He Only Shows His True Colors in Front of Me : Chapter 23

After dinner, Gu Yuanqiao received a call from Wen Han and went to the study. Leaving Sheng Yannian and Shi Lechi alone in the living room.

“Hey, Little Nianzi.” Shi Lechi lay sprawled on the sofa without any image, pestering the person sitting next to him.

“What?”

“What’s going on with you and that guy?” Based on his years of experience as a paparazzo, Shi Lechi was certain there was something between Sheng Yannian and Gu Yuanqiao. He wasn’t unaware of this childhood friend. From childhood to adulthood, the number of friends who could enter his house didn’t exceed two hands. And Gu Yuanqiao, he could actually enter the room?! Most importantly, he had only learned of this person’s existence today!

Ever since Sheng Yannian agreed to sleep with Gu Yuanqiao, he had his suspicions. Now that only the two of them remained, Shi Lechi had to get to the bottom of this.

“What that guy?”

“That, Mr. Gu.” Shi Lechi gritted his teeth, speaking unclearly.

“Oh, not calling him ‘senior’ anymore?” Sheng Yannian glanced at him, his words sounding sarcastic no matter how you heard them.

“Damn it!” Shi Lechi pinched Sheng Yannian, not knowing what was wrong with the other person, “With someone like that, an outstanding elite, me calling him senior is already me trying to get close. It’s just that he’s polite and magnanimous and doesn’t say anything. If it were someone like you, I’m afraid I would have already been mocked to death.”

“Hehe.” Sheng Yannian rolled his eyes, not planning to say anything more to this person who treated people differently based on who they were.

“Hehe what hehe, don’t change the subject. Confess honestly, you and him, what’s the situation?” Shi Lechi sat up from the sofa as he talked about gossip.

“What situation could there be? Naturally, there is no situation at all.”

Shi Lechi squinted his eyes, staring intently at Sheng Yannian, seeing the other person unmoved.

Guilty conscience! He was definitely feeling guilty! He didn’t even say something perfunctory like “just a friend.”

“You won’t say it? Then I’ll analyze it.”

“Guess randomly as you please.” Sheng Yannian picked up an orange from the table and started peeling it.

“Hmph.” Shi Lechi, being the bigger person, didn’t correct Sheng Yannian’s “slip of the tongue,” “First, your relationship is definitely not as simple as friends. I’ve known you for so many years. When we went out to play, you always stayed in single rooms, unwilling to stay in double rooms with me. And today, you actually agreed to sleep with Mr. Gu. So, your relationship is definitely not as simple as friends!”

“….” Sheng Yannian listened to Shi Lechi’s wild guesses with one ear and out the other.

“Since it’s not friends, and you don’t dislike him enough to sleep with him… then your relationship must be…” Shi Lechi’s mind suddenly had a flash of inspiration, his eyes lighting up.

Sheng Yannian’s action of peeling the orange paused, remembering all the times in school when Shi Lechi’s gossip guesses had never been wrong. He suddenly somewhat regretted letting Shi Lechi in today.

“You have a crush on him!” Shi Lechi said excitedly, feeling like he had grasped some incredible secret.

“….” Sheng Yannian used great effort to control himself from crushing the orange in his hand, “What did you say?”

“Oh, this is nothing, isn’t it just liking someone, what’s embarrassing about saying it.” Shi Lechi proudly hooked his arm around Sheng Yannian’s neck, not noticing Sheng Yannian’s complicated expression.

“From which eye of yours did you see that I like that guy?” Sheng Yannian said through gritted teeth, feeling that what he was holding in his hand should be Shi Lechi’s head.

“Isn’t this simple? You’re willing to sleep with him!” Shi Lechi said matter of factly.

“What does this count as?”

“Then I’ll sleep with you tonight?”

“No.” Sheng Yannian refused very decisively.

“Hmph.” Shi Lechi put on an expression of ‘I knew it.’

“….” How should Sheng Yannian explain to his childhood friend that he was willing to sleep with that guy only because they had ‘deep’ exchanges before, and besides, they had also slept together.

“Moreover, as soon as Mr. Gu returned to the country, you two contacted each other. Doesn’t this explain it? You knew him since junior high, perhaps you already had a secret crush on him back then. I was wondering why you were unwilling to date, so it turns out you were hiding someone in your heart. Tsk tsk tsk, Little Nianzi, impressive.”

