Chapter 5: He's Gay
Xu Jin adjusted his collar, buttoning his shirt before winking at his reflection in the mirror. The morning felt cool and nice, and he just had a feeling that today was going to go well for him.
He headed to the kitchen, making coffee for himself while humming a song. He heard a ding coming from his phone, which meant someone had sent him a message. At the same time, Lei Zhang walked into the kitchen, already dressed in his suit.
Seeing the already-made coffee on the counter, Lei Zhang reached out to take it, but Xu Jin immediately snatched it away.
"Go make your own."
Xu Jin sipped the coffee while checking the message that had been sent to him by Xu Jun. It read:
Big bro, check out the picture I saw online this morning.
Scrolling down to see the picture, what Xu Jin saw next made him spit out the coffee in his mouth.
Unfortunately for Lei Zhang, he was standing right in front of Xu Jin and received the entire shower of coffee.
"Xu Jin!"
Lei Zhang yelled, but Xu Jin's eyes were still glued to his phone. He finally looked up at Lei Zhang.
"Look what a paparazzi posted on social media."
Xu Jin handed him the phone. Lei Zhang, still glaring at Xu Jin, took it and scrolled through the post.
It was a picture of him and Xu Jin at Fengxian when Xu Jin had been helping him take off his suit after the fish-fragrant sauce spilled on him.
Then there was another picture of the two of them on the porch the previous night.
In front of the pictures was a caption:
"Secret behind the CEO of Titan Core's hate for women: He has a boyfriend. They went on a date and spent the night at his home. He is gay."
Lei Zhang rolled his eyes and handed the phone back to Xu Jin.
"You reacted like that just for this?" Lei Zhang asked.
"How else am I supposed to react to a post like this?" Xu Jin yelled.
"That's just paparazzi being paparazzi. They make money by posting fake rumors online," Lei Zhang said.
"Fake rumors, yes, but many people are still going to believe it's true," Xu Jin argued.
"Rumors are rumors. That's it."
Lei Zhang walked back to his room to change his suit, which now smelled like coffee.
Xu Jin ruffled his hair, feeling frustrated. Unlike Lei Zhang, who didn't care about what people said about him online or anywhere else, Xu Jin was different. He cared a lot about his reputation.
"It's all his fault. I told him to get himself a girlfriend and stop dragging me along, but he wouldn't listen. I knew this would happen."
He angrily shoved his phone back into his suit pocket.
So much for having a good day.
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Xiao Yanran had just come out of the shower and was putting on her school uniform when she heard hurried footsteps running through the passage.
"Mum! Dad! You need to see this!"
She recognized her sister's voice and rolled her eyes.
Done with her uniform, she walked into the living room and saw her parents scrolling through Xiao Wan's phone.
"The CEO of Titan Core is gay?" her father asked.
Xiao Wan immediately began sobbing.
"I've lost him! I've lost him!"
She cried as her mother patted her back.
Lost him? He doesn't even know you exist.
Xiao Yanran rolled her eyes inwardly. Of course, she wouldn't dare say it out loud.
She walked back to her room, picked up her school bag, and left the house.
"Yanran!"
She heard her name being called the moment she stepped out of the yard.
She turned and saw a man in his seventies walking toward her while rolling a bicycle.
It was Chen Nan, her friendly neighbor.
"Mr. Chen," she said happily, hurrying over to him and bowing respectfully.
"Yanran, dear, I've fixed your bicycle," the old man said.
Her eyes lit up.
"Really?"
She examined the bicycle.
"Yes. I brought it back to life. But I don't think you should ride it to school, so those bullies don't mess it up again," Mr. Chen said.
"Understood. Thank you so much."
She bowed respectfully again before leaving with the bicycle as the old man watched her go.
"What a sweet soul," he said to himself.
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Lei Zhang was busy on his computer when Xu Jin walked in and sat opposite him.
"Are you doing anything about this rumor? Your employees have been casting weird looks at me since this morning, and it makes me uncomfortable."
Lei Zhang turned off his computer.
"I've sent Bai and his team to track down the person behind the post," Lei Zhang said.
Xu Jin finally calmed down.
"We'll be having a meeting with the game designers to review the storyboards," Lei Zhang said.
"What time?" Xu Jin asked.
"By twelve."
"Alright."
