How was this farce of pretending to be mutually in love finally exposed?
Huo Youqing usually forgot the details of major events, but that day remained etched clearly in his mind.
He still remembered it was a typhoon day. The wind wasn’t strong, but the rain was heavy. The date for the classical music concert had long been set, and the performer was a master whom Huo Youqing admired very much. So even after receiving a weather warning, he still went out.
When he left, it was only drizzling, but the rain grew heavier as time went on. Just before the concert started, he received a call from Dai Yixin.
With a gentle voice, Dai Yixin asked if he had arrived safely and said he would come to pick him up after the concert.
Huo Youqing responded to each question obediently, and his cooperative attitude made Dai Yixin laugh.
Listening to the man flirting from twenty kilometers away made Huo Youqing both angry and unsure of how to handle it. He almost sounded like he was pleading when he said, “Stop it, the concert is about to start.”
Dai Yixin, knowing when to stop, went quiet. But just before hanging up, he called Huo Youqing by the pet name he used in bed. Huo Youqing loathed the man’s unoriginality—using nicknames like “baby” and “darling” lifted straight from romance stories—but his ears still grew hot, and he hurriedly ended the call.
He thought that after the concert, he would see Dai Yixin waiting for him outside the concert hall, but surprisingly, he wasn’t there. Huo Youqing waited on the hall’s sofa for half an hour, growing increasingly frustrated when he couldn’t reach Dai Yixin on the phone.
In that half-hour, the rain intensified. Since Dai Yixin had promised to pick him up, Huo Youqing hadn’t driven that day, opting instead to take a taxi. By the time the ride-share car arrived, his umbrella had been blown away within a minute of stepping outside.
The umbrella was a designer brand, and it was blown away without even turning inside out.
Huo Youqing had no time to chase after it and rushed into the car, soaked to the bone. The driver grumbled about his wet clothes dirtying the car, and Huo Youqing could only apologize and pay extra for a car wash.
Rain lashed against the window, sliding down the glass and splashing onto the asphalt. Huo Youqing pulled out a tissue to wipe the water off his face as the concrete buildings blurred past outside.
After wiping himself down as best he could, Huo Youqing called Dai Yixin again, intending to tell him not to bother picking him up.
Once again, no one answered.
He switched to texting, but while typing the message, a thought suddenly struck him. He remembered that he had the phone number of one of Dai Yixin’s assistants.
He dialed the assistant’s number.
No answer.
Listening to the busy signal, Huo Youqing accidentally dropped his phone onto his lap. There was no time to be in shock. He pulled out his backup SIM card from his pocket, replaced the one in his phone, and dialed a number.
The phone was off.
Something had happened.
For a moment, Huo Youqing considered telling the driver to turn around and head to the airport, the train station, or the bus station, but the words caught in his throat.
He hadn’t brought any ID with him. Besides, where could he escape to?
After getting out of the car, Huo Youqing tossed the backup SIM card into a trash can and, still drenched, returned to the place he shared with Dai Yixin.
By now, it was already dark. As he stepped into the entryway, he thought the house was empty. But after turning on the light, he saw the man lying on the sofa.
Dai Yixin hadn’t changed clothes and was still wearing the suit he had left in that morning, only his tie had been removed. He seemed to hear the noise from the entryway and turned his amber eyes, reflecting the light, towards Huo Youqing.
Huo Youqing wasn’t sure what kind of state he was in at the moment, but he must have looked quite miserable. His clothes clung to his skin, and water dripped from his hair. He froze in the entryway as Dai Yixin slowly walked towards him.
“Why did you make yourself look so pitiful?” Dai Yixin reached out to touch him, and Huo Youqing instinctively dodged. Only after the fact did he realize that he shouldn’t have avoided the touch, that he should have lashed out at Dai Yixin instead. But his acting skills completely failed him at that moment.
He even belatedly realized that Dai Yixin had brought a towel with him.
Wrapped in the towel, Huo Youqing never dared to look into Dai Yixin’s eyes, only hearing him speak.
