Chapter 3 - Failed Call

That man seemed to have realised something, he pulled the hand that was holding onto Luotong’s hand closer towards himself.

He was obviously trying to show off who Luotong belonged to.

Yet Yu Luotong did not seem to think too much about the weird atmosphere, he just excitedly waved Song Yan towards where they were sitting before turning towards the man beside him and saying, “David, this is the Yan-ge I mentioned before, Song Yan.”

And towards Song Yan, he said, “This is David, yes... I consider him my family.”

David raised his brow and laughed before reaching towards Song Yan’s hand and speaking in a rather broken Chinese, “Nice to meet you.”

With his suspicions confirmed, Song Yan’s heart slowly cooled.

He originally thought that after reuniting with Yu Luotong, as long as he worked hard, they could still have hopes of ending up together. He never thought that he’d meet an enemy halfway.

Even though he really did not want to shake his hand, Song Yan still tried his best to maintain his image and gave a curt handshake before asking, “Which country is he from?”

“He’s Chinese American,” Yu Luotong explained from the side. “David was someone I met after I arrived in America. Initially, I was very lost there and could not speak the language well, he really helped me a lot. Over time, we just...”

Song Yan cut him off mid-sentence, “That day in C City, why were you alone then?”

“Previously I had a small argument with David,” Yu Luotong looked a little embarrassed. “In a fit of anger, I returned back by myself. David chased me all the way here to C City, afterwards... we made up.”

Hearing this, David dotingly rubbed the top of Yu Luotong’s head.

Yu Luotong continued, “That’s right, Yan-ge, I heard you ended up with Xia Lin. Where’s Xia Lin, why didn’t you call him along?”

Song Yan never thought that Yu Luotong would use such a familiar tone when talking about Xia Lin, and said suspiciously, “We broke up.”

“Broke up?” Yu Luotong froze, not knowing how to respond.

Song Yan fell silent for a moment, and while not caring about David beside him, answered, “Luotong, you should be clear about my feelings for you. Initially, when he lied to me about you dying in a foreign land, with no corpse to bring home to bury, I was beyond heartbroken, to the point where I did not want to live on anymore. I... I just can’t forgive him.”

Yu Luotong stared at Song Yan in shock before muttering, “Xia Lin, he... it can’t be that he did not tell you?”

Song Yan paused, “Tell me what?”

Yu Luotong bit his lip, hesitating for a moment before speaking, “Actually back then, it was me that asked him to help me spin the lie.”

Song Yan aggressively stood up and stared at him, “What did you say?”

Startled, Yu Luotong fell back towards David’s embrace. David immediately wrapped his arm around Yu Luotong’s shoulder before aiming a warning glare at Song Yan.

Song Yan also realised that he frightened Yu Luotong but his mind was in too much chaos at the moment. He stood on the spot for a minute before slowly sitting back down. Hand in his head, he asked, “What exactly happened?”

Yu Luotong hesitantly sipped at his coffee before slowly recounting what happened before, “Yan-ge, I genuinely liked you in the past. Back then you told me that you came out of the closet in front of your family, I was both touched and afraid.”

“You are the only son of the Song family, the only successor to the Song Corporation. How can your family members let you do whatever you want. Indeed, when you were sent to England to further your studies, your grandfather came looking for me.”

Song Yan leaned forward, “What did he do to you?”

Yu Luotong closed his eyes, “You grandfather just helped me see things a little more clearly. If I insisted on being with you, it’ll bring you a lot of trouble. I was not so self-confident to the point that I was sure that I would not become a burden to you.”

Song Yan couldn’t help but sigh, “Luotong, you are too innocent and kind. He was just trying to scare you. If we really ended up together, they could not really do anything to you. Look at Xia Lin and me now, we indeed had to pay a small price and our lives are different from what we had before, but we are living just fine.”

Yu Luotong gave a bitter smile, “How can I compare to Xia Lin? He has his family to back him, and me, I have nothing.”

Song Yan fell silent. What Yu Luotong said was not wrong. On multiple fronts, Xia Lin was considered better than Yu Luotong, which was why back then he could bravely come out of the closet in front of both their families, while Luotong could not quietly run away.

“So, that fake death, was all instigated by my grandfather?”

Yu Luotong nodded, “Your grandfather said, with your personality, you would not easily leave me. Only my death will let you give up on the relationship completely.”

Song Yan dropped his head and fell into silence.

Yu Luotong continued, “I initially agreed to follow your grandfather’s wishes to never appear in front of you again. But when I heard that you got together with Xia Lin, and your grandfather did not cause trouble for the both of you, I thought perhaps he’s more accepting now. That was why I secretly returned back, who would have thought I’d bump into you the moment I enter C City. Back that I was throwing a temper with David, which was why I did not mention anything about it. I never expected you to argue with Xia Lin over this, it is my fault.”

Song Yan grabbed his hair in frustration before dejectedly comforting him, “It isn’t your fault, I can only blame my bad temper...”

He suddenly thought back to the slap he so freely gave Xia Lin and his heart clenched fiercely..

He could not recall what expression Xia Lin had back then. He could only vaguely remember Xia Lin trying his best to explain but he did not have the patience to listen.

He got more frustrated the more he thought about it. His anger towards Xia Lin had long dissipated, what was left was only a sense of guilt that spread throughout his body.

He fiercely guzzled down a large pint of beer before standing, “My apologies, I’ll be leaving first.”

He hurried out of the bar, his mind clearing up with the cool night breeze.

He paced in front of his car for a while, his heart in a mess as he tried to think about what he should do.

In the past whenever they argued, it was always Xia Lin who gave in first.

But this time, it will perhaps be difficult to wait for Xia Lin to give in.

After hesitating for a long time, Song Yan drummed up the courage to send Xia Lin a message, “Where are you?”

After waiting for a long while, he still did not receive a reply from Xia Lin.

He finally could not wait any longer and directly dialed Xia Lin’s phone number.

After a “du du” sound on the phone, what followed was a cold automated voice message, “Sorry, the user you are calling is not available.”