The waiter quickly brought all the dishes. The room filled with steam and the smell of hot pot.
After sitting down, Yu Xun casually pointed to the makeshift banner and said to Liu Zi, “Take it down.”
Yun Ci thought Yu Xun found it idiotic too.
However, he quickly realized Yu Xun’s focus was entirely different: “Next time, write it more neatly. The words ‘sister-in-law’ are very important, you know.”
Liu Zi, expressionless, replied, “Got it.”
“……”
Love can make people lose their sense.
So much so that Yun Ci almost forgot that his boyfriend could be quite eccentric at times too.
Yun Ci glanced around at the two tables of people and realized it had been a while since they last gathered. Since entering their junior year, everyone had become busy preparing for their transition into society.
Of course, the reactions from the two tables were awkward, as if covered in thorns, like they were attending a last supper.
Someone’s phone kept ringing incessantly.
Yu Xun, amidst this group, felt a fleeting sense of nostalgia, as if he was back in high school. Despite having changed significantly since then, he still had that casual sharpness, now subdued.
Yu Xun asked, “Why aren’t you answering?”
The boy replied, “…It’s not convenient.”
“?”
“Gossip call,” the boy explained further, “It’s been ringing all day.”
The gossip content was clear to everyone present without needing further explanation.
Ever since seeing the post on social media, they struggled to accept it—especially since these two walked in with their arms around each other. Nobody could believe their eyes.
Reflecting on how Li Yan and Liu Zi had previously insisted on being polite to them.
In retrospect, they could only reflect on whether they had been polite enough back then, wishing they could go back and be even more courteous.
“Back during the basketball game, we gave them each a bottle of water,” someone whispered to Li Yan, “but that was too conservative. One bottle wasn’t enough. If we knew this would happen, we should’ve given them two bottles.”
Li Yan, numb, praised his newly enlightened brother, saying, “Good, you’re getting into the right mindset.”
Everything he had endured!
Now it was time for his brothers to endure it!
On the way here, Yun Ci had been pondering how to explain things to them. It seemed impossible to clarify it in just a few words.
But Yu Xun was eager to discuss this matter.
Having received this answer, Yu Xun leaned back, cleared his throat, and began to speak slowly, “Want to know?”
Everyone nodded in unison, “Yes.”
Someone couldn’t hold back and asked, “Who chased whom?”
Yu Xun, without hesitation, said, “I chased him.”
As soon as the words were out, Li Yan immediately slapped the table and shouted at Liu Zi, “You lost the bet, one hundred, pay up.”
“Damn,” Liu Zi pulled out a hundred yuan from his pocket and threw it to him, trying to save face, “Who chased whom doesn’t mean anything. A real man should take the initiative.”
The next question: “But weren’t you enemies?”
This question was crucial; everyone awaited the answer.
How did two people who hated each other end up together?
“Enemies?”
Yu Xun pondered the term, then tapped the cool glass with his fingers and said, “I never considered him an enemy.”
The room fell silent.
Everyone held their breath, listening to Yu Xun’s alternative interpretation of “enemy.”
“From high school,” Yu Xun said nonchalantly, but his gaze was intensely serious, “he was always someone very important to me, someone I constantly paid attention to.”
Very important.
Constant attention.
……
Reminded by Yu Xun, others also gradually realized: true, who pays that much attention to someone else in school? From counting how many chicken legs bought from the convenience store to how many places one ranked in competitions.
“Honestly,” someone said, “I had a crush on the school beauty in high school, but I never knew if she ate chicken legs for lunch…”
The person sitting next to him remarked, “When you put it that way, amidst the absurdity, there’s a strange sense of logic. I’m starting to accept this reality.”
“……”
“In any case, we’re all family now,” Liu Zi said, holding his glass and standing up to make a concluding speech, with the demeanor of two street gangs merging, “From now on, your problems are my problems.”
“If you encounter any issues outside, just mention my name.”
Li Yan questioned, “What’s the use of mentioning your name?”
Liu Zi replied, “It’s precisely because it’s useless that you can feel free to mention it.”
“……”
Li Yan cursed, “Idiot.”
Then he noticed Yun Ci looking at him.
Remembering that they were now a family, Li Yan held back and changed his tone, “Just kidding.”
He feigned sincerity, “Liu Zi is truly loyal, come on, let’s give Brother Liu a round of applause.”
Suddenly showing such politeness, others were initially not used to it.
Someone accidentally took someone else’s beef while picking food.
The person next to them wanted to curse, “You son of a…” but the last word was left unsaid, and instead, they said, “I mean, you go ahead.”
Yun Ci sensed a familiar vibe.
It felt like when Li Yan and Liu Zi were having their mental breakdowns, they had the same reaction.
So while Li Yan was eating, Yun Ci tapped the side of his bowl.
Li Yan: “?”
Yun Ci calmly said, “Nephew.”
Li Yan: “…Yeah.”
Yun Ci asked, “You knew all along?”
Li Yan understood what he meant, hesitated with his chopsticks, then nodded.
Yun Ci: “Since when?”
Li Yan: “Freshman year, the day of the talent show.”
Yun Ci didn’t remember anything significant happening on the day of the talent show, no unexpected events in his memory.
Li Yan’s face showed reluctance to recall, “When we were leaving that day, Liu Zi and I wanted to find a quiet place to fight, so we went into the fire escape, and we saw you guys… Forget it, I really don’t want to mention it.”
That day, he and Yu Xun were also in the fire escape.
