Gu Ji’s fingers tightened slightly, a hint of hesitation in his voice, “…Mm.”
He wasn’t sure when the power would come back, but he truly didn’t want to stay in this place any longer.
“Let’s go, then.” Yan Congyu took Gu Ji’s hand and stood up, casually making up an excuse: “Sorry, something came up at the school. We need to leave now.”
The environment was noisy, and the pitch-black surroundings seemed to impair hearing. It took Cheng Zhou a moment to react. “…Huh?”
Yan Congyu said, “Something came up. We’ll hang out another time.”
Xu Jingyin didn’t catch it clearly. “Is Xiao Gu leaving too?”
“Seems like they’re leaving together? Something about the school?”
As the two stepped out of the shop, the entire street remained dimly lit, but the open space felt much broader, easing the stifling restlessness of the cramped environment.
Yan Congyu released his hand and asked, “Heading back to school?”
The thought of the empty dormitory made Gu Ji reluctant.
He pressed his lips together and requested, “Walk with me for a bit.”
“Okay.” Yan Congyu didn’t ask why and agreed quickly. “Let’s go that way. There are lights.”
The power outage had only affected this one street; the rest of the area was still brightly lit.
Walking side by side with Yan Congyu, Gu Ji’s mind was in turmoil. He glanced down at Yan Congyu’s hand several times before hesitantly asking, “…Did I hurt you earlier?”
Though they were alone now, Yan Congyu harbored no romantic thoughts only a pang of sorrow for whatever Gu Ji had been through. At times, Gu Ji gave him the impression of a fragile glass bottle.
“No.” Yan Congyu raised his hand to show him. “It doesn’t hurt at all now.”
Gu Ji took Yan Congyu’s hand and carefully examined it. Seeing no issues, he let out a soft sigh of relief and murmured apologetically, “…Sorry, my emotions are a bit unstable.”
Yan Congyu sensed that Gu Ji seemed to blame himself for certain things. There was a tone of self-reproach in his voice. This was already the second time he’d apologized since they met.
“No need to say sorry.” Yan Congyu spoke softly. “It’s normal for people to feel emotionally unstable sometimes. It’s not a big deal.”
Gu Ji lowered his gaze. “But I can’t control it.”
Even when he knew certain things wouldn’t happen, revisiting similar scenarios made it hard for Gu Ji to avoid being dragged back into that fear. Each time left him with a profound sense of defeat.
Yan Congyu said, “That’s normal too. If you can’t hold it in, let it out. Take it slow.”
Gu Ji exhaled, still feeling troubled.
Yan Congyu slowed his pace. “You haven’t done anything wrong. There’s no need to be so hard on yourself.”
The words made Gu Ji momentarily drift off. After a few seconds of hesitation, he asked, “…You don’t think I’m at fault?”
Yan Congyu didn’t know what had affected Gu Ji so deeply, but it left him with an indescribable ache. He responded gently, “Mm.”
Perhaps it was his bias, but no matter what, Yan Congyu believed in Gu Ji.
“I think you did well.” Yan Congyu smiled. “You knew to hold your friend’s hand to avoid any accidents during the blackout. To be honest, I was a little scared too just now.”
Gu Ji chuckled, knowing the other was trying to comfort him. “Thank you.”
After leaving the back street of the school, the surroundings were once again illuminated by bright lights. The university district was lively at night, with music drifting from speakers, creating a vibrant atmosphere that lifted Gu Ji’s spirits considerably.
Since Yan Congyu had already witnessed his earlier state, Gu Ji felt no further embarrassment. He glanced at the other and couldn’t help but ask, “…If something had a deep impact on you, something you don’t want to accept but can’t forget, what would you do?”
Yan Congyu paused, remaining silent for a moment.
“…Is it hard to answer?” Gu Ji blinked. “Haven’t you had that kind of experience?”
After a moment, Yan Congyu replied calmly, “I would endure it.”
When Gu Ji had asked the question, the only thing that came to Yan Congyu’s mind was Gu Ji himself.
Back when he learned that Gu Ji was in a relationship and had a boyfriend, Yan Congyu had struggled for a long time to calm his emotions. Every time he thought about it, his heart ached with a dense, lingering pain. Just as he had said earlier—unable to accept it, yet impossible to forget.
