Chapter 005: A Separate Side Story for Cousins - Waiting at 3 AM (Part Two)
"He's asleep."
Shen Yun spoke softly, her expression gentle and captivated.
The woman nodded as she looked at the empty chair and carefully retreated.
Gently closing the door, the woman leaned against it and finally covered her mouth, sobbing silently, unable to bear it any longer.
Tick-tock—
Yu Qingzhou stared at the wall clock, and as she stood up, her mother asked her with a puzzled look behind her.
"It's almost time to eat, where are we going?"
"It's almost time. I'm going out to pick up Li Xiao and I'll be right back."
The sound of hurried footsteps was accompanied by a woman's reproachful sigh: "This child."
Tick-tock—
Suddenly, the telephone rang urgently in the living room.
Who is it?
"It's probably Xiaoxiao. A-Zhou left without his phone."
"Hello, Xiaoxiao? What?! Okay, okay, I understand, alright."
"Why are you in such a panic—"
"Xiao Xiao is in trouble."
Tick-tock—
On the day of the funeral.
Yu Qingzhou stood in front of the tombstone, gazing absently at the boy in the black and white photograph.
The sky was overcast, and the people who came to see them off left one after another. Yu Qingzhou wanted to stay a little longer.
“Didn’t you promise to wait for me? So…” Yu Qingzhou murmured.
The rain fell softly, dripping onto his face like tears sliding down his cheeks.
An umbrella sheltered her from the sun. Shen Yun held the umbrella and looked at Yu Qingzhou with a hint of pity in her eyes.
“It’s raining, let’s go,” he said.
Yu Qingzhou nodded blankly and took a deep look at the boy in the portrait.
Tick-tock...
Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock...
As Yu Qingzhou listened to the clock ticking rhythmically and smelled the increasingly strong odor of gas in the air, she felt a sense of peace.
He recalled the boy from his memory, a boy so beautiful that there wasn't a single shadow, who was now reaching out to him. In fact, it wasn't just angels who had no shadows.
He thought it was somewhat amusing.
I heard some light, cheerful music, but it wasn't the sound of a piano.
Yu Qingzhou glanced at the lit-up phone screen. It was Chen Yun. He had actually forgotten. How awful.
Yu Qingzhou tried to pick up her phone, but her outstretched hand stopped less than ten centimeters away, unable to go any further, and the world went dark...
I'm so sorry, I really am so sorry...
In the reception room, Shen Yun seemed to sense something and raised her head. The clock on the wall ticked, and soon it would be the time they had agreed upon, the time for their last treatment.
He waited patiently, when a knock sounded and the door was pushed open.
An old notebook in the corner was blown open by the wind, and after a series of blank pages, text appeared on one of them.
You didn't come at 3 o'clock.
I thought you were late, so I waited for you until 4 o'clock.
But you didn't show up.
There never has been.
At that time, I didn't know that a person could be so punctual.
—A agreed-upon time, once missed, is gone forever.
I didn't believe it. So I kept waiting.
At 3 PM on [Date].
I've really waited for you.
...
In the reversed time, Yu Qingzhou saw the boy playing the piano.
Sunlight fell on the boy's clean white shirt, outlining his handsome features. Yu Qingzhou vaguely remembered that her heartbeat became clearer with her soft breathing.
My heart is beating so fast.
He gazed for a long time at the boy who looked like a painting and at the other's fair wrist.
Beautiful fingers glide across the piano keys, graceful as if dancing.
As the song ended, the boy turned to the infatuated child and smiled brightly. His light-colored hair was outlined in gold by the sunlight, and his blue-green eyes curved into crescent moons... Looking at that angelic smile, Yu Qingzhou couldn't help but pinch her burning earlobe.
My body rose slightly into the air and then fell back down, just like my heart rising and falling.
Yu Qingzhou sat down on the piano bench, her arms wrapped around the boy's white shirt, smelling the sweet pear scent on his body, staring at the black and white piano keys with a rather helpless expression.
"Shall we play the piano? Your brother will teach you how to play."
The boy's words, accompanied by warm breath, softly tickled the back of his neck.
