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

382 It's Obvious from the Outside

A month went by and neither was he told anything more about Mo Fang by others, he didn't hear from the person himself either. By now, he really didn't know what to think anymore.

When he finished tidying up after the course with Zhu Yi that day, he couldn't help but glance toward the door, his brows furrowing. He couldn't help himself. Every time, he expected him to walk back through that door.

Zhu Yi noticed that he was looking over and followed his gaze but, of course, he only saw an empty doorway. Puzzled, he turned back to Li Ming. "What's the matter?"

Li Ming sighed and threw up his hands. "I don't know. It's ... it's stupid."

Zhu Yi felt even more intrigued when he heard that. "In which way?"

Li Ming wasn't sure if he should say anything at all but seeing that his behavior had already been noticed, he figured he couldn't very well pretend that everything was alright. "It's about my ex."

"Oh." Zhu Yi grimaced. "Is he still bothering you?"

Li Ming shook his head. "No, he isn't. That's exactly it. I ... I don't get why. I totally expected him to turn up here several times, to ... have others ask me in his stead whether I have considered it already, or ... whatever else he can come up with. But he hasn't done a single of those things."

Zhu Yi tilted his head. "Isn't that good?"

"Yeah. Yeah, it is." Li Ming nodded but he still seemed bothered.

Zhu Yi couldn't make heads or tails of the situation. "I mean, you don't want him to bother you, do you? Why do you seem so stressed by this?"

Li Ming rubbed his forehead. "Well, I guess I'm just apprehensive. He wouldn't accept it when I broke up with him and pestered me until I actually resigned from my job and told him very clearly that I never wanted to see him again. It just seems unlikely that he is so easygoing this time."

Zhu Yi pursed his lips. "Well ... I mean, I don't know him as well as you do but that breakup has been a while ago, right?"

Li Ming gave a hum. "It's been three years."

"Then maybe he has simply changed? Maybe he's not the type of guy anymore that would pester an ex-boyfriend who doesn't want to see him. I mean, I could be wrong with this." He shrugged his shoulders but his gaze was serious. "I just think that he didn't seem totally crazy the last time he came by. It as if ..." He thought about it for a moment but wasn't sure how to describe it. "It almost seemed as if he simply came by to tell you the fact that he's back. As for meeting up, that seemed to be an offer, nothing more."

Li Ming nodded. "Yeah, maybe it's really nothing more than that." He still furrowed his brows though, unable to believe it. He didn't trust Mo Fang. He was sure that there had to be some kind of underhanded trick that he simply couldn't see.

Zhu Yi cleared his throat. "So, I don't mean to pry or get involved in your private relationships but ... seeing as this has apparently bothered you for several weeks now, maybe you should reach out?"

Li Ming raised his brows. "Wouldn't that be playing into his hands?"

"I mean, if he has some evil master plan, yeah, sure. But then, you'll at least know what is really up. Right now, aren't you constantly thinking about it anyway? How is that any better? After you make sure, you might be able to close that chapter for real. If it was me, I'd feel better about that."

Li Ming gave a hum, his expression turning thoughtful. "I guess you're not wrong. Right now, I'm always on edge, thinking I'll run into him somewhere, or somebody will reach out, or he'll do anything else literally any moment now. It's ... maddening."

He shook his head at himself for letting it get this far and then nodded. "You know what? I think you're right. I should reach out and see what he wants. After that, I can still go back to blocking him."

Anyway, even if they met up and it turned out that Mo Fang had indeed wanted to use that opportunity to reconnect, he could just tell him then and there that he wasn't interested. And who knew? He doubted that it was the case but Mo Fang might indeed have changed. After all, three years were still a lot when you were in your twenties. Wasn't he the same?

He had grown in these years. Both as a person in general and also in regard to his relationships. Maybe Mo Fang had as well. After all, he had clearly been in new relationships and he had lived overseas where he wasn't constantly surrounded by the same people and couldn't always fall back on his parents. Maybe that had allowed him to ... grow up?

Li Ming didn't want to put too much hope into the slim chance that this might be true but he was willing to give Mo Fang the benefit of the doubt at least for a bit. If it turned out to be wrong ... at least he would know for sure.

He turned to Zhu Yi and smiled. "Thank you. I genuinely don't think I could have made up my mind about this without your advice."

Zhu Yi simply waved. "Don't worry about that. It's difficult to see the obvious things you can do sometimes when you're directly involved. Looking at it from the outside, it's always easier because the situation doesn't come with the same baggage. Anyway, if you want to talk about it again in the future, I'm here. I promised I wouldn't bring it up on my own but that doesn't mean that I can't listen."

Li Ming nodded. "Thank you. Then, I'd better go and take care of this."

Zhu Yi nodded as well and the two of them went to change their clothes before finally bidding farewell, one going home to his girlfriend while the other went to walk out randomly, phone in his hand and his thumb hovering over the unblock button.