Chapter 71 (2/2)
Min Chen’s footsteps halted. He turned to Akkad and questioned, “You think I’m gay?”
Akkad immediately waved his hand. “No, no. I mean, whether you are gay or not, I hope you can find someone to share your life with.”
Of course, that person better not be his lovely student.
“Oh,” was all Min Chen could say. Opening the door of the room, he took a half step then turned around and added, “It seems that I actually. . . am homosexual.”
Not giving Akkad a moment to react, Min Chen turned and left.
After a few seconds, Akkad snarled in anger, “Auston Bertram! You tell me clearly, what are your intentions with my student? You come back here!!!”
The layers of clouds covering the sky were gradually thinned out as the evening wind blew. In the warm hustle and bustle of the setting sun, a handsome young man with a violin case leaned against the violin department building, waiting.
Qi Mu wore a light gray coat and had a long beige scarf wrapped around his neck. The woolen scarf rubbed at his half-obscured face.
He hadn’t waited long when a handsome man appeared. Smiling, he stepped over. “I didn’t think you would come out so soon. I thought Professor Akkad would talk to you for a while.”
Min Chen was surprised to see him there. He thought that Qi Mu already left, but when he saw that he was waiting for him, his heart skipped a beat. An indescribable emotion pooled in his chest.
“Well, it wasn’t that important.”
Qi Mu didn’t take him seriously. He knew that even Bai Ai’s concert could only be regarded as “general news” to Min Chen. The man never felt nervous.
They walked side-by-side along the white cobblestone path. “When we practiced this evening, I really felt what you wanted to express. Thank you for spending your time with me these days.” Qi Mu paused, then added, “Min Chen, in fact, I really think you’re a nice person, though sometimes you’re not expressive, but. . . you really care about people.”
Min Chen raised his eyebrows but didn’t breathe a word.
Qi Mu couldn’t tell what was wrong with him. He looked up at the sky, at the red sunset, and squinted. He mused, “I used to know a good person. . . he was very enthusiastic because I was new there. He took care of me.”
The words that he spoke were vague, almost no one could guess who he was talking about. Min Chen listened in silence as he continued, “But then I found out he was frigid. It was unbelievable that he could actually. . . be that kind of a person.”
Qi Mu’s voice gradually subsided.
Until Luo Yu Sen closed the door, Qi Mu didn’t believe ——
That there were people who could be this vicious.
In the setting sun, he lowered his head, and his face was covered in shadows. He stared at the cobblestones on the ground. They glittered like gemstones, reflecting the sun.
Qi Mu didn’t notice that while he was looking down at the stones, Min Chen was staring at him with wide eyes.
Min Chen’s heart fluttered in his chest, beating faster and faster. He couldn’t ignore it and felt like it was about to beat right out of his chest.
The cobblestones shone, but they weren’t nearly as attention-grabbing as Qi Mu.
The sound of musical instruments could be heard across campus. It may not have been perfect, but it soothed Qi Mu. He felt so much lighter, shifting his attention away from that scum.
Qi Mu didn’t know why he said something like that to Min Chen. However, he felt relieved after telling the secret so deeply hidden in his heart.
Some secrets, even deeply suppressed, need to be released. Sharing them with someone, anyone, could help, even if they didn’t understand.
Once he had vented, Qi Mu smiled, and his eyes curled into crescents. “Sorry, I said something that was. . .”
Qi Mu’s words came to a screeching halt. He stared blankly as Min Chen’s hand reached out and stroked his hair. Min Chen’s fingertips touched his forehead, making his heart skip a beat. A strange feeling of numbness and brittleness spread from where they touched.
Min Chen apparently didn’t expect that he would turn so suddenly. Stunned for a moment, he coughed, “You had a white petal on your head. I wanted to remove it. . .”
Words trailing off, Min Chen stepped back, looking at the top of his head.
The beautiful atmosphere disappeared without a trace, and Qi Mu frowned. “What’s wrong?”
“. . . There’s a bug.”
Qi Mu: “. . .”
Reflexively touching his hair, Qi Mu wiped a small white bug off his head. Expressionless, his movements were brutal and decisive.
Min Chen: “. . .”
When he saw Min Chen’s guarded expression, he couldn’t help but laugh. “If Dylan knew of this. . . No, if your fans could see this. What would you do?”
“. . .”
Qi Mu turned his eyes and said deliberately, “Probably. . . from pure fans to black powder fans?”
“. . .”
“Well, they’d be disappointed at the least. After all, they think of you as. . . Are you angry? I was just joking! You can rest assured, I will never tell anyone about this, I swear by God! “
“. . .”
“Well, if you don’t believe in God, what about this? I’ll swear by Paganini?”
“. . .”
“You don’t believe in Paganini? Well, then I really. . . Huh?”
Qi Mu shuddered, his light eyes wide in horror——his waist was tightly grabbed by Min Chin, the distance was so close, so close that he could smell his scent.
The world became quiet. Qi Mu didn’t know if anyone could see them, but at the moment, he didn’t have the heart to care. He was far too sensitive, he could feel the head of Min Chin’s arm.
“I’m not afraid of bugs.” The low, rumbling voice rang in his ear, his hot breath tickling Qi Mu’s throat. “I just find them. . . very disgusting.”
Qi Mu: “. . .”
So, you are afraid of them then?
Even up to when he washed his clothes that evening, Qi Mu still didn’t understand. How could such a big man be afraid of bugs?
What about the hug?
Xiao Qi thought about the answer and decided, “To keep people from knowing he was afraid of bugs, he had to whisper.”
So, during the weekly cross-ocean phone call with Zheng Wei Qiao, Qi Mu said nothing about what happened to his gossipy housekeeper.
What he didn’t know was that in a high-class apartment on the other side of Paris, a man rubbed his fingertips together and whispered, “His clothes were. . . very thick.”
The moon hung in the dark sky. After drying his clothes, Qi Mu looked at the thin crescent and mused, “Phobia of snakes, tigers, lions, these I can understand. But. . . a fear of bugs?”
Seriously.