Chapter 7.16 – I can explain

Editor: meowmiao

Blondie’s voice was reckless and filled with arrogance. In Meng Ze’s ears, it was simply a million times harsher.

What did he mean by ‘when was he going to dump him’? What did the matter between him and Xiao Han have to do with this man?

Meng Ze disliked these ‘friends’ of Xiang Han and wanted to pull him over. Moreover, he felt the need to advise him to hang out less with these people in the future.

But before he could get up, he heard Xiang Han whisper, “Keep your voices down. In the future, don’t talk about this matter any more.”

“Yeah, yeah, we all get it.” Blondie nodded furiously with a wink. “You want revenge. Wait until he loves you to the point of death and can no longer leave you before you dump him. Who told him to annul the engagement back then without rhyme or reason…”

Xiang Han massaged his forehead, feeling a headache as he sat up straight. He increased the output of his spiritual force and said sternly, “Forget about this matter.”

“Okay.” Blondie and the three others continued to nod before asking, “Eh, forget what?”

Xiang Han breathed a sigh of relief. Thinking that they should have forgotten, he stood up and said, “Okay, you guys continue to slowly eat, I’ll go settle the b-bill.”

At the end of his sentence, he suddenly stammered a little. He froze, expression aghast.

On the other side of his seat, Meng Ze looked at him quietly, his gaze deep and unsettling, swirling with a myriad of emotions. Assistant Fang, who had come out to eat with him, was shaking like a quail, as if wishing he could turn invisible.

Xiang Han’s head buzzed and his mind went blank for a moment. Coming out of his daze, he could only think, Oh shit, I’ve f*cked up. I need to explain.

He was at a loss for words as he looked at the other man nervously with a stiff smile. “Meng- Meng Ze, what a coincidence, you’re here too aha, haha…”

When Blondie and the three other men saw that his face didn’t look right, they couldn’t help but look up and follow his line of sight.

Seeing Meng Ze across the other table, Blondie was a little surprised, “Eh, Geng Xiao Han, isn’t that your boyfriend?”

“Boyfriend?” The fatty immediately came to life and grinned at Xiang Han, “Yo, when did you get one? Aren’t you going to introduce us?”

“Introduce what? It’s President Meng.” Blondie whispered and gave a thumbs up to Xiang Han. “Brother, you’re amazing.”

In fact, the three of them had really forgotten about this matter completely and were surprised to hear that Xiang Han had a boyfriend. Moreover, it turned out to be President Meng, so they couldn’t help but hoot.

But in Meng Ze’s ears, it sounded like mockery; as if they were deliberately being sarcastic.

The moment he heard Xiang Han basically admit it, he was bewildered, feeling as if he were in a dream. But when he woke up, he was still in the restaurant. Assistant Fang was sitting across from him with a worried face. And Xiang Han, who had gotten up, was looking at him nervously.

Meng Ze felt as if a bucket of ice had been dumped over his head; his mind was in chaos. It turned out that Xiao Han never liked him, but just wanted to get back at him for annulling their engagement in the first place. Were things like having a crush on him and pretending to be a woman all his own wishful thinking?

He refused to believe any of this was true, yet he had personally heard Xiang Han admit it. He dared not listen to any explanations, as if afraid that it would be words of affirmation or even… to break up.

He stood up in a frenzy without looking at Xiang Han. When he left, he even stumbled a little on the chair.

Xiang Han looked at him leaving without a word with a dark face and suddenly panicked. He tried to catch up and explain. “Meng Ze, let me explain…”

Meng Ze had rushed out, but once he left, a chilly wind suddenly blew over him and cooled his head. He calmed down and nodded. “Alright, explain.”

Seeing Xiang Han’s frantic expression, he couldn’t help believing that perhaps Xiao Han had his own reasons. Because when he kissed him, he would blush and even protect him in front of Father Geng. Xiang Han even loved him enough to move into his home.

Yet he had been rooted to the spot when he heard Xiang Han’s words.

How should he explain? Frankly, Xiang Han hadn’t thought about it since what Meng Ze heard was the truth. However… it wasn’t the complete truth.

“Things… were originally as you’ve heard.” Xiang Han furrowed his brows and continued with difficulty. “Back then, I was really upset when the engagement was annulled. So I… had a few drinks and after getting drunk, I recklessly declared revenge. Actually, it’s really all in the heat of the moment, I didn’t expect them to take it seriously…”

To increase the credibility of the story he just made up, he nodded affirmatively. “En, that’s it.”

Hearing this, Meng Ze felt his heart turn cold. When Xiang Han spoke, anxiety was written on his face and his eyes wavered, unlike the seriousness he usually had; he was obviously lying.

“At this point of time, you’re still lying to me?” He shook his head and choked out.

Once again, Xiang Han was taken aback. Meng Ze only grew more disappointed and he turned around to leave.

Panic gripped his heart as he reached out to stop Meng Ze. Only half a second worth of hesitation later, he steeled his heart and closed his eyes in admittance. “You’re right. Everything you heard was true.”

Once again, Meng Ze was rooted to the ground, his fists clenched by his side as fingernails dug painfully into his palm. At this moment, he wished nothing more than to be deaf so he couldn’t hear these words. Or he could turn around and shut this person up.

But Xiang Han quickly followed up with an explanation. “Later on, I regretted it because I fell for you at first sight.”

Damn, these words seemed rather familiar. Who cares? It must be from some Overbearing CEO novel. In any case, he just needed to continue.

“But I heard you didn’t like men, so I continued to dress as a girl, hoping you’d like me. Although… my initial intentions weren’t pure, I truly fell for you later on. Can you forgive me?”

“You said you fell for me at first sight?” Meng Ze turned back to ask.

