Posted on September 14, 2021 by gooseberry
After those words left Xia Wennan’s mouth, he stared at Ming Luchuan under the dim lights and waited for his response.
And yet Ming Luchuan merely said, “I see.”
After Xia Wennan left the hospital, his mind was solely occupied with the thought of going home, and that home was still a place where someone was always waiting for his return. It was only then did he realise that his house key wasn’t in his possession.
He didn’t even know where it was kept.
Ming Luchuan stared at him in silence, then asked, “Now what?”
In the past, the university was his go-to destination whenever he couldn’t go back home, but that was completely out of the question now, wasn’t it? Out of ideas, Xia Wennan looked towards Ming Luchuan mutely.
Ming Luchuan suddenly turned and headed downstairs.
Xia Wennan subconsciously took half a step towards him before coming to a halt, watching Ming Luchuan go down the stairs step by step until his back disappeared round the corner. In the empty corridor, he could hear the footsteps Ming Luchuan’s unstopping descent; he eventually couldn’t resist the urge to lean forward and shout between the gaps of the banister, “Are you leaving?”
He never thought that Ming Luchuan would just leave like this. There were still so many murky things they hadn’t resolved, but there was no way of resolving them all right this second, and he could only yell out, “Is there any way we could get divorced? Would we need to divide up our assets?”
Ming Luchuan’s footsteps seemed to have frozen for two seconds before they resumed their descent.
Xia Wennan leaned against the railings. After two or three minutes of dazed stillness, he heard footsteps going up the stairs.
It was the tread of leather shoes. Even though Xia Wennan could in no way consider himself familiar with the man, he could clearly tell that those were the sound of his footsteps.
Sure enough, Ming Luchuan appeared round the stairwell a moment later, slowly approaching Xia Wennan.
Ming Luchuan didn’t speak a word as he arrived at the apartment door and used the key in his palm to unlock it.
“Where’d you get the key?” Xia Wennan asked.
“You left it with the guard at the entrance,” replied Ming Luchuan as he reached out to turn on the lights in the living room.
As the lights flickered on, Xia Wennan’s attention was no longer on Ming Luchuan. He walked through the door and was stuck in place for a long time.
The apartment was still the same; upon entry, they were greeted by a rectangular living room that directly faced old-fashioned wooden window frames. The window was shut tight, and the air was rife with the smell that was typical of sealed, antiquated spaces.
The leftover furniture in the room was sparse; a sofa and coffee table that was equally worn, and an old TV cabinet. They were all covered with a gray cloth however, and for some reason the room that was originally cramped seemed even smaller.
Xia Wennan slowly ventured inside.
To the right of the living room was a kitchen and a small balcony, while two bedroom doors were to its left, with a bathroom between them.
One of those bedrooms belonged to his grandpa, while the other was Xia Wennan’s. The doors were closed but not locked. Xia Wennan opened the door of his grandpa’s room first. It contained the same old-smelling odor, but it was as if Xia Wennan could faintly smell his grandpa’s scent too—his grandpa’s pheromones. His grandpa was an Omega, and though the grandpa in his memories was no longer young, he was as delicate and pretty as most Omegas. His pheromones were sweet, like lemon-flavoured candy.
When he was little, Xia Wennan’s most favourite thing in the world was sitting in his grandpa’s lap and with his arms around his waist. It felt like he was hugging a soft and warm fruit candy. Yet now, he could only sit on the edge of his grandpa’s bed in silence and try his best to seek out any remnants of sweetness in the air.
Ming Luchuan followed behind him at first, but upon seeing Xia Wennan take a seat on the bed, he quietly retreated and closed the door for him.
Xia Wennan keeled over, hung his head, dropped his elbows to his knees, and held his bowed forehead. He sat there, submerged, for almost thirty minutes. Eventually, he took away his hands and rubbed his face, taking a deep breath before standing up.
He turned on the lights and went through his grandpa’s cabinet and drawers, only to discover that nothing was left in them.
All of his grandpa’s old clothes had been put away, and he couldn’t even find anything in the small drawer of his grandpa’s wardrobe where the old man had previously kept important documents and valuables.
When Xia Wennan came out of his grandpa’s room and passed the living room, he was greeted by the sight of Ming Luchuan sitting on the sofa. Before the man could address him, he dashed off into his own room. There was still some furniture in his bedroom as well and, different from his grandpa’s bedroom, his still had his old clothes and books. However, his important documents and papers were nowhere to be found.
A while later, Xia Wennan exited his room and walked to the sofa, facing Ming Luchuan.
Ming Luchuan didn’t get up, only craning his head to look at Xia Wennan.
“Did my grandpa not leave me a single cent?” Xia Wennan asked with a face full of suspicion.
“He should have,” Ming Luchuan said.
“Where’d it go?” Xia Wennan probed.
Ming Luchuan calmly stared at him for a moment. “Are you suspecting me of taking your things?”
