"Why did you wander off here?"
Ji Yanli's voice resonated through his back, vibrating against Su Yu's chest, sending a tingling numbness through him.
Su Yu didn't answer. "And why are you here?"
"You tell me," the man countered.
Su Yu couldn't come up with a reply.
Honestly, if Shen Le or Lin Yanjun had gotten lost, he wasn't sure he could have found them so quickly either. Yet Ji Yanli had managed it.
"Did Song Yanchu tell you?"
Ji Yanli seemed to let out a cold laugh.
"Wife, you're so naïve."
[Baby Yu is too innocent. Your White Moonlight told CEO Ji he had no idea where you went.]
[The White Moonlight likes CEO Ji too, you know! Wake up! You two are love rivals!]
[Sigh. How could our 'Dark and Broody Bro' find his wife so fast? Of course, it's because he's always watching her.]
[Seeing his wife walk off with someone else must have broken his heart. Hehe.]
Song Yanchu really said he didn't know?
Su Yu tightened his arms slightly around Ji Yanli's neck, feeling the pulse throbbing against his skin.
"So how did you find me? Sniffing me out like a dog?"
The man seemed to let out a low chuckle.
"Wife, if I want to find you, I will find you."
Su Yu swung the flashlight in his hand, suddenly remembering those dark eyes outside the orphanage gate.
It felt like he'd met them countless times.
Lately, every time he turned his head, he'd meet Ji Yanli's gaze, no matter where they were.
Just as the bullet comments said, it was like he was always watching him.
Su Yu was an illegitimate child.
He was used to being watched—eyes filled with infatuation, or mockery, or probing curiosity.
But every time he met Ji Yanli's gaze, he could never discern any particular emotion in them.
They simply rested on him, calm and steady, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Su Yu suddenly said, "Ji Yanli, let's get along peacefully from now on."
Ji Yanli's voice held a note of confusion.
"Hmm?"
He had amnesia.
Talking about this now was like talking to a wall.
But Su Yu still wanted to say it.
"Never mind. Just remember it, that's all."
The woods were quiet. It being summer, the faint chirping of cicadas could be heard now and then.
Step by step, the two slowly made their way out of the woods.
A few campfires crackled outside the tents, emitting a warm, flickering light.
He was set down on the soft sand.
Ji Yanli straightened up, leaving a command: "I'll get the medicine. Sit still."
After the man went into the tent, Su Yu glanced around.
No one was in sight. Shen Le and Lin Yanjun must have returned and were inside their tents.
No sign of Song Yanchu or Shen Xingyan either.
It felt as if only the two of them remained.
Ji Yanli soon emerged from the tent with a small kit, crouching by Su Yu's feet.
He took out a bottle of bruise and sprain ointment.
Pouring some into his palm, he began massaging it onto Su Yu's ankle, applying a bit of pressure.
Su Yu hissed in pain at the sting.
Ji Yanli stopped.
"Does it hurt a lot?"
"It's fine."
Not wanting to seem fragile, Su Yu turned his head away, determinedly suppressing any sound.
Bandage was wrapped around his ankle in overlapping circles, securing the injury.
Ji Yanli's fingertips brushed against his skin, sending faint, ticklish shivers.
Su Yu drew his foot back slightly.
"That's enough."
Ji Yanli's hand gripped his calf, pulling it back firmly.
"Don't move."
He finished with a knot, slightly crooked.
Su Yu couldn't help but laugh.
"What kind of mess is that? It's so ugly."
"Wife, it's my first time doing this. Forgive me."
His voice was sticky-sweet, like a big dog whining, making Su Yu's ears heat up.
Su Yu couldn't take it.
"Don't talk like that."
Ji Yanli sat down beside him. Side by side, the sea breeze blew over them, carrying a chill.
Su Yu suddenly lay back, his back meeting the soft sand, like a bed.
"The ground is cold."
Ignoring the comment, he patted the empty space beside him.
"What are you, scared? A big man like you? Lie down."
The man complied, lying down as well. The two lay there in silence.
The sky by the sea was always so clean and clear.
A deep blue canvas dotted with scattered, twinkling stars.
Su Yu suddenly remembered a saying:
'People who have watched the stars together won't drift apart, no matter how far they go.'
He smiled to himself.
It seemed like even after all this time of mutual disdain and entanglement,
it would be hard for him and Ji Yanli to truly drift apart.
And now they were lying side-by-side watching the stars.
If Ji Yanli hadn't lost his memory, perhaps this moment would never have happened in this lifetime.
"Ji Yanli."
"Hmm."
Ji Yanli responded quickly.
Su Yu's voice was muffled.
"Tell me, what is it about me that you even like?"
The bullet comments were always going on about how much Ji Yanli liked him. Suddenly, he really wanted to hear the answer from the man himself.
He felt a strange excitement.
"Could it be that you like me because I'm good-for-nothing?"
Su Yu stretched out a hand, spreading his fingers to encompass a star in his palm.
"Or do you like my bad temper? That can't be right, though. Someone like you should prefer someone like Song Yanchu—gentle, sweet, and obedient."
Ji Yanli's voice was calm and gentle, as if he'd seriously considered the question.
He spoke slowly.
"Wife, I'd like you no matter what you're like."
No special requirements needed. As long as it's you, that's enough.
Su Yu turned his face to look at him. In the faint starlight, he could see the high bridge of his nose.
Sensing Su Yu's gaze, Ji Yanli also turned to look at him.
Su Yu found himself falling into those eyes, deep as the cosmos, feeling enveloped by them.
He couldn't hear the outside world, only the beating of a certain organ in his chest.
He quickly turned his face back, letting out a couple of dry laughs.
"I must be crazy, asking you that."
If Ji Yanli's brain was sick, did that mean he was sick too?
Another thought struck him. If Ji Yanli regained his memory, would he remember all this?
If he recalled Su Yu asking him such questions, would he wear that familiar look of disgust and contempt, saying in that familiar tone,
"Young Master Su Yu, it seems your mind really isn't clear."
His pinky finger was suddenly hooked—by Ji Yanli's index finger.
"Wife, will you like me too?"
[Folks, I'm tearing up. They're both getting it. A happy ending is just around the corner!]
[Su Yu-baby, say it! Say those two words!]
[Suddenly I wish it was the pre-amnesia CEO Ji asking this question... I miss him.]
[Stop being sentimental! Amnesiac or not, it's still CEO Ji! Either way, he can 'inspect' Su Yu! 'Inspect' him to death!]
Su Yu's lips moved.
'You're fucking insane!'
'Damn it, is your neurosis acting up again?'
'Don't say such disgusting things; I haven't even had dinner yet.'
These familiar phrases ran through his mind but didn't leave his lips.
He opened his mouth.
His heartbeat grew faster and faster.
Just what answer did he want to give?
"I..."
"Whoa! What are you two doing here? Scared the hell out of me. I thought it was a crime scene or something."
Shen Le's boisterous voice cut through the conversation between the two.
He gently nudged Su Yu's calf with his foot.
"No way, are you actually dead?"
Su Yu's voice was low and ominous.
"Shen Le... if you don't curse me for a day, you just don't feel right, do you?"
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