Looking Over at the Guy Across the Way

Chapter 25: Luo Xin Fanwai

He JinFei had been troubled lately.

When he went out, he saw an eye-catching character wearing sunglasses across the road, waving at him and putting on an extremely sullen posture; over the lunch break, he received all sorts of filthy text messages like “Darling, I’m coming over your nude photos” and so on, sent one after another, even with a recording of the sounds of his gasping; whenever he went home in the evening, he could always find the guy sitting on his own little stool on his doorstep, listening to music.

“……Mr. Luo, what the hell do you want?”

“You’re finally back, Mr. He!”

“…..please directly answer my question.”

“Want to fuck you.”

“……”

He JinFei felt a vein throbbing in his temple and said while gnashing his teeth: “Luo Xian, haven’t you played enough tricks on me?! I haven’t mentioned that time to you again, what else do you want?!”

Luo Xin thought, You don’t care about me but you still think about it. He tugged the man’s shirt with a grin: “Mr. He, my belly’s empty…..”

He JinFei grew angry, shaking him off and opening his door. Then he slammed the door hard and stopped paying attention to him.

Two hours after dinner, he was sitting in front of his computer, working. But his brain wouldn’t calm down; even after smoking two cigarettes, he was still upset and restless. Forget it, that guy had to be gone. He decided to take a good look to settle his thoughts, so he went to open the door.

“!! Why haven’t you left yet?!”

The man outside the door was still sitting on that little stool, leaning his whole body against the wall. He weakly opened his mouth: “I said I was hungry……you’re so cruel.”

That delicate face wearing a wronged expression, anyone who saw it would feel compassion, He JinFei included.

He stared at the other for a while and eventually sighed, ceding the way in: “There’s some leftovers if you want to eat, come in.”

Luo Xin slowly pushed off the stool and slipped into the house, wearing a sly smile where He JinFei couldn’t see.

He JinFei’s cooking was actually pretty tasty. After all, the title of ‘perfect lover’ hadn’t been earned in vain, although it was ironic to want to claim that title now. He sat and watched as Luo Xin gobbled down a large bowl of rice and somehow his heart felt a little tender. Clearly his face was painful but he acted so childishly. If the other’s character wasn’t so bad, then maybe he would……. He JinFei blinked, shaking his head to brush off that ridiculous idea.

“Why are you running to my place to eat? I imagine there are many people waiting in line to eat with you.”

“Mr. He, are you eating vinegar?”

“Luo Xin!”

“Haha, you can’t take a joke. It’s, of course, because I don’t want to eat with them.”

But you want to eat with me? He JinFei lowered his gaze, then stood up silently and walked into his study.

“Hey, what are you doing?”

“Work. When you’re done eating, get out of here.”

As a result, when He JinFei finished work at 11 o’clock, Luo Xin was still inside! The other man was sitting in the dark living room, watching TV. The dim light shone on his face and He JinFei couldn’t make out his expression, but he somehow had the feeling that the other was very lonely. He sealed his lips and went over to sit down by the man’s side.

Luo Xin looked at him in surprise but said nothing. He reached out and changed the channel to Pleasant Goat and the Big Bad Wolf (Chinese animated children’s show) and then let out a “hahaha” laugh.

“……”

At some point, He JinFei started thinking the two of them were actually very similar, Luo Xin…….was also a man who didn’t know how to love.

In this way, Luo Xin spent several nights at He JinFei’s house with a variety of excuses. Although nothing happened, the verbal flirtation made He JinFei think this guy was incredibly wicked, but he couldn’t hit him again or drive him out.

That innocent face is the cause of all this trouble!

Luo Xin basically came to his house every day to eat. While eating, he would tell all sorts of jokes and sometimes, when he was only halfway through, he was start laughing uncontrollably.

“Hey, Mr. He, don’t you think it’s funny? Hahaha…..”

He JinFei chewed in silence, swallowing before opening his mouth: “Don’t talk while you eat, you’ll choke.”

Luo Xin winked playfully: “Ooh – Mr. He, you haven’t solved your bad habit of lecturing your lover –”

“You! It’s basic knowledge! I’m just reminding you!”

Luo Xin disdainfully make a “tsk” sound, but obediently finished eating up the delicious meal.

Later, Luo Xin even took his laptop to He JinFei’s house. While He JinFei was working, the other man also seriously opened his laptop by his side and pattered away doing who knows what. He didn’t ask the other about his job, but it seemed like some sort of freelance work.

He JinFei thought this kind of mood of getting along was really strange. Friends? Not really; Sex friends? Don’t mention it; …….Lovers? Even more ridiculous! Even with former boyfriends, he had never spend so much time with them. They would usually go out on a date to eat a meal and then go to bed, there was basically no further interaction.

But he had to admit, he liked it when he got along with Luo Xin. At least he wasn’t alone; sitting together with him for dinner, listening to him say boring things, then he would wash the dishes and the other man would watch TV or sometimes come over to help him wash, then they would work together again and finally Luo Xin would go sleep in the guest room. Obviously, these were the things he hated the most before, but after leaving Chen Xiao, he wanted such a life. He wanted to find love, he was willing to put in the effort, but the other side was gone, so this had to be a punishment.

As he thought about this, He JinFei rubbed his forehead and sighed lowly.

