Chronicles of the Beginning of Love

Qiu Huaijun didn't plan on going with He Wang. He Qingchuan was an evil in broad daylight— as for He Wang, who knew whether gold or dust lay behind that gentlemanly mask of his. Ultimately, with a He family he held all sorts of grievances against, reconciling with He Qingchuan and He Wang was forever impossible.

Because of the rainstorm, the evening self-study for day students was canceled. Everyone packed up their school bags one by one, preparing to go home. The rain outside was still strong, the dusk just as dark. Qiu Huaijun didn't pack up, thinking it was too annoying. He was also afraid that He Wang would block him at the doorway, so he simply threw open the window. The classroom after school was noisy and raucous; in the midst of numerous shouts of surprise, he pushed off the window frame, agilely flipping out.

He stepped on the water-soaked ground. Qiu Huaijun turned around to find a classroom full of stupefied classmates; he laughed and politely closed the window.

They were on the first floor, so jumping out of the window was the easiest. Qiu Huaijun pulled on the hood of his sweatshirt, walking into the curtain of rain. Rainwater immediately wet his eyelashes, blurring his vision. It was hard to determine the temperature of summer rain; the wind was hot and stuffy, yet the rain was ice-cold.

As Qiu Huaijun walked, he pulled up his uniform’s zipper. It was lucky that he’d worn his binder today. He was soaked through, but he’d successfully escaped He Wang; it was hard to not feel pleased. After he exited the school, the red and green traffic lights outside became blurry in the rain, the light swooning open in layers upon layers.

He believed that he could easily avoid He Wang this away, but he hadn’t expected He Wang to be waiting at the school gate, holding a black umbrella and wearing a pair of white Converses. He met Qiu Huaijun’s astonished gaze and laughed.

“Fuck…” Qiu Huaijun swore quietly. He walked over slowly and wiped at the water on his face, refusing to get beneath his umbrella. “Why are you here?”

“I knew you wouldn’t wait for me, so I specially came to the school gates here to wait for you.” The black umbrella covered the top of his head. He Wang extended a hand to wipe at the damp hairs on the top of his forehead; this made Qiu Huaijun feel uncomfortable. He avoided his hand. “Let’s go, Zhang-shu’s car is at the gate.”

“… What about He Qingchuan?”

“Ge’s there too, he just got in the car.”

“Then I’m not getting on. I’ll walk home by myself, it’s only a ten-minute walk anyway.” Qiu Huaijun once again turned his head, preparing to walk away. He couldn’t openly refuse He Qingchuan, but this degree of refusal was nothing. “You can go.”

The umbrella once again came over his head. He Wang put an arm over his shoulders and blinked at him. “Then I’ll go and tell them I’m walking home with you.”

This wasn’t a joke; Qiu Huaijun watched in disbelief as he took out his phone, speaking just a few sentences before hanging up. The water stains on He Wang all came from his body of rainwater, but He Wang still insisted on having an arm over his shoulder. “Alright.”

“Why are you coming with me?” Qiu Huaijun couldn’t avoid him. There was only so much remaining space beneath the umbrella. His entire body was cold, yet He Wang didn’t mind. “Don’t get so close to me.”

“The rain’s so heavy, it isn’t safe.” He Wang’s strength was greater than his, easily leading him out. “Don’t make me worry.”

The rain was too large, blocking out all sound with all its might. Qiu Huaijun dug out the meaning between He Wang’s words, but he was unable to fully grasp the deeper layer of it. By the time he reacted, He Wang had already led him out a distance from the school gate. He saw the blurred traffic lights in the rain, like poor quality paints sliding down. Qiu Huaijun made a tch sound and stuffed his hands in his pockets, lowering his head to stare at the road.

He didn’t know if it was his imagination or not, or perhaps he was overthinking; but as they crossed the street, Qiu Huaijun kept feeling that the hand on his waist was a little strange, ambiguously stroking the line of his waist. But He Wang only kept a hand on his waist as they crossed the street; the moment they reached the other side, he released him. Or perhaps it was a sign of He Wang’s good temper, as he inadvertently touched his waist and hand. Qiu Huaijun barely spoke the entire way, but he still talked to him warmly.

