Assistant Architect

Assistant Architect by Xi He Qing Ling

Chapter 161: Lie

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….. Since whenhave they been together? Do the other people at work know? From Zhang Siyi'ssketchbook, it is clear that he likes the Boss. However, it can't be one-sidedsince he willingly bought a heart lock together with Zhang Siyi. It proves heis also interested in him.

….. If they are dating,does that mean Zhang Siyi got special treatment? What about C-City? Zhang Siyi wasgiven the opportunity to develop a plan for C-City…… but in the end, theproject was terminated and the building wasn't going to be built.

….. Since ZhangSiyi is usually with the Director, wouldn't he receive more attention and guidance?Is that why Zhang Siyi had made so much progress so fast? That isunderstandable… but how did their professional relationship turn into somethingelse? There is no excuse for that kind of behavior.

Deep in the recesses of his brain, lookingfor an excuse, Lu Qiao mulled over the issue. Why has Zhang Siyi's progressexceeded his own? He really wanted to talk to someone, but he didn't know who. Hewas a little afraid of telling others about Gu Yu's and Zhang Siyi's secret becauseof how well-liked they were in the company.

Just as Lu Qiao was thinking aboutthem, both Gu Yu and Zhang Siyi stood up. Looking down at the floor, the ideaof talking to others was quickly withdrawn.

Turning and noticing Lu Qiao, Gu Yuasked: "Why are you alone? Where is Tao Fei? Tell everyone to get ready toleave. We will meet at the exit.

Lu Qiao: “Oh……"

Leaving the Church of Light, the groupreturned to the city center and ate a light lunch. Afterwards, they visited theNational Museum of International Art building** which was designed by Cesar Perri.In addition, they went to the Nampo Park complex** which was designed by the Americangroup, Jerde Partnership.

As the day turned into evening, Gu Yu ledthem to a Japanese restaurant that served hot pot for dinner. While some membersof the group felt tired and wanted to go back to the hotel to relax, there wereothers that wanted to stay out and continue shopping. Reminding them to staysafe, Gu Yu let the people decide for themselves what they wanted to do for theirfree time.

Taking advantage of the time spent inJapan, Zhang Siyi naturally wanted to stay out to look around and continue shopping.Since they had similar principles when visiting a foreign country, Tao Fei feltthe same.

Lu Qiao felt indifferent. When he sawthe three of them together, he felt an inexplicable sadness. As a result, hemade up an excuse to leave and returned to the hotel with a few othercolleagues.

In a good mood, Zhang Siyi was hummingquietly when he returned to his room very late.

Lu Qiao asked: “Where have youbeen?”

Zhang Siyi: “We went to theShinsaibashi shopping district and saw the Doutonbori canal. Oh yeh, there weremany master works in the area. I also saw the Louis Vuitton building** by KengoKuma. The outer walls are made out of four millimeters thick onyx plates that weresandwiched between two pieces of glass. At night, with interior lighting, the wallsbecome transparent and you can see the marble patterns in the stone. It's supercool! It's too bad you didn't go!"

Listening to Zhang Siyi, Lu Qiao feltlike he missed out and regretted his choice.

Zhang Siyi asked: “What about you?”

While Zhang Siyi was absent, Lu Qiao hadlaid down all evening lost in his thoughts. He couldn't stop himself fromconjuring up a variety of scenarios between Gu Yu and Zhang Siyi and as aresult, it only upset him further. Feeling trapped by his own thoughts, withnothing to do and nowhere to go, he felt half-dead. Now that he heard the excitementfrom Zhang Siyi, he was becoming even more upset. Irritated, he was curt withhim and replied. "There is nothing to do but sleep."

His attitude surprised Zhang Siyi. Gawking,he replied: "Oh. I'll go take a shower first.

Since Lu Qiao's attempt to garnersympathy failed, he was furious. – Asshole! Now that you have a partner, youcan't spare the time for friends!

When Zhang Siyi came out of the bathroom,he saw Lu Qiao nearly covered up entirely by the blanket. He wasn't sure if LuQiao was asleep. He casually asked: "Are you alright? Are you Jet-lagged?"

Lu Qiao stuck his head out from underthe bedding: “What do you mean, Jet-lagged?"

Zhang Siyi smiled at him: “Well,you haven’t fallen asleep yet.”

Lu Qiao: “…”

Zhang Siyi leaned on the headboard ofhis bed and explained: “I noticed in these past two days that you seldomspoke and lacked energy. You didn't seem like you wanted to go out with us atnight so I thought maybe you were jet-lagged."

As Zhang Siyi showed concern, Lu Qiao'smood improved slightly. Still sullen he said: "It's nothing. I don't like totravel."

Even though he knew from hisexperience during the business trip to C-City that Lu Qiao didn't like totravel, he was curious and asked: "Why don't you?"

Lu Qiao: “After work, I'mnormally very tired. Since I can see everything on the internet, what is thepoint of going out?"

“Looking at a picture and beingin the location feels different.” Zhang Siyi relayed a variety of ideas helearned from Tao Fei when they toured Yunnan.