Shi Lechi felt more and more certain as he spoke, already imagining a perfect youth romance tragedy in his mind.

“Stop.” Sheng Yannian spoke, wanting to pull his friend’s thoughts back, and finally said something from the bottom of his heart, “I really hate that guy, so, don’t guess randomly.”

“Hmph, I don’t believe it.” Shi Lechi scoffed, “When has Young Master Sheng ever been willing to wrong himself by living under the same roof as someone he hates? Oh, if you like someone, you should bravely admit it. With someone as outstanding as Mr. Gu, he definitely doesn’t lack pursuers. If you don’t take the initiative, what if someone beats you to it?”

“….” What could he do? Of course, silently mourn for that poor unlucky soul for a second.

“It’s fine, your brother will help you, guaranteed to let you win the beauty’s heart!” Shi Lechi shouted with the momentum of ‘victory is just ahead.’

“What win the beauty’s heart? What are you two talking about?”

Before Sheng Yannian could even retort at Shi Lechi, he heard Gu Yuanqiao’s voice with a smile coming from the stairs.

“Ah, senior, saying umf!” Before Shi Lechi’s words could brake, his mouth was stuffed full of orange flesh.

“I’m warning you, don’t talk nonsense.” Sheng Yannian said in a low voice, “Or I’ll throw you out.”

“It’s nothing, he was talking about gossip.” Sheng Yannian explained.

“Hmm…” Gu Yuanqiao thoughtfully scanned back and forth between Shi Lechi and Sheng Yannian’s faces. Setting aside Shi Lechi’s excited gossip filled eyes, Sheng Yannian’s expression of pretending nothing was wrong was quite intriguing. However, he didn’t plan to delve deeper.

“Do you have extra bedding?” Gu Yuanqiao picked a topic.

“What?” Sheng Yannian didn’t understand.

“We’re going to share the same blanket tonight?”

Then Sheng Yannian frowned. Previously he had thrown away a set of bedding and sheets, and what was on his bed now was originally the spare set. Afterward he got busy and forgot about this matter.

“Do you mind?”

“I don’t care either way.” Gu Yuanqiao shrugged, “But I should warn you, I’m not very well behaved when I sleep at night.”

“Hmph, as long as you don’t strangle me.”

“I’ll try my best.”

The two looked at each other, and it seemed like sparks were flying in the air again.

Shi Lechi looked left and right as he had when he first arrived, always feeling that these sparks didn’t seem to be sparks of love?

***

Time passed in a flash. Sheng Yannian came out of the bathroom wearing pajamas, and the temperature difference gave him some goosebumps. He walked to the bedside while drying his hair and sat down.

On the bed, Gu Yuanqiao leaned against the headboard, the blanket covering his legs, holding a magazine he had pulled out from somewhere in his hands.

Sheng Yannian discovered that Gu Yuanqiao wasn’t wearing the fluffy pajamas from the morning. A sleep robe made of something like silk material hung loosely on his body, his chest exposing a slender “V” shaped area.

“Why aren’t you wearing the clothes from this morning?” Sheng Yannian stared for a while, then moved his gaze away.

“Your room is too hot, this set is cooler.” Gu Yuanqiao was engrossed in reading and didn’t really want to pay attention to Sheng Yannian.

Sheng Yannian noticed, so he didn’t say anything more to invite trouble. After drying his hair enough, he lifted the blanket on his side and got into bed.

He lay straight, his hands placed properly at his sides. For some reason, just the thought of simply sleeping with Gu Yuanqiao once gave him a strange feeling. As if it exceeded the scope of their relationship. Like a fuck buddy who had always been purely physical suddenly wanting to talk about feelings with you, it was absurd.

He didn’t want this kind of development.

The main light in the room was on, and the strong light made him not sleepy. In the end, he could only pretend to close his eyes.

“You’re going to sleep?” Gu Yuanqiao unexpectedly saw Sheng Yannian beside him already closing his eyes while turning a page.

“Mm.” Sheng Yannian made a sound from his nose.

“…Alright then.” Gu Yuanqiao didn’t say much more. He put the magazine on the nightstand, then reached out and pressed the switch on the wall.

With a light sound, the room fell into darkness.

Darkness would continuously amplify senses other than sight. Sheng Yannian heard a rustling sound, then the mattress on his right side sank a little. A shoulder with a temperature not his own touched him, but only for a moment, quickly separating.

Gu Yuanqiao moved quickly, and before long, peace returned to the room. Only two breaths sounded alternately.

