“There are some things I can’t say.” He looked troubled, taking a long time before adding, “I can only tell you that during these five years in Japan, I had no freedom; everything I did was controlled by others.”
“Who? Your father?”
“You could say that.”
“Do you have to listen to him?”
“I must!” His tone was resolute.
“Why?”
He sighed, “I’ll tell you later.”
He never explained, and even years later, I couldn’t grasp what kind of coercion could strip a man of his freedom and make Ye Zhengchen willing to be manipulated. I asked again, “Did he make you break up with me?”
“You could understand it that way.” His answer was vague.
“Do you still want to be with me?”
He laughed, adopting a casual tone: “I’d rather die in pieces, suffer eternal damnation! Die under the peony flower, be a ghost and still be romantic!”
“You, even alive, are a lewd…”
ghost… umm…” He kissed me, using an extremely lingering kiss to overcome my last resistance. Fine! Just for his heroic words: “I’d rather die in pieces, suffer eternal damnation”, I’ll forgive him this time! After the passionate kiss, he asked, “Sweetie, are you hungry?” Finally, a human-like question. “I’m starving! I hadn’t even eaten dinner, and after such intense exercise, how could I not be hungry!”
“What do you want to eat?” He looked at me expectantly. “I want you to cook noodles!” At his suggestion, I started to miss the spicy dan dan noodles. “Okay!” He helped tidy my clothes, cleaned up the mess, and we went to my apartment, which was filled with the smell of cooking. We sat by the window, the melancholic “Heavenly Fragrance” playing on loop, him holding my shoulder as we shared a bowl of noodles. This was the most delicious bowl of noodles I’d ever eaten.
A thin ray of light penetrates the dense cloud layer, raindrops suspended in the emerging dawn, casting a hazy veil over the pale blue sky. The rustling of clothing and thin blanket subtly hints at my shyness and his persistence. “Stop it, it’s already bright,” I whisper, worried about the poor soundproofing of this building.
“But I want to hold you while sleeping, not just your clothes.”
