Finally Being Snatched Away at My Wedding by My Ex-Boyfriend - Chapter 25.2

Chapter 25.2: His Confession

Su Yuan wasn’t wearing a hat, so Pei Xing wouldn’t let him stay outside too long. After sending him back to the courtyard, Pei Xing went back to the town to pick up a package. The cod was frozen goods; it had already taken a long time to be shipped here, and if delayed further, the ice melting might affect the taste.

Returning home, Pei Xing found the courtyard very lively.

After Pei Xing left, Su Yuan squatted under the tree laden with persimmons, surrounded by cats.

After looking up information on his phone, he very seriously told the kittens: “You are not allowed to eat persimmons; your tummies will hurt.”

The kittens tilted their heads and stared at him, as if competing to see who looked more aggrieved.

Su Yuan picked up all the persimmons that had fallen on the ground, threw them into the trash, and went upstairs to get cat strips and canned food.

He gave every kitten a name nothing creative: Xiao Hei (Blackie), Xiao Bai (Whitey), Xiao Hui (Grey)… the kittens lay in a row very obediently and wolfed down the food.

Having settled the kittens, Su Yuan looked at the tree full of persimmons and began to wonder what they tasted like.

There were too many dietary restrictions for persimmons; he had never eaten one.

He picked up the bamboo pole leaning in the corner, but the persimmons that had naturally ripened and softened on the tree shattered with a “pa-ta” after hitting the ground; people couldn’t eat them, and they would attract the kittens nearby.

Fortunately, someone came outside the courtyard.

Pei Wen, leading two boys he hadn’t seen before, appeared at the courtyard gate. Seeing Su Yuan, he was very surprised. “Su Yuan? Why are you here? Where’s my cousin?”

“On holiday; I came back with Pei Xing to play. Pei Xing went to get a package…”

Su Yuan was a bit tired from holding the bamboo pole, and as he spoke he lost his strength; the bamboo pole fell to the ground. The two boys following behind Pei Wen immediately ran up, competing to help him pick up the pole.

He rubbed his hands and thanked the two, then looked at Pei Wen. “Are these your friends?”

“Yeah, classmates from my school; they also came with me for the holiday.” Pei Wen introduced the two who were dumbstruck, then entered the courtyard and asked what he was doing with the equipment.

Hearing Su Yuan say he wanted to pick persimmons, Pei Wen laughed, saying these kinds of ripe persimmons required climbing up to pick.

As he spoke, he skillfully brought out the ladder from the utility room.

Su Yuan saw Pei Wen picking so happily and wanted to try too.

By the time Pei Xing returned home, he saw Su Yuan standing at the top of the wooden ladder, with two guys on the left and right holding the ladder, and Pei Wen standing on a stool with a basin in his hand.

As red as the persimmons in the basin were, that’s how black Pei Xing’s face was.

Su Yuan picked a persimmon and smelled it; the cloying sweetness was laced with a fresh fruity fragrance. He thought this would be the sweetest one, and carefully put it into the basin. “Don’t crush it; I want to save it for… Pei Xing? You’re back.”

Pei Xing put the stack of delivery boxes, which were half a person high, onto the stone table.

Immediately, he walked toward Su Yuan, gripped his waist, and very lightly placed him on the chair to sit. Then he turned around and looked at the three of them calmly.

Pei Wen felt trepidation in his heart. “That… cousin, I just…”

Pei Xing smiled. “Classmates? Would you like to stay and have lunch together?”

Pei Wen was stunned both by Pei Xing’s suggestion and the smile currently hanging on Pei Xing’s face.

To be honest, he would rather Pei Xing scold him right now.

The two didn’t know Pei Xing, but they also felt this smile was a bit creepy. However…

The two peeked at Su Yuan and were about to nod when Pei Wen jumped down with a “thud” behind them, put the basin down, and dragged the two toward the exit.

“Uh, never mind, we still have some homework to do, so we’ll be going… Still looking?!”

The courtyard became quiet at once.

Su Yuan sat on the stone stool, legs together, his fingers blackened from picking persimmons fidgeting, staring at Pei Xing’s back without blinking.

Pei Xing slowly turned around, his gaze falling straight onto his hands. “Wash your hands.”

By the sink, Su Yuan frowned. “Pei Xing, I can’t wash it off.”

Pei Xing came out of the kitchen, pressed a pump of hand soap, took his finger, and lightly scraped with a shallow fingernail. Su Yuan was a bit tired of standing and leaned against Pei Xing, looking up at his profile.

The lines were sharp, the features deep; the high brow bone and the broken hair hanging over his forehead blocked the light overhead. His eyes were recessed in shadow, and his thin lips were tensed into a straight line; his calm face carried a hint of imperceptible anger.

“Is it very hard to wash?” Su Yuan hooked Pei Xing’s finger. “You’ve washed yourself into a temper.”

The movement of Pei Xing’s hands paused, and he gave him a deep look.