Xu Jin was about to say something when a thought seemed to click in Lei Zhang's mind.
"I wanted to tell you. The CEO of Black Mesa Games, Yang Zhi, the host of yesterday's event, wants to have a partnership with me," Lei Zhang said.
"Well, he—"
Xu Jin was suddenly interrupted by the ringing of his phone.
Seeing that it was Xu Jun calling, he picked up immediately.
"Big bro."
Xu Jun's voice came through the phone. Unlike the energetic Xu Jun, whose voice was usually loud whenever he called, he sounded like he had been crying.
"Jun, what's wrong?"
Xu Jin's face was already filled with worry.
"Yun fainted at school."
Xu Jun's voice was teary.
"How? I told you to always observe his heart-rate watch," Xu Jin said.
"Yes, but it wasn't beeping. When we arrived at school this morning, he only said he was feeling tired. I told him we could go back home, but he insisted on staying. Then, while lessons were going on, he began complaining that he couldn't breathe.
"The teacher allowed me to take him to the nurse's office, but before we could even get to the door, he fainted."
Xu Jun sniffed.
It was obvious he had cried his eyes out.
"Where are you two now?" Xu Jin asked.
"We're at Phoenix Hope. Dr. Rui hasn't come out of the ward since Yun was rushed in," Xu Jun said, choking on his tears.
He was clearly still crying.
Xu Jun was always known for his toughness and agility, but whenever it came to his twin, he would turn into a complete crybaby.
"I'm coming right away."
Xu Jin ended the call and turned to Lei Zhang, who also had a worried expression on his face.
Xu Jin's phone was always on speaker, so Lei Zhang had heard everything.
"I can't attend the meeting anymore. I need to go," Xu Jin said, hurrying to leave.
"I'll go with you."
Lei Zhang stood up as well, but Xu Jin stopped him.
"No. You still need to meet with the game designers. Don't worry, I can handle it."
Xu Jin hurried away, leaving Lei Zhang watching him disappear before he let out a sigh.
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"The CEO of Titan Core is gay?"
Li Wen asked as she and Xiao Yanran walked along the passageway.
Xiao Yanran nodded.
"Well, that's what my older sister saw online. You should've seen her, crying and saying she's lost him."
Li Wen scoffed.
"Man, I'm glad you're not like your sister."
Xiao Yanran exhaled sadly.
"I wish my parents could say the same about me. They're always talking about how Xiao Wan is the sweet child and I'm the bad egg."
"Forget that. Your parents are just unsupportive," Li Wen said.
Xiao Yanran immediately became uncomfortable with the subject and changed it.
"Anyway, Mr. Chen fixed up my bicycle."
"That's nice. Did you bring it?" Li Wen asked.
"Of course not. I don't want those bullies damaging it again."
"That's because you let them pick on you," Li Wen said.
They came out of the school building and headed toward where the students parked their bicycles.
"Don't worry. I came with my bike. I'll drive you ho—"
Li Wen stopped talking the moment she saw her bicycle.
One of its tires was off, and the bicycle was lying on the ground. Even the front light was broken.
"What in the world happened to my bike?!"
Li Wen yelled.
Three girls stepped forward, folding their arms arrogantly.
"Oops. Perhaps we went too far," one of the girls said sarcastically.
The other two laughed.
"Why did you damage my bike?!" Li Wen yelled at them.
"Well, when we found out you use it to carry this loser home…"
One of them pointed at Xiao Yanran.
"We had to give it a little change."
Li Wen glared at them and took a few steps forward, but Xiao Yanran immediately held her back.
"Li Wen, don't fight. Don't worry, I'll help you fix it. Just ignore them."
Xiao Yanran said.
Li Wen exhaled.
"Don't worry. I just want to talk it out."
Xiao Yanran let go of her.
"With my fist!"
Li Wen completed the sentence before diving at them.
Xiao Yanran rushed forward to stop her, but Li Wen had already grabbed one of the girls by the hair and another by the ear, while the third girl fled.
Xiao Yanran tried to drag Li Wen away, but Li Wen had a tight grip on them. The more Xiao Yanran pulled,
the worse it got because the girls' hair and ears were being dragged along with them.
Just when would these girls understand that Xiao Yanran and Li Wen were two very different people?
Unlike Xiao Yanran, Li Wen would make you pay.
T.B.C.