“It’s my fault. My phone accidentally broke earlier, and I forgot to call you back from the house phone. Go take a shower, and I’ll make you some ginger tea. Don’t catch a cold.”
As he was pushed into the bathroom, Dai Yixin thoughtfully handed him some loungewear, just like he usually did.
But no, something was different.
Normally, Dai Yixin would find any excuse to linger in the bathroom while Huo Youqing showered. Today, after placing the pajamas inside, he left without hesitation.
Huo Youqing stood in the bathroom for a full five minutes before remembering to undress.
After the shower, Dai Yixin had also changed into fresh clothes. He handed Huo Youqing the ginger tea and bent down to kiss him on the cheek. “What do you want for dinner?”
Holding the ginger tea in his hands, it took Huo Youqing a moment to respond, “Anything is fine.”
His response was obviously off, so Dai Yixin sat down beside him and asked, “Why are you so out of it since you got home?”
Huo Youqing took a big gulp of the ginger tea, shaking his head and excusing himself by saying that he wasn’t feeling well from getting caught in the rain.
Hearing this, Dai Yixin picked up Huo Youqing’s phone from the coffee table. “I’m worried about you like this. I’ll call someone to cook for us, and I’ll stay with you for a while afterward. Youyou, unlock your phone.”
He handed the phone to Huo Youqing.
Huo Youqing pressed his finger to unlock it, watching as Dai Yixin scrolled through the call log. He had already deleted all the calls made from the spare SIM card, so there was nothing to find.
It seemed that Dai Yixin really just wanted to use his contacts to arrange dinner. After making a call, he took Huo Youqing’s hand and led him to the bedroom.
Huo Youqing thought he wouldn’t be able to sleep, but somehow he dozed off. When he woke up, he could faintly hear voices outside the bedroom.
He got out of bed and opened the door. The apartment wasn’t large, and after taking just a few steps, he saw Dai Yixin’s assistant Gui, standing in the dining area.
Assistant Gui was unusually drenched, his face pale, speaking in a low voice, while Dai Yixin, obediently, was setting the table.
Almost as soon as Huo Youqing appeared, Dai Yixin turned around.
Huo Youqing still vividly remembered the look in Dai Yixin’s eyes that day. He had never seen Dai Yixin look at him with such cold indifference, so sinister.
But that look quickly melted away. Dai Yixin gently called him over for dinner and told Assistant Gui, “You’ve worked hard today. Go home and rest.”
Assistant Gui hesitated briefly before sensibly leaving. Before going, he politely nodded at Huo Youqing.
Dinner was tasteless. Huo Youqing kept wondering when Dai Yixin would ask about his deception, about selling off the documents, but Dai Yixin never said a word. Instead, as they cuddled while watching TV, Dai Yixin spoke softly, “Am I that awful to you?”
Huo Youqing should have lied, but he didn’t. “Yes,” he answered stiffly.
That single word elicited a long sigh from Dai Yixin.
With a tone tinged with helplessness, Dai Yixin said, “I see.” After a pause, he added, “You don’t even bother to lie to me anymore.”
Some time later, they went to California.
***
Huo Youqing was pulled back from his memories by something being handed to him. At some point, Dai Yixin had cleared out all the beer and cold drinks from his fridge, leaving only yogurt and lemon water as the closest things to a cold drink.
He looked down at the three cups placed before him: one with yogurt, one with lemon water, and one with hot cocoa. After thirty seconds, he picked up the lemon water and took a sip.
Sure enough, there was honey in it. He curled his lips slightly but left without commenting, only to bump into his cousin, who entered with bags of groceries just as he stepped out of the kitchen.
“I got off work early today, so I came to make you dinner. I bet you’ve been living on takeout again, haven’t you? I’ve told you so many times—takeout’s unhealthy, too much oil and smoke—wait, what is he doing here?!”
His cousin’s voice changed dramatically upon spotting Dai Yixin.
Dai Yixin, still wearing an apron, looked like a well-behaved housewife and politely greeted him with a soft, “Hello, cousin.”
