After Our Divorce, I Still Wore Your Jacket - Chap 16

Yuan Ye often went to their school, sometimes even staying late to play. He was playing poker with in Guan Zhou’s dorm when Guan Zhou said, “Why don’t you just stay here tonight? We can share the bed.”

Yuan Ye’s face was covered in notes as he shook his head, “You sleep in your bed, I don’t want to share.”

“Or I can sleep in Little Ding’s bed, he’s going home tonight,” Guan Zhou suggested.

Yuan Ye still shook his head, “I won’t sleep here, hurry up and put down your card.”

Guan Zhou placed his next card, saying, “It’s already so late, the door will be locked soon.”

Yuan Ye continued playing cards and said nonchalantly, “I’ll go stay at Brother Yi’s place.”

One of his roommates playing cards looked up and asked Yuan Ye, “Brother Ye, are you going to the celebrity dorm again? Wow, you can sleep with the stars now??”

Yuan Ye couldn’t help but laugh at his exaggerated expression. He threw his cards and said, “Alright, I’m done playing. You guys should go to bed early! I’m leaving!”

Yuan Ye stood up and removed the notes from his face before leaving. If it weren’t for Guan Zhou reminding him of the time, he would have forgotten. Guan Zhou asked him, “Does he have enough space there?”

Yuan Ye didn’t turn around and raised his arm, saying, “Yes, don’t worry about it. Hurry up and pack.”

The route from Guan Zhou dorm to Fang Shaoyi’s place was very familiar to Yuan Ye. It only took him five minutes to get there. Before knocking on the door, he looked up at Fang Shaoyi’s window and saw that the lights were off. Yuan Ye knocked on the door softly and asked, “Brother Yi, are you asleep?”

There was no response from inside the room, so Yuan Ye knocked a few more times. He figured that Fang Shaoyi must have been asleep, so he turned around to leave. He planned to check if the front gates were locked and then head back to Guan Zhou’s dorm if they were. However, just as he turned around, the door opened behind him.

Yuan Ye turned back with a big smile on his face, trying to please Fang Shaoyi. He greeted him with a cheerful “Brother Yi!”

Fang Shaoyi held onto the door and raised an eyebrow, asking, “Where are you going?”

“I saw you were asleep, so I was going to head back to my school or to Guan Zhou’s dorm to crash,” Yuan Ye scratched his head and chuckled, “I was playing poker at Guan Zhou’s place and lost track of time.”

Fang Shaoyi shifted to the side as Yuan Ye, with his head down like a monkey, crawled under his arm.

Fang Shaoyi was indeed asleep, it seemed like he had purposely gotten up to open the door for him. His blanket was spread out on the bed, and Yuan Ye felt a bit embarrassed, “You go ahead and sleep, Brother Yi. Don’t worry about me, I’ll tidy up and sleep in the empty bed later.”

Fang Shaoyi was wearing shorts and a t-shirt, and at the moment, he didn’t look like a celebrity, just a handsome student. The only light in the room was the small desk lamp on his table, casting a weak and warm glow.

Fang Shaoyi pulled out a T-shirt and shorts from the closet and casually flicked Yuan Ye’s head as he handed them over.

“Don’t you like sleeping in my bed?” he asked with a smile.

Yuan Ye chuckled, “Your bed smells good.”

“Go wash up,” Fang Shaoyi told him.

Yuan Ye really did like sleeping in Fang Shaoyi’s bed. There was a faint scent of him on the sheets that was comforting. When he lay on the pillow, he could smell it and it felt nice. He buried his face in Fang Shaoyi’s pillow and couldn’t quite describe the feeling in his heart, but it was… interesting, to say the least.

The next morning, Yuan Ye still had class. He woke up quite early, accustomed to bouncing around, and flipped out of bed as soon as he turned over. Fang Shaoyi had just returned from outside and heard a thud at the door. He quickly opened it and saw Yuan Ye putting on his slippers.

Fang Shaoyi looked at him with concern and scanned him up and down. “Did you fall?”

“No, no,” Yuan Ye shook his head, still smiling foolishly from just waking up. “I jumped down.”

Fang Shaoyi frowned at him. “Why do you always jump around? You’ll fall.”

“I’m used to it,” Yuan Ye continued to smile. At that moment, he was particularly fond of laughing. “I won’t fall. When I was little, I used to jump down from the rafters. This bed is not that high.”

Fang Shaoyi shook his head and said, “You’re so mischievous,” giving up on trying to reason with him.

After washing up, Yuan Ye sat at Fang Shaoyi’s table for breakfast, which Fang Shaoyi had gone out to buy for him after his morning run. Yuan Ye was carefree and spent most of his time hanging around Fang Shaoyi without realizing he might be bothering him.

He didn’t feel any distance between them, unlike Fang Shaoyi who was always cautious with his words. Yuan Ye would even wear Fang Shaoyi’s clothes and eat in the dormitory without a care in the world.

Back then, Yuan Ye was indeed too young, he was only seventeen. Plus, he didn’t have any thoughts about love and relationships, he just knew how to play all day. Everything was just based on his mood at the time, he wouldn’t think too much or carefully consider why. If he had more things on his mind, he might not have been so open when facing Fang Shaoyi.

During that time, Fang Shaoyi had actually already graduated and there were still several months before graduate school started. He left the school to go film. It was only after he left that Yuan Ye felt bored. He didn’t even feel like going to find Guan Zhou. Usually, he just watched movies, read books, and wrote some random things.

If he was really too bored, he could always call or text Fang Shaoyi. However, Fang Shaoyi rarely initiated contact, it was always Yuan Ye who reached out first, but always replied quickly.

