Si Yu didn’t say a second word, marching straight toward He Yun and snatching the branches right out of his hand.
“You…”
“Just a few dead twigs?” Si Yu lifted the floral stems. “What’s there to hide?”
He Yun’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he held out a hand. “Give them back to me.”
Si Yu curled his lip and tossed them back to him. “I wouldn’t want them anyway.”
Watching He Yun cradle the twigs like a precious treasure without sparing him a single glance, Si Yu crossed his arms and muttered complaints under his breath as he walked down the mountain.
Yet, as it happened, Si Yu wasn’t wearing shoes. Walking so hurriedly made the soles of his feet ache against the ground, yet pride kept him from stopping.
“How did you know I was here?”
He Yun stepped in front of him, his gaze shifting slightly downward.
“Your cousin told me.” Si Yu took the excuse to slow his pace. “She said if you weren’t down by the sea taking photos, you’d come running up this mountain.”
He Yun didn’t reply, stepping aside to maintain a distance from him.
“I really don’t get what’s going on in your head. I gave you money and you didn’t touch a single penny, yet you insist on running off to a place like this to suffer.”
In the late spring of May, the grass grew lushly across the ground, and Si Yu deliberately stepped right on them.
The soles of his feet felt soft, but the tops were tickled unbearably, prompting Si Yu to bounce along with a light step.
Suddenly, Si Yu noticed He Yun’s gaze fixed intently on his feet.
“You aren’t about to accuse me of plant abuse, are you?”
The base of the mountain was deeply embraced by the sea, and birds circled along the winding coastline, singing loudly. The setting sun cast a golden, brilliant glow everywhere, making the mountainsides look as though they were blanketed in marigolds.
Si Yu looked back at He Yun, gathering his long hair over his shoulder, and smiled as he said, “Today’s sunset definitely makes it into the top five of my dates with you.”
As usual, He Yun remained silent, watching him quietly.
Si Yu turned the question around: “What about you?”
“Just one.”
With that, He Yun quickened his pace and strode past him.
“How could there only be one?” Si Yu hurried after him. “We’ve seen so many sunsets together!”
He Yun lengthened his stride, walking faster and faster.
“Didn’t you like the hot air balloons in Cappadocia?”
“Didn’t you like the coastal train in Colombo?”
“Didn’t you like the Aegean Sea in Oia? You even pressed me against the floor-to-ceiling window and made me… mmm!”
He Yun clamped a hand over Si Yu’s mouth.
The next second, as their eyes met, he hastily pulled his hand back, turned around, and walked into the courtyard.
“He Yun.”
“He Yun?”
“He Yun!”
He Yun didn’t look back. With all his concentration, he managed to tightly grip the key in his hand.
“I’m bleeding.”
He Yun stopped in his tracks and turned around.
Si Yu stood innocently at the courtyard entrance, delicate streaks of blood staining his fair feet.
“Si Yu!”
Looking at the person scooping him up into his arms, the pain and itch on the top of his foot suddenly seemed completely trivial.
“It hurts.”
Si Yu pressed slowly against the side of He Yun’s neck, rubbing against him continuously.
He didn’t receive words of comfort from He Yun; instead, he felt the arms around his waist tighten further and further.
“I don’t want to sit here.”
Inside the bathroom, Si Yu hung around He Yun’s neck, his legs wrapped tightly around He Yun’s waist, refusing no matter what to sit on the edge of the bathtub.
He Yun sighed softly, supporting Si Yu’s waist and the backs of his knees with both hands, lifting him horizontally to sit right on his lap.
Si Yu was thoroughly satisfied with this familiar posture. Wherever He Yun was, Si Yu’s seat could only be his lap.
He Yun turned on the showerhead. “The water will be a bit cold.”
Si Yu shook his head and said, “You’re holding me, it’s fine.”
Without raising his eyes, He Yun continued using his left hand to grip Si Yu’s slender ankle, holding it under the cool running water.
On the lake-blue tiles, water mixed with brown mud and tender green blades of grass trickled past.
Some splattered onto He Yun’s trouser legs, while others dampened his shoes, but he cared nothing for any of it.
The skin pressed tightly against his palm began to warm up gradually. He Yun pulled his hand away and gently washed the sole of the person in his arms.
“Hiss…”
“Does it hurt?”
Si Yu’s toes curled inward, the prominent bones and dark veins on the top of his foot standing out even more starkly.
“Not really.” Si Yu’s lips brushed against his collarbone. “It tickles.”
No sooner had the words left his mouth than Si Yu felt the strength in the hand holding his foot increase a fraction, though it did nothing to reverse the current bad situation.
He Yun had massaged him countless times before, in the bathtub, on the sofa, on the carpet, in bed…
Ultimately, He Yun’s hands would always travel all the way up until he could thoroughly soothe him.
