However, at dinner time that night, what Yoon Nam-hyuk said was like a bolt from the blue to Qi Huai.

To celebrate Yoon Nam-hyuk’s successful first day of school, Amanda made a very sumptuous dinner. The two of them and the adults toasted with orange juice. Then Yoon Nam-hyuk said, “Uncle Qi, Mom, I’ve been thinking about this all day. I still want to talk to you about it.”

Yoon Nam-hyuk put down his cutlery, sat up straight, and his expression was also very solemn. He said, “I think that since I only have one year left to finish high school in Korea, there’s no need to come to the United States to adapt to the environment again. It’s a waste of time. How about this, I’ll go back to Korea for a year of boarding school, and then come back to the United States for university. By then, with a new campus and new classmates, I won’t have to worry about integrating. This might be easier for me.”

Yoon Nam-hyuk said this, but in his heart, he had already decided that he would apply to go to the UK for university. He wanted to give himself a few more years to leave Qi Huai, otherwise, with his personality, he would definitely fall deeper and deeper.

Hyun Si-young was stunned when she heard this. It seemed that she wanted to say something, but father Qi held her wrist to stop her and said to Yoon Nam-hyuk, “It’s a good thing that you have your own ideas, but let’s not rush. I’ll discuss it with your mother, okay?”

Yoon Nam-hyuk nodded. “I’m so sorry. I originally thought I could adapt to the campus environment in the United States, but after today, I feel it’s a bit difficult. It would have been better if I had said this earlier. I’ve caused you trouble.”

Father Qi was very surprised. “How can you call this causing trouble? People need to explore and experience. It’s very normal to come to a conclusion after trying. You did nothing wrong.”

Hyun Si-young hugged Yoon Nam-hyuk. “It’s not your fault. The most important thing is that you’re happy.”

Qi Huai didn’t say a word the whole time. He kept staring at the salmon on his plate. To be honest, he was a little angry. He felt that Yoon Nam-hyuk had lied to him.

The adults didn’t know what had happened to them that day and would believe Yoon Nam-hyuk’s words, but Qi Huai could see at a glance that the other was doing this to avoid him.

This guy had just said that they would be friends and brothers, but then he avoided him like the plague. He didn’t understand. So what if he liked boys? So what if he got hard in his hand? What was so embarrassing about it that he had to run back to Korea from the United States to hide?

Qi Huai was so angry that his appetite grew. He furiously ate two plates of fish, which made Father Qi look at him several times, but he didn’t stop him.

Yoon Nam-hyuk went back after dinner. Qi Huai paced back and forth in his bedroom, thinking of going next door to find him. However, when he passed by the study, he heard Ms. Hyun and his father talking inside.

Hyun Si-young said, “Little Hyuk is a child who likes to keep things to himself. Is it that he still can’t accept our relationship, so he wants to stay away from us? I told him I wouldn’t have any more children. His relationship with Qi Huai is so good, why is that?”

Father Qi comforted her, “Don’t overthink it. It’s not necessarily because of this. He’s a mature child, 19 years old. It’s very normal to have his own ideas. Although this decision is hurtful from an emotional point of view, from the perspective of learning efficiency, his decision may be better.”

Hyun Si-young: “…Perhaps. The reason I’m overthinking is because when I was honest with Little hyuk about our relationship, he acted strangely. Sigh, this child’s personality is a bit slow to warm up, and he doesn’t like lively places. It would be good if he could make more friends. I was too busy with work in the past and neglected to take care of him. I’m so sorry.”

Father Qi: “You’re already a very good mother.”

Hyun Si-young shook her head. “I’m not… My ex-husband called me a while ago. It was because he let it slip that I knew Little Hyuk likes boys. I’m really not a qualified mother.”

Father Qi was stunned.

He was very smart. He suddenly thought of what Qi Huai had asked him before, “What does it feel like to like someone?” Father Qi suddenly understood and laughed.

“What are you laughing at?” Hyun Si-young was puzzled.

Father Qi suppressed his expression. “Nothing.”

Actually, Qi Huai had said much more that day, but Father Qi felt that it was better not to tell Hyun Si-young about these things for now, as it would easily upset her.

Hyun Si-young didn’t think much of it. “You say, Little Hyuk is always so gloomy. Is it because he’s self-conscious about his sexuality? Korea is stricter in this aspect, unlike the United States. He only became cheerful after he met Xiao Huai.”

“To be honest, although the final decision is up to him, I think it’s better for him to stay in the United States,” Father Qi said. “We don’t lack money in our family. One or two years of learning efficiency and adaptability are not important. If we want to make a long-term beneficial choice, the United States is more suitable for him. Korea is too small and stuffy. It’s easy for him to become like his biological father, petty.”

