Xu Zhuo called a car to go home, he sat in the back seat, the gray garment bag spread on his lap.
Now the streetlights were on, their light shining through the car from the passing vehicles. Xu Zhuo rubbed the textured garment bag on his lap as if lost in thought.
After a while, he picked up the garment bag and sniffed at the opening, a familiar, fresh, and faint fragrance, Du Ziyu's scent.
He couldn't help but smile.
Presumably, his outfit, which had hung in the other's closet just fifteen minutes ago, was intimate, accompanied by those expensive clothes of his— crisp outerwear, fitted shirts, and tailored trousers.
He was reminiscing about the moment he left, with the other looking shy but pretending to be calm, when his phone rang.
He took it out and glanced at it, realizing that he had completely forgotten about this matter.
"Hello," he answered the phone, "Nan Nan?"
"Zhuozi? You're not there at this hour?" Yi Peiran yelled. There was deafening rock on the other end, as if he had gone to some corner where the noise was reduced, "If I didn't know you lived like a monk, I would have thought you prefer relationships over friendships and left us to go out with someone."
Xu Zhuo: "..." He really guessed it.
He felt guilty and quickly changed the subject: "I have something urgent. Have you started yet? I'll be there in time now."
Then, he said to the driver, "Master, I'm sorry, take me to Blue Noon."
Blue Noon is a well-known local bar that often holds bold and avant-garde events.
"Be quick!" Yi Peiran shouted, "Don't miss the opening. If you're late, your friends will have nothing to do!"
As he hurried to the bar, Du Ziyu went upstairs and stood on the small balcony outside the room.
The area was vast, with lush greenery, but at night, the hazy lights along the roads made the trees seem somewhat eerie, not worth admiring.
The summer night breeze was hot, and while he wasn't usually sweaty, he now felt a bit uncomfortable.
But he didn't want to go inside. Although there was air conditioning inside, it seemed too stuffy, making it hard to breathe.
He placed his palm on his cheek, feeling a bit hot, and as he remembered what he had done, he felt his face burn even more and wanted to find a hole to hide in.
"Mr. Du," Aunt Wei entered and placed his pajamas in the bathroom, "I've prepared a bath for you."
"Wait a minute," Du Ziyu said, "Not today, I'll do it myself."
Aunt Wei left, and he unbuttoned his cuffs and went straight to the bathroom. He wanted to take a cold shower today.
The bathroom was spacious, with a huge mirror covering half the wall. He used to think that such a design had no practical value, but now he stood naked in front of the mirror, looking at himself.
Fair, tall, and slim.
He slowly traced his eyebrows, eyes, nose, and lips with his fingers, then reached his jaw, slightly raised his head, half-closed his eyes, and looked at himself through the dense, long eyelashes in the mirror.
Is he handsome?
As soon as he had this thought, he shivered all over, as if he had committed some heinous sin.
In his more than twenty years of life, he had never paid attention to his body and appearance. His education was strict and orthodox, and he wasn't allowed to have any non-traditional or rebellious thoughts.
He had to be serious, strong, invincible, like a "real man"... "Beauty" was definitely not something a "real man" should possess.
This handsome face on him seemed to be not his, unappreciated by anyone sincerely, and he himself was not allowed to be proud of his body.
He was deprived of the right to be an independent individual.
Du Ziyu moved to glance over his side profile.
"...Exquisite temperament, outstanding appearance..." Xu Zhuo's resolute voice echoed in his ears.
A smile crept onto Du Ziyu's lips; someone's admiration of his appearance made him so happy.
No, no one else can, only Xu Zhuo can have such treatment.
He bit his moist lips and used a critical gaze to assess himself again.
Am I too thin?
He was not a naive and ignorant hothouse flower, and he knew quite a bit about adult matters.
Don't all men like a pert backside? he thought, and it should feel good to touch too.
He pinched his arm, as if there really wasn't enough flesh, and it was a bit dry.
He was thinking of things in his heart, and after taking a shower, he made a call to Doctor Cheng.
"A physical exam? You just had one this year. Do you feel unwell lately?" was the response from the other end.
"No," Du Ziyu said, "I feel too thin and want to strengthen my exercise. I want a nutritionist and a fitness trainer to do an evaluation."
*
Xu Zhuo arrived at Blue Noon and was immediately overwhelmed by the enthusiastic sound as soon as he pushed the door open.
He squeezed through the crazy crowd to the old spot where several friends had already had a drink, with some of them even kissing.
Xu Zhuo glanced but didn't see Yi Peiran. Instead, Ye Shunan waved and called out to him, "Zhuozi! Sit here!"
