ITF Chapter94

They are all yours.

Luo Congye’s skin felt very cool from the wind, yet warmth continuously radiated from his palms, flowing through Bai Heting’s fingers and spreading all the way to his chest. Bai Heting’s lips twitched, curving upward into an imperceptible, fleeting smile.

But Luo Congye noticed it.

“Why didn’t you write back to me?” He asked softly.

Bai Heting pulled his hands away from Luo Congye’s grasp and began to fiddle with the more exquisitely crafted dagger, saying nonchalantly, “There was nothing to say.”

Seeing that all of Bai Heting’s attention had been drawn away by the new toy in the blink of an eye, Luo Congye let out a helpless sigh.

“I was afraid to see you.” He confessed honestly.

“Afraid?” The sharp dagger spun fluidly between Bai Heting’s fingers as he shot him a sidelong glance. “Is there actually anything left that you’re afraid to do?”

“Yes, there is,” Luo Congye replied, his tone carrying a trace of self-mockery. “Someone like me shouldn’t have had any intersection with you in the first place.”

The mockery in the depths of Bai Heting’s eyes vanished instantly.

He pinched the dagger between two fingers while looking down at Luo Congye.

Luo Congye, however, only stared at his own hands resting on Bai Heting’s knees.

“To me, you are…” He compressed his dry lips, speaking slowly, “…the moon hanging on the horizon; visible, yet untouchable. From childhood to adulthood, I racked my brains and stood on my tiptoes just to get a little bit closer to you.”

If a person could only give one speech in their entire life, for Luo Congye, it would be the words he was about to say.

The roaring fireplace, the rising and falling waves, all of it suddenly became incredibly loud, disturbing his state of mind and fueling his agitation. Yet even if the heavens were to collapse, the earth split apart, mountains roared, seas surged, and the world turned to ash in the very next second, nothing would be able to stop him from finishing these words.

But Bai Heting could not listen to any more of it. “What is all this about stars and the moon—”

“I succeeded,” Luo Congye said, refusing to be interrupted as he spoke over him. “But it gave me an illusion. I thought I had touched the moon. Only later did I realize that what I had touched was merely the moon’s reflection in the water.”

His pacing slowed further, while his voice dropped lower.

“The moment you touch it, it shatters.”

Bai Heting’s gaze wavered like a ripple on water. This time, however, Luo Congye failed to see it; his head remained lowered with his lips curling into a faint smile.

“I’ve been looking up at you since I was a child; looking up at you has long become a habit. No matter how much bravado I show on the surface, my heart is always so low in front of you. It is low to the point of humility, and low to the point of despicability. It didn’t dare let the temporary mark disappear, terrified that once the mark was gone, you would speak some honest truth it didn’t want to hear.”

Having said all this, he raised his head once more, looking straight into Bai Heting’s eyes.

“Now, without the temporary mark making a mess, give it a quick death.” He continued in a demanding tone, “I will only ask this once, and you are not allowed to lie.”

Bai Heting looked at the young man kneeling before his knees silently. It was clearly a posture of submission, yet the eyes looking up at him were burning bright, more scorching than the roaring fire beside them. No true subordinate would ever cast such a direct, offensive gaze, let alone demand such an interrogation—

“What kind of person… do you take me for?”

Bai Heting remained silent. He never explained his habits to anyone else, and with the exception of the one man he had once sworn fealty to, he had never felt the need to explain himself to another living soul.

But Luo Congye’s voice had already gone a little hoarse. “Don’t stay silent.”

His tone was bordering on a plea, the hands resting on his own knees slowly tightening into fists, his knuckles turning slightly white from the force. Bai Heting realized with a sense of helplessness that he was about to make yet another exception for this boy. He tilted his head, pondering for a moment, and then gave him an earnest answer, “Someone who makes me act stupid.”

Luo Congye fell quiet for a few seconds, then shook his head. “I don’t understand.”

Bai Heting frowned at him. “How can you not understand that?”

Luo Congye immediately replied, “I’m dumb.”

Bai Heting was nearly choked up by the response. He tapped Luo Congye’s cheek with the hilt of the dagger, reminding him in a warning tone, “If you act up again, be careful or I’ll slit your throat.”

Luo Congye couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh.

More than a decade had passed, yet Bai Heting’s way of intimidating him remained as singularly unchanged as ever.

He tilted his head back, offering up his neck like a sacrificial offering, and said nonchalantly, “Go ahead and slit it, I won’t dodge.”

A rare look of utter helplessness appeared on Bai Heting’s face.

The person standing before him was no longer that six-year-old child who could be easily frightened by a single word. No one was more skilled at taking an inch and turning it into a mile than he was.

He sheared the dagger away, but Luo Congye paused there for a long time.

If a person could only ask one question in their entire life, for Luo Congye, it would be the one he was about to voice.

“Do you…” But when the words reached the tip of his tongue, he still added a more conservative, safer qualifier to the question, “…like me, even just a little bit?”

*

The roaring fireplace, the rising and falling waves—all of it suddenly became incredibly quiet again. Luo Congye experienced a brief moment of temporary deafness, forced to discern what Bai Heting said entirely by reading his lips.

He seemed to say four words, four words beginning with “Not.”

Not…

Not what?

While Luo Congye was still straining his memory to make out the shape of the words, Bai Heting had already leaned forward, bringing his face close to his.

The day outside was bright, yet the doors and windows were tightly shut, while firelights flickered boldly in the hearth.

Yet the moon appeared out of thin air.

Its clear radiance crept onto Luo Congye’s skin, brushed past his fingers, and stained his lips, bearing a familiar warmth and a soul-refreshing, pleasant sweetness.

As if guessing that he hadn’t heard clearly, Bai Heting kissed his lips and repeated once more, “Not just a little.”

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