“That’s right!” Xiang Han nodded. “Speaking of which, I felt you looked quite familiar, as if I’d seen you many times in my dreams.”

His tone was very sincere, unlike a liar’s. He even raised the hand with the spatial ring. “Look at this ring, it’s what you gave me in my dreams.”

Meng Ze stared at the ring in a daze and actually felt it looked quite familiar. Even though it sounded extremely preposterous and couldn’t be any more impossible, he actually couldn’t bring himself to not believe it.

Noticing his silence, Xiang Han continued carefully, “Meng Ze, it wasn’t easy for us to be together. Let’s not think about such unhappy things, alright?”

“…Alright.” After some time, Meng Ze nodded with great difficulty.

He couldn’t help thinking: Let him lie to me. As long as Xiao Han is still willing to be with him, everything is fine. He’d find a way… to let him truly love him.

Seeing that Meng Ze had agreed, Xiang Han heaved a long sigh of relief. He nearly wanted to look towards the sky and roar: It’s all a false alarm! Haha!

On the way back, Meng Ze didn’t say a word. Xiang Han merely attributed it to him needing some time to recover from this fright and did not disturb him.

When they arrived, Meng Ze was already back to normal. Before falling asleep, he kissed Xiang Han as normal and told him, “Sleep early, don’t play games on your phone.”

Xiang Han was inwardly relieved, believing that this matter had blown over. But in less than two days, he gradually noticed that things weren’t as simple as it seemed.

Meng Ze suddenly seemed over-analytical and controlling. No matter where he went, he’d bring Xiang Han along. Even when they slept at night, he’d look towards Xiang Han’s room a few times, as if afraid the other person would leave without a goodbye.

There was a night where Xiang Han was watching a suspense film. Seeing him suddenly appear, his heart nearly jumped out.

Seeing that Xiang Han was still watching shows late into the night, Meng Ze mentioned this to him the very next day. “Xiao Han, we’ve been going out for a while. Let’s share a bed in the future?”

Xiang Han agreed. However, he felt something was strange; as though if he allowed it to grow, Meng Ze would become strange.

He couldn’t help asking Big A. [Hey, don’t you think he’s a little strange these days?]

[Perhaps it comes from a lack of security. It’ll get better over time.] Big A wasn’t worried at all.

[Could it be that he hasn’t completely forgotten about the matter last time?]

[It must be.]

Xiang Han’s tone was filled with indignance. [Why do you sound so unconcerned?]

Big A: [What’s there to be concerned about? Since he likes you, it’ll be fine after you abuse his heart a little.]

[But didn’t you say we won’t be using abuse any more?] Xiang Han sighed.

[But he insists on self-abuse, what can we do?] Big A was helpless.

[Sigh.] Xiang Han sighed and took the opportunity to call the female lead while Meng Ze was in the bath.

Xin Lu Yao had recently found a decent seafood restaurant and wanted to invite Xiang Han out this weekend. Although she already knew Xiang Han was a man, she still treated him as a close friend like before.

Unfortunately, Xiang Han had to turn her down apologetically. He felt that Meng Ze’s state recently wasn’t too good.

Despite her disappointment, Xin Lu Yao did not insist and merely jested, “What do you have this weekend? A date with President Meng?”

“Ahem, that’s not it.”

Xin Lu Yao felt his tone was strange and grew concerned. “Speaking of this, how are things between you guys recently? I noticed his expression wasn’t too good the last time we went to eat. Nothing happened afterwards, right?”

“No…”

“Hmm?”

“Ahem, actually, there’s… something small. I feel like there’s something wrong with him recently…” Xiang Han wanted to find someone to talk to about this matter, so he shared it with the female lead. Then, he sighed, “Do you think he was stimulated by that? Should I bring him to a therapist?”

“My god, wanting to know where you go and even listening to your calls? He’s too controlling. Is he wiretapping our conversation now?” Xin Lu Yao’s tone was filled with indignation.

“He’s not.” Xiang Han was extremely sure. With the system around, wiretapping would be easily discovered. But he continued, “However, as long as I’m talking to someone other than my dad, he’d be… quite unhappy. Sigh, that’s why I don’t really dare to answer any calls in front of him. I’m afraid it’d upset him.”

Xin Lu Yao: “…”

“I feel that it’s best for you to maintain some distance from him for some time.” Xin Lu Yao calmly suggested as she searched on Baidu. “He seems to be a little extreme, and if he were to lose his reason, I’m afraid he would do something drastic. Also, do you know his parents? You can ask them if President Meng had exhibited any sort of behavior like this in the past. As for a doctor… I think it’s best if you went to a hospital for a check up.”

“Really?” Was it that serious? Xiang Han was doubtful.

“Yeah.” Xin Lu Yao said earnestly, “There are many people with a similar condition. They may appear normal on the surface, but will threaten suicide or perishing together once you mention breaking up. There’s some who even pick up a knife to threaten their love rivals. In short, they’re capable of doing anything.”

Xiang Han pursed his lips. “I’m not worried about this.” If Meng Ze dared to do anything, the system would put him back in his place.

Xin – terrible advisor – Lu Yao was worried and tried to advise him. “Aiya, it’s still best to maintain some distance. Aside from safety, you can also give him time to calm down. You have to go to Si Chuang next month, how can you still let him control you then?”

Xiang Han hesitated. Although he didn’t feel that he was in any danger, he still felt that Meng Ze hadn’t completely come out from the shadow of what happened. It was true that he needed to cool his head and think things through. Thus, he said, “In that case, should I… move out?”

Back facing the bathroom, he did not notice Meng Ze coming out at this time.

T/n: Merry Christmas, y’all~ Hope you’re having a better christmas than I am lol <33