Whose Expectations?

Su Yan didn't tell his boyfriend about his generous gesture yet though. Instead, he snatched the phone from his hands and opened the list with the ten reasons to break up. Or, well, the list with the three reasons. Somehow, he had only noted down three even though it had already been a few days.

Su Yan furrowed his brow. "Ah Chang, we're still lacking seven reasons!"

"Oh?" Nie Chang leaned over and took a look at Su Yan's phone. The notes he saw almost made him break out in laughter.

[1. Misunderstandings

2. Expectations

3. Family]

Just what did his little darling think the system was? It certainly couldn't read his thoughts yet!

Nie Chang hurriedly cleared his throat and put his arm back around Su Yan's shoulders. "So, what exactly does this mean?"

"Huh? It means we should think of those seven reasons as fast as we can! After all, if we do this, then we'll be much closer to our house!" Su Yan pursed his lips and hesitated a bit before tugging at Nie Chang's shirt. "And to our dog. You know I've thought about it and I think it would be alright if you choose its name."

"Ah?" Nie Chang raised his brows but bit on his tongue at the last moment. No, it was better if he didn't ask just how he had acquired this honor. "Uhm, well, thank you! I'm glad you trust me this much."

"Mn." Su Yan smiled happily. Mn, his boyfriend was really great. He was actually this happy about such a simple thing!

"Actually, that wasn't what I meant though. I was referring to the things on your list. 'Misunderstandings' is pretty obvious to me since we've gone through such a situation but what did you mean when you wrote down 'expectations' and 'family'? Maybe you should explain that a little more?"

Su Yan looked up at him with a look of doubt. "Why would I? It's supposed to be a list, isn't it?"

"Yes, but … That doesn't mean you can't elaborate, does it?"

"Of course, it does!"

Nie Chang raised his brows. Was there some rule about lists he didn't know? "Darling, I'm afraid I can't follow."

The look in Su Yan's eyes suggested that his opinion of his boyfriend had just worsened considerably. "I don't understand what you don't understand. Isn't it obvious? It's a list. You always only write down one word for a list. That's how it's done. If you write down more than that, it wouldn't be a list anymore but just some … stuff with a bullet point in front."

"That …" Is too deep for me to understand. He wanted to argue so his little darling wouldn't be disappointed if his so-called list wasn't accepted by the system but finally, he only sighed and nodded along. "Yeah, you … you're certainly right."

"Of course!" Su Yan's expression said that he had known all along. It slowly dimmed though. "Ah Chang, so what do we do about the other seven reasons? I can't think of anything."

Nie Chang took another glance at that pitiful list. "What did you mean with point two?"

"Hah?" Su Yan looked at the list and then up at Nie Chang. "What do you mean?"

"Your point two on the list. What did you mean with that? I'm trying to understand what you already have so we can come up with other ideas."

"But I've already written it down. Expectations. Can't you read?" Su Yan furrowed his brows, making Nie Chang look away.

Ah, it seemed … his little darling couldn't remember himself. Well, he shouldn't have expected anything else. A lot of things had happened in the last few days and they had talked a lot about the system and the stories Su Yan was writing, so something he had condensed into just one word wouldn't stay in his mind.

He shouldn't have asked. They couldn't just ignore this matter though or they wouldn't find another seven reasons. "Well, I mean whose expectations? The expectations of the couple? Or of the family? Or their friends? Or society?"

Su Yan's gaze flitted about. "How could it be family when family is already my third point?"

"Well, that's true." Mn … Nie Chang narrowed his eyes. He felt like they had talked about the expectations society had when Su Yan had planned his second story. Wasn't that how he had decided on making a Master and his disciple the main characters of that one? Yes, that seemed to be it.

He happily turned to Su Yan and motioned at the screen. "Do you think it would still count as a list if you add a comment in brackets?"

"Why should I do that?"

Nie Chang smiled. "Well, I might have an idea for a fourth point but I'm afraid we won't be able to write it down without a comment or it would be too similar to your second point."

"What is it?" Su Yan sounded doubtful and very obviously refused to accept putting a comment into his list without further explanation. Who knew what his boyfriend was planning?

"It has to do with the question I asked before. About whose expectations you meant. If I remember correctly, your second point should be about society's expectations. Like how it could be too much for the couple if all the people around them can't accept that they're together because they are both men."

Su Yan frowned. "But that's ridiculous. Why would anyone have anything against that?"

Nie Chang stared at his boyfriend. So the person who had doubted men could be gay, now doubted that there would be people who thought being gay was abnormal. Sometimes he really wondered what kind of brain Su Yan had to be this flexible. "Think of that guy from our first date."

"Isn't today our first date?"

Nie Chang's eyes formed little crescents. Ah, he really wanted to pinch his little darling's cheeks right now. How come they were so often on different pages? In the end, he just gently brushed his cheek. "You're right. But I meant last Saturday when we did that chocolate workshop. Don't you remember that guy that was against us kissing there?"

Su Yan's eyes widened and he stopped walking again. "Right! That asshole! You should also make him break up with his boyfriend!"

Nie Chang turned to look at him incredulously. "Uh … Come again?"