The Distance between us

Be My Sugar Daddy for a Month

Lu Sheng and Chen Xiao have been best friends since childhood. However, their friendship is complicated—Lu Sheng is homosexual, while Chen Xiao is straight and has a girlfriend, Jiayi. Lu Sheng secretly harbors feelings for Chen Xiao but hides them, fearing that revealing the truth will ruin their friendship.

The warm morning sunlight filtered through the cream-colored curtains, casting soft golden patterns on the wooden floor. A slight breeze caused them to flutter, sending a gentle rustling sound through the quiet bedroom.

Lu Sheng groaned as the alarm buzzed for the third time, its high-pitched ringing slicing through the peaceful morning. His arm lazily stretched out from under the covers, patting the nightstand in a half-hearted attempt to silence the noise. After a few misses, his fingers finally found the snooze button. The room fell silent once more.

"Five more minutes..." he mumbled, voice muffled as he buried his face deeper into the pillow.

He didn't have any early lectures today. He could afford a little more sleep, a little more time to drift between dreams and reality. But fate had other plans.

The sudden vibration of his phone startled him. It hummed against the wooden nightstand, a familiar name flashing across the screen—Chen Xiao.

For a moment, Lu Sheng just stared at it. His heart skipped, as it always did whenever that name appeared. Memories threatened to creep in, but he pushed them back. This was normal. Friends called each other. This didn't mean anything.

Sighing, he finally answered, his voice still laced with sleep. "Why are you calling so early? Don't tell me you actually woke up before me."

"Of course not." Chen Xiao's voice was smooth, laced with amusement. "Unlike you, I don't rely on an alarm. My body clock is just superior."

Lu Sheng scoffed, rolling onto his back and staring at the ceiling. "Right. And yet you always used to steal my breakfast because you were too lazy to make your own."

A chuckle echoed through the phone. It was light, teasing, and so familiar it made Lu Sheng's chest tighten. This was how it had always been—easy, effortless banter. It was their thing.

"Speaking of breakfast, I'm at the café near campus. Wanna join?" Chen Xiao asked, the clatter of plates and muffled chatter in the background confirming his words.

Lu Sheng stretched, feeling the stiffness in his muscles. "Sounds like you just want me to pay for your food."

"Maybe," Chen Xiao admitted shamelessly. "So? You coming?"

Lu Sheng rolled his eyes, but he was already swinging his legs out of bed. "Yeah, yeah. Give me fifteen minutes."

"Make it ten," Chen Xiao challenged, and before Lu Sheng could argue, the line went dead.

He stared at the phone for a moment longer, his smile fading just a little. Mornings like these made it too easy to pretend—pretend that nothing had changed, pretend that he didn't feel things he shouldn't. But pretending only worked for so long.

With a quiet sigh, he pushed the thoughts away and headed for the shower. Today was just another ordinary morning. Or at least, that's what he told himself.