Act 11: One More Kiss
Hang Hang: I want to kiss you.
Liang Ze: What? I"m not a girl.
Hang Hang: Did I say anything like "you"re a girl?"
Liang Ze: (Seriously thinking) No.
Hang Hang: So, is it ok? (May I?)
Liang Ze: (Seriously thinking again) OK!
[Kiss…]
Hang Hang: You"re gonna choke me. (Clutching tightly on his shoulder)
Liang Ze: You push your tongue in …
Hang Hang: …
Liang Ze: So I panicked…
Hang Hang: …
Liang Ze: You kiss me like you would kiss a woman…how I"m not going to panic!
Hang Hang: …
Liang Ze: You have such intimate expression on while kissing, maybe…
[Liang Ze pushed Hang Hang down, and straddled him After a long while…]
Liang Ze: Oh, you"re so skill with your tongue!
Hang Hang: …turn on the light, drive!
In this world, at this moment, no one was more anguished than Hang Hang. In poker, no one is scared of an upper hand player, only scared of playing against a noob. No doubt, Liang Ze was…a new player =.=
He would never be able to figure out his next move or his thoughts. Liang Ze would just go along with him by letting Hang Hang kiss him, but…he…would not comprehend his own actions… might not even know what feelings other people have for him.
Regarding the kiss occurred on the drive back home: since Hang Hang did not have a good rest last night, Liang Ze drove them back. They were talking and laughing, the sun light landed on his face contouring his beautiful features as they were happily chatting. Suddenly he leaned over and kissed Liang Ze. Such a magical moment. However, it has been two weeks since that kiss in the car. Liang Ze had been playing disappearing game!
He was not on TaoBao, not visiting the store. Even worse, his cell phone was turned off. Small Leaf’s baby was able to walk around in its small cage. Long Long was having lovesick syndrome =.= Hang Hang was no better than Long Long. Every day the two of them would stare at each other for more than three seconds until one of them heaved a sigh. One bald spotted head was missing Ikkyu, while the other one was looking at the gloomy cloud missing that imbecile author.
"This is the list of the items in the storage." Hai Hong took off her white coat as she adjusting her hair.
"Oh." Hang Hang was pulled out of his daze and replied.
"What"s with you?" Hai Hong looked at Hang Hang, "your soul flipped out of your body."
"That"s Long Long…"
"How you"re better?"
"Uh."
"You said that Long Long is lovesick, and you are not?"
"…"
"Talking about that, Liang Ze hasn"t come here for some time now." Hai Hong put on her coat as she said that.
"Yeah."
"Without him, dinner doesn"t taste as good."
"It seems that you really like to fight over food with vicious dogs."
"Ha ha ha ha…you really like to mock people, I"m going now, see you."
"Keep warm on the way"
"Uh, ok, look like it"ll snow soon."
After Hai Hong left, Hang Hang cleaned up the store a bit, then put Long Long into the cage, wanting to take it upstairs. As he was locking the door, he suddenly changed his mind. If you can"t come to see me, then how about I come see you? Telling himself so, he took up the cage (with Long Long inside) and walked out of the shop up to ten steps, then he suddenly stopped, not wanting to go anymore, this…what if he"s with another girl in bed again…he turned around and walked upstairs, back into his room; no, he really wanted to go and see him. Right, Long Long wanted to see Ikkyu.
So throughout the way, Hang Hang was trying to convince himself and engaging in an arduous ideological battle with himself; Hang Hang was determined to take a huddled Long Long to go see Ikkyu. Pa.s.sing through the photogenic road, Hang Hang faced broad road ahead, bustling with people. Everyone was in thick layers of coats, a perfect sign that this was a very cold winter.
What"s he doing?, Hang Hang thought to himself. Is he having fun with his girlfriend in bed?
Hang Hang laughed to himself.
It did not take long until he reached Imperial College, Hang Hang held onto Long Long"s cage standing downstairs. Some of the windows still had light on, but Hang Hang did not know which window belongs to Liang Ze"s room (apartment)
When he was upstairs, he wanted to knock on the door, but he put down his hand. Lifted his hand up and then put it back down again.
Hang Hang ah Hang Hang, what are you doing here?
Hang Hang cussed as he mocked himself. Alright, together with his first love, staging a "Romeo and Juliet" play in the middle of the night =.=
Knock. Knock. Knock. He knocked on the door.
Waited for a leopard pajama to open the door, but! Nothing happened!
Knocked again.
Can it be he is so immersed in his writing?
He knocked again.
Is he already gone to bed at this late hour?
He knocked again.
f.u.c.k, he"s having a one night stand with another somewhere else.
Hang Hang"s face twisted as he picked up Long Long to walk down the stairs =.=
As he was walking down, Hang Hang suddenly thought — is he having a fever? Recently, there"s an influenza outbreak, even Qi Ji also got sick =.=
With that thought, Hang Hang flew up the stairs. This time, he only knocked three times, when the next door neighbor opened the metal gate and an aunt poked out her head drowsily said, "Stop knocking, the children are asleep."
