Ch54 - Tears (1/2)
“Ryuusei? Are you there? Does this house belong to the two of you?” Yu Hao looked around the room that was completely empty.
“Yes. This was our home in Manhattan.” Nakagawa Ryuusei’s voice rang out, “And it was our ‘next life’ that Nicky promised.”
Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.
As soon as he stopped speaking, Ryuusei walked over from the living room.
Yu Hao immediately got off the bed and asked in astonishment, “Ryuusei, you can talk? Then why didn’t you talk just before?”
Ryuusei was a little restrained as he nodded, “I am unable to speak the moment I leave this place. I can only speak when I’m at home. I know you’re Yu Hao, I’ll……make a cup of coffee for you ba? Please, take a seat.”
Yu Hao’s only thought was that this entire situation completely and thoroughly put into practice all the rules of dreamscapes — it seemed incredibly surreal. One minute he was still in Chichén Itzá, and the next he had crossed into Chen Yekai’s house in New York.
Yu Hao looked up at the ceiling. There were no cracks in it, so how was he supposed to get out?
Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.
“I don’t really have any friends.” Ryuusei said, “You’re welcome to visit.”
Ryuusei’s Chinese seemed a bit unnatural. Yu Hao noticed that he was wearing a black Japanese high school uniform over his white shirt, looking quite refined and handsome. He twisted open the coffee pot and added some Japanese-style UCC instant coffee into two bamboo cups.
“Did you buy this house?” Yu Hao’s attention was distracted, “A house in Manhattan, Chen Laoshi really is rich.”
“Yes.” Ryuusei answered simply.
“Why do I care about this?” Yu Hao didn’t know if he should cry or laugh, “I’m sorry, I’m really too crass.”
There were no doors in Ryuusei and Chen Yekai’s home. Yu Hao tried to draw the curtains that were illuminated by the sun only to find a wall behind them. This meant that he would be unable to leave by the usual means.
Ryuusei carried a wooden tray over; it was set with coffee, sugar, and milk, and there was even a small Napoleon cake on it. Yu Hao took a sip; the coffee was very fragrant.
“That’s the kind Nicky likes.” Ryuusei’s expression was serene, “I hope you like it too. There’s only this dessert in the house. I brought it for Nicky too, but he has never eaten it.”
“Thank you.” Yu Hao said, “I like it a lot.”
The two of them sat at the dining table. Yu Hao wanted to say something, but he was mostly preoccupied with thoughts of how to leave this place, whether or not Zhou Sheng and Chen Yekai had arrived at the well in Chichén Itzá, and what will happen next. But then he recalled the events that had transpired before he fell here: the Dark Ryuusei outside the well had been indirectly shot and killed by this bright Ryuusei, so maybe when they arrived at the well, they would also be looking for Yu Hao?
Yu Hao’s mind was swirling with chaotic thoughts and he didn’t know where to start. The two of them just stared at the table cloth. For some reason, Yu Hao had a strong impression that there was a peaceful, tacit understanding between he and Ryuusei as they enjoyed their time together, even if they didn’t speak much.
Finally, Ryuusei spoke.
Ryuusei, “When I was with Nicky, we could also sit here quietly for an entire day. He would sit in your seat and read.”
“What about you?” Yu Hao asked.
Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.
“I’d watch him.” Ryuusei answered.
His hair was slightly long, but his eyes were very bright, as if the whole world would become tranquil in his presence.
“Are you here to save him?” Ryuusei asked.
Yu Hao and Ryuusei looked at each other, and happened to set down their cups at the same time.
Yu Hao nodded and asked doubtfully, “What is the meaning behind your existence here? Is this a safe haven?”
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This was a question Yu Hao asked himself. He didn’t expect an answer. In fact, he had tried to converse with the NPCs in his dream world, and the answers he got were always specious.
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Yet Ryuusei instead asked, “What do you think?”
C atbeuta revvfcis bmmeggfv ab Te Ljb, “Tbe’gf tlr abafw?”
Rjxjujkj Eseerfl, “Tfr.”
Te Ljb, “!!!”