But there was nothing he could do except accept reality. Apart from silently enduring, he could only hope that one day Gu Ji would break up.
Fortunately, that day had finally come.
“I have,” Yan Congyu said. “But once something happens, it can’t be changed. If you can’t forget, there’s no need to force yourself to avoid it deliberately. Just get used to it. Everything will be alright in the end.”
Gu Ji was momentarily stunned. Yan Congyu’s answer presented a perspective he had never considered before.
He had always suppressed those unpleasant memories deep in his heart, afraid to bring them into the light, subconsciously fearing further hurt.
But memories aren’t objects. You can’t lock them away just because you want to. Unknowingly, forcing oneself to avoid and suppress them only causes more pain. Instead of closing oneself off, it’s better to learn acceptance.
This insight felt like opening a window. Gu Ji suddenly understood something and let out a long, relieved sigh. “Xiao Yan, I really thank you.”
Before Yan Congyu could react, Gu Ji suddenly wrapped an arm around his shoulder and gave him a brief hug. The closeness was such that he could almost catch a faint, pleasant scent from the other. The warmth was fleeting, but it left Yan Congyu dazed for a long moment.
A smile tugged at Gu Ji’s lips. “I wish I had met you earlier.”
Although meeting Yan Congyu in college in this lifetime could be considered early, when it came to good friends, one always felt it was too late.
Hearing this, Yan Congyu instinctively wanted to say something, but he held back the words before they could leave his lips.
The two continued strolling leisurely down the street with no particular destination in mind. As they passed by an amusement park still open at night, Yan Congyu turned his head and asked, “Shall we go in for a walk?”
Since they were out together, he wanted Gu Ji to be a little happier.
The amusement park at night was aglow with colorful, dazzling lights. Since they had nothing else to do and Gu Ji didn’t feel like returning to campus just yet, he agreed, “Sure.”
After buying tickets at the entrance, they stepped inside. The space was vast, with relatively few people, and the overall environment was quite pleasant.
Near the entrance were numerous stalls selling small toys like glow sticks, lanterns, and the like.
“Come take a look! We have glow sticks in all colors, rabbit night lights, bear night lights.”
“Interested in toys? We have spinning tops, pinwheels, mini fans, and balloons…”
“Bubble solution for blowing giant bubbles.”
Gu Ji couldn’t even remember the last time he had visited such an amusement venue. Everything seemed new and fascinating to him.
Yan Congyu bought a glow-in-the-dark bracelet from a small stall. The other decorations were also quite attractive, but they were inconvenient to carry around and would be troublesome to hold later.
He patted Gu Ji and said, “Hold out your hand.”
Gu Ji turned his head and saw what Yan Congyu was holding. He paused for a moment and said, “That’s for kids. I’ll pass.”
Yan Congyu fastened the glow-in-the-dark bracelet around Gu Ji’s wrist, explaining softly, “It’s hard to see in the dark. With this, I won’t lose track of you.”
What he didn’t say aloud was that, in his heart, Gu Ji was also a kid.
Though Gu Ji had said he’d pass, he couldn’t help but feel a little happy as he looked down at the glowing bracelet in the darkness.
There were many amusement rides, but most of them were thrilling high-altitude or water-based attractions.
“Anything you want to try?” Yan Congyu asked.
Gu Ji shook his head, simply uninterested in such activities. “If you want to go, I’ll wait for you nearby.”
Yan Congyu shook his head as well, not particularly fond of such adrenaline-pumping rides.
Gu Ji smiled and said, “Let’s head further ahead. I saw something fun on the map earlier.”
Yan Congyu asked curiously, “What is it?”
“You’ll know when we get there,” Gu Ji replied mysteriously.
When they arrived, the open area was filled with small entertainment games. Booths spaced out at intervals, offering everything from balloon shooting to ring tossing and marble games.
Compared to the large rides they had only looked at but had no desire to try, this area clearly offered a more engaging experience.
Gu Ji pulled Yan Congyu along to play, stopping first at a booth where you could “fish” for small fish.
A large inflatable pool was filled with water and stocked with artificially raised goldfish. The fishing rods were specially designed, with nets at the bottom instead of hooks. It felt less like fishing and more like scooping fish with a long line, requiring a fair amount of skill.
