Ex-boyfriend

Chapter 5

Chu Yi adapted quite well to being friends-with-benefit[1].

　　Xu Yue wanted to stand firm at first but discover that his opponent had skin thicker than a city wall. Any normal person with a sense of shame cannot rival him. So, Xu Yue had to give up struggling. Anyway, as long as he doesn’t let his emotions sway and doesn’t fall in too foolishly like before, he won’t suffer.

　　Before he knew it, Chu Yi had already lived in Xu Yue’s house for more than a month.

　　Every day when Xu Yue goes out to work, he would be asleep under the quilt. When he returns from work, he would find him watching TV on the sofa. Save for that exceptionally beautiful face of his, he was a standard otaku[2].

　　Xu Yue couldn’t bare to turn a blind eye to it. One day before going out, he couldn’t help but ask him, “You have been back in China for a while now. Don’t you have a plan to look for a job?”

　”What job can I possibly do?” Chu Yi tilted his head and thought aloud, “I am only good at eating, drinking and having fun.”

　　Xu Yue was knotting his tie, facing the full-length mirror. Chu Yi got up wrapped in the quilt, walked up to him and stuck to his back like a snake, and he smiled, “By the way, I’m also good at romancing.”

　　Xu Yue paused and said, “Then go and find someone to romance. You have already dated a painter and a photographer. You can probably try a singer or a model next.”

　”A’Yue,” Chu Yi immediately walked around Xu Yue and came to stop in front of him. While gazing, he said, “I only want you now.”

　God knows how many people he has said such sweet words to.

　　Xu Yue remained unmoved. He fastened his tie quickly and said, “I’m leaving. Bye.”

　“Why are you leaving so early today?”

　“There is a big deal being negotiated. We are signing today.”

　　Chu Yi look at the calendar hanging on the wall and said, “Today is 2nd October? If you are driving to work, you better avoid Xueyuan[3] Road”.

　“Why?”

　“Nothing.” Chu Yi adjusted Xu Yue’s tie knot and said, “With weather so nice today there might be traffic jams in the morning.”

　　Xu Yue turned his head and looked outside the window. With bright sunshine and gentle breeze, the weather was particularly good. As for traffic jams, when was there no traffic jam during rush hour?

　　Since Chu Yi mentioned it, Xu Yue inevitably kept that in mind. On his way to the company, he took a detour, took a different way to the company and finally reached his destination. Surprisingly, Su Yanwen, who has always been punctual, was late by more than half an hour. That almost held up the signing.

　　Fortunately, President Qi of the partner company was their long-time acquaintance.  He wasn’t bothered by this matter and they managed to sign the contract.

　　Later when Xu Yue asked about it, Su Yanwen looked exasperated. “Don’t you know? Fire broke out in an apartment building on Xueyuan Road.  There was a series of traffic jams. My car also was blocked on the road. I heard it was a major accident. Several people lost their lives. It was all over the news.” 

Xu Yue looked it up on the Internet. Su Yanwen was right. What’s surprising was how coincidental Chu Yi’s warning was.

　　In the afternoon, Chu Yi called him. Since Xu Yue was busy entertaining clients, he couldn’t answer the phone. After a while, Chu Yi sent a text message that read:  Was the contract signed successfully? Let’s dine out tonight.

　　Xu Yue was about to get back to Chu Yi when Su Yanwen knocked on his door. “A’Yue, are you free tonight? Let’s invite President Qi of Jiamei group to dinner.”

　“Sure,” Xu Yue said, tossing his phone aside. “Let Mingjie reserve a table.”

　“Ok.”

That evening, a bunch of them went out for dinner. Liquor was naturally an indispensable part of the dinner party. Fu Mingjie was the best at handling liquor. Everyone jeered and heckled at him as he toasted to each one of them. He also downed several rounds by himself. Xu Yue had moderate alcohol-tolerance. He only drank a few glasses with Mr. Qi. Su Yanwen was the kind that would get drunk on just one cup. So, he insisted on substituting wine with tea. Everyone knew his condition and let him be.

　　By the time the dinner was over, most of them were smashed to the point of swaying on their feet.

　　Su Yanwen called taxi to send away clients one by one. Finally, he squeezed a drunk Fu Mingjie into a taxi. He turned to Xu Yue and said, “You can’t drive after drinking. I’ll take you back.”

　　Xu Yue said, “You are treating me so differently. When Mingjie will find out tomorrow he will make a fuss.”

　“Doesn’t matter. My heart is always partial.”

　　Xu Yue laughed unconsciously.

　　However, he did let Su Yanwen take him home. Along the way, the two chatted casually about the company. When they were about to get home, Su Yanwen suddenly asked, “Have you been on a blind date recently?”

　“No. Haven’t found the right person.”

　“Is it that you haven’t met the right person or do you have the one living with you already?”

　　Xu Yue was startled, rendered speechless.

　　It so happened that the car had already reached his apartment. Su Yanwen stopped the car, but did not open the door. He looked upstairs and said, “The lights in your living room are on.”

　　There was solid evidence. Xu Yue said, “He has been homeless recently. I am just letting him stay over for a while. That’s all.”

　“Is it Chu Yi?”

　“Yeah.”

　“What’s so good about Chu that you can’t move on[4]? Did you forget how he treated you in the past? While you were dating, he probably couldn’t keep track of how many he was chasing after[5]. Later when your relationship fell apart, he had no remorse. Right after you guys broke up, he got together with someone else. You were single-mindedly devoted to him, while he took it all as an amusement and nothing else.”

　“I know.” There was very little light in the car. Xu Yue’s expression was shadowed and unclear. “I won’t repeat my mistakes[6].”

　　Su Yanwen snorted and said, “Then what are you doing now?”

　“If he can play, so can I.”

　“So, you don’t plan to date him seriously?” Su Yanwen unfastened his seat belt, leaned over and held Xu Yue’s hand, “A’Yue, you know perfectly well how I treat you …”

　　Xu Yue was astonished. He hurriedly pulled away his hand and said, “Yanwen, you are drunk.”

“On the day of our graduation party also you said I was drunk.” Su Yanwen still maintained that posture and muttered, “You had to act all ignorant. I could only play along and pretend to be drunk. But now it’s different. I …”

　　In the middle of their conversation, they suddenly heard an ear-piercing horn.

When they looked up, they saw that the blinding headlights of the car across from them. Chu Yi was sitting in the car with his hands on the steering wheel, looking at them with a smile that was not a smile[7].

[1] Fuck buddy

[2] Super Side Note: Kun Yi Wei Lou wrote ‘宅男’ ‘zhái nán’ which is literally ‘homebody’. The term is a Chinese internet slang derived from Japanese ‘otaku’.

[3] College

[4] Kun Yi Wei Lou wrote ‘念念不忘’ ‘niàn niàn bù wàng’ which means ‘to keep in mind constantly; to never forget’.

[5] Kun Yi Wei Lou wrote ‘他不知道脚踏多少条船’ ‘Tā bù zhīdào jiǎo tà duōshǎo tiáo chuán’ which is literally ‘he didn’t know how many boats he was pedaling’.

[6] Kun Yi Wei Lou wrote ‘重蹈覆辙’ ‘Chóng dǎo fù zhé ’ which literally means ‘to follow in the tracks of an overturned cart’. It means ‘to repeat the same mistake; to recommit the same error’

[7] Kun Yi Wei Lou wrote ‘似笑非笑’ ‘sì xiào fēi xiào’ which means ‘like a smile yet not a smile’.