Chapter 48 - Getting Separated (1/2)
Chapter 48: Getting Separated
Translated by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
(Unedited)
Before Li Sui got back home, he found a rubbish bin on the streets and dumped all the medicine he got in the bin. Then he tried smelling his own clothes to ensure that there wasn’t the smell of disinfectants from the hospital remaining on him. Then he opened the door.
Only Aunt Lu was inside, she was making food.
“Where’s Lu Shang?”
Aunt Lu found that odd too, she said, “He told me that he was going to buy something from the pet supplies store nearby. Is he still not back yet?”
Lu Shang seldom went out now, except for occasionally strolling in the park with Li Sui in the morning, he basically stayed home all the time. Li Sui looked out to the darkening sky, he was beginning to get worried. He attempted calling Lu Shang on the phone, but just after he had dialed the call, rings came from the living room.
“How long has he been out?”
“For two hours.”
Li Sui’s heart sank, “I’ll go look for him.”
In a hurry, he rushed to the pet store, fearing of being told that no such person was there. Just after he turned at a corner, he saw Lu Shang sitting on a bench at the entrance of the pet shop, holding a small fishbowl in his hands.
Across from the other side of the street, Li Sui took a deep breath, even from so far away, he could tell that Lu Shang’s eyes were not normal.
The pet store was closing, but the owner of the store didn’t feel right just forcing Lu Shang to leave. Li Sui ran over and turned Lu Shang to face him, “What’s wrong? Why are you sitting here?”
Lu Shang was slightly shocked, but he smelled the familiar scent, and his shoulders were loosened.
“I’m fine,” Lu Shang reached for Li Sui’s hands and shoved the small fishbowl to him.
“My eyes suddenly went dark when I came out to buy something from the shop.”
Being out in a cold winter day like this, there wasn’t any walls nearby to block the wind either. Li Sui felt how cold Lu Shang’s hands and feet were. Obviously, Lu Shang had been in the cold wind for a long time, that made Li Sui’s heart ache. Li Sui pondered over and over again these past two days, he had prepared some questions to coax the truth out of Lu Shang about his past. Yet, when it came down to it, he couldn’t bring himself to say anything.
“It’s okay as long as you are fine.” He hugged Lu Shang tightly.
Li Sui carefully lifted Lu Shang up and led him slowly towards home. Fortunately, the pet shop was not far from their house, many passers-by gave them curious looks along the way. If Li Sui hadn’t taken Lu Shang’s face into account, he would have just picked Lu Shang up and carried him back home.
“Why did you buy another tortoise? Isn’t there already one at home?”
Lu Shang’s voice sounded like he had a stuffy nose, “It always sleeps, so I thought maybe I should get two. Maybe it’d be better with two.”
Li Sui looked back at him and asked, “If I didn’t come for you, would you have just waited there for the whole night?”
Lu Shang opened his blank eyes wide and did not answer.
Li Sui looked at him, he felt his own heart being filled up with acid. The thought of Lu Shang waiting for him helplessly in an unfamiliar place made Li Sui feel uncomfortable.
“Don’t go out alone again. Tell me what you want, and I’ll buy it for you. If that’s no good. Tell Uncle Yuen or Aunt Lu, they will go buy it for you. It’s just lucky this time. There weren’t much people on the streets in the cold weather. What if something happened while you were outside and you ran into your enemies? If something happened to you, I——” Halfway through his remarks, Li Sui suddenly stopped.
Lu Shang was silent for the whole time, he had a lonely look on his face.
Li Sui reacted, he leaned over and hugged him, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that.”
Lu Shang smiled indifferently, “It’s fine, I understand.”
“You’ll be fine, you’ll,” Li Sui said bitterly. Trying to sound soothing, he said, “You can do whatever you want and go wherever you want to go. If you got lost, it’s fine, I’ll turn the whole city over to find you.”
Lu Shang did not say anything, he only had a faint smile.
After being tense for too long, Lu Shang was extremely tired. Just before they got home, Lu Shang couldn’t even stand up straight anymore., he almost fainted as they walked.
Aunt Lu came out and saw Li Sui coming into the house with Lu Shang in his arms. She thought something must had happened and asked, “What’s wrong?”
“He’s all right. Just tired.” Li Sui whispered the answer to her, then he changed his shoes and carried the man upstairs.
Lu Shang was sleeping soundly, Li Sui didn’t want to wake him up, so he changed Lu Shang into his pajamas for him. As he was helping Lu Shang change, a strand of white hair flashed across his sight. Li Sui was stunned for a moment, thinking that he had seen wrong. Lu Shang’s hair was thin and soft to touch, Li Sui brushed aside some of the hair with his fingers. It really was white hair that greeted Li Sui’s eyes, there were more than one, when Li Sui counted carefully, he noticed there was several strands of white in his view.
The tiny discovery set off a storm in Li Sui’s heart. He held his breath and stared at him for a long time, then he covered Lu Shang with the blanket and went downstairs silently.
Aunt Lu was cooking dinner, when she saw that Li Sui looked a little odd, she asked, “What happened?”
Li Sui looked at her as he said, “Aunt Lu, is there any way for me to slow time down?”
As Aunt Lu listened, she could vaguely feel the same thing, that was something all of them had been evading but getting increasingly urgent. She did not know what advice to give, she only sighed and said, “Life and death are always together, Lu Lao Ban is an open-minded people, you should come to terms with that……”
Li Sui laughed at himself and shook his head, “I can’t, I can never. I want him to live.”
Seeing Lu Shang fight with his illness for a long time, she knew how difficult this seemingly simple wish was. Looking at Li Sui losing his spirits like this made her felt sad herself. She just left with a sigh and went to the kitchen to get her things.
In the evening, Lu Shang didn’t wake up. Li Sui looked at the meals on the table. He didn’t even pick up his chopsticks and drank only a small bowl of soup.
“You had enough?” Aunt Lu asked.
Li Sui seemed shock at his own lack of appetite as well, he stood up and went to change into his running shoes, walking out, he said, “I’m going out for a run.”
When Lu Shang got up the next day, his eyes were still unable to see, his sight was pitch black. This situation had happened several times before, but this time it was the most severe. Lu Shang’s were basically a signalling device for Lu Shang’s health. When he was in good health, his eyes would be good, if his eyes couldn’t see, then his body must be in bad condition as well.
Li Sui usually forbid Lu Shang to do this or touching certain things, all he wanted to accomplish was for him to get better. However, he also knew in his heart that everything had a limit. Beyond that point and it was impossible for any human intervention to work. Although Li Sui had been prepared for it, he still felt extremely heartbroken when this day came.
Li Sui applied for a vacation from work, he devoted himself in taking care of Lu Shang at home. Phone calls from the company came one after another but Li Sui ignored all of them, he continued happily feeding Lu Shang instead. He was afraid that Lu Shang might get bored, so he dug out an old gramophone to play some discs for Lu Shang.
“Do you want to dance?” Li Sui asked after adjusting his voice.