Hate The Bright Moon Chapter 15

Chapter 18

The fruit platter contained strawberries, grapes, and cherries. Chen Shilü took some to wash. Fu Lei, unable to contain his curiosity, followed him into the kitchen.

“You and that Chi Huang, what… what’s your relationship?”

“No relationship.”

“No relationship, and he’s at your house?”

Chen Shilü glanced at him: “You’re at my house too.”

“You know what kind of relationship we have, saying that.”

“Stop beating around the bush. It’s not something I can explain in two sentences.”

Fu Lei frowned, watching Chen Shilü’s hands repeatedly turning the fruit under the running water, and finally couldn’t help but ask: “Did you sleep together?”

“These strawberries are sweet, have one.” He picked the largest strawberry and stuffed it into Fu Lei’s mouth, attempting to block his incessant questioning.

But it clearly didn’t work. Fu Lei swallowed and asked, “You brought him home, are you planning to pursue something with him?”

“No, I’m not.”

“Then why did you?”

“There aren’t so many whys. Just stop asking for now.”

He felt a little guilty facing Fu Lei’s interrogation. He had never imagined he would face this kind of situation, unsure whether he should explain to Fu Lei, and even less sure how to explain it.

The three of them sharing a room was awkward. Chi Huang was clearly not someone who would read the room or adhere to social etiquette, so Fu Lei left after only a few minutes, citing an urgent matter.

Chen Shilü walked him downstairs but didn’t say much else, only promising to call him later: “Let me sort things out first. I’m a bit confused right now too.”

Fu Lei looked at him with a complex expression for a moment, then finally nodded.

Back inside, Chi Huang was devouring the fruit platter.

“I saw you two together at the Bar last time. Does that Fu Lei like you?”

“No.”

“Then he didn’t specifically bring you fruit?”

Chen Shilü glared at him: “You specifically delivered yourself to my doorstep, didn’t you?”

“I like you too, though.”

“Thank you.” Chen Shilü took the fruit platter out of Chi Huang’s arms.

Chi Huang leaned closer: “An elite like you, who’s good at everything, must have a lot of people chasing you. Why are you single?”

Chi Huang was completely unsuitable for discussing values or relationships. Chen Shilü gave a perfunctory reply: “A sweet-talking, cute hunk like you, why are you single?”

“Do you really think I’m sweet-talking and cute?”

“I think you talk too much nonsense.”

Chi Huang pouted. Seeing that Chen Shilü was unwilling to talk, he stopped asking.

Chen Shilü’s mind was troubled. After dinner, he sent Chi Huang away, not letting him stay the night.

For the next few days, he was somewhat distracted, thinking about how to tell Fu Lei about this.

Of course, Fu Lei had absolutely no right to demand an explanation, and Chen Shilü had no obligation to disclose his relationship status to him. But after years of interaction, their relationship was more than just sleeping together. He couldn’t simply and crudely dismiss the other person’s concern, as that might genuinely hurt Fu Lei’s feelings. Chen Shilü didn’t want to embarrass Fu Lei. If he told him honestly, Fu Lei should be able to understand, right?

Thinking that it would be hard to explain clearly over the phone, he decided to wait until the weekend to ask him out for a proper talk. However, before the weekend arrived, he received a call from Fu Lei first.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Fu Lei awkwardly got to the point: “A-Lü, you said last time that you weren’t planning to pursue anything with Chi Huang. Was that the truth?”

Sure enough, he was still very concerned about it.

It was late at night, and Chen Shilü was alone at home, but he moved from his room to the living room, sitting on the sofa to discuss the matter seriously with Fu Lei.

“It’s the truth. I don’t plan to pursue anything with Chi Huang, nor will I develop a romantic relationship with anyone. This isn’t an excuse to brush you off. Bringing him home was because he accidentally found out my address, and he kept staking out my place, so I had no choice but to let him in.”

“It’s just that, but you did sleep together, right?”

“We did, but that’s all it was.” Chen Shilü added, “We’ve known each other for so many years, you should know what kind of person I am.”

“Yes, I understand, and I’m very understanding. We’re all adults, and you’re both single, so it’s normal for that to happen.”

Although Fu Lei could be a bit slow sometimes, he wasn’t stupid; he understood once it was explained. Hearing this, Chen Shilü finally felt relieved. He didn’t want to ruin his relationship with anyone over such a small matter.

The matter was clarified, but the person on the other end of the phone was still hesitant. Since they had already discussed this much, Chen Shilü urged Fu Lei to speak his mind: “Is there anything you can’t talk to me about?”

“You’re right. In our kind of relationship, there’s no need to hide anything, right? And I definitely shouldn’t hide this from you. A-Lü, I just wanted to ask you, since you aren’t planning to pursue anything with Chi Huang, then, well, can I pursue him?”

“…What?!”

The topic changed so abruptly that Chen Shilü was completely bewildered: “Why did you suddenly have this idea? Just because you saw him at my house once?” Love at first sight, for someone in their thirties, seemed a bit unbelievable.

“I’ve seen him twice since then.” Afraid that Chen Shilü might overthink things, Fu Lei quickly added, “He asked me out, and I happened to be free, so…”

Chen Shilü’s face darkened, and his voice dropped: “Did you sleep together?”

