While waiting for the elevator downstairs, Ji Minglun was patted on the shoulder, and a slightly hoarse voice came from behind him: "Are you back?"
He didn't need to look back to know that the person taking the photo of him was his neighbor Su Yan.
The words Deng Yi had just said were still ringing in his ears. He was in no mood at the moment, so he just responded indifferently.
Seeing that he didn't turn around, Su Yan walked up to him and tilted his head to look at him for a moment: "Are you tanned or did someone offend you?"
Glancing at Su Yan's face, Ji Minglun said, "He's tanned."
Su Yan suppressed his laughter and waved the big red gift bag in his hand at him: "Do you want to eat sushi? Ji Gan just sent it to me. The sea urchin is so fresh."
The elevator door opened, and several neighbors came out one after another. Ji Minglun pressed the door-opening button and let Su Yan go in first before saying, "I'm a little tired. I won't eat anymore."
Su Yan leaned against the wall of the elevator car, and he stood with his back to Su Yan. The elevator rose quickly and did not open until it reached the 28th floor. Su Yan followed him out and asked again when he walked to the left: "Did your outing go badly?"
Ji Minglun stopped and didn't want to see Su Yan's face now, but this mentioned it reminded him of another thing.
Releasing his grip on the suitcase, he turned around and said, "I want to ask you a rather personal question. If you don't want to answer, just pretend I never asked."
Su Yan nodded: "You ask."
"When did you first discover your sexual orientation?"
After thinking for a moment, Su Yan said, "I can't remember the details, but I have never liked girls. I am not attracted to them."
Ji Minglun nodded, and when he turned around, he heard Su Yan ask, "What happened to you today? You look weird."
Putting his left hand back into his trouser pocket, Ji Minglun dragged his suitcase towards his home: "Nothing, I'm just tired and want to sleep."
After entering the house, he placed his suitcase at the entrance and went to the kitchen to get two glasses of drinking water. After the smoking feeling in his throat was suppressed, the tiredness became more obvious.
He went to the bathroom to take a shower, and when he came out he didn't even look at the phone on the table. He went into the bedroom and fell asleep.
He wasn't actually sleepy, he just felt tired for no reason and didn't want to move. His head was groggy and he fell asleep before he knew it. But he didn't sleep well and was soon awakened by a nightmare.
In the dream, Jiang Lin and Deng Feng were sitting on the beach at dusk, their hands quietly held at their sides. Deng Feng whispered a few words to Jiang Lin, and Jiang Lin turned to look at him. Then they approached each other at an angle that no one else could see, wanting to kiss.
When he opened his eyes, Ji Minglun sat up from his bed and wiped the sweat off his neck with a tissue from the bedside table. Moonlight came in from the French window on the wall, and the only sound in the room was the faint sound of the air conditioner running.
Staring at the silvery-white light, he remembered that Jiang Lin in his dream had smiled tenderly at Deng Feng.
Although this was a dream, was it possible that Jiang Lin would smile at Deng Feng like this without his knowledge? Before he knew it, Jiang Lin and Deng Feng really had a crush on each other. Deng Feng was a cautious person, and Jiang Lin was introverted. If the two of them didn't want to make it public, they would have kept it a secret from him.
Grabbing a handful of bangs, Deng Yi's words burst out uncontrollably.
When he first heard it, he was actually unwilling to believe it, and even thought about calling Jiang Lin immediately to find out.
But the moment the number was dialed, he suddenly hung up.
How should he ask
Should I ask if Jiang Lin is in a relationship with Deng Feng? Or should I ask if all the compromises and kindnesses he made to me this time were just to be friends again
Or ask how sexual orientation is changed
At that time, he confessed to Jiang Lin with the determination to take a gamble, but it was also because he felt Jiang Lin's dependence on him and his special position in Jiang Lin's heart.
Could it be that something happened in Los Angeles that made Jiang Lin start to have feelings for the same sex, and because she could understand his feelings at the time, she came back to apologize to him and make peace. But he misunderstood this behavior and self-righteously fantasized again, thinking that there was a possibility between him and Jiang Lin, and that the bracelet was a birthday gift from Jiang Lin to him.
