But the cousin wasn’t impressed and promptly kicked Dai Yixin out. Afterward, he turned to Huo Youqing, demanding, “Why is he here?”
Huo Youqing, still holding his lemon water, tried to calm his cousin, but his answer only made things worse. “He came on his own.”
“And you didn’t think to kick him out?!” For the first time, his cousin lost his temper with Huo Youqing, clearly frustrated. Unable to calm down, he stormed into the kitchen and threw away all the food Dai Yixin had half-prepared.
Then, realizing something, he turned to look at Huo Youqing again, only to see that he wasn’t paying attention at all. Instead, he was crouching next to the groceries, idly flipping through them. “Why’d you buy bitter melon? I don’t like bitter melon.”
His cousin fell silent for a while.
He had learned from his parents why Huo Youqing stayed in the U.S. and later found out that he was close to Dai Yixin. He assumed they were just friends, but eventually realized they were something more.
At their parents’ funeral, he had sensed something odd. Though he was too exhausted at the time to dwell on it, he had wondered how his cousin could fall for both brothers and whether he was using one as a replacement for the other.
Human emotions are complicated. If a stranger had done such a thing, he might have looked down on them. But because it was his only remaining relative, he had no choice but to gloss over it, pretending not to know too much.
But he never imagined things would become so entangled. He had once asked Huo Youqing after catching them together, “Did you two get back together?”
Huo Youqing, wearing sunglasses that covered most of his face—the kind of face that always looked striking because it was so small—tilted his chin and replied, “No. I’ll never get back with him.”
“Then why are you with him?” His cousin hadn’t imagined it. He had seen clearly that they were kissing in public.
Huo Youqing heard the question but didn’t respond immediately. He took a big sip from the glass in front of him, then pressed his lips together forcefully, making his already red lips even redder. “I…”
His cousin didn’t notice the brief hesitation and was temporarily interrupted by a phone call.
After hanging up, his cousin finally heard Huo Youqing continue, “Cousin, do you remember that Dai Yuan who died? He didn’t die saving me; he committed suicide. I ended up staying with his brother for three years because of it. I’ve been thinking—why does my life have to be ruined like this? Dai Yixin should pay me.”
Because it was spoken aloud, his cousin wasn’t sure if the last sentence was “Dai Yixin should be with me” or “Dai Yixin should pay me.”
He thought the Dai family was messed up. The younger brother, Dai Yuan, committed suicide, and the older brother, Dai Yixin, changed his name to match his brother’s. So he had tried to talk Huo Youqing out of it, but for some reason, Huo Youqing never listened.
As a result, all the things that had happened between Huo Youqing and Dai Yixin left his cousin both angry and heartbroken. He was mad that Huo Youqing wouldn’t listen, but he also felt sorry for his cousin, who was being mistreated.
After the car accident, his cousin had asked Huo Youqing with reddened eyes, “Are you crazy too? What are you trying to do? Kill him, or die together with him?”
At that time, Huo Youqing had been lying in bed. His beautiful phoenix eyes, which were always filled with a proud spirit, had somehow dried up. “So he didn’t die? What a pity.”
Gong Lang, who had entered the room after, overheard those words.
Later, when he heard Huo Youqing claim that he had amnesia, his cousin had initially thought, “That’s great!” So he’d kept some things from him. But now, he felt like maybe he had made a mistake.
***
“Did you get your memory back?” his cousin suddenly asked from the kitchen.
Huo Youqing turned his head, his expression unchanged. “Hmm?”
His cousin didn’t repeat the question and instead asked something else. “Have you gone crazy too?”
To that, Huo Youqing actually laughed. He shook his head with a smile and said, “No, I haven’t.”
***
During dinner, his cousin received a call from his girlfriend. She was working late, and after work, her high heel broke. She called to ask if he could pick her up.
Huo Youqing overheard parts of the conversation, so he put down his chopsticks and urged his cousin to hurry up and eat so his girlfriend wouldn’t be left waiting alone at her office.
