Ye Kai woke up very early, because he was awakened by thirst.
His memory was still on the glass of dark beer that he drank without hesitation in the party hall. When he first saw the large French window covered with white gauze, he was stunned for a moment. When he turned his head and saw the conch fossil on the bedside table, his heart softened for some reason. He threw off the quilt and walked barefoot into the living room. It was not yet fully light, and the room was shrouded in gray, like a silent oil painting. Chen Youhan was sleeping in the center of the painting, on an orange-khaki sofa.
The air-conditioning blanket slid to the ground, and Chen Youhan lay on his back with his knees bent, one hand over his eyes, and his breathing was very shallow. Ye Kai just leaned over to pick up the blanket and wanted to cover him, but his hand was grabbed.
"Did it wake you up?"
"What time is it?" The voice was low and hoarse, revealing a sense of fatigue.
"It's not even five o'clock yet." Ye Kai threw the blanket over him and took a bottle of Perrier from the refrigerator. The stimulation of the soda water made him sober up quickly. He sorted out his words: "You came to pick me up yesterday? I didn't do anything weird, did I?"
Chen Youhan lay on the sofa without moving. Hearing this, he raised the corner of his mouth: "Do you mean to go out and do a striptease?"
Ye Kai said calmly: "Even if I drink 100 kilograms of dark beer, this won't happen."
Chen Youhan sat up and pinched his brows, waiting for the fatigue and dizziness that had been rising to his head to subside. He then walked towards Ye Kai and said jokingly, "I didn't do the striptease, but I spoke a little bossy."
The two stood facing each other in front of the water bar, and suddenly a beam of sunlight shone through the glass and projected onto the glass cold brew pot on the water bar.
The sun rises and a new day begins.
Thinking of this, Ye Kai's heart trembled for some reason and he lowered his eyes hastily.
He greeted the morning with Chen Youhan at his home. How could this thought come to him... It was like a candy secretly held in the palm of one's hand, so sweet that it was about to melt, but one must not let the adults find out. The adults did not allow children to eat candy.
He unscrewed the lid and covered up his embarrassment by drinking water. The dark green bottle was soon half empty. He looked around and said, "What did I say, domineering?"
"Why do you think I came to visit you in your dream again?"
"Puff - cough cough cough -" Soda water is so choking that it can kill you. His eyes turned red. He looked at Chen Youhan while coughing. He was out of breath but he had to refute immediately: "I, cough cough, I..."
Chen Youhan slowly poured him a glass of pure water. His tone was very calm, but it sounded unreasonable: "Did I ask for this? Weren't you the one who dreamed of me? Why are you denouncing me in the dream?"
Ye Kaiqin burst into tears: "I had a nightmare!"
If it was before last night, Chen Youhan would have thought of Wu Sijiu and felt like she was stung by a bee. But now was different. He was calm and collected, leaning against the wall with one hand on his cheek, and asked, "From what you said, did you dream about me kissing you again?"
Ye Kai: “…”
He gritted his teeth and his eyes were red from choking, but he couldn't utter a word.
He dug the pit himself, and now he deserves to be buried alive in prison.
It’s better to bury him alive, so that he won’t be so embarrassed that he wants to die on the spot.
Chen Youhan let him go and turned to walk towards the bathroom, saying as he walked: "What did Wu Sijiu say to you when he came to see you?"
Ye Kai's eyes followed his back as he wandered around the room, and he said casually, "Just say you treat me like a child."
"That's all?" Chen Youhan stopped, holding the bath towel in his hand, but did not dare to look back.
It's really fucking true that the more he lives, the more backward he gets. Such a trivial question is worth him using up so much courage to wait.
Ye Kai stumbled for a moment and said guiltily, "No more."
Unexpectedly, Chen Youhan laughed. He didn't know what was so funny, but he really thought this answer was funny. He laughed and cursed to himself: "Damn, I got fooled." Ye Kai asked him who fooled him, but he whistled and said in suspense: "What does it have to do with you? Go back to sleep."
There was no need to sleep. Unless he was doing homework all night, Ye Kai usually got up very early. He grabbed a towel from the rattan frame and said, "Let me borrow your bathroom." It was obvious that this bastard didn't help him wash last night. The first time he got drunk was also at his house. Who helped him wash then? Thinking of this, he stumbled and almost fell flat on his face.
