Chapter 77: If They Were The Same Age (Part 3) [Extra]
Luo Jing was so shocked by his words that he stared at him blankly, frozen in place for at least half a minute.
So Huai Dan also stood there silently, patiently waiting for him to recover.
His expression was calm, seemingly no different from usual.
The only thing that betrayed his own lack of composure was his slightly red ears, which clashed with his indifferent expression.
The two boys, both with outstanding appearances, standing there motionless on the street, the slightly shorter one holding a rose, gradually attracted attention.
Passersby smiled kindly at them, probably assuming they were a couple having a lover’s quarrel.
After a while, Luo Jing blinked slowly, finally regaining some of his senses.
Then… he started to wonder if he had misheard.
Realizing he had been staring at Huai Dan for so long, Luo Jing quickly looked away.
During that half a minute, countless images and thoughts had flashed through his mind, accompanied by the endless repetition of Huai Dan’s “I like you,” but he couldn’t grasp any of them.
Everything ultimately converged into one thought—was Huai Dan joking?
But when he looked at Huai Dan again, his expression told him he was serious.
…And Huai Dan wasn’t the type to joke about such things.
Luo Jing felt a bit dizzy. It was similar to the feeling of his mind overheating from overworking on his thesis, but it also felt different…
But he couldn’t pinpoint the difference.
In high school, from the first time he met Huai Dan, to them becoming friends, to their relationship gradually deepening, Luo Jing had always firmly believed that “dating” wasn’t an option for Huai Dan.
Let alone him liking someone, he couldn’t imagine Huai Dan dating anyone, it just didn’t seem to fit his persona. This thought persisted, through their graduation, through college, even until the moment Huai Dan confessed to him.
But now, this seemingly common-sense belief had been easily shattered. And the other person who had caused this was himself… without him even realizing it.
Snapping out of his daze, seeing more and more people looking at them, even whispering, Luo Jing finally realized they were standing in the middle of the sidewalk, quite conspicuously.
He didn’t care about anything else and quickly pulled Huai Dan to the side by his sleeve.
Huai Dan let him pull him, obediently following him to the side.
They were now standing under an evergreen tree. This street had just recently opened, and to create a festive atmosphere, it was decorated with LED lights, looking dreamy and beautiful.
Standing under the tree, Luo Jing paused, then asked with difficulty, finally uttering his first words after receiving this shocking news: “W-when did it start?”
Huai Dan knew what he was asking, so he looked down at the boy in front of him, who was avoiding his gaze, and replied softly, “A long time ago.”
Luo Jing: “…!”
He looked up at Huai Dan in disbelief, then quickly looked away again, as if burned by his gaze.
“A long time ago is… how long ago?” Luo Jing asked, swallowing and stuttering slightly.
…It was Huai Dan who confessed, why was he the nervous one?!
Thinking this, he regained some of his confidence, suppressed his strange emotions, and looked up at Huai Dan.
Huai Dan still looked calm and composed, a stark contrast to his words.
Luo Jing vaguely felt that this was quite in line with his persona, as if this was how Huai Dan should confess… But was anyone really this calm when confessing?
Even he, the one being confessed to, was this nervous.
After calming down, Luo Jing felt his focus was wrong. Shouldn’t the main point be that Huai Dan actually liked him?
After struggling internally for a while, Luo Jing finally realized something was off. Because Huai Dan still hadn’t answered his question.
His expression was indeed calm, but now that he had the time to look closely, Luo Jing suddenly noticed that his ears seemed a bit red.
Like finding a flaw in a seemingly perfect machine. Realizing this, his nervousness subsided a bit.
“So when?” Luo Jing cleared his throat and asked again.
Huai Dan was silent for two seconds: “Really want to know?”
“Yes.”
“Then… be my boyfriend.”
“…”
The strange feeling returned, and Luo Jing’s mind short-circuited from Huai Dan’s sudden words, his heart racing uncontrollably. Huai Dan’s words were a bit overwhelming.
And, most terrifyingly, he had just agreed.
As he was overthinking, the person in front of him suddenly chuckled, his emotions unreadable.
