What Are Your Tastes? chapter 23
The Gay Bar
On Sunday morning, Lu Yunchu went to Art Street again, bought what he needed, tidied up a bit, and opened the window for ventilation. The weather was still clear, and the terrace bathed in sunlight was transparent and clean, with no obstructed views from the glass.
After lunch, he suddenly felt an urge and casually started sketching the café diagonally across from him. He had been drawing since childhood and had a strong foundation in art, especially loving sketching. With simple strokes, he could convey rich layers, so both his studio and home had more than one sketchbook on hand for whenever inspiration struck.
The cultural district had several unique shops—a café, an ice cream shop, a boutique… all with distinctive interior and exterior decorations, exuding a chic, bohemian vibe.
The one across from his studio was one of the few new buildings in the community. The small two-story building had a light green slanted roof and matching door and window frames. The wooden sign with white lettering and the floor-to-ceiling windows gave it a fresh look, making it popular among young people.
Although this style wasn’t Lu Yunchu’s favorite, he had a good day outside, with no irritating encounters, which brought him a good mood all day. Lightly brushing the paper with his pencil, he found this way of passing time quite pleasant.
However, at this moment, Zhou Yanchuan, inside the café, couldn’t feel a bit of ambiance or leisure. He only felt restless and uneasy.
“Mr. Zhou, do you need anything else?” He Mengxin, who was not yet thirty, had impeccable features and demeanor. She spoke calmly and steadily, her eyes always fixed on Zhou Yanchuan across from her.
“No, Manager He, I wanted to clarify things with you today,” Zhou Yanchuan said. He Mengxin’s pursuit of him was obvious even to the receptionist, and Zhou Yanchuan wasn’t dumb. He hadn’t made it clear because he wasn’t interested and thought her enthusiasm would soon fade. However, he didn’t expect her to be so persistent.
He Mengxin sighed lightly, understanding something. “Mr. Zhou, I wish you wouldn’t answer me so quickly.”
Not answering would be playing with someone’s feelings. Zhou Yanchuan wasn’t good at dealing with emotional entanglements, but he couldn’t comfortably let misunderstandings fester. He agreed to this meeting today hoping to end it once and for all.
“Xiao He, let’s not be so formal. I want to tell you the truth: you’re great—” The words sounded like a cliché, and Zhou Yanchuan didn’t want to speak insincerely, but in moments like this, he found his mind surprisingly barren, making it harder than handling media interviews. “You see, I’m not as good as I seem… I can’t even say no properly.”
He Mengxin didn’t look disappointed. Instead, she smiled a little. “Mr. Zhou, do you know? This is your most endearing trait.”
Zhou Yanchuan: “…”
He couldn’t understand how he gave others the illusion of being “endearing.” In the next ten minutes, he struggled to make her understand that he had no intention of dating or even considering marriage.
He Mengxin was a smart woman with her own pride. By this point, she knew that further insistence would be undignified.
“Mr. Zhou, may I ask you one last question?”
“Go ahead.”
“Do you have someone you like?”
The abrupt change in topic stunned Zhou Yanchuan for a while.
“Is it inconvenient to answer?”
“No,” he shook his head slightly, “It’s just… there isn’t such a person.”
“Really,” she smiled, “That makes me feel a little better.”
Zhou Yanchuan looked at her in confusion. Emotional twists and turns were never his strong suit.
“At least I didn’t lose to someone specific,” He Mengxin explained.
“Xiao He,” Zhou Yanchuan said with a wry smile, “This isn’t about winning or losing.” It was just a matter of feeling and fate. He didn’t believe that excluding himself, He Mengxin wouldn’t find an ideal partner.
Leaving the café, the sun was blazing. The autumn breeze in Sen City was cool, but it was insignificant under the sun.
Before heading to his car, Zhou Yanchuan glanced back. The white-gray building looked familiar. The cultural district was close to Blue Bay, but Zhou Yanchuan was neither trendy nor artistic, rarely coming here on his own. The architectural styles were similar, easy to confuse. However, his memory was good. One rainy day, he had taken Lu Yunchu back to his studio, and it looked much like this building.
His gaze followed the wall upwards, and between the open windows of the terrace, a smiling face appeared, followed by a wave.
“Want to come up for a bit?”
For the first time, Zhou Yanchuan entered Lu Yunchu’s studio, or more accurately, climbed the stairs along the outer wall to the terrace, which was said to have been converted into a classroom.
“Not bad,” Zhou Yanchuan gave a simple evaluation, his eyes sweeping around the bright windows before finally landing on the empty white wooden flower stand. “No plants?”
“Haven’t had time to go to the flower market,” the small flower shops in the city didn’t have anything suitable, and the proper flower market was too far away, so Lu Yunchu had temporarily shelved the plan. “Want to sit here or go downstairs?” There was a small reception room downstairs, but he rarely stayed there alone, so the door was locked.
“Let’s stay here.”
Lu Yunchu remembered that Zhou Yanchuan liked tea and made him some black tea while he drank coffee.
