Chapter 33

“Come in quickly, Zhouzhou,” Mu Chi called out, snapping Song Wenzhou back to reality as he leaned against the doorframe. “Why are you in a daze?”

Song Wenzhou snapped out of his reverie, nodded, and walked past Mu Chi into the house.

Inside the door was a large built-in corner shoe cabinet. As soon as Song Wenzhou entered, he naturally and expertly opened a nearby cabinet door, only to see his shoes neatly arranged inside.

Song Wenzhou froze for a moment. On the night they broke up, he had left in a hurry, grabbing only two pairs of shoes he often wore. He had been upset at the time, acting roughly, not caring whether he messed up the shoe cabinet. But now, the shoes were perfectly organized, unlike how he had left them.

“I…” Song Wenzhou hesitated, retracting his hand that had reached for the slippers. “I’ve brought you home. I should go now.”

Hearing this, the smile that had been on Mu Chi’s face the whole way dropped immediately. He looked at him with a pitiful expression. “Did you forget what you just said?”

Song Wenzhou’s mind was completely filled with memories, and he couldn’t respond right away. He mumbled, “What did I say?”

“You said you would make me honey water in the car,” Mu Chi widened his eyes. “You lied to me!”

“Oh, right, honey water, I didn’t lie to you,” Song Wenzhou muttered as he walked past the cabinet without changing his shoes and headed straight for the kitchen. “I’ll make it for you.”

Mu Chi didn’t feel happy. He frowned slightly, sensing that something was off with Song Wenzhou.

Mu Chi quickly followed and stood at the kitchen door, watching Song Wenzhou busying himself. His movements were fine, but his expression seemed a little dazed.

Song Wenzhou boiled water, his gaze focused on the kettle spout, watching as steam slowly rose. When the water finally boiled, it surged out of the narrow spout and filled the kitchen.

It was like his emotions inside—everything he touched or even just saw, like an ordinary bowl, reminded him of the past. His chest was full of memories, almost spilling over.

It had been almost a month since he and Mu Chi broke up. Although he hadn’t paid close attention on his way to the kitchen, and had never really noted the arrangement of the items in the house before, he knew that over the past month, nothing in this house had been moved. The decorations, from the sofa and TV to the pots and pans, all remained in the same place.

The honey jar in the cabinet still contained the same amount of honey he had used last time.

Ding—

After the water boiled, the kettle automatically shut off. Song Wenzhou mechanically scooped a spoonful of honey into a cup, reached out to grab the kettle, but before he could touch the handle, Mu Chi stepped in and took it from him.

Mu Chi furrowed his brows. “You’ll burn yourself doing that.”

Song Wenzhou turned to look at him, pressing his lips together without saying anything.

“What’s wrong?” Mu Chi asked, both amused and annoyed at his silly expression. “Snap out of it, what are you thinking?”

“Sorry,” Song Wenzhou blurted out.

Mu Chi, who was half a head taller than Song Wenzhou, looked down at him. Even though he could clearly understand where Song Wenzhou’s apology was coming from, he pretended not to, smiling lightly. “I just reminded you not to burn yourself. There’s no need to apologize for that.”

Song Wenzhou continued to stare at him, not blinking, and said, “That night, I said some harsh things. I’m sorry.”

Mu Chi stopped smiling, sighed, and said, “I told you long ago, you don’t need to apologize to me. With me, you can never make a mistake.”

And it was precisely because of this that Song Wenzhou felt even more guilty.

If only Mu Chi had blamed him, then he could have tried to make up for it. But Mu Chi had never blamed him, and after their breakup, it was Mu Chi who came to find him multiple times.

“But I was wrong,” Song Wenzhou insisted.

“You weren’t,” Mu Chi replied.

“I was wrong,” Song Wenzhou persisted.

“You didn’t…” They argued back and forth like elementary school kids for a while, and then Mu Chi suddenly realized, his eyes lighting up as he asked, “Wait, so Zhouzhou, what do you mean?”

Song Wenzhou, who had been too quick to admit his mistake earlier, fell silent this time. His lashes trembled as he shifted his gaze away, unable to look directly into Mu Chi’s eyes, the intensity of the light in them was too much.

“Tell me,” Mu Chi, excited, put the kettle aside and grabbed Song Wenzhou’s shoulders, asking anxiously, “What do you mean? Is it that…?”

Song Wenzhou clenched his teeth and didn’t answer.

“Is it that you’re not going to break up with me anymore?” Mu Chi asked urgently, shaking Song Wenzhou’s shoulders back and forth. “Tell me.”

“No,” Song Wenzhou, feeling dizzy from being shaken, said, “We’ve been broken up for so long already…”

“Then does that mean you want to get back together with me?” Mu Chi asked quickly.

The expectation in his eyes was so clear that Song Wenzhou gritted his teeth and said, “No.”

“You’re saying no to everything,” Mu Chi said, flustered, “Then why did you say you were wrong? Are you messing with me?”

“I’m not.” Song Wenzhou answered quickly this time.

“Then tell me what it is,” Mu Chi said, genuinely wanting to understand what was going through Song Wenzhou’s mind. “You’re driving me crazy.”

Song Wenzhou couldn’t hold it in anymore and let out a small chuckle. Then, noticing the look in Mu Chi’s eyes, he struggled to suppress it, murmuring something under his breath.

“What?” Mu Chi couldn’t believe his ears.

Song Wenzhou thought he hadn’t heard clearly, so he hesitated and repeated, “I said I want to chase you.”

Mu Chi’s mouth unconsciously stretched into a wide smile, growing until he showed two rows of neatly aligned teeth. Overjoyed, he waved his hand, saying, “No need, I agree right now.”

Song Wenzhou shook his head. “No.”