It sounded more like a soft exhale, perhaps with a hint of helplessness. Luo Jing looked at him, nervous and confused: “?”
“I’m kidding,” Huai Dan looked at him, his gaze calm. “I know you’re not ready for a relationship yet.”
“You don’t have to give me an answer now,” he said.
Luo Jing didn’t know how he ended up back in Huai Dan’s car.
The fact that his close friend actually liked him kept replaying in his mind. Huai Dan’s words “You don’t have to give me an answer now,” for some reason, became a mantra, echoing in his mind endlessly.
He felt like he hadn’t been very clear-headed the entire evening.
He inexplicably felt that Huai Dan was being a bit presumptuous.
…He hadn’t even said anything yet.
This thought came out of nowhere. Thinking that the other party was currently sitting right next to him, Luo Jing’s heart leaped into his throat, and he closed his eyes, trying to clear his mind.
Being with Huai Dan after knowing he liked him felt awkward.
“Luo Jing,” Huai Dan suddenly called out as he was recalling their past interactions, trying to dispel this strange awkwardness and return to their previous state.
…So his attempt instantly failed.
But coincidentally, he happened to have his eyes closed, so Luo Jing thought for a moment and decided to play along and keep them closed.
He didn’t really know how to face Huai Dan right now.
Seeing no response from Luo Jing, Huai Dan didn’t call him again. There was no music playing in the car, so it was quiet along the way. Luo Jing tried to hypnotize himself into falling asleep.
But it was useless.
He wasn’t sleepy at all, and with his eyes closed, it was even easier to let his mind wander.
Along the way, Luo Jing felt like he had thought about many things, yet also nothing at all. He only came back to his senses when he felt the car stop.
Then, an even more difficult problem arose.
…He didn’t know how to naturally “wake up” and get out of the car.
Luo Jing kept his eyes closed, his eyelashes trembling slightly, silently praying that Huai Dan would call him.
But for some reason, even though the car had stopped, the person beside him remained silent.
Luo Jing: “…?”
He waited for another half a minute, gradually becoming restless.
Could Huai Dan have suddenly encountered some urgent work and started working in the driver’s seat?
And he was still “asleep” beside him… Had he forgotten about him?
It was difficult to judge the passage of time with his eyes closed. After who knows how long, Luo Jing finally couldn’t sit still anymore and opened his eyes slightly, discreetly turning his head towards Huai Dan.
…As expected.
Huai Dan was looking down at his phone, his expression calm, his fingers slowly scrolling across the screen.
Luo Jing sighed inwardly, once again lamenting his friend’s diligence and dedication, then started thinking about how to naturally act like he had just woken up.
The garage was dimly lit, and the brightness of Huai Dan’s phone screen wasn’t high. The faint light illuminated his side profile, somehow making his features appear even more defined.
Although he had often returned to China to see him during his years studying abroad, it wasn’t until this moment that Luo Jing realized he hadn’t looked closely at Huai Dan’s face in a long time.
Huai Dan’s current appearance wasn’t much different from when he was in high school, just a bit less youthful and a bit more mature and composed.
…Objectively speaking, it was very attractive.
But perhaps because they were too familiar, Luo Jing only now noticed this subtle change.
Huai Dan hadn’t turned off the car engine, and the air conditioner was still running, so the only sound in the car was the faint whirring from the vents.
“When are you planning to go upstairs?” the usually quiet man beside him suddenly asked. “Don’t sit in the AC for too long, you’ll catch a cold.”
Luo Jing: “…”
It was almost 10 p.m. when they got home.
Worried about missing his flight, Luo Jing had booked a very early flight the next day, needing to leave at 7 a.m., so after returning home, he only interacted with Plastic Bag for a short while before going back to his room to rest.
He wasn’t really in the mood to play with the puppy right now.
Plastic Bag also seemed to sense its owner’s distraction and didn’t pester him. It was getting late, and it was also a bit sleepy, so it obediently went back to its bed.
The guest room had been cleaned by the housekeeper this morning.
Although it was fine since they were friends, he still felt a bit embarrassed about constantly occupying someone else’s room, so Luo Jing had already packed his few belongings into the guest room during the day.
