Even if he forgot, it wouldn’t matter, Xi Yu thought.
Because not all of those memories were good ones.
But he couldn’t bring himself to say it.
Xi Yu felt that love was a contradictory thing. For example, he felt heartache over the pain of having Zhi Li’s bones extracted, yet he couldn’t accept that all the memories the two of them had shared had been completely forgotten.
After remaining silent for a moment, Xi Yu shook his head. “You’ll remember.”
It felt as though thorns were winding around his heart, tiny needles piercing into it and tugging at the tender flesh. Lu Zhixing’s lips curved into a smile, but there wasn’t the slightest trace of amusement in his eyes.
“That’s good, then,” Lu Zhixing said. “I want to remember those unforgettable moments you shared with me as soon as possible, too.”
His older brother would coax him, hold him, kiss him, and love him. All of it was because he was ‘Zhi Li.’
At that moment, Lu Zhixing finally became certain of this.
If he hadn’t lost his memories of being Zhi Li, and were simply Lu Zhixing, then Xi Yu might not even be willing to spare him a second glance.
“Gege.” Lu Zhixing blinked. “Can you tell me about the past? I want to know what we used to be like.”
Let him hear what kind of memories Xi Yu couldn’t forget.
What kind of past could make him so unwilling to let go that, even knowing Lu Zhixing was upset, he still couldn’t bring himself to say that it would be all right even if he forgot everything, just to comfort him.
………………….
What kind of unforgettable past could make someone like Xi Yu fall in love?
Lu Zhixing lowered his head until his forehead rested against Xi Yu’s. His eyelashes were dark and thick.
Xi Yu’s heart skipped a beat.
It wasn’t as though there was anything he couldn’t talk about.
Lu Zhixing had recovered to this point, and Xi Yu hadn’t deliberately concealed his identity or his spiritual power from him.
Lu Zhixing had adapted very well. After losing his memories, he didn’t find anything strange about his current situation.
If Xi Yu told Lu Zhixing about what had happened in the past and revealed his identity, breaking those memories into pieces and working them into Lu Zhixing’s mind, perhaps he could awaken a little of his lost memory.
Yet a deep sense of unease enveloped Xi Yu, warning him that it would be better not to say anything.
But Lu Zhixing wasn’t behaving strangely at all. On the contrary, he was being very gentle. The hand hooked around Xi Yu’s waist slowly stroked his side with a tenderness that felt almost affectionate.
Lu Zhixing lightly brushed his nose against Xi Yu’s.
“Why aren’t you saying anything?”
Xi Yu pressed his lips together. Just as he was about to speak, someone knocked on the door.
Xi Yu pushed Lu Zhixing away, inexplicably relieved. “The wontons are here.”
He walked over and sat beside the coffee table. His assistant placed two servings of wontons on the table and opened them.
Lu Zhixing watched the stretch of Xi Yu’s snow-white nape, his gaze dark and unreadable.
After eating, Xi Yu felt a little sleepy, but he still pushed himself to help Lu Zhixing deal with a few things quickly. It was nearly eight o’clock before the two of them finally left the company.
As Xi Yu and Lu Zhixing walked side by side through the company’s ground-floor lobby, he kept feeling as though someone was watching him.
Almost all the employees coming and going were looking at them, and one person’s gaze was especially intense.
Now that his spiritual power had returned, Xi Yu’s senses were sharper. He wanted to turn his head and look toward the reception desk, but the moment he moved, a hand pressed against the back of his neck.
“Do you want to go to the supermarket later?” Lu Zhixing’s hand slid down from the back of Xi Yu’s neck and settled on his shoulder. “I can’t cook, but I can learn for your sake.”
With his arm draped around Xi Yu’s shoulders, Lu Zhixing lowered his head slightly and whispered into his ear.
His attempt to investigate the situation was interrupted. Xi Yu nodded.
“Sure. But I’ll have to change your face first.”
Xi Yu had now recovered enough that he no longer needed Luo Cheng’an to help change Lu Zhixing’s appearance.
The wind outside carried a bone-chilling cold. Xi Yu climbed into the car and had just raised his hand to use his spiritual power to change Lu Zhixing’s face when Lu Zhixing loosely caught his wrist.
Lu Zhixing pressed Xi Yu’s hand down, lifted it to his lips with practiced familiarity, and kissed it. Then he gave him a sly smile.
“I’ll keep this face. I like it.”
Xi Yu poked his left cheek, where there was no actual dimple.
“This face is way too inconvenient, Superstar Lu.”
Tomorrow was a holiday, so the supermarket was bound to be crowded. Lu Zhixing had once been a hugely popular celebrity. Even though he had been out of the entertainment industry for a while, that face of his would still attract far too much attention.
Xi Yu had no desire to be surrounded by onlookers.
As Xi Yu poked Lu Zhixing’s left cheek, Lu Zhixing remembered how often he did this exact thing, tapping the same spot lightly with his fingertip.
He also remembered Zhi Li’s familiar face. There had been a very shallow dimple exactly where Xi Yu liked to poke.
It was extremely faint, visible only when the curve of his lips deepened into a smile.
Lu Zhixing casually moved Xi Yu’s hand away and gazed at him with an almost pleading expression.
“But I really like this face. Don’t you like it, too?”
Inside the enclosed space of the car, Lu Zhixing’s long, narrow eyes were bright, as though a handful of stardust had fallen into them. There was something almost bewitching about his expression.
He looked at Xi Yu expectantly. Xi Yu thought that probably no one could resist Lu Zhixing.
Xi Yu held the back of his neck, drew him closer, and gave him a passionate kiss. Only after that did he answer, “I like it so much I can hardly stand it.”
