To My Pretender [BL]

[1] - Class Reunion

Some people had ugly grins. We sometimes encountered strangers, and the first impression you received was that the smile pasted on their faces was nothing but a clutter of horrid wrinkles.

When you examined their distasteful expression further, the grin soon transformed into a cunning little gesture. The more they raised the corner of their lips, the more their dread of living seeped through their rotting skin, and it was all because of their inability to renounce themselves of human society, that every action and word they offered simply became an accommodation.

These people were the 'pretenders'.

In Shanghai, a bitter chill coursed throughout the air on this early autumn night. The coldness that accumulated during the day carried out to the evening, and the food carts scattered across the streets packed up one after the other.

Wu Jie strolled down to the hotpot restaurant. It's been 14 years since he came back to Shanghai, and although the scenery hadn't changed much, he felt like he was cut out from a discarded sketch and pasted onto a refined oil painting.

After his high-school graduation, he cut off all contact with everyone in Shanghai. No one knew where this bright boy disappeared after their graduation.

He watched his old classmates sit at the large table in the corner, and a wave of hesitation took over him.

On the 5th day he arrived back in Shanghai, he met an old friend or perhaps he was now reverted to just a past classmate. Bombarding him with numerous questions, this old friend was a chatty one, and he immediately informed everyone of Wu Jie's return.

Indeed, Wu Jie was the most well-known student in their year group back then. He was on friendly terms with everyone. He was sociable, good-looking, non-judgmental, and his interests were diverse.

Many people came to confess their troubles to Wu Jie and entreated him for words of advice and healing. A listener. This led him to acquire the keenest intuition and could tell from an unknown face what a newcomer wanted, and what was the suffering on his conscience.

He sometimes astounded many people with his knowledge of their secrets before they had spoken a word, but it was because Wu Jie had analysed and examined all sorts of people, that he was intelligent in this way.

Wu Jie wasn't sure why he even agreed to his old friend's invitation. Maybe he thought he'd be able to handle it, but now that he saw his old peers, he started doubting his thoughts.

"What are you doing just standing out here?" a voice called from behind.

Turning around, a familiar figure stood right behind him. It was Chen Yichun, the classmate that beckoned him to come to the class reunion.

He was tall and rather lanky, with purplish-red fleshy cheeks, framed by his sharp jaw and somewhat rapturous eyes. Though this man was lacking great beauty, he had a mysterious quality of being charismatic.

He and Chen Yichun always hung out together, and there were seldom times when they were apart. Yet, to Wu Jie, their friendship was just as superficial as they were with his other relationships.

Amongst the herd of sheep that followed him around in high school, Chen Yichun was a part of it.

"I was just about to head in," Wu Jie said.

When Wu Jie entered the restaurant, everyone immediately stood up with gaped mouths and widened eyes.

"Wu Jie, is that really you?" many of them asked.

"We heard from Chen Yichun that you were coming, but we thought he was just joking!"

Wu Jie laughed and continued receiving numerous questions. While doing so, his mind drowned in a state of blankness and degradation.

He examined the appearance of himself, and those who surrounded him, a rock sunk into the pits of his stomach.

"Wu Jie, you..." one of the girls examined him from torso to head, and her thoughts were clear to all.

Although they tried to hide it through their thick smiles, everyone was thinking the same thing as the girl—that Wu Jie did not meet their expectations after disappearing for fourteen years.

He dressed plainly. Nothing outstanding like those who wore lavish suits, and these people were the same as those who were excelling less in school than Wu Jie. He was skinnier, perhaps even looking thinner than what they had remembered.

The girl let out an awkward expression and asked, "We haven't seen you in so long. How have you been? I felt so hurt when you no longer responded to my messages."

"...It was just because of a few personal reasons. I had nothing against you guys, really," he smiled solemnly.

"You should've told me you were back in Shanghai," someone said. "Why did you just cut off all contact with everyone?"

He awkwardly laughed as he sat himself down, trying to answer all their questions in the most vague way possible.

I shouldn't have come here.

I feel sick.

"My mother decided it was best for me to study abroad. I lost a lot of people's contacts after I moved, so don't take it personally. I couldn't even remember all my social media accounts or your phone numbers, so I had to recreate everything again."

"You studied abroad?! Where?"

"In the US."

They nodded in awe. Everyone was still in disbelief at the fact that Wu Jie was still even alive. To disappear completely with no trace whatsoever was abnormal, and most of the people in his year group concluded that he was either kidnapped or murdered. When Wu Jie mentioned the US, a rope wrapped around his heart.

While the people around him tried to come up with reasons why Wu Jie disappeared, all the company were now collected in the corner of the restaurant; some were drinking, some laughed and talked: and all were in the highest and wildest spirits.

"Where do you work now?" a man asked Wu Jie.

"...I don't have a job."

Everyone raised their brows, and even those who were chatting and drinking tried to listen to their conversation.