FLME Ch96

Chapter 096 – Childhood Friends IF Route: (6)

“I’ll head back first.”

At a department gathering, Yu Wen had drunk a few cold beverages, and his stomach began to cramp painfully. Feeling unwell, he wanted to leave early.

His friends, concerned, suggested they give him a ride home.

Yu Wen declined, saying, “It’s fine, I’ll sit outside for a bit. Someone is coming to pick me up.”

The corridor was filled with soft music, calm and tranquil. Yu Wen sat on the sofa in the lounge area, the warm light from above illuminating the last message on his phone.

Xie Heyu: [I’m coming to pick you up.]

He instinctively scrolled down, but didn’t see his own reply. It occurred to him that he hadn’t responded, and annoyed, he turned off the screen and put the phone back in his pocket.

This awkward situation with Xie Heyu had lasted a long time.

In the past, he was always the one to initiate conversations with Xie Heyu, sharing everything, whether interesting or dull. After the confession, he intentionally reduced contact with Xie Heyu, gradually not as eager to message him. The chat box turned into a one-man show for Xie Heyu.

He tried to be like the old Yu Wen, sending mundane updates, filling the distance with trivial bits of daily life.

Yu Wen didn’t know how to respond, so most of the time, he didn’t. Occasionally, they’d chat a little, making the conversation seem less stiff.

He gave himself a perfect excuse for his indifference—busy. His social media, which used to be updated every few days, now saw posts only about once a day. Either he was busy with student council activities or helping his teachers with something. He even managed to fool his parents, who would call just to remind him to eat well and not overwork himself.

If he wanted to distance himself from Xie Heyu, he could only act in such a clumsy way.

But sometimes, when scrolling through the conversation, seeing the messages left unanswered, with conversations abruptly halted, his heart would ache, and he couldn’t help but feel he was handling things terribly.

Xie Heyu also saw his poorly acted posts, often messaging him to remind him about meals. Half an hour earlier, Yu Wen had posted a photo from the gathering, and within minutes, his phone began vibrating with messages from Xie Heyu—reminding him that his gastritis wasn’t healed and not to drink cold beverages.

Yu Wen hadn’t seen it, but when he did, his stomach already started to hurt.

Without thinking, he replied: [It already hurts.]

After sending it, he became anxious and hurried to retract the message, but it was too late. Xie Heyu had likely been watching the chat and responded to his retracted message: [I’m coming to pick you up.]

His location was tagged in the post, making it easy for Xie Heyu to find him. Yu Wen knew that Xie Heyu was always decisive in his actions, and it was too late to refuse now. He could only sit outside the private room and wait for him.

Midway, a friend came out, offering him some hot water and asking if he wanted to go to the hospital.

Yu Wen shook his head.

It wasn’t a big issue—after drinking two cups of hot water, he felt much better—but he had overheard during the meal that the group planned to go karaoke after dinner, and he was afraid of collapsing. This was the perfect excuse to slip away.

His friend asked, “Isn’t anyone coming to pick you up yet?”

As if summoned by the question, Xie Heyu appeared, walking toward him, coat draped over his arm. Yu Wen hadn’t seen him in a while, and from a distance, he thought Xie Heyu had grown taller. His figure was tall and neat, his nose bridge higher, his lips thinner, his features completely matured—less youthful and more imposing.

His friend asked, “Who’s this?”

Yu Wen stared blankly at Xie Heyu approaching, not hearing his friend’s voice.

Xie Heyu answered for him, “His guardian.”

The friend gave them a knowing look.

The two of them walked out of the hotel, hand in hand. Standing outside the main entrance, Xie Heyu waved for a taxi, and the first thing he did was take Yu Wen to the hospital.

“It’s fine,” Yu Wen snapped back to his senses and said, “I’ll just take a pill.”

Xie Heyu: “Where’s the medicine?”

Yu Wen: “…I forgot it in the dorm.”

Xie Heyu gave him a glance but didn’t say anything. He opened the map on his phone and searched for nearby pharmacies.

The closest one was only a few hundred meters away. Xie Heyu quickly pinpointed the location, and Yu Wen finally noticed that their hands were still intertwined.

He moved his fingertips, wanting to pull away, but the signal didn’t seem to reach the tips of his nerves. His hand remained calmly nestled in Xie Heyu’s palm, enveloped in a warmth that had a slight humidity to it.

“You said you came to S City to visit friends. Where are you staying now? A hotel?” Yu Wen initiated, breaking the silence between them.

Xie Heyu had arrived in S City a week ago.

He also secured his spot for direct admission early on, and after handling matters at school, he came to S City. Yu Wen was anxious for several days after hearing this news. It took him a while to mentally prepare himself, and he finally asked if he should accompany him.

Xie Heyu declined, saying he came to S City to visit friends.

Yu Wen didn’t believe he had any friends here but didn’t want to press the matter further. He just said, if needed, Xie Heyu could always call him.

“I’m staying outside, renting a place.” Xie Heyu asked him to wait outside while he quickly entered the pharmacy to buy medicine. When he came out, he also bought a bottle of room-temperature mineral water from the small supermarket next door.

Yu Wen drank half the bottle in a few gulps as Xie Heyu fed him the water. After finishing, Yu Wen casually put his hands behind his back and watched as Xie Heyu screwed the cap back on the bottle and packed the remaining medicine into a small plastic bag.

He licked his lips and asked, “Are you going to stay here this long? Renting a place, too?”

Xie Heyu neatly packed his things and naturally reached to take Yu Wen’s hand. Yu Wen didn’t react in time and was caught off guard as Xie Heyu grabbed his hand.

