The movie had reached its final act.
The story was becoming increasingly emotional.
Deep Blue’s real core lay in the bond between the two leads—the dominant, forceful top, and the gentle, timid bottom.
Their relationship had its roots in childhood.
The main shou had loved flowers since birth. As a child, he begged two flower seeds from his mother and carefully tended them, watering and nurturing them daily. The seeds were small and delicate, a rare pink variety, and under his care, they grew stronger day by day.
The main gong, however, had been a little troublemaker since young, the scourge of the street, hated by every adult. When he first saw the gentle boy, he fell for him instantly but had no idea how to get his attention.
So he began destroying the boy’s family flower shop.
When he learned the boy had been caring for two special flowers, one rainy night he sneaked into their home and yanked up the budding plants. But halfway through, imagining the boy crying and hating him for it, his heart softened.
In the end, he left the half-uprooted buds lying there and fled in panic.
The soft, tender buds, on the verge of blooming, were ruined by that senseless act, falling wet and pitiful into the mud that rainy night.
The film changed its BGM deliberately; a gentle piano melody began.
Dawn’s light fell on the two tiny flowers: pitiful, fragile, and heartbreaking.
When the boy saw them the next morning, his heart shattered. He almost fainted from grief. The older boy hid behind a tree, watching, and in that moment finally realized the gravity of what he’d done.
From then on, he dedicated himself to atonement, becoming the boy’s silent guardian. But because of guilt and cowardice, he never confessed his mistake.
The flashback was deeply moving.
The main shou’s grief felt achingly real.
Ye Ran’s head peeked out from the blanket, his body wrapped tightly from the neck down. He watched the screen intently, his long lashes damp with tears. They slipped down uncontrollably.
He cried harder than the character on-screen, breathing unevenly, eyelids swollen, his inner double eyelids folding into singles. The tiny mole at the corner of his eye seemed to flush a faint red, warmed by his rising temperature.
Suddenly, the blanket lifted slightly. Shen Shi leaned in close to his shoulder, his half-lidded eyes opening as he followed Ye Ran’s gaze toward the movie.
After a long silence, he slowly licked his lips, an air of satisfaction lingering in his expression.
The movie neared its ending, the main gong confessed the wrong he’d done in childhood.
Their mistakes canceled each other out. A happy, reconciled ending.
Ye Ran, completely spent, was pulled into Shen Shi’s arms, who patted his back gently in comfort.
Shen Shi kissed the tears from his eyes, his warm lips brushing the corners of Ye Ran’s eyes, his voice rough and low: “…Don’t cry anymore.”
His voice, usually cool in tone, now sounded almost hypnotic. “Want me to help you, Teacher Ye?”
Ye Ran, still buried in Shen Shi’s neck, didn’t move, sinking instead into a spiral of self-doubt.
He curled up, careful that the bathrobe wouldn’t brush his chest.
His exposed ears were scarlet, and even the back of his sweat-damp neck was faintly red.
When Shen Shi got no answer, he didn’t mind. He simply asked again, “Can I chase you now?”
Ye Ran said nothing.
Shen Shi leaned closer to his ear and whispered something.
Ye Ran immediately raised his head, his eyes rimmed red, tears still glimmering. “…You can.”
Shen Shi nodded, polite as ever. “Thank you.”
“Then I’ll start pursuing you.”
***
At that very moment, in the distant Beijing University—
In the Finance Department’s dorms—
Yu Ting had been restless the whole day.
Ever since Shen Shi had vaguely said on WeChat that he had “crossed a line,” Yu Ting had panicked. What the h*ll did that b*stard do to Ye Ran?
Had he at least listened and gone to confess his mistake properly?
If Ye Ran got mad because of it…
Yu Ting’s throat went dry. He could already imagine how Shen Shi might react if pushed too far.
When that man got ruthless, how could someone like Ye Ran possibly handle it?
D*mn it—
A sweet romance shouldn’t turn into a forced love story!
After agonizing for a while, Yu Ting finally opened WeChat and carefully typed out a message:
—You there?
No reply. He put his phone down and paced nervously around the room.
Ten minutes later, his phone finally buzzed.
He sprinted over, breath held, and opened the message—
Shen Shi: [Thanks, bro.]
Yu Ting: “?”
Shen Shi: [You’ll be my best man at the wedding.]
Yu Ting: “???”
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