Chapter 94
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Gu Yang was carried back to the classroom by Fan Yuan, and his face did not lift up the entire way.
When they reached the classroom door, Fan Yuan proactively put Gu Yang down.
Gu Yang looked up at Fan Yuan. Although he seemed cold and distant, any small gesture made Gu Yang feel a sense of tenderness.
He knew that Gu Yang felt embarrassed, so he put him down on his own.
Gu Yang reached out and tugged at the corner of Fan Yuan’s clothes, his arm touching Fan Yuan’s, following him into the classroom.
In the few minutes before class, the classroom was a mess, with students chatting and laughing, a rare lively scene in their senior year.
These were all youths in their prime, and their curiosity about Fan Yuan and Gu Yang didn’t last long. In fact, they had seen enough of their affectionate displays, so they no longer paid much attention to them as before.
Following Fan Yuan, Gu Yang passed through a group of classmates who were teasing each other and pulled at the corner of Fan Yuan’s clothes.
Fan Yuan lowered his head to look at Gu Yang. As he did so, he slightly tilted his body, making sure to hear Gu Yang’s words clearly.
Gu Yang leaned close to Fan Yuan’s ear and covered it with his hand, whispering affectionately:
“Next time, carry me in.”
The warmth in Gu Yang’s words seemed to linger on Fan Yuan’s ear, and this feeling was not uncomfortable but rather addictive.
“Alright.”
The afternoon classes were still busy. Gu Yang and Fan Yuan were occupied, not having time for much else, except for occasionally holding hands under the table or sneaking a quick kiss behind the pile of books. Fortunately, the warmth that Gu Yang gave Fan Yuan during lunch was enough to sustain him until the end of school.
When the school bell rang for the end of the day, the other students rushed out excitedly, but Gu Yang and Fan Yuan were in no hurry.
Gu Yang finished the last problem, carefully double-checking his calculations, before starting to pack up.
The two of them were the last to leave, locking the door and turning off the lights, leisurely walking in the corridor.
Initially, there was a bit of distance between the two as they walked, but gradually, they drew closer. Their fingers hesitantly interlocked, their eyes occasionally met, and their arms pressed against each other.
By the time they reached the entrance of the teaching building, Fan Yuan’s arm was already wrapped around Gu Yang’s waist, and his hand slipped into Gu Yang’s pocket, tightly holding onto Gu Yang’s hand. Their ten fingers playfully wrestled with each other inside the same pocket, tightening and loosening, enjoying the moment.
“Let’s see if there’s any flower shops still open.” Gu Yang hadn’t forgotten about buying flowers.
Sitting in the car, Fan Yuan instructed the driver to find a flower shop while raising the partition.
The partition rose, but it seemed to move at the speed of a turtle in the eyes of the two.
Halfway up, the driver caught sight of Gu Yang sitting on Fan Yuan’s lap and immediately shifted his gaze away.
Gu Yang tucked himself inside Fan Yuan’s coat, his hands passing through the coat and clasping behind Fan Yuan. He asked softly:
“Are you cold?”
Fan Yuan adjusted his coat and lightly brushed Gu Yang’s ear with his icy nose.
“I’m not cold now.”
Hearing Fan Yuan say he wasn’t cold, Gu Yang felt happy and hugged Fan Yuan tighter, eagerly anticipating Sunday.
“Today is only Monday. How about we go to the hot springs next Sunday? It’s a bit far away though.”
The car suddenly stopped, and Gu Yang realized they were still in the car. He quickly got off Fan Yuan’s lap and looked out the window.
The driver had taken them to an unknown small road, and it was pitch dark around, with only a small flower shop still illuminated.
“We’ve arrived at the flower shop!”
Gu Yang and Fan Yuan opened the car door and stood at the entrance of the flower shop, taking a look.
The decorations at the entrance of the small flower shop were quite intricate, and there was a semi-opaque beaded curtain hanging inside. Suddenly, a vase flew out from the inside and shattered on the ground near the two of them.
Faint crying sounds came from inside, barely audible and indistinct.
Gu Yang was startled, and before the shards of the vase had time to scatter further, a thin layer of ice froze them on the ground.
