Yin|Yang

20. Burden...?

"What happened?" Yin An crouched down next to his lover, his eyes emitting the concern he was feeling.

"I sprained it, I guess," Yang Guang answered, "too bad I can't heal myself."

"We should go to the doctor then," the worried man stood up and reached his hands for his boyfriend, "can you stand up?"

Nodding, Yang Guang held the other's hands and stood up awkwardly. He tried to step on the injured foot, but hissing, he removed his weight off it again.

"It seems serious," Yin An commented with accelerating worry.

Yang Guang shook his head, "once I bandage it, it will be okay by tomorrow, so no need to go to that weird doctor," he said in a professional manner.

Yin An looked at him sceptically, but then nodded, "okay, let's go home then," he said and crouched down in front of his lover, his back facing him, "get on."

The tall man almost let out a chuckle, "there is no way you can carry me, daryin."

Half turning his head towards the other, Yin An snorted, "we will see that, come on."

"How about the library?"

"That's not important! Hop on or I will make you do that!"

Getting the answer he wanted, Yang Guang grabbed his lover's shoulders and turned him over to face him, "not important? Your life depends on it."

Yin An sighed with diminishing patience, "one day won't kill me. You, on the other hand, can become permanently disabled if you are not treated on time."

Suddenly, Yang Guang pulled the small man into his arms. Kissing his soft messy hair, he said "see? It is exactly how I feel about you. Therefore, there is no way, absolutely no way that I will regard you as a burden. I love you, so I will let you off the hook this time, but if I think something this ridiculous again, I will smack you. Understood?"

Yin An was stupefied. How come did Yang Guang read his mind that accurately? How come?! For a second, he got tensed in his lover's arm, feeling like a naughty kid caught red-handed, but as the former didn't show any signs of lingering anger, he relaxed and let his mind let go of the tasteless thoughts. Well, only for a second.

Because then he noticed a very important detail.

"YOUR FOOT!" he shouted out, scaring the entire forest life, "ARE YOU STEPPING ON IT?!"

"Well..."

SMACK!

"Ouch!"

"Shut up! You deserved it!"

"..."

After sulking and coxing, the couple intertwined their fingers again and continued towards their delayed destination. Before the unlucky-yet-lucky-somehow flowers disappeared behind, Yin An threw a final glance towards them and noted not to get close to any kind of flowers in the near future. It was saddening, but there was no other way. At least for the moment.

When the couple reached the town with Yang Guang's shaded glasses worn on the way, they got the necessary boost in the form of take-out coffees and went to the library to continue with their treasure-hunt.

Although Yang Guang was working as diligently as Yin An, an unrelated thought was strolling inside his mind. Somehow he couldn't forget about the dejected look his lover showed when he threw one last glance to Ghent Azalea. Did he feel bitter about the incident or did he like flowers, resulting in him feeling sad whenever he saw a nice flower?

"Are you okay?"

The sudden question snapped Yang Guang out of his thoughts. Trying to look normal, he shook his head, meaning nothing was wrong, but still rose to his feet. "I will buy some snacks," he mumbled and left the library with his glasses and wallet.

The moment he opened the glass door of the library, the cold air hit his face like a slap. Letting go of the heavy door, Yang Guang stuffed his hands into his black jacket's pockets and stood there for a second, filling his lungs with fresh air.

As expected, fresh air helped him to clear his head. Giving himself a mental slap for not thinking about the obvious, he walked towards the certain destination with determined steps.

While he was at it, Yin An was checking the book about mysterious trees. He discreetly looked at his old Casio wrist watch and wondered what took his lover that long. He took out his cellphone to give him a message, but as if on cue, before he could send the 'where are you?' message, the man in interest walked in with a huge bouquet consisting of different types of flowers.

Smiling from ear to ear, Yang Guang walked towards his lover with proud steps while Yin An's gaze shifted from shocked to panicked. In his panicked state, he couldn't do anything rather than sitting frozen and before long, Yang Guang stood in front of him, reaching the huge bouquet towards him.

NOOOOO!