Perhaps because he was paying too much attention to his own movements, Sheng Yannian’s hand suddenly twitched involuntarily, and so his left little finger touched the skin next to him. The movement was small, but enough to make his breath pause. Though he quickly realized he was making a mountain out of a molehill.

Because of the darkness, Gu Yuanqiao didn’t notice those slight movements. Although he was very unwilling to admit it, he really hated this environment where you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face. It always made him recall his most embarrassing appearance.

Gu Yuanqiao closed his eyes, forcing himself to fall asleep. He listened to the steady breathing beside him, slowly counting beats, emptying his thoughts.

…

“People can’t even empathize with their past selves.” This saying was very applicable to someone like Gu Yuanqiao who was ruthless to others and even more ruthless to himself. So when he faced his 8 year old self, he would also mercilessly mock the other’s innocence and romance.

Thus, when he once again realized he was dreaming of that night, he only watched coldly as the child wandered alone in the darkness, helpless and pitiful.

Indifferent, like self torture yet also like self rationalization, saying in his heart without much feeling, ‘Learn from one mistake and gain wisdom, next time you won’t make such a foolish mistake.’

It’s fine… just three days, it’s fine…

The scene changed, and the sudden brightness made Gu Yuanqiao somewhat panicked. This scene was very familiar, it was the main hall of the Gu family. The people around were also familiar faces, all the uncles and elders of the family, and his parents.

They surrounded that child, watching his father take a wooden stick and strike the child’s back again and again. Some were unable to bear watching, some were hypocritical, and some were adding fuel to the fire. In short, they were all spectators.

The child knelt straight, his hands gripping his thighs tightly to keep his back from bending. His mouth was biting down hard, his eye sockets red from forced endurance. His eyes held defiance, his entire body telling everyone he was not wrong. And indeed that was the fact.

“I didn’t!”

Every once in a while, the child would say it once. He didn’t understand why his own parents didn’t believe him, nor did he understand why he had to suffer this undeserved disaster. He clearly did nothing, he only came out with his cousin. Why did it become like this?

No one listened to his words, so he could only stubbornly defend himself. Very pale, very pathetic, very… laughable.

In the end, Gu Yuanqiao still turned his head, unwilling to continue watching that meaningless show. Not to mention anything else, getting hit by a wooden stick on the body still hurt quite a bit.

Unexpectedly, he saw the other victim in this performance, his good cousin Gu Yuanmu.

A boy four years younger than him, at this time his face still had some baby fat, tearfully begging for mercy for the punished boy. Not a single person who saw it felt pity, turning around to point fingers at the child in the center of the stage.

Gu Yuanqiao stared at Gu Yuanmu expressionlessly, his previously unperturbed mood finally having ripples nausea, disgust, vomit inducing.

Another commotion of varying size came from the crowd, Gu Yuanqiao didn’t care. Nothing more than the child being whipped unconscious.

He wanted to see if the four year old child’s face would show guilt, or regret. But he couldn’t know, because he had fainted. Though, at this point, it actually didn’t matter anymore.

“Gu Yuanmu…” Gu Yuanqiao murmured in a low voice, unable to tell whether it was like or dislike.

White light quickly flashed before his eyes, and the surroundings gradually returned to darkness.

The perspective changed, he returned to his 8 year old appearance. As set by the predetermined plot, he frantically pounded on the wooden door, his voice hoarse from crying. But there was nothing around, except darkness.

The wound on his back was also sending out pain, various emotions pressing on his chest making him feel like he was about to explode. But he only wanted to escape from here.

At the root of it, he was also just an 8 year old child. That was also the first time he had doubts about his father whom he had always revered, and this family, and himself.

…

Outside the dream, Sheng Yannian had just entered a half asleep half awake state when he felt his hand being grabbed, and instantly, all sleepiness vanished.

“….” Sheng Yannian tried to pull his hand out, finding it useless, instead being gripped even tighter. With this grip strength, if it were placed on his neck, his joking words after dinner would really come true.

“Hey.” Sheng Yannian was helpless, using his shoulder to nudge the person next to him, hoping it would have an effect. But clearly, it was still useless.

“Tsk.” Sheng Yannian turned to his side, habitually using his arm to prop up his upper body, wanting to use his other hand to push the person awake. He didn’t have the habit of holding hands while sleeping with someone.

However, his head got closer, and before his hand could move, he heard rapid breathing from below, and the hand he was holding was getting tighter and tighter.

