WHIF- Chapter 28

There are 3 chapters for today since we missed the previous 2 days. 2 more chapters are coming up after this one.

Hope you enjoy reading!

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Ch. 28 Home

    For a split second, Ji Xiang wanted to bite off his own tongue.

    How could such an embarrassing question even come out of his mouth?

    “Uh… pretend I didn’t say that.” Ji Xiang mumbled under his breath and in a moment of desperation, grabbed the bucket of popcorn. “Do you want some?”

    Yang Chaosheng rarely ate junk food. He’d only bought the popcorn, thinking Ji Xiang might like it. When helping him move in, he’d seen Ji Xiang stashing an entire box of snacks, like a hamster hoarding food. Although those snacks ultimately ended up in the basket by the TV, becoming part of their shared home.

    Suddenly, Yang Chaosheng leaned down and whispered in Ji Xiang’s ear, “Look to your right.”

    Grateful for the distraction from his embarrassment, Ji Xiang quickly turned his head—only to see a boy feeding popcorn to a girl who was totally absorbed in the movie.

    Before he could react, Yang Chaosheng pressed a piece of popcorn to Ji Xiang’s lips, followed by a soft chuckle as he coaxed him to open his mouth, “Ah—”

    In the dim cinema hall, the only light came from the screen, barely enough to make out the silhouette of the person beside you. Yang Chaosheng’s features blurred in the soft flicker, but Ji Xiang still caught the gleam in his eyes—that quiet ripple of emotion barely hidden beneath the surface.

    Like a silent wave, it washed over him gently, but with such force that there was no escaping it.

    The more Ji Xiang thought about it, the hotter his ears burned. He felt like his whole body was on fire. Yang Chaosheng noticed he was zoning out and gently tapped the popcorn, “Don’t like it?”

    Yang Chaosheng was asking if he didn’t like the taste.
But Ji Xiang thought he was asking whether he didn’t like the gesture.

    Ji Xiang couldn’t quite say if he liked it or not. But this kind of closeness, this way of interacting, was far beyond his usual boundaries of a polite friendship.
And yet… he didn’t dislike it.

    “No,” Ji Xiang prayed Yang Chaosheng wouldn’t notice how red his ears and cheeks were. He grabbed a few popcorn kernels and offered them in return. “It’s really good.”

    Yang Chaosheng paused, then held Ji Xiang’s hand and bit into the popcorn. “It is good.”

    Whether it was a matter of preference or habit, he was willing to make changes for Ji Xiang—popcorn was sweet and honestly, not that bad.

    Even after the movie ended, Ji Xiang still felt uncomfortably warm.

    As the crowd slowly trickled out, the two of them trailed at the back. Yang Chaosheng saw Ji Xiang fanning his face, looking flustered. After tossing the empty tub into the bin, he took a long stride and caught up.

    “What’s wrong?” he asked, noting Ji Xiang’s face that was as red as the apples they’d just bought yesterday. “Too stuffy in there?”

    He reached out to touch Ji Xiang’s forehead.

    Thankfully, it wasn’t too hot.

    “N-No,” Ji Xiang mumbled, looking down as he stepped off the curb. “Yeah, it was kind of stuffy with so many people, so now I just feel a bit warm.”

    “Sorry, I didn’t consider that…” Yang Chaosheng said guiltily.

    Ji Xiang didn’t understand why Yang Chaosheng apologized so much. If there were a crown for the King of Apologies, it’d be Yang Chaosheng’s without a doubt.

    Anyway, it was just a convenient excuse. Ji Xiang thought of that cool touch from earlier, and then—without hesitation—took Yang Chaosheng’s hand again, pressing the back of it against his warm cheek.

    “This is more cooling,” Ji Xiang said with a smile. “But why are your hands so cold, Yang Chaosheng?”

    Yang Chaosheng froze for a moment, barely daring to move. “…I don’t know either.”

    But he could feel the heat rising quickly.

    After serving as Ji Xiang’s personal cooling device for a while, Yang Chaosheng’s hand had thoroughly warmed up—mostly because Ji Xiang hadn’t let go the entire time.

    “Cotton candy, fifteen yuan a stick—!”

    Ji Xiang had been eyeing the stalls at the exit. But the moment he heard the price, he quickly looked away.

    “Do you want one?” Yang Chaosheng caught the gleam of interest in his eyes and tugged him towards the stall.

    “Forget it, it’s too expensive.” Ji Xiang clicked his tongue. “Back then, something this big was only five yuan. It’s not like I have to eat it.”

    “Not having to eat it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t.” Yang Chaosheng coaxed him with a smile, then asked the vendor, “What flavours do you have?”

    Although Ji Xiang wasn’t quite honest with his heart, his mouth was quick: “The lime one.”

    Yang Chaosheng nodded, paid, and soon handed over a massive, freshly spun cotton candy.

    Ji Xiang took it—it was so big it covered his whole face. He took a bite behind the fluffy veil. “Doesn’t really taste like lime…”

    “Maybe it just looks like lime,” Ji Xiang mumbled, peeking out and turning the untouched side toward Yang Chaosheng. “Try it.”

    Yang Chaosheng leaned in and took a small bite.

    “Well?”

    Yang Chaosheng looked puzzled. “…Just tastes like sugar.”

    “What the heck, we just got scammed out of fifteen yuan.” Ji Xiang pouted. “If making money is this easy, I should quit and sell cotton candy instead. Fifteen a pop and people still buy it!”

    Yang Chaosheng laughed and played along, “Then I’ll quit too and push the cart for you.”

