SBS chapter 36

An hour later, Ye Xi came home carrying a bouquet of Ecuadorian roses. His bag held his favorite comics and merchandise, and he had a box of cake in hand.

As he stepped inside, he was still thinking—

Even if he didn’t post a picture or send it to Bai Yue, it wasn’t a waste…

After all, the roses were beautiful.

But as he entered with the big bouquet, he was being extremely sneaky, terrified of running into Zheng Yang.

Lately, Zheng Yang had been acting weird, nothing like before. If he saw him holding such a huge bouquet, he would definitely ask questions.

Even if he didn’t, just one of Zheng Yang’s weird looks would make Ye Xi want to crawl into a hole.

Thankfully, he peeked into the living room—no one was there. The only thing visible was a bowl of fresh fruit on the table, its sweet scent lingering in the air.

Perfect.

He bolted upstairs with the flowers like a flash of lightning.

Only after shutting the door to his room with a slam did he pat his chest in relief.

…..

But Ye Xi didn’t need to be so nervous—Zheng Yang wasn’t even home.

Zheng Yang was standing on the street, waiting for Bai Yue’s car.

Bai Yue had mailed a Valentine’s Day gift to Ye Xi from overseas, but accidentally sent it to his own home.

So now, the driver had to specially deliver it to Zheng Yang to pass it on.

“You’re seriously messed up,” Zheng Yang muttered, eyes rolling. He had just finished hanging out with some friends—without Bai Yue around to spoil the mood, he had gone skiing with the guys.

But just as the event ended, Bai Yue called.

“I don’t even know what kind of Valentine’s Day you’re trying to have,” Zheng Yang sneered, taking the opportunity to vent all the frustration he’d built up. “Is Ye Xi your boyfriend now? Giving him Valentine’s gifts? You don’t even have the right status—you’re not even qualified to be a side piece.”

Overseas, surrounded by classmates, Bai Yue still wore his usual gentlemanly smile. But if one looked closely, the smile never reached his eyes.

“You just love to talk, huh?” Bai Yue said coldly. “Didn’t I already tell you what to say to Ye Xi? He’ll accept it. You don’t have to worry.”

Hah.

Zheng Yang snorted more mockingly. By now, Bai Yue’s driver had pulled up. Zheng Yang didn’t hold back—he got straight into the car and told the driver to take him home.

“You’re really something,” Zheng Yang scoffed. “It’s pathetic, honestly. You want to give someone a gift but can’t even do it openly, so you use me as an excuse. How pitiful.”

Bai Yue could tell Zheng Yang was in the car. He didn’t want to hear more of this, so he just hung up.

Zheng Yang heard the beep of the call ending and gave a satisfied hum.

He looked over at the two beautifully packaged gift bags on the back seat. He inspected the one for Ye Xi, then checked his own.

When he saw the items inside—complete with bows and even a handwritten card—his face twisted in pure disgust.

Ugh, people in love really lose their minds.

Back home, Zheng Yang hesitated for a while. He debated whether to just dump the gift at Ye Xi’s door—or go nuclear and toss it into the fishpond.

But in the end, he stood at Ye Xi’s bedroom door.

It took him ten minutes of internal struggle just to gather the nerve to knock.

In his head, he cursed Bai Yue to hell and back. Bai Yue was the one pursuing someone—why was he the one suffering?

Still, he knocked three times—firm, but not too hard.

Clearly, Ye Xi heard it.

A few seconds later, he heard soft footsteps. Ye Xi opened the door and looked out calmly—but his eyes widened when he saw who it was.

What the hell?

Had he gone mad?

Why else would he be seeing Zheng Yang knocking on his door?

Zheng Yang wasn’t doing much better.

The moment he saw Ye Xi’s face, he froze. Ye Xi had already changed into his pajamas—a fluffy white set. His expression was sleepy and confused. The door wasn’t even fully open, just a small gap, his hand resting on the knob, half his body hidden like a kid peeking out.

Zheng Yang pressed his lips together. For some reason, he suddenly remembered when Ye Xi had first come to live with them.

Back then, Ye Xi had also stood behind the door like this, wearing a bunny onesie, shyly watching him.

“Do you need something?” Ye Xi eyed Zheng Yang warily.

“It’s from Bai Yue.” Zheng Yang handed over the gift bag. His mind was full of chaotic thoughts, but his face remained cold.

“Bai Yue said he went to visit a chocolate factory overseas with his friends. It’s over a hundred years old and only sells locally. So he bought some and mailed it home. There’s one for you and one for me.”

He gritted his teeth, barely managing to spit out the final line Bai Yue had told him to say.

“He said… since it’s Valentine’s Day, it can count as a Valentine’s gift.”

Ugh.

Just saying “Valentine’s gift” made Zheng Yang want to gag.

He couldn’t believe Bai Yue had the guts to say something so shameless.

And even dragged him into it.

As if he cared. He didn’t even celebrate Valentine’s Day.

Zheng Yang silently rolled his eyes at the ceiling.

But Ye Xi froze.

He had prepared himself for the idea that Zheng Yang had come to pick a fight, to throw some inexplicable sarcasm at him, or that something truly catastrophic had happened—only then would Zheng Yang lower himself enough to knock on his door.