The rules were simple: you had a limited time to scoop the fish. You couldn’t take them home. It was just for fun. However, if you broke the record by catching a lot, you could exchange it for a prize.
Gu Ji immediately sat down on a stool. Yan Congyu chuckled, picked up a fishing rod, and sat beside him.
Gu Ji’s movements were a bit clumsy. “I’ve never played this before, but it looks fun.”
Yan Congyu had no interest in catching fish; his attention wasn’t on the pool at all, but entirely focused on Gu Ji’s actions.
“This is so hard…” Gu Ji struggled for a while without even touching a single fish and began to doubt, “Can you actually catch any?”
He glanced at Yan Congyu to see how he was doing and suddenly noticed a small goldfish swimming into the net at the bottom of Yan Congyu’s fishing rod.
“Quick, scoop it up!” Gu Ji urged.
Yan Congyu paid no attention to his own rod. Instead, he walked over to the pool, crouched down, and said, “Let me check if there’s something wrong with your net.”
As Yan Congyu crouched, he blocked Gu Ji’s view. Unseen by Gu Ji, he took the small fish from his own net and placed it into Gu Ji’s.
“Is there a problem?” Gu Ji asked, puzzled.
Yan Congyu stood up, dusted off his hands, and said, “It was just a bit tangled.”
Within seconds, Gu Ji spotted the small fish in his net and was pleasantly surprised, immediately scooping it up.
After catching one fish, Gu Ji was satisfied. He didn’t have any particular desire to win a big prize—he just wanted to experience the game and get a feel for it.
A short while later, Gu Ji released the fish back into the pool. When he turned to look at Yan Congyu, he noticed that Yan Congyu’s fish basket was still empty and asked in surprise, “What happened to the fish from earlier?”
Yan Congyu replied casually, “It got away.”
Gu Ji wanted to help Yan Congyu catch a fish too, but unfortunately, his own skills were just as lacking. After struggling for a long time, their fishing net remained empty.
Gu Ji fell silent, pondering how his own fish had ended up in the net earlier.
Yan Congyu, wanting Gu Ji to have a good time, was a little worried that he might get too fixated on the fish and abruptly changed the subject. “Time’s almost up. Let’s go try something else.”
Gu Ji said, “But you haven’t caught a fish yet.”
“That just means I’m not fated to catch one,” Yan Congyu replied, setting down the fishing rod and pointing toward another area. “Let’s go play the ring toss game.”
Gu Ji glanced over. “Alright.”
Yan Congyu bought a stack of rings from the vendor and noticed Gu Ji wasn’t beside him. When he turned to look, he found the young man sitting on a nearby bench, the warm glow of the streetlight casting a soft light on his handsome features.
Yan Congyu smiled and asked, “Why didn’t you come over?”
“You go ahead. I’ll watch,” Gu Ji said seriously. “I want to learn the technique first.”
The ring toss stall was filled with small toys, but the rings were too small. Yan Congyu missed his first few throws before gradually getting the hang of it. After a while, he finally managed to snag a useless hair clip.
Yan Congyu: “…”
Gu Ji laughed beside him. “Keep it up.”
Just then, a six- or seven-year-old child appeared out of nowhere, pointing at the wristband on Gu Ji’s hand and wailing, “I want that! I want that!”
Gu Ji had been too focused on watching Yan Congyu play the ring toss to notice when the child had shown up. As the child began crying and throwing a tantrum in front of him, he felt momentarily at a loss.
The next moment, the child abruptly stopped crying and reached out to snatch the wristband from Gu Ji. Frowning, Gu Ji dodged the child’s grab and took a couple of steps to the side.
The child burst into loud sobs, tears and snot smeared across his face, and threw himself onto the ground, rolling around and screaming, “I want it! It’s mine, mine! I want it!”
Yan Congyu walked over at this point, his expression displeased. He pulled Gu Ji to his side and asked, “Are you okay? Did he touch you?”
Gu Ji shook his head. “No.”
He looked down at the wailing child on the ground, feeling a headache coming on. “What should we do? I didn’t provoke him.”
“Don’t mind him,” Yan Congyu said, patting the back of Gu Ji’s hand. “I’ll call security.”
Gu Ji paused, surprised by this solution. He had assumed that encountering such a child meant they would just have to endure the annoyance quietly.