He also hoped that the bracelet in Deng Feng's hands was just a misunderstanding, but what if it was true
Should he bless them with a smile
His temples began to ache, so he stood up and went to the living room to get his phone. As soon as he unlocked it, he saw two calls and two WeChat messages from Jiang Lin.
[Have you arrived home yet?]
[Did you fall asleep because you were too tired?]
More than half an hour passed after he sent the second message. He stared at Jiang Lin's profile picture, and finally pressed the lock screen button. He went to the refrigerator to get a few bottles of beer and sat on the balcony to drink them. After he finished drinking, he continued to sleep until he was awakened by the doorbell.
When he walked into the living room, he glanced at the clock on the wall. It was already noon. When he saw the person standing outside through the peephole, he clenched and unclenched the fingers that were pressing on the door handle.
He wasn't ready to face Jiang Lin yet, and now that the door was open, he didn't even know what expression to put on.
The doorbell continued to ring for a long time but no one opened the door. Jiang Lin called Ji Minglun, but the line kept ringing until it disconnected. He frowned, a little worried about Ji Minglun's situation.
Ji Minglun was in a bad mood yesterday. After he came back, he never contacted him. Even his phone calls and WeChat messages fell on deaf ears. This morning, he called Deng Feng to ask about it. Deng Feng said that he had not contacted Ji Minglun, but he sent him downstairs to his home last night. He must be too tired and still sleeping.
Deng Feng asked him again what he wanted from Ji Minglun. In a hurry, he made up a lie and said that he had accidentally put something in Ji Minglun's backpack.
Deng Feng asked him what it was and asked if he could help get it if he was in a hurry. He said no, it would be the same if he got it next time. Deng Feng also asked him how he rested last night and asked if he felt tired he could wait for two days before going to the store.
After thanking Deng Feng for his concern, he put down his phone and went to Ji Minglun's house. Unfortunately, after waiting outside for a long time, Ji Minglun did not come to open the door. He thought that maybe Ji Minglun would go to the store, so he turned and went to [Chaka].
At this time, [Chaka] had just opened for a short time, and Zhu Zhu was the only one preparing for the opening of the store. Seeing him coming, Zhu Zhu asked what fun things they had experienced during their trip.
He helped with cleaning, chatting with Zhu Zhu, and occasionally glancing toward the main door. At five o'clock in the afternoon, Deng Feng came to the store and found it strange that he was still there.
He said he was buying something nearby and saw that Zhu Zhu was the only one in the store, so he came in. It happened to be the evening rush hour, so Deng Feng changed into an apron and started to help. Ji Minglun hadn't come until closing time in the evening. He just replied to his WeChat message at 8:30, saying that he had a lot of things to do after returning and had been in school all day.
He replied: [Are you done with your work? Do you have time to go out for a midnight snack?]
After holding the phone and waiting for a long time, Ji Minglun did not reply. He could not help it and called Ji Minglun as soon as he got back to the car.
No one answered the first time. He called again a few minutes later and Ji Minglun picked up. There was a lot of noise on the other end of the line, and there was a "bang bang" sound of something hitting the ground. It sounded like a gymnasium.
Ji Minglun was panting and talked to someone in the team when he answered the phone. Jiang Lin thought it might be inconvenient for him now, so he asked, "Are you busy tonight?"
"Well, there's been a lot of stuff piled up here at school for the past few days. It's been very busy."
Maybe it was because of the intense exercise, but Ji Minglun's voice sounded much hoarse. After explaining, he said a few words to the people playing basketball. After hearing his impatience and irritability, Jiang Lin thought that he should be playing halfway and came to answer, so he said, "Okay, you go ahead."
There was a pause. Jiang Lin wanted to ask if they could have dinner together tomorrow, but before he could open his mouth, he was interrupted by Ji Minglun's "OK", and then the hang-up notification tone was heard.
