Chapter 5 of the Secondary CP: Uncontrolled Victory
The river breeze, swirling drizzles of rain, lashed his face like countless fine needles gently pricking him. Ah Zhe stood on the pier, the collar of his coat billowing in the wind, revealing the washed-out turtleneck sweater beneath—the one Yun Heng had knitted for him last year. The stitching was a little crooked, but it was warm. The orangewood pick in his pocket was warmed by his body heat, the leaf pattern on its edge leaving a faint imprint on his palm, like some secret spell.
When Lin Yu's message arrived, he was counting the cargo ships on the river. "I'll wait for you at the old place," six words, unpunctuated, yet radiating a desperate resolve. Ah Zhe stared at the screen and smiled, his fingertips pausing on the words "old place"—the same riverbank where they'd filmed their breakup scene. On the railing, the word "wait" Gu Yanchen had carved was still visible, blackened by the rain.
When he walked behind Lin Yu, he saw him kicking the stones at his feet. The hood of his black jacket was unzipped, and the wind blew his hair into a mess. His exposed brow bone cast a shadow under the streetlight, just like Lu Shi in the drama when he first rejected Gu Yanchen.
"Looking for me?" Azhe's voice was blown away by the wind and fell into the air, with a bit of the bitterness of orange wood.
Lin Yu turned around so quickly that the wind blew across Azhe's cheek. His lips moved, and he wanted to say something, but his eyes reddened first: "Meng Yao... I broke up with her."
"Yeah." Azhe responded, his eyes falling on his earlobes that were red from the cold - there was fake snow here when filming the winter night scene last year. At that time, he laughed and said, "Why are Lu Shi's ears redder than a girl's?"
"Su Man's side as well..." Lin Yu's voice was stuck, and his Adam's apple rolled, "I cut off everything that needed to be cut off."
Azhe didn't respond, simply leaning against the railing. The cold air seeped through his coat, making him shiver. He remembered Lin Yu's indifference in the interview when he'd said, "We're just colleagues," his silence when Meng Yao posted a long article, and the notification on his phone that read, "Lin Yu and Meng Yao have reconciled," while he was writing songs late at night with his guitar. Those fragments were like ice chips, hidden in his heart, prickling him painfully.
"Those messages you sent..." Lin Yu suddenly looked up, his eyes darting into Azhe's like a frightened deer. "Talking about Gu Yanchen's obsession, the sunset by the river, and the oranges from Yunheng's family... What exactly do they mean?"
Jiang Feng lifted Azhe's scarf, revealing his tightly pursed lips. He took a half step forward, closing the distance between them until they could clearly see the raindrops on each other's eyelashes. "What do you mean by 'hope'?" His voice was soft, like a feather brushing across my heart. "I hope I can still chase after you and ask, 'What is Lu Shi thinking?'"
Lin Yu's breathing became disordered, and he took a half step back, his back hitting the railing with a dull thud. "We are all men..." His voice was shaking violently, like paper crumpled by the wind.
"What's wrong with being a man?" Ah Zhe took another step closer, resting his hands on the railing and holding Lin Yu in his arms. The light from the street lamp slanted down, creating a crisscross pattern of light and dark on his face, like the thoughts that Gu Yanchen had hidden for half his life. "When Gu Yanchen fell in love with Lu Shi, why didn't you say 'we're both men'?"
His fingertips brushed Lin Yu's wrist, where the red mark from their last hand-holding still remained, like an unopened flower. "When you were dodging my microphone during the livestream, when Meng Yao called me a 'bundler,' when I was being called a 'liar' by the entire internet, why didn't you consider that 'we're both men,' and there was no need to be so draconian?"
Lin Yu's eyes became even redder, and raindrops rolled down his eyelashes and hit the back of Azhe's hand, feeling cold. "I didn't mean to... I was afraid..."
"What are you afraid of?" Ah Zhe lowered his head, his nose almost touching his forehead. He could smell the cedar scent in his hair—the same one he recommended last year, saying, "Lu Shi should smell like cold cedar." "Are you afraid of me getting entangled with you? Afraid that others will know you're staring at me in a daze? Or are you afraid to admit that the way you look at me isn't just looking at a brother anymore?"
The last sentence was like a fine needle, accurately piercing Lin Yu's disguise. He raised his head suddenly and met Azhe's bottomless eyes, which were filled with grievance, ridicule, and a trace of...burning heat that made him panic.
"I didn't..." He wanted to retort, but his lips were gently pinched by Azhe.
The warmth from his fingertips penetrated his slightly cool lips, like an electric current running through his limbs. Lin Yu's body froze instantly, and he even forgot to breathe. Ah Zhe's thumb gently stroked his lower lip, with the rough touch of an orange wood pick: "No? Then tell me, why do you reply to every good night I send you? Why do you cry when you hear my guitar playing when you have a fever? Why was your hand shaking like a sieve on the set just now, but you held my hand tightly and refused to let go?"
Lin Yu's lips moved, unable to utter a single word. He could smell Azhe's scent, the fragrance of the oranges from Yunheng's courtyard mixed with the dampness of the river breeze, refreshing and invigorating, yet making him feel hot all over. All those moments he had deliberately ignored suddenly came flooding back to him—Azhe's profile as he bent his head to revise the script, the look in his eyes when he said, "Gu Yanchen's pain is real," the strength of his hand as he walked across the set... It turned out to be no illusion.
"Look at me." Ah Zhe's voice deepened, with unquestionable tenderness, "Say you have no feelings for me, say you have never wavered, I'm leaving now and will never bother you again."