Yuan Ye knew that Fang Shaoyi was just that kind of person, who wouldn’t actively seek out anyone or engage in social interactions. He always remained in a passive position in social situations, which made him seem distant and hard to approach.

But Yuan Ye didn’t mind this at all. He didn’t even consider it. If Fang Shaoyi was slow to warm up, then he would just be more enthusiastic. If Fang Shaoyi didn’t call, then he would. However, because Fang Shaoyi rarely initiated phone calls, Yuan Ye was always especially happy whenever he received one.

One day, Yuan Ye was lounging in his dorm, scribbling on a piece of paper when his phone rang. He picked it up and held it to his ear, asking, “Who is it?”

“Fang Shaoyi’s voice came through the phone: “It’s me.”

Yuan Ye recognized his voice and immediately raised his tone: “Brother Yi? I was just about to call you later.”

“What are you up to?” Fang Shaoyi asked him.

Yuan Ye had no classes now, and many of his classmates had gone for internships. He was bored and told Fang Shaoyi that he felt like he was just growing hair in his dorm. Fang Shaoyi found his complaints amusing and laughed, asking him, “Do you want to come and play on the set?”

Yuan Ye thought for a moment and asked, “What are we going to play?”

Fang Shaoyi replied, “Anything you want.”

The director of that play was a very familiar uncle to Fang Shaoyi, you could even say he was his father’s best friend. One of them grew up on set and didn’t think if was a big deal, and the other was naive and clueless, with a hole in brain. So Yuan Ye actually went.

After a six-hour train ride, Yuan Ye packed a few sets of clothes and carried his suitcase to the train station to buy a ticket. He arrived in the middle of the night that same day.

Fang Shaoyi was waiting for him at the station. When Yuan Ye came out, dragging his suitcase and smiling, Fang Shaoyi hugged him and smiled at him. In that moment, Yuan Ye felt especially happy, all the boredom and frustration he had accumulated over the past few days disappeared.

At that time, Fang Shaoyi put Yuan Ye’s things in his room and asked him, “Do you want to stay with me?”

Yuan Ye never even thought about this question. He laughed like a fool and asked Fang Shaoyi, “Then where am I supposed to sleep?”

Fang Shaoyi looked at his silly face and couldn’t resist pinching his cheek. He said, “I think you should sleep in the warehouse.”

“No way, I’ll stay with you,” said Yuan Ye.

Yuan Ye then stayed in the same room as Fang Shaoyi, and they were always together. Although Yuan Ye was only seventeen, Fang Shaoyi was already twenty. In this circle, twenty was not considered old, but it was definitely not young. People on the set couldn’t help but wonder why Fang Shaoyi was always with this young boy.

When Fang Shaoyi went to the set, Yuan Ye went too. Fang Shaoyi watched him closely, afraid that he might get lost. Yuan Ye often brought a small stool to sit and watch Fang Shaoyi act. He enjoyed watching him, and it was his first time seeing Fang Shaoyi act live. He felt that Fang Shaoyi looked a bit unfamiliar, but also very charming.

Sometimes, Fang Shaoyi would say to his assistant at the time, “Keep an eye on him.” The assistant was a young girl, not yet thirty. She had been in the entertainment industry since graduation and was sensitive to certain things. At the time, she had misunderstood Fang Shaoyi’s relationship with Yuan Ye.

After a while, Yuan Ye began to sense something was off. He noticed that she spoke about him and Fang Shaoyi in a teasing manner. One night, after work, Yuan Ye asked Fang Shaoyi in his room, “Brother Yi, I feel like your assistant has the wrong idea.”

Fang Shaoyi was reading a script and asked, “What wrong idea?”

Yuan Ye was always straightforward and said, “She seems to think we’re together.”

Fang Shaoyi’s eyes moved from the script to Yuan Ye and he asked, “What’s together?”

“Like lovers,” Yuan Ye plopped down on the bed and didn’t feel embarrassed to bring it up, “we talked for a while today and I feel like from her tone, she thinks I’m your partner.”

Fang Shaoyi didn’t say much, only a simple “Mm.”

“What are you ‘mm’ing for? Hahaha, don’t you think it’s strange?” Yuan Ye lay on the bed, looking at Fang Shaoyi from the side, “It’s making me feel embarrassed.”

Fang Shaoyi looked at him and couldn’t help but smile, saying, “I don’t think you’re feeling embarrassed, I can tell you’re pretty happy about it.”

Yuan Ye was quite happy, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on why he felt this way every day. He didn’t know where it came from or where it went. He even asked Fang Shaoyi, “Is it common for guys to date other guys in your entertainment industry?”

Fang Shaoyi glanced at him and asked, “Are you interested in this?”

“I’m just curious,” Yuan Ye replied.

“It’s quite common, actually. What does gender have to do with who you like?” Fang Shaoyi said casually.

“Ah, I see,” Yuan Ye didn’t say much more. He lay there for a while, then turned his head to look at Fang Shaoyi again. Who knew what he was thinking, but his voice became much quieter as he asked, “Brother Yi, do you…like guys?”

Fang Shaoyi looked at him and nodded straightforwarded, “Yes.”

Yuan Ye blinked and saw a small, beautiful curve on the corner of Fang Shaoyi’s lips.

Then Fang Shaoyi continued, “I like boys.”

For some reason, his expression made Yuan Ye feel a little nervous. He propped himself up on the bed with his arm and said, “Oh!”

He turned his head to look away from Fang Shaoyi, but still heard Fang Shaoyi ask him, “Do you?”

Yuan Ye touched his nose and asked, “Do I what?”

Fang Shaoyi slowly spoke, throwing out only two words – “Like me.”