Mu Chi’s mood dropped again, and he asked, face full of worry, “Why not?”

Song Wenzhou couldn’t explain exactly why it wasn’t possible, only feeling that if they got back together this easily, it would seem like their breakup was just a game. In the end, nothing would have been resolved, and the grievances of that night would only be buried deep inside, never to be spoken of again.

“Hmm,” Song Wenzhou thought for a moment and then said quietly, “There should be some kind of ceremony.”

Mu Chi had no choice but to agree reluctantly. “Alright, what kind of ceremony are you thinking of?”

Song Wenzhou had just come up with an excuse and didn’t actually have any ceremony in mind.

He turned sideways, picked up the kettle, and poured a large amount of water into the cup with honey. The water, which had cooled down after sitting for a while, wasn’t too hot anymore. Song Wenzhou stirred it evenly, gave it a few gentle blows to cool it down, then took a sip to test the temperature. Satisfied, he handed the cup to Mu Chi.

“This time, I’ll make it for you,” Song Wenzhou said awkwardly.

Mu Chi’s gaze was fixed on him, and upon hearing this, he felt an intense surge of excitement, eager to see what kind of ceremony Song Wenzhou had in mind. He urged, “Then hurry up and make it.”

Song Wenzhou’s ears turned slightly red, and he turned his head to hide his face. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Mu Chi, who took the cup he had just tested and drank the honey water in one go.

After finishing, Mu Chi casually set the cup aside and looked at Song Wenzhou with eager eyes, waiting to see what he would do next.

But to Mu Chi’s surprise, Song Wenzhou only turned around to wash the cup under the faucet, then placed it upside down on the cup rack and dried his hands. Pretending not to understand the expectation in Mu Chi’s eyes, he softly said, “I’m going home now.”

“Huh?” Mu Chi’s mood tonight had been like a rollercoaster, up and down, and his expression reflected that. He looked disappointed and said, “You’re leaving already? Please don’t go home tonight, okay?”

Song Wenzhou shook his head, saying there’s no way you’d spend the night with someone you just started chasing.

Mu Chi saw his firm attitude and had no choice but to hold back the impulse to force him to stay and said, “Then I’ll take you home.”

“No need,” Song Wenzhou rejected again. “I’ll go back myself. Just let me borrow your car.”

“My car? What’s mine is yours,” Mu Chi said seriously.

Then he repeated, “I’ll take you.”

Song Wenzhou stopped him from walking out, saying patiently, “Did you forget? I’m the one chasing you, so I should be the one to take you home.”

It used to be Mu Chi who took him home, now it was his turn.

Well, actually, he just didn’t see the point in the back and forth—it was a waste of time.

Mu Chi tilted his head, thought for a moment, then asked with a sudden realization, “Is this part of the ceremony you mentioned?”

Song Wenzhou nodded without changing his expression, “Yes.”

“Alright then,” Mu Chi immediately became happy. “I’ll take you downstairs.”

In the parking lot, Mu Chi watched Song Wenzhou open the car door with reluctance in his eyes. His gaze was intense, like a dog abandoned by its owner, which made Song Wenzhou feel an unexpected pang of guilt.

“I’m leaving,” Song Wenzhou glanced at him one last time.

“Wait!” Mu Chi called out loudly before he could get into the car.

Song Wenzhou didn’t understand why, but he instinctively turned to look at Mu Chi, who was quickly running toward him.

The distance between them was already small, and Mu Chi reached him in an instant, or more accurately, he ran right into Song Wenzhou’s face.

Song Wenzhou was startled by his sudden movement and instinctively turned his head just before Mu Chi crashed into him, feeling something warm cover his mouth.

Mu Chi’s lips lingered on the corner of Song Wenzhou’s mouth for just a few seconds, but before pulling away, he gave it a firm, lingering kiss.

Song Wenzhou was still in a daze, not even able to close his eyes in time. He felt a pain in his mouth before Mu Chi had already stepped back, standing upright.

Mu Chi, having successfully stolen the kiss, grinned triumphantly and licked his lips. “Zhouzhou, you’ve never chased anyone before, right? Let me tell you, the one being chased can take a little advantage.”

He said it as if he had tons of experience, but in reality, he’d only chased Song Wenzhou, and he was just using this as an excuse to indulge himself.

However, Song Wenzhou didn’t fully take in Mu Chi’s words. After the shock wore off, he realized what had just happened. His heart was racing, his chest rising and falling with each breath.

He stared at Mu Chi, who was clearly up to no good, for a while without saying a word, then turned and got into the car, slamming the door with a “bang.”

Mu Chi quickly stepped back a few paces, and the next moment, Song Wenzhou was reversing the car out of the parking spot.

“Drive safely,” Mu Chi said shamelessly, waving at the car window. “Goodnight—”

Song Wenzhou ignored him, responding only with a cloud of exhaust fumes.

Mu Chi continued watching the car disappear from view before turning toward the elevator, thinking to himself that Song Wenzhou’s actions weren’t quite right. How could someone chase another and still be so indifferent?

But he liked it, and he hadn’t seen Song Wenzhou look so shy and angry in a while. It was just as cute as ever.

Mu Chi smiled arrogantly at the empty parking lot.

Meanwhile, Song Wenzhou was driving calmly, though his heart wasn’t as steady as his outward appearance.

They had been together for years, done everything together, even unlocked many difficult positions. Logically, he shouldn’t be so stirred up over a simple kiss.

But he didn’t know if it was because they hadn’t been apart for such a long time since they got together, and during the few meetings, there was no physical contact. This sudden kiss made his heart race.

It was like…

While waiting for the green light, Song Wenzhou raised his hand and touched the corner of his mouth, remembering how when they first got together, they only dared to hold hands in the dark, away from prying eyes, or sneak silent kisses in corners.