Love Late

Chapter 20

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Chapter Nineteen
 

 During my recovery period, I returned home for the time being.  It wasn’t a big deal. My days were still quite carefree.  All day long I just ate and drank, watched some TV, held out my arms to be dressed, and opened my mouth to be fed.  Shu Nian even had to give me a hand when I showered.  Although Xie Yan was driven mad by the fact that Shu Nian had to face my nudity, I felt that it was me, the one exposed, who was being taken advantage of.I got headaches when I thought about the train wreck of events that had happened. I was afraid that I might even have thoughts of jumping from the balcony if I thought about it too much.  On the other hand, if I could stop thinking about it, I could live my life carefree without worries, so I chose to ignore and forget.I forgot about the sweet and bitter moments with Shao Yan from the beginning to end.  I ignored the discomfort from the surgery and the tediousness and pain of dressing my wounds.  At the moment, like the return of the mummy, I was unable to hold anything, and I walked even more slowly than Shu Nian.As for my own life planning, I had no choice but to put it aside for now.  Even though I’d never be young again and was extremely sensitive to the pa.s.sing of time, idealism always has to give way to reality.  Even if I wanted to be firm in spirit while broken in body, I couldn’t build my career looking like the offspring of a mummy and Iron-Crutch Li.It wasn’t that bad to live a life of eating and drinking and staring into s.p.a.ce until I doze off.At most my heart would occasionally ache in the dead of the night.One day as watched Xiao Jia playing with Xiao Xi in the living room, I calculated out of boredom how old I’d be when they become pretty young men.  The result was really depressing.Shu Nian was making a phone call on the balcony.  The call unexpectedly ended quickly this time.  He came back inside and timidly said to me, “Brother, Ke Luo is coming.”With a “pfff,” I spit out the date pit in my mouth and glared at him.“It wasn’t me who told him.”  Shu Nian flailed his arms in panic.  “He saw the news replay…   He asked me about it, and I’m not a good liar…”s.h.i.t!  My heart immediately started pounding.  I rushed back to my room without a word and put on a stand up collar coat.  I wore a pair of sungla.s.ses, a medical mask, gloves, and even grabbed my hat, too.  Then I told Shu Nian, “Just say I went out to pay a friend a visit.”  After that, I hobbled out the door.Dressing like this wasn’t so strange on a cold winter day.  I waved down a taxi, got in and began my trip around the city.Aimlessly circling around for a few good hours, I sat in the backseat eerily without a word in the attire of a strange pervert.  Even the driver was scared, so when the sky was getting dark, the honest, middle-aged man finally couldn’t take it anymore and said, “M-mister…is it all right to drop you off up ahead?  I have to change shift…”I had no choice but to get out and find a café to sit in.  However, I realized that by being fully dressed like this, forget about walking on the road, just sitting indoors would be like silently shouting out, “Hey, everyone, come see this pervert!”So I walked out the door and wandered around.  The park was already closed, and the free-of-charge benches were the drifters’ territory, too.  I found it really hard being a street b.u.m in winter.  I walked a while to the left and wandered a bit to the right. After finding a nice discreet spot, I pulled down my face mask and drank a warm cup of milk tea.  It wasn’t until it became very late that I started to stroll back.I looked up to find the apartment windows dark.  After confirming that Ke Luo had left, I could finally drop my guard and go home.Just when I had entered the building, I saw that there was a man standing beside the elevator.My internal alarm went off.  I spun around to stealthily hobble away.The man yelled out from behind me, “Lee!”f.u.c.k!  He can recognize me even when I’m like this?!It was too late to run.  I’d already b.u.mped into him anyway so I might as well turn around.  I laughed through my face mask and said, “What a coincidence!  You’re here too!”He seemed to be a little taller.  He wore all black.  Only the shirt collar peeking out was snow white.  For some reason, seeing him like this gave him a very grown-up look. Young people are the ones who keep moving up the slope, becoming progressively mature and progressively better.  And we, on the other hand, are already sliding down the slope.“Yeah, Shu Nian and the others went out to look for you.”“What for?  I was only visiting a friend.  Didn’t I tell Shu Nian?”Ke Luo stared at me for a moment.  “As long as you’re okay.  Let’s go back.”I felt slightly awkward and gave out a sound of acknowledgment under my breath.  I reached out to press the elevator b.u.t.ton.  It clearly showed that the elevator was on the first floor.  