So, after arriving home, Luo Jing naturally went to the guest room.
He was a bit relieved. It would be too awkward to sleep with Huai Dan in this situation.
Then he remembered Huai Dan’s slightly unnatural expression when he heard him suggest sleeping together… No wonder he was unnatural, he was so clueless!
…But, it wasn’t entirely his fault.
After washing up, Luo Jing buried his face in his pillow, his ears red, thinking indignantly.
With Huai Dan like that, how could anyone tell he liked him?
There was a knock on the door. Luo Jing froze, then instinctively got out of bed and went to the door. His hand paused on the doorknob.
Why was he so eager?
When he knew who was knocking, and it could only be that person.
Luo Jing stood there, staring at his hand on the doorknob, silently arguing with himself for three seconds before opening the door.
Huai Dan was standing outside.
Luo Jing felt inexplicably nervous.
“I saw your light was still on,” Huai Dan paused and said. “Shall I take you to the airport tomorrow?”
“Maybe not,” Luo Jing thought for a moment and replied. “It’s too early, you should rest at home.”
“I also have class tomorrow morning.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Okay.” Luo Jing smiled at Huai Dan and teased instinctively, “Then I’ll have to trouble Mr. Huai.”
After saying this, as if realizing something, Luo Jing froze, his expression becoming unnatural.
It wasn’t appropriate to joke in this situation.
Huai Dan, however, didn’t seem to notice anything wrong and said calmly, “No trouble, what time are you leaving?”
“7 a.m.,” Luo Jing replied.
After a pause, to ease the awkwardness, he cleared his throat and tried to change the subject: “You could have just told me on your phone.”
“I want to see you,” Huai Dan said calmly after a moment of silence.
Luo Jing: “…”
His simple words easily stirred up a storm in his heart.
Luo Jing had never thought Huai Dan would say such things.
His barely rebooted system crashed again.
And this time, it crashed completely. He couldn’t even blink, and smoke seemed to be coming out of his head.
Huai Dan looked at him for a while, then smiled faintly: “Get some rest.”
Then he thoughtfully closed the door for him.
With a soft click, the door closed, and Luo Jing stood there for a whole minute before coming back to his senses.
Then he slowly raised his hand and buried his face in it.
Although it was still early, the airport was already crowded, some people having spent the night there, some, like him, having arrived early for their flights.
Since he didn’t have any checked luggage, Luo Jing could go straight to security, so he hadn’t given himself much time.
Huai Dan hadn’t left.
Luo Jing had initially thought he meant to just drive him to the airport, since he didn’t have any luggage and didn’t need any help.
But after parking the car in the parking garage, Huai Dan got out of the car with him.
With a subtle, unspoken understanding, they walked to the airport lobby together. Huai Dan accompanied Luo Jing to get his boarding pass, then walked with him to the security checkpoint.
As he entered, Luo Jing couldn’t help but look back.
Huai Dan was still standing there.
Meeting his gaze, Huai Dan simply waved: “Be careful.”
Luo Jing nodded and quickly looked away.
Placing his backpack in the bin on the conveyor belt, the previous scene still lingered in Luo Jing’s mind.
It felt strangely familiar… like a scene from a drama where a couple was parting.
And even stranger, why did he actually feel a bit reluctant?
Thanks to Huai Dan, even though they hadn’t slept in the same room last night, Luo Jing still had trouble sleeping.
His mind in turmoil, he boarded the plane, found his seat, put on his eye mask, and tried to clear his mind and get some sleep.
Thirty minutes later.
He still couldn’t sleep.
His mind was racing.
He had impulsively bought a plane ticket back to China to celebrate his friend’s birthday, a very sudden trip, and the result was learning that his friend’s feelings had changed years ago…
Since high school, Huai Dan had always seemed distant.
He was handsome and a top student, the type everyone wanted to befriend, but he was also aloof, making him difficult to approach.
Luo Jing had never thought, nor could he imagine, Huai Dan being in a relationship. These three words seemed inherently incompatible with him.
It felt dissonant, something that could never, and should never, be associated with him.
Luo Jing sometimes felt his perception of his friend was too idealized, as if he was some kind of unworldly deity.
