The Theory Of Queerbaiting

You Xin has been in a bad mood for several days.

As someone who is a half-popular celebrity for a long time, it was normal for him to be angry and unhappy, and You Xin had a way to brighten himself up. The more unhappy he was, the more he spoiled himself. He would eat some high-calorie food that he dares not eat normally, watch comedy movies or sitcoms, let himself sleep in until he woke up naturally, and immerse himself in farming novels to escape reality. 

Over the past few days, You Xin tried all these methods, but these methods that used to be very effective for him have lost their effectiveness. Sometimes he felt that his mood had become much better during the day, but he would be beaten back to his original state at night.

At 7:30 p.m. in the evening, You Xin was already in bed. He got really bored from reading novels, so he got up in a half-sitting position and planned to play some games that didn’t require using his brain too much for a while. He fiddled with his phone and accidentally switched to the WeChat app. The contact at the top of the interface was Duan Jiashu, and there was a small red dot on the right side of the box, indicating there were unread messages.

After You Xin came home from filming the variety show that day, he blocked Duan Jiashu’s WeChat contact. No matter how many messages the other sent him, he didn’t look at them. It was only in the night before going to bed would he send a “busy” to the other.

Seeing the little red dot, You Xin hesitated for a moment but he still clicked. Duan Jiashu sent eight to nine messages, all of which were videos of kittens. In the past, when the other sent a video to You Xin, he would open it and watch it carefully. Then he and Duan Jiashu would argue like two primary school students on which kitten was the cutest and most beautiful. But now, You Xin was in no such mood at all. Even by just recalling the “plot” of his relationship with Duan Jiashu, he will feel like he was scalded. He simply closed WeChat and cleared his apps without sending a reply, out of sight and out of mind. 

As soon as he placed it in his table, his phone suddenly vibrated, which startled You Xin. When he looked at the screen and saw that the caller was Liu Yanhui, he became relieved..

“Xiao Xin, what are you doing?”

“Nothing much…” as he spoke, You Xin leaned back and fell back on his bed with a weak voice.

“Are you in a bad mood today?”

“I’m alright…”

“Did you eat?”

“Not yet…”

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

“Luckily you haven’t yet.” 

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“Don’t worry.” The person on the other end of the phone chuckled, “I knew you forgot. I’m on my way to your place now. I’ll be there in a minute, so tidy up and wait for my call~” 

“Okay, okay! Hui-ge, how very kind of you. See you later!”

You Xin put down his phone, took a deep breath and sat back in bed. He stayed for a while and then patted his face. What’s the matter with him? Was he really so indulgent lately that he even forgot his dinner plans? Fortunately, Liu Yanhui had a good temper. He wasn’t angry and even took the initiative to pick him up. If it was someone else, he must’ve offended them already.

You Xin scratched the back of his head and simply stood up from bed. It seemed that his own boredom had already felt too suffocating, so he’ll just go out with Liu Yanhui for dinner. Perhaps having someone to talk to may improve his mood.

Liu Yanhui booked an elegant private room in a famous Thai restaurant. This restaurant originally takes a quiet and elegant vibe, so the guests were few, and since they were alone in a private room, they wouldn’t be photographed by paparazzi like last time. 

You Xin propped his chin on the table and listened to Liu Yanhui explain the mango rice in front of him. On weekdays, because he likes to cook, he’s particularly interested in discussing dishes and recipes with people, but today he was distracted. His abnormal attitude was soon noticed by Liu Yanhui.

Liu Yanhui stopped explaining, drank some water, and asked half jokingly, “Do I make you unhappy every time I go eat with you?”

“… No.” You Xin was stunned for a while before he reacted. He opened his mouth and smiled. “I’m just a little tired.”

“You didn’t mention how tired you were in recent days though? Why do I think you’re not tired, rather, you’re lovesick?” 

The word “lovesick” hit You Xin’s heart like a nail. He froze for a while and gathered himself. “… Hui-ge, don’t joke around. It’s nothing. Let’s just eat. It’ll get cold if we don’t eat them soon.” Then he picked up his chopsticks and took a piece of shrimp cake. He took a bite without dipping it in the sauce, as if he was hungry.

Liu Yanhui watched You Xin’s actions without blinking and clenched his left fist quietly. He discovered that you Xin didn’t want to mention the topic at all. He should change the topic at that moment. However, Liu Yanhui didn’t want to do so today.

He put down his chopsticks and looked at You Xin opposite him. “Let me guess who it is… is it Duan Jiashu?”

You Xin heard a “ding!” in his head, sending out an ear-splitting alarm that sounded like a metal plate in the microwave oven. He wanted to open his mouth and explain to Liu Yanhui, but there was still a piece of chewed shrimp cake in his mouth, which he couldn’t swallow or spit out. So You Xin had to keep his mouth shut as if she had agreed. 