“Don’t be angry anymore.” Su Yuan’s gaze was direct and honest.

Such a gaze made him feel loathsome.

He thought that upon returning to Fu County, those people surrounding Su Yuan would disappear, and everything would return to summer. But no one would fail to like beautiful things. He himself was one of them.

He wanted to make himself look like he didn’t care at all, but when he forced himself to smile, he realized this had a greater impact on him than he had anticipated.

The closer he got to Su Yuan, the stronger this feeling became.

Against this, he had no way out.

Overnight, Pei Xing became that child forced into delayed gratification again—clearly right before his eyes, yet seemingly so far away. The feeling of disappointment settled in his body, heavy and weary, and his dreams also became disjointed.

Su Yuan stood in a very bright place; that light was the gazes cast at him by admirers. He himself turned into a tree, growing in a far-off place, unable to get close no matter what. Su Yuan squatted down inside, just as he had that evening while sitting on the bleachers waiting for him, feeling annoyed by those gazes, and blaming his inaction.

“Pei Xing.” Su Yuan lay on the edge of the bed calling him.

Pei Xing opened his eyes, only then realizing he was tightly gripping Su Yuan’s finger. Su Yuan seemed to have been pinched into pain by him, which was why he called him awake.

“Sorry,” Pei Xing said, withdrawing his hand.

Su Yuan suddenly laughed; the moonlight plated a silver veil over his face. “I was the one holding you.”

What?

Pei Xing froze.

Su Yuan reclined on the bed, his smiling eyes like a sweet, soft persimmon heart. He lifted the quilt. “Come up and stay with me; it’s so cold, I can’t sleep.”

Pei Xing’s brain was still in a fog; he seemed not to have understood the sentence.

“Should I come down then?”

Pei Xing was silent for a moment, then got up from the floor, stepped through the light on the ground, and lay flat beside Su Yuan.

The covers were cold; only the spot with the hot water bag had a slight warmth.

Su Yuan’s head moved; a strand of hair fell on his ear, very itchy. Instantly, his brain cleared, yet it sank into a deeper place.

Su Yuan had his back to him, and with an inquiring tone, pulled him back from the depths of his thoughts.

“If you want to sleep on my left, you can only hold me from behind; or do you want to sleep on the right, so I can lean on your shoulder?”

He was just a person of little experience who dreamed of golden hoes, thinking his only choices when facing Su Yuan were leaving and silence. For a moment, he didn’t speak.

Su Yuan moved back very slowly, pulled over Pei Xing’s right arm which was level with his eyes, and pillowed it under his neck. “Turn a bit.”

His body seemed out of control as he turned on his side, letting Su Yuan’s thin back lean against his chest; they became two puzzle pieces hidden under the quilt, leaning together intimately and secretly, the heartbeats in their left chests almost at the same frequency.

“Mhm,” Su Yuan put his hand into Pei Xing’s open palm. “I like it this way too.”

The person behind him still had no reaction. If not for the heartbeat and the body’s heat source being continuously transmitted to him, Su Yuan might have thought the person behind had already left.

Just as Su Yuan was about to say something, Pei Xing suddenly hugged him tightly.

His sturdy left arm reached across the quilt to encircle his waist and abdomen, and the right hand on the pillow also suddenly tightened, using his body to lock Su Yuan in. Pei Xing’s high bridge of the nose pressed against Su Yuan’s neck; his eyelashes blinked very lightly and nervously, sweeping over Su Yuan’s delicate skin.

The itch was very comfortable.

“Sleep,” Su Yuan rubbed his ear against the top of Pei Xing’s head. “That way you won’t have nightmares.”

When he discovered Pei Xing was having nightmares, Su Yuan felt it was very strange.

Pei Xing was a very brave person; losing both parents and living under someone else’s roof hadn’t smoothed out the edges on him; he was the first person besides himself who dared to press further after his grandfather said “Goodbye.”  His father told him this, saying the grandfather was fuming, and Su Yuan laughed for a long time.

So, did Pei Xing have things he was afraid of too?

Su Yuan let out a yawn and was coaxed to sleep by the human-shaped heat source behind him.

A night without dreams.

This was the second time Pei Xing overslept.

When he woke, Su Yuan was propping his face in both hands, looking at him like a quiet kitten. “You’re awake?”

He didn’t speak, just looked at Su Yuan.

Su Yuan’s hair was messy from sleep; the ends of the hair on his shoulders were propped into a very beautiful curve, like a fountain.

Pei Xing’s gaze shifted again to Su Yuan’s mouth, which was opening and closing. He wasn’t listening to what he was saying, but wanted to see what was hidden inside, further in than the moist, polished teeth.

“Is that okay?” Su Yuan put his hands down and moved a bit closer.

Pei Xing came back to his senses. “What?”

Su Yuan’s relaxed eyebrows suddenly furrowed; he moved closer to sprawl against his chest, eyes looking at him brightly. “The sun is out today; Pei Xing, take me to play in the water, okay?”