“Gege!”
Lu Zhixing hooked an arm around Xi Yu’s neck and kissed his cheek, looking absolutely delighted.
He was completely different from the composed, self-assured man who had managed everything so confidently during the day. Instead, he seemed a little like the sweet, endearing person he had been just after waking up.
As Xi Yu started the car, he teased him, “You do know you’re older than me, right?”
Based on their current identities, Lu Zhixing was three years older than him.
“I know,” Lu Zhixing replied.
“Then why do you still call me Gege?”
“Because you like hearing me call you that.”
Xi Yu paused, amazed by how perceptive Lu Zhixing was.
He really did love hearing Lu Zhixing call him Gege. It was so endearing.
Xi Yu shot him a sideways glance and teased, “That’s not what I like most. Why did you stop calling me that other thing?”
Lu Zhixing’s face visibly reddened. He pressed his lips together shyly and turned to look out the window.
Seeing this, Xi Yu chuckled softly.
His boy had grown up and was starting to get embarrassed.
Lu Zhixing stared out the car window for a while. Apparently finding it boring, he took out his phone and opened Weibo.
When he saw the hashtag 随星所欲—“Whatever the Stars Desire”—with a huge 爆 (“Explosive”) tag beside it on the trending list, Lu Zhixing opened it.
A photograph appeared on the screen. It showed him with his arm around Xi Yu in the company lobby, lowering his head to speak to him. The image was exceptionally clear, far too clear to have been taken with an ordinary phone.
In the photo, he was leaning down, and Xi Yu had instinctively moved closer. They had only been talking, but the picture made it look as though Lu Zhixing had pressed a gentle kiss to Xi Yu’s ear.
【I! CAN’T! BELIEVE! WHAT! I’M! SEEING!】
【AAAAAAAH, SO SWEET, SO SWEET!!!!】
【Those two faces are absolutely top-tier.】
【Leopard and kitty! I have been BORN!】
【Oh my god, Xi Yu’s waist is so slim. I feel like my Lu-ge could wrap one hand around it.】
【It’s been so long since I saw them together in one frame. Waaaaah, I’m crying tears of joy.】
【I understand you, commenter above. The two of them are totally acting like an old married couple now.】
【Isn’t Baby Yu supposed to be the top? Why does he look so…】
【New fan here. Isn’t Brother Lu the top?】
【How many times do I have to say it? Baby Yu is the aloof beauty bottom!】
【Go meow somewhere else! An aloof beauty can be the top, too!】
【Who cares? I’ll ship whatever I can get!】
【I’ve already turned on my computer. Time to write a fic.】
【Dear author above, promise me one thing: I don’t care if it’s black or white—make every single version explicit!】
…
“We’re here.”
Xi Yu unfastened his seat belt and handed Lu Zhixing a mask.
Lu Zhixing put his phone away, took the mask, and turned around to put it on Xi Yu’s face first. Only then did he take the other mask from Xi Yu and put it on himself.
Just as Xi Yu had expected, the supermarket was packed. There was a long queue in the fresh food section, and the surrounding area was noisy.
Lu Zhixing pushed a shopping cart behind Xi Yu. Every so often, people glanced over at them.
Both men had exceptionally handsome features and figures. Even with masks covering half their faces, their bearing was impossible to conceal.
Several younger women kept looking at them with curious, uncertain expressions.
They had only just entered, and it already seemed as though they were about to be recognized. Out of the corner of his eye, Xi Yu saw the women walking toward them.
There was no time to ask questions. Xi Yu quickly changed both Lu Zhixing’s face and his own.
“Zhi Li,” Xi Yu said, his voice clear and unrestrained. “Let’s go over there.”
Lu Zhixing had been looking down at the expiration date on a snack in his hand. When he suddenly heard the name Zhi Li, he slowly turned his head.
He saw a pair of eyes that were both familiar and unfamiliar.
They were slightly upturned at the outer corners, framed by long, delicate lashes, and filled with warmth and tenderness.
…………………
Lu Zhixing froze for a moment.
Taking advantage of that brief distraction, Xi Yu hooked his arm through Lu Zhixing’s, pulled down both their masks, and winked at him before leading him forward.
As they passed the girls, Xi Yu heard them say things like, “We must have mistaken them,” and, “With the masks on, they looked so similar.”
They wouldn’t be recognized now.
Lu Zhixing stared at Xi Yu’s unfamiliar face and murmured, “Your face…”
Xi Yu had long since grown accustomed to using this face in the mortal world. Unlike Lu Zhixing, his mind hadn’t gone haywire, and it was simply more convenient not to change back to his celestial appearance.
As a result, throughout the period when Lu Zhixing had been suffering from amnesia, he had never seen Xi Yu’s true appearance.
A face as beautiful as a jade crown, as radiant as peach blossoms—an appearance without equal.
Lu Zhixing’s eyelashes trembled.
The face was unfamiliar, yet breathtakingly beautiful. Its features were striking, almost flamboyant, so beautiful that they seemed to possess an aggressive edge.
But those eyes, brimming with tenderness, were so gentle that they resembled a pool of water, as though they could envelop someone completely and drown them in their depths.
This time, Xi Yu finally got to poke the dimple on Lu Zhixing’s cheek to his heart’s content. Seeing Lu Zhixing stare at him blankly before bursting into a little laugh, he explained, “Someone seemed to recognize us just now, so I changed both our appearances.”
Oh. So it wasn’t only Xi Yu who had changed. He had also been turned into ‘Zhi Li.’
“Is this the appearance you imagined for yourself?” Lu Zhixing asked Xi Yu.
Xi Yu shook his head and answered casually, “This is my real appearance.”