Chapter 109 Unnecessary Worry
Late at night, the curtains gently drooped, letting moonlight stream into the room through the slightly opened gaps, casting a gentle shadow on the carpet like ripples on the water. The atmosphere in the room was quiet and warm. The small lamp by the bed had gone out, leaving only the streetlight outside the window casting a soft glow.
The quilt on the bed was slightly disheveled as the two slept snuggled together. Le's face was half buried in the pillow, her breathing steady and even, a few strands of hair scattered around her cheek. Hanyu Yuzuru's arm rested gently on her waist, and they were so close that even their dreams seemed to blend together. The room was so quiet that only the occasional whisper of wind brushing against the window could be heard, as if protecting their brief moment of peace.
Suddenly, the doorbell pierced the stillness of the night. The ringing was rapid and clear, like someone trying to suppress the sound but unable to completely conceal their anxiety. Yuzuru Hanyu's brow furrowed slightly, and he slowly opened his eyes. He wasn't fully conscious yet, but the repetitive ringing in his ears urged him to quickly regain consciousness.
He glanced up at the digital clock on the wall—3:12 AM. They'd both been asleep for less than two hours. Who could be here at this hour? His thoughts raced, and after a moment, a single thought suddenly surfaced—Sendai! He'd originally planned to rush back to Sendai early in the morning to make a surprise appearance as the opening guest at the Mayor's Cup!
The bell rang again, and Yuzuru Hanyu sat up abruptly in bed. Beside him, Le whimpered in her sleep. He hurriedly slowed his movements, gently lifting the covers, trying not to disturb her sleep. He threw on the robe beside the bed and walked lightly to the door. The hallway was dimly lit. He rubbed his eyes and reached out to open the door.
Hasegawa, standing outside, was still cold from his thick coat, but his face was filled with helpless anxiety. He whispered, "Yuzuru-san, have you forgotten...?"
Before he could finish his words, Hanyu Yuzuru had already turned and walked back into the house. His quick turn said it all. Hasegawa stood at the door, listening to the rustling of clothes and the soft click of zippers in the room, and he understood the answer.
He resigned himself to his fate, took off his shoes and went into the house. His eyes naturally swept towards the living room, and then he froze in place.
Under the dim light, a wrinkled blanket lay scattered carelessly on the carpet, and the pillow beside it leaned against the edge of the sofa, clearly having been moved. The angle between the coffee table and the sofa also seemed slightly off, as if some chaotic and hurried movement had occurred last night.
These details were inconspicuous, but the connection between them made Hasegawa's heart tighten. He paused, looked away, and a hint of heat rose in his ears.
"Ahem, Yuzuru-san, how about... I go wait for you in the car?" Hasegawa coughed lightly, trying to make his voice sound normal, and took a step back.
"No need." Yuzuru Hanyu poked his head out of the room, his eyes still a little flustered, but his tone was as calm as possible. "Just sit on the sofa and wait for me."
Hasegawa was startled, then nodded, seemingly passively accepting the arrangement. He walked into the living room, but didn't dare sit down. He tiptoed to a corner of the sofa, finding the least conspicuous spot, tucked in the hem of his coat, feeling awkward and uneasy. He studiously avoided the blanket and the pillows on the sofa, staring only at the watch on his wrist, as if silently praying for time to pass quickly.
Clothes, skates, personal belongings...
Yuzuru Hanyu silently recited what he needed as he searched through the cabinets. Each movement was extremely fast, and he tried to control the force between each movement. Even the subtle sound of collisions broke the silence of the room.
There was a soft sound in the room—Yuzuru Hanyu bumped into the bedside table, making a muffled sound. Then, there was a slight movement from the bed.
"Yuzuru?" Le's voice came from the bedroom with a hint of laziness and doubt, just waking up.
Hanyu Yuzuru paused, and he quickly turned around to look at Le lying on the bed. He said in a low voice with an apologetic look on his face, "I'm sorry... for waking you up."
"What's wrong?" Le rubbed his eyes and half-raised his body from the bed, his voice still lazily as if he had just woken up.
Hanyu Yuzuru paused and looked back at her, a hint of apology in his eyes. "I had to rush to Sendai to attend an event. I almost forgot."
"Xiantai?" She frowned, then sobered up a bit, threw off the quilt and was about to get out of bed. "Then I'll go with you too—"
Before she finished speaking, the collar of her pajamas slid open slightly, revealing a few faint marks along her collarbone, which looked ambiguous and obvious in the warm bedside light. Hanyu Yuzuru's gaze froze, and he quickly looked away, his ears flushing. He grabbed the nightgown from the bedside, quickly walked over to her, and wrapped her up completely.
"I can go by myself."
"But we originally said we would go back for Christmas..."
"Didn't you say you wanted to have a good rest today? You also wanted to watch the performance of other groups of La Traviata in the evening, right?" His tone was gentle but a little firm as he pushed her back onto the bed.
"But..." Le was about to argue when he wrapped the blanket tighter around him.
"Be good and get some more sleep." Yuzuru Hanyu lowered his head and gently kissed her forehead. His voice was soft and coaxing. "Rest well. I'll wait for you in Sendai on Christmas Eve."
Her eyes followed his movements, and although she was filled with reluctance, she still chose to give in. Watching him hurriedly change his clothes and walk towards the door, Le slid back into the quilt. When she closed her eyes, the faint scent of soap and his breath in the quilt made her feel a little more at ease, and she gradually fell into sleep again.
After Hanyu Yuzuru left, Le woke up several hours later. She stretched lazily, her body aching—whether from last night's performance or something else, she couldn't tell. Rubbing her shoulders, she walked to the kitchen, poured herself a glass of water, and as she drank, she turned and looked toward the living room.
