By Zephyria “Oh my, you’re joking, right?!”
That was the first thing Annette said.
Yuri hesitated for a moment, unable to answer.
It was the response he received immediately after pointing to the person waiting under the clock tower and saying, ‘This person is my partner.’
He was at a loss as to how to react to those words; he couldn’t say it was a joke—because it wasn’t—and he felt somewhat bashful claiming that the person was indeed his partner.
Seeing Yuri staring blankly at her face without answering, Annette’s eyes widened further. “Oh my, it’s true.” Saying so, she looked back toward the clock tower.
However, after confirming the person under the tower, she said, “Is it really, truly true? Not a joke? Surely it’s a joke?” To this, Yuri gave up on speaking further.
Where Annette was blinking and staring, there stood a flower-like young man wearing a black half-coat and a striped muffler.
The young man, who was blowing warmth into his hands as if cold, looked somewhat bored. He looked around the street indifferently, looked up at the clock tower, checked his phone, and finally spotted the two people standing across the street staring at him.
In that instant, the young man wore a radiant smile, like a flower blooming, and waved to the two—or more accurately, to only one of them. Witnessing that smile, Annette clutched her chest and whispered “Oh my, oh my, oh my” three more times.
“Oh my, I was truly surprised.”
With warm black tea and tarts before them, Annette spoke with a smile. Ling Xinlu, sitting across from her, looked back with a lovely smile at the woman who now wore an elegant and charming expression, quite unlike the woman who had been repeating “oh my.”
“Were you?”
“Of course. Yuri only mentioned that the person he’s dating was curious about me; he didn’t say a single word about what kind of person he was dating.”
“Haha, why did you do that, Mr. Gable? Were you ashamed of me?”
As Ling Xinlu lightly nudged Yuri’s waist with his elbow, wearing a playful smile, Yuri replied quietly but firmly, “I am not ashamed.” But as soon as he finished, Annette narrowed her eyes and gave Yuri a mock glare.
“Are you really not ashamed?”
“……Should I be?”
Flinching slightly at Annette’s glare, Yuri asked back after some thought. She immediately exclaimed, “Of course!”
“My goodness, you’re dating someone ten years younger than you, and a boy at that? If we don’t call this ‘stealing,’ what do we call it?!”
Yuri couldn’t offer any rebuttal to Annette’s bold claim and quietly drank his tea. Turning away from Yuri, Annette looked at Ling Xinlu with a gentle smile, as if she had never raised her voice.
“But I never imagined Yuri would date a man. I was surprised by that, but to date such a lovely person, my goodness!”
She added with admiration, “Honestly, seeing him stand under the clock tower, it was as if he were the only one in color in a black-and-white photograph.” Then, her eyes sparkled as she smiled.
“I was so worried that the partner Yuri is dating might be a jealous ex-lover who wanted to rip my hair out just because he heard I wanted to see him. I had no idea he would be such a pretty and kind person.”
“Ahaha, I am a jealous partner. I was wondering who on earth the person was who called Mr. Gable ‘Mon sucre’ every time they spoke. I didn’t know it would be such an elegant and beautiful lady.”
“Oh, you heard that? It was just a nickname from when we worked together at the agency. Please don’t feel too bad about it.”
Annette seemed to take a great liking to this sweet and lovely-looking young man, giving him a rare, eye-curving smile, and the sociable young man responded with an unprecedentedly bright smile.
Meanwhile, Yuri alone chewed his tart in silence, while the two of them were preoccupied with a joyful conversation, laughing continuously without caring whether Yuri was eating or drinking. To an outsider, it might have looked as if Yuri was interrupting their date.
“By the way, you two seem to be on good terms now, so why did you break up?”
Ling Xinlu asked her innocently, as if he had just remembered. She wrinkled the bridge of her nose, saying, “Ah, that.”
“Should I call it a personality clash? I just didn’t want to date a man who had time to go swimming every dawn but no time to go on dates with me.”
“Annette, that was when work at the agency was piled up and I worked for three days without sleep…”
“Still, you went swimming every single dawn.”
As Annette gave him a sharp look, Yuri remained silent once again. Deciding that it was better for his own sake to just quietly chew his tart, he called the waiter and ordered another piece.
“Swimming… Mr. Gable certainly does love swimming.”
“He loves it too much. Xinlu, are you okay with dating someone who loves swimming more than they love you?”
“Ahaha, of course not.”
Ling Xinlu answered concisely with a radiant smile. Annette’s eyes widened in surprise as she glanced sideways at Yuri.