Stepping over the vase fragments, Fan Yuan walked ahead of Gu Yang.
“Let’s go in and take a look.”
Lifting the beaded curtain, they saw a mess inside the small flower shop.
Fragile flowers were mostly thrown on the ground, and colorful petals were scattered everywhere. A woman was crouching on the floor, crying.
Hearing the sound of the beaded curtain being lifted, the woman immediately stood up, tears still on her face, and a forced smile appeared at the corners of her mouth as she greeted Fan Yuan and Gu Yang.
“Hello, are you here to buy flowers? The shop is a bit messy now. Take a look at the ones that are intact. Do you need anything?”
The flower shop appeared small, and the woman seemed to have just experienced something. Though clearly sad and upset, she didn’t want to let go of Gu Yang and Fan Yuan, or else she wouldn’t have kept the shop open until so late.
Gu Yang didn’t want to delve into other people’s lives. His gaze swept around the intact flowers and finally fell on a delicate rose.
Even though roses had become clichéd, Gu Yang suddenly wanted to give Fan Yuan a bouquet of roses.
“Could you please wrap a bouquet of roses for me? Thank you.”
The woman nodded in agreement, but tears started falling again. She quickly turned away to wipe her eyes while continuing to arrange the bouquet.
As she was halfway through arranging the bouquet, a small door at the back of the flower shop was pushed open, and a man with a stern face walked out nonchalantly, holding a pink wallet in his hand.
Seeing the man, the woman immediately put down the roses in her hands and ran over to snatch it.
“You can’t take it! What about our child’s living expenses next month?”
The man easily pushed the woman away by pressing her shoulder, and his murky eyes glanced at Gu Yang and Fan Yuan.
“Oh, someone is buying flowers so late? Your business seems pretty good.”
Gu Yang’s eyebrows furrowed slightly, and Fan Yuan pulled his arm, leading him behind.
The man stuffed the pink wallet into his coat pocket and casually plucked off one of the largest flower heads from the half-arranged bouquet.
The original arrangement was immediately ruined, and the woman became even more anxious. She turned back to Gu Yang and Fan Yuan, full of apology:
“Um, sorry about that. I’ll… no, I’ll wrap a new bouquet for you right away.”
As she tried to push and shove the man’s shoulder, she quietly pleaded:
“Give me back the wallet, and you can leave. Don’t come back, let’s divorce.”
The word “divorce” seemed to trigger something in the man. He raised his hand and threw the flower bouquet at the woman’s face. Frightened, she instinctively shrunk her shoulders but didn’t manage to avoid it.
Fan Yuan stood on the side, uninterested in the situation, and even wanted to pull Gu Yang to find another flower shop.
With a deepening frown, Gu Yang stepped forward and blocked the man’s raised hand.
“If you dare to touch me, I’ll call the police.”
The man sneered and threw the bouquet at Gu Yang’s face.
Gu Yang immediately dodged backward, but the rose scratched a small red mark on his cheek.
In an instant, frost gathered in Fan Yuan’s palm, but it disappeared completely when Gu Yang held his hand.
The woman let out a small scream and kept bowing and apologizing to Gu Yang. She repeatedly bent to a ninety-degree angle, tightly pulling the man’s arm.
“Just go! I don’t want the wallet anymore. Just leave, I beg you!”
The man spat on the ground, swaggering as he walked away.
After taking a few steps, he suddenly found that he couldn’t lift his foot no matter how hard he tried.
Fan Yuan reached out and pinched Gu Yang’s chin, staring at a faint red mark on the side of Gu Yang’s face for a long time. Right in front of the woman, he lowered his head and gently kissed the wound.
An extremely thin layer of frost instantly formed on the surface of the wound, stopping the bleeding.
“Does it hurt?” Fan Yuan’s eyebrows furrowed, and his aura became colder and colder.
Gu Yang didn’t mind being seen by others. He buried his head in Fan Yuan’s chest and rubbed his forehead hard, causing the hair on his forehead to become static. “I don’t hurt, not at all, because you kissed me.”
The woman also didn’t expect the relationship between Fan Yuan and Gu Yang to be like this, and her expression was a bit stunned.