Hyun Si-young laughed out loud. “You can’t say a few words without belittling him.”

Father Qi: “He deserves it.”

Qi Huai stood by the door and heard the whole thing. He took some of what he heard to heart. He felt that what the adults said made sense. Yoon Nam-hyuk was sensitive and prone to worry. It might be better for him to make more like-minded friends.

So the next day at school, Qi Huai gave Yoon Nam-hyuk a flyer. He said, “I heard you have to go back to Korea? Are you not used to the new school? It’s better to start by joining a club. There are many clubs in the school, and they often have activities. Everyone has similar hobbies, so it’s easier to build connections.”

Yoon Nam-hyuk squeezed the flyer, his face pale. “Oh, so you want me to go to a gay club to make new friends?”

“Making more friends is always a good thing, right?” Qi Huai was insincere when he said this. He wished that Yoon Nam-hyuk would only have him as a friend for the rest of his life. But thinking about what his father had said, he still hoped that Yoon Nam-hyuk would be happy.

Qi Huai didn’t say anything else after this insincere sentence. Yoon Nam-hyuk was even more upset.

He just felt that Qi Huai really didn’t like boys, at least not him. He had just revealed his sexuality, and this guy immediately told him to go make friends with other gays. What was the difference between this and telling him to find a boyfriend quickly?

He was upset. A flyer made him so upset. If he didn’t leave the United States, he would probably have a hard time in the future.

Yoon Nam-hyuk’s desire to leave the United States grew stronger and stronger, but people are just so contradictory. The more he said he would give up, the more reluctant he was.

Whether it was out of habit or genuine reluctance, his eyes became more and more unable to leave Qi Huai. From home to school, he couldn’t help but want to count how many eyelashes the other had and remember them, so that he could use these small memories to get through the long nights in the future.

“You’re Yoon?”

A handsome boy with brown curly hair suddenly appeared in front of Yoon Nam-hyuk. He looked at Yoon Nam-hyuk curiously, as if he was very interested in this new classmate.

The other was dressed androgynously, with delicate and beautiful features, and seemed to be wearing makeup. Yoon Nam-hyuk was startled. He didn’t know the other. “You are?”

“My name is Louis. Nice to meet you~” Louis shook Yoon Nam-hyuk’s hand very familiarly, then pointed to the flyer in the other’s textbook and said, “I’m the vice president of this club. Do you want to join?”

Oh…

That club—”If you also like boys.”

Yoon Nam-hyuk was a little embarrassed and coughed lightly. “Sorry, I just happened to pick up this flyer. I don’t have any intention of joining at the moment.”

“It’s okay~ Come find me when you want to join.” Louis shrugged, rested his chin on his hand, and tilted his head to look at him. “I heard you and Qi are on good terms?”

Yoon Nam-hyuk pursed his lips. “We’re neighbors… what’s wrong?”

“Oh, so you’re neighbors. Nothing, I was just asking,” Louis flicked his bangs. “You know, Qi is very popular. If we can get him to help with the next club activity, maybe we’ll have more members, and we can apply for a bigger venue and more funding. It’s a win-win.”

“Can you help me ask him?” Louis blinked. “He doesn’t have to take off his clothes or pole dance. Just stand there for a few hours and hand out flyers. It would be even better if he could shout a few words.”

Yoon Nam-hyuk couldn’t help but laugh. He felt that the other was very witty. “Why don’t you ask him yourself?”

Louis: “Of course I’ve asked, but I was rejected, so I wanted to find an acquaintance of his to be a lobbyist. Forget it, let’s talk about it later. The club activity is still a long way off… have you found a date for the opening ball?”

“Opening ball?”

“Oh, look at my memory,” Louis slapped his forehead. “You’re a new student, of course you don’t know. But you’ll find out when the ball announcement is made in a few days. That’s what’s interesting about this school. At the beginning of every semester, there’s an opening ball. The King and Queen will be the campus celebrities for the whole semester. It’s very interesting. Huh? Qi must know, didn’t he tell you?”

Yoon Nam-hyuk opened his mouth. “…Not yet.”

He had been avoiding Qi Huai. They hadn’t talked much recently.

“Alright,” Louis shrugged. “Well, I told you. Find a date quickly, new student. It’s very embarrassing to be alone at the ball. If you don’t have any acquaintances, just find me. You can find me in the club lounge. The address is on the flyer.”

Louis blew a kiss to Yoon Nam-hyuk and turned to leave.

Yoon Nam-hyuk looked at Louis’s back, feeling that the other was very energetic and talkative, sunny and cheerful, not at all shy, completely the opposite of him.

If Qi Huai likes boys, maybe he’ll like this type? Yoon Nam-hyuk thought.

