CH 57

The rainy night was long and humid.

A movie theater in the distance was showing a movie that wasn’t too exciting or terrible. The clear sound of the audience eating popcorn could be heard from time to time in the dimly lit theater. But the golden seat in the center was vacant for a long time.

The movie tickets he bought for two in advance were forgotten in their pockets and the starting time quietly passed.

The backup option was mentioned but never enabled. Every game console and big screen at home was pitch black. The living room was cold and dim and only one room was lit.

It was because there were more suitable things to do at this moment.

There was a transparent vase next to the bed in the mast bedroom and the newly placed roses were in full bloom in the morning.

The heavy curtains blocked out the rain outside, but the interior was equally hot and humid.

In the dim light, Chi Xueyan vaguely saw the somewhat familiar velvet box held in the palm of his lover.

This was the third detail of love.

This time, he no longer asked the questions knowingly.

He was dizzy. During the short rest, he only vaguely remembered that before he went out in the morning, he seemed to have forgotten something.

Due to the demands of work, he got used to not wearing rings at work. Even though today was a special day, he couldn’t change his habit for a while.

He Qiao didn’t remind him.

It was probably on purpose.

Even if Chi Xueyan remembered it himself, he wouldn’t have been able to find it in his usual place.

He watched as the velvet box was opened. Inside was no longer the original pair of simple, plain rings.

Instead, they were the wedding rings that once wore for each other in public at the wedding.

The exquisite ring body had a slightly angular shape like a bridge.

Tonight, there were no cheering and applauding guests and no ring pillows embroidered with roses. There was only the lover he had been married to for a year, but seemed to have just met.

He Qiao lowered his eyes and gently pushed the cold ring onto his ring finger.

They re-exchanged wedding rings.

They were wedding rings with true love.

Chi Xueyan almost imitated the other person’s movements and put the ring on him, reminding him with a straight face, “Don’t kiss me again.”

He was running out of oxygen.

However, he didn’t hear that voice that was always gentle and inclusive.

The wet eyes made the serious tone seem unconvincing.

In the next second, a delicate kiss landed on his fragile neck and passed over the collar of the shirt that was unbuttoned at some point, making his fair skin gradually become dyed with a rosy color.

Chi Xueyan wanted to hit him again.

It was just that his fingers were weak. The consciousness that had just returned was once again swallowed by the sea.

There were also unreasonable demands that took advantage of other people’s danger.

“Don’t go out this weekend.”

Chi Xueyan didn’t have the strength to object and thought in a daze, ‘In any case, there is a typhoon. For the sake of safety, it is better to stay at home and wait for next week.’

As a result, his thoughts seemed to be seen through by the man who knew him very well.

“You can’t go after the typhoon. You aren’t allowed to see him again.”

Chi Xueyan felt that this request was very unreasonable. It wasn’t at all like the usual, reasonable He Qiao.

He tried to retort, “You obviously know that we are friends. There is no special relationship, just a blind date…”

“We’ve been on a blind date and we have a special relationship.”

There was an unquestionable stubbornness in the slightly hoarse voice. “Later, we got married.”

Chi Xueyan glared at him and tried to push away his chaotic hand. “Making trouble for no reason.”

The kiss fell beside his bright eyes.

There wasn’t much real anger in the eyes covered with a thin layer of water.”

“You don’t have to agree,” He Qiao said. “But I don’t want you to go.”

“What if I really don’t agree?”

“We’ll talk about it later.”

His lover’s breath ran over his neck as he kissed Chi Xueyan’s eyes, cheeks and lips tenderly.

What could he say after this?

Chi Xueyan was completely deprived of oxygen and quickly forgot this.

After barely finding his breath, he had a new question to ask He Qiao.

“How many more things are you hiding that you haven’t said?”

He Qiao did have a lot to ask him.

He wanted answers to things he had thought about alone that were either firm or uncertain.

He asked everything he cared about but never mentioned.

“Why did other people ask you that question after playing that song at the bachelor party?”

In the dark bar, the song ended and the shouts of former classmates resounded everywhere. Flowers were thrown at the most dazzling person on the stage.

Bass player, do you want to fall in love or not?

“It was the welcome party in my sophomore year. Just after the performance, a girl I didn’t know came up to me to give me flowers. She was very nervous and couldn’t speak, so the classmates in the audience started to help her.”

Once Chi Xueyan answered patiently, he quietly pulled the pillow over and tried to artificially increase the safe distance.

“At that time, most people didn’t know me or my name, so they called me that.”

He finished explaining in detail but he heard He Qiao asking about the whereabouts of the flowers.

“Did you accept that bouquet of flowers?”

He almost didn’t react. “Which bouquet of flowers?”

“The flowers given by the girl you don’t know on the stage. You remember that she is very nervous.”

Chi Xueyan wanted to scold him again for being unreasonable.

“I don’t like girls, I never did.”

“So did you accept it?”

“……”

Chi Xueyan felt the gaze that fell on his body, thought for a second and became angry with him. “I forgot.”

He Qiao, who had been staring at him, stopped speaking, his eyes deep.

Chi Xueyan immediately hugged the pillow in his arms defensively.