But before they met, he hadn’t even thought he would be able to talk to Huai Dan.
But they still became friends.
And among so many people, he was the only one.
While happy to have such an outstanding friend, he would often feel secretly pleased by Huai Dan’s unique and inexplicable closeness to him.
But…
In the darkness, images of Huai Dan flashed through his mind, playing with Plastic Bag at his house in high school, tutoring him at his desk, taking notes in class, and their many meetings after they grew up, from summer to winter, finally settling on the image he had seen through the gap in his eyelids last night.
Handsome, calm, composed, irresistibly attractive.
And this seemingly indifferent person had told him, he liked him.
A subtle, inexplicable joy welled up in his heart.
It was dark outside before he boarded the plane, and it was still dark when he landed.
The plane slowly descended, and the moment it stopped, Luo Jing turned on his phone.
After connecting to the network, the screen froze for a moment, then a flood of notifications appeared.
There were also a few red dots on WeChat.
Luo Jing clicked on it and looked at the contact he wanted to see the most.
As he expected, there was a notification dot on Huai Dan’s chat window.
For some reason, just seeing his nickname and profile picture made Luo Jing’s heart race.
Ignoring his subtle eagerness, he opened the chat window.
Huai Dan’s message was sent around the time he boarded the plane, a long time ago.
H: [Let me know when you arrive.]
Passengers bustled around him in the airport lobby.
Unlike the weather back home, it was cooler here, and it was raining. Luo Jing, having anticipated this, was wearing a light jacket.
He pulled his hands into his sleeves, then touched the screen and replied: [Arrived.]
To his surprise, Huai Dan replied almost instantly.
Although it was daytime there, so it was normal…
H: [Okay.]
Seeing this word, Luo Jing’s heart leaped into his throat.
Then what? Would he say anything else?
He waited by the airport gate for two minutes but didn’t receive any new messages, so his anxious heart calmed down.
Then, inexplicably, it turned into a subtle disappointment.
He had been expecting Huai Dan to say something more.
But he hadn’t.
But what was he expecting to see?
Luo Jing struggled with his inexplicable emotions for a while, then felt annoyed.
…He had only been back for a short while, why had he become so awkward?
Thinking this, Luo Jing decided to stop thinking about it for now, exited WeChat, and opened a ride-hailing app.
He had a class at 9 a.m. the next day. His neighbor across the hall happened to be in the same major at the same university, and they had been study buddies for several years.
His buddy had recently gotten a girlfriend, a gentle and beautiful girl, and Luo Jing had become the target of his constant showing off.
It was raining today. Luo Jing had agreed to go to class with him and saw him standing by the elevator, looking at his phone with a strange smile on his face.
“Let’s go,” Luo Jing glanced at him, puzzled, and pressed the down button. “Why didn’t you call the elevator?”
“Oh, I forgot,” his neighbor replied confidently, then held up his phone. “Sorry, I was chatting with my girlfriend.”
Luo Jing: “…”
No one asked.
The elevator doors opened, and he walked in with a straight face, then pressed the close button.
“Hey, hey,” his neighbor quickly squeezed in and teased, “Why don’t you find someone too? There are so many people chasing you.”
“I’m not interested.”
“That’s true, there aren’t many people in this cold world who can find love like me and Xiao He,” his neighbor said.
Xiao He was his nickname for his girlfriend.
Luo Jing instantly felt a chill.
“But what kind of person do you like anyway?” After lamenting his perfect love life, his neighbor asked Luo Jing curiously, “People who like you, male or female, tall or short, fat or thin, all kinds of styles, and you’re not interested in any of them?”
Before Luo Jing could answer, he continued, talking to himself, “With you like this, people who don’t know you would think you have a white moonlight back in China or something.”
Luo Jing: “…”
He had been checking how much homework he still had to catch up on, and his hand trembled, almost dropping his phone.
He caught it with his other hand and looked up to see his neighbor had fallen silent.
Then he looked at him meaningfully, his eyes saying “So that’s how it is.”
He was about to speak when Luo Jing calmly gestured to the open elevator doors: “Let’s go, it’s almost 9:45, we’re going to be late.”