The ball announcement was indeed made not long after. It said that if you were a new student and didn’t have any acquaintances, you could also invite your friends to attend, but this meant that you would automatically give up your right to compete for King or Queen, so please choose carefully.

That’s great. Yoon Nam-hyuk didn’t want to compete anyway. He ran to the kitchen next door to find Amanda. Amanda readily agreed. “I knew you were the most discerning person in the whole family, little baby. I bought a new sapphire blue dress last month. It’s very sparkly. I’ve decided to wear it for you.”

Yoon Nam-hyuk couldn’t help but laugh. “Thank you.”

He took out a platinum and diamond bracelet and gave it to Amanda. “I hope it matches your dress.”

Amanda was overjoyed. “You’re too kind. That kid Qi Huai is not so interesting!”

Yoon Nam-hyuk’s eyes flickered. “Is that so? In the past, was it you who accompanied him to the ball?”

Amanda nodded while putting on the bracelet. “Of course. Why do you think I bought a new dress? It’s not because there are too many sweet-talking boys in your school.”

Yoon Nam-hyuk’s heart was half happy and half sad. He was happy that his crush had never had a “date,” but sad that he would never be the other’s “date” in this life.

“If you go to the ball with me, what about Qi Huai?” Yoon Nam-hyuk asked.

Amanda waved her hand. “I can’t care about that much anymore. Now the choice is in my hands. I’m on the side of the diamond bracelet.”

The reason why Qi Huai didn’t get to invite Amanda was because he had been in the study for a long time. Thinking about what his father had said to him, Qi Huai was both happy and confused. He was so excited that his whole body was sweating, as if he had a fever.

Regarding this conversation today, the first reason was that the day Father Qi confessed his love for Ms. Hyun, Qi Huai’s subconscious reaction was to stand up and object.

In fact, Qi Huai had never cared about his father’s love life, but for some reason that day, he stood up and said excitedly, “No! You can date, but you can’t get married! No, wait, you can get married, but not before I go to university!”

Father Qi was very surprised. He didn’t expect his son to have such a big reaction, so he asked why.

Qi Huai sat down again and didn’t speak for a long time. When he finally said something, he asked, “Dad, what do you mean by liking someone? How do you know if you like someone or not?”

At that time, Father Qi thought that Qi Huai had asked this question because of his relationship with Hyun Si-young, so he answered with those words that his son had always remembered.

Later, that day Hyun Si-young confessed about Yoon Nam-hyuk’s sexuality. Father Qi knew his son well. He casually put two and two together and understood the root cause of Qi Huai’s abnormal reaction.

Father Qi pondered for a few days and still decided to talk to Qi Huai. So they talked for a few hours.

Qi Huai, who had left the study, felt as if he had had an epiphany. He thought his father was right. It was their business whether his father and Aunt Hyun got married or not. His and Yoon Nam-hyuk’s love was the children’s business. It was irrelevant.

They weren’t biological brothers, and they weren’t related by blood. What was wrong with being in a relationship? Besides, they lived next door, so it was convenient. Let others say what they want.

And then there was the matter of Yoon Nam-hyuk suddenly wanting to go back to Korea. His father suggested that he have an open and honest talk with Yoon Nam-hyuk. Even if the other was unhappy, he had to talk. Even if he was angry, cursed, and hit people, he had to talk.

Don’t let it go in a muddle. Don’t leave any misunderstandings. If there are misunderstandings, there will be regrets. If you regret one thing for a few years or even more than ten years… how many years does a person have in their lifetime?

He came out of the study and went to find Yoon Nam-hyuk, but he waited for a long time and the other didn’t come back. He didn’t know where he had gone.

Qi Huai left a note for Yoon Nam-hyuk and went back to the kitchen to ask Amanda if she had a new dress for the ball. If not, he would accompany her to buy one.

Amanda wrote a FUCK on the freshly baked macarons and said faintly, “You’re late. I have a date tonight.”

She showed off the sparkling diamond bracelet on her wrist. “The other party is very sincere. Look, isn’t it beautiful?”

Qi Huai pouted. “Ugly… a gift of apology from your boyfriend?”

Amanda snorted. “A gift of thanks from Yoon for inviting me to the school ball.”

Qi Huai changed his tune. “Good taste, very beautiful.”

He added, “It’s too sparkly. I didn’t see clearly just now.”

Amanda first laughed at him, then said, “Do you know why I agreed to Yoon’s invitation?”

Qi Huai ate the dirty macarons one by one. “Why? For the diamond bracelet?”

“Bah, of course it’s for your love!” Amanda said. “Think about it. If I go to the ball with Yoon, I’ll be watching him the whole time and won’t let anyone have a chance to talk to him. I can also help you create opportunities to meet. He doesn’t even reply to your messages much, but he listens to me, right?”

