-3-
By the time they returned to the bridal chamber, it was already midnight.
They had stayed in the noisy surroundings for so long that the sudden quiet seemed unfamiliar to their ears.
The room was festively decorated, even the bedposts adorned with large red ‘happiness’ characters.
As Bo Jue entered, he paused, glancing at Long Jia closing the door.
The young man was somewhat embarrassed, lowering his head as he spoke his heart.
“You were… so beautiful tonight.”
“Later, when we went to toast, I couldn’t even hear what they were saying; I just wanted to look at you a bit longer.”
Bo Jue’s ears were burning, worried that his blushing was obvious, he covered his face with a hand.
“You… looked very good too.”
His shoulders and neck ached from the day’s exertions, he moved to sit by the bridal bed, looking up at him through the red mist.
“Jia Jia.”
Long Jia paused his breathing, obediently moving closer to him.
“Take off the veil first.”
“Okay.”
The man leaned over to find the two corners of the veil, embroidered with fine golden dragon patterns, and slowly lifted it.
The person he had deeply loved in his youth sat there with a youthful, shy smile.
Lips red, eyes deep, hair as dark as ink.
They both instinctively breathed softly, their eyelashes lowered as they drew closer to each other.
Then they kissed very lightly, as if kissing the petals of a newborn flower, afraid that any more force might damage them.
It was their wedding night, yet it felt like the first stirrings of young love.
Anxious joy, their breathing slightly trembling.
Long Jia opened his eyes, murmuring, “It’s like a dream.”
He reverently removed the veil, then gently stroked Bo Jue’s hair and cheek.
“Another kiss…?”
“โฆYes.”
The second kiss was gentle and prolonged, as pure and delicate as a first love.
Bo Jue felt his face burning up, yet they still had to complete the ceremony together.
“We haven’t drunk the bridging cup yet.”
Hearing these words, the smile on Long Jia’s handsome face grew again.
He brought over the sandalwood tray from the bedside table, placing it on their laps, his heartbeat as rapid as his breathing.
“Grandpa told me to drink a sip first, then feed a sip to my wife.” He picked up the white jade cup, placing it in Bo Jue’s palm as if he were a high school student passing a love letter, and tentatively called out, “Wifeโฆ”
Bo Jue softly responded.
Long Jia seldom saw him this compliant and gentle, feeling as if he was the one being spoiled. Fireworks burst in his heart, and he couldn’t help but lean in to kiss his cheek.
“I love you so much.”
This moment was their first time sharing a cup as lovers, but due to their awkward movements, it felt like children playing house.
Now both approaching thirty, their arms entwined, holding the cup, it felt as if they were still wandering in their seventeenth year, the year they first met, as if they were young and newly married.
Bo Jue bowed his head, drinking half the cup with his hand.
When he looked up again, he caught Long Jia watching him.
“Xiao Jue, kiss me again.” The man murmured softly, “Being this close to you… I can’t take it.”
Bo Jue smiled and leaned in, deeply kissing him the second he was held tight.
The rich aroma of the wine lingered between their lips and teeth, their embrace warm and intense as if melting into each other.
It seemed like doing nothing else that night, just holding each other and kissing for a while longer, would leave no regrets in life.
Long Jia, always meticulous in his actions, didnโt want Bo Jue to strain too much, sitting with him in front of the mirror to remove his hair decorations.
Both had been idols in the past, having seen each other in countless hair colors and makeup styles.
Abstinence, glamour, dashing, and delicate.
Back then, Bo Jue had gotten used to Long Jia helping him, and they often helped each other remove eyeshadow and lipstick, finishing all the tedious tasks before lying down together with face masks, chatting on the sofa.
But even bare-faced, they each thought the other was beautiful.
More beautiful than anyone else.
Bo Jue sat in front of the mirror, pouring himself another half cup of wine, sipping lightly.
He had been a bit drunk at the wedding already, but he was also mindful of Long Jia, not wanting to get too intoxicated.
“Do you remember the day we broke up?”
The man paused his movements, murmuring gruffly, “I don’t want to remember, can we forget?”
