FLME Ch15: Being Alone

At the company headquarters, Yu Wen had just finished painting a layer and was drenched in sweat.

The weather was stuffy, and the room under renovation had no air conditioning. The air was filled with a restless energy. Xie Heyu had a larger area to cover, and his sweat-soaked bangs hung down in front of his eyes. His sleeves were rolled up to his shoulders, revealing his solid biceps.

He handed Yu Wen a bottle of water. Worried that he was too hot, he took off the small paper hat from Yu Wen’s head, hesitated, and then put it on his own head.

“Let’s go rest in the dance studio downstairs.”

Yu Wen saw him with the paper hat crookedly perched on his head, sweat soaking his entire neck and lingering on his Adam’s apple, making it glisten. The intense hormones he exuded were contrasted by the small paint-smeared paper hat that softened the sharp contours of his face, creating a blend of bluntness and aggression in his handsomeness.

He genuinely praised, “Teacher Xie, you’re really sexy.”

“…”

Xie Heyu gazed at him for a moment, pursing his lips, a slight redness appearing under his disheveled bangs.

“Let’s go.” He silently averted his gaze, poking Yu Wen’s shoulder to prompt him to move.

The dance studio was equipped with the latest fresh air system, and it cooled down quickly.

Yu Wen lay flat on the floor like a dried fish.

Xie Heyu came over with a plastic bag, filled with plump, rosy strawberries.

Yu Wen didn’t move, only rolling his eyes to look at him, “Strawberries? Where did they come from?”

“I bought them and put them in the fridge. They’ve already been washed.”

Yu Wen closed his eyes, took half a minute to mentally prepare himself, then sat up abruptly like a carp.

He touched the plastic bag, his eyes lighting up, “They’re cold.”

“Yeah.” Xie Heyu wiped his sweat with a towel, opened the plastic bag, and casually picked out the ripest one, “They taste better chilled—the salesperson said so.”

Yu Wen took the strawberry he handed over, chuckling, “Actually, there’s not much difference, but cold ones are more refreshing… Don’t you usually eat them?”

Xie Heyu: “Occasionally.”

Yu Wen: “Then why did you suddenly think of buying strawberries?”

“You stayed home for a week without going out. I went to check on you and bought them on the way from the supermarket,” Xie Heyu paused, adding unnecessarily, “Xie Jiamao asked me to go.”

Yu Wen stared at his reddened ears, thinking that people with muscles really are different—they dissipate heat slower.

“I’m a bit lazy, not really keen on going out.” Yu Wen changed his position, slightly bending over, lying down to have a stare-off with the bag of strawberries.

You could say he was diligent, but he was too lazy to lift his hand; say he was lazy, but to avoid lifting his hand, he even laid down.

“Are these for the boss to supervise me eating? I don’t think I told the boss I like strawberries.” Yu Wen muttered.

“I picked them, not Xie Jiamao. Last time at the dinner, your list of dislikes only included sour strawberries.” Xie Heyu noticed a few leftover strawberry leaves, picked them out, and saw Yu Wen still holding a half-eaten strawberry between his fingers. After thinking for a moment, he reached out to him.

“Give it to me.”

Yu Wen pushed the plastic bag towards him, “You eat it.”

“I mean the one in your hand.”

“…” Yu Wen’s eyes flicked between “This guy is a weirdo” and “This must be a misunderstanding.”

Xie Heyu, seeing his conflicted expression, organized his words and said quietly, “I can eat anything. If you don’t mind, you can give me what you don’t want to eat.”

It wasn’t necessary, but Xie Heyu’s expression was so serious that Yu Wen had an illusion—the other had mustered up a hundred thousand times of courage, and if refused, he might lose his cool guy demeanor, with tears welling up in his eyes.

His mind went blank, and he handed it over.

Xie Heyu chewed expressionlessly, his Adam’s apple moving, swallowing the half-bitten strawberry, and Yu Wen felt a jolt of electricity across his scalp, with countless yellow waste materials popping out from nowhere, densely occupying his entire mind.

Not right, not right.

He woke up as if from a dream.

“Not eating, not eating.” He sat up abruptly from the floor, pushing the plastic bag towards Xie Heyu as if avoiding the plague, “I ate a lot of snacks before coming out, can’t eat anymore. Teacher Xie, you eat, haha, haha.”

He rarely felt flustered, his speech system seemingly attacked by a virus, and after stammering for a while, he finally said, “Teacher Xie, I think I’ll go home first.”

The paint in the reception room wasn’t finished yet, and Xie Heyu was puzzled by his sudden farewell but still accommodatingly said, “Alright.”

Then he stood up, picking up the strawberries, “I’ll take you back.”

–

Xie Heyu’s car stopped in the basement. While taking the elevator down, Yu Wen earnestly tried to persuade him not to send him, even citing reasons like not being able to transport his small electric scooter. When they exited the elevator, Xie Heyu asked, “Where’s the car?”

Yu Wen pointed to the shared electric scooter outside the glass door.

Xie Heyu’s face vividly showed a loading circle, asking, “You want to take this shared bike… home?”

Yu Wen: “…”

Xie Heyu didn’t understand but respected it, his eyes measuring the size of the shared electric scooter, “It should fit.”

Yu Wen was silent for a while, then laughed at his own stupidity and Xie Heyu’s tolerance.

