Chapter 33 Gay Guy Despondent

Chapter 33: The Gay, Crestfallen

Lin Zaishan's heart sank. He hurriedly followed his gaze—across from them, there was only a giant green potted plant in the corner of the lobby, all leaves and branches, with no one around.

"I really saw her," Yuan Che turned his head and repeated earnestly, but with a hint of uncertainty in his eyes.

"You must have seen wrong," Lin Zaishan said with certainty, but secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He had indeed sent people to investigate Yuan Simiao's whereabouts; two men sent out found nothing useful. The only thing they could confirm was that Yuan Simiao left the island even before Yuan Che. After leaving the island? It was like she vanished off the face of the earth; no one could find her.

It's better she can't be found, Lin Zaishan muttered to himself. That madwoman Yuan Simiao—it's best to keep Yuan Che far away from her. Besides, the little gay hadn't mentioned wanting to see his sister for a long time now; he probably didn't have that deep a bond with Yuan Simiao anyway. Sibling affection? Let it fade—it's not a big deal.

Thinking along these lines, Lin Zaishan half-coaxed, half-tricked the person back to his own suite. He thought the matter was settled, but unexpectedly, after this little episode, Yuan Che seemed to have had his soul taken away—listless and distracted all the time.

In the afternoon, a group agreed to take a walk by the lake. Yuan Che lagged at the back of the line, steps slow. Whenever a young girl passed by, his attention would wander, and he'd glance at her. Lin Zaishan had to look back every few steps, afraid he'd walk into a tree. Yu Yizhou, considerate, deliberately slowed his pace to walk alongside Yuan Che and gently asked, "Are you tired?" Yuan Che just shook his head without even looking at him, his gaze blankly fixed on the distant lake surface, lost in thought.

Up ahead, Meng Lang was noisily pointing at the fish in the water and calling for Li Ranyu to come see. Li Ranyu obediently leaned over for a look, then turned back to see Yuan Che's distracted appearance and quietly asked Lin Zaishan, "Is Mr. Yuan not feeling well?" Lin Zaishan forced a smile and said it was nothing, but his heart was racing.

Later, Meng Lang suggested kayaking, saying it would be a pity not to get in the water since they were here. Li Ranyu was the first to respond, and Yu Yizhou also nodded. Yuan Che followed onto the boat without any expression. But when they rowed to the middle of the lake, Lin Zaishan noticed that Yuan Che's paddle was halfheartedly stirring the water, the boat spinning in place, his whole demeanor as if he had lost his soul.

Yu Yizhou couldn't stand to watch anymore and reached out to help adjust his grip on the paddle. But before his hand touched him, Yuan Che suddenly snapped back to reality and calmly switched the paddle to his other hand, neatly avoiding him. Yu Yizhou's hand froze in mid-air for a moment, then he naturally withdrew it, smiled, and said nothing.

On another boat, Meng Lang saw this scene and cheerfully shouted, "Xiaozhou, don't bother! He's got his brother-in-law!" Then he winked at Lin Zaishan. Lin Zaishan couldn't be bothered to respond; he rowed over to Yuan Che and gently tapped his boat with his paddle: "What are you thinking about?"

Only then did Yuan Che raise his eyes to look at him, those eyes full of confusion. After a couple of seconds, he shook his head: "Nothing."

Nothing? No one would believe that.

In the evening, back at the hotel, Meng Lang set up a trip to the hot springs, saying he had booked a private bath. Yuan Che went, but spent the whole time huddled in a corner of the pool, chin resting on the water surface, staring straight at the mist. Li Ranyu handed him a cup of ginger tea; he took it, said thanks, but held it in his hands for ages without taking a sip.

Probably because Yuan Che wasn't in high spirits, Yu Yizhou didn't bother him either. While soaking, he directly sat next to Lin Zaishan and occasionally exchanged a few words, but Lin Zaishan just gave perfunctory replies, clearly uninterested.

Leaning against the pool wall, no matter who he was talking to, his attention was always on Yuan Che. Throughout the evening, through the rising mist, he glanced at him a few times, his lips moving a few times, but in the end, he said nothing.

He was really annoyed—not at Yuan Che, but at the one who made him this way. Yuan Simiao—he had had a bad impression of her from their first meeting. Not only was she crazy, but judging by how she treated Yuan Che, she wasn't a good older sister. What kind of older sister grabs a vase and throws it at her brother? But obviously, he couldn't say that to Yuan Che. Although Lin Zaishan didn't want to admit it, Yuan Che's attitude had already shown that he still cared about that crazy sister.

Thinking about this, Lin Zaishan sank lower into the water, starting to consider whether he should find someone to help look for Yuan Simiao.

What if... just what if, Yuan Simiao was actually in the resort too?

The group came out of the hot springs, changed clothes, and headed towards the restaurant. The restaurant was on the top floor of the main building. Huge floor-to-ceiling windows reflected the evening glow, and simple ceramic tableware was set on wooden tables. The light was soft and perfect.

Yuan Che and Lin Zaishan arrived first. The others were delayed, saying they had to return the bathrobe keys, but they didn't come up for a long time. Later, Li Ranyu sent a message that Meng Lang had left his phone in the locker room, and the three went back to look for it.

Lin Zaishan sat down, flipped through the menu, and casually asked Yuan Che what he wanted to eat. Yuan Che just mumbled "mm-hmm" without looking at him, staring out the window.

