Chapter 58: The Confession That Wasn’t

Shen Zheming had someone he liked, and he was figuring out how to turn that person into his boyfriend.

Fang Kexin recognized each word individually, but when they were put together, she almost thought her jet lag was causing hallucinations.

After digesting the information, she immediately said, “If you like someone, just confess! Go for it, like I did.”

“And then get rejected like you?” Shen Zheming shot her a look, a hint of disdain in his voice. “Do I look as stupid as you?”

Fang Kexin: “…”

She felt like she’d been personally attacked for no reason.

“Pfft, I never thought you’d be afraid of being rejected one day.”

Shen Zheming ignored her schadenfreude. He opened his phone and tapped on the photo in the group chat again.

The moment he saw Lu Jinguo crouching at the school gate to ambush Lu Shi, and chose to drive the man away for Lu Shi’s sake, wanting Lu Shi to cut ties with that bad, dark past, he had already prepared himself to like someone.

The process might be long, but patience was something he had in spades.

Just then, a servant pushed open the terrace door and reminded them, “Young Master, Miss Fang, dinner is ready. You may come downstairs.”

Fang Kexin stood up straight, cleared her throat, and replied in a sweet, pleasant voice with a smile, “Coming.”

After a movie ended, the dispersing crowd was filled with bursts of laughter as people discussed the plot.

Ding Wei was also laughing so hard he was out of breath, clutching his stomach as he came out. He’d almost slapped his thigh red earlier.

It was just meal time, and the mall was crowded.

The group found a restaurant with good business.

Lu Shi thought about it carefully later and decided that in two lifetimes, Shen Zheming was the first and currently the only person who had gotten this close to him. That was why he couldn’t help but focus on the other’s affairs.

Shen Zheming had dinner at the Shen residence. He treated it like a task, getting up to leave less than twenty minutes after sitting down.

Mrs. Shen, unaware of the situation, called out to him, “Zheming, won’t you stay and chat with Xiaoxin a little longer?”

Fang Kexin, who knew what was going on, quickly said, “It’s fine, Auntie. Zheming and I talked for a long time before dinner. I’m already touched that he made time to come back tonight.”

Shen Zheming glanced at her.

At least she had some tact.

No one expected Shen Zheming to come back after dinner.

Ding Wei had burned his mouth on the barbecue and was grimacing, losing all composure as he bit into the meat to vent. When he saw Shen Zheming walk in, he froze. “Brother Shen?! How did you know we were eating here?”

Since he didn’t know how late it would go, Shen Zheming had driven himself over. “Yu Xi posted a restaurant check-in photo in the group.”

Yu Xi had just snapped it casually. He never expected Shen Zheming to look so closely and find them from the restaurant name printed on the plate.

Ding Wei was sitting in the same row as Lu Shi. As soon as Shen Zheming came over, he uncharacteristically moved his butt to make room for Shen Zheming, going to sit with Yu Xi instead.

Without realizing it, they had gotten used to Brother Shen and Brother Lu being together. It would feel strange if they sat diagonally.

As soon as Shen Zheming sat down, he caught a whiff of alcohol.

His gaze flickered. He looked down at the person beside him, who had one arm resting on the table and was leaning lazily against the seat. “Have you been drinking?”

Lu Shi: “Yeah. I had a craving.”

They had ordered beer, low in alcohol and not much taste, but tonight he inexplicably felt like having some.

Shen Zheming frowned slightly. “It’s too cold. Can you handle it?”

Lu Shi squeezed the can. “An occasional indulgence won’t hurt.”

Their conversation seemed normal, answers to every question with a casual tone.

But for some reason, Shen Zheming felt that Lu Shi was a bit off tonight. Especially when he spoke, there used to be occasional eye contact, but now Lu Shi seemed to be deliberately avoiding his gaze.

It was as if, during the time he went home, their relationship had plummeted back to when they first met.

The two across the table lowered their voices, reading the atmosphere and communicating with lip movements.

“What’s going on? Did they have a fight?”

“No idea. They both seem weird tonight, especially Brother Lu.”

Lu Shi didn’t know why the two across the table had such a misunderstanding.

He was just talking less tonight.

Shen Zheming had already eaten at home, so he sat there drinking tea.

The pair across the table, under this strange atmosphere, quickly finished their meal.

“How are you two getting back?” Lu Shi asked Ding Wei and Yu Xi when it was time to pay.

One said he’d take a cab, the other said he lived nearby and would walk.

Lu Shi paused. “Then I’ll also…”

The person behind him spoke up. “I drove.”

The two lived close by and it was on the way. It would be hard to justify not going together.

On the way back, the car was unusually quiet.

Lu Shi thought it over and felt that keeping this matter bottled up inside wasn’t a solution.

Earlier, he needed Shen Zheming’s temporary mark because he didn’t want to get an injection, and a bite was no loss to an Alpha. But if Shen Zheming really liked Fang Kexin, then this couldn’t continue. He couldn’t stay in this ambiguous state with Shen Zheming.

Just then, the car arrived at the apartment building.

“Brother Shen, can I ask you a question?”

Lu Shi’s fingers rested on the door handle. He figured Shen Zheming probably didn’t know his exact alcohol tolerance, so he could ask, immediately open the door and get out, and claim he was too drunk to remember anything the next day.

Shen Zheming parked the car steadily. “What question?”

Lu Shi licked his lips and thought it over. “I have a friend who went to the same high school as you.”

Lu Shi’s gaze instinctively drifted to the window, the floor, or corners as he racked his brain to make it sound believable. “Before, some people at your high school spread rumors about you and Fang Kexin. He heard that Fang Kexin came back, so he wanted me to ask you, what’s your relationship with Fang Kexin?”

Shen Zheming loosened his grip on the steering wheel.

The stone that had been hanging over his heart since they met at the restaurant finally settled.

He finally knew where the problem was.

Shen Zheming was almost amused by the irony.

Fang Kexin was really toxic. Not only did she fail her own confession, she almost got him to join her loser-in-love club.

This blame had to be pinned on Fang Kexin.

Having found the reason, Shen Zheming instead turned the question around. “Why would your friend ask that?”

Lu Shi’s eyelashes fluttered rapidly. He hadn’t drunk much tonight, but he felt like he was getting tipsy.

“Maybe… he likes Fang Kexin.”

Other than that, Lu Shi couldn’t think of a better reason.

Shen Zheming raised an eyebrow.

“First, she’s Huo Qian’s cousin. She’s just a friend to me, a ride-or-die.

“Second, I don’t like her. The person she’s after is Shen Luo. In her eyes, I’m just a tool who provides intel.

“Finally, those high school rumors were pure fabrication.”

With a few straightforward words, without any beating around the bush, he clarified their relationship completely, as if afraid there might be some misunderstanding left.

“Done asking?”

Lu Shi took a couple of seconds to react, then let out a muffled “Mm.”

Under Shen Zheming’s gaze, his back felt hot. Afraid that staying longer would expose him, he was about to open the door and get out.

He pulled, but it didn’t open.

“When did you lock the doors?”

“Just now.”

Lu Shi’s heart skipped a beat. He forced a smile. “Brother Shen, why did you lock the car?”

Someone was a master at unconsciously teasing others, but a complete mess at deliberately lying.

Shen Zheming lowered his gaze.

“The table next to you guys at dinner had someone randomly emitting pheromones. The blocker I sprayed today wasn’t enough.”

Then he deliberately paused, looking at the other’s ears, which were flushing red from nervousness, and slowly continued.

“I’m a bit affected and feeling uncomfortable. Can I hold you for a while before we go up?”

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