Chapter 61: Sense of Proportion
On the streets of Yokohama at sunset, Kazuki drove his car to a smooth stop at the red light at the intersection. Before him was the brilliant sunset glow. He turned to remind Le Ye to look, but found her leaning back in the passenger seat, eyes closed. He had sensed something was wrong with her during rehearsal today, and he had been right not to let her take the train home alone.
Hu Yuan He Jiu thought so and turned down the volume of the car stereo. He watched the traffic light count down, slowly released the brake, and the car slowly moved forward. When the green light came on, he lightly pressed the accelerator and the car smoothly drove through the intersection.
As she turned the corner, the setting sun shone through the window, casting a shadow on her face. Even though Le had her eyes closed, she could still feel it. She frowned and opened her eyes. The familiar street before her made her realize that this was the way back to her apartment, and she suddenly remembered something.
"Oh! I forgot to tell you! I'm not going back to the apartment!" She hurriedly asked He Jiu to find a place to turn around.
"Hmm? Where are you going?" He Jiu handed Le his phone over, motioning for him to enter the address for navigation. The navigation voice politely announced the destination and journey time. He Jiu, still diligently keeping his eyes on the road, prepared to turn around, couldn't help but tilt his head to indicate he wasn't quite sure what was going on.
"It's Yuzuru's apartment, he..." Noticing Kazuki's lack of understanding, Le was about to give a brief explanation when she was interrupted by a sneer. She tilted her head curiously and asked, "What are you laughing at?"
"I thought he didn't come to supervise the rehearsal today because he realized his problem. It seems I underestimated him..." As he spoke, he raised his chin with a look of disdain.
That day's performance was the final of that cycle, and the troupe had given the actors and choreographers a week's vacation. Le finally had some free time. She'd expected to be dragged back to Sendai by the clingy superstar, but He Jiu received a call from Le, hoping to use his familiar private dance studio for rehearsals. This decision wasn't all that surprising; after all, her work wasn't polished to her satisfaction, and Le had always been someone who focused on her goals.
She really hasn't changed at all.
However, the reason for borrowing a private dance studio was not fully understood until the next day's rehearsal. Suginohara Music remained the same, the studio was still the same, and the music was familiar, but... there was an unsightly person in the room.
Yuzuru Hanyu sat in the corner of the mirror, a position he had chosen with remarkable skill, so he wouldn't disturb the rehearsal and wouldn't be captured even by video. He sat there, watching them attentively. This duet wasn't a dramatic ballet; there wasn't any passionate performance required. Everything was done with reasonable and professional physical contact, but Kazuki felt uncomfortable being watched.
"Big star, why don't you say something? If you have any opinions, just say it directly..." If you don't like something, just say it directly. He has already prepared to fight back with professionalism.
Unexpectedly, Yuzuru Hanyu suddenly blinked, and with an expression that said, "Can you really say that?", he trotted over.
"When you took off just now, it looked like your entire body was flat, without any upper body twisting, but you did rotate your feet! How did you do that? I want to try it!" Yuzuru Hanyu said, turning to face the mirror and doing a double Axel. When he landed, he noticed a difference between his move and Kazuki's, and tilted his head. "Where does your rotational force come from?"
"...the power of the hands and arms..." Kazuki really wanted to complain, but Hanyu's question was so sincere that he had to answer seriously. They ended up discussing the principles of technical movements in ballet and figure skating, until Le interrupted and sent Hanyu back to the corner before rehearsing.
After two days of rehearsals, the curious Yuzuru Hanyu was fascinated by everything from ballet technique to lifts. During a break, he even took a photo of him lifting Yuzuru Hanyu in Le's phone album...
Tohara and Jiu felt exhausted both physically and mentally… They struggled to get to the rehearsal room today, but surprisingly, Le was the only one there.
He'd thought Yuzuru Hanyu knew he'd interrupted Le's rehearsal too much, but it turned out he had a new plan. He glanced at the passenger seat. Le, suffering from a headache, hadn't responded to his words. He tilted his head, closed his eyes, and frowned, looking distressed.
"A big star is a big star. He knows when to be clingy. He disappears when needed." He couldn't help but snort coldly.
