Chapter 9

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Finally back from rushing my deadlines…I had to translate 30k words yesterday. To put it in perspective, these chaps are only around 3-4k each…😓I go rest now

On the 2nd of February, Ye Zi’s girlfriend called him early in the morning.

“Sorry hubby, I just remembered that it was your birthday yesterday! Can I make it up to you today? I didn’t mean to forget!”

“I won’t blame you for it as long as you make it up to me.”

He was originally very disappointed yesterday, but his heart quickly softened when he saw his girlfriend wearing a cute white parka with her long hair carefully tied into a bun, holding onto a bag of homemade treats.

It was rare, but his girlfriend wasn’t fussy with him today. She kept holding Ye Zi’s arm compliantly and got onto the bus together with him. Just like a kid, they played happily at the amusement park together.

“We’ve only been dating for more than a week the last time we came to an amusement park.”

“You still remember.” Ye Zi smiled.

“Of course!” His girlfriend pouted her lips cutely.

“So what have you been busy with these days?” Ye Zi asked.

“God, it felt like I was just visiting my relatives one after the other. I had to meet all sorts of people every day. Hey, let’s not talk about that anymore. What about you? Did you miss me?”

“Of course. I was even worried you’d forget about me.”

“Hehe, how could I forget about you!”

Ye Zi looked at his girlfriend’s flushed cheeks and gently stroked her skin with the back of his palm. His girlfriend’s eyes were clear as crystals, and the fact that she had clearly spent a lot of time doing her makeup just for their date today made Ye Zi very happy. Sure enough, girls were the best. At this moment, Ye Zi had no idea why he would get caught up with Hare last night that he couldn’t sleep. Indeed, it was touching what he did for him, but there was no way he could accept a man, and there was no way around that.

Together, the two of them played on the bumper cars and frog hoppers. Then, they visited the haunted house together, and went skating…They had a lot of fun. After that, the two of them boarded the small train that toured around the park slowly for one round.

The winds were cold during the winter, but with his girlfriend sticking close to Ye Zi, the two of them didn’t seem to feel cold at all.

Ye Zi was really surprised that day. He asked, “What happened with you today? Is something troubling you?”

His girlfriend gently rubbed her own wrist and dropped her head. “You treat me the best after all.”

“What happened?”

“Nothing.” Ye Zi’s girlfriend snuggled his arm and said, “I love you to bite, hubby!”

But Ye Zi did not see the rope burns on his girlfriend’s wrists.

As soon as they got off the train, Ye Zi received a call. It was from Jiang Wen.

However, the voice that came from the receiver was not Jiang Wen’s. Instead, it was his other friend, Xu Che.

“You asshole! What took you so long to pick up? Do you know how many times I called you?? You know, I really thought something happened to you when I couldn’t find you anywhere!!!”

Ye Zi was puzzled. “What happened?”

“All the guys who went drinking last night got attacked! Jiang Wen’s the most serious case…Damn it…Which fucking sicko did it to him? I’ll definitely break that fucker’s legs if I find him!!”

“Hold on, what actually happened??”

“They broke Jiang Wen’s arm and cut his mouth off!”

Half an hour later, at the hospital.

Ye Zi felt his blood run cold.

His brothers who were still up and jumping last night were all bedridden. Either their legs had to be put in traction, or their bodies would be covered up with bandages. Their parents were all busying about, some angry, and some worried. The most serious one was Jiang Wen. Hardly any part of him was fine and he even had half of his face covered up in bandages. A nurse was reapplying his medicine for him, and even from a distance, he could see how seriously his face swelled up. He could hardly even recognize him at this point.

“What on earth actually happened? Who did this?”

Jiang Wen shook his head faintly, and there were no movements from him after that.

Xu Che dragged Ye Zi out and said, “Don’t make him talk, he just got out of surgery this afternoon. There’s no way he can even talk right now. His entire mouth and face area is swelled up. Do you know how fucked up that sicko was? The doctor said that the guy must have cut off both of his lips bit by bit with a thin razor, and burned the wounds after!”

“Can it be treated??”

“Who knows? Anyway, he’s gotta need plastic surgery. I got no idea how they’re going to do it but there’s no other way. His injuries are so severe that he’s probably going to need to take the year off of school. Say, do you think Jiang Wen offended someone or whatever?”

