’m not that charming, am I?”

“Then he must have fallen in love at first sight,” Lu Lin mused.

“Don’t talk nonsense. Maybe he just wanted to send me back,” Shi Sheng shrugged, unsure why Lu Lin seemed so wary of this person. While he was pondering, suddenly a large hand passed through his waist and lifted him up.

“Lu Lin, what are you doing?”

“Seeing you dawdling, I’m helping you out,” Lu Lin snorted and walked forward, patting his butt unceremoniously.

He was embarrassed and angry, raising his head. “Lu Lin—”

“This guy looks like a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Stay away from him in the future, got it?”

“But neither of you said a word.”

“You can tell who your rivals are with just a glance.” Along the cold path, Lu Lin carried him and walked briskly toward the dormitory. “Don’t bother with him in the future. Am I not reliable enough?”

Shi Sheng sat there sulking, not bothering to argue. Well, he also thought Junzi Yu was a bit strange anyway. Since he trusted Lu Lin, whatever Lu Lin said had to be true.

---

They hadn’t been back to the dormitory for long when the commissar called Lu Lin out. Shi Sheng could only order takeout, getting five pounds of thirteen-spice crayfish.

Bored, he sat in his seat and scrolled through videos. When he opened one, he found that the video of the firefighter rescuing someone from a tall building, which had lost its popularity a few days ago, had inexplicably started trending again, with several additional related tags. 

Junzi Yu also sent him messages, all of them apologies, saying sorry for the misunderstanding and such.

Shi Sheng remembered Lu Lin’s words and decided not to reply to Junzi Yu’s messages. Puzzled, he scratched his head and clicked on a few of the related tags.

#Gay man attempts to jumps off building due to parental opposition

#When the firefighter also has a boyfriend

#Why are heterosexuals becoming fewer and fewer

…

What the hell, Shi Sheng frowned, randomly clicking on a few and scrolling down. He found that they were all full of hostility.

@BigPotBig: Can’t believe there are still people who don’t know, the person who attempted to jump off the building a few days ago is gay. His parents didn’t agree, so he jumped…

@FattyTiger: What a joke, his parents stopped him for his own good, and he still caused such a big incident by jumping off.

@SistersSistersAhh: I was dumbfounded after watching the follow-up video. The firefighter who rescued him was also gay. Isn’t that incredible? Now there are homosexuals all over the place?

@ChirpingChirp: I didn’t expect someone like this to become a firefighter. No wonder he desperately tried to save the guy who jumped off. He’s just a scumbag through and through. Can’t the government fire such a person?

Shi Sheng’s heart pounded, and he followed the touch to find the video, only to discover that it was the segment where Lu Lin landed on the safety cushion and then he rushed to hug him.

However, his face wasn’t shown clearly, as Lu Lin’s tall figure inadvertently blocked him. The netizens, who had been criticizing Wang Yiming, turned their criticism towards Lu Lin after seeing this video, attacking  him in the comments.

Shi Sheng stood up suddenly, and coincidentally, Lu Lin came back and their eyes met, both of their faces not looking good.

“What did the commissar want from you?”

“Do you remember the guy I saved from jumping off the building before?” Lu Lin walked around the table and poured himself a glass of water. “After the video went viral online, many netizens went to doxx Wang Yiming, exposing the reason why he jumped off, and then launched a massive attack.”

“I saw it,” Shi Sheng began.

Shi Sheng just saw the news online and didn’t know how long it had been fermenting. “How’s Wang Yiming doing? He won’t be harmed again, will he?”

“That’s alright, his family has moved.” Lu Lin swallowed a mouthful of water, his brows deeply furrowed. “It’s just that those netizens are causing a lot of trouble. Someone also posted the video of you hugging me online, and now there’s a new tag circulating, basically suggesting that homosexuality is becoming rampant and demanding government regulation.”

“Will this affect you?” Shi Sheng looked up at him, feeling worried and regretting his impulsiveness earlier.

“I’ll be fine,” Lu Lin looked at him helplessly, wishing he would show more concern for himself, “but the commissar just came to talk and said this has caused some unfavorable public opinion for the headquarters.”

“What did he say?”

“…He asked me to ask you if you can move out of the dormitory.”