Chapter 76: He is not into girls
In the first few months after he left, Yu Fan checked tickets to Nancheng every single day. Two hundred and seventeen yuan, and he could see Chen Jingshen again.
He even bought one once. Bag packed, story rehearsed. He told himself he would stand at the back fence, take one look, then turn right back. He had just reached the station when the hospital called. The debt collectors had found their new address. Yu Kaiming was already in the ER.
The nurse barely said two sentences before a collector snatched the phone and barked, “Your dad says your boyfriend is loaded. Where is he. A father’s debt should be paid by his son. Get your boyfriend to lend you the money, pay up now.”
Yu Fan stood on the platform a long time. He watched the train arrive, then watched it leave. A staffer came over to ask if something was wrong. He shook his head, tossed the ticket, picked up his bag, and walked out.
He would never pay what Yu Kaiming owed. After that day he spent every hour fencing with collectors and stopped thinking about going back.
Only sometimes, close to midnight, he would open the app and look again. Nancheng and Ningcheng were only 217 yuan apart. Maybe he and Chen Jingshen would bump into each other in some corner by accident.
Once he caught a glimpse of a profile that looked like him and chased half a street, only to see the man’s face head on and realize it was nothing alike.
He stood there in the river of people, and it hit him that six years had already passed. Chen Jingshen did not wear a school uniform anymore, and who knew what time had carved his features into.
Now he knew. Not much had changed.
That single eyelid that always looked a little displeased. The straight bridge of his nose. The clean, tight jawline. Every edge the same as in memory. Only now the man’s shoulders and back were broader and steadier. The structured gray suit doubled his born-cold aura. In Yu Fan’s viewfinder his gaze was clear and crisp, distant and impersonal.
The groom was not wrong. Put Chen Jingshen anywhere in the frame and he still felt like the lead.
The groom held a pose so long his limbs were going stiff. He was about to ask when the lens flashed. The photographer finally pressed the shutter.
Yu Fan had not shot many weddings before, so Wang Yue did most of the demoing and prompting, then asked Yu Fan, “Any notes?”
The man behind the camera always had notes, only his voice was lower than usual. “Groom, chin up. Shoulders straight. Relax your face.”
Then one pose made him crouch by the tripod and stare into the finder for a long while.
Right as Wang Yue inhaled to chase him along, his throat worked. “The one on the left…”
Chen Jingshen looked into the lens and waited for the rest.
“Angle your body a touch to the right.”
Chen Jingshen moved.
“Too far. Back a bit. Back again. Your arm…”
“What are you doing, Fan-bao.” Wang Yue sounded baffled. “How long are you going to talk him through it. Go set him yourself.”
Yu Fan froze a few beats, then rose like a puppet on strings. He kept the camera lifted with one hand, stepped to Chen Jingshen’s side, and set rigid fingers on his shoulder to tip him a little.
“First time for you, shooting this kind of thing?” the groom said with a laugh when he saw Chen Jingshen letting himself be moved. “Hard work.”
“It is fine.” Chen Jingshen cast a glance at the head braced close to his shoulder. “What do I do with my arm.”
Yu Fan tugged his sleeve outward an inch. “Like that. Do not move.” The words came fast, and he turned back to his spot.
He looked into the finder again. The same deadpan face as always. He had blocked well just now, so Chen Jingshen should not have seen his face clearly.
Yu Fan let out a breath. Then he could not help thinking. If Chen Jingshen realized, how would he react.
Would he be angry about that vanishing act six years ago. Or would he treat it like running into an old classmate, or a dumb teenage fling, trade a few awkward lines, then say a decent goodbye when the job ended.
The jumble ran on until they finished the first half of the shoot.
The groom stood at his elbow reviewing and praising. Yu Fan scrolled absent-mindedly. Out front a phone rang.
He looked up with everyone else. One glance from Chen Jingshen hit him like a nail. His arm jerked up, clumsy and late, to hide behind the camera.
Chen Jingshen’s eyes slid past his face. He lifted his phone and told the groom, “I need to take this.”
He turned and walked out to the balcony, leaving a clean, decisive back.
The look had been too quick. Yu Fan had not had time to shield his face. He stood there with the camera clutched to his chest, awkward as hell.
Idiot.
He had planned for so many angles and forgot the obvious. Six years. Hair covering half his eyes. It was entirely possible Chen Jingshen would not recognize him.
All his evasions suddenly felt like a joke. Mind blank, he dropped his gaze and started flipping through the shots again.
