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Step—
Step—
Step—
Chu Feng carefully stepped onto the stairs.
He wore his white button-up, the top button done by Doctor Xie, and his black pants were straightened. His entire outfit was pristine, everything was left up to imagination.
—No one knew what was going on inside his pants.
The floors went down from 3, to 2, then to 1.
Chu Feng’s nerves were all stretched taut. He stood at the top of the stairs and found where X was in an instant.
The 1.9m tall silhouette leaned against the walls. The silver gun on his back was held in his hand. His head was tilted downwards, his eyes closed as if he was taking a break. The long metallic coat looked pale under the harsh overhead lighting in the corridor—like a foggy window in a downpour.
There must be something wrong with his head. Chu Feng thought. Normal people wouldn’t wait four whole hours without saying a word.
—Other than Xie Shiyu.
Chu Feng remembered that day when he was twenty-four. He had also stood on a platform like this, spotting Xie Shiyu instantly, who held a bouquet of flowers in the middle of a rainy night, waiting for him for four hours.
That day, Chu Feng worked overtime. There was something wrong with the project they had been working on and the entire team worked overtime till 10 o’clock before they walked out. The cold night breeze slipped in through his collar. Chu Feng held an umbrella up alone. He was tired from working overtime and he hadn’t eaten any dinner. Perhaps he had gone hungry for too long, but he lost his appetite.
The raindrops fell onto his umbrella. It felt cold and lonely.
On the road that leads to the company’s exit was a small slope. Once you walk to the bottom of it and made a turn, you would find the entrance of the subway. Taking a midnight train back home.
The yellow lamplights lit up the small drizzles of raindrops as Chu Feng dragged himself down the platform.
As he reached the end of the slope and made a turn, there was a familiar figure at the end!
“Hey there.”
A bouquet of flowers appeared in front of Chu Feng.
Xie Shiyu, with his white suit jacket around his shoulder and a bouquet of light purple bluebells in his hands, had appeared in front of Chu Feng’s eyes.
There was a small drizzle that night and his hair was slightly wet. He was standing right there, at the turning part of the platform, waiting for him.
“You…”
Chu Feng was speechless, immediately pulling Xie Shiyu under his umbrella.
“How long have you been waiting? When did you come?”
“Hmm… Around six?”
“Are you crazy? You just stood here like an idiot for four hours? Don’t you know to call?”
“It’s fine. It wouldn’t be romantic if I called you beforehand.” Xie Shiyu chuckled, snatching Chu Feng’s umbrella out of his hand and holding it up higher, while holding Chu Feng’s hand with his other, putting it into his pocket.
It was warm inside.
Seeing Chu Feng was silent, he asked, “Do you not like this?”
He lowered his head and stared at the raindrops that fell into the puddle next to him, splashing slightly. His hand was in Xie Shiyu’s, warming his fingers from his body heat.
Outside the umbrella was the cold world of rain but inside the umbrella were him and Xie Shiyu, holding hands.
Chu Feng’s face was burning red. He shuffled a little closer to Xie Shiyu, sticking to his side.
“I like it.” He whispered.
They went home together.
、
“You’re here.”
X raised his head and found Chu Feng.
The hospital corridor’s overhead light was cold, like a surgical knife that sliced through his memory of that yellow lamplight and drizzled on flowers. Chu Feng looked away.
Perhaps it was because they were of similar height, but he kept seeing Xie Shiyu’s shadow in X. Chu Feng sucked in a breath and quickly yet naturally walked towards X, pretending to be surprised.
“Huh? You haven’t left?”
“I was waiting for you.”
“Why?”
“Your cousin was worried, so he asked me to send you back.”
X lowered his head and checked his watch.
“You took four hours to make a payment.” He remarked.
“……”
Chu Feng froze.
The Guardian’s sharp gaze switched towards him, like an interrogator looking at a suspect.
“Did something happen in there?” X went straight to the point.
—If he couldn’t answer properly, X would be even more suspicious. Chu Feng’s mind was racing, especially since he had just seen Xie Shiyu’s figure in X.
After being stared at by X like this, his face started heating up uncontrollably.
The more X stared, the more nervous he became, the tighter he clenched, the more he felt like there was something moving inside him.
He cursed that perverted Doctor Xie in his heart. If he ended up spilling in front of X…
—Just the thought of it makes me want to die!
Chu Feng shifted his weight to his right leg and changed his body language, making himself relaxed.
“I was getting my injury treated.”
Chu Feng had injured his leg in the fire, X knew that too. As they walked towards the entrance of the hospital, X’s expression didn’t change, so Chu Feng had to force himself to continue walking.
The harsh lighting of the hospital was left behind them as they stepped into the night sky. The summer night was like a splash of black ink, staining the sky, trees, trunks, ground, and everything else dark, while insects chirped at the side of the road.
X found the atmosphere very nice.
“Is your injury okay?” He asked.
“It’s alright, not too bad.”
Chu Feng’s tone was carefree, but he had absolutely no intention of having a casual walk. He sped up as much as he could, his entire mind was set on walking faster. His Dream City’s key was still with Lin Lan and without that key, he couldn’t exit the city anywhere he wanted. If X wanted to send him back, then they’d have to walk until they reached the city gates!
X was purposely walking slowly in hopes of prolonging this peaceful night.
As Chu Feng walked in front of him, his legs and waist were all exposed to X’s eyes from behind.
—Chu Feng instantly felt a bad premonition.
X’s eyes followed the curve of his spine and scrutinized him like a suspect as if he had found evidence of his crime.
Chu Feng immediately slowed down again and walked side by side with X.
“Is your leg… really okay?”
“Of course.” Chu Feng tilted his head and smiled, “Is there something wrong?”
“The way you’re walking is a bit odd.” X explained.
…!!
“I had to get stitches, so the doctor had to numb the area.” Chu Feng improvised. “I’m a bit unused to it.”
X nodded his head sympathetically.
Chu Feng relaxed.
And then—
Slip!
His right leg slipped!
There was a platform at the end of the road. Chu Feng had put his focus entirely on X and that thing inside him so he hadn’t noticed it in time.
He tripped!
“Careful.”
X immediately reached his hand out and held him before he could fall. Because he had been behind Chu Feng, he had basically hugged him from behind.
Chu Feng kept his head completely lowered in X’s embrace, his shoulders trembling slightly, even his hands had started trembling.
—I-It’s spilling!