"Ah…"
"The boy living there went out already at around 10:30. He made such a ruckus outside in the hall earlier!"
"This…"
Bang! The aunt closed the metal gate.
"And now you came here knocking on the door at 11:30."
Hang Hang looked at the voice-activated light, then walked down the stairs.
***
"Hey, Shuaige! Open the door, it"s me!" Liang Ze banged on Hang Hang"s door, hands rubbing each other. It was very cold.
"Shuaige! Shuaige No. 2* is looking for you!"
{Translator Input: Liang Ze admits that he is the second handsome man >.>}
"Open the door, your buddy is about to freeze to death."
"Ah, my Shuaige ah, I see that your light is still on. Are you taking a shower?"
"Da Ye! Open the door, I"m about to be frozen to death here!"
"Ikkyu, are you cold? Come to my arms. Hang Hang, open the door. If you don"t like the monk, at least give some respect to the Buddha*, ok? Ikkyu is about to be freeze to death! How you can be so petty? It"s not that I don"t want to go see you, but your buddy was having a great muse for his writing that I finished writing the novel within one shot!" [T/N: Chinese proverb – means that if you don"t like the speaker, at least be nice to his/her company; in a sense, Liang Ze asks Hang Hang to not be such a petty person]
"Handsome Hang Hang! Handsome Liang Ze is here to play with you! Open the door! I know you"re inside, your light is still on, and your car is still here, come out now!"
"Motherf.u.c.ker! Ikkyu is missing Long Long, missing Small Leaf!"
Liang Ze"s throat got hoa.r.s.e due to the shouting once done, he leaned against Hang Hang"s door and slid down into a squat. . He slowly slid down against Hang Hang"s door. Ikkyu was not happy. It had been unhappy for quite some time now. Since the day it got separated from Long Long, it would either be overly violent or be in depression. These days he tried his best to finish the novel quickly. He was writing as he silently scolded himself. You really are a girl, you like him but you act indifferent towards him! If Ikkyu could talk, it would have lamenting its fate =.=
After coming back from the trip, Liang Ze was in a very good mood and his writing muse suddenly came back to him. He had decided to quickly finish this novel once and for all, so he could go to the pet store and fully enjoy himself there. With that thinking, along with Hang Hang"s smiling image in mind, Liang Ze began to push it through with finishing the novel – – – unplugged the land phone, turned off the cell phone, stored enough food supplies, and secluded himself from the outside world.
Until tonight, the battle was over. When he finished writing, it was some time pa.s.sed ten o"clock. Liang Ze had wanted to give Hang Hang a call to let him know of the news, but… the landline actually got cut off, and he forgot to pay his cell phone service =.= he face palmed himself as he got a little too anxious, he decided to just take Ikkyu with him and headed straight here without thinking. Alright, it would be a grand celebration for this reunion between the two spouses and the two friends!
But…
Hang Hang did not open the door.
Ah, right. Since the light was still on, the car parked outside, and the door to the yard was unlocked, Liang Ze stubbornly a.s.sumed that Hang Hang was at home. He persistently stood at the door and tried to explain to Hang Hang – – – the reason he had been disappearing into thin air for the past couple of days. But my friend, you have to forgive me. The writing inspiration suddenly rushed to me. I was so immersed in the writing that I could not let the muse go, but right when I finished it, I immediately rushed to here! Occasionally, Hang Hang had a change of mood, he would say this to Liang Ze: No one can predict when the comet will make its way to earth. We don’t have a station to overlook it =.=
"Hang Hang, if you don"t open the door, your buddy and Ikkyu will freeze to death out here…" Liang Ze leaned against the door crying out loud.
Such a forlorn situation, the Little Match Girl still has the matches to light in the cold winter, but since he went out in a hurry, he forgot to bring his cigarette pack and a lighter…
Until now, Liang Ze still did not understand why buddies shove tongue into each other mouth while kissing? Not to mention, a man is kissing another man at that.
The less he moved, the colder it was, and it just got colder every second as he got even more sleepy. In fact, these past few days he did not get enough sleep so he was getting tired, plus Ikkyu was nestling inside his arms, making it warm and comfortable…so sleepy. However, going to sleep in this cold and windy night, it was like…seeking for death! No, can"t sleep! Liang Ze told himself as he started to shout again: "Hang Hang, if I freeze to death in front of your door step, it would be a phenomenon! It would get front page coverage! A young handsome man froze to death in an urban city. Wow it sounds very interesting, in an urban area, not up in the mountain nor in the snowy area! d.a.m.n it, right in downtown! City Center! Inside the ring road! Haven"t you heard of Zhong Gu Lou*?"