Chen Youhan smiled: "Borrow? When will you return it?"
Ye Kai was choked. "Are you bankrupt? You're so stingy to use the bathroom."
After a while, the phone vibrated.
Chen Youhan came out wiping his wet hair and found a one-yuan transfer via WeChat with the note: Bathroom fee, please keep it for me.
The master bedroom bathroom was filled with steam and the shower was gurgling. Chen Youhan knocked on the door like an old man collecting fees at the door of a public toilet. While drying his hair, he said nonchalantly, "It's not enough. Come out and add ten more."
Ye Kai cursed with a smile, but Chen Youhan didn't hear it clearly. He only heard his laughter mixed with the sound of water from the shower, like a rustling rain in his heart.
After coming out, the room was filled with fragrance. In the semi-open kitchen, the aroma of fried eggs and butter became stronger and stronger. This time, nicotine and bacon were not used. Chen Youhan cooked seriously, pouring elderberry and two slices of lime into sparkling water, smearing fine sea salt on the rim of the cup, and mashing the red dragon fruit into the transparent bubbles, forming a gradient purple-red.
"Have you studied at New Oriental?" Ye Kai leaned against the wall with his arms folded, a smile on his lips, his hair was still a little wet, a drop of water spread on his shoulder. It was the T-shirt Chen Youhan gave him. It was a basic black style, a little too big for him, which made him look thin and neat. Chen Youhan didn't wear T-shirts, only at home or when sleeping. When Ye Kai put it on, his face was subtly a little red.
Chen Youhan handed him the soda water and said, "Can you please stop insulting me? Can't you drink French Cordon Bleu?"
He took a sip and it was delicious, with indescribable richness. He couldn't help but asked, "Do you often cook for others?"
Chen Youhan turned off the fire and put the food on a plate, then said calmly, "I only cook for you often."
The question he asked became a boomerang, catching Ye Kai off guard and making him run away like a hamster. But he didn't know why Chen Youhan just wouldn't let him go today. During breakfast, he asked again, "Who did you like when you were seventeen?"
Ye Kai was alert, like a small animal that stopped halfway through chewing corn: "What are you doing?"
"Ask, I'm curious." Then she provoked him cynically: "You're not allowed to ask?"
"Very good." Ye Kai dismissed it with three words, but under Chen Youhan's earnest waiting gaze, he unconsciously added: "...Although others may not think he is that good, he is very good to me."
"You like him just because he treats you well?" Chen Youhan said with disgust, a smile containing a hint of sarcasm on his lips.
Ye Kai immediately fell into the trap and defended his own aesthetic taste: "Of course not, he is very handsome and capable. Although he is a poor student, he... is very successful in his career. Although his private life is a bit messy..." Damn, he couldn't praise him anymore. It felt like he was making fun of himself.
Chen Youhan really said, "It doesn't sound that good. What do you like about him?"
"I'm blind, do you have any problem with that?" He closed his microphone, pretended to be dead, and gave up resisting.
"Didn't I give you glasses?"
"Astigmatism! Not enough power!"
"You sound like an auntie. Are you playing such a big game? Qu Jia will beat you to death."
Ye Kai put down his knife and fork with a thud and said righteously, "What auntie! Sister!"
"What do you want?" He said coldly, as if he didn't understand. "Do you want the excitement of a sister-brother relationship?"
"Because he's good-looking, has a good figure and treats me well, because... I don't want anything, I just like him. Do you have any objection to a relationship between an older woman and a younger man?"
Chen Youhan couldn't help but smile, his eyes became gentle: "I have no objection." Ye Kai was silent in an instant, his face was as hot as if he had a fever, and when he picked up the knife and fork again, he didn't know how to use it.
"But he treats feelings so casually, aren't you afraid that he will play tricks on you? Since he is older than you, he has the means and experience to bully you easily." Chen Youhan asked slowly, as if he was chatting with him about the weather.
"..." Ye Kai didn't dare to look at him, lowering his head to spread butter on the bread, "I just have a crush on him, I don't plan to confess."
Chen Youhan paused: "Why?"
"We can't even be friends after confessing."
"What if he actually likes you too?" His Adam's apple rolled subtly. He held the knife in one hand and the fork in the other, both hands so nervous that he was unconscious.
