Hao Wei, who was standing next to him, tugged at his sleeve, and was about to say something joking to ease the atmosphere when Meng Fanxing suddenly stood up and strode over to Song Lang.
"Dalang, what are you doing? Are you out of your mind?"
He became agitated, and Hao Wei sensed something was wrong, so she quickly came over and pulled him to her side.
"What are you doing? These days, sexual orientation..."
"Weiwei, don't say anything."
Ever since Meng Fanxing started pursuing Hao Wei, he had been reluctant to raise his voice, but he couldn't care less about that now.
He grabbed Song Lang by the collar, trying to shake his good brother awake.
"The person you told me about before, could it be...?"
"yes!"
Song Lang's single, resolute word brought Meng Fanxing to an abrupt halt, nearly causing her to bite her tongue off.
"I'm not kidding, what you see is real, more real than gold."
Song Lang's additional explanation left Meng Fanxing completely stunned.
The three of them grew up together and their relationship was closer than that of brothers. Even though Song Lang suddenly became gay, Meng Fanxing never imagined that he would get together with Shen Zhifei.
"Holy crap! Are you crazy?"
Meng Fanxing was frantic and at a loss. Her usually sharp tongue could only utter "crazy" at this moment, and her face turned bright red.
"What are you getting so worked up about?"
Song Lang was also a little flustered. He hadn't expected to come out to his best friend in this kind of situation, especially on Shen Zhifei's birthday.
He instinctively used his assertiveness to mask his guilty conscience.
"What the hell are you saying I'm getting worked up about?" Meng Fanxing yelled. "Don't you have any idea what your relationship is like? Do you know you're making things messy—"
"Try saying that again!"
Suddenly, Song Lang shoved Meng Fanxing, abruptly cutting off the hurtful word. Meng Fanxing staggered backward, and Hao Wei quickly grabbed her, saying, "Song Lang, you two should talk things out, don't hit her."
Shen Zhifei gently patted Song Lang, whose chest was heaving violently, and pulled him behind her.
He stood there tall and straight, in the posture of a protector.
"It's all my responsibility. If swearing makes you feel better, then swear at me."
Meng Fanxing bit her cheek, her gaze passing over Shen Zhifei's shoulder, and stared at Song Lang, whose eyes were red, for a long time. He took a deep breath, looked away, and ran out of the private room without saying a word.
"Stars!" Hao Wei tried to pull him, but was pulled off balance.
Shen Zhifei helped her up and said, "Could you please go and check on him? Contact me on WeChat if anything comes up."
"Oh, okay, don't worry about him. He's probably just having trouble accepting it right now. I'll try to comfort him." Hao Wei said and then chased after him.
Shen Zhifei nodded slightly, offering no further explanation.
This kind of thing can't be accepted with just a few words of comfort.
Shen Zhifei turned around and hugged the still somewhat agitated Song Lang, gently stroking his trembling back in comfort.
Song Lang seemed to have just recovered from the disaster, which was comparable to an earthquake. He buried his head in Shen Zhifei's collar, desperately trying to absorb the reassuring warmth.
“Feifei—” Song Lang’s voice was trembling with sobs.
"Mmm." Shen Zhifei kissed the top of his head.
“Xingzi is my best buddy,” Song Lang tightened his arms and said in a low voice, “Do you think we’ve broken up?”
Shen Zhifei couldn't give him an answer, so he could only hold the back of his head and say, "You still have me."
The two embraced for a long time until a waiter pushed open the door to the private room and walked in. A group of white-collar workers filed in and, seeing the two embracing, their gazes suddenly turned playful.
Shen Zhifei took Song Lang's hand and walked out, brushing aside the curious and inquisitive gazes.
When they returned to their private room, Song Xianji and his three friends, who were usually quite goofy, had already jumped onto the coffee table and were doing the "Seaweed Dance" in unison, laughing and joking as if no troubles in the world could catch their eye.
Yu Mingtao and Jing Muye jumped in front of Song Lang one after the other, forcibly pulled him onto the table, and made him join in the commotion.
Song Lang was in no mood for anything. Caught in the middle like a stiff puppet, he was torn by a heart full of fear and helplessness. He was worried that their friendship of many years would fall apart and that their forbidden love relationship would be made public.
"Hey? Where's Xingzi? Dalang, have you seen him?" Zhou Sen put his arm around Song Lang's shoulder and asked, "Why did this guy disappear after finishing his cake? He said he was going to sing 'Tantative'."
"I don't know." Song Lang brushed his hand away, walked to Shen Zhifei's side, sat down silently, opened a can of Coke, and gulped down half of it.
"Hey, why are you looking for her? Xingzi is different from us single guys now. She has a goddess by her side. The two of them are probably hiding somewhere, all lovey-dovey."
As soon as Yu Mingtao said this, everyone smiled knowingly. Those who wanted to sing sang, and those who wanted to dance danced. The atmosphere was harmonious and lively, and on the surface, it was definitely a successful gathering.
But Song Lang knew he had messed up.
"sorry."
When Song Lang got home that evening, he hugged Shen Zhifei as soon as he entered the door.
There were only the two of them at home, and the lights were off. Only by the sliver of moonlight shining through the balcony window could one vaguely discern the dejection on his face.
"It's okay, really."