Chapter 8 Exposed?

Matthew Clark was startled by this sentence, almost losing his composure—

James Bennett still heard it!

He pressed his lips together, turned his head with a hint of confusion, “What?”

James Bennett lowered his lashes gently, speaking patiently, “Weren’t those two girls just now watching us the whole time? Weren’t they saying something like ‘younger seme’, ‘so cute’?”

“……” Matthew Clark, “Were they?”

As they spoke, they passed under a streetlamp by the parking lot, which flickered on with a couple of zaps.

A glimmer of light appeared in the depths of James Bennett’s dark eyes, the corners of his mouth curving in a barely-there smile. “Does little uncle know what that means?”

Matthew Clark swallowed, feeling his ears grow hot.

He kept a straight face, thinking, Even if I know, I can’t tell you what it means! Am I supposed to say that ‘younger seme’ means the top is younger than the bottom—

And why am I the “bottom” anyway!

Matthew Clark stared straight ahead and translated literally, “Maybe… they’re saying you’re a ‘cutie’.”

“………” James Bennett said softly, “No matter how I think about it, that’s not it.”

The two walked on in silence for a while.

The dusky sky cast a hazy, ambiguous veil over everything around them.

James Bennett didn’t say anything more, and Matthew Clark couldn’t tell if he believed him or not. He was anxiously waiting for the next question, when he heard the tone beside him relax, “Mm… never mind.”

James Bennett changed the subject nonchalantly, “You just said, what happened at your company the day before yesterday?”

Matthew Clark glanced at his profile, blinked, and smoothly picked up the new topic, “Oh, the day before yesterday, the patrol dog downstairs at our company got into a fight with the security guard…”

James Bennett turned his head: ?

-

Although the topic had been skipped, Matthew Clark still kept it in mind.

He held onto it for two days before finally asking Evelyn Cooper, “I have a question—”

Evelyn Cooper was reviewing a manuscript, not even looking up, “Manuscript deadline at the end of the month, no leave allowed, no performance bonus. What else? Go ahead.”

“……” Matthew Clark, “I wanted to ask, if one day a same-gender friend asked you what ‘older seme’, ‘loyal dog’, and ‘seme/uke’ mean, how would you respond?”

Evelyn Cooper pushed up her glasses and looked up, “Of course I’d explain it to him in detail, recommend it to him, pull him into the fandom, and then sell him every book published by our editorial department.”

Matthew Clark, “………”

Matthew Clark clapped his hands, “It’s hard to imagine how someone as talented as you got kicked out of the literature department.”

Evelyn Cooper shot back sharply, “That’s a forbidden topic!”

The two of them tapped their fountain pens back and forth a few times.

Matthew Clark was about to call a halt when he suddenly heard Evelyn Cooper ask, “So, who asked you this question?” Her glasses flashed, “That kid you’re living with?”

He was hit right on the mark, and his movements froze.

The fountain pen cap slipped off with a click, and ink splattered onto his clothes.

Both of them looked over at once: “…Ah.”

A white T-shirt stained with ink was basically a write-off.

Emily suddenly got inspired and wanted to make a grand display on it. She used to be a manga artist, but switched to editing because her drawing skills were mediocre.

Matthew Clark stretched out his shirt, letting her do as she pleased on it.

Evelyn Cooper watched from the side for a while, then turned her gaze to Matthew Clark.

His lowered profile was gentle and clear, his expression very patient—the kind of person who could attract others without even realizing it. But when it came to feelings, he was a complete blank slate.

Thinking of the last two times she’d run into that kid…

Evelyn Cooper frowned slightly, wanting to give a reminder, “Mingzhou.”

Matthew Clark looked up, “What?”

Evelyn Cooper hesitated, “That kid at your place…”

“What!?” Emily suddenly looked up, her pen hand shaking, “Deputy editor, you have a kid? When did you have one?”

The conversation was abruptly cut off.

Matthew Clark calmly stretched his shirt, “There’s no way I could have one, please respect my biological structure.”

Emily lowered her head in embarrassment.

Evelyn Cooper adjusted her glasses and turned away: Forget it, why is he even worrying.

-

That night, wearing the same shirt home, he did indeed catch James Bennett’s attention.

The latter, all long limbs, was lounging on the sofa looking at his phone. Hearing movement, he looked up for a couple of seconds, “Manga?”

Matthew Clark, “A colleague drew it.”

“Oh…” James Bennett looked him over, “So little uncle, you’re a manga editor?”

That didn’t seem like something he needed to hide.

Matthew Clark paused, then nodded, “Yeah.”

James Bennett raised his eyebrows in mild surprise. Matthew Clark added guiltily, “Shonen manga.”

Two boys’ manga—how is that not shonen manga.

James Bennett just smiled, “Too bad I don’t really read manga.”

……

After learning that James Bennett wasn’t interested, Matthew Clark stopped worrying about the “younger seme” and “so cute” issue. The other probably really didn’t know, just asked casually.

On Wednesday afternoon, James Bennett went out for team training.

Matthew Clark tidied up and got ready to go out as well.

Today, the standalone volume by his author Xue Ying was hitting the shelves, and he planned to check out the sales at a nearby bookstore.

Corner Bookstore was located on the pedestrian street not far from home.

Pushing open the glass door with wind chimes hanging from it, a bright and tidy shop came into view.