What Are Your Tastes? chapter 39

He’s Different

On Friday afternoon, Lu Yunchu met Bai Shan at the café across from the studio.

“Yunchu, are you planning to participate in the charity sale exhibition I mentioned earlier?”

In late March, there would be an art charity sale at the city art museum. Bai Shan had previously asked for Lu Yunchu’s opinion on it.

“Yes,” he said, setting down his nearly full coffee cup. “I’ll participate.”

“Do you have any ideas?”

“Yes, I’m actually already working on it.”

“That’s great. I was worried you might not have time—” Bai Shan was interrupted by a phone call, sounding somewhat urgent.

“Is something wrong?” After she hung up, Lu Yunchu asked, seeing her troubled expression.

“Sorry, Yunchu,” she stood up, “take your time with your coffee. I’ll get the bill.”

“Why are you being so polite?”

“After all, I was the one who called you out. You don’t have to be polite either.” With that, she walked towards the front desk.

Bai Shan had been busy lately, and the meeting had to end there. Lu Yunchu remained seated in his previous spot, near the entrance, allowing him to see every guest who entered the shop without much effort.

Less than five minutes after Bai Shan left, he unexpectedly saw Lin Yizhe, accompanied by a young man who looked like a college student.

Lin Yizhe had been intimately holding the young man’s shoulder, but the moment he noticed Lu Yunchu, he woodenly let go of his arm.

Lu Yunchu could guess the nature of their relationship, but he didn’t care. He even smiled at them.

“Yunchu, are you here alone?”

“Yes,” he thought to himself, Lin Yizhe wouldn’t bring his lover to share a table with him, would he? He kindly reminded, “Mr. Lin, there are plenty of seats inside.” Then he leisurely continued with his coffee.

Lin Yizhe whispered a few words to the young man, whose face suddenly changed, and then he left alone.

Lin Yizhe, unfazed, sat down across from Lu Yunchu without even glancing at the departing young man.

“Yunchu, can I sit with you now?”

Lu Yunchu’s gaze passed through the floor-to-ceiling window, watching the young man’s figure blur in the distance.

“Isn’t this inappropriate?” He didn’t feel sorry for an unknown, utterly clueless young man, but he couldn’t hide his distaste for Lin Yizhe.

“Yunchu, you should understand my feelings. I only like you.” Lin Yizhe sat down without ordering a drink, focusing solely on the person opposite him. “Being with him… it’s just a normal need between adults.”

Hearing this, Lu Yunchu almost laughed. He reckoned Lin Yizhe and Meng Xiao would have a lot in common if they met.

“But if it bothers you,” Lin Yizhe continued, “I will immediately cut off all contact with him.”

Lu Yunchu was astonished, as if Lin Yizhe thought he would be jealous over such trivial matters.

“Mr. Lin, you misunderstand. I have no opinions on whom you choose to date or your lifestyle, and I certainly won’t interfere.”

Lu Yunchu didn’t have the skill to separate emotions from physical desires, but he didn’t have any personal feelings for Lin Yizhe either. Watching his actions, Lu Yunchu was merely a spectator. The imagined “jealousy” or anger Lin Yizhe assumed was nonexistent.

“You…” Lin Yizhe shook his head, showing a rare look of regret. “Are you sentencing me to death?”

“You’re exaggerating,” Lu Yunchu spread his hands, “you don’t need my judgment at all.”

Lin Yizhe was silent for a long time, his earnest gaze gradually turning into resignation.

“Alright, I understand what you mean,” he sighed. “Yunchu, can I ask you a question?”

“What question?”

“If, at that party, I hadn’t intentionally spilled wine on you, would your first impression of me have been better?”

Lu Yunchu straightened up and leaned back slightly. “Do you think I have a problem with you because of that?”

“Maybe, I’m guessing.”

“Mr. Lin,” Lu Yunchu smiled again, “feelings aren’t that simple.”

He wanted to say that one’s true nature cannot be hidden by pretense, but it was unnecessary to waste words on Lin Yizhe.

“Not that simple…” Lin Yizhe murmured, “Does that include your feelings for Mr. Zhou?”

Lu Yunchu’s calm expression stiffened slightly, his brows furrowing. “What do you mean?”

“Zhou, the president of Hongchuan, isn’t gay,” he said calmly. “You’re a smart person, I can see that, and so can you.”

“So what?”

“A friendly reminder,” Lin Yizhe shrugged. “We in the circle don’t mess with straight men. If you get too involved, you’ll get hurt.”

Lu Yunchu’s eyelid twitched, recalling how Zhou Yanchuan had avoided him the other day, but he quickly dismissed the negative thoughts.

“That’s my business. Also—I’m not part of any circle.”

“Consider it a slip of the tongue,” Lin Yizhe corrected himself. “In the future… I hope we won’t be too awkward when we meet again?”

“I certainly won’t be.” His meaning was clear: every awkward encounter was initiated by the other party. As long as Lin Yizhe didn’t make things awkward, he naturally wouldn’t. “Mr. Lin, goodbye.”

After finishing his coffee, Lu Yunchu left on his own, leaving Lin Yizhe alone, who might have stayed for a while longer.

Zhou Yanchuan was equally troubled, trying hard not to recall the look in Lu Yunchu’s eyes in the corridor.

He hadn’t considered the possibility that Lu Yunchu liked him. On one hand, he always thought that gays wouldn’t be interested in straight men; on the other hand, Lu Yunchu’s behavior was too straightforward. Whether it was their interactions after coming back from the gay bar or the care during his hospitalization, it all seemed like the actions of a normal friend.

How could he have known that the other party might have different feelings?

But after seeing Lu Yunchu’s sketchbook, Zhou Yanchuan wavered. He could no longer comfortably regard everything as normal behavior between friends.

He originally wanted to invite him to dinner that night, to ask if he had recovered… but after this unexpected discovery, he couldn’t say anything.

After pondering for a few days, even Mo Ziyang noticed something was wrong, seeing him looking distracted and out of sorts.

“Are you having some kind of problem?” Mo Ziyang couldn’t help but ask when a work break allowed him to do so.

“What problem could I have?”

“I’m asking you,” Mo Ziyang said, exasperated. “You seem so out of it, could it be some kind of emotional trouble?”

“Get lost.” Zhou Yanchuan denied irritably, but felt even more uneasy inside. He glanced at Mo Ziyang and decided to seek his opinion in a roundabout way. “Let me ask you a question.

“If there’s someone you have a good relationship with who seems to like you, but you’ve always seen them as a friend and don’t have those kinds of feelings, what would you do?”

“What can I do? I’d reject them—” Mo Ziyang hadn’t finished speaking when he looked at Zhou Yanchuan in surprise. “So you have another admirer?”

“Don’t say so much nonsense.”

“Who is it? Do I know them?”

“You don’t know them,” Zhou Yanchuan answered straightforwardly, “Anyway, the friend seems to have… those kinds of feelings for me.”

“From the way you’re acting, I thought you had a crush on someone. Turns out it’s the other way around. Someone likes you and you don’t want it?” Mo Ziyang snorted. “Isn’t it simple? Just deal with this friend the way you dealt with Manager He.”

Zhou Yanchuan fell silent instantly. He wanted to treat Lu Yunchu the same way he treated He Mengxin, but why did it feel different?

It must be because they had gotten too close recently and had become good friends who could confide in each other.

The thought of possibly losing such a friend made Zhou Yanchuan feel cowardly.

He couldn’t bear it, not just because he was emotionally attached, but because he feared hurting Lu Yunchu.

“This time it’s different,” Zhou Yanchuan said to Mo Ziyang. “It’s a really good friend of mine.”