The river wind whistled through the gap between them, carrying with it the fishy smell of the river water. Lin Yu stared into Ah Zhe's eyes, so close to him, and there seemed to be a whirlpool there, trying to suck him in. He remembered Ah Zhe's smile as he picked oranges in the vegetable garden, the trembling of his fingertips as he played "Moonlight Rose," the taut muscles in his arms as he held him in his arms just now... His heart felt like it was being gripped by something, aching and limp.
"I..." His voice was choked with sobs, and he didn't even notice that he was crying, "I don't know..."
"I don't know, but I do." Ah Zhe smiled, and the frost in his eyes melted instantly, as if he had won a battle, but with a hint of cautious tenderness, "Admit it, Lin Yu, you've already failed."
He loosened his hand and turned to leave, but his wrist was suddenly grabbed. Lin Yu's strength was frightening, his fingertips almost digging into his flesh, bringing with them a scorching heat.
"Don't go." Lin Yu's voice was shaking, and the last syllable was stained with tears. "Azhe, don't leave me."
Ah Zhe's heart skipped a beat. He slowly turned around and looked into Lin Yu's reddened eyes. Suddenly, he felt that this long-planned victory was ridiculous and heartbreaking. He raised his hand and gently touched Lin Yu's cheek. The other party didn't dodge, but his eyelashes trembled even more violently. Then, he tentatively stretched out his fingers, one by one, through Lin Yu's fingers, and slowly clenched them.
Lin Yu's hands were cold, his fingertips trembling, but he obediently let him hold them. Ah Zhe could feel the sweat on his palms, sticky and sticky, like nervousness, but also like relief. Their hands intertwined under the streetlight, like two entwined vines, finally finding each other to cling to.
"Is this the answer?" Azhe asked, his voice as light as a sigh.
Lin Yu didn't say anything, but just shook his hand back with such force that Azhe felt pain, yet felt so warm that he wanted to cry.
The security cameras at the dock flashed red, silently recording the scene. Ah Zhe glanced up, a sly smile forming on his lips, but it quickly softened. He pulled out his phone and took a picture of their clasped hands, the angle just right to clearly see their wrists and clasped knuckles—Lin Yu was still wearing the red string he had given her, a "safety charm" he had obtained during filming.
"What for?" Lin Yu asked nervously, with a hint of imperceptible expectation in his voice.
"Keep it as a souvenir." Azhe shook his phone, hesitated for a few seconds, and finally sent the photo to Su Man, adding the message: "Look, it's not that he doesn't like it, he just doesn't dare to admit it. Does this count as the 'truth' you want?"
The moment the message was sent successfully, he felt Lin Yu's hand tremble violently.
"Did you do this on purpose?" Lin Yu's voice was filled with disbelief and hurt, and he unconsciously wanted to pull his hand back.
Ah Zhe didn't let go, instead, he tightened his grip. He looked into Lin Yu's eyes, his honesty bordering on cruelty: "Yes. Ever since Meng Yao posted that long post, I've been waiting for this day. But Lin Yu," he paused, his fingertips gently stroking the back of the other's hand, "if I didn't have feelings for you, why would I bother with all this effort?"
Lin Yu was stunned. He had hated her before, he had resented her before, but the tingling sensation that had spread from his fingertips to his heart when they held hands just now was also real.
"I..." He was about to say something when his phone suddenly vibrated wildly. It was Su Man calling, and the screen was flooded with notifications—#Lin Yu and A Zhe holding hands# #Dangai drama shocking twist# #Su Man's real hammer#.
Su Man posted the hand-holding photo with the caption: "Two liars! I wish you both a happy ending!" But the comments section went completely off track -
"Holy crap! Isn't this the scene where Gu Yanchen successfully pursues his wife?!"
"Azhe's eyes are so sharp. Hidden within his forbearance is a determination to win. Is that him?"
"Lin Yu's hands are shaking but he still refuses to let go. I don't believe you if you say you don't feel anything!"
"Isn't Su Man the biggest assist? I'll bow down to her first!"
Lin Yu was completely stunned when he saw the comments. He thought he would be ridiculed by the entire internet, but he didn't expect... this?
"Look," Azhe leaned in close to him, his warm breath brushing against his ear, "sometimes, an uncontrollable victory can reveal true heart."
A distant freighter's whistle blared, long and resonant. Ah Zhe gazed at the river, remembering Yun Heng's words, "The good times are yet to come." Perhaps, perhaps, this entanglement, which began as a calculated plot, could truly yield something special.
He pulled out his phone and sent Yun Heng a photo—it was of the moon over the river, large and round, just like the moonlight from the night of the training camp. He captioned it, "The moon here is as bright as the one in the corner of your yard."
Yun Heng replied immediately: "Grandma said there is only one basket of oranges left, waiting for you to come and get it."
Ah Zhe smiled, put his phone back in his pocket, and held Lin Yu's hand again. This time, Lin Yu took the initiative to shake his hand back, the force was not strong, but very firm.
"Let's go," he said, "and see how far our sincerity can go."
Lin Yu looked at his profile, which was as soft as a painting in the moonlight. He said "hmm" softly, his voice a little hoarse from crying, but clearer than ever.
The river breeze still blew, but it seemed less cold. Two clasped hands cast a delicate shadow in the night, like an unfinished comma, hiding countless warm possibilities. The calculations and sincerity hidden behind victory perhaps need no explanation, just like Gu Yanchen's unspoken love and Lu Shi's unacknowledged heartbeat, which will eventually be transformed by time into wine, strong and sweet.
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