How come I didn't know you liked men?

August was drawing to a close. After saying goodbye to Song Nian, Jin Zhou packed his belongings and shoved them into the trunk of his car. He didn't take much with him, just a few clothes, his guitar, and a large jar of marinated dried tofu that Song Nian had prepared for him to take to Song Shuyang. Actually, Song Shuyang didn't eat soy products or the sweet marinade, so he had simply given it to him for the journey.

Jin Zhou waved goodbye to her with a gentle smile, and left a light kiss on her forehead before leaving. "Goodbye, Mom."

Song Nian knew that after this separation he would have to settle down in another city, and tears filled his eyes.

She couldn't stop the children from leaving her, just like she couldn't stop the roses from withering. In the flower garden, the swing that Jin Zhou had built still stood there quietly, but now the courtyard was empty, they had all gone off to pursue their own lives.

She thought that Song Shuyang must have inherited her fear of change. If possible, she also wanted to go back to their childhood and sit under the camphor tree watching the two children laughing and playing.

Jin Zhou drove on the road for almost the entire day, and it was already past nine o'clock in the evening when he arrived in Han City.

Jiang Ying treated him to a welcoming dinner and ordered all local specialties. She watched him leisurely as he had no idea how to eat the salty and spicy dishes.

She taunted him, "You've let yourself get carried away by love. You'll suffer in the future."

Jin Zhou smiled kindly, "Does watching me get humiliated give you a twisted sense of pleasure?"

Jiang Ying said, "Yes, that's not the case."

Jin Zhou reluctantly picked some non-spicy vegetables and finished his meal. Jiang Ying asked him, "Why don't you go see him today?"

Jin Zhou said calmly: "I'm not ready yet."

"Ahahahahaha..." Jiang Ying laughed so hard that her mouth couldn't close. "You old rascal, you're still nervous. Are you afraid that people will run away as soon as they see you?"

"He treated me strangely before he left. I was afraid he had noticed something."

"It's hard not to notice. We live under the same roof and you fantasize about them every day."

Jin Zhou suppressed his anger and said, "...I don't mean to be lewd, okay?"

Jiang Ying barely managed to hold back her laughter. "Okay, okay, if you say you don't have it, then it's fine. So what are you going to do?"

"It's his birthday tomorrow. Call some friends over to have some fun together. He loves it." Afraid that Jiang Ying would try to trick him like she did last time, he emphasized, "Serious friends."

Jiang Ying shook her head after hearing this, "How humble, Old Jin."

The next day, Jin Zhou got up early in the morning to supervise the layout of the venue. He specially booked a villa, contacted a birthday party planning company, and personally communicated with all the details. Then he went to get a clean and refreshing short haircut.

He hopes to present the image of a sunny and cheerful older brother in front of Song Shuyang, even if this is very different from his true appearance.

He had originally considered ordering a bouquet of flowers from a florist, but ultimately decided that was too much and abandoned the idea. At ten o'clock in the morning, making sure he looked masculine but not too over the top and startling Song Shuyang, he appeared at the entrance of Han University, holding the birthday gift he had carefully chosen for him.

It happened to be a Sunday, and the students coming and going at the school gate couldn't help but look at him sideways, mainly because his facial features were too delicate. Even if he didn't dress up, he would still be conspicuous standing in the crowd. He made the first call to Song Shuyang, but the other party didn't answer.

He waited patiently for another quarter of an hour and made the second call. This time the call rang for half a minute before the other party finally answered.

Not sure if he had disturbed anything, Song Shuyang said in a somewhat aggressive tone, "What are you doing? You didn't let me go even on Sunday."

"Aren't you celebrating your birthday? I ordered takeout for you. Please have some fine bran."

"Then ask him to take it downstairs to the dormitory."

"...He said he could only deliver it to the school gate, so you can come out and get it."

Song Shuyang muttered, "What kind of delivery man is this?" and hung up the phone.

On the other end of the phone, Guo Zixiu looked at Song Shuyang with resentment, "I suspect you answered the alarm."

Song Shuyang blushed so much that he was silently grateful to Jin Zhou for the life-saving call.

He was almost kissed.

After Guo Zixiu confessed his feelings to him that day, he didn't know how to refuse. After all, they had such a good relationship before, and they lived in the same dormitory, bed-to-bed. Thinking about living together for the next three years, he couldn't say no. Song Shuyang hesitated, and Guo Zixiu seized the opportunity to say, "How about we try to get along? If you think you get along well, we can officially be together."

Song Shuyang agreed without thinking, and from that day on, Guo Zixiu started an ambiguous relationship with him unilaterally.

Song Shuyang had been a straight man for nineteen years, and he had no good sense of boundaries between the same sex. Sometimes when Guo Zixiu held his hand or hugged him, he didn't take it seriously. Besides, Guo Zixiu didn't give off a dangerous aura like Jin Zhou did. After getting along for a while, he found that -

Oh, I think I can accept it.

