Qiguan Yuan looked at Pei Yubai's expressionless face and found it amusing.
This person clearly meant that, but they insisted on going through such a long and roundabout way, first laying out how to apply the medicine and for how long, before finally revealing their real question.
It's as if he couldn't say those words without this kind of build-up.
Qiguan Yuan leaned against the headboard, his silver hair cascading over his shoulders and down to his chest.
" Pei Yubai, you went through all this trouble just to come back with me?" Qiguan Yuan's voice was as cheerful as ever, with a slight upward inflection at the end.
Pei Yubai remained silent.
Yuanyuan saw through it.
Qiguan Yuan looked at his bright red ears and smiled slightly, "If you want to come back with me, just say so. Don't use applying medicine as an excuse."
Pei Yubai remained silent, watching Qiguan Yuan in silence.
Qiguan Yuan placed his hands on his knees, his fingers resting on them, and tapped them twice slowly.
"Come here," Qiguan Yuan said.
Pei Yubai stood up and walked to Qiguan Yuan.
The distance between the two suddenly became much closer, so close that Pei Yubai could smell the cool fragrance on Qiguan Yuan's body, faint, mixed with the scent of cotton fabric from the quilt.
"Reach out your hand," Qiguan Yuan said.
Pei Yubai stretched out his hand, palm facing up.
His hands were larger than Qiguan Yuan's, with long, slender fingers and distinct knuckles.
Qiguan Yuan stared at the hand for a moment, then lowered his head and placed his fingers on Pei Yubai's wrist.
The red thread was wrapped around Pei Yubai's wrist twice, tied in a small knot, with the end of the thread hanging down on the back of his hand.
Qiguan Yuan's fingers touched the knot of the red thread; his fingertips felt cool, and his fingertips brushed against Pei Yubai's skin, causing Pei Yubai to tense up.
Qiguan Yuan untied the red thread.
He moved slowly, unraveling the puzzle circle by circle, taking his time.
The red thread loosened from Pei Yubai's wrist, hanging down and resting on Qiguan Yuan's fingers.
Qiguan Yuan took the red thread in his hand, looked at it for a moment, and then gently twisted it.
The red thread turned to ashes between his fingers.
The ashes were very fine, as fine as dust, and they drifted down from between his fingers, landing on the floor and on the hem of his clothes.
Pei Yubai watched as the red thread turned to ashes before his eyes, and something seemed to break in his mind.
Then a sense of panic surfaced in my mind.
" Yuanyuan..." His voice was a little hoarse, as if someone had choked him.
He gripped Qiguan Yuan's hand tightly, his knuckles turning white. "Why did you crush it? That was mine... a gift to me... it's mine now."
His voice was very low, with a slight tremor at the end, carrying a hint of grievance that he himself was unaware of.
Qiguan Yuan looked down at his hand, which was being held. Pei Yubai's hand was bigger than his, and when his fingers closed, they completely enveloped Qi Guanyuan's hand.
He didn't break free, but looked up at Pei Yubai.
Pei Yubai's eyes reddened.
The red spread from the corner of her eye, seeping into the depths of her eye, as if something was slowly seeping inside.
Pei Yubai looked at Qiguan Yuan.
The name " Yun Yin " popped into Pei Yubai's mind and he couldn't suppress it.
He didn't want to think of that name at this moment, didn't want to think of the name that Qiguan Yuan had unconsciously called out.
Yun Yin.
He held Qiguan Yuan's hand tightly, his grip tightening with each passing moment.
Am I not worthy?
He asked himself the question.
It was because he kept Yuanyuan to agree to go back with him, Yuanyuan must have gotten annoyed, so he wanted to take back the things he had given her.
Qiguan Yuan looked at Pei Yubai's reddened eyes, reached out and gently placed his fingertips on the corners of his eyes.
Qiguan Yuan's fingers were cool, and the touch was very light, like a leaf falling on the skin.
" Pei Yubai, are you going to cry?" Qiguan Yuan asked him very softly and earnestly.
Pei Yubai away, dodging Qiguan Yuan's fingers; his chin was taut.
"No." Pei Yubai's voice was shorter than usual.
Qiguan Yuan did not withdraw his hand.
His fingers followed the direction Pei Yubai turned his head, and then covered the corner of his eye.
The redness at the corner of Pei Yubai hadn't faded yet. Qiguan Yuan's fingertip was pressed against it, and he could feel the temperature under Pei Yubai's skin, which was higher than usual, burning hot.
"Don't be sad," Qiguan Yuan said.
His voice was very low, as if he were whispering in Pei Yubai's ear, "How about I give it back to you? I'll return your red thread to you."
Pei Yubai raised his eyes and looked at Qiguan Yuan; his eyes were only on Qiguan Yuan.
Qiguan Yuan looked at Pei Yubai's raised eyes and his lips twitched slightly.
He reached out and placed his cool palm over Pei Yubai's eyes.
My palm was pressed against his eyelids; it was cool to the touch and felt very light.
Pei Yubai neither dodged nor closed his eyes. His eyelashes brushed against Qiguan Yuan's palm, tickling him.
Qiguan Yuan removed his hand.
The whole process was very short, so short that Pei Yubai only had time to feel a chill as it covered him before he left.
"Look," Qiguan Yuan's voice rang out.
Pei Yubai lowered his head.
He has an extra line on his ring finger.
It was a red thread, but it was translucent, like a wisp of morning mist, shimmering with a faint red hue in the light.
The thread was very thin, wrapped around the base of his ring finger, looped once, and then hung down, resting between his fingers.
Qiguan Yuan raised his hand.
A thread was also wrapped around his ring finger, exactly the same as the one on Pei Yubai's hand—semi-transparent, red, and wrapped around the base of his slender finger.
Qiguan Yuan reached out and grabbed the end of the thread that Pei Yubai was hanging down.
His fingers were long and slender, his nails were neatly manicured, and the tips of his fingers were a faint pink. He twisted Pei Yubai's thread end together, then twisted his own thread end together, and the two threads were joined together.
He started tying knots.
The finger wraps around the thread once, passes the end through, and pulls it tight. It wraps around again, passes the end through again, and pulls it tight again.
A beautiful knot appears between the two red threads, and the knot is finally closed, with the ends hanging down, neither too tight nor too loose.
Qiguan Yuan held up the knot he had tied, and the two semi-transparent threads between his hands were tied together. Light shone in from the window and fell on the threads, causing a faint reddish flash.
"May I bestow upon you the true red thread of fate?"
Pei Yubai looked at him but did not answer.
Qiguan Yuan wasn't in a hurry. He just held up the two tied-together lines and waited for Pei Yubai.
Pei Yubai stared at the thread connecting him and Qiguan Yuan, reluctant to look away for a long time.
" Yuanyuan... you won't crush it, will you?"
Qiguan Yuan smiled and said, "I can't break this. Pei Yubai, how about I return this red thread to you?"
Pei Yubai nodded.
Qiguan Yuan leaned close to Pei Yubai's ear, his breath brushing against it. "So, my little Pei Yubai, are you still sad?"
Pei Yubai couldn't help but tremble.
Then he shook his head.
Qiguan Yuan felt Pei Yubai shake his head, and then his ear brushed against his lips.
She smiled and said, "You're so good."