‘Having a nightmare?’ Sheng Yannian frowned, and had no other movements.

“Ha! Ha..ha…” A sudden forceful tightening, Sheng Yannian lay back before Gu Yuanqiao opened his eyes, tightly closing his eyes. Not long after, he discovered the hand he was holding gradually loosened.

Gu Yuanqiao’s eyes were still somewhat unfocused as he stared at the ceiling, though he couldn’t see anything. After slowly adjusting his breathing, he got up and turned on the bedside lamp.

He sat up leaning against the headboard, took his phone, only 20 minutes had passed since he fell asleep.

Gu Yuanqiao stared at his fingers, his eyes dark and unclear.

He didn’t understand why he had that disgusting dream again, perhaps it was related to soon seeing Gu Yuanmu. It seemed that when the time came, he would have Wen Han take extra “care” of his lovely cousin.

Gu Yuanqiao subconsciously turned to look at the person next to him, only he didn’t expect to meet eyes with Sheng Yannian, both of them startled.

“You still haven’t slept?”

“You were making so much noise, it was annoying.” Sheng Yannian was the first to move his gaze away.

Gu Yuanqiao remembered, when he woke up, it seemed he was grabbing someone’s hand, and with considerable strength.

“Sorry.”

“…If it’s nothing then hurry up and sleep, it’s the middle of the night, pretending to be a ghost.” Sheng Yannian didn’t expect his casual complaint to make Gu Yuanqiao apologize honestly, and for a moment felt somewhat awkward. He turned his body, facing away from Gu Yuanqiao, and closed his eyes again.

“Mm.”

The sound of the switch accompanied by a simple answer rang out, then, they fell into darkness again. Gu Yuanqiao lay back down, he also turned to his side. Although he couldn’t see, he still tried hard to make out Sheng Yannian’s back.

Sleepiness hadn’t yet swept over Sheng Yannian so quickly, he slowly opened his eyes again. He felt that Gu Yuanqiao seemed somewhat afraid of the dark.

The moment he thought of the other person, he couldn’t help but care somewhat. But he didn’t have the nerve to turn around, so he slowed his breathing, wanting to listen for movements from the person behind him.

So all his attention was concentrated by his ear, but even so, he could only hear the slight breathing from behind.

Gu Yuanqiao’s breathing was very shallow, very shallow, so shallow that if you weren’t careful you couldn’t hear it. Sheng Yannian faced away from him, apart from breathing, he couldn’t find any trace of the person behind him.

In the end, his own slightly quick heartbeat due to some oxygen deprivation covered the breathing from behind.

As if from beginning to end, he had always been alone.

Realizing this, Sheng Yannian felt somewhat panicked for no reason.

After a while, he still couldn’t help but speak.

“Asleep?”

“No, what is it?” The familiar voice rang out in the darkness, making Gu Yuanqiao feel somewhat at ease.

“You can turn on the desk lamp by the small sofa.” Sheng Yannian didn’t explain why he wanted Gu Yuanqiao to do this.

Gu Yuanqiao was startled, and also tacitly didn’t ask why, only replying with a smile, “You don’t mind?”

“It’s fine, I’m used to sleeping with an eye mask.” Saying this, Sheng Yannian pulled open the nightstand and took out an eye mask to put on.

“Haha, alright.” Gu Yuanqiao didn’t refuse, getting up to turn on the light.

When he returned to bed, Sheng Yannian was still lying on his side, only because of the height difference, he could clearly see the eye mask on the other person’s face.

The eye mask was very new, without a single scratch or wrinkle, clearly just taken out of the packaging.

He couldn’t say what he felt, he only felt for the first time that the warm light emitted by the desk lamp had temperature. Though it couldn’t completely dispel the darkness, it was enough to let him fall asleep.

“Thank you.” Gu Yuanqiao said softly.

“Mmm…” Sheng Yannian made two nasal sounds from his nose, “Hurry up and sleep, I’m dead tired.”

“Good night.”

“Mmm… good night…” Sheng Yannian finally said vaguely.

This time Gu Yuanqiao could clearly see Sheng Yannian’s back. He stared at it for a while, then closed his eyes again.

‘Sweet dreams.’ He finally said in his heart, not knowing whether it was to himself or to Sheng Yannian.

 

 

This chapter reveals a little bit of President Gu’s past~

Next chapter there will be new characters appearing~