Lu Qiao snorted at himself: “Idon’t think like you. Anyway, I’m just a homebody. I rather stay at home andsleep. If the money given by the company for the trip could be converted into payinstead, I definitely wouldn't come."

Since their ideologies were sodifferent, Zhang Siyi didn't know what to say to Lu Qiao anymore. Instead ofchatting, he took out his sketchbook, turned around and silently wrote in it.

Unexpectedly, Lu Qiao suddenly lookedat him and asked: “Auntie Four, is your relationship with the Boss good?"

Zhang Siyi froze. Instinctively, hewanted to change the topic quickly. He gave a vague reply: "It's alright."

Lu Qiao remained silent for a moment. Asif to insinuate something else, he sneered: "I saw you and the boss buy a heartlock that day."

Internally, Zhang Siyi was panicking. Hetried to relax his outward appearance and remain calm. He replied: "Just partof the game."

Lu Qiao: “Oh……"

With ulterior motives in their hearts,there was nothing else to say.

The next day, under the leadership ofGu Yu, everyone went to Awaji Island in the southern part of Hyogo Prefecture.

Awaji Island is about two hours away fromOsaka. There are a number of buildings designed by Tadao Ando located on the islandsuch as Honpuku-ji, Awaji Yumebutai complex and the BotanicalGardens. It can be said that the island hosts Tadao Ando's architectural collection.

Since Zhang Siyi was blindsided by LuQiao last night, he spoke to Gu Yu about what happened and they decided to deliberatelyavoid each other for fear of other colleagues noticing them.

The day was very busy with scheduledevents. They left early in the morning at seven and didn't return to the hotel untilten in the evening.

Feeling tired, Zhang Siyi wanted toget to sleep quickly so he changed his clothes then washed his face and brushedhis teeth. Turning off the bedside light, he got into bed without saying a wordto Lu Qiao.

Lu Qiao was feeling depressed. Eventhough he wanted to talk with Zhang Siyi, he neither found an opportunity to opena dialog with him nor did Zhang Siyi make an effort to chat.

On the fourth day of the trip, thegroup moved from Osaka to Kyoto. There, the main focus of the trip was to visitancient Japanese architecture like the Imperial Palace** and Kiyomizu Temple**.

A surprise awaited the group when theyarrived at the designated hotel as it was a traditional Japanese Inn. The roomswith tatami mats and futons accommodated four people. As a result, the groupdivided themselves into 3 groups of 4 with Zhang Siyi, Gu Yu, Tao Fei and LuQiao occupying one room. The four women and the remaining four men were each assigneda room.

Ji Feiyu joked: “Ha-ha. Since themen and women couples were separated, we now have four pairs of male lovers sleepingin the same room. Who is jealous!?”

Thinking of the true relationshipbetween Zhang Siyi and Gu Yu, Lu Qiao immediately blurted out: "I'm not gay, don'texpect anything."

As much as Gu Yu tried to remainindifferent, after hearing Lu Qiao announcement, he frowned slightly. Theatmosphere became awkward for a moment and everyone was silent. The group turnedto look towards Lu Qiao. Since Ji Feiyu thought he was making a joke, he didn'texpect Lu Qiao to take it so seriously.

Expressionless, Lu Qiao did not care howthe rest of the group thought of him. He stiffly grabbed his bag and went intohis room to place his luggage down into the corner then he walked out alone.

As the moment passed, people returnedto their own thoughts and forgot about Lu Qiao. Chatting with their neighbors, theytoo collected their luggage and brought it to their assigned rooms. Moreover,Zhang Siyi and Gu Yu have realized they have overstepped the boundaries of a 'gamerelationship' and as a result, they have moderated their behavior in order tonot attract further attention.

In the afternoon, the group visitedthe Imperial Palace and, in the evening, they returned to the inn to gathertogether for a sushi dinner.

With plentiful jokes and laughter, theatmosphere was lively and harmonious. As more sushi was eaten, more sake was passedaround the table and the group became even more lively. Thus, Ji Feiyu becamebold enough to suggest they play a game of Truth-or-Dare. Since everyone hootedand hollered at his proposition, it seemed like perhaps, everyone in the groupalready knew what his true intentions were towards Du Rui. They eagerly agreedto play the game.

Becoming sweaty, only Zhang Siyi wasvery nervous. Although he knew that Ji Feiyu's goal wasn't to expose him and GuYu, he was really afraid to play! Unexpectedly, Zhang Siyi felt Gu Yu grab hishand under the table suddenly.

Startled, Zhang Siyi remained stillfor a long time until he realized Gu Yu was writing something in the palm ofhis hand. It was an English word: Lie.

Lie? Is Gu’s asking him to lie? Doesn’tthis mean to completely disregard the rules of the game?

Shit! Gu Yu is so despicable…… But he likes it! (=w=)

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T/N: National Museum of Art Osaka: https://arcspace.com/wp-content/uploads/CropUp/-/media/209214/national_museum_of_art_1.jpg

Namba Park Complex:

Louis Vuitton Headquarters Japan:

Kyoto Imperial Palace: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyoto_Imperial_Palace

Kiyomizu Temple: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiyomizu-dera