Chapter 60 Part 1

Time passed differently for everyone—sometimes fast, sometimes slow.

The metasequoia forest swayed in the cold wind, turning to a vast expanse of brick red. The thick, soft needles underfoot felt like a carpet had been laid down.

Every day, Chen Annan was happily led by the hand through this place. On the city wall, fuzzy halos of light appeared one cluster after another, faintly illuminating their two shadows, separating and overlapping again.

Lu Qingyuan felt that he loved him more and more with each passing day. Feelings accumulated and layered over time. His love for him was like fine sand slowly piling up, becoming indestructible through that gathering.

The house was practically turning into a sacred ground for studying now. Lu Wenyuan rarely disturbed them. Even when entering a room, he would knock first. He was always very respectful in this regard.

It seemed being in love really did make a difference. Even studying could make one blush furiously, heart pounding wildly.

Chen Annan rested his chin on the table, listening as Lu Qingyuan checked over the latest mock exam paper beside him.

“This problem is wrong. For the big questions from now on, just do the first two sections. Don’t even look at the third part. Focus your effort on getting the second part right,” Lu Qingyuan said, tapping the paper with his pen tip. “The core logic for this problem is correct, but you messed up the derivative. You need to double-check your calculations during the real exam.”

“Setting up coordinates for this geometry one is the easiest. Snatch up these points, and you can push close to a score of sixty. Don’t expect to pass. Once you collect the points you’re sure about, go straight back and double-check those answers.”

“We’ll do a dictation on the English words later. Any you get wrong today will be written out as punishment—one wrong word equals one time writing it out. I’ll list the ones you need to memorize for tomorrow later. Look them over when you have spare time.”

“Chen Annan, are you listening to me?”

Chen Annan tilted his head, pressing it flat against the table. “Listening, listening.”

“Then what is your hand doing?”

“Nothing,” Chen Annan said. Even as he spoke, his fingers were laced backwards through Lu Qingyuan’s knuckles, hand in hand. The pad of his other thumb kept brushing over the bluish-green veins visible through the skin.

Lu Qingyuan pulled his hand free and used his pen to give Chen Annan a light thwack on the head. “Don’t get distracted during study time.”

“I’m not distracted,” Chen Annan sat up properly, propping his cheeks up with both hands. “I was listening very carefully just now.”

“Is that so?” Lu Qingyuan flipped the exam paper over. “It seems you’re not very dedicated even when lying.”

Despite being told off, Chen Annan was still cheerful. He leaned against him. “Little Lu, your heart is as narrow as the eye of a needle. In your eyes, I’m never paying full attention.”

Lu Qingyuan smiled. “It’s not that there aren’t times.”

“When?” Chen Annan sat up. He’d just washed his hair the previous night, and a faint, clean scent of shampoo wafted up with the movement.

Lu Qingyuan rested his chin on his palm, as though seriously contemplating a math problem. After thinking for a long moment, he said, “When we’re kissing.”

He said it too earnestly. Chen Annan was so embarrassed by the answer that he sharply sucked in a breath. Before he could even speak, his breath was completely swallowed.

Lu Qingyuan pressed a kiss to his lips. His palm rested against the back of Chen Annan’s head. The gaps between his teeth were pried open. Chen Annan’s lashes fluttered, but he was only kissed deeper.

Outside their line of sight, sparrows on the utility wires seemed to be protesting, hopping about and chirping wildly. The sunlight traced the patterns of the camphor tree branches, row upon row—marks carved by the passage of time.

Time carved its marks on all things. When they were little, the clingiest one at home was Cotton Candy. Now Cotton Candy had grown up. It much preferred sprawling somewhere in the yard, lazily napping in the shadows untouched by sunlight.

In this regard, Chen Annan still retained his childhood traits. His clinginess was displayed to the fullest. His love was too fervent and direct. If he liked someone, he would stick to them persistently, wishing he could wag his tail at them the moment he saw them.

To the point where, even during the brief moment Lu Qingyuan was brushing his teeth, he would sidle over and hug him from behind, sniffing the scent on his clothes, feeling the slight tremors of the other’s back muscles with each movement.

Lu Wenyuan had gone on a rare business trip. Now, the house was literally a paradise for the two of them.

Lu Qingyuan was hugged by Chen Annan while brushing his teeth, hugged while hanging the laundry, hugged while cooking, hugged while tidying up the messy things in the room, carefully organizing them into every spot. Every corner of this small room was filled with traces of their lives together.

Chen Annan was like a little charm being dragged along, pattering along behind him.

After washing his hands, Lu Qingyuan went to the fridge and poured a glass of milk for him. “How old are you?”

“Little Lu, I love you so much.” Chen Annan was never stingy with expressing his love.

Yet even if he didn’t express it, Lu Qingyuan could still see it in the subtlest of actions. Just as it’s always said in books: You can’t hide it when you like someone. Love is even harder to conceal. Even his flaws could become cute in his eyes. Everything, good or bad, had a new standard of judgment.

Lu Qingyuan, as if soothing him, patted the arm wrapped around him and said, “I know.”

His hands were slightly damp from washing, carrying body warmth. Chen Annan hummed softly and held on even tighter.

Chen Annan liked kissing. He liked hugging. He liked waking up in the morning and first pressing his ear to Lu Qingyuan’s chest, listening through bone and flesh to that strong, powerful heartbeat.

It seemed Lu Qingyuan’s heartbeat could penetrate through any medium, carving out a vivid trace in his life.

Chen Annan loved all forms of intimate closeness.

