Chapter 4

Thinking that it’s been a long time since he saw this group of friends, Ji Heyi did not refuse.

After asking for the address and driving there, he found that it was not a private room, but a bar with a subtle atmosphere in the hall. As he made his way to his friends, he was glanced at by the eyes at the dance floor and the bar a few times before he realized it was a GAY bar. This was different from their previous gathering places and methods, and Ji Heyi thought they knew him well.

The location was in a corner booth, and several people had already opened several bottles of wine before him. When they saw him coming, they gave him a seat in the middle.

“Look at this legendary heartbroken person. We’ve all been sighing for you for a long time, but looking at you now, we were worried for nothing.” The person speaking touched his face, “Have you gained some weight?”

“I thought I could see a melancholic beauty today. Why didn’t you follow the normal routine? I’m a bit disappointed, Ah Yi.”

The person across from him handed him a cup, “But it’s also hard to imagine you being desperate. Originally looking at your situation, I thought you and Chi Yan would just muddle along like this. What happened? Can you tell us?”

Ji Heyi poured himself half a cup of wine. He didn’t really want to talk about Chi Yan. This group of friends enjoyed watching others’ misfortunes and didn’t understand how to read people’s faces.

But he also didn’t give any hints. This was a necessary process. The social circles of two people in love overlap a lot. The news of a breakup is like throwing a stone into a calm lake, and it takes time for the ripples to stop trembling. Wait for those in the know to figure out the situation.

Whether out of curiosity or a deep sense of taboo, everyone eventually returned to a calm demeanor. They also learned to avoid suspicion, making it convenient for two ex-lovers to meet or gather.

So Ji Heyi answered every question under their interrogation.

“Damn!” someone cursed, “What’s this? Is that cheating? Did Chi Yan cheat?!”

Before anyone else could speak.

“Damn!” The person sitting across from him let out an even louder exclamation, and everyone followed his gaze.

“That’s Chi Yan, isn’t it? Why is Chi Yan here?!”

Just then, the bar music switched to a slow rock song, and the lights went from dim to bright.

Behind Chi Yan was a slender figure who was half a head shorter than him. He was wearing a black shirt with the cuffs half-rolled up and two buttons undone at the wide collar. As he passed the bar, he even turned his face to joke with the bartender, leisurely making his way through the crowd and taking a seat at a place three tables away from them, full of people.

“Is that his new love?” The person next to Ji Heyi asked, and stared intently all the way.

Ji Heyi wasn’t familiar enough with Nian Zhenyan to recognize him just by his silhouette, so he wasn’t sure. He only recognized the black shirt that he had worn twice and quite liked. He thought of the half-empty wardrobe at home and took a sip of his drink without responding.

Everyone glanced at the silently drinking Ji Heyi: “What does he mean by this? Does he know we’re here? Is he showing off with his new love?”

The group exchanged glances.

“I didn’t tell anyone about tonight’s gathering.”

“Neither did I.”

“Me neither… I… I posted a moment. But he definitely didn’t see it. Ever since I touched Ah Yi’s face that time, Chi Yan has been blocking me until now.” The person speaking took out his phone to confirm, and suddenly made a new discovery, “Damn, really! When did this beast delete me!”

Chi Yan, who was some distance away, didn’t look in their direction from beginning to end. It seemed like he had his own gathering and didn’t notice their group. Although it was really unexpected, they didn’t keep discussing him. They chatted for a bit, then changed the topic and started talking about other things, circling around Ji Heyi to find other light-hearted topics.

Ji Heyi laughed silently at the rare consideration of this group of people, clinking glasses and drinking, answering questions, not spoiling their mood at all.

When the wine was half drunk, suddenly someone greeted them in the ambiguous and melodious blues music: “Hi.”

Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw a stranger with his hand on the back of the sofa, leaning his face over, maintaining a polite distance from Ji Heyi, “I see there are many of you, but you don’t seem to be in pairs?”

He handed Ji Heyi a business card.

After the man reluctantly left, someone laughed, “Ah Yi, you are now completely within the gaydar range of others.”

Ji Heyi flipped through the business card in his hand. He was led astray by Chi Yan halfway through. Before the age of twenty-five, he knew little about this field. After being with Chi Yan, he had no chance to meet other “same kind” and would not come to such a place. Although he didn’t plan to develop anything with a stranger, he put this novel business card into his pocket.

There were still friends who looked straight at anyone, thinking that Ji Heyi hadn’t changed much: “Not necessarily, after all, it’s this kind of bar. Among the singles in the store, if he doesn’t give Ah Yi a business card, who should he give it to?”

As the saying goes, the more you look at a beauty under the lamp, the more spirited you become. As straight as this piece of the bar table, looking at Ji Heyi under the bar light, imagining his face with a smile and casually giving people a different look, it’s a bit unbearable, let alone other men who like this.