His fair face was buried behind the soft pillow.

He didn’t want to be deprived of oxygen any longer.

But he forgot that there were many ways to create the illusion of drowning.

The wide white shirt lent to him lost its button restraint little by little. It was like a gauze curtain blown by the spring breeze, loosely brushing through the blooming roses by the window, flowing through the crimson petals and thick green leaves. Light and shadow flowed with it, seeping into the clear water that had soaked the roots.

Chi Xueyan soon lost the leisure to deliberately be angry at people.

In the surging heat, the wedding ring that was just put on was particularly distinct to the touch. It was slightly cool and hard.

Under the overly intense senses, he could only surrender and answer intermittently, “I didn’t accept it… I gave it back to her. I didn’t even touch that bouquet of flowers.”

The man looking down at him was still dressed decently. The neckline of the same haute couture shirt was buttoned to the very toe and even his tie hadn’t been taken off.

He Qiao was more suitable for wearing this style of shirt than him.

It was just that Chi Xueyan couldn’t think of this now.

The tide swept over him along with some words.

“Since when did you find out you don’t like girls?”

“Forgot,” the completely absent-minded man murmured. “I really forgot.”

Physiological tears slipped into his bright hair, leaving seemingly moist marks on the pillow.

Subconsciously, he knew the reason why the other person cared about this so he added softly out of instinct, “It wasn’t because I was attracted to others. I have never liked other people.”

Gradually, he felt tired of speaking. He frowned and resisted. “…I don’t want to answer questions any longer, He Qiao.”

The kiss that fell again gently pecked the tears on the side of his cheeks.

“Okay.”

He Qiao stopped asking.

He started with statements that didn’t require an answer.”

“The prenuptial agreement will be voided and there will be many documents to sign after that.”

He didn’t want clearly defined separate assets any longer.

He wanted their names to be written together.

Then there was another relationship that had grown and became tangled together. Separating would be a more troublesome thing.

“Next year’s birthday will be on Valentine’s Day.”

It also wasn’t necessary not to interfere with each other’s private lives any longer.

He wanted a Valentine’s Day with only each other.

Then the next Valentine’s Day and the next… every birthday that the other person used to arrange alone.

At these statements that didn’t require answers, Chen Shu was surrounded by breathing and sound. His clear eyes became thick and drunk and his slender fingers uncontrollably grasped the bed sheets under his body.

The sudden burst of fireworks took away his consciousness.

This was until the warmth of his lover embraced him and a bit of calm was restored.

Once the formerly flamboyant and brazen man’s mind returned, he didn’t reject anything that was just said.

The hair on his forehead was wet with sweat and he showed a lazy look, like an elusive wind.

He Qiao hugged him and asked in a low voice, “What are you thinking?”

The person in his arms said in a normal voice, “I’m thinking about getting a divorce.”

The arms holding him tightened instantly.

He Qiao knew that Chi Xueyan’s words were always surprising and he shouldn’t mean this.

But in front of these words, he couldn’t be rational and calm.

“Chi Xueyan, I love you.”

He finally said this for the first time.

He used instincts that didn’t require conscious thought.

The man in his arms laughed and his fingers gently climbed He Qiao’s neck. “I love you too. Don’t look at me like this.”

“I don’t want to divorce you. I was just thinking about the marriage certificate.”

The marriage certificate had been stamped 365 days earlier and they each had one.

“Can I change the photo directly? The blue background of the marriage certificate seems a bit regrettable.”

Until this moment, Chi Xueyan didn’t know why his father who saw the marriage certificate would care so much about the background of the photo.

How could a marriage certificate have a red background? It should be red like when he and his beloved wife got married.

It was the most intense red color that matched marriage.

Love was what made people care about such small details.

They were scattered everywhere in life, trivial but unforgettable.

At his light tone, He Qiao finally found his breath.

“But you can’t have red hair.”

He still remembered the reason for changing the background color.

Chi Xueyan belatedly remembered it and frowned with a bit of annoyance. He couldn’t think of a good solution for a while.

“…Never mind, let’s talk about it next time.”

His fingers climbed up deliberately, skillfully loosening the tie that he had tied this morning before going out. He undid the buttons of the shirt, freeing his lover who was close at hand from the tight binding.

Unknowingly, he had become less decent so he was unhappy when seeing this too decent-looking tie.

In the more profound blending, Chi Xueyan traced the other person’s eyebrows with a gaze that was absent-minded again, trying not to make his question too intermittent.

“What are you thinking about?”

“I’m thinking about Valentine’s Day.” He Qiao’s voice was so low that it was almost inaudible. “With you.”

In the already sinking night, the roses that were in full bloom trembled lightly and crimson petals fell silently on the side of the bed.

The sound of rain outside the window was still there, drawing a never-ending end to this night.

Time turned into a bubble and the fish tail decided to swim to the coral. A butterfly flew through the storm and strangers met on street corners. A bridge crossed the ocean and land finally met the island.

In the long and endless journey, the rose secretly loved the dusk, the cactus kissed the ice cream, the maple leaves missed the autumn and the Christmas tree was waiting for Valentine’s Day.

And I love you.