Putting down the phone, Jiang Lin looked at the screen that returned to the call page and felt strange.
Why did Ji Minglun suddenly become cold
Or is he overthinking
After going home and sleeping for a night, Jiang Lin went to the store as usual the next day.
After a busy day, he still didn't see Ji Minglun. At dinner in the evening, he couldn't help asking Zhu Zhu about Ji Minglun's absence in the past two days. Zhu Zhu chewed on pork ribs and said that this was normal. In the past, Ji Minglun might not come to the store once a week, but he came more frequently last month, and they thought it was strange.
Taking a bite of rice, Jiang Lin knew that it was because of him that Ji Minglun came so often last month. Perhaps because he had been out playing for a few days this time, Ji Minglun had indeed delayed dealing with a lot of things.
He comforted himself in this way, but he always felt uneasy in his heart, especially in the past two days, Ji Minglun responded very slowly to his messages, and he could always sense coldness between the lines.
Even if Ji Minglun was busy during the day and had no time to reply, why were his replies at night always so brief, with only one or two words
Opening the shopping app, he saw in the order page of the overseas shopping page that the bracelet he ordered had passed customs and would be delivered to him in five or six days. He wanted to express his feelings by celebrating Ji Minglun's birthday, so he even chose the style of birthday cake and booked a private room for the weekend at a western restaurant with the best view of the Twin Towers.
Everything was arranged, but now that Ji Minglun suddenly acted like this, he felt a little uncertain.
Will it be that after he confesses his feelings, not only will they not be able to be together, but their friendship will also end
He slept and woke from time to time that night, and kept having dreams that he could not remember clearly but were very uncomfortable. He was also absent-minded when he went to the store at noon. In the afternoon, Deng Yi came. After greeting Zhu Zhu and Xiao Xu, Deng Yi sent them an electronic invitation.
He was busy making orders at the time and didn't notice Deng Yi coming at all. He also didn't know when Deng Yi left. Later, when he had some free time and heard Zhu Zhu and Xiao Xu talking about the birthday party the day after tomorrow, he found out that Deng Yi was going to have a birthday.
Seeing that he didn't respond, Zhu Zhu remembered that Deng Yi didn't send him an invitation letter when she came, so she asked him if he had received it in advance. He was not interested in this, so he just perfunctorily passed it over.
When the store was about to close in the evening, Deng Feng came to the store, wearing a white shirt and casual trousers, which he didn't usually wear. His hair was also carefully groomed, and he looked radiant.
Smelling the scent of cypress cologne on him, Zhu Zhu joked that he might have a date with a beautiful woman. He went straight to Jiang Lin and asked if he had time to go somewhere with him tonight, as he had something to talk about.
Jiang Lin was planning to visit Ji Minglun's house after get off work, so he declined. Deng Feng said that it would take up more than ten minutes, so he had to agree.
After they walked out of the store, Deng Feng asked him to get in his car. When he asked if he had anything to say, Deng Feng looked at the row of stores across the street and then took out a silver bracelet from his trouser pocket.
"You saw this bracelet when you were traveling. You didn't buy it then, so I bought it."
With the weak light from the store across the street, Jiang Lin saw the shape of the bracelet clearly and said in surprise, "No wonder they said they were out of stock when I went there again. It turns out you bought it."
Deng Feng handed the bracelet to him: "This is for you, take it."
Jiang Lin was stunned for a moment, then pushed the bracelet back and said, "No, I bought it too."
"You bought it again?" Deng Feng repeated, then smiled helplessly and said, "That's really unfortunate, but I've already bought this bracelet, and it would be a pity to throw it away if you don't accept it."
Jiang Lin didn't expect it to be so wrong, so he had to explain: "Actually, I didn't buy it because I didn't have enough money at that time. Thank you for your kindness. You don't have to do this next time. Give me this bracelet and I'll transfer the money to you."
Jiang Lin accepted the bracelet and took out his phone to transfer money to Deng Feng. Deng Feng refused twice but he was very persistent. Seeing that he really didn't understand what he meant, Deng Feng couldn't help but sigh and tactfully reminded him, "You know my sexual orientation, right?"