So a friend sighed and began to nag, “In the future, you must not find a shameless face controller. You don’t know how shallow people’s likes are, whether they like your face or your connotation. You should understand after a fall, you are still young now, but there will always be a time when you are old and declining…”

Ji Heyi: “……”

No matter how good the conversation, he couldn’t respond to this.

He put down his wine glass and went to the restroom, letting this group of tipsy friends cool down.

The quiet corridor diluted the noisy voices. The restroom was brightly lit, and the fragrance isolated the smell of alcohol from outside. Ji Heyi slowly washed his hands and stayed a little longer.

As he lowered his head to dry his hands and walked towards the door, he heard the door switch and a click of the lock.

Before Ji Heyi could react, the lights above his head suddenly went out. In the pitch-black restroom, he was caught off guard and pulled by someone, his body was twisted, and his back hit the cold tile wall with a bang!

He hissed, still in the shock of the pain in his shoulder, but his lips were accurately blocked by someone, and the smell of alcohol was mixed in the hot breath.

Regaining his senses, he raised his hand to push the person in front of him, dodged what could be called a fierce kiss, and shouted out in a stern voice: “Chi Yan!”

The other person turned a deaf ear, and his nibbling naturally slid down to the chin and neck. One hand followed from the waist, and struggled with the hem of the shirt desperately.

It can be considered as knowing the ropes.

Ji Heyi grabbed one of his hands, and he moved the other hand, pressing his whole body against him. Out of desperation, Ji Heyi lifted his knee and gave the man a blow to the abdomen, hearing the man’s muffled grunt. He grabbed the familiar black shirt, pulled him closer, and with all his strength, he slammed the man against the wall, controlling him.

The other person finally quieted down after the second painful grunt.

Ji Heyi listened to the hurried breathing of the two in the silence, his hand touched the wall behind him, and he turned on the light that had been turned off with a snap.

The bright light made the person in front of him close his eyes abruptly.

Ji Heyi looked at his face, waited for a while, but didn’t wait for his breathing to calm down. The smell of alcohol had completely covered the fragrance in the space, but he knew that Chi Yan was not drunk. “Chi Yan—” His voice was cold, and Ji Heyi slightly loosened the hand pressing on him.

“Ah, here.” Chi Yan interrupted him as he responded. He tilted his head back, half-closed his eyes and looked at him, “What’s the matter, you look so surprised.”

A thin smile crawled onto his face, and he wore the teasing expression common in such places, “Weren’t you prepared? It’s inevitable to come to such a place, let me show you—sexual harassment.”

“The low-level ones, like this.” He raised his hand and shook the business card in his hand, which was taken out of Ji Heyi’s pocket at some unknown time, “The more serious ones, just like what I just did.”

Ji Heyi stared at him for a while, making Chi Yan laugh with a hum, “What? So angry? Do you want to call the police?”

Ji Heyi completely let go of the force suppressing him and returned to the sink to wash his hands. The hurried breathing of the person behind him had completely calmed down, and the sound of their breathing in this space became barely audible again.

He doesn’t like violence, whether it’s physical or verbal, and he avoids the idea that “the ones who are most likely to get hurt are often the closest ones”. Those who are cherished need to be carefully restrained, especially avoiding harsh words, deserving all his kind words; strangers have nothing to say, words and emotions are both laborious things, they should be stingy to show.

Now Chi Yan is the latter, he actually doesn’t need to waste his words on him.

But his full force just now made Chi Yan’s face pale until now, the next words might not be very polite, both verbal violence and physical violence are complete.

This is something that can’t be helped, Ji Heyi thought, he is the youngest son of the Chi family, who has been spoiled and grown up with everything he asks for, too skilled at taking an inch.

“I’ve said that we should part on good terms, and I have no intention of blaming you for the reasons you gave for breaking up.”

Chi Yan, who was leaning against the wall, and he looked at each other in the mirror. He saw him wipe off the moisture on his mouth, but didn’t wipe off the red that was bitten out. When he lowered his head to catch the water, he seemed to have a gentle look.

His voice was also gentle: “You may not quite understand the meaning of a couple breaking up. In fact, after breaking up, you can still be friends. Most of the time, it’s a helpless excuse. Irrelevant strangers are the most comfortable distance for a couple who have broken up.”

“But your parents are elders I respect very much, and your brother has been a good friend of mine for many years. In the future, we will inevitably meet again. Although I will try to reduce this number as much as possible, I still hope that our relationship will not make irrelevant people feel embarrassed at that time.”

Ji Heyi finished washing his hands and face and walked towards the door: “Out of respect for your parents and Chi Cong, I don’t want to argue with you about your behavior that just crossed the line.”

“But there won’t be a next time, Chi Yan.”

He paused at the end, under Chi Yan’s expressionless gaze, he took away the fragrant business card that was tightly clenched in his hand.