“Oh my, then these days do you go on dates more often than to the pool? My goodness—when he dated me, he wouldn’t play with me but always went to the pool!”
“It’s not so much that, but rather, I always go with him when he goes swimming. Besides,”
Ling Xinlu’s eyes curved into a pretty smile.
“Just as much as Mr. Gable, I love the water too.”
“Oh, really? I thought there could never be anyone who loves water as much as Yuri.”
“I came to love it after meeting Mr. Gable. Just as he said, when I enter the water, it feels as if everything that had piled up heavily in my chest just melts away.”
As Annette nodded, saying, “I see, it’s good that you two are so compatible,” Ling Xinlu nodded back with an innocent smile and sent a playful look toward Yuri, who was still silently chewing his tart.
“It’s all thanks to meeting Mr. Gable.”
Whispering that, he suddenly raised his hand. He gently rubbed away a crumb of tart stuck to the corner of Yuri’s mouth. After staring at the now-clean Yuri, Ling Xinlu smiled.
“Because thanks to Mr. Gable, I got to meet the water too.”
“…….”
Yuri paused and silently met Ling Xinlu’s gaze. Before him, as he blinked, Ling Xinlu smiled tenderly.
“Now, I can’t live without the water either. If I don’t enter the water every day… I don’t think I could bear a single day without being submerged and swimming in that cozy embrace.”
The slow voice held a dangerous sweetness.
As if captivated by the gaze, Yuri couldn’t look away and stared blankly at Ling Xinlu, and at some point, his face began to flush slowly. While his expression remained blunt, a clear sense of bewilderment—recognizable to those who knew him—was evident as the redness spread from his neck upward.
Seeing that face, Ling Xinlu couldn’t help but smile.
“You have no idea how cozy it is to be submerged in water, how warm and snug it feels. …To the point where, if I were to swim in it and just fall asleep, I’d feel as if I had truly arrived in heaven.”
Every single word was meant for Yuri.
Yuri stared at Ling Xinlu, unable to move, before slowly, very slowly, lowering his head. As if he couldn’t bear to maintain eye contact, Yuri quietly dropped his gaze to the tart and merely murmured, “I see… that’s good….”
“Oh my, do you actually fall asleep while swimming in the water?”
Annette asked, her eyes widening in surprise. Without glancing at her, Ling Xinlu looked sideways at Yuri, who remained with his head bowed, and smiled as he answered, “Of course.”
“If I don’t want to leave the water, I just sleep right there. I think I might do that today, too.”
As Ling Xinlu spoke with a smile, Yuri suddenly began to cough, as if a piece of the tart had gone down the wrong pipe. “What’s wrong? Did you choke?” Ling Xinlu quickly and tenderly handed him some black tea and rubbed Yuri’s back. To Yuri, who mumbled a “Thank you,” Ling Xinlu gave a graceful smile and replied, “It’s nothing.”
Watching the two of them, Annette eventually shook her head slowly.
“You two really seem to get along well. For some reason, I feel relieved. Even though we’ve already broken up, I still think of him sometimes. I wonder if he’s doing well, if he’s living happily.”
At that, Ling Xinlu, who had been stroking Yuri’s back, turned toward her. Gazing at her with only a faint smile on his lips, Ling Xinlu then beamed a smile more radiant than anyone else’s.
“Thank you for worrying, kind Annette. But Mr. Gable is living very well, happier than ever before. And he will continue to do so.”
The two of them remained silent until Annette waved goodbye, saying, “Well, see you next time,” and disappeared from sight as she walked away.
Only after she had turned the corner and vanished from view did Ling Xinlu finally speak.
“She’s a decent person.”
“…Yes.”
Ling Xinlu let out a light sigh and turned around, as if his mind was now at ease. He took Yuri’s hand and began walking toward the hotel, which wasn’t far from where they were.
It was all because of Mon sucre.
Having accidentally overheard a phone call between Annette and Yuri, Ling Xinlu had been deeply bothered by the term she used to address Yuri. Consequently, when Yuri traveled to Germany for a close relative’s wedding and Ling Xinlu accompanied him, Ling Xinlu insisted on meeting her the moment Yuri mentioned he had to see Annette for some business.
Thanks to that, Yuri had ended up introducing his lover to Annette unexpectedly. However, contrary to his vague worries, they had enjoyed the meal in their own way, and he was now returning to the hotel feeling relieved.
“You two seemed to get along well.”
As they walked down a street sparsely populated, perhaps due to the cold weather, Yuri spoke up abruptly. Ling Xinlu looked at Yuri with a subtle expression. Then, he gave a bitter smile and said, “I think that’s my line….”
