Chapter 23 #3
“It’s nothing.” Zheng Weize just found it heartbreaking. There was someone else in the house who had a secret crush but didn’t have the courage to confess. He understood Yan Jun’s sorrow completely, and when he thought about his own situation, he cried even harder.
“Oh, dear.” Chen Hong handed the bottle to Xiao-Qi, at the end of his rope.
Outside Crane Hall, Zhang Yuwen finally succeeded in getting Huo Sichen through the doors. “How’s Yan Jun?” he asked the others.
“Yuwen!” Yan Jun snapped to his senses. “You… Take care of Xiao-Qi! I’ll leave her to you!” Zhang Yuwen was speechless.
“Yan Jun’s a little out of his head right now,” said Chen Hong. “Don’t engage him.”
“Do you know how many bottles they drank?” Zhang Yuwen asked.
“No, how many?”
Yan Jun fumbled his attempt at lifting Xiao-Qi up. She looked confused. “Xiao-Qi…only recognizes you! Yuwen, help me take care of her.”
“Six bottles of sake,” said Zhang Yuwen. “Okay! I got you, go and sleep.”
Zhang Yuwen took Xiao-Qi. She didn’t cry this time, instead drinking her milk quietly as she looked at Zhang Yuwen.
“I’m exhausted,” Chen Hong groaned. “Let’s go and lie down already.”
“I’ll look after them both,” Zheng Weize offered. “You should go and check on Huo Sichen.”
Yan Jun lay in the corner, and Zhang Yuwen dimmed the light. Zhang Yuwen hugged Xiao-Qi until she fell asleep, then set her down on the other side of the bed so that Yan Jun wouldn’t roll over and squash her.
“Leave the door open,” Zhang Yuwen said. “Call me anytime if you need anything.”
“Okay,” Zheng Weize said softly. “Don’t worry.”
Zhang Yuwen returned to his room just as Chen Hong emerged from it. Chen Hong signaled that Huo Sichen was fine. “We’ll leave our door open too,” he said.
“Thanks.”
He went in to check on Huo Sichen, who lay under the bedding with his long legs poking out. He reeked of alcohol. Zhang Yuwen was worried he might vomit, so he turned him on his side. But when he reached out to turn him by the shoulder, he realized Huo Sichen’s eyes were wide open.
Is he crying?! Zhang Yuwen could hardly believe it. He understood how easy it was to get emotional after drinking, especially when a guy was under a lot of stress, but Zhang Yuwen had never been this drunk before.
Huo Sichen’s tears streamed soundlessly down his cheeks. Zhang Yuwen wiped them off with the quilt.
“What’s wrong?” he whispered.
Huo Sichen turned around and looked at Zhang Yuwen as if he didn’t recognize him. Zhang Yuwen cradled Huo Sichen’s upper body in his arms, and Huo Sichen hugged him tight, his breath hitching as he sobbed.
Zhang Yuwen didn’t know what to say. He knew that Huo Sichen was hiding something from him, but surely nothing this dire, right? Maybe it was just work stress? Huo Sichen cried for a long time, leaning into Zhang Yuwen’s arms without saying a word. He just kept weeping until he fell asleep.
This was the first time Zhang Yuwen had seen this side of Huo Sichen.
Men didn’t often show their vulnerabilities to anyone else, after all.
Huo Sichen’s emotional release stirred a strong sense of protectiveness in Zhang Yuwen.
Everyone had moments of vulnerability, himself included, and everyone needed a gentle harbor in which to seek refuge.
That night, those who weren’t drunk were very busy.
Chang Jinxing volunteered to move to Yan Jun’s room to help Zheng Weize look after him and Xiao-Qi, and Chen Hong came over a few times in the night to check on them.
At midnight, New Year’s fireworks began to light up the sky, but no one went out to watch them.
Zhang Yuwen stayed quietly in his room, reminiscing about his childhood.
His grandparents had once brought him to this resort for New Year’s, and even after his grandfather passed away, Zhang Yuwen had come with his grandmother.
It hadn’t been that long, but it felt like a lifetime ago.
He wondered what his grandparents would say if they were around to see the way he lived now. Would they accept Huo Sichen?
Huo Sichen turned around in the silent night and hugged Zhang Yuwen. Zhang Yuwen tried to adjust his position, but Huo Sichen had him in a vice grip, like a drowning man grasping a buoy.
Even at a time like this, Huo Sichen could get aroused… Zhang Yuwen didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He touched Huo Sichen through his underwear, but Huo Sichen didn’t wake up. So big, Zhang Yuwen thought. I can’t let him be the top.
He grasped Huo Sichen’s equipment with one hand and his own in the other for comparison. Huo Sichen’s was indeed bigger, and it was rock-hard too. The only fly in the ointment was that he came too fast—roughly ten minutes, based on today’s benchmark.
Huo Sichen stirred. Zhang Yuwen withdrew his hand and patted him to let him continue to sleep.
Outside, the sounds of fireworks and the countdown filled the air. Everyone’s phone screens lit up with congratulatory messages, flooding in one after another in the silent night, like fireworks blooming in succession.
Another year had passed.