Who would have thought that after pressing the b.u.t.ton for quite a while, the doors wouldn’t open?  The elevator was actually down.Could my luck be any worse?Despite trying my best to maintain a gentlemanly demeanor, and after holding it in for one whole day, I couldn’t bear it by now and fiercely kicked the elevator doors a couple of times.After I finished kicking, my face was totally scrunched up.  A cripple was no match for even an elevator.Ke Luo reached out to support me who was standing on one leg and grimacing in pain through the face mask.  “That’s okay.  We’ll take the stairs.”When we entered the stairwell, I suddenly sensed that the world became very dark.  I lifted my foot to go up the steps and actually missed it.  Feeling awkward, I heard Ke Luo say, “How can you see clearly when you’re wearing sungla.s.ses at night?”I gave out a forced laugh.  “There are still UV rays at night.  They’re bad for the eyes.”  And then I tried my best to walk in a cool, casual manner.Ke Luo said, “I’ll carry you up on my back.”Hey, I’m not lame yet.“Well, the wounds on your feet aren’t better yet.”  Ke Luo chuckled as he walked in front of me and actually crouched down.  “Come on up.”When I saw the profile of his back, I realized that he wasn’t a kid anymore.If I had to bite the bullet, I could probably walk intermittently up the stairs for the greater part of the night and still get home.  It’s just that I had wandered outside for an entire day, so my strength was sapped.  It’s hard to avoid having the thought of being lazy.In the end, I crawled onto his back.  I felt like a frog in that position.  Ke Luo propped up my legs and helped steady me, then stood up. It seemed rather effortless for him.  The physical strength of the young is just that good.I didn’t know how Shu Nian felt when he was carried up the stairs on Xie Yan’s back.  In fact, I didn’t know how I felt either. It’s very likely I didn’t have an ounce of feeling about it.  I had long felt indifferent towards him.  He was only a volunteer who was offering some compa.s.sion for the disabled.It’s just that his back was very hot, and when I laid my cheek on it, my eyes warmed a bit, just a little bit, too. Perhaps his tendency to pity the weak and small was acting up.  Ke Luo was really quite active when looking after the injured.  Every day he’d visit Shu Nian’s house.Yet I was unfortunately denied such pleasure.  Having him see my shocking face after I had removed my face mask and sungla.s.ses wasn’t anything to be proud of.He hasn’t missed a single one of my rock bottoms, d.a.m.n it!When I became irritable, I loudly snarled, “Hey, stop following me.  Maybe once I remove my gauze, I’ll become Shrek the monster.”Ke Luo only laughed.“And let me tell you, I won’t go back to the way I looked before.  I’m going to have plastic surgery.  When the time comes, I guarantee that you won’t be able to recognize me.”Ke Luo gave out a surprised, “Eh?!  Why?  Given your condition now, it’s not definite that you’ll have scars.  The doctor said that the probability of a full recovery is high.”“But I’m already fed up with this face,” I said with a resounding force, carrying a bit of joy in my retaliation.  “I want to change my face.  You won’t mind right?”Ke Luo stared at me for a while and then said, “It’s fine as long as you like your own face.  It’s just that there are risks with plastic surgery.  You should think it over.”What’s there to think about?  I’ve wanted to break away from the face of your dream lover for so long.I finally had another thing to do with my time.  As soon as I became bored, I’d spread photos of various famous Western male stars on the table and discuss my plastic surgery project with everyone.Shu Nian gave a dry remark. “Well, even if you do get the procedure, shouldn’t you go for an Asian look?”As a result, whenever I saw a good-looking man on TV, I would point and ask, “How ‘bout this one?”After I was overruled by everyone more times than I could count, the TV began to broadcast the news of the investigation of the explosion incident.  As the victim, my headshot was displayed in the corner.Ke Luo smilingly said, “I think this one is the best.”  Shu Nian repeatedly nodded and went along.  “Yeah, Brother, you’re so handsome like this!”  Xie Yan also said, “That’s right.  You got a nose and two eyes, which is pretty good.  Just admit it.”On the one hand, I was both modest and proud.  “No, no, that photo wasn’t taken well.  It doesn’t adequately reflect my handsomeness.  My chin isn’t that long!”  On the other hand, I warned them, “Don’t think that by flattering me like this, I’ll change my mind.”Ke Luo turned around and looked at me.  “Of course we hope you won’t make any risky decisions, but if you want…,” he smiled and pointed at the switched channel on the TV screen, “…I think this suits you very much.”I looked at the screen only to see the Animal Channel’s huge close-up on a snow-white fox’s face. I couldn’t help blowing a fuse.  “My eyes are way bigger than that!” And then I ruthlessly covered his head with a pillow and pressed him down with the weapon-like cast on my left hand, raining punches all over him.Ke Luo laughed as he struggled.  Xie Yan loved it when others fought, and Shu Nian watched happily as well.At times like this, it seemed to be heartwarming.The thought would also occur to me that if his tenderness could be given to someone with a face completely different from Shu Nian’s, then wouldn’t that indicate, after all is said and done, that there was a bit of hope for me? As for the situation with Shao Yan, how can I say this: I’d been in the social circle for so many years and was clear about the rules of the game.So it wasn’t that much of a blow.I thought nothing could wound my heart, whether it was Shao Yan or Ke Luo.  At most, it would only be a sting.After recuperating at home for a period of time, I was gradually able to move freely, and the mummy outfit was more or less removed.  Only my face and hands were wrapped in gauze, and the cast on my left hand was not taken off yet.Staying at home for days on end stifled me to the point of almost laying an egg.  I had gradually become more brazen, and now I wasn’t afraid of being seen by others.  I proudly strutted out the door for a trip and some fresh air with the gauze as well as the cast with hearts drawn by Xiao Jia.Ke Luo carried his volunteer duties to the end.  He accompanied me onto the streets, following me very patiently as I shopped around, buying a pile of stuff, eating a lot of different snacks and desserts, even watching a movie, and lastly going to a restaurant I was very fond of for dinner.Shu Nian was afraid that there would be scars left on my body.  He firmly believed without a doubt all that was said about scars: no smoking, no drinking, and no coffee.  Hot pepper, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, vinegar, and some more disappeared from the house.  No beef or lamb was allowed.  No seafood either.  Even tangerines were prohibited. Although his cooking skills were exceptional, with each dish like this, it still made me want to cry.And so today I finally tasted a heavily-flavored dish again.  Although it was a selection made after Ke Luo ruled out many others, I still ate, sniveling with so much emotion.  Ke Luo kept smiling as he watched me eat.  He, on the other hand, didn’t really dig in.  He just busied himself with helping me cut the meat.Ke Luo’s phone rang.  Listening to him discuss work in a quiet, cold tone destroyed my mood to overstuff myself.  He then got up and walked off to talk.  I was busy eating with the posture of a one-armed knight when I suddenly felt a shadow shroud my head.When I looked up, the man who stood before my table was towering above me, looking at me with a slightly twisted smile.Yet I could still greet him calmly, “Mister Shao.”“You seem to be doing well.”  The tone of his voice was full of sarcasm.I nodded.  “All thanks to you.”“I never would have thought you’d still be alive to eat here.”I smilingly said, “And I never would have thought you’d still have the money to eat here.  You’re not being hounded for your debt these days?”His face contorted as he clenched his teeth.  “Lee Mo Yan, you little b.i.t.c.h.  Don’t think I really fell for you.”I nearly spurted out the pieces of food that I had yet to swallow from my mouth onto his face.Holy cow, there can be such a big difference before and after a person shed all pretense of cordiality.  Despite the fact that I’d seen more two-faced people than two-sided paper, I was still truly surprised.However, I still couldn’t be provoked easily.  He was now spurned but that did not mean the sweet and happy moments between us in the past were fake.  I wasn’t an idiot. It’s just that everything on earth probably comes easily and often goes easily too, as do our feelings.“Can’t you see what you look like now?  You have the guts to even go out with that awful face?  An old geezer like you wants to be the toad that eats swan meat?  You can’t even get that thing up, right?”What?  You have the nerve to f.u.c.king humiliate me?If I could really muster up some energy, I could easily curse him for one whole hour without saying the same word twice, let alone break his nose with one punch.I was quickly considering whether to have a verbal or a physical fight, or perhaps both, when I heard a m.u.f.fled bam, and then a clatter, knocking over the tables and chairs.I had no idea when Ke Luo had come back, but before we could react in time, he had swung his fist at him.After that I just stood on the side gaping at the two getting into a brawl without a word.  They’d clearly only met once, yet they were like two enemies coming face-to-face.  It wasn’t until the restaurant manager rushed in with the security guards that they reluctantly ceased fire.The reason why I stared tongue-tied was because I was totally unprepared for this scene.  