SG 34

The soft lips seemed to still carry the scent of cream when they brushed against his cheek in a light kiss. In that instant, all of Chu Baiyan’s senses stopped working. Even the movie seemed to go silent. In the quiet, the only thing that remained was the heat that spread wider and wider where those lips had touched his skin.

When the sound from the screen reached his mind again, Yan Anqing was already sitting upright as if nothing had happened, as though that kiss had been an illusion.

Even though he knew that the word “like” only meant its literal sense to Yan Anqing, the same as liking starfish, liking tofu pudding, and liking mango Napoleon, Chu Baiyan still couldn’t stop himself from sinking into that kiss. The words “You can only kiss if you like” kept echoing in his head.

It didn’t matter if it wasn’t the kind of “like” he wanted. Chu Baiyan could tell Yan Anqing that there was another kind of “like” in this world, the kind that not only meant wanting to be together but also wishing for closer contact, like holding hands, like kissing, like more.

He couldn’t even remember what happened in the rest of the movie. His gaze was fixed on the side of Yan Anqing’s face for a long time. Then he heard his own voice asking, “Can I like you?”

Yan Anqing turned his head, sounding displeased. “Didn’t you like me before?”

It was an obvious question. If Chu Baiyan didn’t like him, why would he be his friend? Why would he give him starfish and an annual pass, stay with him in the shop, and help him whenever he was in trouble? To Yan Anqing, all those things came from liking.

“I did. I liked you a lot before.” Chu Baiyan threw away all cautious thoughts and gave a clear, certain answer. When it came to liking Yan Anqing, his actions had already shown it long before his mind admitted it.

Before he could say more, the lights in the theater turned on suddenly. The movie had ended. Under the bright light, the mood from a moment ago disappeared completely, and any more words would have sounded out of place.

People around them were already leaving. Chu Baiyan held Yan Anqing’s hand and led him toward the exit.

They got back to Starfish Pottery before rush hour. There was still a parking spot by the road, so Chu Baiyan parked nearby. After being out all day, Yan Anqing looked a little tired during dinner. When they finished cleaning up, Chu Baiyan told him to rest early and went home.

Even though he had managed to finish a whole movie today, Yan Anqing still didn’t understand what it had been about. Being with Chu Baiyan had been more interesting than the film.

He didn’t like crowded places, but when Chu Baiyan was beside him, the world seemed to shrink until only the two of them existed. Everyone else disappeared from his attention.

He created a new note on his phone. Aside from his restock plan, he made another one called Rest Day Plan. He recorded everything he had done today with Chu Baiyan and added comments on every dish they had eaten.

After thinking carefully about what else he wanted to do, he added a new list of to-do items.

When Chu Baiyan parked in the underground lot and opened the door to get out, he noticed the photo album left in the storage pocket. They had said they would look at it during lunch, but both of them had forgotten. He picked it up and walked into the elevator.

After his shower, he took a bottle of water from the fridge, opened it, and drank a few sips. Then his phone buzzed. Yan Anqing had sent a goodnight message with a yawning emoji.

After replying, Chu Baiyan leaned against the headboard and picked up the photo album from the table. When he opened the first page, the top photo was labeled “Baby’s 100th Day.” He touched the plastic film over the picture and couldn’t help but smile.

Yan Anqing had been beautiful since he was a baby and had never gone through an awkward phase. If not for the autism, he would have been the type of boy everyone adored in school.

Chu Baiyan thought of his own student days when he spent every day playing football and basketball, sweating and unkempt.

The first few pages also showed Yan Anqing’s parents. After he turned six or seven, the pictures showed only him, with a few occasional ones with his grandparents. A few more pages in, there were photos of him in school standing beside his pottery works.

When he reached the last pages, his hand stopped. There was a family photo where Yan Anqing’s mother held a small boy, but the man beside her wasn’t the same father from the earlier photos.

Yan Anqing stood on the far left. His face had no expression, and he stood slightly apart from the smiling family of three beside him. In that photo, he separated himself from them completely, like there was a trench between them.

No wonder Chu Baiyan had never heard him mention his parents. Whenever he talked about family, he only mentioned his grandparents. His parents had divorced when he was in elementary school, and his mother had remarried.

Even without knowing the details, Chu Baiyan could imagine how hard things had been for him. He even strangely felt relieved that Yan Anqing had no strong feelings toward others, because that spared him deeper pain.

When he reached the photo of Yan Anqing in his graduation gown, he stared at it. He wanted to tell him that he was the best, that he deserved everything good in the world. Then he remembered what Grandma had told him.

“If you’re only curious about him, please find a gentle way to step back now. Don’t wait until he grows more attached and then push him away because you’re tired of him. For ordinary people, losing one friend is nothing. But for my grandson, it could trap him in place for the rest of his life.”

How could he ever feel annoyed? Chu Baiyan enjoyed that dependence and wanted to be stuck with him forever.

After he began taking one rest day a week, Yan Anqing’s life no longer was the same. He started to look forward to every Monday. Each day he added new plans to his list, and at the end of every Monday, he recorded what they had done.

A new wooden sign hung at Starfish Pottery. Every Monday, Yan Anqing hung the “Shop Closed on Mondays” sign on the door.

The long, busy summer season had passed halfway. The three injured starfish had healed. Chu Baiyan bought a small fence to block off the area near the counter so children wouldn’t run in again. When someone touched it, it made a sound so that Yan Anqing would have time to react.

That morning, after finishing his performance and returning to the lounge, Chu Baiyan saw several missed calls on his phone. They were all from Lu Ran. Just as he was about to call back, the phone rang again.

“Hey, you finally answered.”

Lu Ran’s loud voice came through the line.

“I can’t use my phone while working. I was just about to call you back.” Lu Ran was his childhood friend from the housing complex. They had gone to the same schools from elementary through high school.

After they entered different universities, they drifted apart. After Chu Baiyan cut ties with his father, he had never gone back home, and their contact had become even rarer.

“I’ve got a surprise for you. In four hours, you’ll see me. I’m on the high-speed train to Jindu.” Lu Ran sounded excited. They hadn’t met in years.

“You’re coming to visit?”

“I quit my job. I’ll see if there’s something for me in Jindu.”

“You quit your job?” Lu Ran had stayed in his college city for his girlfriend, so Chu Baiyan didn’t expect that sudden change.

“Yeah, we broke up. No point staying at that company. It’s a long story, we’ll talk when we meet. Send me your location. I’ll find you when I get there.” The train was noisy and the signal weak, so after a few words, Lu Ran ended the call.