“Did your brother get hurt?”
Dai Yuan met Huo Youqing’s surprised and worried gaze with a bitter smile. “It’s no big deal, he just accidentally cut his hand. My brother was cutting fruit in the dark for some reason last night and ended up hurting himself. He was sent to the hospital, so he probably won’t be able to come over for a while.”
Huo Youqing hadn’t expected such an odd way for Dai Yixin to injure his hand. He couldn’t help but think that Yixin was a strange person. In contrast, his younger brother Dai Yuan seemed much easier to get along with.
So, Huo Youqing offered, “Do you want to try playing a piano duet with me? You mentioned before that you can play.”
A few days later, Dai Yixin reappeared. This time, he was dressed in a full suit and didn’t ring the doorbell. Instead, he stood at the door, holding an invitation letter in his hand. His lips moved as if he was quietly rehearsing what to say.
Before he could finish, he saw Huo Youqing and Dai Yuan come out of the house, both dressed in sportswear, each wearing matching but differently colored fitness bands on their wrists.
Dai Yuan noticed his brother first. “Brother, why are you here?”
Huo Youqing turned toward the sound of Dai Yuan’s voice and saw the young man in a suit standing at the gate.
The weather was warm that day, and both Huo Youqing and Dai Yuan were in short sleeves. But Dai Yixin was dressed in a full suit, complete with a shirt, vest, and tie, his cufflinks fastened tightly as if he didn’t want to expose even a hint of skin.
The young man in the suit was looking their way, standing still and silent. Today, he was also wearing gold-rimmed glasses, which softened the strange allure in his amber eyes, making them look more gloomy.
For some reason, he reminded Huo Youqing of a large dog that had been abandoned, soaked through in the rain.
This thought quickly flashed through Huo Youqing’s mind, only to be discarded immediately.
With his usual calm expression, Huo Youqing greeted Dai Yixin, “Good morning. Dai Yuan and I were just about to play tennis. Want to join us?” After asking, Huo Youqing seemed to remember something and looked a bit worried. “How’s your hand? Shouldn’t you avoid such strenuous activities?”
“I can play,” Dai Yixin replied quickly, as if afraid Huo Youqing might take back the invitation. After speaking, he slipped the invitation letter back into his pocket.
Seeing this, Huo Youqing prepared for all three of them to head to the tennis court. It was only a five-minute walk from his house.
He glanced at Dai Yixin’s suit and couldn’t hold back from asking, “Do you want to change? Your outfit doesn’t seem very suitable for tennis.”
Dai Yixin’s long lashes lowered, then lifted again. He didn’t say whether he would change or not; he just stayed silent. It was the first time Huo Youqing had encountered someone whose thoughts he had to guess at, leaving him at a loss. He glanced helplessly at Dai Yuan.
Dai Yuan spread his hands in a gesture of helplessness, but seeing Huo Youqing so unsure of how to handle the situation, he stepped in. “Brother, go change your clothes.”
Dai Yixin didn’t respond.
With a sigh, Dai Yuan leaned close to Huo Youqing’s ear and whispered, “My brother is always like this. Sometimes, even I don’t know what he’s thinking. What should we do now?”
The warm breath brushing against Huo Youqing’s ear made it turn faintly red. He tilted his head slightly. Since Dai Yixin was at his house, he was technically a guest. And after all, Huo Youqing had been the one to invite him to play tennis, so he thought, “Since I’ve invited the guest, I should see it through.”
“If you don’t mind, I can find you something to wear from my house.” As soon as he finished speaking, he saw the young man nod in agreement.
***
Huo Youqing led Dai Yixin to the guest room, then hurried to his own room and started rummaging through his wardrobe. He remembered being into the oversized style last year. He found the clothes, but as for the pants…
He managed to grab his longest pair of pants for Dai Yixin to try on.
When he reached the guest room and knocked before entering, he was unexpectedly greeted by the sight of a bare back. At some point, Dai Yixin had taken off his shirt and was only wearing his suit pants. He turned his head slightly towards the door, revealing pale shoulder blades and a smooth back that resembled flowing water. He still wore his glasses, and the sunlight streaming in through the window, which had never been closed, sprinkled gold dust across his body.
Dai Yixin walked toward the door and extended both hands toward Huo Youqing.