I should have been the one caught up in a fight with Shao Yan, but Ke Luo actually made the move for me.  Could this be considered him protecting me?After getting in the car, I still couldn’t digest it.  Today Ke Luo was really dutiful. He was the perfect knight protecting the princess, even though he had protected the wrong party.  I was a knight too and could occasionally be a great lewd dragon.“Ke Luo, thank you for earlier.  You’re a true friend, but I can stand up for myself.”“Yeah, I know.”“What I mean is, I’m not a weakling who’d only cry with a broken heart over being called old and ugly.  Even with only one hand, I can still beat him until he’s out cold.”“I know.”  Ke Luo laughed.  “I know you’re strong and that you don’t need to rely on someone else to help you out.”Fairly satisfied, I gave out a “Mm-hm.”Ke Luo started the car.  “I just wanted to do it.” It wasn’t until a while pa.s.sed that I gave another, “Mm-hm” with a smile. Although I didn’t need anyone at all to do anything for me.It’s just that this was the first time in my life that someone, who was fully aware of how strong I was, still stood up to protect me. I had mixed feelings about it. “Do you want to go home?  Or hang around some more?”I really wanted to maintain this kind of feeling a bit longer.  “Let’s go around some more since I don’t come out very often.  Isn’t there a firework show tonight?”We drove the car near a plaza, and after finding a place to park, we walked over there.  The weather didn’t seem too good, and we even took an umbrella from the car, but a lot of people still gathered in the plaza.  They were mostly young couples, all looking up at the various bursts of dazzling fireworks that continuously were being set off into the night sky.  It was extremely lively.Just as I was enjoying the show, a strike of purplish lightning in between the fireworks tore open the night sky.  And then a deep rumbling thunder boomed above our heads.  Everyone was holding their breath with rapt attention in surprise, and the next moment, raindrops fell on our heads.Instantaneously, a noisy downpour began.  The great intensity of the rain extinguished the illuminations all at once.  The crowd immediately scattered to avoid the rain, yelping and giggling.We acted too slowly and only found shelter under the concave arch of a closed shop’s door.  There was just enough s.p.a.ce for us to stand.  He held the umbrella open horizontally in front of us, blocking the rain that was blown in diagonally by the windstorm and, in fact, preventing us from suffering the misery of being drenched.As I listened to the pitter-patter of the rain beating against the face of the umbrella, my feet also became cold and wet.  The wind was so strong the rain was practically coming down horizontally.It was just the two of us in the narrow s.p.a.ce, and the umbrella was only so big.  We stood, crammed in with our backs pressed against the door, unable to budge.  I couldn’t see that clearly, yet I could hear his breathing over the rainstorm.  My nose was obviously filled with the moist, earthy smell of the rain pounding against the ground, but I could still catch a whiff of that faint fresh, clean scent from his body.I had no idea what was wrong with my senses and felt somewhat indescribably nervous all of a sudden.After a while, not only did the intensity of the rain not abate, but it also became greater with the rain threatening to tear down the umbrella.  I couldn’t help but curse out, “s.h.i.t, I’m getting wet.”Ke Luo tilted his head and looked at me.  What I meant to say was that I was going to get my body wet from the rain, and my wounds can’t get wet.  I was very unlucky running into this kind of weather.Using only one hand to hold the umbrella now, Ke Luo started to unb.u.t.ton his overcoat with the other.  He motioned me to come closer, and then, face-to-face, he wrapped me in his arms.I stiffened at once.  It’s almost a bit like our roles have been switched.  When I was dating Lin Jing, didn’t I often do things like this for him during the cold weather?“It should be better like this.”Being tightly wrapped in the coat with my chin on his shoulder and my cheek pressed against his neck, how could I say this was ‘bad?’  It’s already pretty good that I didn’t become frisky.Our body postures were similar to an embrace.  By overlapping each other, neither of us had one side of their arm drenched wet anymore.  From the aspect of avoiding the rain, it made complete sense. But maybe he had an intention other than taking cover from the rain.I dizzily thought, oh, that’s just great.  Apart from the breathing, I could even clearly hear his heart beating.  How am I supposed to restrain myself?  The mood was just right for a little something to happen.“Are you cold?”I wasn’t shivering because I was cold.  The reality was that I was burning with desire.“Lee?”Please don’t call me with such a naive, defenseless voice.Right now I’m a lonely, starving, old pervert who’s suffered a love setback.  