HRMCF Chapter 3

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🍋‍🟩 Completed Chapter

Shen Yan stood rooted to the spot as if struck by lightning, his soul seemingly blasted straight into the heavens.

Zhao Linsu, on the other hand, didn’t pay any attention to Shen Yan’s thunderstruck expression. He turned around and opened the car door just four seconds after making eye contact with him, completely missing Shen Yan’s thunder-rolling, apocalyptic face.

Only when Zhao Linsu got into the car did Shen Yan snap out of it.

What had he just seen?

He couldn’t quite remember. Maybe he’d lost his memory.

The sound of tires crunching against the ground came to a stop by Shen Yan’s ears, growing from faint to near.

Zhao Linsu rolled down the window, tilting his face slightly toward Shen Yan. “Get in. There’s going to be traffic.”

Shen Yan gave a jolt, his gaze sluggishly shifting toward the car.

Zhao Linsu was looking at him, his face turned toward the passenger seat as he spoke, causing the name “Shen Yan” floating above his head to tilt as well.

Shen Yan’s eyes followed that name as it turned.

He stared fixedly, his head buzzing.

“Get in.”

Zhao Linsu repeated, less patient this time and tinged with a mocking tone. “Too lazy to take two extra steps and open the door yourself? Wow, young master, you’re really something.”

His arms were long; he leaned over from inside to open the passenger door. “Get in. If you don’t, I’m driving off. You can squeeze onto the subway yourself.”

Shen Yan instinctively got in.

The first thing he did after getting in was clutch his bag to his chest, stunned.

“Seatbelt,” Zhao Linsu said.

Shen Yan followed the command like a robot, turning to buckle up.

Once he had his seatbelt on, Zhao Linsu started the car. “So, what did you bring me to eat?”

Shen Yan didn’t answer. His head was still buzzing, as if someone were playing strange music in his ears—not a pleasant tune, but something like a send-off dirge.

Spacing out for a bit, Shen Yan couldn’t help but glance sideways at the top of Zhao Linsu’s head.

No mistake, not a dream.

There were those two characters—clear as day—Shen Yan.

The soul that Shen Yan had just managed to piece back together scattered again.

He began to suspect he might be illiterate. Maybe he didn’t know what those characters meant after all.

Just as Shen Yan’s spirit was about to leave his body again, a hand suddenly reached over his chest. It had long fingers—Shen Yan had once said they were perfect for playing piano. But their owner preferred to dig in the dirt and catch bugs. Totally lacking class.

“What are you doing?!”

Shen Yan hugged himself tightly, instantly plastering himself to the car window like a gecko.

Zhao Linsu turned to look at him, as if observing an idiot. “Breakfast. Give it.”

Shen Yan: “……”

Their eyes met. Shen Yan didn’t move. Zhao Linsu frowned slightly. “Why are you staring at me? Is there something on my face?”

Shen Yan: Yes. Something perverted.

The red light turned green, and Zhao Linsu started driving again, ignoring him.

Shen Yan’s brain slowly began to reboot. His eyes stayed glued to the top of Zhao Linsu’s head, shifting from blankness to fury.

Damn it. This guy’s imagination is even wilder than a dog’s.

His glare stabbed at Zhao Linsu’s head like invisible knives, full of disbelief, confusion, and absurdity.

Zhao Linsu… his… uh, “target”… is him?

Shen Yan didn’t even dare say the middle word in his mind.

This was way too freaking ridiculous.

Could he have mutated again? Shen Yan slipped back into dazed silence.

Seeing him so out of it, Zhao Linsu directly snatched the bag off his lap, pulled out a sandwich, took a bite, and then casually tossed the bag back.

He tossed it with such carelessness that Shen Yan nearly got smacked in the face by the eggs inside.

Shen Yan: “……” With that attitude, it’s really hard to believe this guy fantasized about him last night.

Then a flash of inspiration hit Shen Yan, and a new possibility crossed his mind. He started to relax.

“Zhao Linsu.”

“Hmm?”

Zhao Linsu was finishing the last bite of the sandwich.

Shen Yan said, “Let me ask you something.”

“Not bad, you held it in until now.”