"His mom is coming to help him move today, and I wasn't feeling sick this morning..." She just had a sudden headache, and blaming Hanyu Yuzuru seemed a bit unfair. He Jiu shrugged and said nothing more. Following the navigation system's instructions, he turned the steering wheel and drove into an apartment complex.
[We have arrived near our destination. This navigation has ended.]
The navigation system's voice calmly echoed. Le opened his eyes, only to find the apartment's entrance door in front of him. A textured, dark gray wall and a green belt separated the apartment building from the street. The apartment buildings were relatively low, discreetly nestled within the neighborhood. He Jiu parked the car in the apartment's temporary parking lot and came around to open the door for Le.
"Is the big star coming down to pick you up?"
"Well, otherwise you wouldn't be able to get in." She glanced at the closed hallway and then looked down at her phone. The "coming" emoticon on the chat screen was cheerful, probably consistent with his current self. Thinking of this, she couldn't help but curl her lips. She looked up and saw He Jiu still standing there, looking at her. She felt a little embarrassed for a moment, "Do you want to go up and sit with us?"
"I'll wait for the big star to come pick you up before I leave." He leaned against his car door. "Don't get me wrong, I just think there won't be many opportunities to see big stars anymore. Every time I see one, I'll earn it."
"Ah? Are you going somewhere?" Le looked puzzled. Seeing He Jiu roll his eyes, he finally understood. "Are you talking about him? He is indeed going to participate in an ice show soon, but it won't be too late to miss him."
He Jiu narrowed his eyes, looked up and down at Le in front of him as if he was watching a good show, and shook his head with deep sorrow.
"Are you truly in love, or are you just being a bit of a double-edged sword? He's practically Kevin number two right now, and you're not afraid this time?"
"What do you mean by love-brained? Kevin is the real love-brained one. We've only been dating for a short time, but he's already talking about marriage and a lifetime together all the time. He even asked me to give up my apartment with Yueyue and move in with him." Le waved his hand, his face full of disgust and incomprehension. "We haven't even been together a month, and he's already telling me to stop working so hard and that he'll support me... Does he even know how to write the word 'boundaries'? Men's words can be deceiving."
Mentioning this guy, Le couldn't help but want to complain. After all, after just one month of dating, he could accurately hit every one of her flaws. Such a man is really rare. If it weren't for the face of his friends, Kevin, who is still a gentleman at heart, would not have dated him.
He Jiu leaned against the car door, his arms folded, listening to her complaints with interest. When Hanyu Yuzuru interrupted their conversation with a greeting, he could almost see a progress bar above his head that had already passed the halfway mark for him to become his ex-boyfriend.
"Sorry for the wait~" Yuzuru Hanyu came over with a smile on his face, took the large sports bag from Le's shoulder, looked at Le and asked softly, "Is the rest of the stuff in the trunk?"
"Hmm? There's nothing else..."
The embarrassment and disappointment flashed across Hanyu Yuzuru's face, but Le didn't notice. She turned to say goodbye to Kazuki. Kazuki, who had already returned to the car, could see it clearly; he could even see the percentage on the breakup progress bar rising through the window.
"Big star, bye~" He waved to them, started the car and left in a good mood.
"When will he stop calling me a big star?" As he watched his car disappear from his sight, Yuzuru Hanyu's face wrinkled to express his dissatisfaction with the title.
"He's just like that, let him be." Le squeezed the hand he was holding, "Let's go upstairs. Aunt Yumei has been waiting for a long time, right?"
Reminded of this, Yuzuru Hanyu suddenly became nervous. He deliberately stood half a step behind Le in the elevator, pulled out his phone, and sent a message to his mother. Before he could see the gray "unread" sign next to the message bubble turn green, the elevator had already arrived.
"Xiao Le is here~ Hey, you're good..." Hanyu Yumi heard the noise at the door and emerged from the kitchen, wiping her hands. Le was holding only a small bag of snacks. Yuzuru, who was behind her, was holding the large bag she usually brought to the rehearsal room. Apart from that, there was nothing else. Just as she was about to ask, she saw Hanyu Yuzuru waving his hands frantically behind Le.
