Chapter 32

Xu Er felt that Song Ruichi must have thought his tie was not tied tightly enough.

Song Ruichi had been drinking. Xu Er caught a faint scent of alcohol. It smelled quite pleasant, making him want a drink as well. Of course, he couldn't. He couldn't. It seemed the windows hadn't been opened; the curtains were drawn tight, at any rate.

"Beep."

Xu Er's watch emitted a familiar sound, jolting his wandering thoughts back to reality. Without even looking, he quickly tapped the watch to silence it. Song Ruichi, naturally, heard it too. He asked, "What was that sound?"

"Nothing," Xu Er replied.

What was going on? Why was his heart beating so fast again?

Song Ruichi had already stood up and was walking toward the floor-to-ceiling mirror on the left. Xu Er, feeling a bit guilty, looked at his watch and dismissed the notification still displayed on the screen. Then, he smoothed his hair, adjusted his clothes, glanced at the food on the table, rubbed his nose, and scratched his chin. After a flurry of eight hundred tiny movements in a single second, he cleared his throat internally and calmed himself down.

He pondered for a moment. Never mind, he stopped pondering. It was a bit strange.

"Are you going to wear that tomorrow?" Xu Er asked the person in front of the mirror.

Their eyes met in the reflection.

"What’s wrong?" Song Ruichi asked. "Is it not appropriate?"

Xu Er thought about it, then said, "I don't think it is."

"Why?"

Xu Er thought some more. "Isn't it a bit too... too..." He found the word: "Sexy?"

Song Ruichi turned around, meeting Xu Er's gaze outside the mirror. "Sexy?"

The sheer impact of Song Ruichi's physique left Xu Er with no choice but to answer earnestly, "Yes."

Song Ruichi seemed to be asking for a final verdict. "I have a jacket too."

Xu Er firmly spat out two words: "Absolutely not."

"Fine," Song Ruichi said.

Song Ruichi turned back to the mirror. Of course, he wasn't looking at himself, but at Xu Er, who had lowered his head to continue eating. How could he possibly wear that outfit out? It was just a closing ceremony, after all.

There were other items among the food they had packed from the food street. By "other," it referred to the standard roast duck that Song Ruichi could also eat. Song Ruichi opened the duck, and Xu Er watched him do it. Song Ruichi poured the wine, and Xu Er watched him do that too. Feeling Xu Er's burning gaze, Song Ruichi turned to look at him, only for Xu Er to grin at him.

"What are you smiling at?" Song Ruichi asked.

"I just wanted to smile," Xu Er said. "If I'm happy, I smile."

"Why are you happy?"

"Why shouldn't I be?"

"Why indeed?"

With that, Song Ruichi picked up a piece with his chopsticks and offered the first bite to him. Xu Er had been about to speak, but he prioritized the offered food.

"Because I came to C City today," Xu Er said. "My mood is always good when I visit a place I've never been to."

Song Ruichi gave a long "Oh." "I thought you were going to say it was because you were with me."

"That too, that too," Xu Er replied. "Not every friend is named Song Ruichi."

Song Ruichi laughed.

"I'm funny, aren't I?" Xu Er said.

Song Ruichi nodded. "Extremely funny."

"I know."

As they talked, Song Ruichi wrapped up a piece of roast duck. He held this first bite out to Xu Er's lips as well. This time, however, Xu Er leaned back slightly. "You eat it."

Song Ruichi's answer was to keep moving it toward Xu Er's mouth. Xu Er had no choice but to open his mouth and eat it.

"And," Xu Er continued the happy topic, not finished yet, "I also ran into Niannian today."

"You're happy about meeting Niannian, too?"

"Yes, happy."

"Why?"

"Maybe my life is just too rigid and unchanging. So, as long as something unexpected happens—as long as it's not a bad thing—I'm quite happy."

Song Ruichi nodded. "That's very Xu Er."

"That's me, that's me."

Song Ruichi took a bite himself. It was clear, however, that he was only sitting there eating to keep Xu Er company. Song Ruichi didn't have much of an appetite, whether eating out or at home; he ate very little and moved with slow, deliberate grace. Xu Er, on the other hand, was the one always munching away, declaring everything delicious. See, Xu Er really understood Song Ruichi well.

After one piece, Song Ruichi picked up his wine glass. He offered the first sip to Xu Er, too. Xu Er waved his hands three times in quick succession. "No, no, no."

Song Ruichi didn't force it and took it back.

"Actually, I can try a tiny sip," Xu Er thought aloud. "Just to taste it."

Song Ruichi dipped his pinky finger into the glass. Xu Er's "tiny sip" hadn't meant that, but since Song Ruichi did it, he didn't see any issue with it. He licked the finger.

Xu Er smacked his lips. "Didn't taste much."

Song Ruichi held the glass out again. "Drink it all."

Xu Er raised his arms to form an 'X'. "You really aren't afraid I'll kiss you again?" he said, lowering his hands.

"Go ahead," Song Ruichi said.