The two-hour class ended just in time for lunch.
Having flown back from China over the weekend, he had been on the plane last night and was already sitting in class today. Luo Jing wasn’t feeling his best.
His neighbor packed his things and asked him, “What are your plans for the afternoon?”
“Go…” Luo Jing was about to say “home,” but thinking about his unfinished homework, he changed his mind dejectedly. “Library.”
“…” His neighbor gave him a look and a thumbs-up: “With your dedication, you’ll definitely succeed.”
“Have you finished yours?” Luo Jing asked.
“Of course not,” his neighbor replied confidently. “It’s okay, based on my experience, I can finish it in a few all-nighters, it’s not too late.”
Luo Jing: “…”
Luo Jing gave him a thumbs-up and also picked up his bag.
His neighbor went to have lunch with his girlfriend. Luo Jing wasn’t very hungry, so he bought a sandwich and a drink, then trudged to the library.
Facing his impending deadlines, all his random thoughts were forced to stop. Luo Jing spent half an hour finishing and submitting an assignment, then finally opened his phone and checked it.
…Although, it was impossible to be completely unconcerned.
Huai Dan still hadn’t sent him any new messages.
It was similar to before, because Huai Dan was very busy recently, so it was usually him who initiated the conversations, and Huai Dan would reply.
But he hadn’t paid much attention to this before, not knowing… a certain fact.
But things were different now.
Looking at the empty chat window and the silent profile picture, Luo Jing felt inexplicably insecure.
As he was spacing out, a notification dot suddenly appeared.
Luo Jing instinctively felt a pang of nervousness, then, seeing that it was a message from his neighbor, a strange disappointment.
His neighbor said that his group leader had suddenly moved up the deadline for their group project, due the day after tomorrow, so he was on his way to the library now and asked Luo Jing to save him a seat.
Not long after, he arrived, and as soon as he sat down, he took out his laptop and started working frantically.
More than two hours later, after finishing the assignment, his neighbor breathed a sigh of relief and went to the nearby vending machine to buy two drinks.
When he returned and placed a drink beside Luo Jing, he noticed that his friend didn’t seem to be in a good mood.
He seemed a bit dejected.
He became curious and sat down: “What’s wrong? Writer’s block?”
“No,” Luo Jing replied, then after hesitating for a while, “I have a friend…”
“His friend confessed to him, but he didn’t accept… and he didn’t reject either,” Luo Jing tried to describe his and Huai Dan’s current awkward situation.
“Damn, that’s so scummy,” his neighbor said indignantly. “And then?”
Luo Jing: “…”
“And then that friend’s friend hasn’t been talking to my friend recently, and my friend isn’t used to it,” he continued, trying to ignore his friend’s words and calmly state the facts.
“Even more scummy,” his neighbor shook his head. “Is he playing games? Stringing people along without giving an answer, but still wanting them to contact him.”
Luo Jing: “…”
“He, he didn’t intentionally not give an answer…” he tried to defend his “friend.”
“Then what are you thinking?” his neighbor asked curiously. “It’s normal for him not to contact you, he’s already made it so clear, how could he still chat with you like nothing happened?”
Luo Jing: “……”
He looked at him with a straight face.
His neighbor chuckled: “Hey, who confessed to you?”
Luo Jing gave up on the act, leaned on the table, and said dejectedly, “The one who came to see me before, and you had dinner with him… my high school deskmate.”
“Oh, him,” his neighbor suddenly realized. “I knew it was him.”
Luo Jing: “???”
“Just a hunch, you two seemed a bit off,” he explained, seeing his expression, then said, “He’s very handsome, and you didn’t even accept him?”
Luo Jing blinked and remained silent.
“You don’t like him?” Seeing him like this, his neighbor asked again.
Luo Jing still didn’t speak.
After a moment of silence, he finally said, his voice a bit muffled, “It’s not that I don’t…”
He thought for a moment, wanting to say something more, when his phone beeped. He instinctively checked it.
It was a message from Huai Dan.
Seeing the notification dot, his heart, which had been hanging in the air, finally landed.