“He Yun.”
The syllables Si Yu managed to utter were muffled and unclear.
He hugged He Yun tightly, burrowing further into his chest until the space between their pounding hearts could no longer be separated by a mere layer of thin fabric.
He Yun turned off the faucet.
Inside the bathroom, only their hurried breathing remained.
“Hold me.”
Si Yu looked at He Yun, using his peripheral vision to reach out, grab the showerhead from the side, and toss it aside.
Next, he pulled He Yun’s hand, but instead of placing it on his waist as agreed, he handed him the buttons of his white shirt.
“Unbutton it.”
Those two words were both a seduction and a command.
He Yun’s fingertips brushed past the slightly parted neckline, followed by a tug on the fabric across his chest.
Si Yu lowered his raven-feather eyelashes and kissed He Yun’s tightly pressed lips.
Clang!
The stainless steel showerhead fell from the edge of the bathtub, its silver hose dragging across the white porcelain to produce a long, harsh sound.
It startled the two of them, interrupting what was nearly a deep kiss.
“Iodine, cotton swabs.”
Si Yu shifted his gaze from the items on the coffee table to He Yun’s retreating back as he walked into the bedroom.
“So cruel.” Si Yu hugged his knees. “You won’t even help me clean the wound.”
Behind the bedroom door, He Yun slid down the panels until his back rested against them, burying his entire face deep inside his curled-up knees, completely unable to move.
“What are you making?” Si Yu pushed the door open. “It smells so good.”
He Yun pulled a roasted duck leg out of the oven, cut open the parchment paper, and set it aside.
Immediately after, he heated oil in a pan, pan-fried the bacon over low heat until crispy, and removed it; sautéed the onions until soft, tossed in the potatoes, and let them simmer slowly on low heat.
He refused to spare even a single glance in his direction.
“Are you making duck confit?” Si Yu picked up a sprig of thyme from the bowl and sniffed it carefully. “I don’t like it, it’s too greasy.”
“It’s not for you. You…”
He Yun stared in utter astonishment as Si Yu grabbed the duck leg and stuffed a large bite directly into his mouth.
“Delicious!”
Si Yu gracefully turned around, collapsed onto the sofa, and began playing with his phone.
Bang, bang!
“Coming!” He Feiyi opened the door with a smile and accepted the plate. “Just dropping by for a casual meal, and you even went out of your way to bring… a single duck leg?”
He Yun: “Yeah.”
Si Yu: “Hi!”
“Si Yu came too? Quick, come on in!”
Si Yu, who had forcibly stuffed himself with three duck legs, was truly unwilling to step anywhere near the kitchen again, so he headed upstairs to find Peach, who was busy finishing her homework.
“If you don’t know, just ask openly! I am…”
“This problem.”
Si Yu pushed aside the math problems on the shoujo manga and said earnestly, “You have to rely on yourself for everything, don’t always ask people.”
Peach made a face, picked up her scratch paper and pen, and chatted and wrote while lying at the foot of the bed with Si Yu.
“Did you really come all the way here because of my little uncle?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
“Because…” Si Yu casually flipped a page of the manga. “Kids shouldn’t ask so many questions.”
“Oh—” Peach twirled the barrel of her pen. “What a coincidence.”
“What’s a coincidence?”
“You and my little uncle’s wife are both twenty-seven, three years older than little uncle.”
Tsk—
“My manga!”
“Little uncle’s wife?!”
Watching He Yun glance repeatedly toward the stairs, He Feiyi couldn’t help laughing and said, “Don’t worry, Peach loves him to pieces.”
He Yun opened his mouth, then lowered his head to continue chopping vegetables.
“A-Yun, that overseas partner you mentioned before, could it be—”
Clatter! Bang! Splash! Boom!
“Si Yu!”
He Yun dropped his knife and sprinted up to the second floor.
“I don’t care! I don’t care! You have to tell me!”
Si Yu was rolling around on the floor throwing a tantrum.
The small table, small cabinet, and stacked piles of books beside his feet were scattered everywhere, making the room look as though it had just been ransacked by burglars.
Peach: “Little uncle, he’s all yours.”
He Yun: .
“Get up.”
He Yun extended a hand toward Si Yu.
“No!”
Si Yu flipped over and lay flat on his stomach.
He Yun squatted down slowly and asked softly, “What’s wrong?”
Sniffling and aggrieved, Si Yu asked, “Little uncle’s wife?”
He Yun turned away to clean up the mess without answering.
“Tell me!” Si Yu scrambled up and leaped onto He Yun’s back. “Who on earth is this little uncle’s wife Peach was talking about?”
He Yun righted the table, organized the stacks of notebooks and stickers, and put them back in their proper places.
Only then did he turn his head to look at the eyes peering out over his shoulder, and said in a low voice, “It was just something I said casually.”