Xu Er made a feint toward Song Ruichi's cheek. The guy didn't show the slightest intention of dodging. Xu Er pulled back halfway.

"..."

Both fell silent over this nonsensical performance. Song Ruichi turned on the TV, and the sounds of a variety show began to play.

"So, what are you wearing tomorrow?" Xu Er asked suddenly after a while.

"I brought a white shirt."

Xu Er nodded in agreement. "That works. It's very appropriate."

"What about this outfit?" Xu Er asked. "Are you returning it?"

"Returning it to whom?"

"The person who gave it to you."

Song Ruichi shook his head. "No need. Mr. Xu said it was very sexy, so I'm keeping it."

Whenever Xu Er was right there beside him, Song Ruichi insisted on calling him "Mr. Xu," which always gave Xu Er a very particular feeling. Sometimes Song Ruichi was being mischievous, sometimes teasing, and sometimes it carried other meanings entirely. The annoying thing was, Xu Er quite liked it. Having him call him Mr. Xu was exactly right.

As they ate, the variety show actually started to seem interesting. After watching for a while, the segments featuring "shipping" between the celebrities reminded Xu Er of something.

"Xu Chen's high school girlfriend—they made it official while they were out having a barbecue."

On the TV, several stars were barbecuing. A male star was being very attentive to a female star, and the post-production team didn't shy away from adding heart-bubble special effects.

"He was over the moon when he got back that time," Xu Er continued. "He was so afraid of getting carried away at home that he ran over to my place to go crazy. He was so excited he bought me a lot of things."

"Are they still together?" Song Ruichi asked.

Xu Er shook his head. "They broke up during Xu Chen's sophomore year." He tilted his head back. "What was it for again?" He stopped tilting. "Forgot."

In the end, they had been together for quite a few years.

"Xu Chen said he would bring her to see me several times, but it never happened," Xu Er said. "It made me think..." Xu Er smiled at this point.

"What's wrong?" Song Ruichi asked.

"I'm starting to remember," Xu Er said. "Every time he talked about his ex-girlfriend, I felt like he was having trouble saying it. He'd say half and hide the other half, always stuttering. I kept wondering," Xu Er lowered his voice, "if his ex-girlfriend thought she wasn't good-looking, or something else."

Song Ruichi looked thoughtful.

"I remember him saying they were a perfect match," Xu Er continued. "His ex-girlfriend would even go play ball with him, and she was really good at video games, too—very smooth gameplay."

"Have you played with her?"

Xu Er nodded. "A few times."

"Did you hear her voice?"

Xu Er shook his head. "No, she never used her mic." He made an 'ah' sound. "Could it be that her voice wasn't very pleasant?"

Song Ruichi smiled slightly. "I don't think so."

"Then what was it?"

Song Ruichi took a sip of wine. "I don't know."

True, how would Song Ruichi know?

"I remember when Xu Chen was pursuing that girl," Xu Er recalled little by little. "He went to her building in the middle of the night to set off fireworks."

"Xu Chen is actually quite romantic," Xu Er added. "He's very considerate of the other person when he's in love."

Song Ruichi listened and asked, "Do you like fireworks?"

"They're okay. I wouldn't say I like them or dislike them. I'll watch if someone else is setting them off."

Talking about Xu Chen's relationship, Xu Er couldn't help but think of the status updates Xu Chen used to post on social media when he first liked his ex-girlfriend. It was all melodramatic and non-mainstream; he even wrote poetry. Later, when they broke up, his flowery prose was everywhere, though now his feed was limited to three days' visibility. He wondered if Xu Chen would feel embarrassed looking back on it himself.

Thinking about it now, Xu Er realized there were many times he had been on the verge of meeting Xu Chen's ex-girlfriend, but for some reason, it never happened. Never mind, there was nothing to think about; it was all in the past.

The variety show had moved to a different scene. Song Ruichi had stopped eating the roast duck, but Xu Er, who seemed to have multiple stomachs, kept eating. With one bite after another, he finally finished the leftovers, and it was past twelve midnight.

Song Ruichi insisted on dragging Xu Er out for a walk to help digest the food. And so, they found themselves in the small garden below the hotel.

They say your environment dictates your conversation. Xu Er remembered being in a particularly eerie place with Chen Nan once, and before they knew it, they were swapping ghost stories from their hometowns. Now, the moon was full, there were fish in the garden pond, and the trees were lit with fairy lights—it was quite romantic.

Xu Er couldn't help but think of his romantic younger brother, whom he had just been praising. Then, for some reason, he thought of the things Song Ruichi had said to him at the high-speed rail station earlier that day. The things about how Song Ruichi was currently secretly in love with someone.

Only, the composition in Xu Er's mind had changed slightly. He wiped away the original image and constructed a new one. However, because he had little experience with such things, the image remained somewhat blurry.

Xu Er felt he probably hadn't met that person. Although he had met many of Song Ruichi's friends, it shouldn't be any of them. That person must have had something special about them; they must be very likeable. Since Song Ruichi liked them, how could they not be?

He wondered if Song Ruichi's friends knew about his secret.