Little did they know that this was a sign that there was no call at all.

So he gradually relaxed his guard until today, when the other two roommates went out to play, and Guo Zixiu said he wanted to leave him with unforgettable memories on his 20th birthday.

He was pressed on a chair by a boy of similar height and build. As his face gradually approached, he began to have difficulty breathing and trembling all over. Just when the kiss was about to become a reality, his cell phone rang.

Guo Zixiu snatched his phone away unhappily and put it aside, holding his face and whispering, "Don't let anyone disturb us, okay?"

Song Shuyang was so nervous that his tongue was tied. "Wait a moment, let me prepare myself mentally."

In fact, during this period of time, under Guo Zixiu's brainwashing, he has accepted the fact that he is gay, but acceptance and practice are two different things, especially since Guo Zixiu took him to watch many dual-male lead action movies, which made him feel a little resistant to intimate behavior between boys. He is not sure whether he is willing to kiss him.

The boy in front of her whispered coaxingly: "Don't be afraid, Yangyang. You'll know once you try it. It's very comfortable."

"I……"

Seeing that he was still hesitant, Guo Zixiu began to play the emotional card. "Actually, I noticed you when you first entered the dormitory, Song Shuyang. You are really handsome. Your eyes, nose, lips, and face shape are all perfect. Moreover, you have good grades, can play guitar, and sing well..."

Song Shuyang was flattered by his praise, and his tail was up to the sky. He was already competing with Jin Zhou in his heart, thinking that what's the big deal about having a boyfriend, he would just bring him back and scare him to death.

So, he closed his eyes and acquiesced to Guo Zixiu's next actions.

A rapid phone ring interrupted them again.

Song Shuyang opened his eyes and saw their bodies almost touching. He belatedly became shy. He still didn't want to face this kind of thing and wanted to escape. He made an excuse and said, "Maybe it's my brother who's looking for me. He's very annoying. If I can't get in touch with him, I'll complain to my mom."

Guo Zixiu raised his body and held his forehead with his hand, saying, "You take it first."

When he picked up the phone, he saw that it was really Jin Zhou. In order to vent the shame in his heart, he got angry at Jin Zhou for no reason and couldn't control himself.

After hanging up the phone, he finally found an excuse to escape, "My brother ordered takeout for me, but it can't be delivered in, so I'll go get it at the school gate."

Guo Zixiu grabbed his hand.

His eyes were stubborn, "Yangyang, you can't keep running away."

"How did I escape?" Song Shuyang shouted guiltily, "I'm just going to get some takeout. I'll be back soon. When I get back, how are we going to continue...that?"

How could Guo Zixiu let him go so easily? "Okay, then I'll go with you."

Song Shuyang originally wanted to go out for a day under the pretext of getting takeout and come back in the evening. He had already thought of an excuse, saying that getting takeout was a cover and that Jin Zhou was actually waiting for him at the school gate to take him out for his birthday. Unexpectedly, Guo Zixiu knew his ostrich habits too well and would not give in.

There was no other way, he could only agree to delay it as long as possible.

Along the way, Guo Zixiu could sense his uneasiness and awkwardness. After finally getting Song Shuyang to accept his sexual orientation, he really didn't want to give up easily. He struck while the iron was hot and said, "Yangyang, let's hold hands."

Super straight man Song Shuyang: "Ah? Why?"

"If you won't let me kiss you, can you at least hold your hand?"

Song Shuyang felt a little guilty when he heard this and took the initiative to extend his hand to him.

This kind of thing is not uncommon in college, and Song Shuyang is completely calm. It feels no different from holding a friend's hand when he was a child. Therefore, he did not attach too much ambiguous meaning to this behavior and walked out with him holding his hand openly.

The takeaway food delivered to the school gate is usually placed in the security room. He searched through a pile of plastic bags for a while but couldn't find his name at all.

"Damn! Is Jin kidding me?"

Just as he finished cursing, he suddenly felt something and turned around abruptly.

The man surnamed Jin was standing outside the security room looking at him with no expression on his face.

"elder brother……"

He suddenly realized that he was still holding Guo Zixiu's hand, and hurriedly shook it off as if he had touched an electric switch, but it was too late. He must have seen it a long time ago.

The air became very quiet, and the atmosphere of confrontation between the three people completely isolated the noisy sounds outside the door.

Guo Zixiu realized something and took the initiative to step forward and lean towards Jin Zhou, greeting him politely: "Hello, brother, I'm Song Shuyang's boyfriend."

Jin Zhou took his eyes off Song Shuyang and looked at the little boy in front of him.

The corners of his lips curled up in a mocking arc, and there was an emotion in his eyes that Song Shuyang could not understand.

"Song Shuyang."

"How come I didn't know when you started liking men?"