Chapter 18
CHEN HONG WAS FACED with a dilemma.
He hadn’t wanted to introduce Zhang Yuwen to Huo Sichen. He didn’t want to see them develop a romantic relationship, either, especially when Huo Sichen was playing this exciting little romantic game—Chen Hong was certain that, provided Zhang Yuwen was amenable, the two of them would very quickly become a couple.
Chen Hong had really thought that Huo Sichen was straight. He didn’t know why Huo Sichen had taken a sudden fancy to Zhang Yuwen. It came out of nowhere. Thinking back, the biggest change had come after their last mountain hike, when Huo Sichen suddenly booked a home training session with Chen Hong and asked if Chen Hong could reintroduce him to Zhang Yuwen.
“Why don’t you just explain it to him yourself?” Chen Hong couldn’t understand Huo Sichen’s thought process at all.
“I can’t bring myself to say it.” Huo Sichen strained to speak as he did his final plank. “Just tell him you’re introducing him to… a prospective match… Okay?”
Unable to hold on anymore, he rolled over and exhaled, perspiring profusely. He sat down to take a break.
“I’d like to reacquaint myself with him as a gay man,” Huo Sichen explained expectantly, bewildering Chen Hong. Huo Sichen briefly outlined his plan. “Just do as I say.”
“He’ll get angry,” Chen Hong said.
“He won’t.”
“Bro, do you like him? Have you turned gay?” Chen Hong hadn’t talked much to him about their sexual orientations, but he knew Huo Sichen could probably tell from hanging out with them that they were all gay.
Huo Sichen glanced at Chen Hong, then averted his gaze with a hint of a shy smile. Grabbing a towel, he scurried away to mop up his sweat and shower. Chen Hong sat on the workout bench nearby and heaved a sigh.
“A-Chen.” Chen Hong didn’t care if Huo Sichen could hear it or not. “A piece of advice from me. This isn’t an easy road to take.”
If he had the choice, Chen Hong would prefer to be straight. Liking men inevitably made life a little harder.
Huo Sichen finished his shower quickly and emerged with a towel draped around his neck. He sat beside Chen Hong, fixated on the messages he was sending on his phone. Chen Hong glanced over and recognized Zhang Yuwen’s profile picture.
“Right,” Chen Hong said. “You’re rich. It’s not a problem.” An elite like Huo Sichen probably didn’t face the same challenges as he did.
“Then I’m counting on you,” Huo Sichen said earnestly.
Now here Chen Hong was, dealing with a complex mix of emotions topped off with a twinge of jealousy. He’d thought he was more or less on the same level as Zhang Yuwen. To think that Huo Sichen would like him… Huo Sichen drove a luxury car, had a respectable job, and was courteous and manly. No matter how you sliced it, he was excellent husband material.
As Zhang Yuwen’s friend, Chen Hong knew he shouldn’t be jealous, and he still hoped Zhang Yuwen would find happiness. He didn’t want his buddy to suffer; he just also envied his good fortune. Given a choice, he’d prefer to set Zhang Yuwen up with Yan Jun. As a friend, Chen Hong sympathized with Yan Jun, a young man with unwavering determination. Chen Hong quite liked him. In his opinion, Yan Jun and Zhang Yuwen were on the same social stratum and thus more compatible. Huo Sichen was in a different league, and he and Zhang Yuwen might not necessarily be happy together.
A worry nagged at Chen Hong, too: Huo Sichen wouldn’t deceive Zhang Yuwen, would he? Chen Hong knew almost nothing about him beyond their trainer-trainee relationship. Huo Sichen rarely mentioned his job, his love life, or his family. He wasn’t curious about other people’s private lives, nor did he talk about his own. Their interactions were usually limited to the training sessions themselves. Because of that, Chen Hong didn’t think that Huo Sichen saw him as a friend. Even when they did things together outdoors, be it hiking or playing laser tag, Huo Sichen hadn’t acted chummy with him. Most of the time, he stayed close to Zhang Yuwen.
He couldn’t be a playboy, could he? Or have some other character flaw?
Chen Hong pondered this, feeling like he had let Yan Jun down. He didn’t want to offend Huo Sichen, though; he still needed to make money from him. After his gym closed down, a few major clients had become his primary source of income. He retained fewer than ten high-quality clients—wealthy gold-collar professionals with time to spare and the willingness to buy his training sessions. He just had to give them one class every week, and he’d earn enough to cover his basic living expenses instead of being reduced to sleeping under a bridge.
In the end, he resolved his dilemma by betraying Yan Jun.
Just as Huo Sichen predicted, after receiving a hammering from Zhang Yuwen, Chen Hong came to the realization that Zhang Yuwen also liked Huo Sichen. They had just been testing each other.
Those were the rules of adulthood: weigh the pros and cons, search for a reason, make plans, and draw deductions. Dating was less a revelry and more a cautious, cooperative advancement as each person tried to get what they needed—emotional value, economic strengths, social status, networking connections, and sex.
After his beating was complete, Chen Hong asked unwisely, “Aren’t you both tops?”
“It’s not that big a deal,” said Zhang Yuwen. “Don’t you think keeping me in the dark is a bigger problem than that?”
“Sorry, sorry!” Chen Hong held his hands up to plead for mercy. Zhang Yuwen finally let him off the hook, and Chen Hong opened the takeout bag and dug into the exquisite food. “Honestly, I don’t know him all that well.” His words were both a reminder to Zhang Yuwen and an abdication of responsibility.
“It’s fine,” Zhang Yuwen said. “I’m an adult. I’ll take responsibility for my actions.”
“Then what will you do when you’re both tops?” Chen Hong was more curious about this than anything else.
“Talk it over, I guess… No, wait! I’m not planning to sleep with him just yet!”