Shen Yan didn’t catch his meaning at first. When he noticed the teasing in Zhao Linsu’s eyes, he finally understood and rolled his eyes. “It’s not about Tang Yi.”

“Whatever. Ask.”

Zhao Linsu looked forward again, focusing on driving.

Shen Yan hesitated, then asked, “Hey, do you know any other Shen Yans? Same name and surname, I mean.”

His name wasn’t exactly unique. The surname Shen wasn’t rare, and the single character “Yan” wasn’t obscure either. Combined, there had to be thousands—no, millions—of people named Shen Yan.

He’d just been stunned for a second, misled by a mental trap.

Honestly, his name could even work for a girl.

Shen Yan waited like he was watching lottery numbers being drawn.

“Yeah,” Zhao Linsu replied casually.

Shen Yan’s heart immediately relaxed. He hadn’t dared think too hard about it until now, and he finally let out a sigh of relief, patting his chest twice. “How come I’ve never heard you mention them?”

“You weren’t supposed to,” Zhao Linsu said lazily. “Out of all the idiots named Shen Yan, you’re the only one I know.”

Shen Yan: “……”

F*ck.

In a world where superpowered people lived by the law of the jungle, murder wasn’t illegal!

In his head, Shen Yan tore Zhao Linsu apart like he was ripping up enemy troops in a war film.

Zhao Linsu asked, “Why are you suddenly asking this?” He glanced sideways. “You’re acting weird today.”

Shen Yan tensed up.

He didn’t even think about it—instinctively, he knew that now was absolutely the wrong time to reveal his ability.

He couldn’t even imagine how awkward that conversation would be.

He had to hold the line.

Zhao Linsu asked, “Is it that time of the month?”

“Your uncle,” Shen Yan snapped. “Shut up. Say one more word and I’m throwing you out of the car.”

“Fine. Then you can carry all four tires to school yourself.”

“……”

Shen Yan was so mad he couldn’t speak.

He couldn’t help but eye Zhao Linsu with an academic, analytical gaze.

No matter how he looked at it, Zhao Linsu didn’t seem like the type to fantasize about him. He seemed more likely to want to fight him.

Hilarious. Just hilarious.

When they finally reached the university, Shen Yan practically tumbled out of the car.

Zhao Linsu got out too.

They were in the same college and major, had the same lectures in the morning, and only split for electives in the afternoon.

Shen Yan bolted like the wind, not caring what Zhao Linsu thought—he just ran.

After dashing several blocks, he finally stopped and turned around. Zhao Linsu hadn’t chased him.

Shen Yan leaned against a sycamore tree along the school’s tree-lined path, panting with his head down.

In that half-hour ride, Shen Yan felt like he’d aged half a lifetime. His brain was in chaos.

How could this be? No way. Something must be wrong.

A thousand doubts swirled in his head, but the infuriating thing was that Zhao Linsu looked so damn calm, like nothing had happened.

But something had happened—to him!

Once again, Shen Yan wanted to lift his head and yell at the heavens. What was this ability even for? Just to mess with him?

A hand patted his shoulder. Shen Yan was deep in his thoughts and got so startled he practically jumped straight up, nearly climbing the tree. When he turned and saw it was Zhu Ningbo, he finally relaxed—and then scolded him: “Why do you walk without making a sound? Don’t you know scaring people can be fatal?”

Zhu Ningbo scratched his head sheepishly. “I called you, but you didn’t answer.”

“I was thinking…”

Shen Yan patted his chest, trying to calm down.

Zhu Ningbo went, “Ohhh,” twice. “Okay, go on. I’ll wait for you to finish.”

Shen Yan gave him a long, silent look.

Zhu Ningbo had been his roommate in freshman and sophomore years.

There were six guys in the dorm. Before college, Shen Yan had never lived in a dorm and hadn’t realized that guys could be just as into palace intrigue. The roommates all had hundreds of schemes, and even who turned the lights off at night could spark multiple rounds of voting. Shen Yan found all of it exhausting—he didn’t like the roommates either. Since he was close with Zhao Linsu, he spent most of his time with him anyway.

Later, Shen Yan noticed that the dorm bathroom was always cleaned by one guy—tall and muscular, a Southerner who looked intimidating but was a total softie. He ended up doing all the dirty work alone.

