Crossing Together

Lu Yan had never seen Yu Zechuan like this before. Tentatively, he reached out and patted the other man's cheek. Frowning, he asked softly, "Are you all right?"

Before the words had even faded, his wrist was suddenly seized.

In that icy room, Lu Yan was the only source of warmth beside Yu Zechuan. In his daze, Yu Zechuan mistook him for his mother, who had died young. He gripped Lu Yan's wrist desperately, refusing to let go. Scalding tears fell to the floor as he babbled incoherently, "Mom! Don't jump! Don't jump!"

Lu Yan instinctively tried to pull free, only to be held even tighter. Yu Zechuan trembled all over in panic, as though the moment he loosened his grip, his mother, teetering at the window, would fall to her death. In a low voice, he pleaded, "Mom... don't let go... I'm begging you... don't let go..."

"Kill me... Don't torture yourself..."

Yu Zechuan cried very softly. He even had the habit of curling himself into a ball. Lu Yan's hand was drenched with tears. He struggled to move his fingers and found he couldn't pull them free, so he had no choice but to comfort him. "All right. I won't leave. Let go of my hand first."

He had never imagined that one day he would have to play someone's mother.

Whether Yu Zechuan believed him or not, the grip of his fingers finally eased a little, though he still refused to release Lu Yan.

The more Lu Yan pushed, the closer Yu Zechuan pressed against him.

In the end, like an animal looking for a nest, Yu Zechuan forcibly laid his head on Lu Yan's lap. His brows knit tight, he rubbed against him twice in unease before finally quieting down. Every now and then, though, he would still jerk as if startled, muttering incoherent things under his breath.

Lu Yan sat on the floor with his back against the wall, unable to leave even if he wanted to. Seeing how pitiful Yu Zechuan looked, he could only take off his jacket and wrap it around him, then hold down his restless hands.

His body wasn't astonishingly muscular, but he had all the muscle a man ought to have, his lines even and pleasing. A scorching heart beat slowly in his chest, faintly revealing a vigorous vitality.

The warm embrace and the enclosed space inside the jacket made Yu Zechuan feel safe. He buried his face in Lu Yan's abdomen and murmured under his breath,

"Jiang Boyun... Jiang Boyun... I'm going to kill him..."

Lu Yan humored him. "Mm. Kill him. Kill him however you want."

Yu Zechuan said, "And... and Min Dongxing..."

Lu Yan raised a brow. Min Dongxing? Who was that? Never mind. Better you than me. "Mm. Kill him."

Yu Zechuan said, "And... Lu Yan... He has to die too..."

Lu Yan instantly looked down. "You can't kill that one!"

He was obviously a very good person. Why did Yu Zechuan always want to kill him?

But Yu Zechuan said nothing more. Wrapped in Lu Yan's jacket, he shivered all over, fine beads of cold sweat forming on his forehead. One moment he cried that his head hurt, the next that he was thirsty, then that he was cold, then that he was hot.

Patiently, Lu Yan got up to pour him some water. He hadn't expected Yu Zechuan to wrap his arms around his waist and refuse to let go. Maybe he had mistaken him for his dead mother. "Don't go... Don't go... Don't leave me alone..."

Lu Yan said, "I'm not going. I'm getting you a glass of water."

Yu Zechuan closed his eyes and shook his head. "No... I don't want water..."

Lu Yan could only sit back down.

Yu Zechuan curled into his arms. "I'm thirsty."

Lu Yan: "..."

Lu Yan tugged at the arm cinched so tightly around his waist that he could barely breathe, wondering why he had come here to wait on this ancestor in the first place. Carrying Yu Zechuan, he sat down on the sofa, grabbed an unopened bottle of mineral water from the coffee table, unscrewed it, and gave him a few mouthfuls.

He hadn't given him much, but Yu Zechuan spat up more than half of it.

"Cough, cough, cough!"

Yu Zechuan coughed and choked at once, his eyes reddening from the strain and tears spilling over. His raven-black lashes were wet and clumped together, but his pale skin and bloodless lips meant that the faint flush did not make him look any healthier. Instead, he seemed fragile enough to fall apart.

Lu Yan didn't mind being vomited all over. He set the water aside, patted Yu Zechuan's back to help him catch his breath, and asked quietly, "Do you want any more?"

Yu Zechuan clearly did not. With his eyes shut, he shook his head at random and fumbled his way back into Lu Yan's arms, resting his head on his thigh. This time, he truly fell asleep.

Lu Yan tentatively tried to lift Yu Zechuan's head and move it aside. He hadn't expected him to be just as alert in his sleep. The slightest movement from Lu Yan made Yu Zechuan's fingers abruptly tighten, with enough force to nearly sink into his flesh.

Lu Yan's face twisted in pain. In the end, he could only sit back obediently. His gaze happened to sweep over the room, and he suddenly noticed the pot of purple flossflowers Yu Zechuan had tossed into the corner beside the floor-to-ceiling window. Perhaps because it had gone days without sunlight, it looked somewhat wilted.

If that pot of flowers died, Yu Zechuan would most likely throw it away.

Lu Yan was already thinking about what excuse he could use to bring him flowers next time.

The light and shadows gradually dimmed. The sofa was too soft, and with his arms folded and his back against it, Lu Yan let his eyes drift closed. Before he knew it, he had fallen asleep.

In the latter half of the night, close to four in the morning, the pitch-black sky faintly turned blue, with a pale strip of dawn at the horizon. Daybreak would come soon.