Bell Tower view from Drum TowerDrum Tower[T/N – Zhong Gu Lou – combination word for Zhong Lou and Gu Lou – Drum and Bell Towers in Beijing – Bell Tower and Drum Tower have panoramic views over central Beijing and before the modern era, they both dominated Beijing’s ancient skyline – the point is these towers are in the center of the city, perfectly describe that if Liang Ze is to die here in the center of the city, it would make a big news]
***
Hang Hang hailed a cab to return home with Long Long. When he saw the front door wide open, he became extremely suspicious. Then he heard the pitiful cry of an old man in the yard…
Who could it be? Who would be so reckless?
"Hang Hang, open the door, I know you"re in there!"
"Stop shouting! The neighbor will splash cold water on you!" Hang Hang stomped up the steps, bringing Long Long upstairs in an unhappy mood, as he looked for the keys. Following the little light shining from the window, he saw a big chunk of something in front of his door…
"f.u.c.k! How is that you emerge from the front door!?" Liang Ze immediately woke up at seeing Hang Hang, Ikkyu also peeked out its head, and when it saw Long Long, it started to squeak! Long Long heard the squeak, then he made noises in the cage in response.
"How is that you look like a freezer-burned ice-cream?" Hang Hang noticed Liang Ze"s lips turned purple from the cold, his hand unconsciously reached out to feel his cheek, there was not an ounce of warmth left.
"What the f.u.c.k, I saw that the light is still on in your room, the car is parked outside, thinking that you are inside!"
"Hold onto the cage, let"s go inside first!"
"Who would have thought that you"d bring Long Long out for a walk in the middle of the cold night. I think you must have lost your mind, if you"re not cold, you think Long Long would not be cold too?" Liang Ze nagged as he squatted down in front of Long Long"s cage and opened it, "Luckily, Long Long is not frozen yet."
Long Long immediately rushed out of the cage and ran towards Ikkyu, the two of them hugging each other which created a bundle of fur-ball on the floor.
"You are the one taking chinchilla out for a walk in the middle of a cold night! Don"t let them play on the floor, take them back to the cage."
"Ok, let me take off my shoes." Liang Ze picked up the two furb.a.l.l.s as he took off his shoes and entered the room. "Let me clarify, I didn"t take chinchillas out for a walk in the middle of the night. I take Ikkyu to go see Long Long!"
"Take off your jacket. It"s warm in here, you won"t get a cold."
"Ah. To be honest, I"m about to freeze to death, I"ve been waiting for you for more than an hour! d.a.m.n, I thought that you deliberately didn"t want to open the door for me!"
"Don"t force such vicious reputation on me."
"I feel somewhat guilty right now!" Liang Ze said smiling as he hung up his jacket, and then flopped down on the sofa, rudely taking the blanket to warm his feet. "It"s so cold, I was about to die out there. It"s not that I don"t want to look for you to hang out and play. Since coming back from that trip, I was in a very good mood and the writing muse rushed at me, so I immediately got back to writing, and miracle did happen, I"ve finished writing the ma.n.u.script, ha ha ha!"
"Wow, congratulations." Hang Hang poured some hot water.
"I missed you so much, Shuaige!" Liang Ze said as he got up from the sofa, and then suddenly bear-hugged Hang Hang =.= This time, Hang Hang almost dropped the gla.s.s on the floor.
"It"s hot water!"
"I know, I just want to express how much I missed you!"
"…"
"Starting tomorrow, I can come back here to do some charity work!"
"Ha ha…" Hang Hang gave Liang Ze a gla.s.s of warm water, watching his smiling and unconsciously he also smiled along.
Chemical reactions are something very much like magical. Ikkyu and Long Long were chasing each other to celebrate their reunion, while Hang Hang and Liang Ze were staring at each other. Liang Ze laughed. Hang Hang also laughed. First they both were laughing like two idiots. After that stupor, they fell into a complete solidification, after that solidification…felt like next should be…
"Shuaige, you think, should I kiss you to express my joy?" Liang Ze scratched his head.
The one who kills the atmosphere was…him.
Hang Hang frowned and then hooked his arms around Liang Ze"s neck and covered that evil mouth with his lips.
After the kiss, Liang Ze looked seriously at Hang Hang, "Shuaige…you seem to really like this expression method?"
"…"
"Did you grow up abroad? I remember correctly that your parents are diplomats."
"…"
"You"d been abroad for a long time, right?"
"I have a set of IQ test questionnaire, do you want to give it a try?" Hang Hang crooked his nose.
"Ok! I used to do that when I was a little kid, my score was 180!"
Completely morose. So you just don"t have EQ =.=
{Translator Input – EQ & IQ:
EQ – Emotional quotient or emotional intelligence is the ability to identify, a.s.sess, and control the emotions of oneself, of others, and of groups.
IQ – Intelligence quotient is a score derived from one of several standardized tests designed to a.s.sess intelligence.
I just want to put it out here, so in case people who are not familiar with EQ, they will have a better understanding of what it is ^^ Since most of us are familiar with IQ already, no need for explanation ^^}
Proofread: Carmen Z.