Yu Qingzhou subconsciously turned his head, and his ear touched something warm and soft. He was startled. The person next to his ear laughed heartlessly. His face was swept by the heat. He looked down and broke free from the other person's embrace. The other person then wrapped his arms around his waist and sat down with him.
Yu Qingzhou stopped struggling and bit her lip, remaining silent.
"He's just shy." The boy teased, bending down to hug the silent child, murmuring, "Actually, we're all the same..."
Same... what?
The boy simply smiled, burying the rest of his words, along with his cat-like pointed chin, into the soft crook of the child's neck.
Tick-tock—
"Oh, don't you want to learn piano? That's such a pity." The boy wrapped his arms around Yu Qingzhou's neck, sounding regretful and pleading, as if he were the younger one among them. The sincerity in his words almost made Yu Qingzhou waver in her decision.
"But since it's your choice, I, as your older brother, will naturally give my full support."
"Whether you're a painter or a pianist, you can also stay at home if you want."
"Huh?!"
"Ah, you still don't know what a shut-in is, huh? Hahaha, so cute. But that's not bad either. You stay home obediently while I go out to work. Every day when I open the door and see your face, all my fatigue will be swept away."
"Oh no, don't I have a job?!"
"You only need your older brother~"
"Hmm, like how Mom has an aunt?"
Yu Qingzhou looked up thoughtfully, and the boy burst into laughter upon hearing this.
"That's right, that's right. Just like Mom has an aunt, I will always be by your side until you grow up."
"And then what?"
"After that, you'll just have to grow old with me."
Tick-tock—
"Huh, is this the me you imagined?"
The boy examined the portrait on the canvas with great interest. Yu Qingzhou was startled by the boy's sudden appearance and hurriedly stood up to block the portrait.
"This... isn't drawn very well." Yu Qingzhou murmured, her ears turning slightly red.
"I think it's pretty good." The young man stroked his chin, clicking his tongue in praise. "That nose and those eyes perfectly capture my heroic bearing, haha. It's just—"
The boy leaned closer and suddenly pointed at the figure in the painting, exclaiming in surprise, "There's no shadow!"
Yu Qingzhou opened her mouth, wanting to explain but feeling somewhat ashamed... because angels don't have shadows.
"That's great—" the boy muttered to himself, "So you didn't see any shadows in me after all."
"Um."
"This can't go on—"
"What?" Yu Qingzhou looked at the boy's serious face in surprise.
"You draw so well, I'm actually a little scared."
The boy put his arm around Yu Qingzhou's shoulder and said earnestly, "Because if you draw well enough, you'll want to challenge yourself with new things, and then you'll get tired of your brother, right?"
How could this be?!
Yu Qingzhou looked at the boy who was holding her around the waist, at a loss. The boy suddenly smiled foolishly: "But even so, brother, I will not let go, because we made a promise for a lifetime."
Yes, that's what we agreed on.
Yu Qingzhou relaxed and reached out to stroke the other person's beautiful hair whorl.
Tick-tock—
"Yes, the show is over. Right, I'll be home soon."
Li Xiao gently instructed the person on the other end of the phone, then put down his phone and noticed the driver smiling at him in the rearview mirror: "Girlfriend?"
Li Xiao's lips curled into a smile: "A child bride."
The driver was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter, marveling at the creativity of young people.
The young man was caught in a traffic jam during rush hour. He glanced at his watch, looking somewhat anxious.
"Master, how much longer?"
"I don't know, this road is usually not congested, I don't know why it's like this today—"
Li Xiao thought for a moment, then took out a few bills from his wallet: "Excuse me, Master, I'm in a hurry. Could you let me down first?"
"Alright, good luck, kid."
"Okay! Thank you, Master."
——
Yu Qingzhou stood in front of the door, hesitating as she looked behind her.
"I'll be back soon."
"Go ahead. I'll wait for you here."
Li Xiao watched as Yu Qingzhou knocked on the door and went in, then leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, waiting. Sunlight fell at his feet, casting no shadows on the boy's clean face.
How long is an hour? Too short, considering he's already waited so long.
-fin-
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