“Thank you.” Zhou Yanchuan took the porcelain cup.
“Did you have a date today?”
Lu Yunchu spoke calmly and expressionlessly. Zhou Yanchuan’s hand trembled, remembering how the other had waved to him from upstairs earlier. He must have seen him leaving with He Mengxin and had no idea what he had imagined.
“You saw it all?” He instinctively asked.
“What are you referring to?” Lu Yunchu’s lips curved slightly. “You and someone else—”
“It wasn’t a date!”
Lu Yunchu raised an eyebrow, his smile deepening with meaning. “When I say date, I mean sitting together like we are now. Are you overthinking?”
He had been watching the café while sketching, almost seeing everyone who came out, but the distance was too far to see clearly.
However, Zhou Yanchuan and the lady’s demeanor was clearly different from other couples. Perhaps due to his professional influence, Lu Yunchu’s observational skills were sharp. Just by seeing two people standing in front of him, he could tell if they were close or not.
He had originally thought that Zhou Yanchuan’s date was someone he knew from work, but seeing his current embarrassed state, it was probably entangled with personal emotions, and it seemed like she had feelings while he did not. After briefly running through these thoughts in his mind, he decided not to ask further, as it would be embarrassing.
Zhou Yanchuan had no intention to mention it further; it wasn’t a big deal to begin with, and saying more would only make him seem guilty.
He changed the topic, “When are you starting classes?”
“Next week.” Lu Yunchu put the cup to his lips, “Do you know who came to sign up with me yesterday?”
“Who?”
“Tao Jin.”
Lu Yunchu had never expected that after returning Sabrina to Tao Jin, they would still have further interactions, and that he would coincidentally become his student.
Tao Jin’s first impression was different from that of an ordinary high school student; he seemed deep in thought, as if harboring unspeakable secrets, yet his clear eyes revealed no trace of cunning. With more meetings, Lu Yunchu gradually formed his own speculations.
He wasn’t sure how likely it was for similar people to notice each other, but what seemed like a mysterious sixth sense often turned into surprisingly accurate judgments for him, just like when he immediately knew Meng Xiao liked men.
Tao Jin’s secret might also be related to his orientation.
Lu Yunchu casually mentioned Tao Jin attending classes to Zhou Yanchuan, but didn’t elaborate further. Zhou Yanchuan was unfamiliar with his work and even less familiar with Tao Jin. Aside from being Sabrina’s owner, he didn’t have a deep impression of this quiet young man. They didn’t discuss it further that day.
During the half-month after classes officially began, Lu Yunchu discovered that Tao Jin’s personality was much more restrained than he had imagined. He didn’t believe that artistic creations necessarily reflected the creator’s psychology, but if all creations revolved around a single atmosphere, it was hard for others not to associate them with the author’s inner world.
Tao Jin was a living example of this. In addition to clay sculpture in class, he remembered Lu Yunchu’s suggestion to take pictures of the paintings he had painted and bring his phone to class to show him.
Tao Jin’s paintings and clay sculptures both possessed a morbid, even self-destructive beauty: figures bleeding, monsters with tears, shattered vases and scattered petals… Often accompanied by exaggerated colors, they looked striking at first glance but were dull and melancholic upon closer inspection.
Lu Yunchu recalled what he loved to paint ten years ago, although often pointed out by teachers for not conforming to norms, it did not have such negative elements overlaid.
In terms of technique, Tao Jin surpassed most amateur enthusiasts, a result of years of self-study; but his themes were too monotonous, and the subjective venting weakened the strength of expression — this was Lu Yunchu’s evaluation. After class, he said to Tao Jin, “Actually, you can explore more things.”
Tao Jin’s eyes were half clear and half confused, as if he understood Lu Yunchu’s meaning but instinctively resisted.
“How about spending more time with Sabrina?” Lu Yunchu continued, “I find it particularly relaxing with her around. Do you feel it?”
“Yeah,” Tao Jin nodded with lowered eyes, “I do.”
Lu Yunchu wasn’t sure what unpleasant experiences he had encountered, and he wasn’t the other’s psychologist. Some doubts and judgments could only be pointed out in the simplest way possible.
Daily work continued, and he took a single piece to do a holiday resort, going to the scene with company-related personnel on Friday afternoon. He didn’t drive, and the other party sent him back.
“Mr. Lu, are you going back to the studio or your place?”
“Let’s go to Blue Bay,” Lu Yunchu said before catching sight of someone being approached under the light outside the window. “Sorry, can we stop here for a moment?”
“It’s still a long way!”
“Sorry, I met an acquaintance, I’ll go back by myself later.”
“Then I won’t send you off. Take care on your way.”
After getting out of the car, Lu Yunchu hurried after him. He trusted his vision, and the figure he had just seen was indeed Tao Jin.
The boy followed the man who had approached him and walked straight into a narrow door beside the street, neon signs shimmering in the already dark sky — the place was called “Charm”, the only gay bar in Sen city.