The man’s mood worsened as his feet remained unable to lift from the ground. This strange state made him increasingly irritable. Seeing the intimacy between Gu Yang and Fan Yuan, he began to curse at them.
“Damn it, what bad luck! Running into two ducks* here at this hour, such disgusting people!”
* ducks = male prostitutes
The words were too harsh, and the woman seemed to erupt suddenly, shouting at the man: “Get lost! Just go! Don’t stay here anymore! I’m begging you!”
The man exerted even more force to lift his feet, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t lift them. If he bent down and looked closely, he would see a layer of frost covering the soles of his feet.
“You d*mn woman! Do you think I want to stay here? Who wants to be in this cursed place?”
Fan Yuan lifted his hand and gently fixed Gu Yang’s disheveled hairline, then lowered his head to kiss Gu Yang’s injured cheek. Suddenly, he walked towards the man.
Gu Yang’s lips quirked slightly, and he didn’t stop him.
He believed in Fan Yuan; he believed that even under the influence of malicious mirrors, Fan Yuan could control the malice surging within him, just as he had consumed the characteristics of the two foxes in the past.
Fan Yuan was naturally an imposing person, and his black eyes devoid of emotions made people feel fearful. Moreover, now, with the amplified malice inside him, everything, even life itself, seemed insignificant compared to Gu Yang.
The man, with a face full of meat, saw Fan Yuan approaching step by step. Initially arrogant, his expression turned more and more peculiar, and a hint of fear gradually appeared in his eyes.
He could feel the icy coldness creeping up from his feet, which he couldn’t lift, a bone-chilling cold that could cause frostbite. It climbed up his calves.
Fan Yuan had his back turned to Gu Yang and the woman. In his deep black pupils, there seemed to be fleeting ice crystals.
“What… what kind of monster are you…” The man’s words began to carry a chilling tone.
The woman had no idea what the man was experiencing; she thought he was about to start cursing and intimidating her customers. Although her shoulders were tense with fear, she prepared to step forward and push the man away. But Gu Yang raised his hand to stop her.
“It’s alright, don’t bother.”
Gu Yang turned to the woman with a smile and pointed at the ruined bouquet of roses on the ground.
“Could you please wrap another bouquet of roses for me? And also add some sunflowers if you have them, please?”
Trembling, the thin woman nodded and started cutting the roses for Gu Yang, fearing that a conflict might erupt between the man and Fan Yuan.
Meanwhile, Fan Yuan took another step towards the man and suddenly opened his right hand, pressing it against the man’s chest.
Icy frost appeared from Fan Yuan’s palm, nearly freezing the man’s heart, but it melted away instantly.
Completely terrified from his recent near-death experience, the man was now too frightened to speak properly.
“Y-you… you…”
Fan Yuan retrieved his hand and stared quietly at the man for a few seconds, as if wanting to remember his face.
“I won’t kill you, only because he wouldn’t be happy about it.”
“Get lost.”
With Fan Yuan’s words, the man finally found that he could move his feet again. Screaming in agony, he turned around and fled.
The woman, who was still busy wrapping the bouquet, heard the man’s screams but did not look back. She trembled, with her shoulders still tightly hunched, her gaze occasionally vacant, showing signs of exhaustion and panic from the hardships of life.
Gu Yang took the bouquet from the woman, but he didn’t take the sunflowers.
“This one’s for you.”
The woman stood in front of Gu Yang, wide-eyed, looking very confused.
Gu Yang looked around the small flower shop. Despite the mess on the floor, it was evident that the woman put a lot of effort into the decorations.
“Since you can run a flower shop on your own and seem to be raising your child well… Why can’t you learn to protect yourself?”
The woman clutched the sunflower bouquet tightly in her hands, wrinkling the wrapping paper.
Gu Yang didn’t pay her any more attention; he was just meddling, saying something he shouldn’t have. Her remaining life would still depend on her own choices.
Together with Fan Yuan, Gu Yang walked out of the flower shop. The driver Uncle, was waiting at the door.
“Are you alright? Shall we leave now?”
Clearly, driver Uncle had heard the commotion inside but didn’t dare to intrude without Fan Yuan’s signal. He had been waiting at the door the whole time.
