MFW 14

That day, Li Fei and Fu Siting stayed at the estate until almost midnight.

Because of the candy commercial shoot the next day, they had to return to the hotel.

just as the clock struck midnight. The next morning, the Vizcaya Garden was bathed in sunshine. The already exquisite Italian garden was transformed into a fairytale world, with colorful candies piled up like small mountains in front of the fountain, as if the air itself was filled with a sweet aroma.

Fu Siting hadn’t slept well the night before.

“I could have endured the darkness if I had never seen the light,” he had memorized this poem in class, but hadn’t truly understood it then.

Only now did he finally understand.

How many more days of this good fortune could last… The more beautiful heaven is, the clearer the hell will be when it’s taken away.

But…

Fu Siting looked up, and at least for now, the world before him was still vibrant and colorful.

He was so happy to see Li Fei shooting the commercial… Should he live in the moment for now?

Especially since it was a candy commercial.

Fu Siting would never forget that year when he was fourteen, alone and hopeless on the overpass, seeing Li Fei holding a bottle of candy on a giant advertising screen.

Just then, two staff members, one on each side, suddenly grabbed him with smiles.

For the second time in his life, he was caught off guard and had his face covered in fragrant foundation. Confused, a pretty young woman approached: “Fu Siting, have you really lost your memory?”

“…”

“Wow, you really don’t recognize me? I didn’t believe it when YaoYao told me, look at those clear, high school-student-like eyes.”

The young woman introduced herself as Nie Zhen, the heiress of a famous candy manufacturer, the client for this advertisement, and claimed to be a close friend of both Li Fei and Fu Siting.

She gave a mischievous smile and patted Fu Siting: “Since you’re here, amnesia doesn’t matter. Go for it, Siting!”

Of course, every manufacturer hopes their advertising budget will be highly profitable.

Although Nie Zhen firmly believed that Li Fei alone could make a fortune, business was tough these days. If incorporating trending (rumored) topics (boyfriends) could give this advertisement a chance to go viral and trend on social media in no time, their group definitely wouldn’t let it go.

Just kidding. For the sake of business, she’s already used any means necessary!!

…

Fu Siting silently looked in the mirror.

He had been changed into a silver-gray suit, which was not only handsome but also very… cute.

Cute in that the cufflinks were made of gold star candies, the tie was also candy-striped, even the tie clip was made of woven candy threads, and there was a row of pearl chains sewn on the chest. In addition, the material of the suit fabric was also very peculiar, a multicolored gray that could shimmer and change colors when held up to the sun.

Like a glass candy wrapper.

His look was also completely different from the mature style on the red carpet last night.

His hair was usually combed back in a handsome way, but after combing it, the makeup artist put a… candy hair clip on it.

It was some kind of magic, the hair clip made him look ten years younger.

He finally saw what looked like sixteen-year-old Fu Xiaoting in the mirror, staring blankly. Then he saw Li Fei walking towards him in a pure white suit.

“…”

Like a prince straight out of a fairy tale, walking straight into the wedding venue.

The sun shone brightly, reflecting a dazzling light off the many sweet candies, flowers, and balloons around them, almost blindingly so.

…

Fu Xiaoting had hardly ever had his picture taken.

He was stiff and couldn’t pose properly, but luckily Li Fei was good at guiding him.

As soon as the director yelled “Action!”, he decisively picked up a pink candy and stuffed it into Fu Xiaoting’s mouth. The camera focused on him, capturing Fu Xiaoting’s momentary daze, his awkwardness, and his eyes instantly brightened by the sweetness of the candy.

“Is it sweet?”

Yes, but Fu Xiaoting didn’t have time to answer.

Because in front of him, Li Fei had picked up a huge jar of chocolates. In that instant, his appearance transcended years, completely overlapping with the chocolate candy advertisement from when he was fourteen.

Li Fei would never know how long Fu Xiaoting had searched the world for that poster back then. He had finally managed to collect one, and to this day, it remained wrapped up in layers of cloth and hidden in a drawer, one of his most treasured possessions.

Back then…back then, he never dreamed he would one day stand beside Li Fei.

Let alone film a candy commercial with him.

It seemed like a fantasy.

…

Everyone said Li Fei was incredibly capable, and Fu Siting witnessed it firsthand today.

The candy company’s proposal consisted of only a few fixed advertising lines and a few pre-drawn storyboards. After filming, the company said they hoped the two could improvise a bit more and film some behind-the-scenes footage.

