In the Same Boat

Qu Yiheng felt like the kind of parent whose child made a mistake and was called to school to receive a reprimand and a lecture, except that his child was a bit too big.

After paying the fine and signing the papers, Qu Yiheng repeatedly apologized to the police officer for causing trouble for him.

When he came back to Dou Yucong after completing the formalities, he found the man talking to Yao Zhan about something.

Qu Yiheng subconsciously frowned, inexplicably feeling a little uncomfortable for some reason.

What would Dou Yucong think if he found out about his relationship with Yao Zhan? He had been his brother for so many years, but he had never admitted his sexuality. Dou Yucong would be angry, right?

He walked over to the two men and subconsciously moved closer to Yao Zhan.

Qu Yiheng said to Dou Yucong, “You can go now.”

Dou Yucong smiled, “Brother, you’re not angry, are you?”

Qu Yiheng didn’t say anything and walked out first.

Seeing Qu Yiheng leave, Yao Zhan followed closely behind, Dou Yu Cong looked at those two thoughtfully, smiled and followed them out.

“You go home first.” When they reached the door, Qu Yiheng turned back to Dou Yucong and said, “Let’s go back and talk about it.”

Dou Yucong nodded, “Okay, I won’t disturb you two on your date.”

Yao Zhan chuckled at the side, but Qu Yiheng frowned and said, “Stop fooling around and hurry back home.”

Dou Yucong glanced at Yao Zhan and raised his hand, “Then bye bye, handsome guy, I’ll see you later when I have the chance.”

He reached out to stop a taxi, got in and opened the window and asked Yao Zhan, “We’ll see each other again sometime, right?”

Yao Zhan smiled, glanced at Qu Yiheng who was not looking too good, and said to Dou Yucong, “That depends on how your brother arranges it. I’ll listen to him.”

Dou Yucong smiled back, “Okay, I’m off then, bye!”

As the taxi drove away, Qu Yiheng let out a sigh of relief, “Sorry for making you embarrassed, and for letting you see this foolishness.

“Not at all, he’s quite funny.”

When Yao Zhan finished, Qu Yiheng looked at him warily.

“Let’s go too, you’re hungry, right?” A taxi just pulled up next to them. Yao Zhan pulled open the door, letting Qu Yiheng get in first.

After getting in the car, Qu Yiheng said the name of a place and then turned his head to look out of the car window.

He was thinking about Yao Zhan’s words, thinking about the conversation those two people had just had.

“How come I’ve never heard of you having a younger brother before?” Yao Zhan actually knew he shouldn’t ask, but he couldn’t help himself.

It was obvious that Dou Yu Cong was bent, and just now Yao Zhan had seen it at a glance.

In fact, there really was a tacit understanding between kindred spirits. Most of the time, a glance at each other could tell that we are the same kind of person, and there were rarely any mistakes.

“He’s my stepfather’s son.” Qu Yiheng said, “Later my mother and stepfather passed away and we lived together for a while.”

“And you live together now?”

“Yes.” Qu Yiheng said, “Not before, but a while ago he broke up and had nowhere to go, so he came to my place.”

This time it was Yao Zhan’s turn to think more.

Human beings are really sensitive creatures. Yao Zhan listened to his words and surprisingly began to suspect the relationship between those two.

He remembered the way Dou Yucong looked at him, with a look of scrutiny, as if he wanted to see something in him.

What did that mean?

He didn’t like to speculate, so he pretended to be unintentional and said, “It’s rare for you two to have such a close relationship, even though you’re not blood brothers.”

Qu Yiheng gave him a look and withdrew his gaze before saying, “Well, we look out for each other…”

He thought for a while and added, “Family.”

Originally, Qu Yiheng had made up his mind not to go back tonight, but because of the incident before dinner, he felt uneasy. He hadn’t asked about Dou Yucong’s side of the story, and since the other party knew he was out with Yao Zhan, it was inevitable that he would think more about it.

He wasn’t afraid that Dou Yucong would find out that he was also gay, but the point was that he felt that he should have spoken up instead of being caught like a thief, and that didn’t feel good.

After a brief meal, Yao Zhan saw that he was a little absent-minded and asked him if he wanted to take a break.

Qu Yiheng understood what he meant by “taking a break”, but he was not in the mood, so he made an excuse and went home first.

It’s a pity that Yao Zhan was only here for a week and it’s hard to say when they will see each other again after this time. It’s logical that they should do what they have to do in the nick of time. After all, they are not in a slow and steady relationship.

But Qu Yiheng couldn’t help it. When he’s not in the mood, he can’t even get a hard-on, it’s too much of a bummer.

Before they parted, Qu Yiheng said, “I’m really sorry about today, I’ll make it up to you tomorrow.”

Yao Zhan laughed helplessly, “What are you sorry for? You don’t owe me anything.”

The two said goodbyes, and Yao Zhan stood watching Qu Yiheng’s car turn the corner before he turned around and walked back.

He thought about it and sent a message to Qu Yiheng: ‘You don’t have to say sorry to me for this kind of thing.’

Qu Yiheng held his phone, but in the end, he didn’t reply to the other party.

When he got home, Dou Yucong was lying on the sofa playing on his mobile phone after showering. He was a bit surprised to see Qu Yiheng back.

“You’re back so early?”

Qu Yiheng glanced at him, walked over, sat on the other side of the sofa and asked, “What’s wrong with you today?”

Dou Yucong sat up, scratched his hair and rubbed his nose.

“I’m angry,” he said, “He came here to see me, meaning to talk to me properly, and he said he was honest with me, so I should give him a chance to reform and start afresh.”