"How could he like me?" Ye Kai wiped his mouth, took a sip of ice water, and looked at Chen Youhan calmly: "Brother Youhan, I know that sister very well. If you had a brother who grew up with you, would you fall in love with him? I don't think so, so that sister wouldn't like me either."
Chen Youhan's heart twitched, very gently, like someone plucking the strings of a musical instrument. He responded, looking into Ye Kai's eyes, and said in a gentlemanly and affirmative tone: "Why not? Of course."
Ye Kai was stunned, forgetting to look away: "Why? How could you like someone who is your younger brother?"
Chen Youhan regained his nonchalant elegance: "Aren't you also in love with the person you originally treated as your sister?"
He cleared the dishes, his voice gradually becoming faint as he entered the kitchen, and the sound of the bone china cups and plates colliding was made crisper: "Xiao Kai, if liking that sister makes you suffer, then don't like her."
"How can it be hard?" Ye Kai was at a loss. He would spend a long time reading a WeChat message from Chen Youhan. The pain of secret love is not hardship, but brown sugar plum, which is very rich in sourness and sweetness.
Chen Youhan said steadily: "If you like someone, you can't help wanting a future. It's probably hard to get blessings for a relationship like yours."
Ye Kai's eyes suddenly widened, and a dull pain slowly, slowly arose in his heart.
He really didn't think about the future.
The dishes were put into the dishwasher, and Chen Youhan washed his hands. Amid the sound of running water, his voice was calm: "Since that sister is older than you, if she also likes you and is willing to respond to you, she must be ready to face everything with you. If you don't, then don't tell him." After a pause, he raised the corners of his mouth and lowered his voice: "If he takes it seriously, he will probably be very pitiful."
He is really bad.
He is so bad.
Relying on knowing Ye Kai's feelings for her first, she dared to hint and express them in this way, and even dared to force him like this... forced him to see the real strength of his love and whether he had the determination to have a promising future with him.
But he was so fucking humble to say these words.
He changed his words, his voice hoarse: "...No, just tell him that there is no future, but just being together is fine, and that's...good."
Ye Kaixin's chest ached as if it was torn apart. He was hasty, terrified, and panicked, like a deer suddenly thrown into the wilderness. His legs and ears trembled, and his eyes were all white. He could not see lions, leopards, jackals, or hyenas. In the sound of the wind, only the long wheat grass rustled silently.
Chen Youhan wiped his hands and saw Ye Kai's absent-minded look. He restrained himself and rubbed his soft head. Because of the pain, his voice sounded more gentle than ever before: "Are you so sad? If it really doesn't work, forget it. You are still young. In the future... in the future, you will meet many people you like more."
The deep voice brought him back to his senses, and his eyes refocused as he saw Chen Youhan's smile. The corners of his mouth drooped, and he threw himself into his arms, his voice trembling: "...If that sister also likes me, I, I..." He couldn't say it, his emotions were blocked, his face slowly turned pale, but his eyes were red.
Chen Youhan smiled and put his hand in Ye Kai's hair. There was no ambiguity or inappropriateness, and he truly treated him like a younger brother.
He said, "My sister will probably understand."
It was a long way from the city center to Ye's house, a journey of nearly 40 minutes. Ye Kai seemed to be in a trance and didn't say a word. When he got off the car, he was holding his schoolbag, looking tired and pale: "Brother Youhan, I will fly to the United States tomorrow and will probably return to China at the end of the month." He added: "The summer camp is closed. If you have anything, leave me a message. I will be back in half a month."
What can wait for you for half a month? The daylily is cold.
There is only one thing in this world that has no time limit, and that is missing you.
So Chen Youhan nodded, holding a cigarette in his mouth, and said "Okay".
Ye Kai took two steps and turned back, and saw Chen Youhan looking at him with one hand on the car window and the other on the steering wheel.
He threw his schoolbag to the maid, ran to the window of the cab and lay down, a little out of breath: "Brother Youhan, I like that sister very much. What should I do if I miss him during the summer camp?"
Chen Youhan smiled and took down the cigarette: "Then tell yourself that your sister must know more and deeper than you think."
Ye Kai nodded, and took this opportunity to ask what was in his heart: "Then... will you miss me?"
Chen Youhan smiled more gently, and tapped Ye Kai's forehead with the two fingers holding the cigarette: "It's hard to say, but I think I miss it a little now."
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