Chapter 36: My Childhood Friend is Confessing to Me? Ridiculous
After Qin Feng left, Gu Yunsheng’s stomach churned. The scent of that cheap perfume lingered, making him unable to resist dry-heaving a few times.
Lu Jingheng patted his back and handed over a glass of lemon water, his tone carrying a trace of an imperceptible worry: “Are you okay? That guy is a psycho. Ignore him.”
Gu Yunsheng took the glass and took small sips, trying to suppress the nausea.
Encountering such a thing on the first day back in reality—it was truly absurd.
He smiled self-deprecatingly. It seemed the romantic debts from before transmigration were truly unavoidable.
“I’m fine.” Gu Yunsheng took a deep breath and looked at Lu Jingheng. “Let’s go. It’s suffocating in here.”
The two walked out of the bar, the streetlights stretching their shadows long.
Gu Yunsheng idly kicked a stone on the side of the road, his mind a mess. Qin Feng’s words were like a thorn stuck in his heart, making him faintly uneasy.
Lu Jingheng followed silently beside him with his hands in his pockets.
The two had grown up together and could understand each other’s thoughts with a single look.
He knew Gu Yunsheng had something on his mind but didn’t know how to ask.
“Jingheng, do you think…” Gu Yunsheng suddenly stopped and turned to look at Lu Jingheng, but he hesitated.
Lu Jingheng also stopped and looked at him quietly, waiting for him to continue.
“Nothing. Just asking.” Gu Yunsheng ultimately didn’t say it. He didn’t know how to explain to his straightforward childhood friend the inexplicable emotions in his heart.
“You…” Lu Jingheng opened his mouth as if to say something, but it eventually turned into a sigh. “Never mind. Let’s go. I’ll take you home.”
On the way home, neither spoke, and the atmosphere was somewhat oppressive.
Gu Yunsheng watched the street scenes flying past the car window, but his thoughts were thousands of miles away.
Was the world in the book really just a dream?
Then what about Ling Xi?
That domineering, paranoid, yet gentle-as-water merman—the merman who made his heart move, made him sink, and also made him suffer—would they ever meet again in this life?
That night, Gu Yunsheng had insomnia.
He tossed and turned, unable to sleep. His mind was full of Ling Xi’s deep eyes.
He clearly knew that it was just a fictional character, a fantasy existing in another world, yet that figure was inescapable.
He reached out to touch his lips. It felt as if the other man’s temperature still lingered there—domineering and burning.
He couldn’t help but recall the plots in the book. Those sweet, crazy, and painful images flashed through his mind like a revolving lantern.
He thought of Ling Xi’s madness when he would do anything for him, thought of those lingering nights between them, and thought of the despair and pain in Ling Xi’s eyes when he eventually fell into the black hole and returned to reality…
“Damn it!” Gu Yunsheng suddenly threw back the blanket and ruffled his hair in frustration.
He stood up and walked to the window with bare feet, looking at the sea a few miles away.
The distant sea surface was shimmering with light, but his heart could not be at peace.
Ling Xi’s face appeared in his mind again and again. Those deep eyes seemed to be right before him, making him wonder: Does Ling Xi really exist in the real world?
Thinking of this, he shook his head hard, casting the ridiculous thought out of his mind.
It was just a book, a fictional story; he shouldn’t indulge in it anymore.
But when it comes to feelings, how can they be cut off just because one says so?
On Gu Yunsheng’s second day back in reality, he tried his best to adapt to a normal person’s life, trying not to think about that virtual undersea world and that domineering merman.
But Ling Xi was like a nightmare, always occupying his thoughts at unexpected moments.
Especially at night, when he closed his eyes, those deep blue eyes would appear in his mind, accompanied by a low, magnetic voice: “You are mine. Don’t even think about escaping me…”
“Dr. Gu, you’re finally back at work! Where have you been these past few days? You didn’t answer calls or messages—I thought you’d been abducted by aliens!”
Just as he walked into the pet hospital, his colleague Sister Wang greeted him with an exaggerated tone. As she spoke, she waved a Teddy Bear plush in front of his eyes, wanting to wake him from his soul-lost state.
“That’s right, Dr. Gu. If you hadn’t come, the director would have called the police!” Another colleague, Xiao Li, leaned in and asked gossiping, “Tell us—did you go somewhere to enjoy yourself?”
Gu Yunsheng snapped back to his senses. Looking at the concerned gazes of his colleagues, his heart warmed.
“Sorry for making everyone worry.” He smiled apologetically. “Some things happened at home, and I lost my phone, so…”
“Oh, Dr. Gu, don’t tell me you joined some pyramid scheme? You don’t look like you’re in a good state today. Are you being controlled by some PUA?” Sister Wang leaned close to his ear and whispered mysteriously.
Gu Yunsheng didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. What was she talking about?
“Sister Wang, don’t talk nonsense. How could Dr. Gu join a secret organization?” Nurse Xiao Li also laughed and said, “I think he’s heartbroken. That’s why he hasn’t been eating or drinking.”
“Heartbroken?” Sister Wang’s eyes lit up; the fire of gossip burned brightly. “Tell us—who was so heartless that they would dump our handsome Dr. Gu?”
