Chapter 88
Fang Huai’s vision was blocked—he couldn’t see anything. All he could hear was Ye Yuyuan’s breath suddenly turning ragged.
A large flock of white pigeons took flight from the center of Times Square. The night deepened, and the traffic continued to flow like a river.
They kissed in the heart of the city, at the height of rush hour.
The night wind carried specks of dust as the dazzling city lights wrapped around them, their brilliance softened by a quiet tenderness amidst the hurried pace of the world.
Ninety-nine days.
Fang Huai thought about that number, feeling like he was in a dream. It felt like just yesterday that he had gotten together with Ye Yuyuan—stepping off that train, hesitantly reaching for his hand, feeling the faint electric current pass between their fingertips.
Even now, it was the same. Three months had passed, yet he never felt the slightest bit of boredom—in fact, he liked him more and more.
The cheers and whistles around them grew louder. Some foreigners, thinking it was a proposal, started chanting, “Marry him!”
“Say yes!”
“…”
“We haven’t seen each other for half a month,” Fang Huai murmured into Ye Yuyuan’s ear, eyes still closed. “Teacher Ye, I feel like you don’t miss me at all.”
They called each other every day, and when Fang Huai had time, they video chatted.
But over the phone, Ye Yuyuan always reminded him gently to sleep early, to bring an umbrella when it rained, to take care of himself. Like a mature and reliable elder, his emotions were always restrained and controlled. Even his texts were few and far between.
“Seventeen days,” Ye Yuyuan corrected, “Seventeen days and eight hours since we last met.”
Fang Huai: “…?”
In the darkness, Ye Yuyuan took his hand, interlocking their fingers, then lowered his head and kissed him, his voice husky, “Every second.”
There were sudden gasps from the crowd, and the spectators seemed to break into an excited discussion. Though Fang Huai still couldn’t see, he could sense the lights around him dimming.
He froze. “What?”
“Every second,” Ye Yuyuan whispered, the tips of his ears slightly red. “I’ve been thinking about you.”
At that moment, he released his hands from Fang Huai’s eyes.
The early spring breeze of this foreign city brushed gently past his ears. Fang Huai slowly opened his eyes—
And saw a vast expanse of stars.
In an international metropolis, light pollution was severe. The neon lights of the city usually brightened the night sky like daytime, and with industrial pollution, it had been a long time since he’d last seen stars.
But tonight, most of the city’s neon lights had gone dark. Only the streetlights and essential lighting remained, leaving the night sky stretched wide, filled with countless stars. The dazzling constellations unfolded like an unbelievably romantic dream, descending upon the world in a cascade of light.
This was Ye Yuyuan’s gift to him—an entire sky full of stars.
“Am I seeing this right? Stars??”
“It looks like artificial projection using drones… Oh my god, it looks so real.”
“This is breathtaking.”
Even passersby couldn’t help but stop and look up. After rushing through life for so long, they had nearly forgotten how long it had been since they last saw the stars.
Fang Huai’s heart felt as if it had fallen into a soft cloud, swelling with an overwhelming sense of fulfillment.
*
Half an hour later.
The feeling still lingered in Fang Huai’s veins as they strolled through the quiet streets. He focused on the glow of the streetlights, almost afraid to look at Ye Yuyuan.
He had never imagined that he could like someone this much—so much that he didn’t know what to do with himself.
As if he had suddenly become invincible, unstoppable.
Ye Yuyuan seemed interested in every little detail of his life, asking all sorts of small questions, like, “How are you getting along with others?” or “Are you used to the food?”
Some of these questions had already been answered in their phone calls, but Fang Huai still repeated everything once more.
When they arrived back at the hotel, Fang Huai said, “I have something for you too.”
He wasn’t sure if other people celebrated a 99-day anniversary, but ever since coming here, every time he saw something new, he wanted to show it to Ye Yuyuan. Before he knew it, he had collected a whole pile of gifts.
A tie clip, a pair of cufflinks, and some other small trinkets.
Ye Yuyuan immediately swapped out his original cufflinks, seeming to like them very much.
Back at the hotel, the floor-to-ceiling windows framed the dazzling city nightscape. Fang Huai thought for a moment, then handed his phone to Ye Yuyuan.
Ye Yuyuan lowered his gaze to look at him. “Hmm?”
“I’ve been very well-behaved these past two weeks. I didn’t… chat with anyone.” Fang Huai recalled something he had seen on Weibo. “Teacher Ye, you can check.”
Fang Huai considered himself a beginner in love and often searched online for advice. He had read all sorts of relationship articles and sappy love advice from social media accounts.
Things like: “A good boyfriend should regularly let their partner check their phone,” “You shouldn’t chat with others on WeChat or QQ,” “Your phone should have your partner’s fingerprint, and they should know all your passwords.”
Ye Yuyuan was silent for a moment, then a faint smile flickered in his eyes.
He took the phone and casually flipped through it. Just as he was about to hand it back, he suddenly noticed two audio recordings, each over ten minutes long.
Fang Huai glanced at the files and immediately remembered what they were. He sat up a little, feeling guilty.
“These two recordings…” Ye Yuyuan paused, realizing something. His voice remained calm as he asked, “Can I listen to them?”
“They’re just automatic call recordings, nothing interesting. Don’t listen to them,” Fang Huai muttered, staring at the floor. “Do you want to take a shower? We should sleep early. When’s our flight?”
Ye Yuyuan: “…”
It was like drinking coffee only to suddenly bite into an ice cube—he instantly sobered up.
