Transmigrated as My Best Friend's Ex

138. My Cousin Is in One-sided Love with Han Mingxu

 

Translator: Guy Gone Bad

 

Those who rarely drank alcohol were very sensitive to the smell of alcohol.

Li Qinghao was awakened by an overpowering smell of alcohol. He pressed his temples with his forefingers and opened his eyes. He had a headache, perhaps because he didn’t go to sleep until the small hours or because he slept too long. He looked up at the wall clock. It was three o’clock in the afternoon. Gosh, he slept for 12 hours?!!

Wearing his baggy pajamas, Li Qinghao opened the door and walked out.

A pungent smell of alcohol instantly filled his nostrils. He saw two men sitting on the sofa, chatting and watching TV. One was Nancheng Lie, and the other was a strange man.

Sensing that he was being stared at, the man looked back over his shoulder. He had a very handsome face with a pair of charming eyes. Li Qinghao was instantly on the alert. This guy was a threat.

The man looked at Li Qinghao with a surprised look, and then said to Nancheng Lie with a smile, “I thought only Mingxu could live with you, but it seems that you cease to be faithful to him.” His voice was as soft as velvet.

Nancheng Lie turned around to see Li Qinghao standing at the door. He hurriedly stood up and said, “You are awake? Are you hungry? I’ve bought some porridge. The porridge is warming up on the stove in the kitchen. Do you want some?”

Li Qinghao’s eyebrows knitted together at his words. But soon he stopped frowning and once again let his eyes settle upon that man, who looked inquiringly at him.

“My dear cousin, can you tell me where Xu is? He said he would come back today. It’s three o’clock, but he hasn’t come back yet,” Li Qinghao complained. He behaved like a wayward teenager.

Nancheng Lie was speechless for a few seconds. He didn’t expect Xu to be so skilled in telling lies. “Er, he meant to come back to China, but something happened and he has to stay in Leiluo Kingdom. By the way, I’m your cousin. Don’t always mention him to me.”

“Well, my dear cousin, I’m hungry. Can you fetch me a bowl of porridge? Thank you.” Li Qinghao sat down at the table and simply ignored Nancheng Lie’s blazing gaze.

When Nancheng Lie walked out of the kitchen with a bowl of porridge, the man came up to him, bent over the table and eyed Li Qinghao with interest. “Lie, this boy is interesting. What’s your relationship with him?”

‘The boy looks very young, but I have captured in his eyes his calmly determination. Apparently he is not a nobody,’ he thought.

“He’s my cousin. He just returned from abroad. My aunt thought that the foreign overall social atmosphere was bad, so she sent him back to China, hoping he would improve his character. As you see, he is not tall but has a bad temper,” Nancheng Lie said in a humorous and teasing tone, explaining Li Qinghao’s identity and meanwhile alerting him to behave properly.

‘I’m not tall but bad-tempered? Damn it! Although my soul was transferred from Han Mingxu’s body to Li Qinghao’s, I will be 183 cm tall by the time I’m 20. Is he taking advantage of me? Because I’m a weak teenager now?’ Li Qinghao thought angrily.

“Oh, you are Lie’s cousin. Hello, I’m Lie’s junior high school classmate. My name is Han Ping.”

Li Qinghao choked on the porridge. He looked up at Nancheng Lie enquiringly, as if to say, ‘He is Han Ping, the first boy to express his love to me?!’

Nancheng Li regretted having mentioned Han Ping to Li Qinghao. He had just wanted to tell Xu that Han Ping had changed a lot in appearance. He didn’t expect that Han Ping would attract Xu’s attention. Now he was in a slightly awkward position. If he had known the result in advance, he would have said nothing about Han Ping.

Han Ping asked Li Qinghao, “What are you two guys playing at?” Han Ping was also gay, but he was different from Nancheng Lie. Nancheng Lie hadn’t realized that he was gay until he fell in love with Han Mingxu. In short, he just happened to fall in love with a person of the same sex.

As for Han Ping, he was a real homosexual. From the beginning, he was interested only in men. In junior high school, he expressed his feelings for Han Mingxu on the spur of the moment, just because Han Mingxu’s handsome appearance made his heart race. In a word, Han Ping was a born homosexual, while Nancheng Lie just happened to love a person of the same sex.

Han Ping was a smart man. He sensed that there was a kind of ambiguous atmosphere between Li Qinghao and Nancheng Lie, and only homosexuals could feel it.

But considering the age gap between them, he dismissed the speculation as impossible. This boy was very attractive, but he was just a junior high school student.

Li Qinghao raised his eyebrows and asked, “My cousin once mentioned an Aquarius classmate to me. Is that you?”

Han Ping had met many charming teenagers. They were more or less childish, but Li Qinghao was an exception. Li Qinghao had a mature streak in him, which was very attractive to homosexuals. “Did he really mention me to you?” Han Ping asked curiously.

Li Qinghao didn’t answer his question. “You know that my cousin is in one-sided love with Xu, don’t you?”

Hearing this, Nancheng Lie was unhappy. ‘How could Xu describe me as a lovelorn man? We love each other,’ he thought.

Han Ping glanced at Nancheng Lie and said laughingly, “Yes, I do.”

“Then you should know why my cousin mentioned you to me. My cousin said that if not for you, he would have been the first man to profess his love for Xu. You beat him to it. So, he often thinks of you,” Li Qinghao teased. When he spoke to Han Ping, he looked at Nancheng Lie out of the corner of his eyes.

Nancheng Lie reddened slightly. He was not afraid to tell the world that he loved Han Mingxu, but every time he talked about his love, he blushed. His love for Xu was pure and inviolate.

“That’s all he told you?” Han Ping thought it was impossible that Nancheng Lie didn’t speak ill of him.

“He said you were as fat as a pig.” Li Qinghao tried to drive a wedge between Han Ping and Nancheng Lie.

Han Ping nodded. That was exactly Nancheng Lie’s speaking style.

“Hey, that’s enough.” Nancheng Lie drew Han Ping aside and sat him on the sofa. Then with a warning tone, he whispered in his ear, “My cousin is only 13 years old. He’s the only child in his family. You’d better stay away from him. Otherwise, I will no longer regard you as my friend.”

With a smile, Han Ping shook off Nancheng Lie’s hand and replied, “A hungry person is not picky and choosy. Don’t worry. I’m not hungry for the time being.” But it was hard to say if he would be interested in Li Qinghao in the future.

Nancheng narrowed his eyes. They looked directly at each other. There was an atmosphere of great hostility and tension between them. Meanwhile, Li Qinghao was leisurely eating porridge in the dining room.

He bowed his head, a flicker of sharpness in his eyes. Was it just a coincidence that Han Ping moved here?