Qi Huai was very touched. “Amanda, you’re so nice.”

Amanda: “Hmph.”

“I do want to talk to him at the ball,” Qi Huai said. “When the time comes, wait for my message. After it’s done, I’ll buy you a diamond necklace.”

Amanda: “Deal.”

The secret deal was thus settled. Qi Huai returned to his bedroom and lay on the bed, pressing his hand on his excited and nervous heart.

If he still doubted whether he liked Yoon Nam-hyuk at this moment, then it was too late. He was sure he liked him, very much, the kind of liking that he couldn’t leave. He was very sure.

When he heard that the other was going back to Korea, Qi Huai was so upset he could die. He secretly went to Yoon Nam-hyuk’s room to find him, but when he found that the other had checked the information of a British university, Qi Huai felt that he was about to suffocate.

He really wanted to ask Yoon Nam-hyuk, you want to escape in high school, and you want to escape in university. Are you planning to not see him for the rest of your life? Why? He didn’t understand at all. Just because of that little bit of worthless embarrassment and awkwardness?

It didn’t make sense.

There must be another reason.

As for what this reason was, Qi Huai didn’t dare to think about it. It wasn’t that he didn’t dare to think about it. In fact, he had a vague answer in his heart. If that answer was true, he would probably laugh out loud.

Just wait for the day of the ball.

Qi Huai thought to himself.

At night.

Yoon Nam-hyuk arrived home very late. He had a few square photos in his pocket. The sharp corners poked his fingertips and also his heart.

The photos were given to him by Louis. They were photos of Qi Huai participating in club activities in previous years. It was the Qi Huai from a year or even two years ago. His features were more delicate than now, but he was just as charming.

The reason he was able to get these photos was because after dinner, Louis called him. He said that when the club was cleaning up for the school ball, he found a few photos of Qi Huai participating in activities. Could he trouble him to deliver them to Qi Huai?

Yoon Nam-hyuk was very confused and asked another question. “Why don’t you just contact him directly?”

Louis sighed. “Alright, alright, I’ll tell you the truth. He blocked me because I always wanted him to participate in recruitment activities. He’s annoyed with me, okay? Don’t tell him the photos were given to you by me. Just say they were from Jimmy, otherwise I’ll be on the blacklist for a longer time.”

Yoon Nam-hyuk agreed to get the photos. Louis then asked him, do you want to know the story behind these photos? If you do, then treat me to ice cream, how about it?

There were a total of six or seven photos, not many, but the angles were all very good. Yoon Nam-hyuk even wanted to praise the person who took the photos as a genius, for capturing Qi Huai’s wild, sunny, and gentle temperament so vividly.

Yoon Nam-hyuk couldn’t put the photos down. He had already decided not to return these photos to Qi Huai, so he naturally wanted to know the story behind them. So he agreed to treat Louis to ice cream.

Louis ate three extra-large scoops of ice cream in one go, plus two donuts, and then told Yoon Nam-hyuk the story behind the photos.

Actually, there wasn’t much of a story to tell. It was just a matter of what year, what activity the school held, what Qi Huai did, what he said that day, what he ate, and even the fact that he was hit on the foot by a chair while cleaning. It was so trivial, but Yoon Nam-hyuk listened with great interest.

“You remember so clearly,” Yoon Nam-hyuk loved to listen, but he also found it strange.

Louis snorted. “How can I get ice cream if I don’t remember clearly? God knows how many times I’ve told these stories. But you’re the only one who got the photos. I’m good to you, right, neighbor?”

Yoon Nam-hyuk was stunned. “What do you mean?”

Louis laughed. “Qi and that blond friend of his are very popular guys. Even if you’re a new student, you can see it, right? Many people want to know about them, so I exchange this information for ice cream. It’s not too much, right?”

Yoon Nam-hyuk didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. So that’s how it was…

“You like Qi, right?” Louis licked the frosting off his hand. “Don’t deny it. I’ve seen the expressions of you crush-havers many times. Even if it’s not obvious, I can still tell. I’m not as stupid as Qi.”

Yoon Nam-hyuk’s eyes flickered and he said nothing.

Louis glanced at him. “Mmm, if you don’t want to say it, then forget it. Treat me to two more cupcakes~ If you guys really get together, my business will get worse. Just treat it as comforting me, okay?”

Yoon Nam-hyuk smiled. Although it was unlikely that they would get together, he was happy to hear it. He directly bought a whole box of cupcakes for Louis, eight of them.

Louis held the box and smiled. “So generous, neighbor. I’m starting to like you.”

Just like that, these few photos became Yoon Nam-hyuk’s possession. He even had to put them under his pillow when he slept.