“It’s definitely not as simple as making a mistake like this once.”

“Uh huh, see, you know all about that.” Dou Yucong said, “I gave him a bullshit chance, and now I feel sick thinking about that face, as sick as those panties. Then he kept grinding on me endlessly, and I got completely fed up and beat him up, and when someone stopped me while I was beating him, I beat that person up too by hand.”

Dou Yucong stretched his hands, “That’s what happened.”

When Qu Yiheng didn’t say anything, Dou Yucong nudged him, “Brother, I have something to tell you.”

He moved forward and sat cross-legged on the sofa, the corners of his mouth were still green, and it was clear that these guys hadn’t shown any mercy when they fought.

“Go ahead.”

“That Yao Zhan….”

Hearing the name come out of Dou Yucong’s mouth, Qu Yiheng suddenly became a little nervous.

He remembered the somewhat subtle conversation the two had had earlier and subconsciously began to wonder what he should do in case Dou Yucong took a liking to Yao Zhan.

Give up his friend with benefits to his brother? Or what should he do?

But he thought too much. Dou Yucong just said, “That Yao Zhan, he’s gay.”

Qu Yiheng was stunned and asked, “How do you know?”

“I have the same kind of radar.” Dou Yucong said, “Really, you believe me.”

Qu Yiheng was amused by this so-called “radar” of his, and said to himself, ‘If it’s really worth believing, then why do you still think I’m straight after all these years?’

But he didn’t say that, he just asked, “So what?”

“So what? There’s no reason.” Dou Yucong said, “I just think he has impure intentions towards you.”

That made Qu Yiheng laugh again, “Aren’t you the one who has impure intentions towards him?”

“Huh?” Dou Yucong felt extremely wrong, “Where is this coming from?”

Qu Yiheng stood up and headed for the bathroom, “Who asked if we could meet again as soon as they met before?”

Dou Yu Cong knew that his brother had misunderstood, so he got off the sofa and followed him on his bare feet, “I was just teasing him.”

“You don’t even know him, are you kidding me?” Qu Yiheng washed his face and finally got rid of that dryness.

“Hey, why do you look like you’re jealous?” Dou Yucong leaned against the door frame and looked at his brother, “You like him, huh?”

Qu Yiheng froze for a moment, “Don’t be ridiculous.”

“I think so, aren’t you straight?” Dou Yucong muttered and went to get some water, “Hey, anyway, I’m warning you, that guy has something in mind for you, you straight guys, you may have fewer tendencies this area. Just know what you’re getting into, and when you really get into trouble, don’t blame your brother for not warning you.”

Qu Yiheng wiped his face dry and said, “What could be wrong with that?”

“He’s after you.” Dou Yucong looked at his brother with amusement, “You’re too slow. You guys are old classmates, if he tries to pursue you, you are definitely not gonna say yes because you’re not gay, but if shit happens, you guys can’t be friends anymore. It’s rare for you to have a close friend.”

Qu Yiheng didn’t say anything.

“Anyway, get a grip on that, and if you want to continue to be his friend, you’ll have to figure out how to handle it.”

“He won’t like me.” Qu Yiheng went into the bedroom and prepared to change.

Dou Yucong sipped his water and looked at his brother, before speaking after a long time, “A man's heart is a needle under the sea, you shouldn’t jump to conclusions so early.”

____

Since Qu Yiheng had left early, Yao Zhan had nothing to do afterwards, so he stayed at the bar for a bit longer.

He came to the same place that Qu Yiheng brought him to last time, a gay bar, not exactly chaotic, but not much better either.

He sat there drinking by himself, sending messages to Qu Yiheng every now and then, and also reminiscing about his brother, who was arrested for fighting and brawling in the police station.

“Brother, buy me a drink.”

As he was sending a message, he looked up and saw a young boy dressed in flashy clothes sitting opposite him, a pretty boy with attractive eyes.

Yao Zhan took a look at him, he was wearing a pair of very short shorts and the collar of his T-shirt was so big that he could see the head of his nipples.

“Why?” Yao Zhan was not a stingy person, but he didn’t invite just anyone either.

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The boy was good looking, and one look told him he would be good in bed, only unfortunately, he was not Yao Zhan’s type.

He reckoned that the neighbours next door would call the cops because of the scream he would let out when he got into bed.

He hates such noise.

“No reason,” the boy squirmed on the table, squirming as if pampered, “I just wanted to drink with you.”

“Then go and buy it yourself.” Yao Zhan leaned back, unable to stand the strong smell of perfume on the boy.

The boy was unhappy and got up and simply walked over to Yao Zhan’s side, touching his body with his hands, “Then how about this, I’ll treat my brother and after we finish drinking, brother will go dance with me.”

Yao Zhan laughed and took his hand away, “No, I’m afraid I won’t dance well and embarrass you.”

“No, I won’t.” The boy leaned towards him, “Brother, you are so handsome and have a great body. You just stand there and I’ll look good.”

Yao Zhan pushed him away and said, “I can’t drink this wine anymore.

He told the boy to stand properly and drank the wine in his glass himself, saying, “Baby, brother is not good for you, so I’ll go first.”

When he left the bar, Yao Zhan immediately lit a cigarette, trying to cover the smell of the boy on himself. As he stood on the roadside smoking a cigarette, he suddenly thought to himself that it was Qu Yiheng who was more pleasing to the eye, he talked less and was pure/clean. He couldn’t help but feel more comfortable with him.

After thinking about it like this, he kinda missed that person a little bit.