Chapter 18: Classmate Gu, you made me wait so long
The narrow alley behind the "Undercurrent" bar was like a forgotten pimple in the city. The thick smell of oil smoke, rotting food, and cheap alcohol mixed together into a nauseating, sticky air.
Gu Ye pushed open the heavy iron door and walked out wearily. The soreness from the intense work spread from his limbs to his bones. His eyelids felt heavy as if filled with lead, and his mind was in a mess.
He lowered his head, rubbed his sore and swollen eyes, and walked towards the alley entrance as usual.
The dim light from the street lamp at the entrance of the alley barely pierced the darkness, outlining a tall figure leaning against the mottled wall.
Gu Ye's footsteps suddenly stopped.
The man stood tall in a simple black coat, a touch of scarlet tucked between his fingers, flickering in the dim light. A faint white haze obscured his overly delicate profile, yet somehow imbued him with a languid yet dangerous charm. He tilted his head slightly, seemingly gazing at the pale moon above the city, now mostly obscured by clouds.
Without warning, Gu Ye's heart skipped a beat, then began beating wildly again, pounding his chest. He froze in place, his mind blank.
Chu Yan seemed to notice his gaze and slowly turned his head. The dim light fell on his face, and his deep eyes looked particularly deep in the smoke. The corners of his lips curved up, and his voice was particularly clear in the quiet alley at dawn, with a hint of lazy hoarseness:
"Hey, classmate Gu." He exhaled lightly, and the swirling white mist quickly dissipated in the cold air. "You kept me waiting for so long."
Gu Ye seemed to be burned by the voice and snapped back to his senses. He subconsciously tightened the straps of his backpack, his Adam's apple rolling before he found his voice again. With an incredibly dry voice and a hint of imperceptible panic, he asked, "Why are you here?"
Chu Yan stood up and crushed the cigarette butt in his hand, his movements casual yet indescribably graceful. He took two steps toward Gu Ye, and the distance between them instantly closed. Gu Ye could clearly smell the faint scent of tobacco on him, which was incompatible with the turbid air in the alley.
"Hmm?" Chu Yan raised an eyebrow, his eyes frank and almost innocent. "I watched a horror movie tonight and felt a little spooky. The house was empty and I couldn't sleep, so I went out for a walk." He raised his hand and pointed at the high-end apartment building not far away that was brightly lit even in the middle of the night. "Look, I happened to be passing by here. It's quite close to where I live."
Gu Ye looked at him, the light from the street lamp falling on his face. Afraid of the dark and unable to sleep? You must be kidding! Gu Ye instantly understood that this guy was doing it on purpose. He must have known that he was working part-time here, and even calculated his own time to get off work.
A mixture of embarrassment and shame at being seen through surged in his heart. He should have felt embarrassed, should have pretended not to care and walked away...
But I'm too tired.
His body screamed with fatigue, his nerves already overwhelmed. Chu Yan's presence at this moment was like a giant magnet, attracting his nearly crumbling body and chaotic mind.
Gu Ye found that he didn't want to push away the magnet.
He looked at Chu Yan's eyes, which were still surprisingly bright in the dim light, and listened to his deliberately drawn-out tone, with a hint of pitiful temptation: "Hey, it's the middle of the night, and the more I think about going back alone, the more scared I am... Classmate Gu, it seems you just finished your work too? How about taking me in for a night? Just as an emergency?" Chu Yan paused, as if he had thought of a good idea, his eyes curved, "As a reward, I'll pay for lunch tomorrow, and it's guaranteed to be full!"
Poor excuse, poor acting.
Gu Ye's lips moved, as if to say something sarcastic, but he ultimately lowered his eyelashes in silence. The frantic heartbeat in his chest didn't subside, but instead intensified with Chu Yan's proximity and his clean, tobacco-scented scent. He was overwhelmed by an even more turbulent emotion, one he couldn't even articulate—an emotion mingled with a subtle, hidden thrill of being waited for late at night.
He said nothing, but just took a small step forward silently.
Then, under Chu Yan's somewhat "expectant" gaze, at the moment when the other party seemed to continue muttering "how scary horror movies are" -
Gu Ye rushed forward.
His forehead hit Chu Yan's shoulder without any buffer, and his action was a bit reckless and reckless.
Chu Yan's voice stopped abruptly.
Time seemed to freeze for a moment.
The only sounds in the alley were the vague hustle and bustle of the city in the distance and the slightly rapid breathing of the two people close to each other.
Gu Ye rested his forehead against the cool fabric of Chu Yan's shoulder. He closed his eyes, his entire body feeling as if it had been ripped from his bones, all his strength and defenses completely shed at that moment. He was so tired, so tired that he just wanted to find a place to lean on. But Chu Yan's shoulder was surprisingly steady.
Chu Yan's body stiffened for a moment when Gu Ye bumped into him, then quickly relaxed. He lowered his eyes to look at the furry head buried in his shoulder, feeling the almost dependent weight coming from the boy. Gu Ye's heavy breathing, with its warm breath, brushed against the skin of his neck.
The deliberately created playfulness and ease in Chu Yan's eyes quietly faded away, replaced by a deep, indescribable complex emotion.
No movement, no words.
Silence spread across the alleyway in the early morning, but it wasn't cold. Chu Yan supported Gu Ye's shoulders, helping him stand up straighter. His voice was much lower and steady than before: "Let's go home."
Chu Yan's apartment was still meticulously tidy, and the air was filled with a faint, reassuring scent.
"The one on the right is the guest room." Chu Yan's voice came from beside his ear, "The toiletries are in the bathroom cabinet, and the new towels and pajamas are at the head of the bed. Go get them yourself."
Gu Ye groaned in a daze and pushed open the door of the guest room. It was indeed clean and tidy inside, with a soft bed and unopened towels and toothbrushes neatly placed on the bedside table, as well as a set of brand new pajamas that looked soft in texture.
It was as if it had been prepared for him a long time ago.
This thought flashed through Gu Ye's confused mind.
He walked into the bathroom and used warm water to wash away his fatigue and the stagnant smell from the bar. He sank into the soft bedding, his body finally completely relaxed. However, his mind seemed to have been pressed on the slow-motion button, and the scene at the alley just now was replaying uncontrollably over and over again.
The figure leaning lazily under the dim streetlight, the flickering scarlet on his fingertips, the deep eyes in the swirling smoke, the joking words "You made me wait so long", and the feeling of myself throwing myself headfirst into his arms without a care in the world...
Chu Yan's face, Chu Yan's voice, Chu Yan's breath... were like an invisible net, trapping him tightly.
Gu Ye irritably buried his face in the pillow that smelled of sunshine, trying to dispel the lingering figure in his mind. His heartbeat was particularly clear in the silent room, beating again and again, heavy and chaotic.
He didn't know what was wrong with him.
Was he just tired out? Or... something else?
He squeezed his eyes shut, his chaotic thoughts like a tangled ball of thread, unable to find a clue, and was finally completely drowned by the overwhelming sleepiness. He fell into a deep sleep amidst a chaotic heartbeat and lingering images.
In the living room, Chu Yan stood in front of the French window, looking out at the sleeping city. His fingertips tapped unconsciously on the cold glass, his eyes deep, reflecting the scattered lights in the distance. It was unknown what he was thinking.
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