Chapter 18
Fang Jing Yao and Long Yu officially started living together.
It wasn’t a huge change. Long Yu worked during the day; Fang Jing Yao stayed home. A cleaner came every other day. Meals were prepared by Long Yu. Essentially, Fang Jing Yao was just living in a new place but continued his routine. Compared to before, he was even more meticulously cared for—three meals a day plus snacks. After a few days, Fang Jing Yao naturally started exercising next door. At this rate, even his previous physique would balloon back up.
Sometimes, when his drawing went well, Fang Jing Yao would stay in the study for hours. He focused on one task at a time; although not particularly fast, his steady pace accumulated into high output. He preferred hand-drawing before scanning, so a thick stack of originals lay on his desk.
Long Yu knocked, bringing a large red-checkered ceramic cup. “Eat something.”
Fang Jing Yao stretched, looked at it, and smiled. “Your pairing is exquisite—almost like a restaurant’s plating.”
It was a large cup of yogurt, topped with blueberries and chopped berries, chilled and visually appealing. Fang Jing Yao ate happily; Long Yu had the same cup in blue.
“Time to submit your work?” Long Yu asked.
“…I guess.” Fang Jing Yao swallowed a berry. “Long Yu, a few questions. In this scene, the protagonist duels someone. If he gets a large chest wound, which organs would be most seriously damaged?”
Long Yu leaned in, studied it seriously: “With this bleeding, medically he wouldn’t survive.”
Fang Jing Yao: “…”
“Here, try these fantasy glasses,” Fang Jing Yao said. “Look again. Later, I want the doctor—no, the manga doctor—to use abilities to repair his muscles, vessels, and nerves!”
This time, Long Yu looked at Fang Jing Yao with wide-eyed disbelief, clearly unprepared for such imaginative requests.
Fang Jing Yao laughed, pulled a chair next to him, and began explaining his sh?nen manga. Animated and suspenseful, he watched Long Yu’s astonished expression as the story unfolded—his pride swelled.
Swinging his legs, Fang Jing Yao boasted: “Cool, huh?”
Long Yu chuckled. “Pretty impressive. When will this come out? I need a copy.”
“This one’s done. I won’t touch it again…” Fang Jing Yao’s eyes briefly showed disappointment, but he quickly flipped open a magazine. “Here, let me show you another—serialized short story, main character’s a doctor with glasses, like you. Funny coincidence.” It indeed looked similar—cold, distant, capable, ruthless, minimal words. Not a side character at all.
He segued from the previous comic to casually chatting with Long Yu, asking about anatomy questions.
Long Yu traced on his shoulder. “Force applied sideways on the head affects shoulder muscles, and here, at this angle…” He pinched Fang Jing Yao’s neck, rubbed gently, causing goosebumps and near-moans from the sensation.
“Your cervical spine isn’t great; needs exercise. Tomorrow morning, I’ll make you run with me.” Long Yu took the finished yogurt, got up, and left.
Fang Jing Yao’s body tingled for a while, but he calmed and continued drawing, thinking Long Yu’s hands were extremely skillful.
At night, they slept together. Long Yu prepared matching pajamas. Fang Jing Yao lay awake at 10:30 p.m., watching the ceiling, unable to sleep. He turned to Long Yu, who was reading with glasses. “Can’t sleep?”
“Yeah. What are you reading?”
“Some materials borrowed from the director.”
Fang Jing Yao tried to read, but the medical jargon was incomprehensible.
Long Yu laughed, put the book down, removed his glasses, and lay down. “I’ll chat with you.”
The bedroom was dim. They lay close, breaths intertwining, a little embarrassing.
Long Yu turned to him, hair soft and relaxed, appearing younger and less severe. Fang Jing Yao chatted about his family; Long Yu listened with interest, finding everything amusing.
“One year my parents bought a car, a Shali, forty thousand plus. Dad treasured it like the first son. They drove it out to break it in, to the wilds. Suddenly, sparks and electrical noises! Mom, careful as ever, made Dad stop. The noise got worse, scared them, and she said, ‘This car’s gonna explode!’ They ran, but reluctant to leave forty thousand yuan, stood ten meters away calling the dealer. The dealer rushed over, terrified too.”
Fang Jing Yao recalled, “About seven or eight people came, armed like a bomb squad, and fixed it in a minute.”
Long Yu was surprised. “That fast? What broke?”
Fang Jing Yao’s expression twisted. “They said, ‘Comrade, you turned on the radio speaker, but there’s no signal.’”
Long Yu chuckled softly.
The two leaned their heads together and talked for a while. The more they spoke, the more they discovered common topics. Fang Jing Yao described things he had eaten or played with as a child; Long Yu knew most of them, tried some, not others. But in Fang Jing Yao’s storytelling, even familiar things became interesting. Long Yu watched him, noticing the gentle light in his eyes, a slight curve at the lips—no matter how he looked at him, he found him irresistible.
Soon they began talking about Huang Bao’er. Long Yu asked, “Why didn’t you bring Huang Bao’er this time?”
Fang Jing Yao said, “Don’t mention it. I even bought a new cat carrier to bring it! But that little creature is sharp-eyed. From the moment it saw the carrier, it hid. My mom said it only came out after I left. Its self-preservation instincts are impressive. I’ll tell you, if a thief broke in, it wouldn’t get stolen no matter what—so cunning!”
Long Yu said, “I thought you two got along well.”
Fang Jing Yao replied sadly, “Maybe not as well as I imagined.”
Long Yu chuckled, his voice low and warm.
Fang Jing Yao felt a tingle, leaned closer. The soft bed shifted under him and Long Yu. Their eyes met. Fang Jing Yao kissed him; Long Yu lowered his eyes and reciprocated. Fang Jing Yao deepened it, his tongue brushing lightly. “Long Yu…”
Long Yu quickly took the lead, as he always learned fast. Fang Jing Yao got aroused, reaching for Long Yu’s waist. Long Yu held him, lips separating slightly.
His eyes darkened, voice husky. “Take it slow, no rush.”
Fang Jing Yao blinked. “Hm?”
Long Yu kissed his forehead, stroked his hair, voice as gentle as his movements. “Good night.”
For some reason, Fang Jing Yao felt that Long Yu’s gaze was especially deep, as if looking through him at someone else—someone he’d known for a long time.
Long Yu had a bunch of exercise equipment at home, but he was especially interested in morning workouts for older adults. The next morning, he woke Fang Jing Yao up and made him change for a run.
The morning air was crisp. Autumn’s slight chill awakened Fang Jing Yao. He noticed that the community where Long Yu lived was beautiful: spacious greenery, a small artificial hill, a surrounding man-made lake, and plenty of exercise equipment. Many elderly residents were already exercising.
Long Yu led Fang Jing Yao, greeting familiar elders along the way, introducing him: “This is Jing Yao.”
After a few introductions, Fang Jing Yao touched his hand, whispering, “You know all the neighbors here?”
“Not really. This apartment was bought a long time ago, my mom and colleagues bought it as a group,” Long Yu glanced at him, smiling. “Bought it for getting married.”
Fang Jing Yao was dazzled by the smile. Seeing no one around, he looped his arm around Long Yu’s neck and kissed him.
Long Yu held him under the trees, kissing for a while.
A breeze rustled, willow branches shielding most of their bodies. They stood there for a long while before finally separating.
