Why Does First Love Feel This Sweet? - Chapter 2

Chapter: 2 The Repayment and the Vow

Midnight passed, but Sheng Yi’s eyes remained wide open.

In the bathroom earlier, he hadn’t dared to keep pressing for answers. Rong Yu wasn’t his real family. He was likely just a very close, kind-hearted friend—someone who cared for him sincerely and stepped in when he was in trouble.

So… is my family all gone? Am I an orphan? Or did that accident, the one that left me in a coma for three years, take everyone from me?

Clutching the quilt and lying on his side, Sheng Yi stared at the moonlight filtering through the window, desperately trying to remember. A sharp, agonizing headache forced a muffled groan through his gritted teeth.

A profound sense of helplessness and disorientation eroded the last of his hope. He felt like a grain of dust in the vast universe—no direction, no origin, no destination. He was a solitary entity, severed from all ties, spiraling into a terrifyingly unknown black hole.

He slowly retreated deeper into the blanket.

…

Rong Yu stood outside the bedroom door holding a glass of warm milk.

He had closed the door when he left earlier, but now it stood slightly ajar. When Sheng Yi was a child, he had been terrified by a horror movie where a kid sleeping alone was eaten by a ghost. Since then, he never dared to close the door when sleeping by himself. It seemed that even with his memory wiped, some habits remained bone-deep.

Through the gap in the door, Rong Yu saw the moonlight. Sheng Yi was afraid of the dark, so he hadn’t drawn the curtains. Cool, silvery light spilled over the mound of the quilt, from which came the sound of stifled sobbing.

Rong Yu listened for a long moment before silently returning to his own room.

…

The next morning, Rong Yu was jolted awake by the smell of something burning.

Over the past three years, he had spent his days and nights rushing between school and the hospital, rarely getting a decent night’s sleep. Last night, the cumulative exhaustion had finally hit its limit, sending him into a dead faint of a slumber.

Descending the stairs, he heard the kitchen’s smoke alarm blaring. He grabbed a fire extinguisher and quickened his pace, only to find Sheng Yi standing frantically amidst thick clouds of smoke. With a loud hiss, the boy dumped a bowl of water into a flaming frying pan.

“…”

Hearing a low chuckle behind him, Sheng Yi turned around, coughing and looking utterly embarrassed. “Uh… how do you turn on the range hood in this house?”

The morning fragrance of the garden was drowned out by the acrid smell of burnt food. As Sheng Yi stood there clutching a spatula and coughing, Rong Yu patted his back to help him catch his breath.

“If you have a grievance against the kitchen, we can talk it out,” Rong Yu teased. “There’s no need to dismantle the house yourself.”

Sheng Yi didn’t have a grievance; he just felt indebted. He had received so much kindness—three years of care and a place to stay—and he wanted to be useful. He figured making breakfast was the least he could do to repay a ten-thousandth of that favor.

He never expected that technology had advanced so far that he couldn’t even figure out a modern range hood.

Thanks to Sheng Yi’s “repayment” mission, Rong Yu spent an extra hour cleaning up the kitchen that looked like it had been hit by a blast. Once the mess was cleared, Rong Yu steamed some custard buns and cooked fish fillet porridge, feeding the “little chick” who had been trailing obediently behind him.

He felt like he was raising a digital pet that would cause trouble the second he looked away.

…

After breakfast, Sheng Yi received his ID card, a bank card, and a phone from Rong Yu.

“Spend whatever you want from the card. My number is saved in the phone. I’ll arrange for you to take your driving test in a while.” Rong Yu sat across the table, watching him over a cup of coffee. “Is there anything else you want to know?”

Sheng Yi glanced at the birth date on his ID and realized he was twenty-one. So, the accident must have happened when he was eighteen. He looked up. “Who’s older, you or me?”

“We’re the same age. I’m three months older than you.” Rong Yu paused, a faint smile tugging at his lips. “So, calling me ‘Ge’ (Big Brother) wouldn’t be out of place.”

“…” This guy sure likes taking advantage, Sheng Yi thought. “Are you still in university? Twenty-one… you should be a senior, right?”

Rong Yu set down his coffee cup. “First year of my Master’s.”

“?”

“I finished my undergraduate credits early.”

Sheng Yi went quiet for a moment, asking uneasily, “Did I… graduate high school?”

Rong Yu nodded.

Sheng Yi breathed a sigh of relief. Okay, at least I’m not completely illiterate, even if I’m nowhere near this ‘academic god’s’ pace.

Making up his mind, Sheng Yi kept the phone and ID but pushed the bank card back. “I’m already eating and living here for free; it’d be too much to use your money too. I’ll look for a job in the next few days. You paid for the medical bills too, right? I’ll definitely pay you back.”

Before he could finish, Rong Yu’s phone began to vibrate. He tapped the speakerphone.

“Xiao Yu, what time is it? Xiao Ya has been waiting for half an hour!” A woman’s voice came through, her anger restrained. “Three years ago, you burned your Harvard offer with your own hands. I put that down to rebellion. But you’re twenty-one now—are you still rebelling? I can’t exactly tell the Chu family you’re already married and they should stop dreaming, can I?”

Sheng Yi analyzed the conversation: Rong Yu had an arranged marriage, and he had given up Harvard just to stay in the country. Sheng Yi felt a surge of guilt—Did he give up Harvard to take care of me?

“Then tell them I’m already married,” Rong Yu said calmly.

“Fine,” his mother laughed. “Then why don’t you tell me? What is your wife’s name?”

Rong Yu’s eyelashes fluttered as he looked at the person across from him. “Sheng Yi.”

Wait, what? Sheng Yi’s eyes widened. Rong Yu’s wife is also named Sheng Yi?

Rong Yu looked at him. “If you really want to repay me… want to go get a marriage certificate with me?”

…

Before Sheng Yi knew it, he was standing in line at the Civil Affairs Bureau. Rong Yu held his hand tightly.

“Rong Yu, you’re so handsome,” Sheng Yi said, admiring Rong Yu’s profile. “I feel like I’m the one taking advantage of you. But won’t your family be furious? What if your future girlfriend minds that you’re a divorcee?”

“Then I won’t look for one,” Rong Yu said.

“Sheng Yi, I will treat you as well as any lover would,” Rong Yu said suddenly. “I have only one requirement: while this marriage lasts, you cannot leave my side.”

He squeezed Sheng Yi’s fingers, his brow furrowing slightly. “Also… I am not as good as you think I am. If there ever comes a day when you find you cannot forgive me… don’t just disappear. Just say the word, and I will leave on my own.”

Sheng Yi laughed. “Don’t say things like that. I’m only alive because of you. I can forgive you for anything, as long as it’s not a crime.”

Rong Yu placed a hand on Sheng Yi’s head, a gentle light softening his dark eyes. “I’ll remember that. You said you would forgive me.”