[158]

The moment Domineering Guy found the Commissary share in her WeChat Moments nine pictures of her which were not selfies, he was overwhelmed with joy and eager to share it with his partner.

“Dear, you see,” he showed Coquettish Guy his screen, “Look, these are obviously taken by Zhou Yang. They seemed to have great fun. And they have yet to be back. It bodes well!”

Coquettish Guy stared at the screen and felt something abnormal, but it was not a good idea to call them, who might be appreciating the night scene together.

He thought it over, then nodded, “You’re right. Yang doesn’t like to go out alone. He must be with that girl. That’s good.”

Meanwhile Glasses Guy rode Straight Guy to his apartment in the darkness and invited him in. The latter had been dizzy in the cold wind.

“It’s a bit narrow. Make yourself at home. I’ll cook you some noodles.”

Straight Guy nodded obediently, and then settled himself into the sofa with the same absent expression, which might be due to the cold wind or to his being lovelorn.

[159]

In a little while Glasses Guy came out of the kitchen holding two bowls of hot noodles, the inviting scent of which was real torture to his stomach.

Glasses Guy churned the noodles with chopsticks before sliding the bowl toward his guest.

“Come on, have a taste.”

“Thank you.”

After a mouthful of noodles and one spoon of soup, Straight Guy felt as if his soul came back to his body.

“Wow, it’s soooooooooooo delicious!” he cheered.

The praise made the chef smile. He watched the poor boy gobbling his supper, his eyes twinkling like stars. When the boy emptied the bowl, Mr. Chef stood up to fetch him another one. Straight Guy was so hungry that he ate up it in a minute too. Then he sank into the sofa stroking his stomach sleepily. Alas, food coma kicked in.

And it is impolite for one to do nothing for the host after being treated hospitably in China. Straight Guy proposed to wash dishes but was refused by Glasses Guy.

“Just have a rest here. Make yourself at home.”

Then he stood up, walked into the kitchen. When he had everything done and dried his hands, it was dark outside with a sign of rain. Straight Guy had fallen half asleep, his head nodding rhythmically like a chick pecking at rice, cuddling a pillow in his arms.

“Zhou,” Glasses guy said mildly, “Feeling like going back? I’ll send you back.”

“Can I stay here tonight, please? “Straight Guy replied half-awake.

[160]

It was pitch dark outside, and Coquettish Guy was still M.I.A. Neither of the two got a text from him. That’s abnormal.

“We’d better ask Zhou where he is,” Coquettish Guy said, “Zhou would invariably inform us even when the evening lessons are delayed.”

Domineering Guy also felt confused. Though he requested the girl to help out, it was impossible for her to go so far as to spend the night with Zhou Yang.

Coquettish Guy texted little Zhou but got no reply.

“Gosh, there’s something wrong. I must ring him up.”

He called and got through soon.

“Hello, that’s Ji Chen, right?” asked the other side.

“Yeah. Is that… upperclassman?”

“It’s me. What’s the matter?”

“Emmm…I’m calling to look for little Zhou.”

“Sorry for my neglect of informing you. He was in my rented apartment and would stay here for it’s too late now.”

“But…” Coquettish Guy felt some words leaping at his throat, but he forced them down. “Can I talk to Zhou Yang?”

“Sorry, he is in the shower,” Glasses Guy answered.

[161]

Not until the shower did Straight Guy feel much better. Glasses Guy passed him a cup of milk and asked “Are you emotional about your meeting with that girl? ”

This question flung him into the ocean of melancholy once again. He said nothing, just recalling the past while sipping the milk.

“You can unburden everything to me. It’s OK if you don’t want to, but don’t leave it torture yourself for long.”

“The upperclassman was a kind elder brother with no doubt. He was thoughtful enough to notice my troubles and take time to comfort me”, thought Straight Guy.

Straight Guy was moved. He licked the milk off the corner of his mouth and then turned to Glasses Guy. Looking into the latter’s eyes, he believed his upperclassman was a trustworthy and caring guy, so he decided to pour out everything haunting him. He confessed how he got along with girls in a wrong way back in high school, how he envied the relationship between Boss (Domineering Guy) and Chen (Coquettish Guy), and how he suspected that the excessive kindness of Chen to him was out of romance feelings when he knew the two were gay.

