Second Male Lead to One, Male Lead to Another (Part 2)

224 You've Always Lied to Me

The two of them made their way over to the locker room and just as Mo Fang had promised, he put down his bag before he turned to Li Ming. "Thanks for that. I already saw the way to the training room outside so you don't have to stay around to show me the way. You can just go and ... do your own thing."

Li Ming looked at him, not quite sure what to make of this. Did Mo Fang really just want to work out here? He didn't have any actual evidence against that but he just couldn't believe it. Thus, he kept standing around, looking at him awkwardly.

Mo Fang had opened his bag as if he really didn't think much about it and pulled out a set of sportswear. When he reached up to take off the shirt he was currently wearing, he seemed to inadvertently glance over his shoulder and notice Li Ming still standing there.

He blinked his eyes and then lowered his hands, raising his brows faintly. "Is something the matter?" He hesitated for a moment and then crossed his arms in front of his chest. "I hope I didn't make things awkward for you by turning up here. I just remembered that you mentioned this place and thought it had to be good. So I wanted to give it a try as well."

Li Ming furrowed his brows. "And that is all?"

"Yes, what else could there be?"

Li Ming's brows furrowed even more tightly. Had it had been anybody else, he would've just let it go but with Mo Fang ... he just didn't think that he should. He looked around the locker room and realized that they were currently alone so this was probably as good a moment as any.

He also crossed his arms in front of his chest, not sure what to do with this hands otherwise. "Mo Fang, if this was just about registering at the same gym, I wouldn't say anything. But you just very coincidentally get here the same time I do. Don't you think that's a little peculiar?"

Mo Fang blinked his eyes as if he had no idea what his ex-boyfriend was talking about. "Well, I came here a while after work. I honestly thought that even if you went directly after your shift, you probably should've been finished already when I showed up. After all, we had the same shift today, didn't we?"

Li Ming stared at him, feeling that, to be honest, this was true. The problem was that because Mo Fang hadn't really accepted their breakup at first, and had always been trying to catch him, wanting to talk things through and get him to give him another chance, he had started to change some things about his life to avoid him.

One of these changes had been to not go to the gym at the same time as he had previously, starting from about two weeks ago. And he didn't think that Mo Fang had no idea about that. "Mo Fang, even if we assume that, you do realize we're broken up, right?"

Mo Fang looked at him, a trace of hurt in his eyes. "Well, you made that obvious enough. Although I still think you shouldn't have just left me a post-it note. That seems worse than getting a text message."

Li Ming lowered his head, actually feeling guilty about that part. "I thought it would be easier if you knew beforehand." Not that it had helped much. Mo Fang had still been there when he returned the next day, even though he had waited several hours after getting up.

At the time he arrived, Mo Fang had been sitting on his couch, looking quite pitiful. He had really had second thoughts at that moment because it really hurt seeing him like this. In the end though, it hadn't hurt as much as when he found out his life with Mo Fang had been one big series of lies. So in the end, he still stayed strong and told him that it was over.

Mo Fang pursed lips and then shook his head. "Well, I'm not angry or anything about that. You did what you thought best and it's not like I was on my best behavior either. Still, you don't need to worry. I've accepted it, really."

Li Ming looked into his eyes and he almost wanted to believe him when he was reminded that Mo Fang had looked pretty much the same way when he lied to him before. The thing was ... He couldn't trust him. With anything.

He went to put his own bag down on the other side, taking out his own clothes. "You know, you don't need to message me anymore."

Mo Fang looked over his shoulder, not sure what to do about that. "But why?"

Li Ming crumpled the shirt between his hands, having a hard time saying any of this. "As I just said, we've already broken up."

"Well, true but ... but we can still stay friends, right?"

Li Ming looked over his shoulder, trying to make his expression look calmer than he felt right now. "Mo Fang, you lied to me. Not just once but several times."

"But I've been trying to tell you this past month, that was because it was supposed to be a surprise! It's not like I had some big scheme of roping you into becoming a model or something. I just wanted to surprise you with the photos when there was a nice opportunity. I wanted to be something special! I just didn't think it through."

Li Ming threw down the shirt and turned around, walking the few steps over to Mo Fang. Looking into his face, he made sure that he didn't miss even the smallest of changes in his expression.

"So that was that about the matter with Bian Huan. Then what about the time that your father threw you out? Was that the truth? Or the time when you told me that you wanted to have children in the future, just not right now? Was that the truth? Or when you told me that you were into sports and you would love to go and run with me every morning? But then somehow, after a week and a half, you always found excuses why that wouldn't work out. Did you initially tell me the truth? And honestly Mo Fang, I'm able to find a hundred different examples of these things. You've always lied to me, haven't you?"