The Unknown

Predicament

Mu Ren is standing in his balcony with his morning coffee, thinking back to the afternoon a few weeks back, on the roof of their office building when he was bawling his eyes out and Li Cheng was comforting him. Li Cheng was holding him, while he cried like he had been doing since that disastrous night. And he relaxed in his arms like he always had since that night.

Li Cheng kept assuring him that he was strong, that he could get through the pain, and that he would be with him every step of the way.

And he was. He kept his word.

Li Cheng always had his back. He gave him the boost he needed to fight back. His support urged him to go against Gao.

Mu Ren would have never reached this point today if it wasn't for Li Cheng. Which brings him back to his current predicament.

Somewhere along the way, he fell in love. He fell in love with his friend, who was helping him cope.

As the tears dried up and Mu Ren regained his composure, he looked up and noticed the sympathy and compassion in Li Cheng's eyes. The affection in his eyes somehow morphed into love in Mu Ren's heart.

No one had ever been this nice to him, never cared this much for him. He was always the cold and distant one, who never really warmed up to anyone easily. Li Cheng was able to break him out of the shell. He teased and annoyed him as much as he cared and protected. With all his playfulness and brattiness, Li Cheng warmed his way into Mu Ren's heart long before all this happened. He was his best friend.

And now, he was much more than that. He had been Mu Ren's support, his pillar since that dreadful night. He ran to him every time he had a nightmare, he comforted him when he needed, gave him space when he requested, looked out for him emotionally and mentally. He had seen him at his lowest and worst and still stood by him.

He shouldn't have fallen in love. Not with his straight best friend.

Even after he had realized his feelings, he kept it to himself, not wanting to wreck their friendship.

How long will I be able to hide my feelings? Li Cheng knows that I like someone and now Xing Si knows who it is. What if....what if Li Cheng finds out?

Indubitably, he will hate me.

What will I do then? I can't bear losing him now.

What do I do? How do I stop this? I had Li Cheng to fight against Gao, but who will help me get over him?

Li Cheng joins him on the balcony when he wakes up.

"Hey, TengTeng. Good morning."

Mu Ren quickly wipes away the single tear that has fallen from his left eye before turning to face Li Cheng.

"Hi."

"Are you still mad at me?"

"No."

"Xing Si told me you got drunk last night."

Mu Ren tenses thinking of what else Xing Si might have told him.

"I'm sorry, TengTeng. I didn't mean to upset you. I just thought...Gill and you could be happy together. I was being inconsiderate I guess."

"You are never inconsiderate. I know you meant well. So don't apologize." Mu Ren assures him.

"I promise, I won't do anything of this sort again. Not until you want me to. Not until you are ready."

"Mn. Okay."

"If it makes you feel any better, she hit me over and over after you left us. So I already received my punishment." he laughs.