Li Fei’s “improvisation” involved spelling out each other’s names on the ground with candies of various shapes and colors with Fu Siting, having staff put candies in balloons and rain them down, playing a code game of back-to-back to see if the chosen candy shapes matched, shaping giant cotton candies into rabbits and bears, and guessing the candy flavor by color with the loser having to eat weird-flavored candy as punishment.

So this was the main event, where did he get so many creative ideas?

The camera was slammed on and on, and Fu Siting was completely at their mercy. 

Meanwhile, the client’s daughter was screaming in their group chat: “Help! This is a single-dog-killing shoot! Please, these two, have some humanity…”

Two hours later, the outdoor shoot ended. Fu Siting never expected there would be an indoor shoot afterwards! 

The indoor scenes only featured Li Fei, completely different from the fairytale atmosphere outside—in a European-style castle, rose petals were scattered everywhere, and Li Fei had changed into a fitted burgundy bathrobe, outlining his perfect collarbone. 

Under the ambiguous lighting, he lowered his eyes, his fingers gently tracing the surface of chocolate, feeling the silky smoothness of the melting chocolate on his fingertips, as if delicately touching a lover’s skin.

But then, at the very moment he should have been most captivated, he looked up directly. In his deep black eyes, looking directly at the camera, was an unrestrained, dangerously sexy pressure, like that of a wild animal. 

And Fu Siting was standing directly in front of the camera. He was completely frozen in place. Li Fei’s gaze seemed to pierce through the screen, directly seizing his soul. He couldn’t struggle, couldn’t break free, and was directly gripped by this deadly temptation, his throat seized. 

Beside him, Nie Zhen whispered to him, “This is our ‘Desire|Fire’ series of Valentine’s Chocolates, it’s all about sexy allure. This style isn’t very popular in China, but it’s a huge hit in Japan, South Korea, and Southeast Asia, and now we’re going to enter the European and American markets…” 

… 

The filming finally ended, and the journey back would take four hours. Li Fei put an eye mask on Fu Siting: “You’ve worked hard, get some sleep.”

Fu Siting lay down silently, but couldn’t fall asleep.

Many scenes flashed through his mind: one moment the collarbone peeking out from under Li Fei’s burgundy collar during the filming; the next, the moment his hair was still damp and dripping in the bathroom.

Last night, they returned to the hotel late, and after a quick shower, Li Fei had blow-dried his hair.

His fingers teased his hair, asking, “Is it hot?”

He shook his head, but his ears were actually burning.

And yet, the hotel robe Li Fei was wearing was even looser than the one at home. The loose straps looked like they could be undone with a gentle tug, and coupled with his deep voice, elegant, languid movements, and the tingling sensation on his scalp…all the secret, shameful thoughts he’d had since he was thirteen were being meticulously drawn out.

…

A restless, embarrassed feeling mixed with his inner turmoil spread and raged.

Fu Siting lay motionless.

After driving for an unknown amount of time, the car stopped at a rest area.

The driver went to buy water, leaving only him and Li Fei in the car. The scent of leather masked Li Fei’s faint, crisp fragrance, yet Fu Siting felt the sweet candy aroma linger.

He sat up, gazing dazedly at Li Fei’s peaceful sleeping face.

His breath came in even closer.

The closer, the more confused he became, the more desperately thirsty he felt. He was a blur, wanting only to brush against those lips.

To touch.

To caress.

To grab his wrist, press down, and relentlessly plunder…

Countless chaotic thoughts.

Sixteen-year-old Fu Siting was like a monster lurking in the shadows, bitterly envious of the future version of himself who would truly cherish him. Sorrow and pain, resentment and distortion, were like poison.

Yet, in that abyss, there were many candies he crowed, looking so sweet.

So the monster of darkness was tempted, frantically seizing expensive candies that shouldn’t belong to him.

But what right did he have to steal them? He wasn’t the excellent, all-powerful Fu Siting, and he didn’t know how to become him.

He didn’t know how to be as lucky as him. His ultimate dream for the future was simply to attend a university within his reach, find a stable job, and support himself and his mother.

President Fu, the company, games. He was happy basking in the flashing lights and praise on the red carpet. But the truth was, achieving those things wasn’t so easy…

What if he couldn’t do it?

Would there be no future with Li Fei?

If the future before him was just one of countless possibilities, a little less effort, a little less luck, and it would burst like a bubble.

