A Broken Mirror Never Mends - Chapter 7

Shi Tian was woken up early in the morning by the sound of rain outside the window. He felt a dull post-hangover ache in his head.

He couldn’t remember what he had dreamed about after drinking last night, only that it seemed to be something from a long time ago. His only impression was that the weather in the dream was just like today—a misty, rainy day.

He instinctively reached out to turn off Ji Yuanlin’s alarm to sleep a little longer, but when he turned and saw no one beside him, he remembered that Ji Yuanlin wasn’t there last night.

The older generation placed great importance on traditional wedding customs. They believed that the couple should not see each other the night before the wedding, especially not sleeping in the same bed, or it would “spoil the luck.”

As two grown men, they didn’t originally care about this. However, because both sets of parents emphasized it, he and Ji Yuanlin decided to stay apart on the night before the wedding. Ji Yuanlin moved into a suite at the Bulgari Hotel to prepare for the ceremony, while Shi Tian stayed at the office to wrap up work before their honeymoon. They would meet at the wedding the next day.

Before driving to the hotel, Shi Tian found time to hold a sales meeting with a client in Germany. The meeting lasted two full hours. Checking his watch, Shi Tian explained to the people in the online meeting room, “I have something to attend to, so I’m signing off now.”

The foreign director of the client company asked curiously, “Where is Shi going in such a hurry?”

Shi Tian smiled. “Taking the day off to get married.”

By the time he arrived at the Bulgari Estate, it was already noon. Almost all the bridesmaids and groomsmen had arrived. For this wedding, the wedding party consisted entirely of high school or college classmates; there were very few friends from the business world. After all, childhood friendships were the most precious. After entering society, interpersonal relationships always involved other motives.

Pushed into the hotel room by his shouting old friends, Shi Tian felt like he was being killed by the noise. He sat in the makeup chair while two tall, muscular friends from his sports days held his shoulders. They laughed loudly as the hairstylist sprayed hairspray all over his head.

“…Stop!” Shi Tian’s temples throbbed. “Stop shouting. If you want to make noise, go to a dance studio.”

“Little Tiantian, this is your big day!” Xu Yan, the high school class monitor, took photos with everyone while shouting, “My son is finally getting married at thirty! As your ‘father,’ I am so relieved.”

An Xiaoying, sitting next to Xu Yan, couldn’t help but add, “Boss Shi is so generous. When I asked for leave, I told HR my friend’s wedding included a four-day, three-night trip to the Maldives. My colleagues were dying of envy.”

“Fine, fine, Boss Shi is the best,” Cai Tianjie, An Xiaoying’s fiancé and another former classmate, snorted. “Why don’t you just marry Shi Tian then?”

“Cai Tianjie, get lost!!”

The suite was filled with the laughter and playfulness of these old friends. Seeing each other again after ten years, they acted no different than they did in their teens. When the hotel waiter brought afternoon tea, they finally calmed down and gathered around to eat and chat.

“I didn’t expect that after so many years, Shi Tian hasn’t changed much. He’s still the same,” Cai Tianjie patted his stomach. “Look at me. If I don’t exercise for a few days, I get a beer belly.”

Xu Yan laughed. “Yuanlin has changed a lot, though. I remember in school he was as thin as a bamboo stick, wearing thick glasses that hid his face. I couldn’t even see what he looked like back then.” He gestured with his fingers. “Who knew he was a ‘growth stock’? Before we knew it, he kidnapped our little Ten Days!”

“Yeah, back then I thought Shi Tian would end up with Zhou—”

As soon as Cai Tianjie spoke, the female classmates all turned at once, looking at him with terrified eyes. Across the coffee table, An Xiaoying shook her head and slowly mouthed: Don’t.

Cai Tianjie shut up immediately and instinctively looked at Shi Tian. The person in question clearly heard the conversation, but he only smiled slightly in the mirror with no special reaction. He continued talking to the stylist.

The things that happened between those two back then had become a forbidden topic in their circle. It wasn’t that it couldn’t be mentioned, but the scar had already healed; there was no need to reopen it. Time heals all wounds. After all, Shi Tian was getting married today.

—

In the evening, at the chapel on the hill of the Bulgari Estate.

Shi Tian stood outside the door and heard the church bells ringing from afar. The old wooden doors creaked open slowly. The hall looked solemn and dignified under the lights, yet beautifully decorated.

Shi Tian saw his husband. Ji Yuanlin was wearing the same pure white suit from Milan as him. He stood at the end of the aisle, looking as if he had been waiting for this moment forever.

He had to admit, Ji Yuanlin was indeed very handsome. Someone like him would stand out in any crowd and be chased by many. Yet, from high school until now, this man had only chased after him for over ten years.

Walking down the flower-covered aisle toward Ji Yuanlin, Shi Tian saw his mother in the front row. She took a handkerchief from her bag to wipe her eyes, turning her head away so no one would notice.

