The Return of the God Level Assassin Chapter 1337: THE PARTY (VII)

SHEN XIN stood in front of the side door like so kind of guard. With all the noise in the banquet hall, he couldn’t make out whatever conversation was happening on the balcony. But he knew that if soone walked in there right now and saw the two of them standing too close, or worse, caught them doing sothing they shouldn’t be doing, that person would have questions. Questions that would be hard to answer.

But what could he even do about it? Was he supposed to just stand here like so kind of creep? Shit. Why did these two think sneaking off like this was a good idea? Didn’t they care if soone found out? Or were they so caught up in each other that nothing else mattered?

As Shen Xin stood there trying to figure out what to do, a voice he really didn’t want to hear at that mont spoke up right beside him.

"Ah Xin, what are you standing there for?"

He glanced sideways and saw Shen Lin standing there with a frown on his face. Shen Xin cursed under his breath. Why did his brother have to show up now? Before he could co up with an excuse, Shen Lin’s eyes shifted toward the balcony door. Shen Xin moved without thinking, stepping slightly to block his view. That only made Shen Lin’s frown deepen.

"What are you doing?" Shen Lin asked, narrowing his eyes. "Is there sothing on the balcony?"

"N-nothing," Shen Xin stamred. He cleared his throat. "There’s nothing there."

Shen Lin stared at him, clearly studying his face. Whatever he saw there must have been enough, because he suddenly pushed past Shen Xin and reached for the door.

"Brother—!"

Shen Xin tried to stop him, but before he could, he stumbled. The alcohol he had been drinking was finally catching up with him. By the ti he steadied himself, Shen Lin had already pulled the door open.

Fuck.

Shen Xin looked toward the balcony, hoping Shen Ji Yun and Luo Yan weren’t in the middle of making out. Luckily, they were just standing together. Still, they were standing a little too close. And shit, they were holding hands. He glanced at Shen Lin, and sure enough, his brother’s eyes had locked onto their clasped hands.

Shen Lin stepped onto the balcony. He found Shen Ji Yun standing there with one of the Luo brothers, just the two of them. He wondered why Shen Xin had been acting like sothing was happening here. Then he looked down and saw their hands. They were clasped together. He stared at them, his brow furrowing.

His brow furrowed even more when he saw how the two of them reacted. As soon as they noticed him, they moved apart. No, moved apart wasn’t quite right. They practically jumped away from each other. Why would they react like that?

He turned his gaze to Shen Ji Yun. As always, his cousin’s face gave nothing away. But he caught the quick, worried look Shen Ji Yun shot at Luo Yan. And Luo Yan... he was smiling, but it was the kind of smile soone puts on when they’re trying not to look nervous. Why were they acting so strangely?

Shen Lin thought back to what he had seen when he first walked in. The way the two had been standing so close, the way they had been looking at each other. A nagging feeling tugged at the back of his mind, telling him he had seen that look from Shen Ji Yun before. Then, like a light finally switching on, he rembered.

On Valentine’s Day, he had taken Tang Tang out for a dinner date. That was when he spotted Shen Ji Yun at a hotel with a girl. The girl had introduced herself as Shen Ji Yun’s lover. She had said her na was ’Yan Yan’.

Shen Lin’s eyes went wide. He turned his head sharply toward Luo Yan. The image of the young man standing before him began to blur and overlap with the girl from that night. Take away the long hair and the dress, and everything else matched. The height. The build. The face. It was the sa person. It was him.

"Do you need sothing, Shen Lin?"

Shen Ji Yun’s question irritated Shen Lin for reasons he couldn’t quite explain. No, that wasn’t true. He knew exactly why. It was the way Shen Ji Yun stood there looking so calm, like he had already decided he wouldn’t cause any trouble. Most of the ti, that would be true. But right now, with his head pounding, Shen Lin suddenly wanted to hit that blank face. Just once.

"Brother, can we just go back inside?" Shen Xin said as he finally made it to his brother’s side. "I don’t know, grab a drink or sothing?"

Shen Lin looked at his brother. He thought back to how Shen Xin had been standing in front of the door, blocking the way like he was hiding sothing. A strange suspicion ford in his mind. "Did you know about this?" he asked, his voice low. "Is that why you were standing there like a guard?"

"I... I don’t know what you’re talking about," Shen Xin said, his gaze darting everywhere except at his brother.

Seeing his brother stamr and avoid his gaze, Shen Lin knew he had guessed right. "You’ve got to be fucking kidding ," he muttered under his breath.

Apparently, his cousin was in a relationship with a man. And not just any man, but the second son of the Luo family. A man who, it seed, had a habit of dressing up as a woman. And his brother had known about it all along.

The irritation crawling under his skin only grew worse. Their family was already fractured because of Uncle Yi Mu’s confession about his sexuality. That had been bad enough. And now this? His cousin, the one Uncle Yi Mu had raised, had also turned out to be gay. Shen Lin felt a tight knot form in his stomach. He thought about his grandfather, how the old man had nearly had a heart attack the last ti. He thought about his father, how cold his voice had been when he talked about Uncle Yi Mu afterwards.

Now he would have to deal with this too. More argunts. More sha. More whispers. And his brother had known. Had kept it from him. He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to push down the anger building in his chest.

Luo Yan cleared his throat. "I’m going to head back inside. My father is probably looking for by now."

He shot Shen Ji Yun a quick glance, one that said he would text him later. He hadn’t even had the chance to give him his anniversary gift yet. But with both Shen Ji Yun’s cousins standing right there, sticking around would only risk turning this into a bigger ss. Neither of them needed that right now.

Shen Lin caught the look they exchanged. That quick, private glance, like they had done this a hundred tis before, only made his frustration and irritation spike. He didn’t even know why he said what he said next. The words just slipped out.

"I never knew the second young master of the Luo family had a habit of cross-dressing."