Deng Feng's sexual orientation was no secret in the store, and Jiang Lin knew it, but he was so focused on Ji Minglun that he didn't think there would be any problem with contacting other people of the same sex, so he didn't care about it at all. Until this moment, Deng Feng looked straight at him, and even though the light was dim, he could see the emotions in his eyes that were no longer hidden.
With the corners of his eyes raised, Deng Feng said, "This is the first time I'm so nervous about giving a gift."
If Jiang Lin was still wondering if he had seen it wrong before, then the meaning of the last sentence was clear. Unexpectedly, Deng Feng would have such thoughts. Jiang Lin immediately put the bracelet back into Deng Feng's hand, opened the car door and said, "I have something else to do, so I'll leave first."
"Jiang Lin!" Deng Feng called him, and when he saw him close the door and quickly walk in another direction, he quickly got out of the car and caught up with him, explaining, "I won't force you, I just want you to know my feelings. If you feel it's not appropriate now, we can continue to be friends, but I don't want you to avoid me because of this."
Nervously staring at the distance between himself and Deng Feng, Jiang Lin's mind was in a mess and he couldn't think of anything. Then he heard Deng Feng say, "Actually, I have been hesitating for a while. At first I was not sure about your sexual orientation, but later I observed that you might be able to accept it. I just want to try my best. You will be going back to Los Angeles in more than half a month, and I don't want to have any regrets."
Jiang Lin still couldn't say a word. His hands hanging at his sides were clenched into fists and his shoulders were shaking. Deng Feng knew that he needed time to think, so he didn't stop him. He took a step back and said, "You go first, but I hope you can seriously consider what I said."
Jiang Lin got into his car without looking back, leaned over the steering wheel, and it took him a long time to calm down.
It happened so suddenly that he couldn't say no to Deng Feng just now, but how could it be? How could Deng Feng have such feelings for him? He even bought the bracelet he wanted to give to Ji Minglun. Although he also bought the same one through overseas shopping, in this situation, giving this bracelet to Ji Minglun would only cause unnecessary misunderstandings.
He opened the shopping app in annoyance and wanted to return the product for another bracelet. Halfway through the operation, he remembered Ji Minglun's cold attitude towards him in the past few days.
Since Deng Feng bought it in that store, could it be that Ji Minglun saw the bracelet later and heard Deng Feng say that she was interested in him, so he became increasingly cold towards him in the past few days
Thinking of this possibility, he didn't even bother to return the bracelet and drove to Ji Minglun's house immediately. He didn't see Ji Minglun's car in the basement, so he went upstairs without giving up. He pressed the doorbell for a long time but no one answered. When he called, he heard the phone was turned off.
He sat in the corridor until midnight, then returned to the car and continued waiting. He fell asleep twice and was finally awakened by the sound of an approaching engine. Unfortunately, the car he saw was not Ji Minglun's.
He stayed in the basement until noon the next day, but Ji Minglun's phone was still off and he didn't reply to his WeChat messages. He was completely panicked now. Ji Minglun would never disappear without a reason like this. The man must have heard what Deng Feng said and misunderstood after seeing the bracelet.
He went to the store in the afternoon, but when it was closing time, he still didn't see Ji Minglun, and even Deng Feng didn't come. After get off work, he went to Ji Minglun's house to wait. When the sun rose the next morning, he felt dizzy and wanted to vomit. Thinking that this couldn't go on, he planned to ask Deng Feng for clarification, but he saw Zhu Zhu said in the store's WeChat group that he would arrive at the hotel late today, and also tagged Deng Yi.
These days, he was so focused on Ji Minglun that he completely forgot that today was Deng Yi's birthday. Given Ji Minglun's relationship with her, he should go to support her. He hurriedly called Zhu Zhu and learned the detailed location of the birthday party. He went home to take a shower and rest, and then rushed to Fantawild Park in the afternoon.