Convincing his uncle to agree was no easy task. It took Huo Youqing two whole days before his uncle finally relented, but not without sternly saying, “You can’t delay the start of the next school term. You have to be back before then.”
“Yes,” Huo Youqing replied, happily hugging his uncle’s arm. He had been raised by his uncle and aunt, and they were the people closest to him.
The next day, Huo Youqing and Dai Yuan took a car to the nearest port.
This wasn’t Huo Youqing’s first time on a cruise, but it was his first time heading out into international waters. After boarding, he couldn’t help but sit on the sofa and watch the port grow smaller and smaller through the window.
A warm body settled beside him—Dai Yuan. He rested his chin on Huo Youqing’s shoulder, chuckling softly. Noticing that Huo Youqing was about to pull away, he withdrew first.
Even though Dai Yuan and Dai Yixin had identical faces, the two brothers gave off completely different vibes, not just because of their height difference.
For example, at this moment, Dai Yuan smiled gently at Huo Youqing. Despite his overly beautiful face, he seemed as soft as a rabbit, completely unthreatening. He blinked. “Older Brother, you woke up so early today. Why don’t you take another nap? I’ll wake you up later.”
Huo Youqing didn’t give a clear answer.
If he had felt a flicker of regret when they first boarded the ship, that emotion had long since vanished. Dai Yuan was the most interesting person he had ever met—so interesting that the first thing he thought of when he woke up every day was what mischief Dai Yuan would come up with next.
Still, no matter how much he tried to imagine, he never would have expected Dai Yuan to dress up in a cheongsam and pretend to be a woman.
“Older Brother, do you dislike me?” Dai Yuan frowned.
Huo Youqing tried his best to stay composed, shoveling food into his mouth, but after a few seconds, he couldn’t help bursting into laughter. The reason was simple: Dai Yuan’s makeover was just too sloppy. Purple eyeshadow, deep red lipstick that went way outside the lip lines, and a cheongsam with a dark green lily pattern.
Before he could laugh too much, Dai Yuan angrily yanked off the wig. “What the heck! I spent over an hour putting this makeup on. Is it really that funny? Last time we watched that musical, there was an actor in drag, and you didn’t laugh.”
Halfway through the wig-pulling, Dai Yuan’s hand was caught. Huo Youqing set down his utensils, still smiling. “Are you going to sing a musical today? But seriously, this makeup is… never mind, I’ll help you.”
During his middle school New Year’s performances, Huo Youqing was always roped into performing, and the tradition dated back to kindergarten. After years of watching people put makeup on him, he had learned a thing or two—enough to be better than Dai Yuan, at least.
He began wiping off Dai Yuan’s bizarre makeup and selected more suitable cosmetics from the table full of makeup products. While applying the makeup, the two inevitably got very close, their breaths nearly mingling.
Dai Yuan had been sitting with a gloomy expression, but gradually, his expression shifted. He stared unblinkingly at Huo Youqing. Since it was Huo Youqing’s first time doing makeup for someone, he was completely focused on Dai Yuan’s face. When he asked Dai Yuan to close his eyes, and Dai Yuan didn’t, he finally asked curiously, “What are you staring at?”
Dai Yuan suddenly turned his face away, his expression stiffening for a moment. But soon, he turned back. “It feels strange, older brother, you’re so close to me.”
Huo Youqing felt a bit speechless. “Close your eyes and stop talking.”
Dai Yuan only followed the first part of that instruction. “Older Brother, have you ever done makeup for someone else before?”
“You’re my first test subject,” Huo Youqing paused for a second. “Maybe after some practice, I’ll do it for my girlfriend.”
“Girlfriend?” Dai Yuan’s eyes shot open, catching Huo Youqing off guard, and the makeup brush accidentally poked his eye. The spot turned red immediately, as if he were about to cry.
Huo Youqing frowned. “Why did you open your eyes? Does it hurt?”
Dai Yuan ignored the question and stubbornly asked, “What did you just say about a girlfriend? How could you have a girlfriend?”
The tone was so blunt that even though Huo Youqing had grown close to Dai Yuan over time, he couldn’t help but feel a bit irritated. “Of course I’ll have one eventually. Why do you care about that? Worry about your eye—does it hurt? Go rinse it with water, it looks really red.”
Dai Yuan’s expression inexplicably softened again, and the corners of his mouth lifted slightly. He shook his head. “It doesn’t hurt. It’s fine. Keep doing my makeup, older brother.”
He tilted his face up like a puppy waiting for praise.
Even after Huo Youqing finished his makeup, Dai Yuan’s eye was still red. The wig Dai Yuan wore had soft bangs that curled at the ends, softening his features and reducing the masculine impression from his otherwise delicate face.
Dai Yuan opened the folding fan in his hand, lightly covering his lower face and neck, hiding the Adam’s apple that revealed his masculine traits. His dark green qipao had slight creases at the waist, and with a single blink of his now reddish eye, a tear suddenly rolled down.
Huo Youqing, still holding the lipstick he had been applying, felt a sudden unease. Dai Yuan looked so much like a girl that it made him strangely flustered. He quickly put the lipstick away and changed the subject. “Do you want to take a photo to remember this?”
“Sure!” Dai Yuan immediately agreed, and then he asked Huo Youqing to take the photo with him.
