Smile Code (Lost Laughter) 失笑 - Zhu Le 祖乐

33

You said a kiss doesn't count if the sun rises, so I won't let you see the sunrise.

Wrapped warmly by the armor, Gu Yi felt much better. On the way back with Xu Guanrui, he wanted to hold her hand, but she skillfully avoided it. "Can I ride in your little car again?"

Sitting on the suitcase made her feel like she might fall at any moment. Xu Guanrui laughed and said, "There aren't any streetlights on this road. This train of mine is headed to spring."

Gu Yi's heart fluttered slightly. It wasn't the light, floating feeling she had when she liked Liang Daiwen; the brick-paved sidewalk jolted her insides. She only felt confused-this comfort from Xu Guanrui seemed overly attentive. Wasn't he supposed to like someone else?

Most importantly, she sensed a hint of frustration in Xu Guanrui's kiss. The comforting and soothing tone he used was more about comforting a comrade, not about love. She jumped off the suitcase and bought two bottles of hot pomelo tea, pretending to casually remark, "It's nice to have a comrade."

"Right. When you're upset, I'm willing to do anything with you, even sleep together."

Gu Yi almost choked on her pomelo tea: "You're at it again. This sleep isn't what I think it is, right?"

"It's exactly what you think. I'm fine with it."

Gu Yi froze in place, and Xu Guanrui turned around with a smile, the same one he had when dancing in the rain. She thought, this must be what an emotionally rich, handsome man is like. After being around Liang Daiwen for so long, she had grown numb.

She wasn't nervous, just calmly replied, "I don't think I'm... that open."

"Ah, that's a pity."

A pity? Gu Yi tapped the back of Xu Guanrui's head. "Emotions are easily misinterpreted with physical closeness. If we really became bed partners, wouldn't that betray the person we like?"

"How lucky. Only someone who hasn't been let down would say something like that."

Gu Yi was stunned.

Xu Guanrui tilted his head. "A person needs to like many things at the same time to be calm in front of the one they love most. Unrequited love is so hard. We can stick together for warmth, eat meals, watch movies, and when one of us gets over a breakup, the other can sincerely wish them well. Isn't that nice?"

"There's no such thing as pure friendship between men and women. A person's heart is tightly connected to their body."

"Well, then we've turned into a couple. That kiss today, don't take it too seriously. It was just a comrade's comfort."

What a clever logic, making being a backup seem so natural.

When they got home, Xu Guanrui sent one more message: "If anything I said just now offended you, I apologize. But you really are the most special friend I've met. I wouldn't do this with anyone else, so... please don't abandon me." He even added a pitiful emoji. Gu Yi leaned against the sofa, thinking that Xu Guanrui was like a pet abandoned in the rain, curled up and shivering. He knew the person he was hoping for wouldn't come, but when someone willing to extend a hand appeared, they would surely wag their tail to survive... People's true thoughts are so cruel, but it's always these cruel people who draw people's attention.

Thinking about how he was still tracking his lover's father, Gu Yi shook her head. In the end, he was just a pitiful person, and she wasn't someone who didn't need this friend. Human nature was really terrible, yet it was so captivating.

She opened the gift that Xu Guanrui had given her and found a fan at the very bottom. Gu Yi had once mentioned that the dance fan, originating from the Muromachi period, would appear especially radiant when illuminated by stage lights. The blue-gold fan, when flipped over, had silver pearlescent ink characters, likely written by Xu Guanrui himself, flowing with a grand inscription: "Live life freely, even in old age, remain youthful."