Doctor Gu’s Orange Cat Boyfriend - Chapter 33

He looked at Gu Chaoyu, blinked, and asked, “So… when did you start liking me?”

 

“Our paths haven’t really crossed much, have they?”

 

Apart from their recent neighborly interactions, their lives before this had been like two parallel lines.

 

Gu Chaoyu gazed into his sparkling, curious eyes, the smile on his lips deepening.

 

He didn’t answer directly, choosing instead to tease him.

 

“Probably…”

 

“…I’ve liked you for a very, very long time!”

 

【Shock!!!】

 

【What the hell?!】

 

【A very, very long time?!】

 

Lin Mucí was utterly dumbfounded.

 

“We… knew each other long ago?” he asked incredulously.

 

His memory held no trace of Gu Chaoyu whatsoever!

 

Gu Chaoyu took his hand and led him to sit beside the sofa.

 

He wrapped Lin Mucí’s hand in his own palm, stroking it gently.

 

“Mucí,” Gu Chaoyu’s voice carried a hint of nostalgia, “do you remember that overalls-wearing doll in my study?”

 

Lin Mucí froze.

 

That crudely made, lopsided little doll that Gu Chaoyu treasured like a precious gem.

 

“Of course,” he nodded instinctively. “You said it was given to you by someone very important.”

 

【Could it be…】

 

An unbelievable thought surfaced in Lin Mucí’s mind.

 

Gu Chaoyu gazed at him tenderly, speaking slowly: “That very important person… was you.”

 

“That overalls doll—you molded it and gave it to me.”

 

Those words, spoken softly, unlocked the long-sealed door to Lin Mucí’s memories.

 

Fuzzy childhood scenes began to sharpen in his mind:

 

A late afternoon in elementary school, sunlight streaming through the window onto their desks.

 

The teacher stood at the front, instructing them to mold clay figures.

 

Beside him sat a quiet little boy—handsome, yet rarely smiling, his lips always pressed together.

 

He considered that boy his best friend.

 

Wanting to make him happier, he molded a small doll in his likeness.

 

He remembered his mother saying boys in overalls were the cutest.

 

So he dressed the figurine in a pair of overalls and placed a sun he’d molded (symbolizing happiness) in its hand.

 

When he handed it over, the little boy froze for a long moment, then offered him a very, very faint smile.

 

That boy…

 

That boy’s name…

 

Gu… Chaoyu…

 

“Little Yu?” Lin Mucí murmured, his voice tinged with uncertainty.

 

Gu Chaoyu’s body trembled.

 

[It really has been a long time since I heard that name, but it still sounds so beautiful, so warm!]

 

“You remember?!”

 

“It’s you… It really is you!” Lin Mucí’s eyes widened. He stared at the mature, handsome face before him, struggling to overlay it with the memory of that silent little boy.

 

“Oh my god! It really is you!”

 

No wonder!

 

No wonder he felt an inexplicable familiarity the first time he saw Gu Chaoyu!

 

No wonder seeing that doll felt so familiar!

 

So all along, the answers to every puzzle had been right before his eyes!

 

“Then why…” Lin Mucí’s excitement gave way to a wave of hurt. “Why didn’t you tell me from the start?”

 

Leaving him to wander in confusion and torment all this time!

 

Gu Chaoyu gazed at his slightly reddened eyes, sighed with heartache, and pulled him closer into his embrace.

 

“Originally, I just wanted to quietly protect you from afar.”

 

His voice was soft, tinged with a hint of fragility and brokenness.

 

“Because I like you, Mucí. I wasn’t sure… after all these years, if you still remembered me. And I was even less sure if you… liked guys.“

 

”On the other hand, I also had a selfish motive… I wanted to see if you could recognize me.“

 

At this point, he deliberately flashed a pouty expression.

 

”Too bad, you ungrateful little thing, you’d already forgotten me completely!”

 

Lin Mucí felt a pang of guilt and tenderness at his words, his conscience pricking him instantly.

 

“I’m sorry… Dr. Gu…” He lowered his head, murmuring an apology. “I… I have a poor memory. My childhood recollections are really hazy, which is why I didn’t recognize you.”

 

He’d been too slow to catch on.

 

Gu Chaoyu watched his guilty little expression and finally couldn’t help but laugh out loud again.

 

“It’s okay, I was just joking.” He reached out and pinched Lin Mucí’s cheek. The feel was just as good as he’d imagined.

 

“Didn’t fate bring us together again anyway?”

 

“And you like me too. I’m perfectly satisfied.”

 

Yes.

 

They had reunited.

 

And it was mutual.

 

This was an ending worth celebrating more than anything.

 

Gu Chaoyu watched as Lin Mucí’s eyes regained their sparkle. Suddenly, he leaned in close, their noses nearly touching.

 

“But…”

 

His voice dropped, tinged with a mesmerizing magnetism.

 

“Mucí, do you still need to call me Dr. Gu?”

 

“Isn’t it… time for a new title?”

 

A new title?

 

What kind of title?

 

【Boyfriend?】

 

【Husband?!】

 

【No, no, no—husband is way too fast!】

 

【But… boyfriend… I don’t think I can say it either, ahhh!】

 

His fingers twisted nervously together. His mouth opened and closed repeatedly, yet not a single syllable emerged.

 

Gu Chaoyu watched him, his expression ripening like overripe fruit, a smile never leaving his face.

 

He waited patiently, offering no prompting.

 

Lin Mucí mentally pumped himself up countless times. Finally, in a voice as faint as a mosquito’s buzz, he squeezed three words from his throat.

 

“Boy… boyfriend…”

 

Though barely audible, Gu Chaoyu heard it clearly.

 

He chuckled softly, the vibration from his chest traveling through their clasped hands straight to Lin Mucí’s heart.

 

“Mhm,” Gu Chaoyu replied. “Boyfriend!”

 

【Aaaaaaaaah!】

 

【He said it! He said “boyfriend”!】

 

【We’re officially a couple now! We’re boyfriend and boyfriend!】

 

Lin Mucí felt so overwhelmed with happiness he nearly fainted. It felt utterly unreal.

 

He, Lin Mucí, who had been single since birth for twenty-five years, had finally found love today!

 

And his partner was none other than the dream guy he’d secretly adored for so long!

 

However, just as he drifted in this sea of bliss, a question mark suddenly popped into his usually not-so-sharp little head.

 

Something wasn’t right.

 

It felt like there was a problem somewhere.

 

He cautiously poked half his head out from the blissful clouds, trying to untangle the logic.

 

Just because they knew each other as kids, and he gave him a handmade doll, that’s why he remembered him for over twenty years?

 

And even fell for him because of that?

 

This… this reason seems a bit too flimsy, too absurd, doesn’t it?

 

Who exactly is Gu Chaoyu?

 

Handsome, wealthy, gentle, considerate, and a successful doctor to boot.

 

How could someone like that possibly lack admirers?

 

Just because of a crude clay figurine, a childhood memory, he’s been unable to forget him for twenty years?