After some persuasion, Huo Youqing ended up wearing a vintage suit with a pocket watch pinned to his chest. Dai Yuan, a photographer himself, guided Huo Youqing into position before running over to press the shutter and then dashing back to his side.
His wig was loosely tied with a dark green ribbon, and he added a silk scarf to his pale arms. He clung to Huo Youqing’s arm, resting his head intimately on Huo Youqing’s shoulder. Huo Youqing hadn’t expected such closeness for a photo and turned to look at Dai Yuan.
At that exact moment, the timer on the camera clicked.
In the photo, the girl in the qipao is lovingly embracing the man beside her, her amber eyes clear and bright. The man in the suit, whose body is fully wrapped by the formal attire, turns his head to look at her. The high-definition shot even captures the length of his lashes.
Because of the long lashes, even though the look in his eyes should be puzzled, it somehow appears tender.
***
“Doesn’t this look like a wedding photo from the last century?” Dai Yuan, now out of the qipao and back to his usual self, sat cross-legged on the sofa, showing Huo Youqing the pictures they had just taken. Huo Youqing took a glance and immediately reached out to delete them.
Dai Yuan dodged. “No, no! I’m not deleting them! I’m going to print these out and show them to you every year.”
Huo Youqing thought for a moment. Since it was mostly Dai Yuan who looked silly in the photos, he decided to let it slide.
When they reached international waters, the signal was spotty. Today, finally catching a signal, Huo Youqing checked his social media and saw a message from his uncle from the day before, asking him to head back so as not to miss his return to school.
He was supposed to head back soon, but he still hadn’t seen any orcas.
Thinking about that, Huo Youqing walked out to the deck and stared at the rolling waves, hoping to spot an orca. But orcas aren’t that easy to find. After over an hour of watching, he still saw nothing.
Dai Yuan only came out of the cabin later. When he learned that Huo Youqing had to return soon, his mood visibly darkened. He crouched down next to him, saying, “But we haven’t seen an orca yet.”
“I heard there are orcas in aquariums. If worse comes to worst, we can go see them there.” Huo Youqing tried to comfort Dai Yuan, but it didn’t seem to work. Dai Yuan’s eyes grew darker. “Orcas in aquariums aren’t the same. They don’t have freedom—they’re like dolls.”
With that, he stood up and walked away, ignoring Huo Youqing’s calls.
But by evening, Dai Yuan had come out again, sidling up to Huo Youqing with playful apologies, saying that he was in a bad mood earlier. He suggested they throw a farewell party to celebrate their return.
Dai Yuan, being restless by nature, immediately set to work when Huo Youqing agreed. In just over an hour, he had organized a decent-looking party.
He even brought out a bottle of wine and whispered to Huo Youqing, “I stole this from the captain’s room. He was saving it for himself, but I found it, and tonight, we’ll drink it.”
Huo Youqing glanced over at the captain, who was blowing kisses at the ship’s female chef, and readily agreed. But they hadn’t been drinking long before the captain caught them.
Even though the boat belonged to Dai Yuan, the captain wasn’t afraid of him at all. He grabbed both of them by their collars and cursed in English, “You two brats! You’re not even old enough to drink! D*mn it, you drank the wine I was saving for myself—almost the whole bottle, you little punks!”
He even tried to kick them, but fortunately, Dai Yuan reacted quickly, pulling Huo Youqing away to run.
Once they reached a quieter spot, where the music was barely audible, the two leaned against the wall and exchanged glances, bursting into laughter.
As they laughed, Dai Yuan was the first to move closer.
He hugged Huo Youqing, his breath warm and soft as he spoke. “Youyou, I really don’t want you to go back. I don’t know why, but time flies so quickly when we’re together. Why is the break so short? Will you come back to see me next vacation?”
Huo Youqing’s brain was already foggy from the alcohol, and it took him a long while to process what Dai Yuan had just said.
He nodded and said, “I will.”
He didn’t notice that the other person had changed the way they addressed him.
Then, his lips were captured.
Lips with the taste of alcohol, chocolate, and cream bit down on his like a fish biting on bait. The last dessert at dinner tonight was a chocolate cream cake, and when you bit into it, the cream inside would spill out.
Huo Youqing obediently didn’t move. He only began to struggle when he felt the hand around his waist tightening. The person kissing him hummed in dissatisfaction but loosened their grip slightly. Dai Yuan rested his face against Huo Youqing’s neck and rubbed against it.
Before they knew it, the two sat down right there, with the moonlight spreading across the sea, reflecting its true form on the water’s surface. Huo Youqing stared at that bundle of moonlight, dazedly standing up. He leaned against the railing and stretched out his hand, “It’s the moon.”
He was drunk.
Someone hugged him. “Yes, it’s the moon.”
Huo Youqing stretched his hand out even further, as if doing so would let him cradle the moon in his arms.
He didn’t remember what happened after that. When his memory returned, he was soaking wet, sitting pale-faced on the deck, surrounded by voices.
“Where’s the defibrillator?! Hurry, bring the defibrillator over!”
“It’s here! I’ve got it!”
“One!”
“Two!”
“Three!”
He saw people crowding around something, so he stood up and wobbled over.
Huo Youqing finally saw what was at the center of the crowd.
It was Dai Yuan. His face was pale and his body jerked with the shocks from the defibrillator.