Yu Zechuan had a long, long dream. It was so beautiful that he was reluctant to wake. The mother who had been crazed throughout his childhood and had done nothing but beat and scold him suddenly became gentle. She sat by his bed, cared for him when he was sick with a fever, patiently coaxed him, and fed him water.

The Yu Zechuan of his childhood had never received such treatment.

He couldn't help moving a little closer to that warm embrace. Then his nose suddenly tickled, as if something featherlike had brushed over it.

Yu Zechuan frowned and groggily opened his eyes, only to meet a handsome face magnified before him without warning. The other man was so sleepy that his head kept nodding. When he lowered it, his hair accidentally brushed Yu Zechuan's forehead, which must have been the source of the tickle just now.

"..."

Yu Zechuan's pupils slowly widened.

It was a completely unfamiliar face, absurdly handsome: a high nose bridge, thin lips, a sharply defined jaw. Tousled black hair hung over his eyes, and his eyelashes were so thick they were enough to make anyone jealous.

The dim light only made him seem more mysterious and unfathomable.

But no matter how good-looking he was, it could not change the fact that Yu Zechuan did not know him.

Only the clothes he was wearing allowed Yu Zechuan to recognize the strange man who had suddenly appeared in his home as that odd neighbor from next door.

Yu Zechuan's expression instantly turned ghastly. Slowly sitting upright, he was just about to wake this stranger and demand to know why he was in his home when the man seemed to sense it and abruptly opened his eyes.

Yu Zechuan froze. "..."

Their eyes met, and the chilling intent to kill overwhelmed even the awkwardness.

Lu Yan: "..."

No wonder he had felt so cold just now. This killing god was awake.

Lu Yan lowered his eyes to glance at the hand Yu Zechuan held around a knife beneath his sleeve. He could only pretend not to see it and greeted Yu Zechuan. "You're awake."

Lu Yan decided to strike first. Before Yu Zechuan could react, he straightened up on the sofa and pinched the bridge of his nose. He was exhausted from head to toe without having to pretend, and he said apologetically, "I'm sorry. When I came home yesterday, I suddenly heard something unusual from your apartment. Your door wasn't shut, and I was worried, so I came in to see what was going on..."

He paused at just the right moment, leaving Yu Zechuan to fill in the rest himself. "I accidentally stayed in your home all night. I'm really sorry."

Yu Zechuan's mind had to be muddled right now, his thoughts a mess. Claiming he had found the door unlocked when he came in was another kind of gamble: a bet that Yu Zechuan, in the midst of an episode yesterday, did not remember whether he had locked the door.

As it happened, Yu Zechuan really did not remember. What concerned him more was something else.

Had Lu Yan seen what he looked like during an episode?

But the answer was obvious. Lu Yan had not only seen it; he had even stayed with him the entire night.

Yu Zechuan's expression became hideous in an instant. Humiliation, hatred, and countless other emotions surged into his heart. He remembered the classmates who had called him a lunatic behind his back when he was little. He remembered the frightened, disgusted look in Jiang Boyun's eyes when he had accidentally witnessed one of his episodes. Cold sweat seeped into his palms, and his fingertips began to tremble uncontrollably.

Yu Zechuan imperceptibly tightened his grip on the knife hidden in his sleeve and stared fixedly at Lu Yan. Tousled black hair veiled those bottomless dark eyes, and his suspicious, sensitive nerves nearly spilled into the open. "What did you see yesterday?"

Any normal person would be frightened by him. No one wanted anything to do with a madman.

But perhaps Lu Yan had spent too long in the hospital; the people around him were more or less a little sick. He was comparatively calm. Looking at Yu Zechuan's reddened eyes, he chose his words carefully. "I didn't see anything. I just think..."

Lu Yan paused before saying, "You might miss your mother a little."

The moment the words fell, the room went silent. Yu Zechuan stiffened, unable to decide what expression to make.

Lu Yan tugged at his cuff. After sitting for the whole night, his formerly neat clothes were creased, and the weary line of his profile lay in the hazy light and shadow, night lending him an unusual gentleness.

"It's getting late. I'll head back first."

"If you need help with anything later, come find me. I'm right next door."

There was thirty percent truth and seventy percent falsehood in that last sentence.

Lu Yan did not mind helping Yu Zechuan, but his instinct for survival also told him never to get too close to him.

At last, the man left the apartment. As he went, he gently shut the door, disturbing not even a speck of dust. Only the lingering warmth on the sofa reminded Yu Zechuan that someone had spent the night there.

Yu Zechuan sat dazed on the sofa, suddenly overcome by a brief sense of confusion, though even he did not know what he was confused about. The fatigue and pain in his mind came crashing in belatedly. Unable to stop himself, he closed his eyes and lowered his head, curling into a ball on the sofa. But that warm embrace from moments ago was already gone.

When the sun slowly rose, its lingering warmth would fade as well.

Lu Yan returned to his own apartment and splashed water on his face in the bathroom. His foggy mind finally cleared a little, though lingering fear followed close behind.

Lu Yan had always known that being a good person was not easy. He had luckily escaped Yu Zechuan's hands today, but he might not be so lucky every time.

Steam billowed, clouding the mirror.

Lu Yan casually wiped it and glanced at his reflection, noticing the faint shadows beneath his eyes. He was about to go back to his room to catch up on sleep when, as though he had remembered something, he suddenly stopped. His expression turned uncertain and alarmed.

Hadn't he been without his mask in front of Yu Zechuan just now?

At the thought, Lu Yan's brows drew together. For no reason, his heart began to pound with dread.

Yu Zechuan hadn't recognized him, had he?!