Between Us : Chapter 29: Not a Straight Guy

Once the image Xu Jue sent finished loading, Chen Qian lost all interest in comparing how similar their two profile pics were.

The scanned image was high in clarity. At first glance it looked like an architectural sketch, but on closer inspection it turned out to be a fusion of person and scenery. Chen Qian had spent the whole afternoon capturing landscapes through his lens, never expecting to have the chance to relive his mood at that moment from a third person perspective.

Xu Jue’s art foundation was very strong. The entire composition used simple, flowing lines. Properly handled light, shadow, and structure made the harmoniously blended people and objects come alive in concise detail. The distant clock tower, the wall bridge extending to the foreground, and the person on the bridge holding up a camera.

Chen Qian created a new album to save this image. His gaze swept past the sketchpad on the table. He was curious and hesitant, but in the end he held back his urge to pry. In return, he sent Xu Jue a photo.

The sound of running water in the bathroom kept going. It sounded like someone enjoying their shower, but in reality Xu Jue was standing motionless under the showerhead, holding his phone and holding his breath waiting for Chen Qian’s reply. Suddenly, a new message popped into view. Not words of thanks or evaluation, not a perfunctory sticker, but a photo sufficient to respond to his joy.

In the photo, he stood sideways by the fountain pool, his facial contours drawn by sunlight, his school uniform dotted with shimmering light. He had thought he dressed so casually, never expecting that by chance it matched quite well with the deep blue sky and the gray white floor.

Xu Jue hogged the shower for over ten minutes with water streaming down him, his gaze glued to the enlarged image, refusing to let go of his phone. At this moment, another message flew over from the other side: Hurry up with your shower.

As if his emotions had been seen through, he long-pressed to save it and set it as his wallpaper, so that the moment he opened his phone he could feel the full, breathtaking impact of the beauty.

The hotel’s double bed was large. After turning off the lights, each of them occupied one end. If the bedding wasn’t enough, there were extras in the wardrobe, so neither needed to interfere with the other.

But Xu Jue really wanted to interfere with Chen Qian. He lay on his side, his face toward the back of Chen Qian’s head. “How about we sleep with the lights on?”

Chen Qian was almost asleep, his voice thick with drowsiness. “No. I can’t fall asleep with them on.”

“Then don’t fall asleep so fast,” Xu Jue said. “The room is too dark.”

Chen Qian was driven to his wits’ end. He rolled over, reached out to lift Xu Jue’s corner of the blanket, and pushed the black Shiba he had been warming in his arms into Xu Jue’s embrace. “Hold this. Sleep.”

Xu Jue acted as if he had received approval. He rustled across the sheets, suddenly crossing the nonexistent boundary line. Before Chen Qian could pull his hand back, an arm invaded his blanket and wrapped solidly around his lower back. He opened his eyes, and his sleepiness vanished without a trace. “I told you to hold the dog.”

“You didn’t say that earlier.” Xu Jue muttered softly, making a show of withdrawing his arm.

In the darkness, Chen Qian suddenly laughed. A lazy, sleepy tone that wound up the person sharing the bed into mental excitement. Then, he squeezed into Xu Jue’s blanket. In the movement, his knee brushed Xu Jue’s lower abdomen. He played innocent, settling into a sleeping position. “Stop making noise. Sleep.”

“I…” Xu Jue tensed his thigh muscles. Now he really couldn’t fall asleep.

“Did you score over a hundred on your English test?” Chen Qian asked.

Xu Jue gave a deep hum as acknowledgment. Who had the mind to discuss English at a time like this? He only wanted to interfere with Chen Qian!

Chen Qian sure knew how to deflate someone. “Then starting next week I’ll improve your problem solving efficiency. Don’t think you can reach the sky in one step.”

The speaker had no special intention, but the listener took it to heart. Xu Jue let out a breath. Yeah, how could anyone reach the sky in one step.

The next day, Chen Qian checked out of the hotel. The two of them didn’t have much luggage, so carrying it on their backs wasn’t a burden. They took advantage of the leisurely days to wander through every street and alley of the city. To others they looked like the perfect combo of photographer and artist, but in reality one was too lazy to open his camera, and the other had already exhausted his paper supply yesterday.