His cousin hesitated for a moment but then got up to leave. Before leaving, he gave Huo Youqing a warning, “Don’t let just anyone into the house again. Honestly, I didn’t agree with you being with him even before you lost your memory, and now that you have amnesia, I’m even more against it. No matter what happens, I’ll always be here for you, Youyou.”
Huo Youqing waved his hand dismissively. “Don’t be so sentimental. Go take care of your girlfriend.”
His cousin frowned. “I’m being serious—hey, stop pushing me. I’ll go. You barely ate, so make sure you finish your meal after I leave. And have another bowl of soup later.”
Not long after his cousin left, Dai Yixin returned. Huo Youqing hadn’t left him any food—nothing at all. Not even a grain of rice; everything had been thrown away.
Dai Yixin wandered from the dining room to the kitchen, then to the living room, looking pitiful. “Youyou, I’m hungry.”
Huo Youqing ignored him. He opened his laptop and absentmindedly edited his manuscript, occasionally checking his phone. He wondered why, during his amnesia, he had been so bored that he invited Dai Yixin to a musical. There were so many more interesting things in the world.
Seeing that he still wasn’t getting a response, Dai Yixin repeated himself, but Huo Youqing still didn’t answer. Dai Yixin’s gaze drifted down to Huo Youqing’s legs.
Huo Youqing was wearing loungewear and had one leg lazily propped up, his pant leg sliding up to reveal his pale, pearl-like ankle.
Dai Yixin stared for a while before bending down. Huo Youqing didn’t even have time to close his laptop. Realizing what Dai Yixin was trying to do, he tried to kick him, but Dai Yixin caught his foot.
Dai Yixin’s long, cold fingers slowly traced their way up his ankle, like a cold-blooded snake slithering along. Without a word, the two struggled briefly, rolling from the couch onto the carpet. Their clothes ended up on the floor before they could make it to the laundry.
Even though Huo Youqing hadn’t eaten much that day, his stomach still felt uncomfortably full. He glanced down at the cold, slender hand resting on his abdomen, feeling his stomach swell and then flatten again.
He looked at his stomach, then at Dai Yixin, who was lying face up. In return, he gave Dai Yixin a slap.
After that first slap, he felt it wasn’t enough and went to strike again, but his hand was caught. The hand that had been used to hit him was now being held in a tight, interlocked grip. He wasn’t sure if it was his sweat or Dai Yixin’s, but their palms were slick, faintly scented with the fragrance of the rose-scented hand soap.
His mind wandered briefly, and he remembered the scent of the rose hand soap.
Dai Yixin’s arm hooked around his neck, and with his other hand, he firmly pressed the back of Huo Youqing’s head, pulling him down.
Amid the chaos of the room, they shared a kiss.
This time, it tasted of blood.
Huo Youqing had been slow to understand matters of the heart. When his peers were already dreaming about their ideal partners or imagining their future relationships, his life had been filled with other things.
It wasn’t until much later that he realized he might have been living in a glass house. Those around him had built this glass house for him, but one day, the glass shattered.
It wasn’t that he had never felt resentment; on the contrary, there was a time when he was filled with anger, constantly questioning why all this had to happen to him. What had he done wrong? Was it his fault for getting involved with Dai Yixin?
But now, all those questions he used to ask himself didn’t seem to matter anymore. Slowly, Huo Youqing licked the blood from his lips and took the initiative for once.
The doorbell suddenly rang.
Huo Youqing couldn’t help but look over. The bell rang again after about ten seconds, repeating several times. Then came the sound of knocking and a voice.
“Youyou, are you home?”
It was Gong Lang’s voice.
Can’t wait until next week to see more? Want to show your support? Come to my Patreon where you can get up to 5 more chapters of Abandoned White Moonlight right away ! Or go donate at Paypal or Ko-fi to show your appreciation! :)