He had attended other people’s weddings before and often saw the bride or groom cry on stage. He knew it was a mix of joy and emotion. From a scientific view, over-excitement causes the nerves to lose control, making the tear glands produce fluid.

Standing with Ji Yuanlin before the priest, Shi Tian instinctively blinked. He felt happy today, but his eyes were dry. He didn’t feel like crying. Perhaps his tear glands weren’t well-developed; he only remembered crying once in his entire life.

“I now declare Mr. Shi Tian and Mr. Ji Yuanlin to be legally married.”

After the prayers, the priest closed the Bible amidst applause. “Mr. Ji, you may now kiss your husband.”

From the start of the ceremony, Ji Yuanlin’s fingers had been locked with his, holding his hand tightly as if afraid he would run away. Hearing the priest, Ji Yuanlin’s fingertips trembled slightly. He finally let go of Shi Tian’s hand and spoke in a raspy voice, “Tiantian, may I?”

Shi Tian had never seen Ji Yuanlin so nervous. He couldn’t help but laugh. “Ji Yuanlin, why are you so careful? Are you afraid I’ll run?”

Ji Yuanlin looked seriously into his eyes, then raised his arms to cup his face, tilting his head to kiss his lips. Petals fell from above, and the chapel erupted in cheers, with their old classmates shouting the loudest.

Ji Yuanlin kissed him deeply and with great passion. Being kissed in front of so many people for the first time made Shi Tian a bit shy. He closed his eyes and gently kissed his husband back. He wanted to tell Ji Yuanlin to slow down, but as the air was taken away, his heart began to beat wildly from lack of oxygen.

A strange emotion filled his chest. Shi Tian suddenly felt a softness in his heart, like a tickle that also felt like a dull ache.

It was the same feeling he had yesterday when he left the office and saw a package at the front desk. The receptionist told him someone had just sent a local delivery with nothing written but his name and address.

He opened the package and found an old, small piece of junk—a music player that had been out of production for years. He remembered exactly what it was. It was the MP3 player he had saved up his internship money to buy secretly for Zhou Sifu. It wasn’t cheap back then—over 500 yuan.

This was the only thing he had left with Zhou Sifu after their breakup. Now, Zhou Sifu had returned every bit of their past to him.

—

After greeting all the guests and settling their parents, Ji Yuanlin and Shi Tian returned to their hotel suite near midnight.

Although it was their wedding night, both had been busy all day. Shi Tian was so tired his eyes were closing. As soon as they got back, he flopped onto the bed and went silent. Ji Yuanlin prepared a bath for him, carried him back to bed afterward, and dried his hair.

Shi Tian leaned on Ji Yuanlin’s shoulder, his head nodding down. “…Wake me up after I sleep a bit.”

Ji Yuanlin rubbed his nose and smiled. “Tiantian, sleep if you’re tired. I’ll wake you up tomorrow morning.”

Since they were family now, Shi Tian didn’t hold back. He closed his eyes in front of Ji Yuanlin and fell back into the blankets, falling asleep in seconds.

Ji Yuanlin covered him with a quilt and turned off the lamp. He took his phone and was about to go out to make a call when he heard a soft knock at the door. He frowned and asked in a low voice, “Who is it? Can’t you see the ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign?”

The person outside said nothing.

Walking quietly to the door, Ji Yuanlin looked through the peephole. When he saw who was standing there, his face went dark. He looked back to make sure Shi Tian was fast asleep, then took his room card and stepped out, closing the door softly. He grabbed the person’s arm and pulled them toward the elevator at the end of the hall.

Ji Yuanlin didn’t maintain his usual polite act. His face was cold and gloomy. “What are you doing here?”

As Ji Yuanlin reached for the elevator button, Cheng Xi grabbed his arm. His voice came from behind his mask: “A-Lin, now that you’re married, you don’t recognize me?”

“…”

Ji Yuanlin realized his reaction was too obvious. He took a deep breath and softened his voice. “There are too many people here. I’ll contact you tomorrow. Go back for now, be good.”

Cheng Xi did not listen to him like usual. As soon as Ji Yuanlin finished speaking, Cheng Xi pulled a room card from his pocket. “I’m staying right next door.”

As if reading Ji Yuanlin’s mind, he added, “You booked out the whole hotel. I had to ask a director to help me get a suite.”

Ji Yuanlin’s eyes narrowed. He suddenly found the boy hard to read. “…What do you want?”

“I saw the video of your wedding on social media,” Cheng Xi said calmly. “The way you looked at him made me very unhappy.”

“Xiao Xi, you—”

Cheng Xi took off his mask. He pointed at the security camera above and looked at the man with clear, puppy-like eyes. “If A-Lin insists on making me leave, and I accidentally make some noise… he should be able to hear it from the room quite easily, right?”

Saying this, Cheng Xi leaned forward, resting his chin on Ji Yuanlin’s shoulder. He whispered into his ear: “You know I’m very well-behaved in bed.”

“A-Lin, I want to do it.”

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