What was strange was that both of his hands were outstretched, as if awaiting a gift. Taller than Huo Youqing, his head bent slightly, exposing the nape of his neck in a submissive posture.
Huo Youqing was startled by the gesture, even taking a step back. Then, thinking it might just be a habit of Dai Yixin, who was always a bit strange, he quickly placed the clothes in Dai Yixin’s hands. “Try these on first. Let me know if they don’t fit.”
As he handed them over, his eyes couldn’t help but catch sight of Dai Yixin’s arm—his left hand was wrapped in bandages.
After a moment’s thought, Huo Youqing decided not to ask about it.
The fitting didn’t go well.
The shirt was fine, though a bit snug. The real issue was the pants. Huo Youqing had given Dai Yixin his longest pair, but they still ended up looking like capris—extremely tight and clearly too short.
When Huo Youqing saw this, he let out a small sigh. Then he went to his uncle’s room to find a pair of athletic shorts. As he searched, he couldn’t help glancing down at himself. Comparing was childish, but the difference was indeed striking.
At first, Dai Yixin didn’t want to accept the athletic shorts, but when Dai Yuan chimed in, “Brother, just change already, it’s getting late,” he reluctantly took them.
In the end, Dai Yixin wore the athletic shorts over Huo Youqing’s sports pants. The combination looked a bit odd, but he remained unbothered, and the three of them headed out together.
At the tennis court, they took turns playing.
The first match was between Huo Youqing and Dai Yuan, the second between Huo Youqing and Dai Yixin, and the third was a match between the Dai brothers.
The first two matches were fine, but when the second ended and Huo Youqing went to rest and drink water, the atmosphere on the court shifted dramatically. The previously calm brothers suddenly adopted a much more aggressive playstyle, each hit becoming more intense than the last.
At first, Dai Yuan still had a smile on his face, but as the game progressed, the smile faded. As for Dai Yixin, he hadn’t smiled at all since the match began.
Another powerful smash, and Dai Yuan missed the return. His expression darkened. He picked up the ball and silently continued the next round.
After a few back-and-forth rallies, Dai Yuan leapt into the air, racquet in hand, and sent the ball flying back with a blank expression.
“Bang—”
A loud crash echoed across the court.
The ball hit Dai Yixin’s left hand, and though he staggered, he couldn’t regain his balance and fell to the ground. Blood immediately seeped through the bandage on his wounded hand.
Dai Yuan’s first reaction was to glance toward Huo Youqing, who, as expected, had quickly set down his water bottle and was running toward Dai Yixin.
“Are you okay?” Huo Youqing crouched down, trying to help Dai Yixin up as he inspected his hand. “It’s bleeding. You need to go to the hospital.”
Dai Yixin didn’t look at his own wound. Instead, his eyes were fixed on Huo Youqing’s face. When he realized that Huo Youqing’s gaze was locked onto his injury, his Adam’s apple bobbed slightly. He opened his mouth as if to speak but then pressed his lips together again.
He noticed the tiny beads of sweat near Huo Youqing’s ear, glistening on his pale skin, the result of their earlier exercise.
Huo Youqing wanted to ask Dai Yixin if it hurt, but when he looked up, he saw that Dai Yixin was biting his lip, seemingly enduring the pain.
“Older Brother.”
Dai Yuan’s voice interrupted Huo Youqing’s thoughts. He turned to see Dai Yuan standing on the other side of the net, holding his racquet under the scorching sun. His delicate features were now ashen as he whispered, “I didn’t mean to hit my brother’s hand. It wasn’t on purpose.”
Huo Youqing didn’t know what to say for a moment. He could only respond, “Let’s take your brother to the hospital first.”
At the hospital, Dai Yuan hurried to pay the bill, seemingly eager to avoid staying in the same space as Dai Yixin. He walked away quickly. This was Huo Youqing’s first time taking someone to the hospital, so he felt a bit out of his depth. Fortunately, Dai Yixin was able to handle most of the procedures himself.
When the doctor was about to re-bandage Dai Yixin’s wound, Dai Yixin stopped him and turned to Huo Youqing. “You should wait outside.”
“Alright.” Seeing the blood-stained bandage, Huo Youqing agreed. Once Dai Yixin’s hand was re-bandaged, Huo Youqing asked, “Does it still hurt?”