“That’s strange…. Mr. Gable is usually so perceptive, why didn’t he realize? It wasn’t that we got along; it was a power struggle.”
“Pardon?”
“Do you really think I could get along with a woman who used to date Mr. Gable? Though, it wasn’t just me; she seemed to be carefully observing what kind of person I am as well.”
Only after hearing Ling Xinlu speak as if it were obvious did Yuri blink, realizing, Ah, so that’s what it was.
“But it doesn’t matter. Because I won.”
Yuri looked at Ling Xinlu strangely again as he tilted his chin up and spoke confidently. Since they hadn’t actually fought, Yuri tilted his head, unable to fathom when he had won.
Yuri clicked his tongue inwardly, thinking that while he didn’t consider himself slow, his intuition must have grown dull. Beside him, Ling Xinlu suddenly murmured.
“I wouldn’t go so far as to say I regret coming out to see what kind of person she was, but it still feels unpleasant. Being in the same place as someone who once dated Mr. Gable is much more upsetting than I thought.”
Yuri gazed blankly at Ling Xinlu, who let out a heavy sigh of displeasure.
“I hated that another person called Mr. Gable so familiarly, I hated the nuance of them talking about having dated in the past, and I hated hearing them keep calling me young. …It’s not like I wanted to be young. I wanted to have the years spent with Mr. Gable as friends, too.”
A flicker of resentment crossed Ling Xinlu’s face. Even though he claimed to have won, it seemed he couldn’t help but feel bitter about a few things he could never possess.
But why?
He had no reason to be resentful. At least when it came to Yuri, there was absolutely no reason to feel that way.
Ling Xinlu looked back at Yuri, who had slowly come to a stop. Yuri looked down at his feet, lost in thought for a moment, then glanced around the deserted street, thought some more, and finally, gently pulled on Ling Xinlu’s arm. Very gently, so that it could be easily shaken off if he wished.
Ling Xinlu stared at Yuri, his expression turning strange. He gazed intently at Yuri, who was silently tugging his arm, and then suddenly smiled. He had realized that this was the choice Yuri was offering him.
Even though we are on the street, and even though there are a few people passing by here and there, if you’re okay with it, I’d like to hold you.
The hand tugging gently was saying exactly that.
And Ling Xinlu did not hesitate. There was no reason to.
Ling Xinlu stepped closer and hugged him tightly. Yuri wrapped his arms around Ling Xinlu’s back and hugged him back.
“Why are you suffering because of me, Mr. Ling Xinlu? When it comes to me, you are unconditionally the one in the superior position.”
Hearing Yuri’s quiet whisper, Ling Xinlu tilted his head.
“Really?”
Yuri nodded without hesitation.
“We can have as much time as we want from now on. There is more time left for us than all the time I have lived so far combined. And the most precious person to me is you.”
Yuri whispered softly into his ear.
Despite his composed and nonchalant face, there were times when Ling Xinlu looked anxiously at even the past that had already gone by. Even though there was no reason to.
—I love you. More than anyone. Forever.
Yuri had told him many times, and was telling him now. And he would continue to tell him in the future. And likely, Ling Xinlu would do the same, whispering those words repeatedly if the day ever came when Yuri felt similarly anxious.
How long did they stand there, embracing like that?
He felt Ling Xinlu smile. Only then did Yuri gently pull away and look at him; Ling Xinlu was gazing at him with his eyes softly curved.
“…It’s true.”
“Pardon?”
“I don’t think I could ever live without water now.”
Yuri fell silent.
—You are my water.
The words Ling Xinlu had once said to Yuri were now being repeated countless times.
Even without speaking them aloud, he was always telling Yuri that. Through his gaze, his eyes, his smile, and his touch.
I can’t do this without you. You are the most precious to me.
“…”
Yuri’s indifferent face seemed to flush slightly. He remained silent with that reddened face for a moment, then gave a single nod.
It could have meant I know, or it could have meant I feel the same.
Either interpretation was fine. Because both were true.
Yuri reached out. This time, he took Ling Xinlu’s hand.
As Yuri began walking in their original direction, Ling Xinlu followed silently behind him.
Yuri half a step ahead, Ling Xinlu half a step behind.
As they walked like that for a long time, there would be moments when they walked side by side, and moments when Ling Xinlu would lead the way, but one thing would always remain the same.
Walking hand in hand, their steps always matched a similar pace as they moved forward together.
[The End of Raga]