They ate at an all you can eat hot pot restaurant at noon, with a two hour dining limit. This time neither of them dawdled. In the afternoon, they caught the return train before the terrifying Friday evening rush hour.

They arrived back in Yunxia City a little past four. Chen Qian hadn’t slept enough, so he got off at Sixth Alley planning to go home and catch up on sleep. Xu Jue wheeled out his bicycle from the garage, needing to go back to school to pick up the homework he had neglected for two days.

Before parting at the alley entrance, Chen Qian asked. “Eating at home tonight?”

Xu Jue was already swinging his leg over the bike. “Then I’ll pack something back after school. What do you want to eat?”

Chen Qian had eaten restaurant food for two days and was a bit tired of it. He needed to revisit his own cooking, the only kind he could stomach, to stimulate his appetite. “I’ll cook.”

Xu Jue had been staying at Chen Qian’s place for so long but had never tasted Chen Qian’s cooking. Hearing this, he felt his progress bar had jumped up several percentage points. He didn’t doubt Chen Qian’s cooking skills at all. “Sure. Tell me what to buy.”

Like the time he flicked Xu Jue between the eyebrows, Chen Qian lightly flicked the edge of the sketchpad. “Isn’t that heavy on your back? Want me to help you carry it upstairs?”

Xu Jue was jealous even of his own sketchpad, but he had to protect it. “Not heavy. I’m taking it back to the studio on the way. I need it for class tomorrow.”

He rang the bell, pushed off with one foot and glided a long distance. The yellow Shiba hanging from his schoolbag strap swayed back and forth with the motion. From far away he grinned foolishly at Chen Qian.

Xu Jue showed off his dog plushie all the way back to the studio, running into the children’s art class just letting out. He nearly got his plushie snatched away by starry-eyed little kids. He clutched it nervously, set down his sketchpad, and left, then showed off all the way to school.

It happened to be the last self study period on Friday afternoon. Xian Middle School was holding its usual grade level teachers’ meeting, so no one was watching the teaching building. Xu Jue could hear the noise threatening to overturn the entire building from the bike shed.

His own class wasn’t much better. The back door was closed. Xu Jue slipped in through the front door. The classroom went silent for two seconds, then exploded again. Xu Jue’s ears buzzing, he went to the back row and pulled out his chair, slapping Qiu Yuanfei on the head. “What shady business are you doing with the back door closed?”

“Usually the shady business us middle-of-the-pack students do is something you Tsinghua reserve troops aren’t qualified to understand.” Qiu Yuanfei was working on physics homework with Xiaoyuan Search Questions open. Looking up by chance, just as Xu Jue was taking off his bag, that enormous dog swung straight into his face. “Damn, are you sick in the head? Hanging such a huge thing, aren’t you afraid it’ll be heavy?”

“What’s wrong with hanging it on my bag? The other one got hugged to sleep by jiejie.” Xu Jue talked nonsense off the cuff. In reality, the black Shiba had nearly had its tail squeezed off in his arms last night. He had been aroused by Chen Qian but had no outlet, so he took it out on something that couldn’t cry out in pain.

Qiu Yuanfei threw down his pen. “Whoa, what do you mean the other one?”

It was literally just one each, but Xu Jue didn’t spell it out, leaving Qiu Yuanfei plenty of room for imagination. “There are only two total. Mine is yellow, his is black.”

“Couple plushies?!” Qiu Yuanfei exclaimed in surprise.

Xu Jue neither confirmed nor denied. Smartly changing the subject was equivalent to admitting it. “Where’s Wei Xiaoduo?”

“Went to the office to get biology homework.” Qiu Yuanfei was indeed led astray. He watched Xu Jue gather up yesterday morning’s pop quiz physics paper. “Bro, do you know what I was doing the night before last instead of reviewing physics?”

“Reviewing biology, focusing on a single subject to butter up the biology class rep.” Xu Jue smiled with mischief, tidying up the messy homework notebooks and papers on his desk, tearing off a scrap of draft paper to copy down the homework for each subject written on the blackboard.

Qiu Yuanfei rubbed his shoulder. “Different direction, but basically the same nature, right? Next week is Christmas. I’m thinking about what gift to buy Wei Xiaoduo.”

