Luo Qi's pupils contracted violently. Unwilling to give up, he clicked on the information page of the original poster and confirmed it repeatedly. He hadn't set privacy settings, and the gender field clearly stated "Male."
His homepage also contained a photo of him and another boy. Both were handsome, and the photo wasn't overly intimate. They were just standing close together, smiling at the camera.
However, whether it was because Luo Qi already knew their relationship or because the photo was exceptionally well-taken, Luo Qi could still sense an incredibly intimate atmosphere between them.
Luo Qi felt a bit dazed. Why could boys be together?
Were they dating? How did that work?
Having lived two lifetimes with a completely blank romantic history, Luo Qi understood none of this.
Originally, he had only a vague idea: find a gentle wife when the time was right. He would earn money to support the family, cherish his wife, and later have a well-behaved and cute child with her.
Back then, everyone told them this was what a traditional man on Planet Gu Di wanted most for his future.
So why, then, could men date men?
No, his focus wasn't on men dating men. It was that all his circumstances matched the poster's, but he and Ye Mu weren't dating!
Luo Qi felt something was even more wrong. He returned to the forum's initial interface and saw many strange questions, all of which had patient answers.
His fingers hesitated for a moment before he clicked the small plus sign in the upper right corner and posted a thread.
Luo Qi decided to describe his and Ye Mu's situation in more detail.
"I'm a boy, and I have a friend I've grown up with for almost twenty years. He's also a boy."
After typing this line, Luo Qi paused and added another word.
"I'm a boy, and I have a good friend I've grown up with for almost twenty years. He's also a boy.
Lately, he's been inexplicably getting closer to me, pinching the soft flesh on my waist, or doing things that are more attentive than before.
Sometimes I feel my heart race, my face gets hot, and my whole body feels weak. Sometimes I'm even a little afraid to look at him.
But I don't feel this way with my other friends."
Recalling the search terms on the software from earlier, he added, "I want to ask if I have heart disease?"
Luo Qi reread it from beginning to end, and once he was sure nothing was missing, he clicked send.
Because it was the simplified web interface of the software, Luo Qi still had the system's initial username, User 983674, without registering.
Luo Qi gnawed on his thumbnail, feeling a little nervous while waiting for a reply.
Soon, he received the first reply, then the second and third. The notification sound on his terminal chimed several times.
Luo Qi opened the page and saw that the first few replies were all "?", "??", "???".
Luo Qi: "?" Was there something about his question that was incomprehensible?
It wasn't until the fourth reply that Luo Qi saw actual text.
"4th Floor: Don't mind it, congratulations."
Luo Qi: "????"
He typed a reply, "Why congratulations? Do I really have a disease? Are you a doctor?"
The netizen replied quickly, "I'm a relationship counselor, sort of. Based on your situation, my diagnosis is: mutual secret crush.
But you might still be a bit of an idiot who hasn't figured it out."
Luo Qi: "..." He felt doubly offended.
"User 983674: Impossible, we've known each other for many years."
"User Don't Mind, Kiss Me: Mhmm, then you've had a mutual secret crush for many years."
"User 983674: It's really not. I used to, probably, like women!"
"User Don't Mind, Kiss Me: Tsk, homophobia is a deep closet."
Luo Qi's eyes curved into spirals. What was this saying now? He didn't understand again.
He closed the reply interface with the netizen "Don't Mind, Kiss Me" and returned to the posting interface. He found that while he and "Don't Mind, Kiss Me" were arguing, the thread had received many new replies.
Luo Qi scanned them roughly and immediately saw one that supported him.
"58th Floor: I think the楼主's question is very normal. Maybe he really has some physical problem? Maybe his heart is not good? [Dog head] [Dog head] [Dog head]"
Luo Qi felt a little relieved. At least someone understood him. However, he didn't quite understand the meaning of that dog head.
Luo Qi regained some confidence and started looking for other replies, hoping to find more useful answers that supported him. Then, to his embarrassment, he found none.
The replies below overwhelmingly supported "Don't Mind, Kiss Me."
Luo Qi was numb.
Was this crappy forum reliable or not?
"99th Floor: Is it just me who feels that the楼主's 'friend' might have recognized his feelings earlier than the楼主 and has been deliberately seducing him?"
"100th Floor: Yes, yes! I thought so too!"
Seeing this, Luo Qi was startled. What did it mean to recognize feelings earlier and deliberately seduce?
Ye Mu, seducing, him?
Luo Qi continued to read. The replies to these two floors, especially the nested replies, were numerous. It seemed all netizens believed that this was indeed the friend, Ye Mu, doing it intentionally.
The remaining floors also went off-topic because of these two. Luo Qi saw many long, detailed posts.
"Childhood sweethearts, inseparable from a young age, both indispensable presences in each other's hearts. They grew up together, one of them discovered their feelings first, and tried to attract the other's attention with countless small tricks every day.
Fortunately, the other party wasn't entirely indifferent. They grew up together, grew old together, became everything in each other's lives, and finally were buried in the same sea of stars."
Luo Qi's heart skipped twice. He wanted to refute that it wasn't true, but it felt like every sentence was accurate.
Luo Qi scrolled down and found that this comment also had many replies.
"Wow wow wow! Childhood sweetheart love is so sweet! Childhood sweethearts are also so sweet!"
"Slow and steady love is the best!!!"
Luo Qi felt a little wavering. He didn't know if this thought arose from seeing these comments or if he already had it. It seemed that living a lifetime with Ye Mu might also be quite good.
Luo Qi closed his eyes. The outline of the insect planet was already visible. He felt he needed to calm down.
Perhaps, when Ye Mu returned to the insect planet to find him, they would need to have a talk.
At this moment, his terminal chimed again, a private message from "Don't Mind, Kiss Me": "Since you like him, don't miss out."
Luo Qi felt as if he had been pricked by two words: "What?"
"Don't Mind, Kiss Me": "Don't leave yourself with regrets."