Dai Yixin lowered his head and said something unrelated to the question. “I got your clothes dirty.”
His shirt was stained with blood and dirt, looking quite messy.
Huo Youqing shook his head. “It’s just clothes. It’s no big deal.” After a pause, he added, “But I do want to say, you shouldn’t have tried to block that ball with your hand.”
Dai Yixin’s eyelashes fluttered slightly.
Knowing that Dai Yixin likely wouldn’t admit it, Huo Youqing continued, “I won’t tell Dai Yuan, but I hope you don’t do that again next time. Let’s go find Dai Yuan.”
Dai Yuan was standing at the hospital entrance. When he saw them, he immediately apologized to Dai Yixin, “I’m sorry, brother. I shouldn’t have played so seriously and forgotten about your injury.”
Not wanting to get involved in the brothers’ business, Huo Youqing took a few steps away and pulled out his phone to distract himself.
***
After this incident, Dai Yixin disappeared for a few days. According to Dai Yuan, their father had taken Dai Yixin to see a better doctor for his hand.
“Do you know, my father values my brother a lot?” Dai Yuan said, lying on Huo Youqing’s lap as he often did when he was acting spoiled. Today was no exception. “My mother passed away very early, and it was my father who raised us, but he prefers my brother. My father is even afraid I’ll compete with my brother for the family inheritance, so he didn’t even allow me to study business.”
As he said this, Dai Yuan smiled slightly, his amber eyes curving up in a way that made him seem a bit like a sly fox. “But I secretly applied to a school anyway. I won’t listen to him. I like photography and painting, sure, but I want to study business even more.”
Huo Youqing couldn’t quite understand the dynamics in the Dai Yuan family. In his opinion, wouldn’t it be better if the two brothers worked together to support the family business? Why, in Dai Yuan’s telling, did it turn into a competition for inheritance, and a one-sided one at that? It seemed their father had long since decided on the heir.
In comparison, Gong Lang’s family was also well-off, but he and his older brother never had such issues. Gong Lang’s elder brother even taught him how to run a business and start a company, to the point where Gong Lang couldn’t slack off even if he wanted to.
Dai Yuan noticed the look in Huo Youqing’s eyes and seemed to realize something. “I don’t want to compete with my brother for anything. I’ve just liked business since I was a child,” he explained, sitting up and wrapping his arms around Huo Youqing’s neck in a rather intimate gesture.
Just as Huo Youqing was about to tell Dai Yuan not to hug him, he heard the other speak in a low voice.
“But my brother likes to compete with me. When we were kids, it was racing cars, and later, video game consoles. When I was in middle school, I participated in a drone competition and won first place. The prize was a motorcycle I really liked, but since I wasn’t of age yet, I couldn’t ride it.
“I kept the bike in the garage and would go look at it every day. My brother asked to borrow it, but I refused. That time, my father, for once, didn’t tell me to let my brother have it. I was really happy. But not long after, I saw my brother smash that motorcycle with my own eyes. He had also entered the competition but came in second place.”
By now, the sun was setting, and the reddish light of the sunset slanted through the floor-to-ceiling windows. The pale curtains swayed with the evening breeze. In the shadowed living room, Dai Yuan was kneeling on the sofa, arms around Huo Youqing’s neck, wearing a helpless yet seductive smile.
“I’m really scared right now, more than I’ve ever been,” Dai Yuan said, but before Huo Youqing could ask what he was afraid of, he changed the subject. “I own an aquarium. Let’s go there tonight, brother. I’ll treat you to an underwater dinner.”
An underwater dinner involved sitting in a glass room while eating, watching marine life swim overhead. Dai Yuan told Huo Youqing that the aquarium was the only thing his mother had left him, and he never opened it to the public. Huo Youqing was the first friend he’d brought there.
As he said this, Dai Yuan looked up at the jellyfish swimming above. The refracted light made his whole face seem to glow.
“My mother said she once saw an orca. She told me that when you see an orca, all your worries disappear because they make you feel so small, so insignificant that you shouldn’t even have worries. Older Brother, have you ever seen an orca?”
Perhaps because his parents had also passed away early, Huo Youqing made a suggestion he probably shouldn’t have. “I haven’t seen one either. Want to go see orcas together?”
