SG 43

After dinner, it was still early when they got back.

Yan Anqing took the starfishes out, put them in a special box, and fed them.

Each starfish was turned over, and he placed a dried shrimp beside its mouth.

Chu Baiyan walked over and saw the starfishes neatly arranged in three rows, the sight was too funny.

“Why do you like starfishes?” Chu Baiyan wrapped his arms around Yan Anqing’s waist from behind.

“When a star’s child falls into the sea, it becomes a starfish.”

When Yan Anqing was young, every time others laughed at him, his grandma always said that he was a child of the stars and didn’t need to be like everyone else.

Being a starfish wasn’t bad. There were SpongeBob and mermaids in the sea.

“Do you know the ‘star grass’?”

Chu Baiyan’s breath brushed against the ends of the hair behind Yan Anqing’s ear.

It faintly smelled of alcohol.

“Star grass?”

Yan Anqing turned his head and looked at Chu Baiyan’s side face.

It was the first time he had heard of such a plant.

“You’ve definitely seen it. You just don’t know its name. It’s a grass that’s common in the bushes. It resists cold and doesn’t mind being stepped on. It’s very tough. Its flower meaning is loneliness but not solitude, passion but not display.”

Chu Baiyan’s arms tightened slightly.

He held him in his embrace and kissed the earlobe that was right in front of him.

“You’re just like it.”

“The caretaker at the Starfish Hall said that people who raise starfishes are all lonely. Are you lonely?”

Yan Anqing leaned against his chest and raised his head.

“I’m not lonely, because I have you.”

When he was young, he firmly believed that one day the son of the sea would come ashore to find him.

From the first time he saw Chu Baiyan, he had already known that he was the one he had been waiting for.

“Who am I?”

Chu Baiyan asked the same question again.

“Am I a merman, or a person like you?”

“Both. You’re the merman who turned into a human just to find me.”

Yan Anqing’s brows curved, and his eyes moved softly.

Only Chu Baiyan was his merman.

Not any other fish, and not any other person.

Chu Baiyan turned Yan Anqing’s body to face him and bent down to hold him up by the hips.

“Let’s go upstairs.”

He turned off the store’s main lights.

While walking up the stairs, the feeling of losing weight made Yan Anqing hold Chu Baiyan’s neck tightly.

He had probably slept too much that afternoon, because when he lay in bed that night, he didn’t feel sleepy at all.

That was the excuse he gave himself.

After lying flat for a while, he turned over to face Chu Baiyan.

There was a small night lamp on the wall at the end of the bed, so it wasn’t completely dark.

In the dim light, he traced Chu Baiyan’s features carefully with his gaze.

Yan Anqing thought he was doing it secretly.

As he leaned closer, Chu Baiyan suddenly opened his eyes and startled him.

“You… why aren’t you asleep yet?”

“How can I sleep when you keep staring at me like that?”

The warm breath swept over his face like a little brush.

It would’ve been strange if Chu Baiyan could still sleep.

“Then I’ll turn around and not look at you.”

Yan Anqing was about to move when his waist was held down.

“If you can’t sleep, then let’s talk for a while. Even if you turn around, you won’t sleep either.”

Chu Baiyan pulled him back into his arms.

“The photo album your grandma asked you to bring last time, I looked through it. Is ‘baby’ your childhood name?”

Yan Anqing had long forgotten about that album.

When he heard Chu Baiyan mention it, he made a soft sound of acknowledgment.

After a pause, he explained, “Grandma said ‘Baobao’ was something she just called out when I was born. Later, when I got a little older, she wanted to change my nickname, but I wouldn’t respond to any other name, so she just kept using it.”

Even after he grew up, Yan Anqing didn’t think that nickname was a problem.

Besides, only his grandma and grandpa called him that.

“Baby.”

Chu Baiyan whispered it softly beside his ear.

“From now on, I’ll call you that too.”

Their faces were very close.