Gu Yang shook his head with a smile and got into the car first.
“Could you please take us home, Uncle?”
Fan Yuan got into the car from the other side, and as soon as he sat down, the bouquet of roses was placed on his lap.
The tender roses immediately turned into icy flowers, their deep-red petals covered in frost.
With the partition still up in the car, Gu Yang tilted his head, leaning against Fan Yuan as if he had no bones.
Using his fingers, he absentmindedly played with the frozen petals.
Fan Yuan’s gaze was fixated on Gu Yang’s fingertips. The crimson petals against the pale skin were particularly beautiful, and they also stirred a desire to destroy everything.
“Aren’t you afraid?” Fan Yuan suddenly hooked his finger on Gu Yang’s necklace, forcing him to look up.
With the necklace tightening, Gu Yang showed no signs of concern as he casually glanced back.
“Hmm? Afraid of what?”
Fan Yuan released the necklace and held Gu Yang’s wrist.
Gu Yang’s fingertips were gently playing with the petals when Fan Yuan suddenly held his hand too tightly, accidentally plucking a petal.
“What do you think?” Fan Yuan asked, and the layer of frost on the petal slowly melted on Gu Yang’s fingertips. A cold droplet of water ran down his hand, passing over his palm, flowing across his wrist, and finally dropping onto Fan Yuan’s hand.
Of course, Gu Yang knew what Fan Yuan meant by “afraid.” Fan Yuan had genuinely wanted to kill that man just now.
Gu Yang was well aware, and he was not afraid at all. He had playfully teased Fan Yuan out of impulse.
As Fan Yuan stared at the droplet on his hand, he seemed reluctant to wipe it off.
Gu Yang casually put the petal that he had accidentally plucked into his mouth and chewed it. The crimson juice from the rose stained his already reddish lips even more.
Fan Yuan’s gaze was drawn to the juice at the corner of Gu Yang’s lips. He lowered his head slightly, seemingly able to smell the fragrance of the rose in Gu Yang’s mouth.
Gu Yang’s fingertips slowly pressed against Fan Yuan’s collar, moving upward, and he held onto Fan Yuan’s collar, pulling him closer.
“I’m very afraid.”
Gu Yang smiled at Fan Yuan, and the petal was completely swallowed. Only a bright color was left on his lips, which made his teeth appear even whiter.
The contours of Fan Yuan’s shoulders and neck gradually tensed, seemingly afraid that behind Gu Yang’s statement of being afraid, there would be something he couldn’t accept.
A thin layer of frost began to form in the backseat, creeping up on the car’s windows, creating beautiful ice crystal patterns.
Suddenly, the driver in the front seat shivered, wondering why it had become so cold inside the car during mid-March. He turned on the car’s heater.
“I’m not sure what’s happening. It’s already mid-March, but the car has suddenly become so cold.”
Gu Yang raised both hands and wrapped them around Fan Yuan’s neck. His neck lifted, revealing his smooth and fair skin. Wrapped around his neck was a black necklace with a cute little flower pendant.
“I’m terrified to death…”
Gu Yang whispered softly into Fan Yuan’s ear, word by word.
“I’m afraid that…that part of you is cold.”
The thick frost that almost covered the car’s windows suddenly stopped thickening and freezing.
The cold air in the backseat seemed to have frozen for a moment. Gu Yang hugged Fan Yuan’s neck tightly, almost sitting on his lap, and threw the bouquet of roses to the side.
The smile on Gu Yang’s lips, successfully playing a joke on Fan Yuan, couldn’t be hidden. His eyes were pure and clear.
Gradually, Fan Yuan’s fingers, which were lightly resting on Gu Yang’s lower back, exerted more force, and he pressed his fingertips fiercely against Gu Yang’s waist.
Gu Yang’s eyes, which were smiling, widened slightly, and his forehead rested on Fan Yuan’s shoulder.
Fan Yuan’s hands firmly pressed on the two small waists hidden under Gu Yang’s clothes. His black-as-ink eyes carefully observed the changes in Gu Yang’s expressions, trying not to miss any slightest change.
