BL Ch91

The same evening breeze brushed the faces of the two men, one upstairs, one down. Yu Duqiu felt as if the long-lost warmth was carried on the wind, dispelling the chill brought by days of rain.

They stood in silence, gazing at each other, their eyes meeting gently through the soft night and the chirping of insects in the grass.

Leaning against the second-floor windowsill, Yu Duqiu’s heart pounded, nearly leaping out of his chest.

The hotel’s floors were low, not far from the ground. For a fleeting moment, he even considered climbing out the window and jumping down, just to reach the other man as quickly as possible.

But damn reason restrained his impulse.

It would be too reckless, too undignified, unbefitting his age, and unbefitting his image… But none of these reasons were truly enough to stop him. The main reason was that he didn’t want the other man to see how much he had missed him.

Older people always have some dignity they can’t abandon and some inexplicable persistence.

So after a moment of eye contact, he crossed his arms, leaned against the window frame, and raised an eyebrow at the man below, his expression indifferent: “You returned just in time. I’m leaving in two days.”

The man smiled. “Didn’t you promise to take me back? Are you lying to me again?”

“Who told you to leave without permission?”

The man seemed to frown in distress. “You don’t seem to welcome me back. Should I leave then?”

Yu Duqiu’s hands instantly clenched into fists. Just as he was about to speak—

“Holy shit!!!”

“…”

Lou Baoguo, who had wandered out of his room because he was feeling stuffy, happened upon this scene. His expression was as horrified as if he had seen a ghost. He quickly counted on his fingers, then looked up in shock, his voice trembling: “B-Brother, how did you come back… It’s…it’s not even your seventh day yet…”

“…”

Bai Zhao didn’t bother with him and walked straight past.

Lou Baoguo, who feared nothing and no one, held a certain reverence for ghosts and gods. Frightened, he stumbled backward and tripped over the threshold, his 180-pound body falling backward. The fall probably wouldn’t hurt him, but the floor might end up with a dent.

Bai Zhao reacted quickly, grabbing him and steadying him with a shoulder.

Lou Baoguo regained his balance. Feeling the warm body temperature of the person in front of him, his small eyes widened: “Brother, you’re actually alive!”

“…”

His earth-shattering yells were enough to wake the entire hotel. Zhou Yi, who had gone to bed early, was startled awake. He rushed out of his room, prepared to scold Lou Baoguo, but all his words vanished the moment he saw Bai Zhao.

In the next few minutes, he silently wiped away tears, looking like a father watching his daughter get married.

Ji Lin, whose face was sour because Mu Hao had been woken up, ran out next, followed by the doctor who thought he had to work overtime again, and a group of bewildered bodyguards.

More and more people gathered around Bai Zhao, all excitedly hugging, patting, and putting their arms around him, completely oblivious to the other person watching coldly from upstairs.

Yu Duqiu tapped his arm impatiently with his crossed arms, and finally couldn’t hold back any longer. He turned and went downstairs.

But he was a step too late.

The stationed police, alerted by the commotion, surrounded Bai Zhao and prepared to take him to a room for questioning.

The two men passed each other without even having a chance to speak.

Bai Zhao raised a hand without looking back and tossed something over. Yu Duqiu subconsciously reached out and caught it—it was the poppy.

He wondered where Bai Zhao had picked it in this remote wilderness. It was so fresh and vibrant.

Lou Baoguo and Zhou Yi were still hugging each other and crying. Ji Lin wiped his eyes and stepped forward, patting Yu Duqiu on the shoulder: “Are you relieved now?”

“…No.”

“Huh? He’s back safe and sound, what else are you worried about?”

“I’m worried about myself.” Yu Duqiu sighed, looking down at the poppy in his hand. “He’s back… which means I’m doomed.”

An hour later, Bai Zhao was released by the police, seemingly unharmed. Lou Baoguo, waiting at the door, immediately embraced him in a bear hug: “Brother! I heard everything. Don’t ever do anything that stupid again!”

Zhou Yi pulled him away. “Be gentle, Xiao Bai is injured.”