“It’s not that, I’m not staying on campus, I’m staying outside.”

Yu Wen: “…But school doesn’t start until September. Isn’t it a bit early to rent a place now?”

Xie Heyu replied, “I’ve already rented it.”

In that moment, Yu Wen suddenly remembered the reason he was here, and the words caught in his throat. He went silent, his mind racing.

“Does your stomach still hurt?”

Yu Wen shook his head, clearly distracted. “No, it doesn’t hurt.”

Xie Heyu didn’t speak further, leading him slowly down the road.

The street was quiet, with the occasional car speeding by. Yu Wen had no idea where he was being taken. The road stretched endlessly ahead, much like the foggy relationship between him and Xie Heyu.

Xie Heyu asked, “Are you hungry?”

Yu Wen: “…A little.”

Xie Heyu: “I’ll make you some noodles, do you want some?”

Yu Wen: “Where are we going to make them?”

Xie Heyu: “My place.”

Yu Wen: “…I’d rather not.”

Xie Heyu seemed unsurprised by his answer and turned around.

“When was the last time we saw each other?” he asked.

Yu Wen paused, looking at Xie Heyu’s face, now more mature, with a hint of unfamiliarity in his features. “…It’s been half a year.”

The last time they saw each other was during the Chinese New Year. On his birthday, Yu Wen had locked the balcony door, and the “Qingyun Ladder” could no longer reach him. The sparklers lit up in a corner where he couldn’t see, turning into a pile of lonely ashes.

That night, Xie Heyu stood on the balcony next door, watching him for a long time. Yu Wen saw a shadow in the full-length mirror, and he stared at it as long as the shadow stood there.

Later, when the shadow entered the room, Yu Wen silently pulled the curtains closed and went to bed.

When the winter break ended, Yu Wen returned to school, and after that, he hadn’t seen Xie Heyu again.

“Half a year…” Xie Heyu murmured these words softly, then suddenly laughed with ease, stretching out his hand toward Yu Wen. “Half a year, aren’t you going to give me a hug?”

“…”

Yu Wen said nothing, just staring at him. The atmosphere grew tense, his expression filled with confusion and wariness, like a young animal relying on its scant experience to determine if the trap in front of him would swallow him whole.

Xie Heyu raised his hand again, the plastic bag with the medicine inside rustling.

Yu Wen’s expression softened bit by bit, and in the end, he couldn’t control himself and took a step forward.

How foolish.

He knew it was a trap, but why did he still step into it?

Yu Wen awkwardly wrapped his arms around Xie Heyu’s waist. He felt the pressure from Xie Heyu’s arms, gradually tightening until it felt like iron around him.

His nose suddenly tingled, and his throat became tight.

“Xie Heyu… you’re hugging too tight.”

“Mm, because I miss you so much.”

Yu Wen felt too embarrassed to say, I miss you too, very much, especially… it’s like there are ants crawling when I can’t send you messages. It feels like I’m going through withdrawal…

Under the streetlight, they exchanged a hug, putting everything they couldn’t say into that embrace.

Yu Wen said, “I know you like me… I understood what you said that night.”

Xie Heyu: “Mm.”

Yu Wen: “I’m sorry for not replying to your messages; I’m sorry for not coming back to see you; I’m sorry for locking you out on the balcony on your birthday; …and also, I’m sorry for rejecting your feelings.”

At the last sentence, Xie Heyu’s shoulders visibly tensed.

For a long moment, he slowly let out a breath, then gently touched Yu Wen’s neck, saying something that seemed out of place: “I understand.”

He might understand Yu Wen better than Yu Wen understood himself.

He understood Yu Wen’s soft heart, his tendency to bury his head in the sand, his strange sense of responsibility…

His feelings were those of a young person, playful and without boundaries. But Yu Wen had always remembered that Xie Heyu was two years younger than him. This concept would surface at key moments—like when he doubted whether Xie Heyu had a “psychological disorder,” or when Xie Heyu confessed his feelings.

What Yu Wen considered first wasn’t his own feelings, but whether it was okay to fall in love at such a young age.

Xie Heyu understood Yu Wen’s moral sense, which is why he calmly accepted the distance between them this past year. When he spoke those words, he had already anticipated this result.

“Yu Wen,” Xie Heyu whispered into his ear, his words like a series of hesitant kisses. “Have you fallen in love?”

“…”

Yu Wen refused to speak.

“Yu Wen, tell me.”

Yu Wen parted his lips, his voice muffled. “What do you think…”

Xie Heyu let go of him, stood up straight, and lowered his gaze to look at Yu Wen’s expression.

“…No,” Yu Wen trembled as he spoke those two words, realizing in that moment that he had lost everything. Everything that should have been expressed, and everything that shouldn’t, Xie Heyu had already received.

In the midst of his dazed thoughts, he felt a shadow approach. Xie Heyu bent down and, tentatively, kissed the tip of his nose.

Yu Wen didn’t pull away.

Xie Heyu kissed his cheek.

Yu Wen still didn’t move.

Then Xie Heyu kissed his lips.

This kiss was cautious, unfamiliar, and simple. Yu Wen saw the passionate expression on Xie Heyu’s face through the gaps of his eyelashes, and couldn’t help but ask, voice hushed, “When… when did you start liking me…?”

Some of the words were lost in their kiss, unclear. Xie Heyu rested his forehead against Yu Wen’s, speaking softly, “I can’t remember… probably for a long time…”

Every time Yu Wen climbed over the fence, spent time idly with him, watched ants with him… every time he dragged him into mischief and said he liked him while laughing…

Those were the moments Xie Heyu held dear in his heart.