Not far from them, two girls were sitting on a bench. When they saw Nie Chang and Su Yan walking down the road arm in arm they had already started to look over. Now that Nie Chang suddenly stopped and extended his arms like that, they couldn’t stop giggling and it got worse when Su Yan actually gave in.

"Look at that! Look at that! Do you think those two are a couple?" the first one asked.

"Definitely! Look at how happy the tall guy seems! You can tell at one glance that he’s head over heels."

Excited as they were, their voices were loud enough to be heard by Su Yan and Nie Chang. Su Yan as an inherently curious person started to wriggle around in Nie Chang’s embrace and looked around. After a while, he frowned.

"Eh, Ah Chang! Who do you think the two girls over there were talking about? I can’t see any couple around us."

Nie Chang wiped the satisfied grin from his face just in time before Su Yan looked up at him.

"You’re taller than me. Have a look, too!"

Nie Chang gave him a wry smile. "I don’t need to look. I can tell you already who they were talking about."

"Mn?" Su Yan was amazed. His friend was really efficient! This had to be the advantage of a greater height. Otherwise, he’d have seen that couple, too. "So, who is it?" He widened his eyes and looked around again.

Nie Chang grabbed his chin again and tilted his head up. "Us. They were talking about us."

"Huh?" Su Yan blinked before shaking his head in exasperation. "You!" He slapped Nie Chang’s chest. "You’re trying to trick me again!"

"I’m not. They’re obviously rotten women." Or we’re just very much looking like a couple … He repressed the smirk that wanted to lift the corners of his mouth and tried to look normal.

Su Yan tilted his head and looked over at the two women. "Rotten women? What’s that?"

Nie Chang coughed. "Why don’t you know that? Didn’t you look up gay porn on Baidu some days ago?"

"How do you know ab— No!" Su Yan pushed him away. "What are you even talking about? I never looked at anything like that! Why would I?" Inwardly, he couldn’t help but question how Nie Chang knew about that.

Nie Chang nearly laughed out loud. He once again put his arm around Su Yan’s shoulder and started to lead him away. As much as he liked to be seen as a couple, he still didn’t want some women drooling over his boyfriend and him. "You used my notebook that day."

Su Yan froze but was heartlessly pulled along.

"I was a little shocked, actually. I always thought you were more … conservative."

"I … I’m not into men!"

Nie Chang gritted his teeth. "That wasn’t what I was talking about. I don’t mind that you’re into men. The thing I was actually shocked about was that you were watching porn."

"I wasn’t!"

Nie Chang stopped and turned around. "Do you intend to keep denying everything? I know exactly what you looked at that day. It was mostly men doing it with each other. What do you call that if not porn?"

Su Yan pressed his lips together. His cheeks were burning. "I … Uhm …"

Nie Chang sighed. "It’s alright. I won’t judge you. But you know …" He leaned over and cupped Su Yan’s cheek. "If you can’t take being alone, you could just ask me. I wouldn’t mind."

"Huh?" Su Yan’s eyes went wide while his head suddenly seemed empty. Nie Chang was already pulling him along again. "Ah Chang, you … What were saying just now?"

"I said that you can tell me when you’re feeling alone. I mean isn’t it sad to watch something like that? Wouldn’t you rather have somebody else there to actually do these things?" Nie Chang blinked innocently. This was just the concern of a good friend!

"Ah Chang, you’re being strange today. Who said I wanted to do something like that? It was … an accident. I also don’t know how I came to that side."

"Baidu? It’s the welcome page."

"N— No! I’m talking about … that!"

Nie Chang pretended to be clueless. "That? What are you talking about?"

"The …" Su Yan faced away. "Never mind."

Nie Chang grinned and leaned over. "So you’re going to give me a call the next time?" he whispered into his hear, nearly scaring Su Yan out of his skin.

"You—!" Su Yan spun around and wanted to scold him furiously but he had forgotten that Nie Chang had leaned over. Suddenly, they were face to face.

Nie Chang’s grin vanished and he seemed especially serious. A bit more and they would have kissed. There wasn’t even an inch separating them. If Su Yan actually felt something for him …

Su Yan’s anger disappeared just as fast. He looked up at Nie Chang’s dark eyes and held his breath. His heart was throbbing and the ear that Nie Chang had whispered into just now felt inexplicably warm. He gulped and searched for something to say but came up empty-handed.

Nie Chang leaned forward imperceptibly and continued to look directly into Su Yan’s eyes, trying to communicate with his gaze what he wanted to tell him: You’re an idiot! The person I fell in love with is obviously you! So kiss me if you like me back!

His warm breath blew into Su Yan’s face while his smell wrapped around him. Su Yan actually did feel like reaching out but he held back. This was so wrong! What was he even thinking about?! Don’t even talk about the fact that the two of them were men. That was his best friend! And he had even told him just earlier that there was someone he liked! It would be so wrong to get close to him like that!

Su Yan turned his head away but his heart was still beating wildly. He inconspicuously patted his chest. "We … should continue or we’re going to be too late."

"Mn." Nie Chang nodded and followed him.

This time, he didn’t pull Su Yan close again. He had honestly felt like there was a chance that Su Yan would do something to indicate that he wanted to kiss. Now that it hadn’t happened he felt a bit disappointed. If Nie Chang knew that it was actually the confession that he had left hanging in the air halfway that had led to this outcome, he would be angry at himself.