Chapter 2 — Turns Out You Actually Like Me

Instinctively, his grip loosened, and I seized the fleeting opportunity to snatch back the glass, tilt my head back, and swallow it in a single, reckless gulp. The scorching liquid burned a fiery trail all the way down my throat. The very next second, the room spun violently around me. Somewhere through the thickening haze, I heard my brother shriek in horror:

"Liang Yao?! What you just drank was my pure, unadulterated whiskey?!"

My final memory before the darkness took me was the sight of Cheng Che's eyes widening in stunned disbelief, followed closely by Nguyen Han's gasp of shock. Then, completely devoid of any remaining dignity, I slid right off my chair and passed out cold.

When I finally regained consciousness the following day, the sun was already high in the sky. My head throbbed as if it were about to split apart. I was just struggling to prop myself up when the bedroom door was shoved open. My brother shuffled in wearing a pair of beat-up slippers, his hair standing on end like a bird's nest, chewing sleepily on a toothbrush. He narrowed his half-closed eyes to glance at me, his voice muddled and indistinct around the bristles:

"Oh, you're awake? Why on earth were you crying your eyes out so miserably during yesterday's celebration? Your eyes are still swollen to the size of walnuts."

He leaned in closer, his expression practically begging to be punched:

"Don't tell me you're nursing a broken heart?"

A broken heart? Well, I suppose I actually was. A first love that had withered and died before it even had a chance to begin. I liked Cheng Che. Cheng Che liked Nguyen Han. Nguyen Han liked my brother. What a delightfully vicious little food chain of unrequited affection. And yet, my own flesh and blood happened to be sitting comfortably at the absolute apex of this entire absurd food chain! By what possible right?! Was it because of this face that only barely qualified as human? Or was it due to his thoroughly rotten personality that seemed engineered solely to infuriate people? Overwhelmed by a mixture of deep grievance and burning rage, I glared daggers at him, my heart filled with a profound skepticism regarding the aesthetic standards of the entire world.

Noticing my lack of response, my brother poked at his cheek with his toothbrush a few times, frowned, and asked:

"So it really is a broken heart? Let me guess... is it that guy named Lu Shen from your school?"

I froze. Lu Shen? You mean that senior student who frequently partnered with me on school projects, the smooth-talking charmer who always knew how to entertain a crowd? At best, the two of us were merely acquaintances. Just how many mental gymnastics had my brother's brain gone through to forge a connection like that?

"Why on earth would you think of him?"

My brother ambled over to the bathroom to spit out his mouthwash and wipe his mouth:

"Well, a few days ago when I was shooting hoops with Cheng Che, he happened to mention in passing that he'd noticed you hanging out quite a bit with some guy named Lu Shen."

He waved a dismissive hand. "Anyway, I don't know the guy, but your big brother Cheng Che does. Word on the street is that he's nothing special—just a dyed-in-the-wool playboy. It's not worth breaking your heart over trash like that, Liang Yao Yao."

My ears automatically filtered out all the surrounding noise, latching exclusively onto two words: Cheng Che. He actually had spare time in his schedule to notice who I was spending my time with?

I gave my brother a dry, unenthusiastic reply: "He sure sticks his nose into other people's business."

"Of course, he's my best brother! Sure, we usually bicker like cats and dogs, but when it counts, he's solid gold."

Assuming an expression of reflected glory, my brother gave my blanket an approving pat:

"So, from now on, whenever you run into any trouble, just go running to your brother Cheng Che the exact same way you'd come to your own flesh and blood. Feel free to bother him as much as you want, no need to stand on ceremony."

Irritated to my very core by this ridiculous performance, I grabbed the nearest pillow and hurled it straight at his head:

"Get the hell out of my room right now!"

Liang Xiao deftly caught the pillow, flashed a cheeky grin, and as he retreated toward the door, poked his head back in:

"Oh, right, that pub I'm opening is having its grand opening in a few days. You should drop by, check it out, meet some new people, and change your scenery. Stop moping around over some guy."

My brother wasn't entirely wrong. Spending my days pining away over a man whose heart belonged to someone else was indeed a complete waste of time. Right then and there, I made up my mind: I was officially done liking Cheng Che.