Name: The Straight Director's Detour in France
Author: La Mu He

Synopsis

After being blacklisted and fleeing to Paris, where he spent two years working illegally, Mu Wei ran into an old acquaintance.

Who was this person?

A strapping hunk, 188 cm tall with an eight-pack;

A bit-part actor who knocked on Mu Wei's hotel door in the middle of the night wearing a deep-V bathrobe, claiming he wanted to discuss the script;

A gay man who stripped Mu Wei naked, dumped him in a hotel, and then disappeared...

Now this person had made it big and was warmly inviting Mu Wei to help him make a movie, and not the respectable kind, either.

Something was off. Very off!

Is he secretly in love with me? Does he want to take me by force while pretending it's work? I'd better stay away from him, Mu Wei thought.

But then he reconsidered and accepted the offer, because he was broke.

"Can you handle shooting a gay movie?" Di Yanqiu asked hesitantly.

"A man can't say he can't handle it!" My wallet won't let me say no.

"But you're straight..." Di Yanqiu looked troubled.

"Why can't a straight guy act in a gay movie? By that logic, people can't act in nature documentaries either." Mu Wei protested.

"I'm worried you won't be able to let go." Di Yanqiu was being considerate.

"Don't worry! I love the awkwardness of filming two men kissing and sleeping together! I'm obsessed with the thrill of filming a scene and not saying a word afterward!" Mu Wei declared passionately.

Did he really want to make the movie? No! He was really broke.

"By the way, I'm not gay." Di Yanqiu smiled radiantly.

"..." You should have said so earlier. I was worried for nothing.

Once filming began...

The production was broke?

The crew was amateurish?

The actors were a headache?

The process was a melodramatic mess?

Mu Wei thought he could get through it!... Until Di Yanqiu pinned him down and kissed him until he could barely breathe. Mu Wei couldn't take it anymore.

"I signed a director's contract, right? Which clause says I have to kiss the producer?"

"You said you weren't gay! What straight guy grabs his bro and kisses and gropes him like that?!"

Worse, when Di Yanqiu's fingertips skimmed over his back, Mu Wei's heartbeat thundered!

It's over. I'm bent.

Just when he thought this was going to be a sugary story about brothers becoming lovers, Di Yanqiu disappeared...

·

[Psychological Case File Version]

≡≡≡The bottom's session≡≡≡

"At first, he wanted to sleep with me." Mu Wei mused.

Psychologist: "He's an actor. How could he take advantage of the director instead?"

"He showed up at my door in a deep-V bathrobe in the middle of the night. Wasn't he trying to sleep with me? Obviously." Mu Wei said with conviction.

Psychologist: "Did he succeed?"

"Well... Two years later in France, he asked me to work with him on some rather unrespectable movies. As we kept filming, I ended up sleeping with him. At first, he was furious and even hit me." Mu Wei smiled sweetly.

"..." The psychologist's expression clearly fell into disarray.

Mu Wei suddenly sprang up in anger, hysterical. "We went through so much to get together, and then he suddenly disappeared! He disappeared!"

The psychologist quickly wrote an instruction: "Depression has progressed to bipolar disorder."

≡≡≡The top's session≡≡≡

"He's strange. He claims to be homophobic, yet he slept with me." Di Yanqiu looked bashful.

Psychologist: "Did he force you?"

"Not exactly. I was willing."

Psychologist: "If you were willing, why hit him? Do you hate him?"

"Of course not. I love him." Di Yanqiu's eyes were full of tenderness.

The psychologist looked utterly baffled. "You were together, and you love him so much. Why did you leave?"

Di Yanqiu looked utterly dejected. "I couldn't let Mu Wei fall in love with that male actor. He doesn't deserve him! Mu Wei is mine."

"Who is that male actor?" Faced with this sudden new character, the psychologist was a little confused.