Yan Congyu led Gu Ji to the side, completely ignoring the child on the ground, and called the amusement park security to briefly describe the situation.
The child’s loud crying had already drawn the attention of people nearby. Many had witnessed the incident and were whispering among themselves.
“Whose brat is this? So ill-mannered! How dare he cry after trying to snatch someone else’s stuff?”
“I saw it too. It was clearly the other person’s wristband, but this kid acted like a little thief. Tsk, tsk, tsk—whose child is this? So embarrassing.”
Someone who had just arrived asked, “What’s going on?”
“That guy in black was just sitting there peacefully when this kid suddenly ran over and tried to grab his wristband. When he didn’t get it, he started crying on the ground. So shameless at such a young age.”
“Where are the parents? Don’t they have any?”
As they spoke, a woman carrying a bag hurried over. “Who’s bullying my child? What’s going on here?”
Before Gu Ji could speak, the onlookers had already started chattering, explaining the whole story while also criticizing both the child and the parent.
The woman, feeling deeply embarrassed, flushed red with anger and slapped the child. “Get up right now! What are you crying for? If you keep crying, I’ll tell your mom!”
“Waaah! Auntie hit me! I want my mom!” The child wailed as if his heart were breaking. “Mom! Mom!”
The woman was so frustrated she wished she could just turn and leave. If only she hadn’t agreed to look after the child. She never expected it to be this troublesome.
“Get up! Stop crying!” She tried to pull the child to his feet, but he kept struggling and crying even louder.
The crowd murmured and gossiped incessantly. Flustered, the woman turned to Gu Ji and apologized awkwardly, “I’m so sorry. His mother isn’t here today, and I lost sight of him for a moment…”
Gu Ji said nothing. He hadn’t suffered any real loss, and while the child was certainly ill-behaved, the parent had already apologized. Making a bigger deal out of it would only sour his own mood.
Just then, a security guard finally arrived. “What’s going on here? What happened?”
Dressed in a uniform, the guard looked and sounded stern. His presence alone was enough to scare the tantrum-throwing child into silence.
Seizing the opportunity, the woman yanked the child to his feet and repeatedly bowed in apology. “I’m sorry for the disturbance. His mother usually spoils him too much. I’ll make sure he’s disciplined when we get back.”
Someone nearby scoffed, “That’s just an excuse. Snatching others’ things is shameless. It has nothing to do with being spoiled. I spoil my child too, but he doesn’t go around acting like a thief.”
The crowd’s comments were far from discreet, and the woman’s face burned with shame. She slapped the child on the back again. “Who told you to snatch other people’s things?”
The child was about to throw another fit, but the intimidating presence of the security guard made him shrink back, too scared to make a sound.
Dealing with unruly children like this was always tricky. The security guard found it difficult to handle but couldn’t let the crowd linger. People loved watching drama, so he tried to both mediate and disperse the onlookers.
Once the guard arrived, Gu Ji and Yan Congyu left without lingering any longer.
After walking away from the scene, Yan Congyu’s displeasure lingered, his brows still furrowed. He had worked hard to lift Gu Ji’s spirits, and this incident had inevitably soured the mood.
Gu Ji, however, wasn’t too bothered. The child’s crying and tantrums hadn’t affected him in the slightest.
But he could tell Yan Congyu was still upset.
“It’s fine,” Gu Ji said, slinging an arm over his shoulder and waving the bracelet in front of him. “It wasn’t snatched away—he didn’t even touch it.”
Yan Congyu murmured softly, “…Today’s been a bit unlucky.”
“Who said it was unlucky?” Gu Ji smiled, leaning closer to correct him. “Today’s been great.”
Yan Congyu replied, “But just now—”
“Wasn’t that child already disciplined?” Gu Ji suddenly reached out and pinched Yan Congyu’s cheek. “Don’t think about it anymore. Smile for me.”
Yan Congyu sighed helplessly but still curved his lips into a slight smile.
“Today really was a lot of fun,” Gu Ji said, lowering his gaze slightly as he looked at Yan Congyu, his eyes clearly sparkling with amusement. “Let’s go out again next time.”
Yan Congyu agreed.
After a few more steps, Gu Ji seemed to remember something and added, “Xiao Yan, your cheeks are really soft.”