Ye Zi thought about it carefully. Jiang Wen had always been quite popular in school and he had many friends too. His father was a civil servant while his mother was a Chinse teacher. He was such an ordinary guy, how could he even have any enemies!

“Even if we have no idea whether he’s gotten on someone’s bad side or not, does he remember the guy’s face?”

“Forget it. The police have already come and taken down a few notes, but I don’t think they’ll be able to get him. That guy was wearing a mask over his head and was covered practically from head to toe.”

“What time did it actually happen?”

“What time? Definitely after 12. It was already 11 when we left, and they said they hadn’t had enough that night, so they got on a cab to find a bar. God, I really should’ve stopped them.”

“Are we the only ones who went out that night that didn’t get caught?”

“Yeah.”

After what happened, Ye Zi’s good mood was all gone.

Xu Che was right. No matter how much they hated that person, there’s no way they could find out who did it. Nobody knows how drunk they were that night either, to think they couldn’t even remember anything about their assailant. All they knew was the fact that he wore a mask, was strong, and scary like a bloodthirsty monster. No weapons were left on the scene at all. That person was definitely an expert. Not even a trace of his hair or footprints were left behind. And of course, the case was quickly thrown to the back of their minds.

Though, Ye Zi had become more vigilant since what happened. He wouldn’t play out as late as before and always paid attention to his girlfriend’s safety, often reminding her to get home early. As for his brothers that got hurt, Ye Zi really did feel guilty. After all, he was the one who brought up going out to play. After class, he often visited them, especially Jiang Wen. He would bring him food and watched TV with him.

In the day just before the New Year’s, Jiang Wen’s condition improved a lot, and his swelling had also gone down. Ye Zi had seen his mouth with the bandages off, and it really was terrible what that guy did. Especially his lower lip. There were clear knife marks left on it. The doctor said that they will perform another session of plastic surgery on him after a while, and they estimated it would take him half a year before his broken arm could heal.

The very first sentence he said to Ye Zi was: You have to be careful.*

On the evening before the Lunar New Year’s, Ye Zi’s girlfriend called to tell him that she wanted to watch one last movie with him this year to usher in the New Year.

Of course, Ye Zi was very happy about that. He turned off his laptop and took a shower. After styling his hair and putting on a decent outfit, he went early to buy a big box of piping hot popcorn before waiting in front of the cinema.

The snow fell heavily that night.

The snowflakes fluttered down from the grey sky like balls of bluff, one after the other.

The entire world was dyed in white like a silver wrapper.

Ye Zi waited there from 6 o’clock till 7 and finally gave his girlfriend a call, but nobody picked up. He tried to text her, but no responses there either.

Seeing that the movie at 7 had already begun, Ye Zi headed for the restaurant nearby, feeling slightly down. Then, he called his girlfriend again many times, but still, nobody picked up. Ye Zi began to worry. What if something happened to his girlfriend on her way here?? He had his girlfriend’s home number so he steeled himself and called it. A rather indifferent middle-aged voice of a woman emerged from the receiver. She said, “Xiao Xia? She went out earlier.”

From 7, he waited till 8. Still no news of Nie Haixia.

Ye Zi was really feeling anxious now.

He went out to hail a cab. He had to go look for her himself!

But soon after getting in the cab, he finally received a very late call from his girlfriend.

“I’m sorry, something popped up today…Uh…So I can’t watch the movie with you tonight. Can I make it up to you next time?”

Ye Zi frowned. “What’s wrong? Your voice is strange.”

His girlfriend’s voice sounded a little deep and hoarse, and her breathing was very heavy.

“It’s nothing. See you next time…You should head home early.”

After that, she hung up.

After being frozen for a long time, Ye Zi finally came back to his senses and asked the cab to turn around.

Soon after, he received another call. It was from his girlfriend’s mother.

“Hello auntie,” Ye Zi greeted her.

“I’ve been wanting to tell you this since a long time ago, kid. I’ll have you know my daughter’s a proper young lady. We gave her the very best since she was young, and gave her the best life possible. I won’t allow her to suffer one bit. Not one bit. You hear me?”

“I’ll never do her wrong.” Ye Zi was baffled.

“Let’s not talk about that. You know what it means that couples should be well-matched right? It’s fine to let her experience the lower parts of society during her school years, but she definitely has to marry a proper man in the future. Speaking of which, do you really think you’re worth anything to her? I heard your parents are divorced and remarried just a while ago, and neither of them have decent jobs. They already used all their money to buy a house and they’ve still got debts, right? So what can you offer her? Hmph. Let me just put it bluntly. You’re not even the one she went out to meet today!”