Te Ljb’r olgra atbeuta kjr atja lo Itbe Vtfcu kjr tfgf, tf wluta revvfcis rtbea bea “tbis rtla j abafw tjr aegcfv lcab j rqlgla!” Ktlr rmfcf kjr gfjiis abb ylhjggf, yea tf mbeivc’a tfiq yea yf oliifv klat jvwlgjalbc ktfc tf atbeuta bo Itbe Vtfcu’r qgfnlber rqfmeijalbc.
At that time, he had said, “The totem could be in the well, or Ryuusei himself could be the totem.” And both guesses were right! It was basically a divine prophecy!
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“But……” Yu Hao said, “Outside the well, who was the other you who attacked us?”
“Let’s start from the beginning ba.” Ryuusei said, “I should have left a long time ago. But Nicky couldn’t bear to part with me, so he locked me in the inn and didn’t let me leave.”
“Where do you want to go?” Yu Hao frowned, and thought that this whole world was Chen Yekai’s inner heart, so where could Ryuusei go?”
“Here.” Ryuusei pointed at the dining table, “This was the next life we promised each other, but he refused.”
“He said that he would often go to the inn to see me, so I just continued living like that in the inn. Until one day, when this shirt disappeared from my body.” As he spoke, he opened his student blazer to show Yu Hao the white shirt within, “I thought that perhaps the time had come,, so I decided to leave and find him, and come to the place that I would eventually return to.”
Yu Hao, “……”
Yu Hao recalled how he had borrowed Chen Yekai’s white shirt on the night of the college’s celebratory performance, and immediately felt guilty.
“I understand.” Yu Hao muttered, “So it was because of me.”
Outside the well.
After Dark Ryuusei revived, a dark and dense fog swept through the cenote of Chichén Itzá. Chen Yekai could no longer see anything else, while Zhou Sheng remained vigilant as he scrutinised everything in the vicinity — especially the Feathered Serpent god statue that was nearly five-metres tall. He was on guard against its possible revival at any time.
“Nicky.” Dark Ryuusei spoke within the chaotic, churning darkness , “Do you feel guilty?”
Chen Yekai choked, “I’m sorry, Ryuusei, I’m sorry……that’s what I’ve always wanted to say.”
“That’s not your true confession.” Dark Ryuusei let out a roar at the brink of madness, “Even now, you’re still not willing to truly face me?!”
Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.
“……your arrogance and pride was your downfall.” Ryuusei’s voice was deep and low, like a devil borne from darkness, “You occupied the superior position in this relationship; you thought that the love you gave me was a reward, that it was out of your pity for me!”
Chen Yekai’s expression suddenly became calm. He held back the tears that welled up in his eyes, “Yes, Ryuusei, I understand now.”
Dark Ryuusei’s voice held a hint of surprise, “What do you understand?”
Chen Yekai, “I understand your love for me.”
The dense fog that had engulfed the cenote began to gradually disperse, revealing Chen Yekai and Dark Ryuusei’s figures. Zhou Sheng thought in his heart, good job! Ryuusei’s dark power seemed to slowly diminish in front of Chen Yekai and gathered towards an area near the entrance of the well.
Chen Yekai, “I also understand the words you said to me every day when we were together.”
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Dark Ryuusei walked slowly towards Chen Yekai and looked at him from across the well.
“I understand your unease.” Chen Yekai said, “Your gaze that always looked like you were on the verge of saying something, and your fear of losing me. But, you’re the one who doesn’t understand! I loved you too! Ryuusei!”
Chen Yekai practically roared out these last few sentences, which actually made Dark Ryuusei take a step back.
Chen Yekai said sorrowfully, “I was also learning how to love someone! Learning how to get along with you! I didn’t know how to care for our marriage. I didn’t know what I had to do to give you what you wanted. I wanted to marry you and spend the rest of my life with you! I know, my life is filled with an abundance of choices, but you only had me in yours.”
After he spoke up to this point, Chen Yekai let out a long sigh. The sound of running water encompassed them. Zhou Sheng immediately turned to take in his surroundings. Water was beginning to drip down from the ceiling and seep into this room; it was what he had suppressed in his heart for four entire years — his repressed tears that had converged to form the immense Iguazu Falls.
In the hotel.