“But,” he blushed, “I just suspected that once in my mind. Don’t tell them, elder bro.”

“Trust me. I won’t,” Glasses Guy promised, smiling.

The next day…

The four met unexpectedly in the canteen.

“Zhou Yang didn’t come back last night,” Domineering Guy said to Glasses Guy. “What did you two end up doing?”

“Chat. That’s all.”

“Chat? What were you chatting about? Was there anything to chat for an entire night?”

Coquettish Guy also looked at them with concern. Seized with tension, Straight Guy poked at Glasses Guy and whispered, “You…you promised me not to tell others. Please.”

The other two got extremely perplexed by the situation.

[162]

Domineering Guy and Coquettish Guy failed to know from Glasses Guy what happened that night, and Straight Guy also refused to tell them anything further. However, they found one thing abnormal, that Straight Guy only ordered noodles those days. When Domineering Guy saw Straight Guy eat noodles for the fifth consecutive time at the dormitory, he started to ask him, “Zhou Yang, I should have discovered your obsession with noodles earlier. This is the fifth time you know! You want to be a Noodle Man, right? ”

“One day, I suddenly realized that the stuff was sooooooooooo delicious,” Straight Guy said that while chewing, and he smacked his lips.

“But… ” He whispered in a pity, “These are less delicious.”

After tried out all the noodles he could order, Straight Guy concluded that there are no noodles as delicious as what he had that night. So he prepared many topics relevant to his lessons as pretext to approach Glasses Guy. They kept on discussion till the closing time of the library.

At this moment, Straight Guy rubbed his belly and said “We missed our dinner, upperclassman! No restaurant would be open by now. Oh, what a pity. But how about cooking at your apartment now that it is just nearby? ”

“And I’ll wash the dishes, I promise,” he added.

[163]

Domineering Guy’s father got promoted at last, so he began to worry about his son. Thought everything went well for the first half year as his son promised, he still could not set his heart at rest. Once his wife knew their secret, he was sure to be punished as accomplice. It would be a horrible nightmare. He must stop it.

He remembered his wife would come to see their son, so the father rang up Domineering Guy immediately to warn him in case his son giving himself away,  and he would meddle in if that happened.

Straight Guy suffered from diarrhea those days because he had too much ice cream. It left him looking pale and drawn. When Domineering Guy’s mother came to the dormitory to see her son, she was shocked at the sight of the poor boy.

“What happened to the boy? What a pitiful sight,” she whispered in her son’s ear.

The son heaved a long sigh and answered, “The boy, Zhou Yang, is a gay. His families threaten to sever all ties with him.”

Hearing that, the mother felt a surge of mixed feelings welling up inside her.

[164]

She was really shocked by the “fact” that her son’s roommate was a gay. Just then Coquettish Guy passed a cup of water to her.

“Aunt, would you like some water?” he asked.

“Thank you, Chen. You are so kind.”

She received the cup and took a gulp, feeling much better.

“Maybe you should move out with Chen. I’m worried about you two,” said the mother, who looked at her son with misgivings, holding his hands tightly.

What a nice surprise! Domineering Guy never expected that his mother would allow him to live with his male partner. His eyes lit up immediately. Coquettish Guy shot a glance at him and turned to explain in a soft voice to the lady, “Don’t worry, aunt. Zhou Yang… ” he stopped, thinking it over and over in secret before determined to play along with Domineering Guy on the conspiracy.

“Although Zhou yang is a gay,” he continued, “It doesn’t mean he loves everyone who is male. And it’s only a matter of sexual orientation, not of personality. There is no need to alienate him.”

[165]

Domineering Guy wanted to move out now that Mother brought it up, but it seemed that Coquettish Guy didn’t want to. So he could only brush aside that idea and sit next to his mother, continuing their talk.

“To be honest, mom, I feel pity for Zhou Yang. You know he always performed best in my high-school class. And he is also kind. Though he was not the richest in the class, he always donated the most money to help those in need,” he said emotionally.

Domineering Guy enumerated many good deeds Straight Guy did or did not do, which almost moved his mother to tears.

“But,” he continued, “I do not feel pity for him because he is a gay, but because he is discriminated by others, including his families, merely for his sexual orientation. It hurts!”

The softhearted lady wiped tears from her eyes and sighed “Who could be so indifferent as to discriminate a good boy like him?”