If pretty young men wanted to guarantee their safety, they should all stay ten meters or more away from me. “Are you all right?”When he turned his face around, I was also doing the same thing toward his way, and completely unprepared, our lips touched.A warm, soft feel and that clean scent of his.I had no idea how long it had been since I had experienced this mind-suddenly-blanking-out kind of feeling.When I became aware of my surroundings again, we were kissing.  I didn’t even remember if I was the one who had initiated it so that it became a mutually-invested kiss.  Our lips pa.s.sionately roamed against each other as we sucked.  The moment the tips of our tongues touched each other, it felt like something jerked my heartstrings. I almost couldn’t breathe.  It was like my chest was about to explode.This was only a kiss, nothing more.There’s that one person who makes your palms sweat and your heart race, who makes you feel like life is complete, and that you and he make up the entire world.But he doesn’t belong to you.I wasn’t sure how long we kissed.  In my mind, it seemed like it was only a blink of an eye, yet it was also, to a certain extent, endlessly long.  I didn’t realize that the rain had stopped, and I didn’t know that the umbrella had fallen either.  It wasn’t until he had held my face that I sucked in a breath of cold air in severe pain.Ke Luo realized that his fingers had pressed against the wound on my face and quickly repeated, “I’m sorry.”  And I generously said, “It’s nothing.  It’s nothing.”But the magic had disappeared.  The both of us stood there face-to-face, uneasy about the baffling loss of control, just like the awkwardness of the pa.s.sersby who saw us kissing after taking shelter from the rain.It wasn’t until I felt the pain on my face that I thought of those terrifying wounds. Typically I couldn’t see them anyway.  What I don’t see doesn’t exist.  What’s more, there was gauze to covering them up too.At that moment, I really wanted to look squarely at my current appearance, so I used the lighting to take a look at the image reflected from the display window.  Mwahaha, doesn’t that pig head look ridiculous?I immediately lost interest.  “Let’s go back.”Props to him for putting his lips on that.  It’s really not so easy.Even if Shu Nian didn’t exist, and even if I knew he still had some pa.s.sion left for me, I was already too old for him. I was almost forty.  I couldn’t even afford to wait in line.I didn’t want to admit I felt inferior.  It’s just that in front of him, no matter how proud I was, I would always think that in reality I wasn’t really good enough.  I was already no good.  What I originally lacked became even more so, and what I originally did possess turned to nothing as well. Ke Luo, on the way back, returned to T City once to take care of business, and when he came over again, he brought me a gift, too.  When I saw the gift that he took out of the box, my eyes widened.“Lee, put this on.”“What the h.e.l.l is that?!”  What an ugly pendant—in the form of a bagua.“It’s for peace and protection.  It’s very effective.”“You’re not that naïve right?!  You actually believe in this?”“It really is effective.  I specially had it consecrated for you.  You have to believe in it for it to work.”I kept grumbling that it was too heavy and hideous and that it must be a rip-off, nitpicking and grumbling until at last I held it in my hand without another word.There were some honest things I couldn’t verbalize.Once I did, I would admit defeat and denounce my own worth. I underwent surgery once more.  The sensation from anesthesia was really hard to take.  I disliked slowly losing control over my body, but this was unavoidable with any surgery.Luckily the reconstructive process was going pretty well, and the broken nose bone had recovered nicely.What troubled the doctor was the att.i.tude of the patient and the patient’s family and friends toward the plastic surgery.  I demanded to change my face to something different, and the more my looks could deviate from what they had been before, the better, while Shu Nian firmly opposed it, and of course Xie Yan stood by him.  Ke Luo, on the other hand, didn’t express his opinion.Watching us quarrel continuously, the doctor had no choice but to suggest that we come back after properly discussing it, and then he sent us back home so as to avoid disrupting the peace in the hospital.On the road, Shu Nian didn’t talk to me again, and when opening the door, he shoved the key in hard.  He was really mad.  It was rare to see this guy get angry.After entering the house, he closed the door and looked at me.  His face was all red. “You don’t intend to look more handsome at all or like some celebrity.  You just hate looking like me, that’s all, right?”With no choice, I told him honestly, “I don’t hate you.  I just don’t want anyone to get us confused.”“No one would do that sort of thing!”“Someone would,” I smilingly said.  “After having a couple drinks, someone would.”Xie Yan was immediately alarmed and took a step back.  “Hey, hey!  I didn’t do anything to you, right?  The man last night was Xiao Nian, am I right?”Shu Nian and I shot him a glare.We were still at a deadlock.  I understood Shu Nian’s hurt feelings, but I didn’t want to be enveloped in his shadow all my life.Ke Luo, who was standing somewhat awkwardly on one side, interjected, “Lee, we all know you’re not Shu Nian.  No one would get you two mixed up.  You are you, and he is him.  So what if you two look alike?”I sighed internally.  So what if we look alike?  Wouldn’t you know the best? I was in turmoil, so I looked for Lu Yu to go out for a drink.  Actually he was the one doing the drinking, and I just watched longingly.Otherwise, if Shu Nian smelled alcohol on me, he’d probably take a spatula and beat me.After Lu Yu saw this pig-head face of mine, he felt indignant at the injustice.  “I’ll help you seek revenge.  I’ll get the job done.  Rest a.s.sured!”“Thanks, but that wasn’t what I wanted to discuss tonight.  Let me tell you, I plan to undergo a complete face change.Lu Yu spurted out a mouthful of his drink with a “pff.”  “You have got to be kidding me!”“I’m serious.”“Why?”I pondered for a moment.  It was weird that I could speak truthfully when I’m with a casual friend.“I have a brother who looks like me.  I don’t want someone to take me as his subst.i.tute.”“There are lots of look-alikes!  Why go through such a ha.s.sle?!”“You wouldn’t understand.”“I really don’t understand the weird way you guys think.”  Lu Yu pondered a little. “Well, do you like your own face?”You don’t say!  Of course I do.  I always thought myself as super d.a.m.n hot, and I may not be happy switching my face to Brad Pitt’s.“Then that’s that.  Even if it’s just a piece of clothing, if you like it, you wouldn’t just easily let someone else wear it right?  Even more so if it’s your face!”“…”“Besides, there aren’t that many people who would confuse one person with another!  Where would you find a guy who’s that blind?”I bitterly smiled and said, “Yet there is someone who is that blind.”“But there shouldn’t be that many.  Don’t tell me you’d change your face just because of what one or two people think?  Who do they think they are to make it worthwhile for you to be like this?”I was dumbstruck for quite a while and suddenly felt a slight shudder.As it turned out, after the tossing and turning, a little while of disappointment and then a period of hopefulness, in the end I still wasn’t actually over Ke Luo.I kept saying that I didn’t care about him, yet I could abandon even my looks just to wipe off from myself the reflection of the person he loves.I wasn’t living in Shu Nian’s shadow.  I was living in my own shadow.If I had no hope of getting him back, and I only wanted to be a senior to him, then why should I care who I look like in his eyes?Ever since I was little, I had never lightly given up.Why should I now be the person to throw away the helmet, discard the armor, and flee?  I refused to take it lying down. “I had better try and restore my original looks then,” I told the doctor in the end.  “If the differences are too great, I’m afraid I won’t get used to it when I look at myself in the mirror.”While I underwent the consequent operations, I tried to be patient towards my own face and unconditionally obey all of Shu Nian’s nagging.  I forced myself to resist my alcoholic cravings, and I didn’t incessantly complain anymore when eating my three light meals.Shu Nian wanted an undamaged face, but couldn’t, so why should I treat myself with any less respect than I deserve?It was finally the day to remove my st.i.tches.  Shu Nian was even more nervous than me.  His fingers dug into me so hard that it was agonizing, and I could only breathe in sighs.At long last I saw the result in the mirror myself.  I was much more fortunate than Shu Nian.  Apart from some areas that weren’t so natural for the time being, there was not one trace of scarring.  Shu Nian was so happy that he hugged me.I ignored the shot of jealousy from Xie Yan’s eyes, and for the first time, I hugged Shu Nian back.  From the corner of my eye, I saw the smile on Ke Luo’s face.  For some reason I had mixed feelings about it.I shamelessly suggested out of nowhere, “Hey, do you guys wanna come for a hug, too?”Xie Yan covered his face and yelled, “I don’t, I don’t!”  Shu Nian rolled his eyes at him and quickly pushed Ke Luo over to me, forcing him into my arms.With a smile, Ke Luo crossed his arms behind my back.  I counted the seconds—a total of nine seconds.  And then he, as if he couldn’t help himself, kissed my cheek.Xie Yan immediately shouted in shock, “Whoa, no need to be like this.  So d.a.m.n sappy…”  And then he suffered a hit from Shu Nian.  Ke Luo was a little embarra.s.sed and pressed his lips together.  His bashful look could really put someone’s head in the clouds, and even my heart raced from it.
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