Liu Yanhui looked at the other’s appearance and immediately understood everything. He smiled at himself with a trace of bitterness: “I should’ve found out a long time ago, I was so stupid.”

You Xin raised his head and looked at the other in surprise. It seemed that at this moment, he finally woke up from his stupor and discovered that there was something wrong with Liu Yanhui.

And Liu Yanhui didn’t want to hide anymore either. “You Xin, I want to tell you something.” He raised his eyes and looked at You Xin with a pained and infatuated look: “I actually like men, and I’ve always liked you.”

You Xin’s eyes widened and he held his breath. He didn’t know how to react. How could he have ever expected that he wasn’t just going out for dinner, and he’d receive two bombs in a row. 

He forced himself to swallow and wanted to speak, but Liu Yanhui interrupted him. “Don’t talk yet, listen to me first and let me finish.”

Liu Yanhui gently exhaled and lowered his eyes. “I realized that I liked boys during my adolescence. At first, I was very troubled, but I also slowly accepted this fact. Later, I joined the group. I knew that my sexual orientation was special and my career would be ruined if I was careless, so I was determined to keep this secret.”

“But I didn’t expect…” Liu Yanhui looked up at You Xin again. “To fall in love with you, my little group mate. You were young at that time, you’d only just stepped into society. You were silly and cute, always depended on me, and always dangled in front of me. I gradually couldn’t control my feelings.”

With the other’s memories, You Xin remembered the past, and many detailed images came to mind. Liu Yanhui was never shirtless in their dormitory and never bathed with them. Every time he changed clothes backstage, he hid in the corner. Although the other was very serious and responsible to the whole group as their leader, he was always a bit closed-off. 

As he listened to Liu Yanhui’s confession, his heart was full of mixed emotions. He didn’t know what he should say.

Liu Yanhui continued, “Although I like you, I never wanted to confess to you. Because I knew you were a straight man at that time, I didn’t want to change your life and increase your troubles. After our group disbanded, I simply cut off contact with you, so I didn’t have to torture myself and I’d get to retain some of our beautiful memories. I just didn’t expect that the entertainment industry was so small that I’d meet you again. I didn’t know until I saw you again that I discovered that the feelings I thought had passed, never had. I still like you. ”

“I don’t want to leave this time. I wanted to be with you, even if it was just as a friend. So maybe, when you meet the girl you like, I can finally put down my feelings and sincerely wish you happiness.”

“But I didn’t expect you to fall in love with a man!” As he spoke, Liu Yanhui sounded a little excited and his voice trembled slightly. “if I had known it would be so, why did I wait for so long! I’ve liked you for six years, and I am more qualified than Duan Jiashu. You don’t have to suffer to like him anymore. You can turn your head and look at me instead. I’ve been waiting for you all this time, and I’ve been here!” He looked at You Xin with red eyes. 

You Xin was stunned and looked at the other at a loss. He found out that it was as if he never really knew his leader. It turned out that behind the tenderness and consideration of the other, there was such a heavy feeling that You Xin almost felt overwhelmed.

Liu Yanhui seemed to realize that he was too excited. He took a deep breath and slowly calmed down. “I’m sorry, I may have scared you.” He smiled bitterly. “I didn’t expect to confess today, but I couldn’t help wanting to see your reaction.”

“Hui-ge, I…”

“I won’t force you to say anything.” Liu Yanhui paused and took out a palm-sized locked diary from his pocket. It looked very old and even the edges and corners looked worn. He unlocked the lock and handed the diary to You Xin. “when I was in the group, I liked you, but I didn’t dare to confess. I felt uncomfortable and began to write a diary. After the group’s disbandment, I stopped writing gradually, until recently I picked up my pen again. I always took the diary with me and imagined that one day I could give it to you as a token of love.” 

He grinned, but his smile didn’t look good. “I didn’t expect to be in this embarrassing situation when taking out it, but even so, I hope you can still have a look at it.” With that, Liu Yanhui stood up, “sorry, I lost my manners today.”

You Xin opened the diary, looked at it twice, and impatiently put the book back in his pocket.

His brain was already a puddle of mush, and now it was blown into a pile of dregs. He’d expected to go out for a meal to improve his mood, but he didn’t expect it to get worse. You Xin went out of the elevator and walked to the door. Just as he wanted to sigh, he saw a large, dark figure squatting in front of his door.
He screamed “Ah!” and the sensor light immediately turned on. The big shadow at the door was actually Duan Jiashu. He didn’t know how long he’d been squatting there. He just stared at the other angrily when he saw You Xin.

“You’re sick! Why were you squatting there? I almost got scared to death!” 

Duan Jiashu patted his butt and stood up, still sporting a foul look. “You didn’t answer my WeChat messages or my phone calls, and you still have the nerve to ask me why I’m here?”