He opened it and saw a video of Plastic Bag from Huai Dan.
In the video, Huai Dan was filming with one hand, his other hand appearing in the frame, holding a toy with a ball dangling from it, teasing Plastic Bag.
Plastic Bag kept jumping to reach the ball, seemingly having a great time.
But this time, Luo Jing’s attention wasn’t on the puppy, but on the man’s fair and slender hand that occasionally appeared in the frame.
After watching for a while, Luo Jing exited the video and replied, trying to remain calm: [It looks like you’re teasing a cat.]
It was nighttime in China, and Huai Dan should have just gotten home.
H: [Plastic Bag likes it.]
AAA.Thesis Wholesaler Xiao Luo: [Oh.]
Staring at the word “likes” for a few seconds, Luo Jing silently looked away.
Huai Dan didn’t send any more messages in the following days.
Luo Jing even started to wonder if Huai Dan’s confession had been a dream.
He had been acting strangely these past few days.
So strange that even his neighbor noticed and advised him to just accept his confession if he didn’t want to reject him.
Finally, on the third day, Luo Jing couldn’t take it anymore.
After evening classes, Luo Jing returned home, had dinner, washed up, and went to the balcony in his pajamas.
Although it was summer, it wasn’t very warm because it had rained earlier, and the occasional breeze carried a chill.
Luo Jing looked at the lights of the distant buildings for a while, then lowered his eyes.
After a while, he took out his phone and called Huai Dan.
It should be afternoon in China. He didn’t know what Huai Dan was doing, or if he was busy.
Actually, the moment he made the call, Luo Jing regretted it.
He should have sent a message first. What if he was in a meeting?
He had been too hasty.
But to his surprise, the seemingly busy person answered the call after only two rings.
The call connected, and they were both silent for two seconds, then Huai Dan finally spoke: “What’s wrong?”
“…Nothing,” Luo Jing sniffed. “Are you busy?”
Huai Dan glanced at the documents beside him: “No.”
“Oh.” Then Luo Jing fell silent again.
But he didn’t hang up.
So Huai Dan waited patiently.
After half a minute, Luo Jing finally spoke.
His voice was soft.
“Do you really like me?”
The person on the other end seemed surprised by his question and paused briefly before replying, “Mm.”
The man’s voice was low, and even through the phone, it made Luo Jing feel awkward.
After receiving the answer, Luo Jing was silent again.
Two seconds later, he said, “Oh… then I’ll hang up.”
“Okay,” Huai Dan said.
After hanging up, Luo Jing stood there, feeling the cold breeze against his face, which was still burning, his heart racing.
He leaned against the railing, stared at the streetlights below for five minutes, then opened his phone again.
The call quickly connected.
Although his behavior was strange, the man on the other end didn’t seem to mind at all.
“What do you want to say?” Huai Dan asked.
“Then I accept,” Luo Jing said.
This time, it was the other person who fell silent.
Huai Dan was quiet for several seconds, long enough to make Luo Jing nervous, before speaking again.
“Mm.”
Mm.
Mm?
Mm???
What did a single “mm” mean?
Luo Jing’s nervousness quickly turned into annoyance.
He felt like he was being brushed off.
Just as he was about to say something, his phone suddenly showed an incoming call from his mother.
Having just accepted someone’s confession, and his mother suddenly calling like this, Luo Jing, who had never been in a relationship before, felt like he was being caught by his parents for having puppy love.
So he told Huai Dan and hung up.
Huai Dan didn’t send any more messages after their call last night. Luo Jing was a bit unhappy and, as if sulking, didn’t contact him either.
The next day, everything was as usual. He woke up, went out, went to class, then to the library.
His neighbor, after going back to organize his thesis and assignments, realized the situation was dire and decided to start his life-or-death race against deadlines, tearfully bidding farewell to his lovely girlfriend and joining Luo Jing’s library marathon.
Luo Jing seemed even more distracted today and vaguely unhappy.
So his neighbor, concerned about his friend’s relationship, asked again.
“I accepted his confession last night,” Luo Jing said, sounding unhappy. “But he only replied with an ‘mm’.”
