Vol 2 Chapter 14 (1/2)
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Time always flies faster when you are having fun. And for our couple, the National Day Holidays (Golden Week) went by in a flash. An Ziyan pa.s.sed Mai Ding a set of his house keys. Since he was going to be his maid for a month, giving him his own set of keys would be a more convenient arrangement. And even though An Ziyan was not going to teach him how to drive, Mai Ding found another person to do so. Everything seemed to be going according to plan.
It was the start of school the next day. After having lunch with his parents, Mai Ding took the bus back to campus. For some reason, Li Ming was already in the dorm, and just like every other time, he was glued to his computer screen. Mai Ding also realized that he was spotting a tan. Li Ming nodded at Mai Ding when he saw him and said, “Hey Mai Ding. Haven’t seen you for a while but from the looks of it, you look mighty pleased with yourself, eh?”
“My life is like an open book, isn’t it?” Mai Ding thought. It was one thing that An Ziyan was able to read his mind so well. At least, one can say that that was a sign of compatibility. But for Li Ming to be able to also read him so well, that’s another story.
“Why are you back so early?” Mai Ding said while tidying his bed.
“I was tending to my parents’ shop every day. Look, even my snow white skin has been damaged as a result. If I could come back earlier, why wouldn’t I do so?”
“Stop being disgusting. What 'snow white skin'?”
By the time Mai Ding was done clearing up his side of the room, it was already getting dark outside. He peeked out of the window to see if An Ziyan was back, but was disappointed by the fact that the room was still in darkness.
After a few minutes, he decided to head to the lobby to buy a simple bento box* for dinner: one for himself and one for Li Ming. Li Ming had asked him to when he found out that Mai Ding was heading downstairs. While queuing, however, he wondered if An Ziyan had eaten his dinner, and was worried that he might be hungry. And so, after pondering for a while, he bought the most expensive bento set for his boy.
(* - a meat and rice takeaway set famous in Northeast Asian countries like China, Taiwan and j.a.pan)
“Hey you, in front.” Someone was calling out to Mai Ding from behind.
Mai Ding turned and it was An Ziyan. Mai Ding couldn’t help but smile. “I see you’re back.” And both boys trotted back to their rooms, walking side by side, shouldert o shoulder. “Luckily I bought an extra bento for you. We can eat together later.”
Actually An Ziyan hated bento sets. But seeing how happy Mai Ding looked, An Ziyan couldn’t bring himself to say it. All he could do was to grunt a ‘yes’ in response to what his lover had said.
Back in the dorm, after pa.s.sing Li Ming his dinner, Mai Ding was practically skipping to the room next door. To some extent, Li Ming was a little jealous when he saw how happy Mai Ding was. “Looks like I’d better get myself a girlfriend too”, he thought to himself.
Mai Ding was sitting next to An Ziyan while voraciously eating his dinner; An Ziyan, on the other hand, was listlessly using his chopsticks to poke at his food, looking obviously disinterested with his meal. He decided to stuff some in his mouth but wanted to hurl. To his horror, Mai Ding added more food into his bento box, thinking that he wanted more.
When dinner was over, Mai Ding looked at An Ziyan then knocked on An Ziyan’s desk. There was a pattern in the way he knocked on the desk: one decisive knock, and after about two seconds, three quick ones. And after another two more seconds, one final knock.
“What madness has overcome you this time?”, An Ziyan asked.
“It was a secret code that my mom taught me. It means 'I love you'.”
“Why not just say it directly? What’s the point of having a code for this?”
“You are d.a.m.n unromantic, you know that?”
Mai Ding was feeling a little upset that he and An Ziyan weren’t able to connect especially when it came to matters like these. It was obvious to Mai Ding that such actions were cute and endearing, but An Ziyan, on the other hand, was just so practical about things and wasn’t moved by such acts. And thinking about it further, Mai Ding realized that An Ziyan had never said that he liked him, much less loved him. Mai Ding, however, had said it many times already.
This matter was weighing heavily on Mai Ding’s mind. It was only when it was getting too late and An Ziyan was about to chase him out of his room that Mai Ding blurted, “An Ziyan, you have not said that you love me.”
“Yes, you are right.” At least, he was honest about it.
“Are you ever going to say it to me?”
“No.” And with that, he closed the door on Mai Ding.
Biting his lip in frustration, Mai Ding reluctantly retreated to his room. He wasn’t upset, just disappointed. He knew An Ziyan could be rather obnoxious. “To have him solely to himself, that was good enough, right?” Mai Ding thought it was best not to force An Ziyan to say it if he didn’t really want to. In a relations.h.i.+p, forcing is not going to benefit anyone.
He was trying his best to stay open-minded. But that didn’t last long. The next day, while he was in cla.s.s, he overheard two girls gossiping:
Girl A: “Every day, I have to ask my hubby whether he loves me. If he doesn’t say those three words to me, I’ll nag at him till he says it.”
Girl B: “You sure are lucky. At least he says it. My boyfriend on the other hand was always telling me that he loved me when we were starting out. Now, after we’ve been together for so long, he can’t even be bothered. I am even thinking if he still loves me!”
Girl A: “But from what I know, if a guy doesn’t even say those words to his girl, it means that he doesn’t like her at all.”
Girl B: “How do you know this?”
Girl A: “Because if you love someone, you would want to express how you feel. So if you don’t even wish to express how you feel, it can only mean that what you feel is not love. For example, when I look at An Ziyan, I can’t help but express my feelings for him, telling him how I truly felt.”
Girl B: “Don’t you have a boyfriend already?”
Girl A: “That’s a different matter altogether. I know I can never be with An Ziyan. So he shall remain my fantasy. And furthermore, I heard that he has a new girlfriend now. I'm really envious! I wonder how romantic he is with his girl?”
Mai Ding was getting irritated. >>>An Ziyan? Romantic? He wanted to laugh sarcastically, but the more he thought about what the girls said, the more uncomfortable he felt. He couldn’t help but agree with the girl. When you love someone, you just want to let the other person know. But An Ziyan did not believe so. He suddenly thought of Bai Xiaosi, An Ziyan’s ex-girlfriend. If he did not tell her that he loved her when they were together, he would feel slightly better. But if he did tell her that he loved her, it would then prove that he didn’t really care much about Mai Ding. Things were indeed very complicated. Mai Ding needed to know that An Ziyan loves him.