He saw the pink color creeping up Gu Yang’s cheeks, gradually deepening, spreading down to his neck and ears.
Perhaps there was an even more dazzling color hidden under his clothes.
Suddenly, Fan Yuan had this thought. He squinted his eyes and used his ice-cold lips to touch Gu Yang’s warm cheeks, which were flushed.
“Gu Yang, don’t tease me.”
Gu Yang was now facing the consequences of his actions, unable to speak, and could only stare at Fan Yuan with a pair of eyes reflecting a shimmer of water, tinged with a faint pink at the corners. He had no intimidating aura left at all.
Fan Yuan finally showed mercy and released his grip on Gu Yang’s waist, allowing Gu Yang to slump against him.
With his head resting on Fan Yuan’s shoulder, Gu Yang vented his frustration by tugging at the corners of Fan Yuan’s clothes, making them wrinkled.
Fan Yuan plucked a rose petal and offered it to Gu Yang’s lips.
Gu Yang raised his head and glared fiercely at Fan Yuan, his tone harsh, “What do you want?”
Fan Yuan placed the deep red petal against Gu Yang’s lips and spoke candidly, not hiding anything, “Gu Yang, eat it for me.”
Gu Yang avoided looking at Fan Yuan’s fingertips and the petal they held.
Fan Yuan rolled the petal on his fingertips, and the fragile petal was crushed, oozing red juice. The enclosed backseat became even more fragrant with the scent of roses.
“Gu Yang?”
Fan Yuan urged him, his voice softer this time, but still icy.
Gu Yang’s gaze shifted elsewhere, not looking at Fan Yuan’s fingertips or the petal he held.
Fan Yuan gently pressed the red juice from his fingertips onto the corner of Gu Yang’s lips, leaving a mark that looked like a flower in bloom.
“Eat it?”
Fan Yuan spoke with a slightly softened tone, the coldness still present, but he had managed to hide the hardest part of himself in his heart, melting the part where he had the most resentment.
This version of Fan Yuan, this version of Fan Yuan…
Gu Yang couldn’t resist at all.
He took the petal into his mouth, taking a small bite to vent his frustration. It was more like coquetry than venting.
Eating only the rose petal wasn’t pleasant at all. Gu Yang had eaten one just now, purely to tease Fan Yuan, but unexpectedly, he had teased himself instead.
After swallowing the petal, when Fan Yuan offered another one, Gu Yang placed his hand on Fan Yuan’s wrist, and his long black eyelashes quivered slightly. He softly complained, “It tastes terrible.”
Fan Yuan put down the petal and miraculously conjured a candy out of his pocket – Gu Yang’s favorite kind, which had been covered in frost in his pocket.
Gu Yang watched intently as Fan Yuan unwrapped the candy, his mouth slightly agape, waiting for Fan Yuan to feed him the candy.
But instead, Fan Yuan put the candy into his own mouth and then promptly placed the petal into Gu Yang’s mouth.
Gu Yang closed his lips, calmly chewed the petal a few times, and then suddenly pressed Fan Yuan’s shoulder, pushing himself up. He knelt on either side of Fan Yuan, his face lowered as he bit Fan Yuan’s lips, trying to snatch the sweetness from his mouth.
Gu Yang fought for sweetness, and Fan Yuan fought for the juice of the rose petal.
The confined battlefield erupted into a significant battle. Gu Yang furrowed his brows, feeling that the enemy was too strong while he was weak.
The battle escalated and expanded, and the rations began to deplete.
In the end, Gu Yang became a defeated soldier under Fan Yuan’s command. He failed to get the candy, and even the rations were gone.
Fortunately, the enemy army had some conscience left, and they gave Gu Yang the melted candy, consoling the defeated soldier.
Gu Yang, with the enemy’s consolation, comforted himself, “The taste is not bad. It’s sweet and cold, at least.”
The forgotten bouquet of roses beside them had the largest flower, the flower crown, looking somewhat pitiful with only the center of the flower remaining.
As for the petals?
They were all in Gu Yang’s belly.
The author’s note: What’s inside Gu Yang’s belly?
Fan Yuan: :)
Gu Yang: A sword.
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