February 14 is the third day of this year's Spring Festival. It is also the International Valentine's Day. Though not as memorable and traditional as Qixi in August, it is still celebrated by young couples and of course business establishments that took the opportunity to earn money on this occasion.
It also serves as the first romantic day in China this new lunar year. There are five 'Valentine's' days in China: The February 14, Lantern Festival, Shangsi, White Day, Wu Er Ling (May 20), Qixi. The White Day and Wu Er Ling are modern additions as well as Single's Day on November 11.
But Hu Chuntian bought enough chocolates and gifts to last for all these five Valentine's Day, earning the glances of bystanders of the streets. He was so indecisive that he bought everything he set his eyes to and now carries 15 different shopping bags, not including the ones he delivered online.
He giggled to himself thinking of how surprised his Da Ge might be once he sees all this.
Meanwhile, his Da Ge is still snoring and fast asleep in a motel room.
Then, his eyebrows creased, cold sweat pouring down his temples. He tossed and turned, then wake up with a jolt, yelling "Hu Chuntian!"
[A bad dream again?] The system asked.
"Guess who's to blame." Mo Aini shakily reached for a glass of water yet still managed to speak in a spiteful tone. "Oh, right. You. You who gave me that traumatic experience of possessing my body and almost killing Hu Chuntian 1.0."
[The past is past. Things are going well with, Hu Chuntian 3.0, isn't it?]
"No, it's not going well. He fell in love and confessed to me again, how is that going well!?"
Mo Aini sighed and slumped on the bed. "Why does this always happen? There's nothing lovable about me, I treated him like shit for most of the time. Why can't we just be friends?"
[Is it that you can't reciprocate his feelings..... Or is it that you are afraid of the consequences?]
"Hah, I don't want that question to come from you. I'm not some guinea pig that you can just examine and form hypothesis on." Mo Aini said, and turned around.
He closed his eyes, and remembered the day when he won the Shengxiao competition.
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"I want you." Hu Chuntian said.
Mo Aini's heart stopped beating for a moment, his blood running cold. Then, he gave a shaky laugh. "Stop joking around, man. Let's go home."
"No, Da Ge, I'm not joking." Hu Chuntian pulled on his sleeves. "Since the day we met.... I may have fallen for you. And the more we spend time together, the deeper it becomes. It's so suffocating inside the dark hole that I can't stand it anymore. I want you to know."
"Da Ge, I really like you. I want you to be mine."
Pulling on his sleeves and asking desperately like this, Mo Aini could not help but feel a sense of irony. He doesn't know whether to laugh or cry. Mo Aini gently took his hand away, and patted Hu Chuntian's head.
"I'm sorry." Mo Aini said gravely, looking down. "A-Tian, I cannot like you back."
"Is it because we're both men?" Hu Chuntian did not give up and clutched his arm again. "It's alright, Da Ge. I thought I didn't like men too. But I learned from BL that as long as you love one another, you shouldn't worry about gender and what other people will say—"
"It's not that." Mo Aini pushed his hand away. "I simply couldn't be anything more than a friend to you, A-Tian. I'm sorry. You'll find someone else."
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Mo Aini got a cab alone and rented a cheap motel space since that day. He blocked Hu Chuntian's number and social media accounts and did not go outside the motel at all. He hung the champion belt on the sofa, ready to sell it in case he don't have enough money to pay for the room anymore.
He's not ready to face Hu Chuntian yet after such a harsh rejection. He'll let the kid get over him first before he even shows his face at school.
Ding Dong!
Suddenly, he heard his doorbell ring!
He almost had a heart attack, falling from his cheap, economy bed.
(Fuck!) He scrambled to get up the floor, picking up the metal belt to hit the intruder.
He waited for the doorbell to ring again, maybe it's just someone who went to the wrong room. But the doorbell rang again and again, and so he cautiously approached the door.
Praying that it is just the motel staff, he asked , "Who is it?"
The person replied with the word he dreaded the most.
"Da Ge~"
Mo Aini picked up the sofa and blocked the door with it!
He cleared his throat and changed his voice to that of an old granny's. "Wrong room child, there is no Da Ge here."
"Da Ge, I know you're in there." Hu Chuntian used his strength to open the door by an inch. His big blue eyes showed through the gaps along with the edges of a wide smile. "Please let me in."
Mo Aini kicked the small wooded sofa to block the door once more. "You can't come in! How the hell did you find me!?"
"I have my ways, Da Ge. The benefits of being rich." Hu Chuntian spoke with a singsong voice. It was creepy as fuck. "Do you know what day it is today, Da Ge?"
"Of course, I do! It's February 14! So what!?"
Mo Aini's eyes widened. "Wait, don't fucking tell me—"
"Da Ge, look outside your window."
Mo Aini tiptoed to the window and opened it, not knowing where he's supposed to look at. The streets were busy celebrating the beautiful spring and the romantic holiday. Couples hold hands under falling petals, flowers and love bloomed in the air, making him feel sick.
Then, he heard the sound of helicopters and looked up.
Two helicopters side by side flew with a large banner saying, 'Mo Aini, I Love You!!!! Will you be my boyfriend!!!!? <3'
Mo Aini almost coughed up blood.
Without him blocking the door, Hu Chuntian manage to kick the sofa away and immediately jumped on him. "Da Ge!"
He looked down at Mo Aini with big eyes and a crazy expression, "Da Ge, I love y—"
SMACK!
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"That'll be 5 yuan."
"5 yuan for an ice pack??? Geez, Auntie. Can't I have it for 3 yuan?"
"That includes the bucket."