If Chu Baiyan’s lips moved just a little lower, they would touch Yan Anqing’s lips.

So it was only natural that they ended up kissing.

At first, he only wanted to taste it, but he quickly gave up that restraint.

Their tongues met and intertwined.

Chu Baiyan pinched his waist. The kiss moved from his lips to his neck. Yan Anqing’s breathing grew quick. His eyelashes trembled as he closed his eyes.

The cicadas and frogs outside became white noise, drowned by the sound of their breaths.

Even though he was clumsy, Yan Anqing still didn’t stay still.

His hands were busy and messy.

During the day, they had been too hurried to really taste anything.

Now that the night was quiet, all his senses were awake, and he could finally explore and savor slowly.

When their breathing finally calmed, their bodies were dirty again, and there were several new kiss marks.

They took a shower together.

When they lay down again, Yan Anqing quickly fell asleep.

The long summer vacation ended.

September was still part of the travel season, but compared with July and August, there were fewer tourists.

Other owners worried about the drop in customers, but Yan Anqing was happy.

He didn’t have to deal with so many people every day anymore.

After the second interview and a week of waiting, Lu Ran received an offer from one of the companies.

He adapted to the new job for a few days and then started looking for a place to live.

By mid-September, he finally had a place to settle down in the city.

He only had one suitcase, so packing was quick.

The daily supplies he bought after arriving were packed in a large plastic bag.

He cleaned the room carefully and waited for Chu Baiyan to come up and get the keys.

“All packed?”

As soon as Chu Baiyan entered, he saw the suitcase and the plastic bag on the floor.

“There’s not much anyway. I put the keys and access card on the desk. I took off the sheets and covers and put them in the washing machine. Don’t forget to hang them after they’re done.”

Lu Ran lifted his suitcase.

“I’ll drive you there. I can also see where the place is.”

Chu Baiyan picked up the bag of supplies for him.

Lu Ran had originally wanted to treat him to a farewell meal, but Chu Baiyan said that was unnecessary.

They were in the same city, so there was no need for farewells. They could meet anytime.

There wasn’t much stuff, so Chu Baiyan didn’t open the trunk. He placed the suitcase and the bag on the floor by the passenger seat. After the start of autumn, the sky darkened early.

Halfway through the drive, the streetlights on both sides came on, shining through the windows.

Cars filled the roads, and the nightlife of the big city was just beginning.

They reached the neighborhood where Lu Ran rented his place. It was an old complex but well-equipped, and the rent wasn’t high. The building was old, though.

When they opened the door and went in, it was a one-bedroom unit, clean inside.

“At least now I’ve got a place in Jindu.”

Lu Ran placed his suitcase by the door and dropped himself onto the sofa.

“Now that you’ve settled down here, aren’t you gonna think about finding a girlfriend?”

He lit a cigarette.

“You had a bunch of girls chasing you back in high school. What’s wrong? Too picky? You didn’t date anyone through four years of college?”

Now that his job was set and his mood relaxed, Lu Ran felt like gossiping.

It didn’t make sense.

With Chu Baiyan’s looks, he had been the school heartthrob in high school.

How did he go through college without even a rumor?

Chu Baiyan smiled.

“Do I have to date a girl just because I’m dating someone?”

Lu Ran froze and coughed twice from the smoke.

“What?”

“Nothing. If I meet someone I like, I’ll date them. I just mean the person might not be a girl.”

At first, Lu Ran thought Chu Baiyan’s words sounded reasonable, but after a second thought, something felt off.

Not a girl, then what?

A woman?

Did Chu Baiyan like older women, the mature type?

Then he thought again.

Not a girl… a guy?

“Don’t worry about me. I know what I’m doing. If there’s anything, message me. I’ll get going.”

Chu Baiyan stood up to leave.

“Tell Xiao Yan for me, when you both have time, let’s get together again.”

Lu Ran came back to his senses and quickly walked him to the stairway.