But sometimes, surface-level closeness alone wasn’t enough. Amidst chaotic gasps, Chen Annan would bite down on Lu Qingyuan’s shoulder, muffledly calling out “Brother,” leaving a small tooth mark there.

“Don’t bite,” Lu Qingyuan said, stroking his face. “Come, let me teach you.”

The quilt, freshly sun-dried, was simply too warm. Chen Annan hummed comfortably. The pillow beneath his head was pulled out by Lu Qingyuan and tucked under his waist. He nervously gripped the sides of Lu Qingyuan’s waist, his shoulder blades unconsciously drawing slightly inward.

Because Chen Annan had practiced his instrument for so long, the calluses on his fingers were thick. Though he was clumsy, at this moment, Lu Qingyuan held his hand, controlling the strength, completely seizing the initiative.

The silk-like threads grew slick in his palm quickly.

Chen Annan’s eyes couldn’t focus. Dusty, dark shadows enveloped him in the narrow space. Lu Qingyuan’s upper body was lean—not a particularly muscular build, but there was a thin layer of muscle there. Pressed so close, Chen Annan could feel every powerful contraction of his lower abdomen.

Chen Annan’s knuckles turned pale. He panted heavily, his head filled with straw, light as a feather, carrying no weight at all.

Chen Annan thought they should be even closer. The sense of security brought by the familiar temperature and scent was irreplaceable. The enveloping strength turned his breaths into soft hums. Chen Annan’s waistline kept tensing, his chin tilting slightly upward, tracing a beautiful curve in the darkness.

“So good,” Lu Qingyuan said, touching the tip of his nose to Chen Annan’s.

Breath condensed into substance, standing guard around them.

Chen Annan’s eyes blinked once, then again. His long eyelashes trembled. Those strange, fluffy sensations seemed to open the gate to a whole new world for him.

He stepped through, all his attention captured by this novel thing. His whole body stiffened. After stiffening, all he could do was lie limp on the bed. His heart pounded wildly on its own, his chest heaving rapidly.

The world spun. Chen Annan thought: So this was way more interesting than what’s written in books. This is way too interesting. We’ll definitely have to do this more often in the future.

Lu Qingyuan helped him clean his palm. He called out lowly and hoarsely, “Brother.”

“Mm.”

“Let’s be together for a lifetime,” Chen Annan said.

Lu Qingyuan kissed his palm and pulled him into his arms. “One lifetime is too short. Let’s be together for two lifetimes. This one and the next.”

Chen Annan nudged against him in agreement.

During the time Lu Wenyuan was away, their relationship had a new form of intimacy. Chen Annan liked this new intimate bond. It was like a secret kept in a black box, known only to the two of them.

Lu Qingyuan was always very meticulous every time, just like when he tidied up things strewn about—patient. Yet, when he saw Chen Annan looking at him pitifully, he would roll him up in the blanket and kiss him without any restraint.

Previously, if Chen Annan woke up in the morning and felt something was off, he’d quietly turn over, facing away to hide his embarrassment. Now, he wasn’t shy anymore. He’d just flop directly onto him and rub around for half the day.

Lu Qingyuan cupped his chin. “Can you have a little more restraint?”

Chen Annan pouted, his words muffled. “Wanna do it?”

Lu Qingyuan: “…Pervert.”

Chen Annan corrected him. “It’s just human nature.”

The little pervert Chen Annan didn’t feel there was anything wrong with being lustful. Lust only invigorated the spirit. He was even more energized when doing practice problems now. Just thinking about what was waiting for him at home after classes ended made him ecstatic. With gusto, he hummed a little tune all day long.

But not every day could be this intimate.

Lu Wenyuan returned from his business trip to Chongqing. Before coming back this time, he had made a special trip, flying to Beijing first to check out schools for Chen Annan.

Chen Annan’s art college entrance exams came before the cultural subject Gaokao. Starting senior year, the school had greatly intensified the music students’ training. Every day, he had to practice his pieces with high intensity. Besides vocal music, he also had to attend classes in the piano room whenever he had time. It wasn’t easy, and even their intimate time decreased.

Still, Lu Qingyuan’s existence always managed to turn bitter, miserable days into chocolate—addictive once you got a taste.

After an autumn rain, the branches of the sycamore trees along the main road were all yanked askew by the wind. Leaves rustled down in the wind, sticking to the clean pavement. Some were swept by the rain into the drainage ditches on the roadside, swirling leisurely in the stirred-up shallow puddles.

When Chen Annan left the house, a sycamore leaf was still stuck to the sole of his shoe.

He scraped his sole against the stone steps, quickly flicking the leaf off, then rushed to catch the bus to Nanjing University. It was still raining at this moment. The bus window clattered forward with the jolts, the droplets of water stuck on it being shaken loose and sliding down, leaving watery trails.

Today, they both finally had a day off and had planned to go to the underwater world together. But Lu Qingyuan received an unexpected phone call in the morning, so their plans had to be canceled. It seemed even the heavens were lamenting for them, shedding a rain shower on their behalf.

It wasn’t until four in the afternoon that Lu Qingyuan finished. As soon as Chen Annan got the call, he headed straight out to pick him up.

The bus came to a stop with a loud pssshhh of air brakes, the doors slowly opening. Chen Annan darted off in a flash. The sky was terribly overcast. Rain fell on the blue checkered fabric of the umbrella, making muffled, heavy sounds.

Today, Lu Qingyuan was also wearing a blue-and-white checkered plaid jacket outside, with a white short-sleeved T-shirt underneath. The washed-out jeans made him look even taller. He watched Chen Annan run towards him, white sneakers splashing through a small puddle.