Li Ming went home feeling incredibly confused. If he had still been with Zhao Chen, his reaction to Mo Fang wouldn’t even have been a question. Being friends with exes wasn’t a problem in his eyes even if you were in a new relationship but that wasn’t what they were. With Mo Fang, there was even a decent chance that he was simply there to make trouble.

So, if he had been with anyone, he would have never gotten involved with Mo Fang further than today’s sudden encounter. He wouldn’t entertain the idea to get into contact with him and see what he wanted for even a second. He would have told his boyfriend, maybe ranted a bit about how he couldn’t believe that Mo Fang had the guts to turn up in front of him after three years and pretend nothing had happened, and then he would have been done with it. At the very least, he hoped it would have turned out that way.

Right now though, he wasn’t in a relationship. He wasn’t over his last one but that simply wasn’t the same. No, if he wanted to see Mo Fang just for curiosity’s sake, he wouldn’t think it was wrong. Not in the sense that it would feel disrespectful to his current partner at least. At most, it would be an incredibly stupid thing to do.

The big question was: Did he want to do something that he could tell from the get-go would be stupid? Surely, he shouldn’t do that. That was just asking to get himself into a troublesome situation again.

Li Ming sighed to himself, left his apartment, and went grocery shopping to occupy his mind with something else. He simply couldn’t decide at the moment. But then, he didn’t have to either, did he?

From the sounds of it, Mo Fang wasn’t just back for a day or two but would instead stay for a while longer. Maybe he had even moved back for real and wouldn’t leave China again save for any vacations he might take in the future. He didn’t know but he definitely didn’t need to make his decision right now. If he decided tomorrow or next week to meet up with Mo Fang after all, he would certainly still be here.

Even if he wasn’t, telephone calls were a thing. They could just talk like that. It would also allow him to find out what was going on and give Mo Fang whatever response he deserved based on that.

Having made up his mind, Li Ming threw himself into picking groceries and then went back home to cook. In such a situation, there was simply no better way to keep his hands and mind occupied.

Li Ming might have come to a conclusion that he was happy with for the time being but that didn’t mean that he could really get around thinking about the matter. The next day when he walked into the gym and went to the locker room, he just happened to walk in when Zhu Yi was already there.

Seeing him, Zhu Yi immediately raised his brows. “Did you talk to your ex?”

Li Ming stopped in his tracks before smiling wryly and walking over. “I didn’t.”

“So … you’ve decided to ignore him.”

Li Ming tilted his head. “For now. Honestly, I don’t really know what to do so I figured I should just give it some time. He can’t expect me to come running the moment he offers.” Anyway, he was the one who had broken up with Mo Fang, not the other way around, so this shouldn’t even have crossed Mo Fang’s mind. He couldn’t be that delusional.

Zhu Yi nodded. “True. I just want you to know that I’m there for you no matter how you decide in the end. So don’t feel like you can’t bring it up or that you have to justify any decision you make.”

Li Ming gave a hum and nodded. “Don’t worry. We’ve been working together for some time now so I know what type of person you are. Anyway, for now, I think I just don’t want to talk about it. I think I need some time to process that he’s back. After that, I’ll give it some thought and then make my decision.”

“Alright.” Zhu Yi raised his hands. “I won’t bring it up again. I just felt the need to ask today because you seemed really freaked out yesterday. And, well, I’m admittedly a bit worried about you. You take relationship stuff pretty hard and that matter with Zhao Chen hasn’t been that long ago.”

Li Ming sighed. “True. I guess that doesn’t make this situation any easier.”

Zhu Yi nodded. “Well, you’ll figure it out. If you do want to talk about it later, you know how to get in touch.”

Li Ming nodded as well and the two of them dropped the topic.

Unfortunately, Zhu Yi was not the only one aware of Mo Fang’s return, and apparently, he wasn’t the only one who knew about their meeting either because the next day, Mo Fang received a text.

Zhi Bao Yu: [Is it true you and Xiao Fang met? Are you going to get back together?!]

Li Ming who had just been getting dressed for his shift at the hotel sighed deeply, switched off the screen of his phone, and simply slipped it back into his pocket. Contrary to Zhu Yi who was worried about him, Zhi Bao Yu was surely just doing this for the gossip and to be able to say ‘I had a part in this!’ if they were to get back together. That was something that shouldn’t be entertained in the slightest so … even if it was impolite, he’d simply pretend he hadn’t seen that.

But, of course, even with that one out of the way, he wouldn’t get around being reminded of the matter with Mo Fang again and again. After all, even if people didn’t know that they had met again, there were just too many people who knew about how bad their breakup had been back then. It just couldn’t be helped.