Si Yu wasn’t satisfied with this answer. He pulled at He Yun’s collar, getting ready to bite down, when he suddenly noticed something amiss.
“Who bit you?!”
Si Yu pointed at a circle of already-scabbed teeth marks.
He Yun rescued his collar from Si Yu’s grip and went back to tidying up.
“I’ve only been gone for a few days?” Si Yu flopped right back down onto the floor with a heavy thump. “And you went and found someone else!”
He Yun knelt down to stack the books neatly, resting his hands casually and helplessly on his knees for a long moment before finally speaking: “Let’s go downstairs to eat.”
“No.”
His back was met by Si Yu’s forehead colliding against it.
“You have a little uncle’s wife, and you even got bitten by someone else.”
“Is there any chance that was bitten by you?”
Si Yu sat up straight, cupped He Yun’s face, and asked, “Really?”
He Yun looked at him, let out a low hum, and said, “Wanna test it?”
Without hesitation, Si Yu bit down hard on his shoulder, and with a satisfied look, essentially issued a paternity test report.
“Can we eat now?”
“What about the little uncle’s wife?!”
He Yun stood up and headed downstairs first.
Si Yu hurried after him, peppering him with continuous questions all the way to the first-floor dining room, where he ran into a strange woman standing there.
“It really is Si Yu!”
The woman in a rose-red dress put down her wine glass in surprise.
Quickly catching on, He Feiyi tugged at her sleeve to snap her out of it.
The woman hurried forward with large strides and introduced herself.
“Hello Teacher Si, my name is He Feiqian. I’m Feiyi’s cousin and He Yun’s cousin. I currently work at the Boya Cinema in Beijing, managing film distribution. I had the honor of seeing you at a movie premiere before.”
Si Yu smiled, extended a hand, and replied with proper etiquette: “Hello, He Feiqian.”
“Go wash your hands.”
He Yun interrupted Si Yu before he could speak further.
Watching Si Yu’s retreating back, He Feiqian grabbed He Feiyi’s hand and transformed into a silent screaming chicken.
At the dining table, everyone was listening to He Feiqian enthusiastically chat about work, complaining about her boss and pretentious, high-maintenance celebrities.
He Yun picked out a piece of pork rib for Peach, looked at Si Yu leaning back in his chair, and reached out to swap the braised meat in front of him with a plate of greens.
Seeing the corners of Si Yu’s mouth curve upward, He Yun lowered his head and continued placing food into Peach’s bowl.
Peach, whose bowl already resembled a small mountain: ……
“Oh right, Feiqian, you and A-Yun haven’t seen each other in a long time, right? You didn’t have time to come back last year.”
“No, A-Yun and I met in Beijing the year before last.”
Screech—
The soup spoon in Si Yu’s hand scraped a harsh, grating sound against the golden lobster bisque He Yun had just filled for him.
“When was that?” Si Yu asked.
“On the day of the Lantern Festival,” He Feiqian replied.
He Yun’s hand resting on his thigh tightened into a white-knuckled grip. His whole body stiffened like a prisoner waiting to walk to the gallows.
“The Lantern Festival the year before last?” Si Yu glanced at He Yun. “In Beijing?”
“Yeah, later I even planned to grab a bite to eat with him, but…”
Seeing the dark expression on Si Yu’s face, He Feiqian’s voice grew softer and softer until it faded into complete silence.
“Ah, what a coincidence.”
He Yun slowly raised his eyelids, watching Si Yu’s fingertips lightly tap against the handle of the spoon while his heart pounded like a drum.
“I was in Beijing too, how come I didn’t see you?” Si Yu rested his chin on his hand, looking at He Yun with a half-smile. “I had no idea you went all the way to Beijing to see so many people.”
“Si Yu…”
“Enjoy your meal, everyone.”
Si Yu kicked his chair back behind him, shoved his hands into his pockets, and walked toward the front door.
“What, what’s going on… Hey, A-Yun!”
He Feiqian wanted to chase after He Yun, but her cousin stopped her.
He Feiyi shook her head at her.
“Wait, why do their dynamics look so weird?” He Feiqian scratched her head. “Isn’t He Yun a fan of Si Yu? Why are they acting like sworn enemies?”
“A fan?”
“Yeah.” He Feiqian blinked. “At the premiere on Lantern Festival that day, He Yun was already waiting in line since dawn, arriving even earlier than Si Yu’s official fan club.”
The night wind swept in, rattling the curtains and twisting the black sea outside into waves of white foam.
“Si Yu!”
He Yun dashed down the narrow path winding between rocks and wild grass, breaking into a frantic run until he caught hold of Si Yu’s arm.
“Let me explain, I…”
“How is it that you never learn?”
Si Yu yanked He Yun by the collar, staring coldly into his eyes.
“Huh?”