Bai Zhao: “It’s fine, it’s been treated. I cut my back on a rock, but luckily it didn’t pierce any internal organs, and no bones were broken.”

Zhou Yi breathed a sigh of relief: “That’s truly fortunate… Where have you been these past few days? How did you get treated? Did you run into Bai Zhiming? And what did the police ask you?”

“The police asked me the same questions you just did.” Bai Zhao replied as he walked upstairs. “I climbed halfway up the mountain, then lost my strength and rolled down. I was rescued by some locals who had come to see what the explosion was all about. I was unconscious for a day, and when I woke up, my wounds had already been treated and bandaged. I couldn’t communicate with them, and my phone was dead, so I had to rest for a few more days. I came back to find you as soon as I could walk.”

Lou Baoguo was shocked: “That rough? That could be a TV drama!”

Bai Zhao nodded briefly and asked, “Where’s the Young Master?”

Zhou Yi: “He’s back in his room. He probably hasn’t slept yet. Are you going to see him?”

“Yes. By the way, how is Mu Hao?”

Lou Baoguo interjected: “He’s great! His experience could also be a TV drama! He almost died, but some kind soul delivered medicine at the critical moment. He’s much better than before now.”

“That’s good.” Bai Zhao didn’t ask further.

The three of them went upstairs and turned into the guest room corridor, bumping into Pei Ming.

Lou Baoguo cursed under his breath, his face immediately souring. Pei Ming, however, remained gentle and elegant, his face beaming: “Bai Zhao, I heard you caused quite a stir just now and were even taken away by the police for questioning? What happened?”

Bai Zhao’s expression remained unchanged: “Nothing much, just a few minor accidents. Everyone was just concerned about me.”

Pei Ming offered a perfunctory expression of concern: “Then you have to be careful in the future.”

Bai Zhao: “Yes, thank you for your concern, Mr. Pei.”

After Pei Ming left, Lou Baoguo spat: “He definitely has ulterior motives. But Brother, you weren’t here these past few days, so you don’t know about the shocking reversal – Mu Hao said Pei Ming wasn’t the murderer in the rainy night case, but the victim!”

Bai Zhao’s expression didn’t change: “Really? That’s certainly strange. I’ll go find the Young Master first. You guys don’t need to follow me, go to sleep.”

He quickened his pace, leaving Lou Baoguo and Zhou Yi behind. They stopped in unison.

Lou Baoguo stared longingly at his back, complaining: “Was Brother just brushing me off? He was definitely brushing me off! I told him such shocking news, and he didn’t care at all!”

Zhou Yi: “You don’t understand. Only a married man like me who’s constantly away from home can understand. They’ve been separated for six days, how could he still care about his brothers!”

The night had deepened, but the vibrant red poppies in the vase illuminated the entire room like a brilliant, passionate fire.

Yu Duqiu waited for over an hour and finally heard a knock on the door.

He checked himself in the mirror first, making sure his face betrayed no emotion, then got up and opened the door to the expected person. He blocked the doorway, preventing the other man from entering, his light eyes cold: “Next time you act on your own like this, don’t—”

Before he could finish, two hands reached out and embraced him tightly. The face he had longed for was close at hand, quickly enlarging.

The door clicked shut gently, the sound softer than his heartbeat.

His lips felt warm, and then the long-lost warmth quickly spread throughout his body, even his fingertips beginning to tingle. Bai Zhao gently kissed him for a moment, wetting his lips, but not satisfied with superficial contact. His tongue pushed open the gap between his lips and teeth, slipping inside.

The moment their tongues touched, Yu Duqiu trembled involuntarily, then pushed the unrestrained man in front of him away fiercely, his hand rising and falling—

“Slap!”

The echo of the slap reverberated through the room.

Bai Zhao’s head was turned by the blow, a bright red mark quickly appearing on his face.

Yu Duqiu grabbed his collar fiercely, their noses almost touching, his eyes sharp and cold: “I’m talking to you, did you hear me?”