The balcony door had barely shut when the bridesmaid who said she did not believe there were hot guys in IT rushed over. “You have a friend that handsome and did not say sooner. Quick, give me his WeChat.”
“He is right there. Why not ask him yourself.” said the groom.
“He looks like he does not enjoy talking to people. I am kind of scared.”
“Then you can relax. He does not look like it. He is exactly like that. We shared a dorm for four years. It took until junior year for us to get close.” The groom pulled out his phone and then paused. “No wait. What do you want his contact for.”
“What do you think. To swear brotherhood.” the bridesmaid said. “Obviously to see if we can get somewhere.”
“No can do.” He put the phone away.
The bride elbowed him. “What is that supposed to mean. You promised to introduce him.”
“I only refuted your ‘no handsome IT guy’ line. I never promised to hand over Chen Jingshen.” He lowered his voice. “The man probably has a partner.”
Yu Fan’s thumb slipped and hit nothing.
“Either he does or he does not. What is probably.” the bride asked.
“He did back in school. I have no idea about after graduation.” the groom said. “But they were solid. Our major was crazy busy. I would go ages without seeing you. Not him. Every break he would go see his partner. So I figure they are still together.”
“Not necessarily. My ex and I were glued together in college and still broke up after.” The bridesmaid thought a second. “Okay. Give me his contact. I will test the waters. If he is taken I back off. If he is not I go in.”
“No.” The groom shook his head.
The bride was about to scowl again when he hurried to add, “He is not into women.”
Silence spread.
The bride rounded her eyes, then jabbed him again. “Are you stupid. That is someone’s private business. You cannot just say it out loud.”
“You two would not stop asking.” He scratched his head. “Besides, it was not exactly secret. A girl confessed to him first week freshman year. He said it straight. Everyone knew.”
…
Yu Fan had no interest in hearing the rest, but Wang Yue’s studio was too small to escape.
No telling how long later, the balcony door opened. Chen Jingshen came back. “Sorry. Needed to handle something.”
“It is fine.” said the groom. “Shall we carry on.”
Yu Fan lifted the camera and said okay without raising his head.
The forecast had lied. After the indoor setups the outside was still only fifteen or sixteen degrees. At least the rain had quit, so they could do the beach.
Since they were in Ningcheng, the beach was the obvious choice. The groom had rented a six-seater and hired a driver. It fit their group exactly, which meant there was no seat for the photographer.
“No worries, we have our own car.” Wang Yue came down from upstairs with a reflector in hand. “I have already scouted the angles. You just follow us.”
“Got it. We will wait in the van.” the groom said.
The studio door slid open to make room for the formalwear parade, and the cold air flowed in.
Yu Fan kept his head down packing gear. He tucked stomach meds into his bag. From the dressing-room doorway Wang Yue called, “Fan-bao.”
She held up two brand-new men’s coats. She had bought them for her boyfriend and found out about his cheating before she could give them. “Wear one for the beach. Which do you like.”
“No.”
“Tsk. Why are you boys all the same. Pick one.”
“Do not want.”
He was still checking the bag when a shoulder bumped his. He thought it was Wang Yue and frowned as he looked up. Then his face went rigid.
A heavy black coat was held out to him. He took it before he knew what he was doing. By the time he came back to himself, Chen Jingshen had already stepped outside and pulled the door shut behind him.
Wang Yue saw the whole thing. She blinked and then it clicked.
Plenty of people had tried to gift Yu Fan things, or asked him to dinner. Lending a coat was restraint by comparison. She was used to it. What surprised her this time was that the man doing the lending was better looking than the usual few.
More than a bit, actually.
She started toward Yu Fan to offer to return the coat for him, so he would not say something cutting and spook the client. The words turned a corner and slid back down her throat.
Yu Fan stood there like a post for a long time, then finally moved.
He opened the coat and shrugged into it, silent and rough. The oversized fabric swallowed him up and made him look less thin.
On the way to the beach Wang Yue kept sneaking looks at the passenger seat.
“You two know each other.” She could not help asking at the third red light.
“Mm.” His voice was husky.
“Friends.”
“High school classmates.”
Right. This couple was from Nancheng too, the same as Yu Fan and Zhang Xianjing.
“So why did you not say hello before.” she asked.
Since getting in the car Yu Fan had sat turned toward the window. He pressed his mouth into the coat and breathed in the sharp cool mint he knew too well, while his stomach squeezed and ached in waves.
He was quiet so long she thought he was done answering, or had fallen asleep.
“I thought he did not recognize me,” Yu Fan said.
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