One Mountain Can't Hold Two Heartthrobs

For twenty-three years, Xie Xingchen had coasted through life on his looks.

From his elementary school deskmate to his college roommate, from the man selling pancakes by the school gate to the new intern, everyone blushed and asked him the same thing after looking at him three times: “Can I add you on WeChat?”

Xie Xingchen revised his introduction for the tenth time: Male, likes work, do not disturb.

His friend was beside himself with grief. “You're wasting a priceless gift!”

Xie Xingchen smiled. “Then why don't you take this gift home?”

His friend fell silent.

Xie Xingchen thought he was the only unlucky person in the world plagued by the “everyone-loves-me” debuff.

Until that Tuesday afternoon.

At a street-corner cafe, at the third table by the window.

In ten minutes, Xie Xingchen had turned down, one after another:

A. A shy college student asking for his contact information

B. An upperclasswoman from the art department hoping to hire him as a model

C. A talent scout from an entertainment company, handing him a business card

D. The manager, blushing as he said, “Coffee's on me”

E. And a rich second-generation heir he didn't know but vaguely recognized, who had shown up with a rose and dropped to one knee...

He rubbed his temples and picked up his coffee. When he looked up, he happened to see the table diagonally across from him

a man in a black shirt, pushing away a fifth napkin with a phone number on it in almost exactly the same tired manner.

Their eyes met in midair.

Xie Xingchen raised an eyebrow.

The other man raised one too.

The next second, they both stood up and crossed the cafe amid broken hearts and roses that had never been given, meeting at the counter.

“Bro,” Xie Xingchen began, his voice strangely friendly. “How many waves have you turned down?”

“Including the one pretending to bump into me at the entrance,” the other man said, glancing at a watch he wasn't wearing, “four groups in five minutes.”

Two seconds of silence.

They both burst out laughing.

“Shen Ji,” the man said, holding out his hand, his eyes shining with the joy of finding someone who understood. “A poor sap who got chased into hiding in the men's bathroom.”

“Xie Xingchen,” Xie Xingchen said, gripping his hand firmly. “A sorry soul cornered in the company parking lot and asked to run away together.”

The moment their hands clasped, the cafe's glass door opened again, and a new “admirer” poked their head in.

They exchanged a glance, turned around in perfect sync, and bolted through the back door into the alley.

The wind chime at the mouth of the alley rang softly.

Shen Ji braced his hands on his knees and caught his breath. When he looked up, his eyes were startlingly bright. “Alliance?”

Xie Xingchen leaned against the wall, catching his breath, and held out a hand with a smile. “Pleasure doing business with you.”

Later, when they were both surrounded at the cafe again...

Shen Ji casually slung an arm around Xie Xingchen's shoulders and smiled at everyone. “Sorry, this handsome guy is taken.”

Xie Xingchen leaned against him obligingly and added with a nod, “His boyfriend's right here, keeping a close eye on him.”

Everyone stared in shock. “What's going on? The two heartthrobs got together with each other?!”

[Bonus scene]

Friend: So what are you two now?

Xie Xingchen: Strategic partners who use each other as a human shield.

Shen Ji: The kind of partners who share a bed every night.

Xie Xingchen: ...Shut up.

Shen Ji: (Kisses him with a smile) It's a strategic necessity. Deal with it.

There was no road in this world to begin with. Once there were enough people being chased, we made a new one together.

Blurb posted on 2026.1.28

Theme: A healthy romantic relationship