Found Him! My 'Glass-Hearted' Ex is a Pop-Up Star - Chapter 23

You really could not blame Ying Ruo for this. His brain was currently a bit dysfunctional since he could not even remember things that had happened in the past, so a blackout after drinking was perfectly normal. When he woke up this morning and saw someone lying next to him, he was startled. Unfortunately, he did not have time to dwell on it because it was late, so he simply left a note and rushed out to class.

On his way back, Ying Ruo had mentally prepared himself for a series of outrageous possibilities, such as throwing up all over Duan Zhuyan or forcing the man to drink with him. But kissing? What was that about? This plot twist was not at all what he had expected.

“I am sorry. I do not seem to remember,” Ying Ruo stammered. He looked up with round eyes, rubbing his small hands together as he asked, “Did something happen between us last night?”

Duan Zhuyan remained silent. He realized with frustration that the boy had truly forgotten. He furrowed his brows irritably. He had intended to remind Ying Ruo, but remembering what he had done afterward made him feel embarrassed. The dim light cast shadows from the side, making his emotions hard to read, yet his ears were exceptionally red. He looked as if he wanted to speak but did not know where to start.

Ying Ruo’s nerves were pulled tight. He worried that they had done something excessive while drunk. He wondered if he had briefly regained his memory and said something he should not have to his ex-boyfriend. Otherwise, why would the topic suddenly jump to kissing?

The atmosphere was abnormally quiet. After a while, Duan Zhuyan swallowed hard, his thin lips pressed tight. He looked as if he had spent a long time preparing himself mentally before speaking again. “If, and I mean if.”

Ying Ruo looked up, alert.

Duan Zhuyan lowered his head slightly and rubbed his neck. His earlobes were stained red, but he tried to sound composed. “If something really happened between us last night, would you want to get back together with me?”

Before he could finish, Ying Ruo quickly interjected, “Do not worry, do not worry! If that really happened, I will definitely act as if nothing occurred.”

Duan Zhuyan, who had finally summoned the courage to suggest a reconciliation, was speechless.

Ying Ruo made a sincere promise. “I swear, I am not the kind of person who pesters an ex-boyfriend.”

Duan Zhuyan stared at him. Something was wrong. According to logic, this should not have been the answer. “But you clearly used to,” Duan Zhuyan stopped mid-sentence as he looked at the person in front of him.

Ying Ruo was looking at him, waiting for him to finish describing how he used to be. His face and ears were tinged with a delicate pink. His round eyes were clear and focused, as if his entire world was centered on the man before him. Duan Zhuyan felt the words swirl in his mouth, but for some reason, he still could not say them. He lowered his head, feeling frustrated. He clenched his jaw, and the veins on the back of his hand pressed against the bed, looking as if they might burst. His gaze remained intense, lingering on Ying Ruo’s lips as it had for quite some time.

“But Duan Zhuyan,” Ying Ruo’s eyelashes fluttered. His slightly long bangs were soft against his forehead. He asked in a small voice, “Do you really want to kiss me?”

The question hit Duan Zhuyan like a thunderclap. He felt as if his desires had been seen through. Being asked so bluntly by someone whose small mouth was moist and red made his brain stall. His ears turned crimson. In a defensive reflex born of being forgotten again, he stubbornly denied it.

“Who wants to kiss you? How could I possibly want to kiss you?” he snapped. “Who do you think you are? Do you think your mouth is that kissable? Do you think you are so charming that I would want to kiss you? You are mistaken.”

He stopped abruptly. The narrow room fell into an extreme silence. Duan Zhuyan quickly realized he had said the wrong thing and looked up in a panic. He was met with Ying Ruo’s expressionless, calm face.

“Oh, I see,” Ying Ruo said.

Duan Zhuyan felt like he had ruined everything. Ying Ruo quietly withdrew his gaze, his voice sounding utterly flat. “You are right. I am sorry; I overthought it.”

Ying Ruo said nothing more. He unpacked the plastic bag of noodles and set it on the table. “Remember to eat this. I waited in line for over half an hour to get it. It cost 18.50 pounds, which was the wages the milk tea shop owner just gave me.”

Duan Zhuyan remained silent.