"Oh, with the extra 2 yuan, this bucket is also mine?"
"No, the 2 yuan is the fee for borrowing the bucket. I use that for taking a bath, so be quick!"
Mo Aini scratched his head. This motel really is the cheapest of the cheap, even the boss lady has no shower and has to collect water from the bucket!
Mo Aini returned to his room carrying a bucket of ice and some towels to form an ice pack. The door revealed a crying Hu Chuntian with a huge bump on his forehead, shopping bags scattered on the floor along with the metal championship belt Mo Aini used as a defense weapon.
"Da Ge hurt me, huhuhu." Hu Chuntian sobbed. "I was just giving him a Valentine's surprise and he hit me! I thought Da Ge doesn't like seeing me hurt!"
"Yeah, by someone else. And when you don't deserve it." Mo Aini wrapped a couple of ice cubes on the towel and pressed it hard on Hu Chuntian's bump. "But this time, you really deserve it! You almost gave me a stroke! Who the hell told you I would like this kind of surprise!?"
Hu Chuntian sniffed. "But the BL novels said—"
"Fuck, stop reading those shit! This is real life! Think of how embarrassed I would be because of those helicopters!" Mo Aini pressed harder, earning a couple of 'Owwws!" from the delinquent. "And look at all this stuff! Are you planning to build your own gift shop!? Give this stuff back, I don't want any of them!"
"Huhu! They're no-refunds, Da Ge." Hu Chuntian reasoned. "And I just wanted to make you happy. I bought all of this for hours and hours and you don't even like them."
Mo Aini grumbled. He knows this kid is just crying fake tears and he doesn't really feel hurt from physical pain at all. But what if those tears were real and it was not from physical pain, but an emotional one? After all, he might feel all his effort were just disregarded by his Da Ge.
" A-Tian, you really climbed a tree to catch fish* here. Getting many gifts and extravagant luxuries don't make me happy. I appreciate a little bit of chocolate, but can you blame me for getting overwhelmed to wake up and suddenly get all this excitement for no reason?"
"I'm sorry to hit you, I really didn't mean to but you suddenly jumped on me and you've been acting like some crazy yandere. And I'm sorry that I cannot accept all these gifts that you spent hours and money buying, it's just not my style."
Mo Aini frowned. "And I'm sorry, again, because I already refused you and will continue to. I can't be your boyfriend."
Hu Chuntian stopped fake crying and his eyes became dazed for a moment, staring at the floor with pure disappointment. They just sat there as Mo Aini nursed the bump on his head.
There was just an awkward silence until the ice has melted, and the bucket is just full of cool water.
Mo Aini stood up to return it to the boss lady of the motel.
"Then, Da Ge...."
Hu Chuntian pulled on the sleeves of his shirt again.
"Just come back with me. Stay with me again until the rest of the winter break. School is coming soon, I don't want to spend the days before that alone."
Hu Chuntian bit his lip. "I won't bother you anymore. It will be just like before. We can eat all these chocolates and treat this as one big joke. Just don't.... Don't leave me."
Mo Aini felt his heart clench, like it was being squeezed. His mind is in a whirl. Those words... why did he have to say those words again? When will this cycle ever end of him hurting this person, and that person is not even aware of it?
He took a deep breath, and exhaled just as deeply. He gave a Hu Chuntian a light head pat. "Okay."
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"K.O! You win!"
Hu Chuntian and Mo Aini spent the rest of the Valentines' Day as bros playing games on the couch, eating chocolate, and drinking beer.
"Ayysh, Da Ge! That can't be your best yet! You're taking it easy on me!" Hu Chuntian grinned as he tapped on his console with crazy speed.
"What are you talking about!? Hic, I'm just feeling a little lightheaded that's why my hands got clumsy! I'll win the next round for sure!" Mo Aini popped a decadent white chocolate ball in his mouth and down it with another glass of beer.
"Da Ge, how many bottles have you drunk yet? Aren't you worried about your liver at this point?" Hu Chuntian took the glass from him.
"Hey, you fucking smoke like a chimney yet I ain't complainin'!" Mo Aini's countryside accent that he got from his mother comes out when he's drunk or acting like some big tough guy.
Mo Aini tried to reach for his glass. "Your lungs are the ones you should be worried about, it'll get holes like a honeycomb if you don't quit."
"Then I'll quit if Da Ge doesn't like it."
Mo Aini stopped midway on getting his glass and looked at Hu Chuntian lazily.
"The fuck, do you think that will make me quit drinking? Get the cheesiness out of my face, man. I ain't ever going to quit for you." Mo Aini pointed. "Remember: You. Me. We're just bros. Okay?"
"I know." Hu Chuntian said. "I'm not asking you to return anything I do for you, Da Ge. You don't have to quit drinking, but I will quit smoking. Just say the word and I'll do it for you. I..."
Maybe it's the alcohol in his brain that's making him forget his promise earlier, but Hu Chuntian really couldn't stop the words from spilling out of his mouth. He wanted his Da Ge to hear all the desires he kept inside. He wanted him to know what lengths he would take just for him.
Just him knowing how he felt is enough.
By the time he had finished talking, Mo Aini had chugged a whole bottle. His gulps were so loud along with the BGM of the game on the screen that he went, "Huh?"
Hu Chuntian smiled sadly and stood up. "I'll be clearing up the tables now, Da Ge. I know you didn't listen to anything I said, or would want to forget about it, but that's alright. At least I let it all out."
He was about to go when Mo Aini suddenly pulled at his wrist. With a serious voice, he said:
"Where do you think you're going after saying things like that?"
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