Then, she hung up the call again.

Ye Zi’s mood was in the pits.

After getting out of the taxi, he walked alone in the snow. Step by step, leaving a trail of footprints behind him.

Alone, he walked into the cinema and bought a ticket for the 8:30 movie.

But he had no idea that someone had been following his trail of footprints, step after step. The street lights shone above the man’s head and shoulders, clearly illuminating the layer of snow on top. Who knows how long that person had been following Ye Zi for.

The movie had already started. Ye Zi casually took a seat in the back rows and put down the popcorn that had turned cold at his side.

The new romance movie was playing.

It was an exquisitely made movie filled with beautiful characters. It had a comedic air to it. When the problems cropped up, the twists and turns of the movie were very touching.

It didn’t take long for the many couples in the theater to burst out in tears.

Ye Zi stared at the screen, chewing on the popcorn that seemed tasteless. There was a strange sense of quiet and calm in his mind as if he was merely analyzing the data in the movie. He did not feel touched or sad at all.

His phone vibrated.

Ye Zi checked the screen. It was Hare. Hare would send him many, many messages each day. Besides him, nobody else paid so much attention to him or thought of him constantly.

“Hare: What a coincidence.”

“Hare: Can I sit next to you, mister? ^^”

Somehow, Ye Zi suddenly recalled the scenes in those classical movies where the nobles would invite each other to dance. During those times, they would say things like: May I have a dance with you?

Feeling amused by his own thoughts, Ye Zi never looked to his side, nor did he comment.

So, Hare took it as a yes.

He heard a light creak next to him, and the sudden tension caused Ye Zi’s seat to sink down a little.

Ye Zi knew that Hare was sitting right next to him. Even if the theater was so dark that you could hardly see each other without paying attention, he knew.

But that knowledge did not bring him any sense of disgust. In fact, he felt more at ease now. It was simply strange.

The theater would brighten up at times, and dim down the others.

In the changing lights and shadows, Ye Zi subconsciously turned to look at the person beside him.

In the flowing waves of lights like the surface of a lake, he could see that Hare wasn’t watching the movie at all. He was leaning back on his seat with his head cocked over, watching him silently. Through the sudden bouts of brightness, he could see his slender eyes, long eyelashes, soft hair, and the slight curve at his lips before they disappeared abruptly into the darkness again.

Ye Zi pondered about it, and without realizing it, he had already spoken. Clearly, he was the one who warned Hare last time that they must never come in contact.

“Why are you always sticking around me like a ghost?”

Hare’s eyes gradually widened in the darkness, and his fair cheeks reddened, clearly moved by his words. He straightened up his body and like a kid who had gotten his candy, he asked in surprise, “Ah Zi, can we talk now?”

Ye Zi was unhappy. “Answer me.”

Hare responded unhesitantly, “Because I like you.”

“…”

Hare’s tone was soft and gentle. “I’m the ghost that’s always sticking to you. Wherever you go, I’ll be there. I’m always watching over you, and I know everything about you.”

Ye Zi turned to the screen. “Then, do you know what I’m thinking right now?”

Hare thought about it for a bit and responded, “You have many questions about me. But right now, you are worried about other things. But that’s okay, Ah Zi. Everything will be fine after a good night’s sleep. I’ll stay by your side, always.”

Ye Zi wondered to himself. Were all high school students like him these days? They did strange things and their words were so cheesy…He really was a weirdo.

But he really did begin to feel sleepy all of a sudden. It’s better to just forget about all your troubles.

Close your eyes, go to sleep, and let your body relax.

His dreams and reality seemed to have reversed at this moment. It felt like his dreams were the real truths. Slowly, he was no longer able to distinguish his own identity clearly anymore. He had forgotten the things he wanted to do. Those dangers, fears, doubts, worries…they all disappeared.

Someone whispered softly in his ear, just like a soft wind or still water, completely inaudible.

But the place where his head rested on was warm. So very warm.

Somehow, he felt his nose wrinkle.

Confused, he could feel the cold fingers stroking lightly across his cheek as if they were wiping something away. Over and over again.

Somehow, only one wish remained.

He only wanted to stay in this moment, forever in a dream.

|TOC|

I’ve still been working on straight guy’s nightmare on and off if anyone’s wondering.

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