Chapter 155: Casual Chat
Su Mubai glanced at him without a word. Picking up his glass, he tilted his head back and took a generous swallow.
The fiery liquid scorched its way down his throat, making him frown slightly, yet the burning sensation seemed to unlock something inside, opening the floodgates to feelings he had kept buried for years.
Chu Yang matched him with a drink of his own, wincing at the harsh heat, but his gaze remained locked onto Su Mubai with absolute focus.
Perhaps alcohol really did have a way of stripping away people’s defenses.
Holding the remaining half of his drink, Su Mubai began sharing the secrets he had never dared breathe to a living soul.
He spoke of his quiet anxieties, the deep sense of inferiority that had plagued him when he believed his feelings were unrequited, the years spent watching over Lin Xiao from the shadows, and the dizzying, unbelievable joy of discovering that Lin Xiao loved him back—followed immediately by an even heavier wave of uncertainty.
Chu Yang listened with rapt attention, nodding along from time to time as he took small, measured sips from his glass.
Before either of them realized it, the bottle of baijiu was completely empty.
“So you see!” Chu Yang exclaimed, pouring himself the final drops from the bottle. His cheeks were flushed a bright crimson and his eyes were glazed with a hazy warmth, yet his train of thought remained surprisingly clear. “You two are totally in love with each other! After dancing around each other in circles for all these years, you’ve finally ended up together!”
Leaning forward, he peered at Su Mubai through half-lidded, drunken eyes, asking in genuine bewilderment, “But… Little Bai, since you’ve already laid everything on the table and cleared the air, why have you seemed so… off these past two days?”
“Your mood has been swinging back and forth like a pendulum. By all rights, the two of you should be glued at the hip right now, all sweet and passionate, burning like dry wood caught on fire… ahem,” he caught himself just before crossing the line, quickly clearing his throat. “Anyway, what I mean is, now that you’ve finally found each other, you ought to cherish it!”
“You’re usually the sharpest, most perceptive guy around. Why is it that when it comes to your own heart, you suddenly… you just can’t bring yourself to let go?”
Su Mubai was caught off guard by the blunt question, his fingers tightening around the glass.
Lowering his gaze, he stared at the faint swirl of liquid at the bottom of his cup, falling into a thoughtful silence.
What was he truly running from?
Was he terrified of moving too fast? Afraid of losing what they had just found?
Yet, as Chu Yang had said, in a broken world like this, who could ever guarantee a tomorrow?
Seeing that Su Mubai offered no rebuttal, Chu Yang struck while the iron was hot. Raising his glass, he tapped it against Su Mubai’s empty tumbler with a crisp clink.
His tone grew earnest. Though heavy with drink, every word carried unvarnished sincerity: “Little Bai, listen to me.”
“In this godforsaken world, we’re drawing breath today, but none of us know if we’ll live to see the morning sun.”
“To cross paths with someone you truly love, someone who knows you inside and out and will fight by your side through hell—do you have any idea how rare that kind of luck is?”
“Stop overthinking the future, and stop worrying about every little what-if. Focus on the present. Focus on what’s standing right in front of you.”
“When you love someone, hold on with both hands. Don’t leave room for regret, and don’t make him wait forever.”
“Once a chance like this slips away, it’s gone for good.”
Su Mubai listened in quiet stillness. Looking at Chu Yang’s flushed, deeply earnest face, the knot of tension in his chest truly seemed to unravel, washed away by the simple honesty of the advice.
He gave a soft nod. “Mm. I understand.”
Satisfied that his message had landed, Chu Yang broke into a broad, happy grin and tossed back the last drop of liquor in his glass.
Naturally, the moment the heavy emotional talk ended, his drunken rambling veered wildly off course.
Slumping back into the cushions, he laced his fingers behind his head. A look of envious longing, laced with a faint trace of self-pity, washed over his face as he muttered, “Man… I’m so jealous of you two… knowing exactly who you want, all settled and happy. Must be nice. Unlike me…”
He let out a loud hiccup, his glazed eyes drifting up toward the ceiling as he whined in sheer confusion: “It’s been so long, and I’m still single as a stray dog.”