"Hmm?" Le, perhaps noticing something was amiss, glanced back at Yuzuru Hanyu standing behind her. He immediately withdrew his hand, looking at her calmly, his eyes deliberately conveying a "What's wrong?" Confused, she glanced at Yumi's mother. The mother and son seemed to have quickly reached an agreement, and her expression returned to normal, welcoming them into the house with a smile.
This was Le's first time visiting this apartment, an apartment that Hanyu Yuzuru had just signed and received the keys to not long ago.
It was a comfortable two-bedroom apartment. The living room was spacious, with a movable bar and a square rubber mat in the corner, where a large mirror hung. The bedroom's double bed was large and comfortable. Unlike Yuzuru's home in Sendai, which was filled with pussies, only a few were placed on the pillows. In the closet, Hanyu's daily and training clothes were neatly hung in one area, leaving plenty of space.
Even the space for toiletries in the bathroom was left empty.
Le suddenly seemed to understand. All of Hanyu Yuzuru's unusual behavior, starting downstairs, probably stemmed from this. Did he want her to move in? She looked at her bag on the sofa, looking particularly lonely and unapproachable.
Now the uneasiness seemed to have shifted from Yuzuru Hanyu to Suginohara Raku, making her a little absent-minded while eating.
Once again, because she was only concerned with her own pace, she ignored Yuzuru's romantic feelings?
"Le, what are you thinking about?" Yuzuru Hanyu asked with his head tilted, waving his hand in front of the dazed person.
"Ah... I... I was thinking whether you should go back to my apartment so that Aunt Yumi can live here." She made up an excuse at random, but it was too lame and Yuzuru tapped her forehead with his bent finger.
"Mom was just picked up by my brother-in-law! What are you thinking?"
"Um?"
"Mom is going to visit my sister, and will be staying there for a while." He smiled and scratched Le's nose. "Why are you so absent-minded today?"
"Well... I'm a little tired today, why don't I go back..." Just as he was about to get up, Yuzuru Hanyu hugged his waist and pulled him back, sitting on his lap.
"I have something for you, and then you can decide whether to go back or not, okay?" He hugged her, his soft tone making it impossible to refuse. He took out a key and a card from his trouser pocket and placed them in Le's palm.
He'd heard Le Zai's conversation with He Jiu downstairs today. It was like a bucket of cold water, dampening his surging enthusiasm, and he quickly calmed down. He'd seen Le Zai's self-protective nature in relationships, but he'd rarely experienced it. She'd always been considerate and willing to cooperate with him, but he'd always been so willful and made decisions for her.
"If you want to invite Xiaole to live with you, Yuzuru, you have to talk to her seriously." Before dinner, he quietly pulled his mother aside in the kitchen to explain the embarrassment when he entered the house. This was his mother's advice to him.
"But..." He suddenly felt very scared. What if Le also thought that he had no sense of propriety?
"Being so hesitant and indecisive is not the style of our Yuzuru, and it's not the Yuzuru that Xiaole likes, right? Xiaole likes you, is there any need to doubt this?" His mother patted his forehead and her words were enlightening.
So he decided that he would frankly give the choice to Le.
But… he was still nervous. His heartbeat was like a drum. The more Le stared silently at the key in his hand, the more panicked he became. He wished he could just take the key back and pretend nothing had happened.
Let’s talk about being frank next time!
"Well... I'm not saying you have to move in right now, and I'm not asking you to give up that apartment. Look, this apartment has a great location and excellent security. I've checked it out, so you can feel at ease even if you come back at night, right? And it's very close to both the dance troupe and the theater. I was thinking, if I give you the key, if I'm out competing or performing on ice, you can come by yourself if you need me. I..."
His incoherent explanation was interrupted by Le's kiss. He had been speaking too hastily just now, and was suddenly kissed. Yuzuru Hanyu felt a lack of oxygen to his brain. Fortunately, Le quickly let him go.
"Thank you for coming here and getting an apartment just to stay with me," Le said with a smile, "But you said you don't have to move in. Not yet." She kissed his cheek again and buried her face in the crook of his neck.
A muffled thank you came from the side of my neck, and the breath tickled my neck.
He tilted his head and kissed her ear, but before he could move further, she pushed him away with her hand on her lips. She smiled helplessly, "No... I'm not feeling well today..."
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