Captured By The Cold Detective (BL)-Chapter 596: Flashback (5)

He no longer showed up at the breakfast vendor like he usually did. On the days when he did miss the uncle’s food, he would deliberately choose a time when he knew Qin Zhen wouldn’t be around. This pattern persisted for almost three months, until one day, he received the uncle’s concerned inquiry, "Are you okay, Zhong Yun? You’re looking hella terrible."

Zhong Yun managed to muster a faint smile on his face. He had no idea why distancing himself from Qin Zhen was making him so miserable; they had only known each other for less than a year, for God’s sake! Moreover, it’s not like they ever had any definite relationship to begin with!

"Ah, am I?" He scratched his head awkwardly. "I guess it’s because I’ve been busy these days."

Fortunately, the vendor uncle easily bought his excuse. When Zhong Yun took out his wallet to pay, the older man handed him his order, advising him, "Well, just remember to take care of your health while you’re still young. Qin Zhen is worried about you too."

Zhong Yun tried to keep his heart from skipping a beat at the mention of that familiar name. He failed spectacularly, of course. Just by hearing this sentence alone already sent a surge of happiness that painted his lips in an unconscious smile, though he hastily pressed them down when he realized what he was doing. In the end, it only made him look constipated. "Qin-Ge... is worried about me?"

"Of course?" The vendor uncle gave him a strange yet amused look, as though he couldn’t comprehend why Zhong Yun was questioning such an obvious thing. "You two have been my regular customers for months. Now that you suddenly vanished, of course he would be worried."

The resolution Zhong Yun had painstakingly built over countless nights threatened to collapse at that single careless remark, just like a deck of cards toppled by a puff of wind. He almost disregarded everything and rushed to Qin Zhen’s apartment right then and there, professing his feelings and begging the man to consider him. After all, Zhong Yun believed that his own quality was not bad. As long as Qin Zhen was willing to accept him, he was confident he could be a better partner than that lucky bastard Qin Zhen was dating right now. The visceral urge coursed through his veins, too powerful in its intensity that it took Zhong Yun his all to keep himself rooted in place.

He politely thanked the uncle, his composed expression betraying nothing of the tempest in his heart.

As soon as he reached home, the first thing he did was grab his phone and check that one message he had received a few weeks ago.

[Are you okay? I haven’t seen you around lately.]

Scrolling up, Zhong Yun observed that all their conversations had been short, initiated by none other than himself who was desperate to know more about the other person. This was the first time Qin Zhen had reached out to him first, but he... he dared not reply at that time, fearing that he would not be able to control himself back.

Now though...

Before any regret could bash him right on the head, Zhong Yun typed a message. [Sorry to make you worry, Ge. I received a few huge orders lately, so I’ve been a little busy.]

The reply came almost immediately, causing Zhong Yun’s heart to soar in bliss. [It’s good that you’re okay :)]

He stared at that one sentence for a long, long time, almost burning a hole through his screen. Adrenaline surged in his heart, and the rims of his eyes reddened. His knuckles turned white from the force he used to squeeze the phone.

I miss him, he admitted to himself. I miss him so, so much.

Truth to be told, aside from not wanting to do anything impulsive that could potentially make Qin Zhen hate him, the main reason why he started to distance himself was that he believed this feeling was nothing more than fleeting obsession. After all, Zhong Yun was very clear about his sexual orientation. He had never been interested in any men before. And even after realizing his feelings for Qin Zhen, he had tried watching a few gay AVs to test himself. The result was as expected; he felt so appalled by the intimacy between the men on screen that he almost couldn’t stomach his dinner.

He had no interest in men – he was certain of it.

But Qin Zhen... was the sole exception.

He avoided the man in hope that this fleeting obsession could fade away with time. Alas, let alone fade away, it became stronger instead. It burned its way to Zhong Yun’s heart, scorched the last remnants of his sanity and filled his veins with liquid fire called both ’courage’ and ’impulsivity’. Faster than his brain could ever process, his fingers sent out another message.

[Want to get dinner together, Ge?]

And thus, Zhong Yun sealed his own fate.

Their dinner did not happen until the end of the month, as Qin Zhen informed him that his workplace needed a lot of manpower lately and it was not easy for him to book a day off. It could very well be an excuse – because come on, of course Qin Zhen would want to spend every single one of his days off with his partner, only freeing up his schedule last for Zhong Yun – but Zhong Yun found that he couldn’t care less about it. He would gladly accept any little time and attention Qin Zhen was willing to give, even if it was only crumbs.

Dinner turned out to be a pleasant and enjoyable affair, much to Zhong Yun’s surprise. He’d thought that the two of them would act awkward because it had been months since they last saw each other, but it was the opposite of that.

As soon as he caught sight of Qin Zhen, as soon as he saw his smile, it was like something had slotted itself back into Zhong Yun’s heart, filling up an emptiness he did not even know existed before. He felt happier than ever, and he knew that Qin Zhen was enjoying their outing too, if the number of smiles Zhong Yun managed to coax out of him was any indication.

The two of them lost track of time, and before they knew it, the BBQ restaurant was closing soon.

"Let me send you home, Ge," Zhong Yun offered at the first chance he got.

Qin Zhen cast him a faint, amused glance. The corner of his eyes were tinged with a pink hue, no doubt caused by the alcohol he had consumed. The sight abruptly reminded Zhong Yun of the erotic scene he had witnessed a few months ago. At that time, the corner of Qin Zhen’s eyes were also flushed like this, though it was due to the rough and passionate kiss forced onto him.

Zhong Yun swallowed hard, his throat going dry all of a sudden.

"What am I, a child?" Qin Zhen let out a little scoff. "I don’t need you to send me back. Let’s just go on our way. It’s quite late."

Perhaps it was the alcohol getting to his head, or perhaps the memory of that intense make-out scene that brought back the pain of his heartbreak, Zhong Yun couldn’t suppress the bitterness in his tone as he asked, "What? Will your boyfriend come to pick you up?"

He regretted it almost immediately when Qin Zhen’s expression turned blank, eyes going wide in shock.

"I–I mean..." Flustered, Zhong Yun tried hard to salvage the situation. However, he could think of no excuse to extricate himself from this predicament. The words had already spilled from his mouth, and the damage was done. His shoulders slumped as he forced out an apologetic smile, "Sorry, I... I was rude. Don’t mind me. It must be the alcohol."

Qin Zhen’s expression was inscrutable as he slowly spoke, "I don’t know where you get this idea from, but I don’t have a boyfriend."

"Y–You don’t?!" Zhong Yun whipped his head up so fast that his neck issued a crack, disbelief etched on his features. "How?!"

He had clearly seen the two of them making out in front of Qin Zhen’s room, and there was no way he could conjure something like that out of his imagination! Qin Zhen must have misunderstood his question, because he looked purely amused as he retorted, "What do you mean ’how’? Not everyone can get a boyfriend, okay?"

He must be more than tipsy, considering how he did not find it weird when Zhong Yun directly pointed out a ’boyfriend’ and not a ’girlfriend’. Alas, Zhong Yun couldn’t even be relieved about that slip-up because he was utterly dumbfounded by Qin Zhen’s words. "Have you... broken up?"

All he received was a hard flick on his forehead in return. "Come on," Qin Zhen urged as he gathered his coat. "Let’s go out and get some fresh air. You’re starting to talk nonsense."

"Wait—" Zhong Yun scrambled to follow after him, his mind still reeling in shock.

What did he mean by that? He had no boyfriend, and he had not just broken up? Then there was only one possibility—

Holy fucking shit, was that man only a one-night stand?!