“What’s wrong? Not feeling well?”

The sudden voice made him jump, reminded him that Luo Xin was still by his side. As soon as he lifted his head, he saw the other man was gazing at him with some concern, yes, actual concern.

At this moment, He JinFei’s normally low heartbeat started to race, faster and faster until at least he could only hear the sound of “thump thump thump” in his chest.

“…….no, I’m okay.”

“Hey, Mr. He, do you want me to give you an in-depth massage with my exclusive technique? Secret family tradition.”

“…..fuck off!”

In the middle of the night, He JinFei’s bladder was full, so he got up in a sleepy daze and went to the bathroom. When he passed by the other room, he heard a soft noise coming from inside. He frowned, is that guy Luo Xin not asleep yet?!

The closer he got, the clearer the sound, and when He JinFei stood in front of the room, fully awake, the low gasps passed clearly into his ears.

“He JinFei……He….JinFei……ah…..”

He listened as the sound rapidly increased, face flushing red, and that part on his lower body that shouldn’t react started to rise, uncomfortably trapped in his underwear. He couldn’t see the image inside but he could picture the other man, his seemingly-thin but strong body, silky skin, and terrible strength, and that thick, blood-filled thing…….

A hoarse murmur pulled He JinFei back to reality, he was stunned and practically ran away.

Luo Xin listened to the panicked footsteps heading away from the door. Disgruntled to be cast away, he thought, what, you’re not going to come in and help? Looks like I’m going to have to take the initiative to attack next time.

“Manager He…..Manager He?”

“…..ah? What? Can you say that again?” He JinFei blinked, shooting the secretary an embarrassed smile. This was the third time he’d been distracted.

Luo Xin hadn’t been to his house since five days ago. On the first day, he still cooked a lot of food, thinking the other guy would come over later, but in the end, he waited until midnight when he finished his work but Luo Xin still didn’t arrive, so all the dishes from the table ended up in the fridge. The next day, he cooked two new servings while eating the leftovers, only to have them end up in the fridge. The result was that the fridge was full and he was angry that Luo Xin was leading him by the nose, swearing that he wouldn’t cook any more meals starting the next day! ……in the end, of course, he broke that promise.

He JinFei had spent the whole week eating leftovers.

But to say he wasn’t worried would be a lie. His anger from the beginning had turned into worry. He suddenly realized he knew nothing about Luo Xin beyond the number he had forced into his phone. Where he lived, what his hobbies were, where he usually went to hang out…..he knew none of it.

Sure enough, I’m the one who kept saying I wouldn’t sleep with him, no wonder he didn’t treat me with sincerity. He slumped into the couch, sunk deep into self-loathing.

When he saw the Pleasant Goat one night, he stopped and watched it for a while, staring at it and thinking of Luo Xin, thinking of that delicate profile as he laughed at something silly on the TV. He didn’t feel like smiling at all.

He JinFei thought, I must be crazy. His heart was actually aching. He wanted to go find Luo Xin.

When the call connected, he was a little nervous, with a thin layer of sweat on his forehead.

“Hey……?”

“It’s me, where are you?”

“……Mr. He? Why are you calling me? What a rarity, heehee.”

The call was noisy, with the sound of music and voices. He JinFei had guessed he was probably in the bar and, sure enough, he was. At that moment, there was a clear voice across the line, a man’s voice.

“Luo Xin, you’re going home so early? One more drink……”

Luo Xin seemed to laugh back in reply, and then he returned to the call and asked him what was going on.

“Where are you? I’ll come see you.”

He JinFei quietly hung up the phone and kicked Luo Xin’s little stool hard a few times. He threw it in the corner and then went out dressed as he was.

“Hey, why would you want to come see me? Did you miss me?” Luo Xin put his chin on He JinFei’s shoulder with a smile. He seemed to be in a good mood.

He JinFei dragged him out of the bar, then said without turning his head: “I’m just here to remind you to take your laptop away. Don’t take up my space with it. And I threw away that little stool, I’ll pay you back.”

The man behind him didn’t respond, he just stopped. He JinFei paused and, while he was still hesitating over whether or not to look back, he was hugged around the waist.

“Mr. He, if I leave you, no one will come eat dinner with you again and no one will accompany you to work while watching TV. Not to mention waiting for you every day in a place filled with so many mosquitoes. I will sit on someone else’s couch and hold someone else and make someone else happy and have sex with someone else……are you sure you won’t regret it?”

He JinFei, frowning, pressed him against the wall, gritting his teeth and leaning down until they were face-to-face: “Doesn’t anyone ever tell you that your mouth is annoying?!”

“Yes, so they all directly block my mouth with their own……” the second half of his sentence disappeared beneath He JinFei’s lips.

“Mr. He, didn’t you say the little stool was thrown out?”

“……”

“Have you ever thought about me while jerking off? Did you miss my shaft in your ass?”

“…..shut up!”

“Hey, Mr. He, you’re not just with me because of Chen Xiao, right – ouch!”

“What does he have to do with this?!”

“Ooh – then, didn’t you have something to ask me?”

“…..where did the roast chicken I just bought go?”

“….Mr. He, you’re so not cute…..”

Turning around, He JinFei raised the corners of his mouth a bit. Whether this was it or not, this time, he wasn’t going to let go.