“Eh, that’s not it. I can’t remember, can I? Is simply asking off the table?”
Ming Luchuan rose from the sofa. Xia Wennan reflexively drew back to avoid being too close to him.
“Do you want to stay here?”
Xia Wennan had planned to, at first, but he gave up on that idea for now. His bed was completely bare, and the lone old blanket left in his wardrobe was unfit for the season. If he insisted on moving back here, it might take a while to put everything in order, and he’d also need to buy some daily necessities first.
Currently, his biggest problem was the fact that he didn’t have any money; he needed to find his ID and bank cards.
“Why don’t we go home,” Xia Wennan thus said.
Unexpectedly, Ming Luchuan was slightly taken aback. He asked, “Go to whose home?”
Xia Wennan hesitated. “Go to…ours?”
Ming Luchuan stared at him wordlessly.
The look Ming Luchuan gave him brought on a split second of insecurity, but then he thought, what should I be so unsure of? He lifted his chin and steeled his voice, saying, “Don’t I still need to sort out my things back home? My bank cards and papers and stuff.”
“You want to leave now?” asked Ming Luchuan.
Xia Wennan nodded. “Yes.”
“All right then,” Ming Luchuan said before turning on his heels and walking out.
Xia Wennan took care to turn off the lights and lock the door after exiting the apartment. When he looked up, he saw that Ming Luchuan was waiting for him by the staircase. He asked, “Have you seen my ring?”
Under the gloomy lighting, Ming Luchuan’s imperceptibly raised his brows. “What ring?” he asked.
Xia Wennan said, “An old-fashioned gold ring inlaid with jade.” He paused, and upon noting that Ming Luchuan hadn’t said a word, he continued, “It’s not worth much, but it’s pretty meaningful to me.”
The ring had been his grandpa’s. In the past, he’d often take it out and tell Xia Wennan that it was the Xia family heirloom, something of Xia Wennan’s Beta grandpa that would be handed down to him when he got himself a wife in the future.
Earlier, Xia Wennan hadn’t caught a single glimpse of his grandpa’s precious ring.
Right then, Ming Luchuan asked, “Meaningful how?”
Xia Wennan wasn’t all too eager to explain, and he’d never intended to. He quickly said, “Nevermind, it’s not worth much anyway.”
Ming Luchuan’s face abruptly froze over. He threw out a “haven’t seen it“, before turning around and heading down the stairs.
Posted on September 14, 2021 by gooseberry
After those words left Xia Wennan’s mouth, he stared at Ming Luchuan under the dim lights and waited for his response.
And yet Ming Luchuan merely said, “I see.”
After Xia Wennan left the hospital, his mind was solely occupied with the thought of going home, and that home was still a place where someone was always waiting for his return. It was only then did he realise that his house key wasn’t in his possession.
He didn’t even know where it was kept.
Ming Luchuan stared at him in silence, then asked, “Now what?”
In the past, the university was his go-to destination whenever he couldn’t go back home, but that was completely out of the question now, wasn’t it? Out of ideas, Xia Wennan looked towards Ming Luchuan mutely.
Ming Luchuan suddenly turned and headed downstairs.
Xia Wennan subconsciously took half a step towards him before coming to a halt, watching Ming Luchuan go down the stairs step by step until his back disappeared round the corner. In the empty corridor, he could hear the footsteps Ming Luchuan’s unstopping descent; he eventually couldn’t resist the urge to lean forward and shout between the gaps of the banister, “Are you leaving?”
He never thought that Ming Luchuan would just leave like this. There were still so many murky things they hadn’t resolved, but there was no way of resolving them all right this second, and he could only yell out, “Is there any way we could get divorced? Would we need to divide up our assets?”
Ming Luchuan’s footsteps seemed to have frozen for two seconds before they resumed their descent.
Xia Wennan leaned against the railings. After two or three minutes of dazed stillness, he heard footsteps going up the stairs.
It was the tread of leather shoes. Even though Xia Wennan could in no way consider himself familiar with the man, he could clearly tell that those were the sound of his footsteps.
Sure enough, Ming Luchuan appeared round the stairwell a moment later, slowly approaching Xia Wennan.
Ming Luchuan didn’t speak a word as he arrived at the apartment door and used the key in his palm to unlock it.
“Where’d you get the key?” Xia Wennan asked.
“You left it with the guard at the entrance,” replied Ming Luchuan as he reached out to turn on the lights in the living room.
As the lights flickered on, Xia Wennan’s attention was no longer on Ming Luchuan. He walked through the door and was stuck in place for a long time.
The apartment was still the same; upon entry, they were greeted by a rectangular living room that directly faced old-fashioned wooden window frames. The window was shut tight, and the air was rife with the smell that was typical of sealed, antiquated spaces.