“No, no, absolutely not. How could that happen?” Fu Lei said anxiously. “The first time we just had dinner. After that, we went driving together. Did you know Chi Huang is a professional motorcycle racer?”

“No.”

“I just found out too.”

Chen Shilü thought, obviously.

Fu Lei continued, his tone becoming shy: “Because he needs to do strength training as a racer, we talked a lot about fitness, and I felt like we really clicked. So the second time, he asked me to go riding with him, and I went.

“How should I put it? I think he’s a good person, and we have a lot of common interests. We had a great time together. He even suggested going off-roading in the grasslands later, which means he must like me a little, right? And since he also likes men, I thought I’d try…” His voice grew softer. Fu Lei was clearly feeling guilty. “…This wouldn’t count as stealing your man, would it? I don’t want you to be mad at me because of this, so I came to ask you. If you disagree, I won’t do it.”

“You can pursue whoever you want. It’s not up to me to agree or disagree.”

“Don’t say that. I was afraid you’d say that… Maybe what I’m doing is wrong. Forget it, pretend I didn’t say any of this. Don’t be angry.”

Chen Shilü scratched his hair in frustration a few times, finally letting out a sigh.

“I’m not angry. If you want to pursue Chi Huang, go ahead. I won’t say anything, and I will keep my distance from him from now on.” His tone shifted, sounding somewhat worried: “But Fu Lei, do you know he’s a pure top? Although he hasn’t said it, I feel like he was straight before and is just messing around with men.”

“I don’t know about that. If we’re both tops, I don’t think it matters. We don’t have to be 1/0, right? Many couples are sides now too. Besides, if he can sleep with men, he can’t really be considered straight.”

“I mean that he’s different from us. From what I know of Chi Huang, he’s a nihilistic hedonist. As long as it makes him happy, he doesn’t care about anything else. I don’t think he’s capable of taking on the responsibility of a partner. You need to think carefully.”

“I will think about it carefully, don’t worry.”

“Fu Lei…”

“What?”

“…Nothing. That’s all. Get some rest.” Chen Shilü hung up the phone.

He pinched the bridge of his nose. He could tell Fu Lei was currently infatuated, and he couldn’t talk him out of it.

He felt a little uncomfortable, but he didn’t want to be too harsh on Fu Lei. How should he put it? Given Fu Lei’s personality, he felt that Chi Huang was probably more to blame for this situation.

He didn’t have Chi Huang’s phone number, but he had removed him from the blacklist earlier, so he sent him a voice call.

The call was initially rejected. After a moment, a video call came back.

Chi Huang’s hair was tied up, his roots soaked with sweat, and his face was flushed. In the camera, he smiled at Chen Shilü: “How rare, Director Chen contacting me personally.”

“What were you doing just now?”

“Working on my core.” He turned the camera, briefly showing the gym behind him, and continued walking out. Once he reached a deserted spot in the green belt, he chuckled, “What did you think I was doing?”

“Did you meet up with Fu Lei?”

The smile on Chi Huang’s face vanished, looking unnatural, but he quickly pretended to be relaxed: “I did. Why is he reporting this to you? What exactly is your relationship?”

Ignoring Chi Huang’s attempt to change the subject and probe, Chen Shilü asked again: “Why did you ask him out?”

“Nothing much, just hanging out. Brother Lei is pretty nice. He treated me to dinner and bought me things. Is he always this nice to everyone? He also gave me some fitness tips. I have to say, those pecs of his are seriously huge. Do you gays all like that kind of physique?”

Chen Shilü rubbed his temples. He knew how devastating it was for a gay man to hear Chi Huang, with that face and that casual tone, call him “Brother Lei” while squeezing his own chest muscles. No wonder Fu Lei was dizzy and decided he wanted to pursue him.

Seeing Chen Shilü’s expression wasn’t quite right, Chi Huang tentatively asked: “Did Brother Lei say something to you?”

“Fu Lei said he wants to pursue you.”

“Oh, really?”

Although he said that, there was no shock or surprise visible on his face. It seemed everything was within his expectations.

It was exactly as Chen Shilü thought. A frivolous playboy like Chi Huang, who was experienced in romance, couldn’t possibly be unaware of what he was doing or what misunderstandings he might cause. Yet he still did it. Chen Shilü couldn’t figure out his motive.

Perhaps he had no motive at all, simply enjoying the thrill of manipulating people’s emotions. Having met many people, Chen Shilü was certain that some scumbags in this world were like that—they derived pleasure from controlling the feelings of others. If Chi Huang was this kind of person, Chen Shilü wouldn’t be surprised.

Chi Huang thought for a moment and asked him: “Is this putting you in a difficult position? What do you want me to do?”

“What you do is your business. I’m telling you that since Fu Lei wants to pursue you, it’s no longer appropriate for us to continue contacting each other. Let’s unfriend each other.”

“Hey…”

Chen Shilü hung up the phone and deleted the contact simultaneously.

He didn’t want to listen to Chi Huang’s excuses, nor did he want to understand his motives for this action, and he certainly didn’t want to investigate his character flaws. He just wanted to cut the knot quickly before things became more complicated.