Apartment 4F

12: How to tell if a guy is gay

When they reached their apartment, they were greeted by two people Yue didn't expect to see.

"What are you all doing here??"

Her bestfriends from Hangzhou, Wang Zi Wei and Sun Ning, were leaning casually against the door frame.

"Surprise," Zi Wei said nonchalantly.

"We just leeched on the free school transport as an excuse," Sun Ning clarified. "We don't actually care about basketball. Or sweaty men."

"Oh I care... I care a lot," Zi Wei emphasised, giving Dylan an appreciative once-over. Staring pointedly at Yue and Dylan's still-intertwined hands and back up at Yue, she smirked.

It was only then that Yue realised she was still holding his hand and hastily let go.

"Lao Gao couldn't make it," Sun Ning informed her.

Zi Wei nodded. "Yeah, there were only two seats left on the last bus, and we grabbed it. So he couldn't get on."

They all shared a chuckle. It was sort of a running joke that the fourth member of their little gang was always getting left out for strange reasons.

Yue invited them into the apartment, and Dylan gallantly offered to cook dinner for all of them, assuring them he didn't need any assistance. As the three of them adjourned to the couch, Dylan fastened his apron and got down to doing what he does best (after basketball of course).

"Are you sure you don't want me to help you?" Yue offered again, turning around to look at him from where she was seated.

"No, it's alright - you just catch up with your friends," he replied, deftly slicing the ingredients at the kitchen island.

Sun Ning and Zi Wei exchanged a knowing look.

"It's a good thing then, that Gao Zhi Ting isn't here to see this," Zi Wei mused.

"See what?"

"You, and him, playing house."

"Tsk. We're not - besides, Gao Zhi Ting is my darling..."

"... son," Yue concluded mischievously.

"Shen Yue, as a man, I can tell you, Gao Zhi Ting doesn't regard you as his mother. Unless you mean like in those hentai Japanese mangas..."

Yue and Zi Wei both threw Sun Ning judgmental looks.

"There's nothing going on between me and Lao Gao, or me and Dylan," Yue insisted.

Ignoring her, Zi Wei continued, "I don't know how you keep finding yourself all these fine men, first Hu Yi Tian and now..." She gestured towards the one preparing dinner as though he was some sort of professional chef.

"I'm not with any of them," Yue repeated. "And you know what happened with Hu Yi Tian.

At this, Zi Wei fell silent, looking suitably chastised. Sun Ning, who had a small crush on Zi Wei and was slightly miffed that she kept harping on what a great catch Dylan was, thought to point out: "He looks a couple of inches shorter than Hu Yi Tian though."

"Pffft," Zi Wei scoffed. "What is a couple of inches when you have that face - "

"You were the one who said every inch mattered..." Sun Ning looked at her accusingly.

"I wasn't talking about height..."

"Guys!" Yue interjected.

Furtively glancing at the kitchen island, she saw the corner of Dylan's mouth tilt upwards slightly, as he pretended not to be listening to their conversation.

"Let's go to my room."

__________

Unable to hide it any longer, and making them swear on their lives, their pets and their ancestors never to divulge this to anyone else, she told them the secret - why she and him could never be.

Zi Wei sighed. "I guess what they say is true - all the good ones always turn out to be gay..."

Sun Ning frowned.

Later on, as they ate together, he couldn't help but notice several things.

The way Dylan gazed at Yue when he thought no one was looking. The way he glared at Sun Ning whenever Yue paid him too much attention, or touched him. Amongst other slightly odd behaviour, such as, using a tissue to delicately wipe the rim of his cup, and then shredding the tissue to pieces. Or, standing up to take dishes that were directly in front of him.

Sun Ning pulled Yue aside after dinner.

"I don't think he's gay," he told her.

"... How do you know?"

"Well, for one, he seems more interested in you than in me."

Yue turned to him, her large brown eyes wide and serious. "Could it be because you're not exactly a very attractive male specimen? In the time that I haven't seen you, you've really let yourself go."

She patted his tummy teasingly, and true enough, he noticed the other guy scowling at them.

As they were leaving to catch the bus back to Hangzhou, Sun Ning shouted over his shoulder for Yue to consider what he said.

"What did he say?" Dylan asked, curious.

"Nothing."

__________

Author's Note:

Parts of this are inspired by/ adapted from Yue's Weibo post wishing her ALSB co-star Gao Zhi Ting happy birthday (and calling him her "darling... son"), as well as Didi's eating behaviour during the Inn.

Actually, Hangzhou is not very far from Shanghai, so Gao Zhi Ting could have gotten on any regular bus if he really wanted to come along to see Yue, but... I didn't need him to be here so 🤷🏽‍♀️😅

As always, thank you for reading my ramblings - I am trying to write/ ramble (?) faster so this can finish faster haha

✌🏽Asian