Blankets and clothing were scattered haphazardly on the carpet, pillows were tucked oddly into the corner of the sofa, and the coffee table and sofa were slightly offset, as if they had been moved. Although there were no more obvious signs, the air of ambiguity and intimacy seemed to linger. Le was stunned for a moment, the scene of Hasegawa's arrival in the early morning flashing through his mind.
"He didn't...see everything, did he?" Her face instantly flushed, nearly bleeding. She raised her hands to cover her face, her fingertips turning crimson.
Le stood there for a moment, her face covered. Her shyness and complex emotions gradually faded. She slowly lowered her hands, her gaze sweeping across the slightly messy living room. She took a deep breath, rolled up her pajamas sleeves, and prepared to tidy up these "traces."
She bent down to pick up the blanket that had fallen on the carpet. As she shook it out, she smelled a faint warmth that made her pause. Then, she picked up the pillows and rearranged them, but no matter how she adjusted them, the angle of the sofa felt awkward, as if it carried a certain ambiguity that she couldn't ignore.
She squatted down, sorting through the scattered items on the floor. Suddenly, her eyes caught a small box beside her—the Okamoto box that Yuzuru Hanyu had tossed aside the night before after declaring it sold out. It lay quietly on the edge of the carpet, a silent reminder of every detail of last night.
Le picked up the box and stared at it for a moment, her cheeks flushing again. She clutched the box in her hand, her mind replaying the bold words she had said to Yuzuru Hanyu last night: "I know all the risks, but I chose you."
She couldn't help but lower her head and smile, a little shy, but more relieved and determined. The emotions and anxiety that had been suppressed in her heart seemed to have finally found an outlet last night, and she had never thought that she would be so frank.
"I seem to have changed..." she whispered to herself, her gaze fixed on the dim light outside the window. She knew she had truly changed, from the Suginohara Raku who always separated her feelings from her future, to someone who could now confess everything to him without reservation.
She stuffed the empty box into the trash bag and continued to clean the living room, her hands moving more briskly.
The end of a performance was like a final exam, but work didn't slow down with the approach of Christmas. Three busy days flew by. On the Shinkansen, Le leaned against the window seat, sunlight streaming through the window onto her phone. She switched between LINE and WeChat, two popular apps. If the links hadn't been in Japanese and Chinese respectively, she'd have confused the messages.
The links were all gossip they'd copied from her, information she'd never research on her own. Browsing through them was a good way to pass the time on the Shinkansen.
[Sugihara Raku and Prince Ice embraced each other affectionately after the performance, their relationship is undeniable]
I didn't read the content carefully, but the accompanying picture was of her and Yuzuru Hanyu hugging each other backstage.
After the stage curtain call, did she and Armand become closer?
I was also too lazy to read the text, the accompanying picture was of her and He Jiu going to see La Traviata, a film produced by their colleagues.
[Margaret on the stage, the prince on the ice rink, is this hug on stage or off stage?]
Some weird descriptions of saving face, and the accompanying pictures are actually photos of her and He Jiu on stage...
Two geniuses on the ice rink and in the theater: Are they farther apart than we thought?
It tells the story of Yuzuru Hanyu's appearance in the Mayor's Cup. His ears were frozen red, which made people feel sympathetic. Every word between the lines expressed the incompetence of Suginohara, his girlfriend.
[Lio: This is hilarious. It's not that the Sendai ice rink was too cold, it's that you weren't there... What? Can you hang on him and cover his ears?]
Le couldn't help but laugh, his slender fingertips sliding lightly across the screen. A message also came from WeChat on the other side.
[The Moon Can't Be Confined: Look at all this gossip—it's so inconsistent! It's all your fault, you two hard workers, juggling careers and romances. The paparazzi are working so much overtime they're losing their minds, and their stories are so inconsistent.]
Before I could reply, Li Xu also sent a message from the other side.
[Lio: But I can't blame them for their nonsense. Senior, you just took your bows on stage holding hands with Jiu, and then you turned around and openly embraced the "prince" on the ice rink. You're really trying to force the paparazzi to work overtime until they die, hahaha!]
These two people, in Yokohama and China respectively, coincidentally viewed this lively gossip storm from the same perspective. How interesting...
She looked up at the scenery outside the Shinkansen window as it sped by, her thoughts drifting towards Sendai, where she would soon reunite with Yuzuru Hanyu. The swirling public opinion seemed to recede further and further from her as the train jolted along.
Back in Sendai, Yuzuru Hanyu and Kohei Uchimura were filming a talk show. The two laughed and reminisced about their competitive days, creating a relaxed and joyful atmosphere.
During a break in the recording, Uchimura Kohei picked up the water glass on the table and suddenly turned to look at Yuzuru Hanyu. With a slightly mischievous smile, he asked, "I heard that you and your girlfriend have been very busy lately."
Yuzuru Hanyu touched his nose, lowered his head and smiled, "Why does Uchimura-san also read gossip?"
"It's been so popular lately, you see it everywhere... Especially in the photos of the two of you, you look so well-matched. You're so confident in going to Sendai to work with such a beautiful girlfriend. Aren't you worried that someone else will snatch her away?"
Yuzuru Hanyu paused for a moment, then wrinkled his nose and smiled like a kitten that had stolen cream. Just as he was about to reply, his phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out and took a look. It was a message from Le.
Raku: I'm in the parking lot. Is it okay for me to go directly to your recording location?
Yuzuru Hanyu raised the corner of his lips slightly, and quickly replied with his finger: [Yuzu: It’s okay.]
Putting down his phone, he turned to Uchimura Kohei and smiled: "I'm not worried at all."
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