At first, Lin Zaishan didn't pay much attention. He ordered a few dishes and handed the menu to the waiter. But after the waiter left, he belatedly realized something was wrong—since they left the hot springs, Yuan Che had barely spoken a complete sentence to him.

Not the previous depressed, melancholy little gay style, but a resentful husband vibe, with all the displeasure directed at him. What was going on now? Lin Zaishan frowned slightly, suddenly puzzled. Was it still because he was thinking about his sister? But if he was missing his sister, why would he take this attitude with him? He hadn't provoked him.

"Yuan Che." Lin Zaishan put down his chopsticks and turned to face him.

Yuan Che kept his eyes down, sitting upright and proper, not lifting his head.

"What's wrong with you?" Lin Zaishan asked, suppressing his temper.

A few seconds of silence. Yuan Che suddenly raised his eyes and stared directly at him.

"Just now, you made me a bit uncomfortable," he said.

Lin Zaishan was stunned, his mind not catching up: "What?"

"When we were in the hot springs," Yuan Che stared at him, his brows furrowed, "why were you so close to Yu Yizhou?"

Lin Zaishan opened his mouth but had no idea what to say.

"Forget it, we'll talk about this another day." Yuan Che turned his head back to the window, no longer looking at him.

Lin Zaishan looked at his profile, his mood complex. He caught the implication behind Yuan Che's "forget it"—it wasn't really forget it, but "I'm already very upset, I don't want to dwell on this anymore."

Understanding this made his heart feel even worse.

He couldn't help with the Yuan Simiao matter for now—that was a distant problem, not an immediate one. But the pretty boy thing, he still had the ability to make the other feel better. Wasn't it just jealousy? Wasn't it just that he thought he was too close to Yu Yizhou? He could just explain it clearly.

In the end, these past few days he had only been thinking about his own comfort, only mulling over that little "male competition" mindset, but forgot that the person beside him would see it, remember it, and be silently upset.

Why bother? He was already missing his sister, lost in thought, and here he was, foolishly amusing himself with two kids. How boring. Better to just speak plainly and let Yuan Che feel reassured, so he could feel better too.

"Let me explain." Lin Zaishan touched Yuan Che's arm, softening his tone. "I was just teasing you earlier. That pretty—"

No, he shouldn't call "pretty boy" in front of Yuan Che. The guy has a name.

"...I... your Xiaozhou—"

The door was pushed open.

"Found it, found it!" Meng Lang's loud voice burst in before he could finish. "The phone fell into the crack of the chair. We looked for ages—"

Li Ranyu followed behind him, holding two cups of drinks from somewhere. Yu Yizhou walked in last, expression as usual, his gaze sweeping over Yuan Che and Lin Zaishan, then he walked directly to Lin Zaishan's side and casually pulled out a chair to sit down.

Lin Zaishan's eyelid twitched.

Why did this guy have to sit here? There were plenty of empty seats; why did he have to sit next to him? Almost reflexively, he pushed his chair inwards, the movement so fast that even he felt it was a bit deliberate.

"This chair is broken," he explained, forcing a calm tone. "You should go sit with Meng Lang and them."

He glanced out of the corner of his eye at Yuan Che, who had his head down, expression unreadable, but Lin Zaishan felt that this move should earn him some points. The man had just told him he was jealous, and if he then let the pretty boy sit next to him, what kind of behavior would that be? Too tacky.

Yu Yizhou stood there, obviously a bit stunned, clearly not understanding the situation.

But Meng Lang exclaimed loudly, "How can a chair be broken?"

As soon as he said that, Li Ranyu beside him gently nudged him under the table. Meng Lang paused, looked at Li Ranyu, then at Lin Zaishan, and belatedly realized he might have said something inappropriate. He immediately stopped talking, picked up the menu, and awkwardly changed the subject: "Have you ordered? What did you order? I'll add two more dishes, I'm starving—"

Li Ranyu joined the discussion at the right time, bending down and pointing at the dishes on the menu while speaking softly. The atmosphere finally returned to normal.

Yu Yizhou hesitated for a moment, then didn't insist, turning to sit across.

Lin Zaishan watched his back and suddenly felt that his earlier action was a bit petty. He thought for a moment, stood up, and called out to Yu Yizhou.

"Come sit in my seat," he gestured with his chin at Yu Yizhou, then pointed at his original seat. "I'll go sit opposite."

He should have just given up the seat earlier. First, by moving himself away from the pretty boy, he'd put Yuan Che at ease. Second, letting Yu Yizhou sit next to Yuan Che—two little gays together—they could chat with each other. Yuan Che hadn't eaten much all day, and now he was upset about his sister. He had no other ideas; maybe letting his side piece come over to comfort him would help him eat more.

Thinking this, he was about to step out when his wrist was suddenly grabbed.

"Can't we sit together?" Yuan Che asked, somewhat puzzled, with that displeased look on his face again.

Lin Zaishan was taken aback, but before he could react, Yu Yizhou stepped in to smooth things over.

"You sit together," he said with a smile, tone casual. He stepped forward and sat down on Meng Lang's side. After sitting, he lowered his head to study the menu with Meng Lang, not letting the atmosphere cool.

Seeing this, Lin Zaishan also sat back down, and the hand on his wrist finally let go. He took a sip of water, glanced at the person beside him out of the corner of his eye, who had returned to that listless look. Now Lin Zaishan was really puzzled—