Yin|Yang

18. Here We Go

Yang Guang was wrong.

The town library didn't have a whole shelf dedicated to trees. It had a whole SECTION dedicated to trees!

With disbelieved eyes, the couple gaped at the unusually huge section and their hopes went into full blossom. If the blue maple information wasn't there, it wouldn't be anywhere else.

"You choose, from left to right or right to left?" Yang Guang whispered in the silent hall in a proud manner.

Tongue-tied, Yin An could only gestured at the left.

"Left side it is," the vet announced blithely and they walked to the beginning of the section. As the vet was taller, he got the top shelf and Yin An took the lowest shelf from the opposite direction of the end of the first section.

The next two hours, they worked diligently and piled a good amount of books on the nearest table. Then they marked the last books they checked and sat in front of the table to look at the books they had piled. That action took another two hours and four cups of machine coffee, but brought nothing useful.

When they managed to melt the number of books to five, Yang Guang grabbed Yin An's shaky hand, preventing it from reaching another book.

"It is enough for now, let's borrow those and check later at home."

Yin An opened his mouth to object, but seeing the bloodshot eyes of his lover behind the glasses, he closed his mouth without uttering a word. With an apologetic smile, he nodded and rose to his tired feet.

They stuffed the heavy books into the backpack Yin An brought and left the library under the curious gaze of the old librarian woman.

As they were indoors for four hours, the sun had already disappeared and left its place in darkness. The warm-ish weather became chilly and the consistent wind made Yin An shudder.

"Are you cold?" Yang Guang asked immediately as if his focus was solely on the figure next to him.

"Hmm," Yin An hummed while contemplating whether to ask for his warm hand or not. Would he be unwilling because they were out? Indeed, there weren't many townspeople out, but still, even one was enough to make everyone hear the news in a small place like that.

Well, what the small man was thinking was sensible, but apparently the tall man didn't care about it. Right after hearing the affirmative humming, he grabbed his lover's ice-cold hand and put their linked hands inside his own pocket.

"Better?"

It was more than better. The cold-ice body of the small man got heated in a second in the face of the intimate gesture. A love-filled smile covered his flustered face as he snuggled more to the warm man.

Hand in hand, they passed the main street until Yang Guang stopped abruptly in front of a half-blinking half-in dark neon sign board.

"Aren't you hungry?"

The second shock hit Yin An on the face, unprepared. He knew Yang Guang hated to mingle with the crowd as he hated to attract attention; therefore, his offering to eat out with him was simply too outrageous.

"Are you sure? I can cook, you know," he said softly, his eyes focused on the handsome face to see his reaction.

As if trying to decide, Yang Guang remained silent for a second with an expressionless countenance, then he pushed his blue shades up his nose and said "nah, we are both tired and hungry, let's just eat here and go."

"O-Okay," the shocked man stuttered and let his lover pull him inside the creaky glass door. Despite screaming old, the small diner looked decent and the yellow lights on the walls were giving a homey feeling.

"Oh! the vet and the new baby," a woman around her late fifties greeted them, her bulging dark eyes shifting between the duo.

Even though Yang Guang didn't like her irritating friendliness, he managed to keep a blank face. Manoeuvring around her while pulling his lover, he said "two today's special," and dragged the small man to the table on the corner.

Luckily the diner was almost empty, so there weren't many eyes on the unlikely couple. There were only six pairs, but they immediately stopped following them as soon as they encountered Yin An's pitch black eyes.

"I know it is shabby, but the food is good," Yang Guang felt the need to explain as his lover's eyes kept moving from left to right with a strange expression.

"Ha?" Yin An's wandering eyes stopped on his boyfriend's shaded ones.

Propping his head on his hand, the vet repeated what he had said, and only then his lover understood the situation.

Shaking his hand left to right vigorously, he blurted out, "no, I was just checking around not because I didn't like it, but because I haven't been..."

Without a word, Yang Guang implored him to finish his sentence.

"...because I haven't been in many restaurants," Yin An finished in a whisper, "due to my condition, it is dangerous for me to be in places with many people, you know."

"..." Yang Guang cursed himself for not being able to think of it before. Like himself, Yin An had suffered a lot, but now things were different. He put his hand on his lover's hand which was resting on the table and said "from now on we can go to as many restaurants as you want. Now, you have me, so there is nothing to be worried about."

Each of the caring words dug their ways to Yin An's once-lonely heart and made tears welled into his bottomless eyes. Suppressing a sob, he said "thank you and I love you."

Yang Guang smiled fondly, "I love you too," he said and kept holding the small hand even when the food arrived.