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Good morning.

Are you awake?

I felt a bit strange. What if Gu Yu is really gay? How should I interact with him?

And he even has a girlfriend.

I didn’t reply to his messages all day. After school, I returned to the dorm alone and bumped into Gu Yu, who was waiting for me downstairs.

“Why didn’t you reply to my messages?”

It seemed like he had rushed from the school gate after getting out of his car, his hair a little tousled from the wind.

“I didn’t… didn’t see it.”

He didn’t seem to mind much. His tense expression relaxed, and he smiled at me.

“It’s Friday, wanna grab some food? What do you feel like eating?”

“Wait, Xia Huai! You actually—?”

Liang Qing arrived just in time, rushing from who knows where, and stood beside me.

He lowered his voice, whispering into my ear, “Wait, Xia Huai, do you really know this super handsome guy?”

Gu Yu frowned as he noticed Liang Qing’s head getting closer to my face, and then pulled me away.

“Let’s go, I’m hungry.”

Liang Qing’s eyes widened.

“You two are going to eat together?”

His expression seemed to be asking me, Are you two really that close?

Gu Yu directly tugged me over to his side.

“I haven’t eaten all day, my blood sugar’s low.”

If this were before, I would’ve immediately taken him to eat without hesitation. But things are different now—his sexual orientation is under suspicion, so I moved back over to Liang Qing’s side.

“My roommate’s heartbroken. I want to stay with him today, so I won’t be joining you.”

Liang Qing had indeed just gone through a breakup. He found out that the guy he was dating online, who claimed to be a top, had cheated on him. He was pretty upset. But on our way to the cafeteria, Liang Qing couldn’t help but knock some sense into me.

“You idiot! I don’t need you to comfort me! You should get closer to that handsome guy, and when he breaks up with his girlfriend, introduce him to me. My heartache will heal instantly!”

As we ate, Liang Qing sensed something else was off.

“Why do I feel like he was glaring at me earlier?”

My mind was still on the “test” from last night, so I confessed.

“The guy I was chatting with last night really did compliment my hands.”

Liang Qing wasn’t surprised at all and even gave me some advice.

“Being with a guy isn’t that bad. You could consider accepting his advances.”

“But he has a girlfriend. He’s probably not into me.”

“A guy with a girlfriend who sends you good morning and goodnight texts every day?”

I explained, “He might just see me as a buddy. He once said, ‘The more friends, the more paths you have.’”

Liang Qing’s cheeks were stuffed with food as he paused with his chopsticks, eyes gleaming.

“Do you know the other half of that saying? ‘The more partners, the more homes you have.’”

Now, whenever Gu Yu asked me to hang out, I became hesitant. Every Friday, my excuse was always the same:

My roommate is still heartbroken.

Gu Yu seemed to grow anxious.

Are you really that close to your roommate?

I replied:

Yeah, we’re pretty tight. He’s a great guy.

It took a while for Gu Yu to respond, and when he did, his message completely broke my doubts:

Let’s have dinner tonight. My girlfriend wants to meet you. Let your heartbroken roommate hang out with someone else for a change, okay?

He said his girlfriend wanted to meet me!

No one would bring their official partner to meet someone they’re interested in romantically, right?

If Gu Yu really had ulterior motives towards me, he’d probably try to keep me hidden. Why would he let me meet his girlfriend?

So, that evening, Gu Yu and his girlfriend arrived at my school to meet me. Even from a distance, Liang Qing saw them first.

“Wow, his girlfriend is actually really pretty!

“Wait, is Gu Yu glaring at me again? Why does he keep giving me that look?

“They say love starts with first sight dislike. If he didn’t have a girlfriend, I’d think he was into me!”

I glanced over and saw that Gu Yu’s expression was indeed filled with annoyance. I waved at Liang Qing, signaling him to go back to the dorm.

Dinner with Gu Yu and his girlfriend went smoothly. The three of us chatted easily, and by the end of it, all my absurd doubts had disappeared.

They were a perfectly happy couple!

I couldn’t keep questioning someone’s sexuality based on Liang Qing’s random little test.

After that night, Gu Yu and I returned to our usual friendship, maybe even closer than before. Gu Yu started visiting me at school more often, sometimes bringing me food, which made Liang Qing incredibly jealous.

During that time, I got into basketball, though my skills weren’t great. Gu Yu enthusiastically offered to teach me, and he was really good.

Gu Yu played seriously, and he looked cool while doing it, attracting a crowd of girls to watch.

After drinking too much water, I told him to keep practicing while I went to the bathroom.

When I came out of the bathroom, I ran into Liang Qing, who was lurking by the basketball court fence, acting suspiciously.

As soon as he saw me, he dragged me aside and whispered urgently, “Something’s off about Gu Yu!”

I was puzzled.

“What’s off?”

“Have you ever seen a straight guy pull his white socks up that high?”

What?

Liang Qing kept staring intently at Gu Yu’s back as he shot baskets.

“Something’s really off! He has a girlfriend, but my gaydar is going off like crazy! This doesn’t make sense!”

“…Your gaydar’s broken.”

I rolled my eyes.

“If I hadn’t seen him and his girlfriend together, I might’ve believed you.”

Before I headed back, Liang Qing gripped the fence tightly and warned me.

“Trust me! I just know he doesn’t belong to his girlfriend or those girls! He belongs with us men!”

What nonsense.

I walked back onto the court, with Liang Qing following close behind.

I gestured for him to zip his lips, reminding him not to say anything absurd in front of Gu Yu.

Liang Qing nodded obediently, seemingly content to join the onlookers and watch us play.

Gu Yu noticed Liang Qing and frowned slightly before turning back to me.

“I don’t feel like playing anymore. I’m hungry. Let’s go eat, just the two of us, okay?”

“Of course!”

We left the court, and as we made our way over, a group of girls swarmed past me towards Gu Yu, who had gone to fetch his water bottle.

In the commotion, Liang Qing suddenly grabbed my sleeve, unable to contain himself. He hissed into my ear in a frantic whisper.

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