The leftover furniture in the room was sparse; a sofa and coffee table that was equally worn, and an old TV cabinet. They were all covered with a gray cloth however, and for some reason the room that was originally cramped seemed even smaller.
Xia Wennan slowly ventured inside.
To the right of the living room was a kitchen and a small balcony, while two bedroom doors were to its left, with a bathroom between them.
One of those bedrooms belonged to his grandpa, while the other was Xia Wennan’s. The doors were closed but not locked. Xia Wennan opened the door of his grandpa’s room first. It contained the same old-smelling odor, but it was as if Xia Wennan could faintly smell his grandpa’s scent too—his grandpa’s pheromones. His grandpa was an Omega, and though the grandpa in his memories was no longer young, he was as delicate and pretty as most Omegas. His pheromones were sweet, like lemon-flavoured candy.
When he was little, Xia Wennan’s most favourite thing in the world was sitting in his grandpa’s lap and with his arms around his waist. It felt like he was hugging a soft and warm fruit candy. Yet now, he could only sit on the edge of his grandpa’s bed in silence and try his best to seek out any remnants of sweetness in the air.
Ming Luchuan followed behind him at first, but upon seeing Xia Wennan take a seat on the bed, he quietly retreated and closed the door for him.
Xia Wennan keeled over, hung his head, dropped his elbows to his knees, and held his bowed forehead. He sat there, submerged, for almost thirty minutes. Eventually, he took away his hands and rubbed his face, taking a deep breath before standing up.
He turned on the lights and went through his grandpa’s cabinet and drawers, only to discover that nothing was left in them.
All of his grandpa’s old clothes had been put away, and he couldn’t even find anything in the small drawer of his grandpa’s wardrobe where the old man had previously kept important documents and valuables.
When Xia Wennan came out of his grandpa’s room and passed the living room, he was greeted by the sight of Ming Luchuan sitting on the sofa. Before the man could address him, he dashed off into his own room. There was still some furniture in his bedroom as well and, different from his grandpa’s bedroom, his still had his old clothes and books. However, his important documents and papers were nowhere to be found.
A while later, Xia Wennan exited his room and walked to the sofa, facing Ming Luchuan.
Ming Luchuan didn’t get up, only craning his head to look at Xia Wennan.
“Did my grandpa not leave me a single cent?” Xia Wennan asked with a face full of suspicion.
“He should have,” Ming Luchuan said.
“Where’d it go?” Xia Wennan probed.
Ming Luchuan calmly stared at him for a moment. “Are you suspecting me of taking your things?”
“Eh, that’s not it. I can’t remember, can I? Is simply asking off the table?”
Ming Luchuan rose from the sofa. Xia Wennan reflexively drew back to avoid being too close to him.
“Do you want to stay here?”
Xia Wennan had planned to, at first, but he gave up on that idea for now. His bed was completely bare, and the lone old blanket left in his wardrobe was unfit for the season. If he insisted on moving back here, it might take a while to put everything in order, and he’d also need to buy some daily necessities first.
Currently, his biggest problem was the fact that he didn’t have any money; he needed to find his ID and bank cards.
“Why don’t we go home,” Xia Wennan thus said.
Unexpectedly, Ming Luchuan was slightly taken aback. He asked, “Go to whose home?”
Xia Wennan hesitated. “Go to…ours?”
Ming Luchuan stared at him wordlessly.
The look Ming Luchuan gave him brought on a split second of insecurity, but then he thought, what should I be so unsure of? He lifted his chin and steeled his voice, saying, “Don’t I still need to sort out my things back home? My bank cards and papers and stuff.”
“You want to leave now?” asked Ming Luchuan.
Xia Wennan nodded. “Yes.”
“All right then,” Ming Luchuan said before turning on his heels and walking out.
Xia Wennan took care to turn off the lights and lock the door after exiting the apartment. When he looked up, he saw that Ming Luchuan was waiting for him by the staircase. He asked, “Have you seen my ring?”
Under the gloomy lighting, Ming Luchuan’s imperceptibly raised his brows. “What ring?” he asked.
Xia Wennan said, “An old-fashioned gold ring inlaid with jade.” He paused, and upon noting that Ming Luchuan hadn’t said a word, he continued, “It’s not worth much, but it’s pretty meaningful to me.”
The ring had been his grandpa’s. In the past, he’d often take it out and tell Xia Wennan that it was the Xia family heirloom, something of Xia Wennan’s Beta grandpa that would be handed down to him when he got himself a wife in the future.
Earlier, Xia Wennan hadn’t caught a single glimpse of his grandpa’s precious ring.
Right then, Ming Luchuan asked, “Meaningful how?”
Xia Wennan wasn’t all too eager to explain, and he’d never intended to. He quickly said, “Nevermind, it’s not worth much anyway.”
Ming Luchuan’s face abruptly froze over. He threw out a “haven’t seen it“, before turning around and heading down the stairs.