“…”

When people encounter things that are too far beyond their comprehension, they always tend to believe they are fake.

Fu Siting was especially prone to this; he found it hard to believe that such immense luck could befall a mortal like him.

So in the end, he only lightly touched Li Fei’s nose.

He didn’t indulge in stealing a kiss on those lips so close.

Because the past sixteen years of life had made him all too aware of what “reality” meant.

If he tasted the unrealistic sweetness now, but could only watch from afar for the rest of his life…it was better not to touch it in the first place, at least it wouldn’t be so painful.

…

Li Fei wasn’t actually asleep.

He was reflecting.

Reflecting on his words and actions over the past few days.

People are generally not good at facing their darker side.

Even now, he was still making excuses for himself, trying to convince himself that the collar of his pajamas hadn’t been deliberately open these past few days, and that pretending to read in bed wasn’t a deliberate attempt to look good.

During the photoshoot just now, he hadn’t been trying to seduce anyone through the lens…because if he had, he would be a terrible person.

His beloved boyfriend was enduring the anxiety of illness and amnesia. If he still wanted to be a decent human being, he shouldn’t have let pointless competitiveness take over at a time like this.

But the truth was, he wasn’t being human.

Li Fei was also annoyed by this about himself. He’d been like this since childhood, outwardly calm and noble, but inwardly always wanting to win.

These past few days, he’d been subtly trying to seduce Fu Xiaoting. His excuse was that if he could make sixteen-year-old Fu Xiaoting fall in love with him, Xiaoting would tell him all her past secrets.

He was doing it for Fu Xiaoting, not for himself.

…But is this really what he thinks?

Could it be that he simply can’t accept that his lover, who only has eyes for him, has suddenly returned to twelve years ago, no longer unconditionally infatuated with him at first sight?

Could it be that he’s just desperately trying to hold onto that person, to hold onto the unwavering love that has always been reserved only for him?

Li Fei doesn’t want to admit these things.

Perhaps it’s because he’s never trusted anyone for a long time, his guarded nature is strong, and he’s long accepted that he’ll grow old alone.

But then, miraculously, he met a lover he could trust and lived an unimaginably happy life.

His hard shell softened, and he began to actively seek love.

But his lover suddenly reverted to sixteen.

Returning to sixteen wasn’t the problem, but sixteen-year-old Fu Siting couldn’t instantly fall for him!

Even if there are many reasons—perhaps sixteen is too young, perhaps Fu Siting hasn’t yet matured—twenty-eight-year-old Li Fei still can’t accept that he doesn’t even have the ability to win over a naive young man.

“…”

How can he tolerate this?

He might even be treated like an elder.

Just as he was lost in thought with his blindfold on, a familiar scent suddenly drew near.

If Fu Siting were still the normal Fu Siting, getting so close would definitely mean he was about to steal a kiss. Li Fei had caught him doing this countless times.

But Fu Xiaoting…

Fu Xiaoting touched his nose and ran away.

“…”

Being loved isn’t easy, and loving someone is difficult too. He’d always heard people say that.

But it seemed like fate had always been too kind to him. Back then, Fu Siting had pursued him first, and all he had to do was accept that unwavering favor from the very beginning.

In this relationship, he never needed to guess.

There was no need for any testing, doubt, or torment.

But what were Fu Siting’s feelings when he faced him back then?

He had tried so hard, yet could only wait to be chosen. Not knowing if giving his whole heart would bring any result, how could that kind of torment be pleasant?

But Fu Siting said nothing.

Li Fei was now wondering if he had given him enough happiness later to compensate for these anxieties.

Fu Siting must have been happy with him.

But was what he did really enough?

Thinking this, he took off his sleep mask. Fu Siting had already lay back down. He looked at the little cocoon with his back to him and suddenly reached out.

“Don’t move, just give me a hug.”

“…”

“It’s nothing, I just suddenly think you… are very cute.”

He didn’t know where he’d heard it, but in Chinese, “cute” means “lovable,” and in other languages, it also means “to be loved.”

It seemed quite fitting.

***

Author’s Note:

Li Fei: Love is constantly feeling indebted, but while feeling indebted, you don’t forget to secretly seduce. Every scene that made Xiaoting’s eyes widen was the meticulously planned scheme of his inhuman boyfriend.

Fu Siting: QAQ Being hugged made his thoughts even more chaotic.

It’s Day 4 now, Xiaoting will only stay until Day 10. (Hey, don’t say such scary things when things are so sweet!)