Xu Jue asked offhandedly. “Figured it out?”

Qiu Yuanfei was about to show him his favorites list. “I’ve searched Taobao so much it might as well be Xiaotao Search Questions. Help me pick.”

Xu Jue gave it one glance and gave up. “You… don’t tell me you searched the keyword ‘Christmas gift’ directly.”

“Otherwise what? New Year’s hasn’t arrived yet.”

“Did you also search ‘heartfelt’? ‘Exquisite’?”

Qiu Yuanfei thought he had met a kindred spirit. “You missed one. ‘For girls.'”

Xu Jue laughed. “You stinky straight guy, what taste. You’d step on a landmine with every single choice.”

“Aren’t you a straight guy too?”

“I’m not…” Xu Jue sharply swerved. “I’m not stinky.”

“Jue,” Qiu Yuanfei spoke with the gravity of an elder, “that’s not the point. The point is the holiday atmosphere. Chinese festivals are for family reunions. Western festivals are for getting out of singlehood. Aren’t you going to use this to advance your progress? Think of a gift for jiejie too.”

Xu Jue’s shoulders were rubbed raw. He capped his pen and stuffed his homework into his bag. “At least I won’t send a crystal ball like you.”

“Send what crystal ball? You’re going to send jiejie a crystal ball? As a Christmas gift?” Wei Xiaoduo returned carrying a stack of homework papers, perceptively inferring one or two things, but pinning the wrong target. “What era is this, still sending crystal balls? My elementary school sister looks down on those.”

Qiu Yuanfei turned into Qiu Explosive Yuanfei. “What’s wrong with crystal balls!”

“Boring!” Wei Xiaoduo rolled her eyes. “Not practical, takes up desk space, and you have to handle it with care afraid it’ll break and spill water everywhere.”

Qiu Yuanfei’s fighting spirit deflated. “Then give our Jue some advice.”

“Send lipstick. Pick the right shade and no girl will refuse,” Wei Xiaoduo said. “Xu Jue, I’ll recommend a few to you.”

“No need,” Xu Jue said decisively. “I’m sending perfume.”

“That works too!” Wei Xiaoduo gave a thumbs up. “Same glass material, way better than a crystal ball. Add flowers too. Unless they’re allergic to pollen, no girl will refuse flowers.”

He didn’t know if Chen Qian would refuse flowers.

Xu Jue thought about it as he rode his bicycle out of the school driveway. He thought about it while waiting at the traffic light. He thought about it when he stopped his bike passing the flower shop while pushing into Sixth Alley, making the flower shop girl think he was interested in her.

His phone vibrated. Chen Qian sent him a message. “Out of school yet? Grab a bottle of ketchup on the way, and a head of broccoli.”

Xu Jue turned his bike around and took the order.

By the time he finished shopping and got back, the sky was already darkening. Xu Jue carried the bags into the kitchen, and first got dazzled by the slender waist outlined by Chen Qian’s apron ties.

He walked up behind Chen Qian, reaching past one of his arms to set the things down. When withdrawing his hand, he mischievously and secretly tugged loose the apron ties, then played the good guy with a reminder. “Your bow came loose.”

Chen Qian couldn’t free his hands. “Then help me tie it.”

Xu Jue played the good guy after doing the bad deed, pinching one thin strap in each hand, crossing them to make the first knot, pulling it tight with force.

“You’re trying to strangle me.” Chen Qian turned his head to look at him.

Xu Jue loosened his grip a bit. When the other lowered his head to continue working, he pressed against that thin back, looking over Chen Qian’s shoulder toward the stove. “What are you making?”

“Sweet and sour pork tenderloin. First time making it.” Chen Qian was wearing gloves and handling the pork tenderloin. He lifted his chin toward the phone with its lit screen on the side. “I also asked Aunt Qiu for the steps. Help me swipe to the next picture.”

The bow was tied. Xu Jue swiped the phone, but because he was too nervous after doing the bad deed, he accidentally swiped to the previous picture instead.

On the screen, a large spread of flowers appeared in full view. Soft white, alluring purple. The question he had been pondering all along now had its most fitting answer.