“Tell me, why does nobody ever fall for me?”
“I mean… hic… I’m not bad-looking, right?”
“I’ve got the height, I’ve got the face, and my personality is top-tier—positive, cheerful, loyal to a fault…”
Su Mubai stared at the man’s total, blissful ignorance, an indescribable mix of pity and exasperation swirling in his eyes. The words hovered right on the tip of his tongue, but he forced himself to swallow them back down.
He used to think Chu Yang was merely a little dense when it came to romance. Now he knew with absolute certainty: this guy didn’t just lack romantic radar—the entire romantic circuit in his brain had never been wired in the first place!
Silently, Su Mubai lit a row of mental prayer candles for Jiang Jue… Boss, you have a painfully long road ahead of you.
“Are you completely certain… that nobody likes you?” Su Mubai asked, rubbing his temples as he tried one last subtle hint.
“Positive!” Chu Yang began counting off his fingers with drunken, dead-serious precision. “Think about our squad—there are barely a handful of us to begin with.”
“Li Yu? She’s Qiangzi’s future wife, through and through. You think I’d ever be the kind of scumbag who steals his brother’s girl?”
“Never!”
“Then there’s Jiang Lin. Back at the start, she kept throwing herself at me, but lately, I don’t know what got into her—every time she looks at me, she gets this bizarre grin and runs the other way. Pretty sure that ship has sailed.”
Tilting his head in deep thought, he continued his process of elimination: “Sister Wang? She’s a wonderful person, but little Niu Niu is already growing up… I really don’t think I have what it takes to be a stepdad, so that’s out too.”
Su Mubai: “…”
He quietly looked away, pressing two fingers against his brow to stave off an incoming headache. He couldn’t stomach another second of this clueless bachelor’s romantic audit.
He was genuinely terrified that if he listened to one more sentence, he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from shouting the words “The Boss is in love with you!” right into Chu Yang’s oblivious face.
Chu Yang, completely blind to his friend’s inner turmoil, continued to mutter to himself, his unfocused gaze drifting as if weighing the most profound life choices: “I mean, now that we’ve settled into the base and things are finally stabilizing… maybe I really should start looking around for a suitable partner… hmm…”
Before he could finish the thought, a light knock sounded at the door.
Su Mubai let out a long breath of pure relief—the Boss had finally arrived to collect him.
His own alcohol tolerance was fairly average, and after sharing an entire bottle of strong spirits, a heavy wave of dizziness was beginning to cloud his vision.
Glancing at Chu Yang, who was already sliding sideways against the armrest, Su Mubai pushed himself up on unsteady legs, made his way to the doorway, and pulled the door open.
Jiang Jue stood tall in the hallway, his expression as unreadable as still water.
His sharp eyes swept over Su Mubai first, verifying that he was fine, before cutting straight past his shoulder to lock onto the drunken lump sprawled across the living room sofa.
Su Mubai stepped aside without a word, clearing the way.
The moment Jiang Jue crossed the threshold, the rich, pungent aroma of distilled spirits washed over him.
Spotting the drained baijiu bottle on the coffee table, his dark brows knitted together in an instant.
Striding over to the sofa, he looked down at Chu Yang, whose cheeks were bright red and whose unfocused eyes were squinting up at him with a goofy, cheerful grin. Jiang Jue reached out, his large, steady hands grasping Chu Yang’s swaying shoulders to keep him upright.
“Why did you drink so much?” His voice was low and quiet, but beneath the calm surface lay an unmistakable note of reprimand—and a deep, protective tenderness.
“Boss! You’re here!” The moment Chu Yang saw Jiang Jue, his eyes lit up as if finding his anchor. He fought to sit up straight to prove he was entirely sober. “I didn’t drink that much! Just… having a heart-to-heart with Little Bai… I’m really happy today!”
Daily Life of Being Turned Gay by the Male Lead After Transmigrating into an Apocalypse