That guy was Zhu Ningbo.

Shen Yan couldn’t stand to see someone bullied like that and stood up for Zhu Ningbo a couple of times, completely falling out with the others. After half a semester of work and sweet-talking the counselor, he managed to switch dorms to live with Zhu Ningbo.

Originally, he’d wanted to move in with both Zhu Ningbo and Zhao Linsu, but Zhao Linsu had already moved out into his own place off-campus in the second semester of freshman year.

Shen Yan understood—Zhao Linsu had never liked communal living.

In hindsight, good thing they hadn’t moved in together… Shen Yan patted Zhu Ningbo’s shoulder in turn, weakly muttering, “Ningbo, you’re the real comrade here.”

Clean head. No weird names. Perfect.

Zhu Ningbo looked flattered for no reason and gave a shy smile.

By junior year, with fewer classes, Shen Yan had moved back home. His new dormmates were decent, but Zhu Ningbo hadn’t really clicked with anyone else and still missed him.

Zhu Ningbo glanced around. “Where’s Zhao Linsu?”

Shen Yan choked slightly. “Don’t mention him.”

“You guys fight?”

Another choke. “Something like that.”

They walked together to the big lecture hall. It was a large class, and they were early enough to grab seats. Shen Yan set down his bag, and Zhu Ningbo sat beside him. Shen Yan flipped up the desk panel and secretly searched on his phone underneath.

"In what situations would someone have sexual fantasies about their best friend?"

—“Friend? Yeah right. There’s no such thing as pure friendship between men and women. If you’re fantasizing, it’s not friendship. Don’t kid yourself. Just go for it already. Stop hiding behind the friendship flag—it’s disgusting.”

Shen Yan: Bullshit. He had tons of platonic friendships with girls. And besides, this was guy-on-guy!

“Having sexual fantasies about a same-sex friend…”

He typed it in, then deleted it.

No need to search.

Even if he hadn’t eaten pork, he’d seen pigs run.

Back when he first got this power, Shen Yan had seen guys with male celebrities or athletes floating over their heads. It was a little awkward, sure, but whatever.

Gay guys weren’t that unusual these days.

But when it involved your best bro… that was a whole different story.

If it were just about being gay, fine. He wasn’t homophobic.

But the fact that he was the target of Zhao Linsu’s fantasies?

Shen Yan’s brain throbbed. He pressed the phone to his temple, still trying to make sense of it.

He admitted he was handsome, but Zhao Linsu couldn’t possibly be into him just because of that, right? That was insane. There hadn’t been a single sign.

“Over here—”

Zhu Ningbo called out.

Shen Yan looked up.

Zhao Linsu had just walked in, holding a bag in his hand, looking leisurely as ever, cutting through the crowd toward them.

Shen Yan saw the name above his head and instantly ducked.

He really wanted to run.

But he couldn’t.

Zhu Ningbo knew Shen Yan and Zhao Linsu were childhood friends. He’d joined their little group later on, and as the “third wheel,” he always knew to be considerate—he’d saved the inner seat for Zhao Linsu.

Zhao Linsu arrived.

Zhu Ningbo stood to let him through.

As Zhao Linsu moved past, Shen Yan kept his head down. His long legs blocked the narrow aisle completely, almost like he was doing it on purpose.

Then he realized and started to pull his legs in—but Zhao Linsu nudged his shoe.

“You sick or something?”

Shen Yan didn’t answer, inexplicably nervous.

Zhu Ningbo chimed in, “What’s wrong?”

“Ask him,” Zhao Linsu said, squeezing his long legs through the narrow gap. Shen Yan scrambled to avoid contact, but their pant legs brushed, sending a strange shiver through him. Zhao Linsu took the seat beside him. “He jumped out of the car like he had rabies.”

Shen Yan thought, You’ve got some nerve, you damn perv.

“Ah?” Zhu Ningbo tried to mediate. “Shen Yan, you okay?”

Shen Yan pretended to be dead, rummaging in his bag for a book.

The sound of a laptop booting up came from beside him, along with Zhao Linsu’s sarcastic tone:

“Probably afraid I’ll rape him.”

Shen Yan: “……”

You deadass gay bastard—don’t get cocky!