But it turned out Zheng Yang had come to deliver a gift.

And it was Bai Yue’s gift.

Ye Xi was a little dazed. He looked at Zheng Yang, who stood in the bright hallway wearing a white jacket, lit overhead by warm white light. He looked like an oversized white dove.

“Do you want it or not? If not, I’ll throw it out,” Zheng Yang said, inexplicably irritated. He waved the bag in front of Ye Xi, making a show of pulling it back.

“I want it!” Ye Xi immediately snatched it from him.

With a snap, Zheng Yang’s hand was suddenly empty. Ye Xi moved so fast, it was like the legendary “no-shadow hand” from Foshan.

Zheng Yang couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow.

The two of them stood awkwardly at the doorway, staring at each other.

Ye Xi, holding the gift, felt that maybe he had overreacted. Zheng Yang probably wouldn’t have really thrown it away.

But Zheng Yang still didn’t leave. He stood at the door, staring at him, lost in thought.

Ye Xi could only mumble, “…Thanks for bringing it over.”

He peeked into the bag and could vaguely make out a box of chocolates. Trying to make conversation, he asked Zheng Yang, “Did Bai Yue give you chocolate too?”

As if.

Just scraps from your batch.

Zheng Yang silently complained in his heart, but out loud he said, “No. I got two boxes of cookies and a keychain.”

It sounded perfunctory, full of a “take it or leave it” attitude.

After saying that, he turned to leave.

He and Ye Xi didn’t really have anything to talk about.

So many years of estrangement and distance—they were the kind of brothers who were familiar yet like strangers.

But just as Zheng Yang took a step, Ye Xi called out to him.

“Wait a second.”

Ye Xi hesitated a bit. But seeing that Zheng Yang had stopped, he quickly ran back into the room and took a beige paper box from the mini fridge.

“This is something I brought back from a café. I remembered you like Bavarois, so I got one for you.”

He wasn’t lying, but Ye Xi still bit his lip nervously.

When he packed it at the café, he thought he must’ve lost his mind. Did Zheng Yang really need this cake? At home, their pastry chef catered to this young master twenty-four-seven. If he wanted anything, someone would go out and buy it for him immediately.

But maybe Zheng Yang had been a bit nicer to him lately.

He felt a little confused, a little uncomfortable, like he had to give something in return.

He added, “That café’s cakes are really delicious, so I brought one back. But if you don’t want it, that’s fine too.”

As he spoke, he made a move to take it back.

This time, it was Zheng Yang who stepped forward and grabbed the box.

“Who said I didn’t want it?” he said with a stern face, staring at Ye Xi for a moment.

The two of them stood silently in the doorway for a while until Zheng Yang felt awkward and turned to leave without saying another word.

Ye Xi watched him disappear around the stairwell corner before slowly closing the door.

…..

As soon as he returned to his bedroom, he eagerly opened the gift. Bai Yue had sent him a present.

A Valentine’s Day gift.

Even though he knew Bai Yue was probably just joking—and had even given Zheng Yang a gift too—just the words “Valentine’s Day” made pink bubbles float in his mind.

Ye Xi opened the gift bag. Inside was a beautiful white tin box, embossed with blue floral designs. Inside were jewel-like chocolates.

Next to it was a pink velvet box, holding a small bottle of perfume. It was dainty and shaped like a chocolate—something a girl could hold in the palm of her hand.

Beside it, there was a postcard.

Ye Xi picked it up and saw Bai Yue’s free-flowing handwriting. It was clearly scribbled casually.

“The perfume is chocolate-scented. According to the owner, this is the only place in the world where you can buy it. So I got one for you too. It might be too sweet and not really suitable for a guy, but I hope you don’t mind. Just treat it as a keepsake.”

“The chocolates are orange, mint, and cherry liqueur flavored. I made them myself, so they might not look great. But the taste shouldn’t be bad—I tried them.”

“It’s the 5th of February here now, but by the time this arrives, it should be Valentine’s Day.”

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Ye Xi.”

Next to that final line, the last stroke of the character for “Xi” curved slightly, with a small dot trailing behind—like the writer hesitated, unsure whether to add more.

But in the end, he didn’t write anything else.

Ye Xi stared at the postcard, almost able to picture Bai Yue writing it.

That slender, fair, jade-like hand. Nails neat and rounded. His grip on the pen was textbook-perfect, writing quickly, the handwriting slightly tilted.

When he wrote that last line, Bai Yue might’ve smiled.

Ye Xi couldn’t help but smile, too.

He knew this was just a polite gesture—Bai Yue giving the same treatment to both him and Zheng Yang.

Valentine’s Day didn’t really mean anything special.

Bai Yue had probably even written that line with a bit of teasing.

But still, he imagined Bai Yue carefully picking out perfume for him, packing the handmade chocolates into a box, sending them across the sea, arriving at his side.

His heart felt like it was soaking in warm water, growing soft.

Because, on Valentine’s Day, he had received a gift from the person he liked.

And that day, in Changhuan City, the first snow of winter had fallen.

It was better than any fairytale.

“Bai-ge…”

Ye Xi whispered, a little sigh in his voice.

He thought, even if Bai Yue never gave him a shred of affection in the end…

Bai Yue was still the gentlest person he had ever met.