WBLNOFY Chapter 22

Chapter 22 – Because It’s You (Part 5)

Chapter 5: Because It’s You, Part 5

Novel Title: We Best Love: 永遠の１位 (We Best Love: No. 1 for You)

Original Script Writer：林珮瑜 (Lin Peiyu)

Author：羽宸寰 (Yu Chenhuan)

Japanese Translator 1：李佳歆 (Li Jiaxin)

Japanese Translator 2：夏海 (Natsumi)

English Translator: K (@kin0monogatari)

Protagonists: 周書逸 (Zhou Shuyi -MC) & 高仕德 (Gao Shide -ML)

*Please read at knoxt.space, the original site of translation. TQ*

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She smiled softly and flicked his nose.

“Because… wherever you were, his eyes were always on you.”

“That sounds like stalking.”

Even as he said that, Zhou Shuyi’s face turned red, and he pouted with exaggerated pride.

“Shuyi…”

Jiang Yuxin sat down on the piano bench, looking seriously at her childhood friend, two years younger than her.

“You like Gao Shide, don’t you?”

“I—”

It’s not like I like him or anything like that…

The words almost came out, but his racing heartbeat drowned them out.

When Fang Zhengwen or Jiang Yuxin got busy, sometimes they wouldn’t talk for a week or two — and it never bothered him this much.

But these past few days, when he was being avoided by Gao Shide, he couldn’t stop thinking about him — when he played the piano, when he ate, when he trained with the swim team, even when he was at the library…

That name — Gao Shide — clung to his mind like a shadow he couldn’t shake.

He even found himself unconsciously writing ‘Gao Shide, I like you’ in his homework notebook. Then, horrified, he’d hurriedly scribble over the ‘I like you’ part with his pen.

With a gentle smile, Jiang Yuxin slipped her arms around Zhou Shuyi’s neck, her tone warm and sisterly.

“I don’t know when your feelings for Gao Shide started changing… but as your oldest friend, the one who knows you best, I’m sure of one thing — Shuyi, you’ve fallen in love with him.”

Seeing his face freeze, she continued.

“Do you remember what Michael Phelps — the swimmer we both admire — said? About looking back someday…”

“When you look back, you want to be able to say, ‘I’ve done everything I can, and I succeeded.’ Not, ‘I should have done this or that.’”

―――I want to be able to look back and say, I’ve done everything I can, and I was successful. I don’t want to look back and say I should have done this or that.*

It was a quote from Michael Phelps, the ‘Water Monster’, and Zhou Shuyi’s idol.

“How you deal with your feelings — whether you face them or run away — that’s up to you. As your friend, I just hope whatever you choose won’t become something you regret later.”

“Got it. Thanks, Yuxin.”

Zhou Shuyi’s heart eased, and a bright smile returned to his face.

“What are you thanking me for? We’re lifelong friends, right?”

“Yeah. Best friends for life.”

For a while, that choice of words — ‘friends’ — had hurt him deeply.

It was him wanting something he couldn’t have and it had made him jealous, even of his own childhood friend.

The feelings he’d had to let go of eventually turned into true ‘friendship’, something he could finally accept with peace.

And the fact that he had fallen in love with another man… he accepted that too.

Blinking, Jiang Yuxin poked his cheek with her finger.

“If Gao Shide says he doesn’t want you, you can always come cry in your big sister’s arms.”

“You’d better make sure Fang Zhengwen doesn’t dump you first, idiot.”

With that, Zhou Shuyi jumped up from the bench and ran toward the piano room door.

“Zhou Shuyi! Are you trying to die?!”

“Hahaha—!”

Yuxin chased after him, half angry and half laughing. Their cheerful voices echoed down the hallway for a long time.

***

～Lecture Building

“Gao Shide… do you like Zhou Shuyi?”

Shi Zheyu stood on the grass in front of the lecture building, face to face with Gao Shide.

Ever since that day — the day Gao Shide had accidentally run into Zhou Shuyi in the hallway — he had become unusually quiet. It was eating him alive. That was why today, Shi Zheyu had decided — he had to say what needed to be said.

Gao Shide frowned slightly at his friend’s angry, interrogating tone.

“You called me here after class just to ask that?”

“Answer me. Do you like Zhou Shuyi?”

“It’s none of your business.” He turned to leave the moment the words left his mouth.

“Gao Shide! I like you!” Shi Zheyu grabbed his sleeve, his voice breaking as he shouted the confession he had kept buried for so long.

“I like you. Ever since you transferred here and we became friends… I’ve always liked you.”

“…I know.” After a brief silence, Gao Shide slowly pulled his arm free from Shi Zheyu’s grasp and answered quietly.

“You… knew? If you knew I liked you, then why didn’t you push me away?”

Shi Zheyu’s eyes trembled — tears of self-mockery threatening to spill.

“Watching me cling to you like an idiot — was that funny to you, Gao Shide?”

“I’ve always thought of you as a close friend.”

“But I don’t!” His vision blurred with tears, though he fought to keep them from falling.

“Zheyu,” Gao Shide said softly, “don’t force your feelings onto someone else. Love isn’t something you give expecting a return.”

Those words weren’t just for Zheyu — they were also a reminder to himself.

He had known about Shi Zheyu’s feelings for some time, yet said nothing. He had tried to maintain just enough distance, to avoid giving false hope.

“If you’d told me earlier that you knew, then I…” He trailed off, unable to finish.

Would it have changed anything? Would he have stopped himself from falling deeper?

No — even if he were rejected, even if it broke him and made him cry, his feelings wouldn’t have changed.

Gao Shide was right — if it was true love, you shouldn’t force your emotions onto someone else. Love isn’t a math problem that can be solved with the right formula.

“…I’m sorry if I made you misunderstand,” Gao Shide said quietly. “I can’t return your feelings, but I do think of you as a real friend — someone I can talk to about anything. And I hope we can stay that way.”

From the corner of the corridor, Zhou Shuyi watched them — Gao Shide with his back turned, and Shi Zheyu still standing outside the lecture building.

He had started to step forward, but drew his foot back, staying hidden in the shadows.

――— “Gao Shide, I don’t plan to fall in love with a man.”

――— “I know.”

Even after confirming his own feelings, that thought hadn’t changed.

He didn’t plan to fall in love with a man — but Gao Shide was no ordinary man.

He was special.

Gender, age, appearance — none of it mattered. He was drawn to Gao Shide as a person, simply and completely.

――— “Forget what I said the other day.”

He didn’t want to see that sad expression on Gao Shide’s face again. Seeing it only made his chest tighten more painfully.

He just wanted him to be happy. To love and be loved by someone who made him smile.

“Gao Shide… I want to become your happiness.”

Murmuring that to himself, Zhou Shuyi straightened his posture and began walking.

Avoiding the direct light of sight of Shi Zheyu, who still stood outside the building, he followed behind Gao Shide — keeping just enough distance between them.

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Next update: 2026.09.23

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