Yun Ci hadn’t realized that the vague feeling of being watched that day was actually them.
Yun Ci explained, “I originally wanted to find a suitable time to tell you.”
But no one anticipated the events that followed.
Li Yan, of course, knew why this opportunity had been delayed until now, so he deliberately avoided that period, shifting the focus, “Now is a good time. With such a long buffer period, if you had told me sooner, I might not have been able to handle it.”
Li Yan finally said, “In any case, as long as you two are good.”
Li Yan, rarely sentimental, added, “You were in a bad state before, it worried me.”
After saying that, he felt a bit embarrassed, “Forget it, my language skills aren’t good enough to say anything profound.”
Li Yan silently filled his glass, extended his arm to clink it against Yu Xun’s glass, and then gently touched Yun Ci’s glass.
This was the most sincere blessing between brothers.
–
After the meal, the group walked back.
The street outside the school occasionally hosted various events, and that day, after they finished eating, they found several stalls on the road, one of which had familiar toy guns and a bunch of balloons.
This time, the grand prize was a large stuffed toy.
None of the grown men were interested in the fluffy toy, except for Liu Zi, who stopped, “Boss, ten yuan.”
“?”
Yun Ci glanced at him, “You like this?”
Liu Zi felt a bit judged but still politely explained, “…It’s a gift.”
Li Yan interjected, “For that girl you play games with, still chasing her? I thought you two were together already, but it turns out she hasn’t even agreed yet.”
Liu Zi cursed, “At least I have a chance of getting together with someone, do you?”
Li Yan: “……”
So, because Liu Zi was trying to impress someone, the others also stopped. They crowded around the stall, all united in helping Liu Zi pursue the girl.
“Brother Liu,” someone took out their phone, “want me to record a video for you?”
Liu Zi cursed at the idiot, then adjusted his hair, “Make sure I look handsome.”
Having had some experience, Yun Ci advised him on the best position to shoot from, “By the way, the gun isn’t very accurate, aim a bit lower.”
For the first time, Liu Zi received support from both allies and adversaries, feeling a bit out of place. He awkwardly called out, “Big… Big…”
After hesitating for a while, he closed his eyes and bit the bullet, “Big sister-in-law.”
“You’re welcome,” Yun Ci said, then added, “but—”
In a calm tone, he continued, “If you miss, just pretend I never taught you.”
Yun Ci added, “It’s kind of embarrassing.”
Liu Zi: “……”
Damn.
Finally, the group cheered Liu Zi on, making the scene quite lively.
Just before grabbing the gun, Liu Zi suddenly motioned to Li Yan, “Come here.”
Li Yan: “?”
Liu Zi whispered, “Remember that shooting stall back then? Your brother insisted on shooting, and after he finished, he gave…”
Li Yan: “……”
He remembered.
What Liu Zi was doing now was no different from what his cousin did back then, and no one thought it was strange at the time.
“See?” Li Yan finally found a point to attack, “These tricks were used by my brother’s friends ages ago.”
Liu Zi: “……”
Yun Ci stood at the back, looking on from a distance. He suddenly thought about how this group used to be at odds, then glanced further back, noticing a figure standing even farther behind.
Yu Xun stood at the end of the group, not joining the commotion.
The boy stood in the sunlight, the black string around his neck still clearly visible, adding a touch of toughness to his overly delicate features. Yun Ci watched as he pulled a box out of his pocket and started to take something out of it.
Yu Xun was lowering his head, halfway through opening the box when someone suddenly snatched it away.
Yun Ci thought Yu Xun was secretly smoking, but when he took it, he realized it was a box of chewing gum. A rectangular, flat box, which from a distance looked like a cigarette pack.
Yu Xun raised an eyebrow and asked, “What’s up?”
Yun Ci pursed his lips and handed it back, “Just looking.”
Yu Xun responded with an “Oh” and then asked, “What did you think I had?”
Seeing through Yun Ci’s thoughts, Yu Xun admitted, “I bought it to quit smoking.”
“I do feel like smoking a bit,” he said, “but I promised you.”
…
Before Yun Ci could respond, Yu Xun, still holding the box of gum, leaned closer, his eyes slightly lifted as he spoke, “Seeing how obedient your boyfriend is, shouldn’t there be some reward?”
As Yu Xun drew near, not far ahead, Liu Zi had already finished shooting one row, leaving only the last row of balloons.
All their brothers were loudly cheering:
“Amazing, Brother Liu—”
“If I were a girl, I’d be in love with you now.”
“……”
Amidst the uproar, at the back of the crowd.
Just a second after Yu Xun finished speaking, Yun Ci unhesitatingly pressed his burning lips to his.
The two of them shared a kiss at the back of the crowd.
Yu Xun had already chewed several pieces of gum, and as their lips and tongues intertwined, Yun Ci tasted a strong mint flavor.
…
Unaccountably, he recalled the box of mint soda Yu Xun had given him at the beginning of the school year.
At that time, they were still at odds, and Yun Ci saw Yu Xun’s gesture as deliberate provocation, leading him to call his friends to drink it overnight.
He hadn’t touched a single bottle from that box then, so he didn’t know what it tasted like.
But during the year and more they were apart, every time he passed by the convenience store outside the school, he couldn’t help but go inside. In the heat of summer, he’d come out carrying a bottle of soda.
He would drink every bottle, finally understanding what the drink Yu Xun had given him tasted like.
A very bitter mint flavor.
…
Thus, in his memory, mint was always synonymous with bitterness.
Now it was sweet. Like mint candy.