“Maybe he was too happy and didn’t know what to say,” his neighbor analyzed. “Message him, are you going to have a cold war on your first day together?”
Luo Jing thought for a moment, feeling he had a point, and just as he opened Huai Dan’s chat window, a new message came in.
H: [I’m at the airport.]
Luo Jing: “!”
He stood up abruptly.
His neighbor was startled.
But after thinking about it, Luo Jing quickly calmed down.
Perhaps Huai Dan was just going on a business trip somewhere else and was… reporting to him?
So Luo Jing sat back down.
AAA.Thesis Wholesaler Xiao Luo: [Which airport?]
H: [Yours.]
“…”
Luo Jing quickly packed his things and entrusted them to his neighbor: “Can you take these back for me? I’ll pick them up at your place later.”
“Where are you going?” his neighbor asked, seeing him in a hurry.
Luo Jing said happily, “To pick up my boyfriend.”
His neighbor: “…”
This was Luo Jing’s first time seeing Huai Dan so flustered.
Calculating the time, there was practically no difference between when he received his call and when Huai Dan bought a plane ticket and flew over.
Having been apart for less than a week, Luo Jing felt like a lifetime had passed when he saw Huai Dan at the airport.
They stood at the airport gate, and Huai Dan looked at him, his first words: “Did you agree to be with me?”
The impact of him asking this in person was huge, no less than his confession last time.
Luo Jing was speechless for a moment, then replied softly, “Yes.”
Then he was pulled into a hug.
“I’ve waited for a long time,” Huai Dan whispered in his ear.
Huai Dan naturally moved into Luo Jing’s house—he had even brought a suitcase this time.
“How long are you staying?” Luo Jing asked curiously a few days later.
Huai Dan’s work was clearly very demanding, was it really okay for him to come and stay with him like this?
But he didn’t seem to have any intention of leaving.
“When is your graduation ceremony?” Huai Dan asked after a moment of thought.
Huai Dan’s answer was slightly off-topic, but Luo Jing still told him the date, confused: “Why?”
“Mm,” Huai Dan nodded. “Then I’ll go back after that.”
Meaning he would stay here with him until he also returned to China.
Luo Jing: “…”
Because Huai Dan had been unusually calm since he accepted his confession, Luo Jing had thought that he would be the same as usual even in a relationship—coming to see him was probably the most impulsive thing he had ever done.
But now it seemed he was wrong.
Luo Jing voiced his thoughts.
Huai Dan paused after listening: “Do I seem calm?”
Luo Jing nodded.
From before his confession, to after, to officially getting together, he had been calm at every stage.
“I wasn’t calm,” Huai Dan said. “I was afraid you would reject me, and we wouldn’t even be friends anymore.”
Actually, the moment he said those words that night, he knew he had been a bit too impulsive.
But he didn’t regret it.
Luo Jing finally understood why Huai Dan had acted so normal after confessing.
Recalling that night… Huai Dan had actually been even more nervous than him.
Thinking about this, he suddenly remembered a very important question that hadn’t been answered yet.
“You said you would tell me when I agreed, and I’ve agreed now,” Luo Jing asked. “So when did you start liking me?”
“In high school,” Huai Dan replied without hesitation.
Luo Jing: “??!”
“That early!” He was a bit incredulous. “I didn’t notice at all.”
“You’re too oblivious,” Huai Dan commented.
Luo Jing: “…”
He wanted to break up.
But now that they were talking about this, Luo Jing finally found the piece of the puzzle that had always felt out of place.
In high school, Huai Dan, although taciturn, would always find excuses to visit his house and see his dog.
He had thought it was just because Huai Dan really liked Plastic Bag.
Although after seeing it, he wouldn’t interact with it much, instead spending more time with him, doing homework at the coffee table.
Luo Jing had thought it was just his studious nature, unable to abandon his studies even for something he liked.
“Actually, it wasn’t because I liked the dog, or because I liked studying,” Huai Dan corrected him. “It was because I liked you.”
Luo Jing: “…”
Why could this person say such cheesy things with such a straight face and serious tone?
“Okay,” Luo Jing said softly after a moment, a bit embarrassed. “Then I like you too.”