“I am going to the library now. You probably have things to do as well. Remember to take the trash with you when you leave,” Ying Ruo said politely with a nod. He turned toward the door. “That is all then. Goodbye.”

Before Duan Zhuyan could reach out to stop him, he heard a thud. The door closed mercilessly. He had never felt London to be so quiet on a morning, so quiet that he could not even hear his own breathing. He cursed his luck.

University Laboratory

The lights were on in the laboratory. The air was filled with the faint, biting scent of liquid nitrogen mixed with the clean, slightly salty smell of buffer solution. Duan Zhuyan stood at the lab bench in his white coat, looking down at his phone with a frown. His aura screamed that he should not be disturbed.

On the screen was his chat with Ying Ruo. He typed and deleted, then typed and deleted again. He struggled for a long time without sending a single word.

“Hey Duan, look at this post. It is so funny!” Liu Jing, who was slacking off nearby, tried to show his phone to Duan Zhuyan. He noticed the man constantly typing and deleting. “Are you messaging someone? What is so hard to say?”

Duan Zhuyan was already irritated. He pulled his phone away and turned toward Liu Jing with displeasure. “Are you very bored? Is the gel running? Are the images taken? How is the research progress? Do you want me to assign you more work?”

Liu Jing immediately shut his mouth and went back to work.

Duan Zhuyan irritably brushed his bangs back. There was no news from Ying Ruo. He glanced out the window and saw that it was dark. He wondered what Ying Ruo was doing and if he had reached home safely. It was about time to finish work, so Duan Zhuyan forced himself to focus and took off his white coat.

As he left the lab, he ran into Song Chengxu. “Oh, what a coincidence,” Song Chengxu greeted him casually.

Duan Zhuyan frowned at him, his gaze lingering for a few seconds longer than usual. He raised his cigarette case. “Want to go for a smoke?”

Song Chengxu was quite surprised. “Sure.” To be honest, he had not seen much of Duan Zhuyan lately. Usually, Duan Zhuyan was buried in the lab, and even when they met, the man never acknowledged him. Today, for some reason, he had initiated a break.

The two went to the open space behind the lab building. Duan Zhuyan leaned against the railing, took out a cigarette, and lit it. The flame illuminated his lowered eyelashes and the faint shadows under his eyes. Song Chengxu took a puff of his own cigarette and glanced at the man beside him. He wondered why Duan Zhuyan was smoking so frequently lately.

Then, the man said, “I want to kiss him.”

Song Chengxu choked on his smoke. “Old Duan, you cannot say things like that to me!” He wiped his face, including the cold sweat on his forehead. “If you want to kiss someone, go find your partner.”

Duan Zhuyan’s eyes were dark. He clenched his jaw. “He dumped me again.”

Song Chengxu was confused. The man flicked his lighter, the veins on the back of his hand tensing with the movement. His breathing was heavy and his tone was muffled. “It has only been a few days, and I have been dumped by the same man twice.”

Song Chengxu did not know what to say. The night wind mixed the faint scent of tobacco with the coolness of the lab. The tip of the cigarette glowed orange and then dimmed. Duan Zhuyan looked down, his high brow casting a shadow over his eyes. His voice actually sounded a bit aggrieved. “But I really want to kiss him.”

Song Chengxu realized that Duan Zhuyan was looking for relationship advice. It was a rare opportunity; Duan Zhuyan had hidden his boyfriend for so long, and now he had been dumped twice. Song Chengxu was the right person to ask since no one understood romance better than him.

“Did you make him angry?” Song Chengxu asked.

Duan Zhuyan did not deny it. Song Chengxu knew about Ying Ruo’s injury and memory loss. “If you made him angry, then coax him. If you were dumped, then chase him back. Be a bit more sweet-talked.”

“Me? Chasing someone?” Duan Zhuyan scoffed. “Are you joking? Everything was fine, then he broke up with me for no reason. Now you want me to beg for a reconciliation? Am I a desperate person?”

Song Chengxu thought he looked quite like one, but he chose to be tactful. “But he does not have his memory right now, does he?”

The smoke curled into a faint grey line in the night air. Duan Zhuyan looked at the distant lights and suddenly asked, “Do you think a person changes after going back a year?”

