Qiu Yunru felt heat rising to his cheeks.
Of course, the direct answer was "no". At the time of his death, he'd been quite the loner, with just a few friends, and had never dated anyone. In this world, he also hadn't officially dated anyone.
However...
For some reason, a pale face with strong black eyebrows, phoenix eyes, and a cold expression swam into his mind's eye.
Qiu Yunru tried to slap it away. No way! I'm not--I'm not gay! Especially not for Li Chenyuan! However, that image was persistent. It grew more vivid. The Li Chenyuan in his mind smiled suddenly, his face softening and his eyes sparkling. Qiu Yunru's face only grew more red.
Seeing Qiu Yunru walking silently with a pink face, Liao Li's heart dropped.
Qiu Yunru cleared his throat, clearly distracted. "No! Not really. Nothing official. Why do you ask?"
The two of them were hiking up the very base of the enormous volcano now. The air was thick and hot, but it was strangely peaceful here. No sounds of the city; only the crunching of dead leaves beneath their feet, and the occasional caw of a crow.
"...I was hoping you were single," Liao Li said quietly. "Because I like you quite a lot."
It took Qiu Yunru a moment to process.
As soon as the words hit him, he nearly stopped walking in shock. However, he forced his legs to keep moving. If he stopped, wouldn't that only make things more awkward? No, no, he must absolutely act like nothing was wrong!
Liao Li--liked him? Like that?
Qiu Yunru couldn't help but be a little stumped. Confounded, even.
So far, he hadn't gotten approached by one woman in this realm, but there had already been two men who had confessed to him?
What am I doing? Am I giving 'gay'? I don't understand!
Taking his silence as a rejection, Liao Li gave a small smile and nodded. "It's all right. You don't have to return my feelings. I've been wondering for a long time. Even if you aren't together, is there someone you have your eye on?"
"My eye--I..." Qiu Yunru trailed off. His mind was reeling.
To be honest, the only time he'd been confessed to in his previous life was in high school when it got out that he was the inheritor of the Yilu Law Firm. A few popular girls had agreed to bully him to get a bit of his money, and had cornered him after school to confess to him all at once.
"I love you, Zhi-gege!" One girl, Li Mingya, had insisted with tears in her eyes. She was the head of the group. "Don't you understand?"
"Me too, me too!" cried Chen Ting, the richest girl in the group. She twirled her hair around a manicured nail, batting her eyelashes at him.
"Don't forget me!" whined Xie Yanyan, the one known for being cute. She stomped her foot, puffing out her cheeks.
Li Mingya had leaned in, grabbing the collar of his uniform and pulling him close. "Since we all like you, isn't it your duty to bring us to dinner and get us some gifts? A man's job is to pay for his woman's lifestyle."
"But aren't there three of you...?" Wang Zhi had said weakly. He really wanted to say, I'm sorry, but I'm really not interested, but he couldn't get the words out of his mouth. What if he spoke his mind, and they decided to bully him endlessly afterward? It was clear they had no intention of giving up any time soon!
"Pssh!" Li Mingya pushed him back against the wall, crossed her arms. "What, you can't afford to take three girls to dinner? Do you even like women?"
"What's going on here?"
At that moment, someone had stepped in to intervene. Upon seeing his face, Qiu Yunru ducked his head nervously.
The kid who had arrived was none other than Zheng Yu, the golden boy of the school! Not only was he a class monitor, but he was kindhearted, had perfect scores on every exam, played basketball, and had a face handsome enough to even make a straight guy stare for a few seconds too long!
Seeing that Zheng Yu had arrived, the three girls put on innocent faces.
"Yu-gege! We were just talking to Zhi-gege He's invited us out to dinner!"
Wang Zhi pressed his back against the wall, sweating. Of course there wasn't a good way to get out of this situation, even with an interruption. If he ran, he might be chased down. If he denied it, who would believe him over the three richest, most beautiful girls in school?
"Oh! That's nice," Zheng Yu said warmly. "Junior Zhi, where will you be going for dinner?"
Wang Zhi felt a drop of sweat drip coldly down the back of his neck. He swallowed the lump in his throat, saying weakly: "I...don't know yet..."
"Hmmm. Anyways, I need to talk to you, Junior Zhi. Maybe these plans can be finished later?"
Li Mingya was clearly annoyed, but she tamped it down, nodding sweetly. "All right. We'll find you later, Zhi-gege!"
Zheng Yu led him a ways down the hall to an empty classroom. Wang Zhi nearly tripped over his feet on the way, the nerves in his stomach rising. He already had some marks on his attendance due to days of being out sick with migraines and body aches. Was this about that? Or had he done something else wrong? He really couldn't afford another bad mark...
Once they were inside, Zheng Yu closed the door. When he turned around, his expression was completely different from before. Gone was the handsome smile and twinkling eyes. Instead, his eyebrows were knit with worry.
"Are you all right?" He asked, placing a hand on Wang Zhi's forehead. "You're sweating a lot. You didn't really agree to take them out for dinner, right?"
Wang Zhi flinched when his forehead was touched. It was uncommon to touch another person like this, but especially for a guy to do it. Perhaps he should expect it from Zheng Yu, though--kindhearted, he had everyone's interests at heart, and would go so far as to even overstep to check on someone.
He shook his head tiredly. "I didn't. They cornered me. I think they found out about my parents...I...they have a bit of money."
Zheng Yu withdrew his hand, nodding. His expression was angry. "This has happened a few times now. They've even done it to a few girls after finding out their parents were rich. I'll talk to them. They won't bother you again."
Wang Zhi blinked.
Huh?
Instead of asking, Why?, all that came out of his mouth was a puzzled, "Ah...thank you."
Zheng Yu gave him a warm smile. "There's no need. Anyways, they already have plenty of money. The rich always want more. You should leave out the other door, and I'll go back and talk with them."
After that day, he didn't speak to Zheng Yu again for a long time. However, he was always grateful for that moment.
Hiking through the woods now, he couldn't help but feel that Liao Li was a bit like Zheng Yu. He was too kind and thoughtful, assuming he was rejected and accepting it right away without even hearing a word.
Li Chenyuan was nothing like that. He'd chased after Qiu Yunru, begging him to answer his confession and clinging to him like a weeping limpet. If not for his insistence, Qiu Yunru might have never considered the fact that he himself was...well...that he might be...
Gay!
"I...ah..." Qiu Yunru swallowed nervously. "You...ah, Li-ge, you're good-looking, and kind, and strong. Anyone would be lucky to be with you. But there's someone I think I like. But I don't know what situation he's in."