Bo Jue gently stroked his hand resting on his shoulder, his voice low, “I’ve regretted it so many times afterward.”
“And I’ve been scared so many times.”
“Scared that you really wouldn’t want me anymore, that I’d hurt you too deeply, that you wouldn’t look back at me.”
Long Jiaโs eyes reddened as he combed through his hair, his movements gentle and careful while removing the golden ornaments, afraid of hurting him.
“How could that be?” he couldn’t help but defend himself, “Don’t you trust me?”
“I don’t trust myself,” Bo Jue said with a laugh, “We had agreed to stick together no matter what.”
“Then you kissed me under an umbrella, and I was afraid I’d end up a mess.”
“Long Jia, I’ve regretted it so many times. When you came to find me again, I didn’t dare to say these words to you.”
“I was afraid that any cracks between us would deepen our doubts, and we’d drift further apart.”
“I was afraid you’d enter the business world, meet someone more suitable, and then realize how mistaken everything had been beforeโฆ”
Long Jia gently kissed his forehead, bending down to hold him tight.
“We’re married now, no need to be afraid, Xiao Jue, there’s nothing to fear anymore.”
Bo Jue’s drunkenness surged, and he whimpered softly, continuing to confess.
“I was never good to you before.”
“How could you say that,” Long Jia replied as he untangled a knot in his hair, so tenderly that he kissed him after each word, “You never spoke harshly, it was all bluster.”
Caught up in the emotion, Bo Jue turned to look into his eyes, terribly upset, “When I was in my early twenties, it would have been so much better to smile at you more and scold you less.”
“I liked you so much back then, I watched you at every concert, and I was afraid to say anything, afraid of everything.”
“Do you know how dazzling you were back then?”
“My phone’s wallpaper was always you, even the background of my chats was you. Every day when I heard you knocking on my door to wake me up, I’d delay just to hear you call my name one more time before I’d go to open the door.”
“Long Jia, back then, how could I dare to say I liked you? I was afraid we’d both make too many mistakes, affecting everyone in the groupโ”
“How could we ever break up?”
The young man froze in place, his blood boiling in the moment.
Bo Jue was already drunk, letting his long hair fall loose as he stood up unsteadily, pulling Long Jia down with him onto the wedding bed.
“Long Jia…” he called his name softly, his pianist’s slender fingers working at his clasps.
“I like you, I like you…” he murmured repeatedly, as if trying to repay what he owed him from the past.
The black swan tattoo on his chest became visible.
It was a vestige of old wounds, a deep mark of love.
Bo Jue lay on top of him, kissing the neck of the black swan, kissing his chest, tears continuously falling.
Drunkenness made it easier to release suppressed emotions deep within, like uncorking a bottle of wine, letting everything spill out.
But he looked too beautiful crying.
His long eyelashes damp with tears, his handsome face now vulnerable and tender, enough to make anyone fall.
“That day when you got the tattoo… it must have hurt a lot.”
Bo Jue, frantic and heartbroken, kissed the swan tattoo, then looked up at Long Jia’s expression, laying on his chest and softly calling his name.
“Long Jia, Long Jia…”
The man’s breathing was unsteady, he gently said, “You’re drunk, let me take you to shower, okay?”
Bo Jue shook his head, pressing his cheek against his chest, asking in a dreamy murmur, “Jia Jia, does this make it better? Does it still hurt?”
Long Jia hugged him up to sit, stroking his long hair, “It doesn’t hurt anymore, Xiao Jue.”
“It won’t hurt in the future either.”
“We’re married now, you don’t have to worry about anything anymore, I’m always here, I’m not going anywhere.”
Knowing he was drunk, he soothingly held his slender hand, showing him their wedding rings.
The two rings shone together, engraved with each other’s names.
“The key is here.”
“No matter how far apart we are in the future, whether I’m asleep or awake.”
“If you kiss it, I’ll think of you.”
Author’s note:
Caught a 00:09:09, posted it early
They’re both so real _(:ะทใโ )_
Ngl, until they got engaged, I was worried there would be some kind of misunderstanding and Long Jia would have gotten in an arranged marriage agreement with a rich miss or something. Luckily, the problems were mostly them avoiding each other.