“Of course,” Song Chengxu replied. “Forget a year; it only takes twenty-one days to form a habit. A year can change a person a lot.”

Duan Zhuyan remained silent. He did not smoke; he just turned the burning cigarette between his fingers. Song Chengxu was curious. “How did you two get together?”

Duan Zhuyan watched the red light of the cigarette extinguish. After a moment, he said indifferently, “It was an accident.”

“An accident? What kind of accident?”

Duan Zhuyan cut him off with a sharp, intimidating look that clearly said “do not ask.” Song Chengxu was speechless. He wondered what Ying Ruo saw in this man that made him want to date him. Duan Zhuyan not being single for life was truly a miracle.

Song Chengxu realized he could not help much since Duan Zhuyan would not share details. However, he patted Duan Zhuyan on the shoulder. “If you cannot figure it out yourself, I have another idea. You could try a tarot reading.”

Duan Zhuyan looked at him as if he were an idiot.

“No, I am being serious,” Song Chengxu insisted. “Are you not trying to guess what he is thinking? Do you want to know how to make him come back to you? If you will not ask him yourself, go get a tarot reading for some guidance.”

“Are you joking?” Duan Zhuyan asked in a low voice. “Do you think I believe in that stuff? You are a researcher too; do you not think you are being incredibly foolish?”

Song Chengxu shrugged. “The end of science is metaphysics.” He put out his cigarette and took out his phone. “I will send you a contact. My girlfriend goes often. She is a famous fortune teller in East London.”

Duan Zhuyan’s phone vibrated. Song Chengxu had sent him the details for a tarot shop. Song Chengxu put his arm around Duan Zhuyan’s shoulder and said earnestly, “In a relationship, someone has to be proactive. If you said something wrong, apologize. If you want to kiss him, say so honestly.”

Duan Zhuyan remained silent, his expression cold as he thought.

“If all else fails, just try the tarot,” Song Chengxu added.

Duan Zhuyan became annoyed and pushed Song Chengxu’s hand away. “Go away,” he said. He thought to himself that even if they stayed broken up, he would never spend money on such a baseless thing. Tarot readings were for fools.

Grace Tarot Shop

A tall man wearing a hat, sunglasses, and a mask stood silently at the shop entrance. He was dressed fashionably, with a sharp black denim jacket that emphasized his broad shoulders. A silver cube earring was pinned to his ear, making him look out of place in this neighborhood. The shop sign was a small wooden board partially covered by deep purple velvet. An old copper plate with indecipherable runes was nailed to it, hidden in the shadows of the high walls.

The man pulled up his mask to hide his face. His dark eyes were concealed by sunglasses, and his jaw was tight. A flush of red spread across his skin, reaching the ear with the stud. He wondered why he was even here. But since he had come this far, Duan Zhuyan pushed open the door and entered.

The shop had a mysterious atmosphere. The air smelled of old book pages, dry wood, and the sweet warmth of beeswax candles. In the center was a table covered with an embroidered cloth, covered in crystals, candles, and strange metal tools that gleamed dully.

Grace sat behind the wooden table. “Welcome,” she said. She gestured for him to sit down. Duan Zhuyan hesitated for a moment before sitting in the chair. Grace was a middle-aged British woman with dark brown hair and eyes. She looked at Duan Zhuyan and could tell he was a handsome man even with his face covered. “Hello. Do you have a specific question you would like to ask?”

Duan Zhuyan adjusted his mask. Since he was completely covered and she was a stranger, he felt a bit more comfortable. “I want to look into my love life.”

“No problem. I am a professional when it comes to love,” Grace said with a smile. “Could you tell me a little bit about your situation?”

Duan Zhuyan paused. “My boyfriend and I broke up.”

“I see,” Grace said. “Do not worry; we respect all orientations. I am sorry to hear about the breakup.”

Duan Zhuyan said nothing. Grace apologized and asked him to continue. Duan Zhuyan did not want to waste time with small talk. His expression was blank, and his sunglasses rested on the bridge of his nose, giving him an air of cold detachment. However, when he thought of his boyfriend, his demeanor seemed to change slightly.

The man pursed his lips. He clenched his fists on his lap, feeling his pulse quicken. After a long pause, he spoke slowly. “I want to know if he still has desire for me. In every sense of the word.”