Comrade: Almost a Cat-astrophic Love Story

Pei Zhen and Fu Sichen entered the banquet hall one after the other.

Pei Zhen’s face was flushed, as was Fu Sichen’s.

After Xiao Nian had interrogated his artiste, his gaze fell on Fu Sichen, and he was similarly surprised. “Best Actor Fu, do you have a fever too?”

“Huh.” Pei Zhen was not in the best of moods and snorted coldly. “What fever do you suppose he has?” Horny fever, more like.

Earlier on in the toilet stall, the neighboring pair was a bit much. They didn’t even try to control their volume.

Even if he had been forced to understand the gay universe, the movies that he had watched only helped so much. There were kisses and hugs but nothing more than that.

Having heard live action for the first time, although Pei Zhen maintained a nonchalant expression, he had turned red from his shoulders to the tips of his ears. On top of that, he had been stuck in a narrow space with Fu Sichen.

It was physically obvious that Fu Sichen was highly-aroused but had to control himself—that must have been tough.

Fearing that he would scare Pei Zhen, Best Actor Fu turned around so that he was facing the wall. “I’ll be fine in a bit.”

In a bit?

How would a real man calm down in just a bit?

The couple in the other cubicle had finished up, but Best Actor Fu was still facing the wall and hadn’t completely calmed down. He didn’t want to turn around, and Pei Zhen was stuck not knowing what to do. It was awkward, to say the least.

“You’re really not running a fever?” Xiao Nian was worried, and his nagging made him seem very motherly. “The weather has been undergoing seasonal change, and many people are sick. Pei Pei, you’d better not infect Best Actor Fu.”

Pei Zhen glowered.

“Whose side are you on, do you know what you’re saying? I went to the gym yesterday. If anyone were to infect anyone, it would be Fu Sichen infecting me!” Pei Zhen said.

Xiao Nian had a troubled expression on his face and didn’t quite know how to break the news to Pei Zhen. “Daddy, going to the gym to sleep doesn’t count as exercise.”

He caught Pei Zhen off-guard.

Exercising.

Indeed, the Little Brat Pei hated exercising from the time he was young, apart from Physical Education, he had excellent scores in all his academic subjects.

Fu Sichen lowered his head to hide his smile, but he didn’t attempt to hide it when Pei Zhen cast a sidelong glance at him. “Pei Zhen, you are fine as you are.”

No matter what, Pei Zhen was perfect in his eyes.

Fu Sichen’s gaze was gentle, and Xiao Nian had a strange realization, becoming startled when he observed it. He looked at his artiste again and was surprised to see that, for the first time, Pei Zhen was blushing.

No, no, no—his face was already red.

Xiao Nian was emotionally exhausted from the denial that his star artiste was not gay and was straight as a lamp post.

“Cough, cough.” Pei Zhen was flushed and tried to avoid eye contact. He was insistent on changing the topic. “Xiao Nian, what Screenwriter were you talking about just now?”

“Oh, yes, yes.” Xiao Nian pulled himself together, quickly suppressing the sense of uncertainty in his heart. “She won last year’s Best Screenwriter award—she has a script on-hand, the theme is Man and Nature.”

“Oh.” Compared to the past, the current Pei Zhen seemed proactive. “Then you should introduce us.”

He lacked the courage to be around Fu Sichen any longer.

Pei Zhen left in a hurry, to Xiao Nian’s surprise. Xiao Nian glanced at Fu Sichen, and for some strange reason felt overwhelmingly grateful towards the man. “Thank you, Best Actor Fu, indeed people are influenced by the company they keep. Please continue to be a good influence on Pei Zhen.”

Fu Sichen smiled curtly. “Sure.”

He understood one would be influenced by whom one hung out with, gay people inclusive. He was determined to influence Pei Zhen.

Under Xiao Nian’s lead, Pei Zhen made his rounds and did the necessary niceties. He wasn’t good at holding alcohol, and after two rounds, he started to feel light-headed.

“Hold out for a bit more, Pei Zhen. We’ll just introduce you to the last screenwriter, and then we’ll head home.”

Pei Zhen was getting impatient. “Who?”

Xiao Nian flipped through the name list prepared by the assistant and started reading out the names.

“Fu. Si. Chen.”