Pei Xing responded blankly.

Su Yuan lay back happily.

Pei Xing realized his gaze was a bit excessively focused and immediately lifted the quilt to sit up.

Su Yuan pressed close, his thin arm hanging around his neck. “Did you sleep well last night?”

His mind was still on Su Yuan’s nimble tongue when he spoke just now, and after a night, his body was entirely filled with the jasmine scent from Su Yuan’s body; the simple inquiry became ambiguous.

Pei Xing sat on the edge of the bed, hands propping himself up at his sides, and once again forgot to answer.

Su Yuan slid down his back, his head half-suspended off the edge of the bed, looking at him. “If you’re not used to this kind of bed with a high headboard, then get used to it, because I like this kind of bed.”

Imperious words also became cute when coming from Su Yuan’s mouth.

“Mhm, I’ll get used to it.”

“That’s good.”

Su Yuan kicked his legs up contentedly. Pei Xing stood up and looked back at his feet, which were exposed, and lifted the quilt to cover them. He always felt Su Yuan would be cold.

Su Yuan turned over with a laugh and began humming a song under the covers.

At noon, the “Autumn Tiger” caused the temperature to surge. Pei Xing couldn’t help but squint his eyes as well, using his left hand, which was holding the umbrella, to press down the sun hat on Su Yuan’s head.

Su Yuan walked with less and less of a spine, leaning against him until he was just short of stepping on his feet. It was best for him to hang off him entirely.

Pei Xing put the bag by the Banyan tree and folded the umbrella. Su Yuan got off him, kicked off his shoes, sat by the swing, and swung his legs.

Pei Xing picked back the shoes that had been kicked away, his eyes hurting from the sight of those legs. He looked left and right, confirming no one would pass by and see Su Yuan here.

“I’ll go down and test the water temperature.”

Pei Xing jumped down and swam for a bit, finding the creek water still hadn’t been warmed too much by the sun. He swam to the bank and splashed water on Su Yuan’s feet with his hands. “Is it cold?”

“Not cold.”

The slight curling of his toes didn’t escape Pei Xing’s eyes; fearing he wouldn’t be allowed into the water, he stared at Pei Xing with puffed-out cheeks for a good while.

Pei Xing thought for a moment and had him sit on the bank to soak his feet in the water first to adapt; if he felt cold, they would go back and come again tomorrow.

Fearing Su Yuan would be bored, he also got out of the water and sat on the bank with him.

The blue sky appeared through the gaps in the branches of the Banyan tree.

Su Yuan’s hand happened to be in the light; he took Pei Xing’s hand. “Look, my hand has been warmed by the sun.”

Soft fingertips slowly slid through the gaps of Pei Xing’s fingers. Pei Xing looked at him, at his hair being blown by the wind, and then curled his fingers, catching the hand in his palm. “Mhm, very warm.”

They didn’t speak, quietly feeling the transmission of body heat, every minute, every second.

“Pei Xing.”

“Mhm?”

The swing beside them swayed in the wind. Su Yuan felt that this moment sitting under the tree was the peak of freedom; he also seemed to want to know if Pei Xing thought so.

So he asked: “If there is a next life, what do you want to become?”

Pei Xing held his hand, his thumb sliding over the delicate back of the hand. “A tree. And you?”

“I want to be a bird,” Su Yuan pressed his chin lightly against his shoulder, lifting his eyelashes to look at the person beside him. “I could fly forever, won’t be caught by nets, and will fly toward the warmest places.”

“Will you land?” Pei Xing asked.

Su Yuan froze; he hadn’t expected Pei Xing to ask this. It made him grip his hand nervously, only to realize he was interlacing his fingers with Pei Xing’s; his nervousness was also entirely conveyed.

Pei Xing didn’t press him, but just looked at him quietly, waiting for him to speak.

“I will. There is always something worth landing for.”

Su Yuan looked into Pei Xing’s eyes.

The corners of Pei Xing’s lips quivered, as if he had let out a sigh of relief. “Good, otherwise it wouldn’t make sense for me to become a tree.”

At this moment, he finally realized that Pei Xing had known his answer all along.

Su Yuan had many things he wanted to say, wanting to reveal his heart without reservation, but he didn’t know how to make Pei Xing understand.

The person who spoke first, however, was Pei Xing.

“No need to guess when or where the little bird will land. In the next life, I will let myself grow many sweet fruits, and let my crown and branches grow into the posture of an open embrace, praying for a free bird to land for me.”

“Perhaps he lands in summer and flies away in autumn; then I will start looking forward to the next summer from the moment this summer ends.”

“So,” Pei Xing smiled, “what sweet fruits does Xin Xin like to eat?”

Su Yuan’s tears fell without any warning.

This time, it wasn’t because of the torment of illness and the silent room, but the feeling of a warm current flowing through his heart.

This feeling reached a peak of joy when Pei Xing leaned his head to kiss him.