He squeezed in and sat down next to Ye Shunan, and was immediately handed a glass of wine, "You're late, so take a penalty shot. Hey, why are you carrying clothes with you."
"Don't mess around," Xu Zhuo warned. He didn't usually smoke or drink, so a glass was no big deal.
He took a sip and asked loudly, "Where's Ruran?"
"Getting ready backstage," Ye Shunan shouted in response. "You're too late, the warm-up has already started, and Ruran is preparing to perform."
Xu Zhuo took a sip of wine and looked around. The colorful lights were changing, and on the high stage, a man and a woman were dancing to the thrilling music, gradually getting the crowd excited, with more and more people gathering on the dance floor.
A slender man in leather pants approached, wanting to get close to Xu Zhuo, "Are you here alone, handsome?"
Ye Shunan looked on with a mischievous expression, enjoying the show.
Xu Zhuo intercepted him politely, "I’m sorry."
He was tall and handsome, which attracted the man who wanted to make a move. He wasn't insistent originally, but Xu Zhuo's indifferent attitude actually aroused his desire to conquer.
"Don't you like me, handsome," he bent down to clink glasses with Xu Zhuo, getting very close, and his loose low-cut shirt revealed a pale chest, "I'm really good, absolutely clean."
Xu Zhuo's smile remained unchanged, "No, thank you."
His tone was resolute.
The flamboyant man reluctantly left, and Ye Shunan laughed heartily, "Zhuozi, the first one tonight, good luck, try to break your record of 22 in one night."
Xu Zhuo rolled his eyes, "I just don't get it. Every time you pick this kind of place, I thought you were a straight guy?"
Ye Shunan patted his shoulder, "Who says a person is gay just because they like to go to lively places? Where else could be more lively than here?"
Xu Zhuo half reclined in his seat and said, "Does your girlfriend know you come here?"
Ye Shunan spread his hands, "I asked her to come with me, but she didn't like the crowed, and she wants me to report back to her regularly. I have to be back before one, we who have families can't be as carefree as you guys."
Xu Zhuo remained silent, looking at him with an ambiguous smile.
"What are you doing?" Ye Shunan felt Xu Zhuo's smile was a bit creepy, he paused and widened his eyes, asking, "Could it be, could it be that you're not single anymore?"
Xu Zhuo picked up a peanut and threw it into his mouth, and nodded as he chewed, "Yeah"
"Wow!" Ye Shunan jumped up from his seat, "When did it happen? With whom? Do I know her?"
"Well..." Xu Zhuo pondered, "It doesn't really count as knowing her."
Ye Shunan was about to ask again when the lights in the whole room went out, the roaring music stopped, and the next second the whole place lit up, the entire bar was illuminated as bright as day, but this daytime only lasted for a moment, then it started to flicker rapidly, followed by the addition of colorful lights, and at the same time, the music started from nothing, getting even louder. The crowd erupted into cheers, and the focus was on the stage.
A person appeared on the stage in a gorgeous European classical court gown, heavy eye makeup, dark red lips, and huge train, walking with a catwalk under the crowd's waving arms, standing still and blowing a kiss.
As if the fuse had been ignited, the cheer in the crowd reached its peak, Xu Zhuo felt his heart trembling so much that he couldn't hear clearly when Ye Shunan shouted at him, "What?"
Ye Shunan leaned close to his ear, and shouted, "Ruran is awesome!"
Xu Zhuo nodded with a big smile, half reclining in his seat, watching the performance, occasionally chatting with the people next to him.
The whole performance was scheduled to last until after midnight, Ye Shunan left early, Xu Zhuo greeted Yi Peiran and left together.
Ye Shunan was too involved and had forgotten to ask Xu Zhuo his question from earlier, so he waved his hand and drove back, while Xu Zhuo took a taxi home.
He was still excited from the atmosphere of the event, and coupled with having some drinks, he felt agitated, took out his phone and thought of calling Du Ziyu.
Luckily, he remembered in time that it was late at night and the other party was probably already asleep.
However, the urge in his heart was hard to suppress, so he sent a voice message to the other party through WeChat, like a madman, loudly shouting into the phone, "Ziyu, I miss you!" And added at the end, "Goodnight!"
He thought he would see the message tomorrow, Xu Zhuo thought to himself, and then tossed the phone aside and went to take a shower.
After the shower, he saw a new message alert.
It was a voice message from Du Ziyu, very short, only one second.
Xu Zhuo was ecstatic, his heart pounding, he picked up his phone and held it close to his ear, holding his breath, and played the voice message.
The familiar cool voice was filled with a hint of warmth as it slowly spoke two very gentle words, "Goodnight."