He Jin shook his head and apologized, “Auntie, I will go out to work in a while, I will eat at the place where I work. You don’t have to prepare my lunch and dinner.” Then, he took the last bit of porridge, and he looked at his clock, “I have to leave.”
The woman followed and stood up, “oh? How come you work so hard, even during the holiday? Let me ask Yang Yang to take you?”
“No, I can take the subway.” He Jin changed his shoes at the entrance, smiled and waved goodbye to her.
Auntie sent him to the door, and she waited for He Jin’s figure to disappear in sight, before returning to wake her two children up. When she went upstairs, she heard the door open with a loud bang, and Qin Yang walked outside, looking pissed off, “Auntie Jiang, where’s He Jin?”
Auntie Jiang, “Xiao He has just left...have you...drunk? You smell of alcohol?”
Qin Yang asked in a panic, “he just left? Did he take his things away?”
The woman was confused, “what things? He seemed to have brought a backpack, and he told me he’s going to work...”
“How long has it been?” Qin Yang hurriedly buttoned his shirt, and asked while wearing his clothes.
Auntie Jiang, “it’s been around ten minutes.”
Qin Yang didn’t talk any more, he wanted to call He Jin, but with what happened the previous night, he felt a bit embarrassed to talk to He Jin. He washed himself as quickly as possible, then chased all the way to the subway, but he didn’t see He Jin there.
He sat in the train station, depressed, and he started texting He Jin, “are you on your way to work? How come you didn’t wake me up?”
After a short while, He Jin replied, “I have already got on the subway, I will go on my own, you have a good rest.”
......What? Rest well?
These few words were a bit intriguing.
Qin Yang was sending this message to He Jin using his identity in the real life. And supposedly, He Jin didn’t know that he’d drunk and he only slept after midnight. Why did He Jin tell him to rest well?
Qin Yang still remembered vaguely about what he had done a few hours ago. He frowned – is it possible that He Jin had read those messages?
It shouldn’t be possible, since He Jin couldn’t care less, and he should have slept very early the previous night...(▔_▔|||)
Qin Yang started touching his forehead, and he couldn’t help but start testing He Jin, “did you sleep well last night?”
He Jin, “not very well.”
Qin Yang, “...”
Qin Yang, “why? Is the bed not comfortable for you?”
He Jin, “my bracelet seems to have a problem, it kept vibrating the whole night.”
Qin Yang, “...”
He’d forgotten about this entirely! Qin Yang was thinking nervously – could He Jin have read those messages? It would be super embarrassing if he did!
Qin Yang, “did someone send you messages?”
When He Jin was in the subway and reading Qin Yang’s message, he was speechless...he’s still pretending! Hasn’t he realized who sent him all those messages?
He refrained from answering Qin Yang’s question, and he replied, “Auntie Jiang told me that you used to sleep in. Since I didn’t see you in your house, I thought you must have been sleeping. I’m going to arrive soon, it’s alright.”
Qin Yang, “...” Was he thinking too much?
Qin Yang stopped asking. He Jin took away his bracelet and breathed a sigh of relief.
He was still late by taking the subway. When He Jin arrived his workplace, he was already late for half an hour. K didn’t say anything – anyway, for temporary workers, the more they work, they more they earn. If they’re late, then their wages would be deducted. There’s thus no need for reminders.
He Jin changed his outfit and made himself a cup of espresso. However, since he had stayed up all night, he couldn’t stand it anymore, and started to get sleepy at noon. Also, with what happened with Fire and Qin Yang, He Jin felt dizzy the whole day. He made several mistakes that day, spilled a cup of coffee, couldn’t concentrate and he kept yawning.
At four o’clock in the afternoon, K couldn’t stand it anymore and asked the exhausted He Jin, “what happened to you? You don’t seem to be in shape.”
He Jin kept apologizing, and due to the lack of rest, his voice now sounded hoarse too, “I didn’t sleep well last night.”
K did not want to criticize him, he was mainly concerned about him, because He Jin was indeed looking awful, “then you can go back and rest. It’s not like you can’t take a day off.”
He Jin always cared about attendance and work attitude. He was afraid to leave a bad impression to the others if he took a day off so soon. He wanted to tell K the truth, but he didn’t know where to start. When he thought of K talking with him about Qin Yang the other day, He Jin started the topic, “K, can I ask you about homosexuality?”
K’s eyes flashed instantly, “yeah, what is it about?”
He Jin, “when did you find out that you’re gay?”
K, “when I was in middle school.”
He Jin was surprised, “so early?!”
“yes, don’t we all go through our adolescence at that time? And I only felt attracted sexually to male. I found out that I am not interested in girls at all.” K glanced at He Jin and smiled, “what about you?”
“I...” He Jin was so nervous that his fingers started shaking. Out of instincts, he wanted to deny, but the affection between him and Qin Yang had already made it an undeniable fact. If he didn’t have the courage to face it, his dream, now restricted by the reality, would never come true.
“Not long ago,” He Jin confided with a lot of difficulty. He tried to set his soul free, and when he tried to face it without any coverage, he was so scared that he started trembling, “about three months ago...”
K, “is it because you’ve found out that you’re in love with a boy?”
He Jin, “Hmm...”
K, “are you scared?”
He Jin nodded gently.
K smiled and encouraged him, “don’t be afraid, all of us are the same. When I first found out that I’m different, I was pretty scared too. For about three to four years, I perceived myself as a sicko, and I tried to pretend to be normal. But no matter how I deceived myself, it didn’t help. And I didn’t find it the way to be happy...face yourself truthfully and bravely. We aren’t abnormal, we’re just the minority.”