Bai Zhao tugged at the corner of his mouth, seemingly unfazed: “I’ve never seen you this angry.”

“Because no one has ever made me this angry.” Yu Duqiu’s face was as cold as ice. “You didn’t save me at all, and you almost got yourself killed. Your individual heroism is useless, it only makes you look arrogant and stupid.”

Bai Zhao’s gaze fell on the coat rack by the door—Yu Duqiu’s suit jacket hung there, the boutonniere still holding the small flower he had given him. It was completely withered now, but it had been treasured and preserved.

Half red and half white, as if the poppy and the white hibiscus were one.

The unspoken emotions were all hidden in that flower.

He looked back and gently touched the tip of the other man’s nose, apologizing sincerely: “I know I was wrong, please forgive me, Young Master.”

Yu Duqiu narrowed his eyes, a dangerous glint flashing through them. He then grabbed his collar and threw him onto the bed.

The mattress was soft and bouncy, so the fall wasn’t painful, but the wound on Bai Zhao’s back hadn’t fully healed. He couldn’t help but groan and instinctively tried to sit up, but Yu Duqiu stepped on his chest with his leg, pinning him down.

“If you want my forgiveness, you have to tell me the truth first.” Yu Duqiu looked down at him, his face obscured by the backlight, his leather shoes pressing hard against his chest. “I don’t know what story you made up to fool those policemen, but you can’t fool me. Where did you go? What did you do? What secrets are you hiding… in here?”

Bai Zhao looked at him: “No matter what secrets I have, my feelings for you have never changed.”

“That sounds nice, but do you think I—”

“Do I really have to die, with my corpse laid out in front of you, before you’ll believe me?”

Yu Duqiu’s voice and body froze abruptly.

“You’re so smart, so suspicious. If there was a shred of falsehood in my feelings for you, you would have discovered it long ago, wouldn’t you?” Bai Zhao’s hand gripped his ankle, pressing his own chest against Yu Duqiu’s foot. “There are other things in my heart, but you will always be the most important. I haven’t encountered much good in my life, my only luck was meeting you.”

Yu Duqiu scoffed. “Is meeting me considered lucky? If you hadn’t met me, you’d be living a peaceful life now, wouldn’t you?”

Bai Zhao gently shook his head. “Even if a moth doesn’t fly into a flame, its lifespan is only nine days. Compared to spending a short, insignificant life in darkness, I’d rather rush towards you, to die in the hottest, brightest fire.”

Yu Duqiu pursed his lips, not responding, but the heart beneath his foot beat so fiercely, as if it were pounding against his own heart, unstoppable.

Something solid seemed to shatter within him with a crash.

His pretense of indifference crumbled.

He really didn’t want to admit it, but he had to. He was willing to be that moth too.

Even though he knew this fire might burn him to ashes, at this moment, his heart, which had been cold for so many years, only wanted to feel an unprecedented heat.

Yu Duqiu took a deep breath, slowly exhaling, pushing his hair back from his forehead. He took his foot off Bai Zhao’s chest and swung his leg over him, bracing his arms on either side of the man’s head.

The hair he had just smoothed back fell loose again, shimmering with a dazzling pale gold in the warm overhead light.

“I haven’t encountered many bad things in my life either. The worst one so far… is you.”

Bai Zhao’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He raised a hand and stroked Yu Duqiu’s smooth face: “I hope you don’t meet me in your next life… Too bad you’re a materialist.”

“Yes, I don’t believe in a next life.” Yu Duqiu closed his eyes, feeling Bai Zhao’s fingers slowly trace his cheek, then his neck, his collarbone. “But now… I hope I’m wrong. You’ve destroyed all my rules, my principles, my bottom line. Just punishing you in this life… doesn’t seem like enough.”

The hand lingering on his neck paused. “…Can I take that as a confession?”

“You can take it as anything you want.” Yu Duqiu slowly lowered his head, his still-damp lips gently brushing against the flushed cheek of the man beneath him. 

“Bai Zhao, this is my craziest gamble, betting myself, betting on your sincerity towards me… Don’t let me lose.”