    “No, no, if we’re both tied to the same pole, we’ll end up unemployed and living off welfare.” Ji Xiang spoke as if he was really going to open a stall tomorrow. “Here’s the plan—you do drinks next to me. Too much sugar? No problem! We’ve got refreshing juices and drinks. One-stop shop.”

    “Deal.”

    Ji Xiang’s wild imagination always came so suddenly. But if he really did open a cotton candy stall one day, Yang Chaosheng thought he’d probably secretly buy out all of it.

    “Actually, when I was little, my family never let me eat stuff like this, same with the popcorn earlier. They thought it was junk food and unhealthy,” Ji Xiang said as he let Yang Chaosheng take his hand to guide him, since he couldn’t see the path ahead clearly, focused as he was on his not-so-delicious treat. “No one at home really cared whether I was happy. But… there was one person. He always came up with ways to cheer me up. He was like a superhero—more perfect and dependable than even my parents. It felt like no matter what I said, he could magically make it appear, just like Doraemon.”

    “He even made me cotton candy once. We sneaked a pot into the garden and made it while my parents were out. We almost burned Mom’s flowers.” Ji Xiang chuckled. “Honestly? It tasted worse than this. But the colors—his looked like a rainbow, a hundred times more beautiful.”

    “…I haven’t seen him in years.” Ji Xiang’s voice turned quiet.

    Yang Chaosheng listened in silence, wondering who that person was—someone who could take up such a special place in Ji Xiang’s childhood.

    But it didn’t matter. He’d make sure to be part of Ji Xiang’s present… and future.

    Watching the nostalgia in Ji Xiang’s eyes, Yang Chaosheng gently squeezed his hand. “If you want to do it again, I’ll do it with you.”

    “That’s so touching, Lawyer Yang.” Ji Xiang teased. “Honestly, from what I’ve seen, you’ve got real husband potential, always emotionally supportive and never a buzzkill.”

    Yang Chaosheng’s instinctive care felt like second nature, like a role he was born to play. He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “So that’s a compliment?”

    “Of course it is.”

    Yang Chaosheng saw Ji Xiang lick the sticky corners of his lips, and handed him a tissue. “Let’s go pick our outfits for the wedding shoot on Saturday. My parents said they’ll be back in Tongcheng in two weeks. Thought we could all have dinner then, along with your family.”

    Thinking of meeting Yang Chaosheng’s parents made Ji Xiang nervous. He accepted the tissue and nodded seriously. “Okay.”

    “I saw your notes on your tablet yesterday. Not happy with the venue options?”

    Ji Xiang had a habit of doodling when thinking. He’d skimmed through Yang Chaosheng’s selection—some indoor, some outdoor—but they all felt too extravagant to him. Still, since Yang Chaosheng had carefully picked them, he didn’t want to sound ungrateful.

    “No, they’re all nice. I kind of like the one by the beach. But isn’t that a scenic area? There will be lots of passersby.”

    “Doesn’t matter. Once you pick the place, I’ll handle the rest.” Yang Chaosheng smiled warmly. “Even if it’s just a fake wedding, the experience has to be just as good as anyone else’s.”

    Ji Xiang laughed, “Are you trying to one-up someone?”

    “What if I said yes?” Yang Chaosheng replied slowly. “My sister had this huge lawn wedding in Ireland last year [mfn]His sister is already married (towards the end of last year), in opposition to what was there in the previous chapters, and I have made the necessary changes in those chapters[/mfn]—invited tons of people, even junior staff from the company. Paid for flights, hotels, gave out red envelopes.”

    “Yueming-jie really went all out.” Ji Xiang, despite having seen his fair share of luxury, found that impressive. “So, you want something like that too?”

    “I wanted to invite some colleagues. But you said just close family and friends, so I listened to you,” Yang Chaosheng said. “I respect your opinion. If you prefer something small and elegant, then that’s what we’ll do. It won’t be any less meaningful than my sister’s.”

    Ji Xiang sensed a trace of hurt behind those words, like he was unwilling to fully celebrate, as if hiding their marriage.

    “I didn’t say it had to be small… If you want to invite people, can I also invite my colleagues?”

    Yang Chaosheng chuckled. “Of course. It’s our wedding.”

    “Alright then. Guess we’ll need to print more invitations?”

    “Don’t worry, we have plenty of them printed.”

    Ji Xiang squinted playfully. They’d picked the wedding date a while ago—mid-summer, just a month away. Yang Chaosheng even had sample invites designed almost instantly. Ji Xiang still didn’t know who the designer was.

    “You planned this all out, didn’t you?”

    Yang Chaosheng feigned innocence. “Planned what?”

    Ji Xiang pouted but didn’t press, finishing his cotton candy and grabbing Yang Chaosheng’s hand again. “Let’s do it your way. But writing out all those names sounds like a pain…”

    “I’ll do it,” Yang Chaosheng interrupted. “Just send me the list of people you want to invite.”

    “Okay.” Ji Xiang smiled. For a moment, it really felt like they were in love, like a couple truly preparing for marriage.

    It was a strange feeling. Ji Xiang figured it was because Yang Chaosheng was too accommodating; his unreasonable level of indulgence made everything feel real.

    “Yang Chaosheng, you can’t just do whatever anyone tells you to,” Ji Xiang said, swinging their clasped hands like a mischievous child. “You’ll get taken advantage of.”

    “You’re the first person who’s ever said that about me.” Yang Chaosheng swayed back with just the right amount of force. “Would you take advantage of me?”

    “What if I say I wouldn’t—would you believe me?”

    “I would.”

    “Then I won’t lie to you.” Ji Xiang tugged him forward. “Come on, let’s go home!”

    Yang Chaosheng gazed at his back, smiling softly.

    ‘Home’ —what a beautiful word.