Just as Gu Yunsheng was about to explain, the glass door of the pet hospital was pushed open forcefully. Accompanied by the crisp sound of a wind chime, a massive Golden Retriever walked in with its head held high, followed by a helpless Lu Jingheng.
“I say, can you be a bit more stable?” Lu Jingheng said while pulling hard on the leash, attempting to control the Golden Retriever’s pace.
The Golden Retriever ignored him and walked straight to Gu Yunsheng, and then…
With a thud, the Golden Retriever actually charged right up to him, a bouquet of beautifully wrapped red roses in its mouth.
“Wow!”
“Oh my god!”
“What’s going on?!”
The pet hospital instantly erupted. The female colleagues widened their eyes and covered their mouths in disbelief.
Gu Yunsheng was also stunned by this sudden turn of events, staring blankly at the scene before him, forgetting to react for a moment.
Lu Jingheng walked up to him, gently took the roses from the Golden Retriever’s mouth, handed them to him, and said affectionately: “Sheng, I know this is sudden, but I really can’t hold back anymore. Since we parted last night, my mind has been full of you. Every smile, every look, every movement of yours is deeply engraved in my heart. I know I can’t go on like this. I must tell you my feelings…”
“Sheng, I like you! Will you be with me?”
Lu Jingheng was full of affection, speaking clearly as if afraid someone in the hospital wouldn’t hear his confession.
“Huh? Lu Jingheng, are you crazy?”
Gu Yunsheng stood frozen in place as if struck by lightning, holding the bouquet of roses. The air was filled with an awkward scent that was even more suffocating than the litter boxes in the cat ward next door.
“Oh my god! Did I hear right? Young Master Lu is confessing?”
“My god is actually into men? I have no chance.”
“Quick, take a picture! This is huge news!”
“Aaaaah! I ship it! I didn’t expect a romance story in a pet hospital to be more exciting than a TV drama!”
…
The onlookers took out their phones and began filming this sudden “love” drama. Flashlights flickered one after another as if witnessing a grand wedding.
Looking at all this, Gu Yunsheng only felt his scalp go numb, wishing he could find a hole to crawl into.
What was going on? What nerve had Lu Jingheng crossed to confess to him in front of so many people?
And as a man, he likes men? Is he joking! He endured being forced to like a merman in the book; does reality have to be this melodramatic too?
“Lu Jingheng, calm down. It must be some misunderstanding…”
Gu Yunsheng lowered his voice, trying to bring Lu Jingheng back to his senses. But Lu Jingheng seemed determined, holding his hand tightly with a burning and firm gaze.
“There’s no misunderstanding, Sheng. I’m serious! We grew up together. By high school, I was deeply attracted to you. Everything about you fascinates me…”
The more Lu Jingheng spoke, the more excited he became, as if wanting to pour out all the love he had accumulated for a long time. Gu Yunsheng, however, felt his hair stand on end. This sudden confession was giving him massive pressure.
“Lu Jingheng, stop! I don’t like you! Wake up!” Gu Yunsheng forcefully pulled back his hand, his tone carrying a warning.
“Sheng, you…” Lu Jingheng’s expression froze, his eyes filled with hurt and disbelief.
“Hey, I say, you guys might not know this. Our Dr. Gu is a public heartthrob. His pursuers come one after another without stop.” Sister Wang leaned in with a gossipy look and whispered, “In fact, a couple of days ago, a guy came looking for Dr. Gu. He was so devoted! It’s a pity Dr. Gu wasn’t here then.”
“That’s right, I was there too! That guy was so handsome and brought a huge bouquet of roses. In the end, he left disappointed because he couldn’t find him.” Nurse Xiao Li added.
Lu Jingheng’s face darkened bit by bit. His knuckles turned white on the leash.
He suddenly turned to look at Gu Yunsheng, his tone carrying a dangerous possessiveness: “Sheng, is what they’re saying true? Is it Qin Feng? Or someone else?”
Gu Yunsheng had no way to explain. He hadn’t even been on Earth for the past two days. Who could have expected Lu Jingheng would suddenly go crazy and run to the pet hospital to confess?
Just as he was struggling with how to explain, Sister Wang, who loved to watch the chaos, spoke again: “Xiao Lu, you might not know this. Dr. Gu is notoriously hard to chase! His pursuers could form a line from the hospital entrance to the curb!”
“Lu Jingheng, don’t listen to their nonsense, I…”
Just as Gu Yunsheng was about to explain, he was pulled into Lu Jingheng’s arms. The man’s voice was low and dangerous, carrying a strong warning: “Sheng, I don’t care what others say. I only ask you: who is the person you like?”
The sudden embrace and the strong masculine pheromones from Lu Jingheng made Gu Yunsheng’s mind go blank. He struggled to push him away, but the other man held him tighter.
“Lu Jingheng, let go! You’re hurting me!”
“Sheng, tell me, what kind of person do you like? I’ll change into that, okay?” Lu Jingheng had no intention of letting go, his tone carrying a hint of paranoid madness.
Everyone, including Gu Yunsheng, didn’t expect this farce to develop to this point. They held their breath, their gazes switching between Gu Yunsheng and Lu Jingheng, waiting for the final conclusion of this romantic drama.
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