He didn’t understand why he was so nervous. It was just sharing a strawberry, not kissing, making it so…s don’t think about that.

He pushed those strange thoughts out of his mind, took a deep breath, and relaxed.

“I was joking. I just suddenly thought about whether a shared electric scooter could fit in the trunk. No interest now, let’s go home quickly.”

Xie Heyu didn’t say much, nodded, and pressed the down button for the elevator.

Yu Wen was quiet for less than a minute.

“Teacher Xie, can your car become a convertible?”

“No.”

“Oh, that’s a shame, hahaha.”

“Do you want to ride in it? I’ll drive it next time.”

“No need, no need, it was just a sudden thought. Don’t worry about me.”

Discarding his inexplicable sense of shame, Yu Wen got into the car and fell asleep immediately. When he woke up, he found Xie Heyu’s jacket covering his face, likely to block the sunlight for him.

“Teacher Xie…” he stretched, moving his shoulders and taking a big yawn. The jacket had a faint detergent scent, clean and crisp, just like its owner. Yu Wen found it very pleasant and took a deep breath.

“Ah, are we here?” He pulled down the jacket and held it in his arms. The brief ten-minute nap had recharged his body, weary from painting, and even his voice sounded cheerful.

Xie Heyu glanced at him, “Mm. Eat well, remember to take your vitamins, and don’t get sick.”

“Yes sir!”

Yu Wen saluted him, took the strawberries from his hand, opened the car door, and hopped into the apartment building.

The paper hat was left on the passenger seat.

Xie Heyu picked it up, examined it for a moment, hesitated between keeping or discarding it.

Never mind, better keep it.

Xie Heyu flattened the hat, wrapped it in a tissue, and carefully placed it in the glove compartment.

Just in case he wants it next time.

“Teacher Xie!” Just as he finished doing all this and was about to drive away, Yu Wen came rushing out again, his clear voice startling Xie Heyu into a slight shake, making him feel inexplicably guilty as if caught doing something wrong.

“…What’s the matter?”

Yu Wen, slightly out of breath, leaned on the car window, and seeing Xie Heyu’s eyes wider than usual, had an air of guilt.

His wandering thoughts made him laugh. He knocked on the car window, waiting for it to lower, and then stuck half his head inside, his eyes bright.

“Come up and sit. I’ll cook dinner for you tonight, to thank you for taking care of me all this time.”

Xie Heyu: “…”

Yu Wen claimed he would cook himself, but Xie Heyu didn’t seem to expect much and remained silent throughout the ride.

It was only in the elevator that Yu Wen noticed his neck was red.

“Teacher Xie, are you very hot?” Yu Wen pointed to the pale pink side of his neck and then looked at his ears, red as if dripping blood, muttering softly, “College students are so energetic and full of vitality…”

He completely forgot that he himself had just graduated from college.

“It’s nothing, it’ll be fine in a moment.” Xie Heyu, trying to hide it, draped his jacket over his shoulder to cover up his physiological reaction, stuffed his hands into his pockets, and leaned against the elevator handrail. After a long while, he muttered, “Isn’t it a bit inappropriate for me to go to your place?”

“Huh? What’s inappropriate? Weren’t you already planning to check on me?” Yu Wen scratched the back of his head, “And I also went to the boss’s house for dinner last time…”

To be honest, that was even more inappropriate.

Xie Heyu didn’t respond. As the elevator numbers kept rising, the hand in his pocket clenched nervously, veins visible on his wrist.

Seeing him staring at the elevator numbers without explaining, Yu Wen had to guess.

“Um… Teacher Xie, are you gay?”

Xie Heyu froze like a malfunctioning robot.

“Ah, it might be a bit presumptuous to ask this… Anyway, I’m not gay. If Teacher Xie has a boyfriend, please tell him not to worry. The relationship between us is strictly brotherly.”

Yu Wen gestured between the two of them, his expression so upright that he could join the Party.

“…”

Xie Heyu, after half a minute of buffering, turned his head mechanically to look at him.

Yu Wen, with a serious face, exuded his firmness and sincerity.

“…Oh.”

Xie Heyu responded.

From his low tone, Yu Wen seemed to detect a hint of disappointment, almost as if it were a misconception.

Opening the door, Yu Wen found a brand new pair of slippers and squatted down to size them against Xie Heyu’s feet.

“They seem a bit small.”

Xie Heyu pulled him up and said, “It’s okay, I can wear them.”

It had to be that way. Yu Wen took off his shoes and socks, walked barefoot on the tile floor, and ran to turn on the air conditioner while adjusting the temperature, “I’ll go to the supermarket tomorrow to buy a pair, so they won’t pinch your feet next time… Oh, I don’t mean to imply you should come often; please reassure your boyfriend.”

Xie Heyu approached with the slippers, grabbed his ankle, and put his foot into the slipper.

“I don’t have a boyfriend.”

Yu Wen’s brain quickly turned, and he changed his words swiftly, “Please reassure your girlfriend then.”

Xie Heyu: “…I don’t have one either.”

“Then…” Yu Wen hesitated, his voice softer, “I have no ulterior motives; please rest assured, Teacher Xie.”

Xie Heyu: “…”

He looked up, meeting Yu Wen’s eyes.

After a while, the young man’s expression softened, and he sighed almost indulgently, “You can be at ease too.”

This indicated that he was straight.

Yu Wen was relieved.