Maybe it was because Fang Huai had been showing so much affection toward him lately that he had gotten greedy. That wasn’t good.
After a brief silence, Ye Yuyuan put down the phone and said, “Mm, I’ll go shower.”
Fang Huai let out an almost imperceptible sigh of relief, then sank into the sofa and turned on the TV. But soon, he realized—Ye Yuyuan didn’t seem happy.
It was as if he was suppressing something.
*
An hour later.
Fang Huai turned off the bedside lamp and slowly climbed into bed. He had too much on his mind, so he lay there for only a moment before instinctively leaning in to kiss Ye Yuyuan—
But before he could, he was pulled into an embrace from behind.
Ye Yuyuan didn’t hold him too tightly, as if he was restraining himself. His warm breath brushed softly against Fang Huai’s ear.
“Ye Yuyuan, if I ever kept something from you… or lied to you,” Fang Huai blurted out without thinking, “would you be angry?”
Ye Yuyuan’s arms tightened slightly around him. After a brief pause, he pressed a kiss to the boy’s shoulder blade and whispered, “No.”
“…Why?”
Ye Yuyuan lowered his gaze. After a long pause, he finally said, “I can’t bear to.”
He couldn’t bear to be angry with him, nor could he bear to see him upset.
Ye Yuyuan had been serious and disciplined his entire life, but when it came to Fang Huai, he had no principles at all.
Fang Huai fell silent.
“Go to sleep.” Ye Yuyuan also paused briefly, then kissed his forehead and said, “You have filming tomorrow? I’ll come visit you on set.”
Fang Huai didn’t respond. Instead, he reached for his phone on the bedside table, turned on the screen, found the two recording files with some difficulty, and pressed play.
The recording quality wasn’t great—there was some static at the beginning before a voice finally came through.
“Teacher Ye, I had a dream in the middle of the night. I dreamed that you came to see me. After filming, we went to that old bookstore to read, and the ice cream next door was really good.”
The boy’s voice had a slight nasal tone, groggy and drowsy—he was clearly just waking up.
Listening to his own voice, Fang Huai was so embarrassed that even the tips of his ears turned red.
That was from a night when he had woken up wanting to call Ye Yuyuan. But after seeing that it was 3 AM, he had simply turned on the recording instead.
He had rambled on for more than ten minutes without direction, with the majority of it being repeated “I miss you” and “I like you.”
The second recording wasn’t much different, except this time, he hadn’t just woken up.
“I feel like you don’t miss me at all, Teacher Ye. Are you really that busy with work?” Fang Huai’s voice was muffled, recorded on a sleepless night not long ago. “You only call me once a day. I have to check domestic newspapers just to see you.”
Listening to his own words now, Fang Huai was utterly mortified.
Ye Yuyuan: “…”
Fang Huai was on the verge of total embarrassment. He regretted playing the recordings and quickly reached for his phone on the bedside table—
But Ye Yuyuan suddenly grabbed his hand.
And then, without another word, he kissed him.
“Why didn’t you just tell me?” Ye Yuyuan whispered against the corner of his eye, trailing the kiss down to his lips, his voice slightly hoarse. “Where’s that ice cream shop? Let’s go tomorrow.”
Fang Huai could only mumble, “I was just saying random things.”
Ye Yuyuan fell silent for a moment, then reached for his own phone on the bedside table. He gestured for Fang Huai to unlock it with his fingerprint—all of Ye Yuyuan’s devices had Fang Huai’s fingerprint saved.
Fang Huai hadn’t meant for it to be a big deal, but under Ye Yuyuan’s insistence, he finally unlocked the phone.
Ye Yuyuan’s home screen was simple, containing only essential apps. Right in front of Fang Huai, he opened his notes app.
The total word count was… nearly 100,000 words.
Fang Huai skimmed through it—it was like a diary, with almost every entry about him.
“Huaihuai, you film for six hours a day, but your sleep time shouldn’t be less than eight,” Ye Yuyuan said softly. “Do you know…”
…How much willpower it took for him to force himself to end their calls within an hour?
His longing for Fang Huai was far greater than Fang Huai could ever realize.
*
The Next Day: The Nameless Melody Film Set
The entire crew had been busy since early morning.
Fang Huai, stealing a moment to eat breakfast, was still diligently going over his script. Though he had long since memorized his lines flawlessly, he still felt nervous when the moment arrived.
In contrast, Xu Tuanyuan was the calmest person on set. The scene they were filming today was difficult, and he had already mentally prepared for multiple takes.
“Don’t be nervous, Fang Huai,” Qiao An said cheerfully, trying to reassure him. “We’ve allotted plenty of time. Even if you need twenty takes, it’s not a problem.”
Fang Huai: “…Mm, thank you.”
Qiao An added, “Where were you last night? I wanted to rehearse lines with you.”
“My lover came to see me,” Fang Huai replied. “Yesterday was our 99-day anniversary.”
“Oh…” Qiao An scratched his head. “Well, I wish you both happiness.”
Fang Huai had mentioned before that he was Ye Yuyuan’s boyfriend.
Of course, Qiao An hadn’t believed him—he just assumed Fang Huai was a fan of Ye Yuyuan. Now, hearing Fang Huai say this, he thought, Wow, he’s really dedicated. Even idol admiration comes with a 99-day anniversary?
Soon, filming began.
Both Fang Huai and Xu Tuanyuan had mentally prepared themselves for multiple retakes, but in the end, things didn’t go as expected.