Rain battered the surface of the umbrella, sounding as if it brought pain. Cars sped by, the wheels splashing rainwater. He Wang saw Qiu Huaijun shiver from the wind and took off the jacket of his school uniform. “Wear this.”

“Ah?” Qiu Huaijun was at a loss. “No need.”

“Do as you’re told.” He Wang stuffed the handle of the umbrella into his hand, draping his jacket warmly over Qiu Huaijun’s shoulders without giving him a chance to protest.

Qiu Huaijun opened his mouth, but ultimately said nothing.

When they got to the villa, the warm air inside was quite different from the outside. Since He Qingchuan rode the car, he naturally arrived earlier. His uniform hung on the clothes hook in the entrance hall. He now wore a white, short-sleeved shirt. He was pouring a glass of water; the heated water poured into the glass, refracting rays of light. Qiu Huaijun took off the jacket. His soaked clothes inside had gotten He Wang’s jacket wet; he paused, and then said, “Give it to a-yi* to wash later, it’s gotten dirty.”

“It’s no problem.” He Wang took it and hung it to the side. “It’ll dry by tomorrow.”

Qiu Huaijun didn’t walk two steps before hearing He Qingchuan suddenly say, “You can’t sleep on the bed in your room anymore.”

After confirming that He Qingchuan was speaking to him, Qiu Huaijun stopped walking. “What do you mean?”

“You didn’t close your window, so your bed’s completely soaked. It’s useless to change the sheets because the mattress is damp too.” He Qingchuan took off his glasses and placed them on the coffee table. “If you don’t believe me, you can go look.”

Qiu Huaijun cursed under his breath, sprinting up the stairs. He Wang didn’t follow him up the stairs, instead closing up the umbrella. The rain on the umbrella dripped on the floor in a puddle, as if forming a silver moon. He lifted his eyes to look at He Qingchuan. “I thought you would also wait for him.”

“It’s necessary to loosen after tying, or else he’ll break.” He Qingchuan sat down on the sofa. “Do you want water?”

“He’s not your prey yet,” laughed He Wang. He took the glass of water from him. “Don’t be so confident, ge.”

Qiu Huaijun went upstairs and took a look at his bedroom. It really was a complete mess; the freshly washed bedsheets were blown onto the ground, so dirty they looked like abstract art; the bed was soaked through as well. He had opened the windows wide, so the rain inevitably gusted in. Qiu Huaijun heard footsteps behind him; He Wang entered. “It’s become like this… then you can’t sleep in your room tonight.”

He Qingchuan stood beside him, serenely looking at the traces of water on his floor.

“I’ll sleep in the guest bedroom.” Qiu Huaijun began to get agitated, rubbing his wet hair.

“The guest bedroom hasn’t been cleaned up, there’s random things everywhere. A-yi can’t come to clean tonight because the rain’s too heavy,” He Qingchuan suddenly said.

“Then I’ll sleep in the living room!” The second this thought came out, it was rejected by Qiu Huaijun himself. If He Qingchuan messed with him in the living room, he had no way to resist. Everything in that direction was hard to control, and He Hairan might come back tonight. Qiu Huaijun didn’t want to meet He Hairan in the living room. “Never mind.”

Then where would he sleep tonight?

He Wang said, “How about you come to my room? Or ge’s room? — You can pick by yourself, but you can’t not have a place to sleep.”

Outside, the rain was still coming down. The window that was just closed took on a thin layer of mist, enclosing all the light inside the interior. Qiu Huaijun unconsciously looked towards He Qingchuan, meeting He Qingchuan’s pitch-black pupils. He quickly looked away, lowering his eyes. He Wang wasn’t in a hurry either, only smiling at him.

Qiu Huaijun’s tongue pressed against his canines. He cast a glance at He Qingchuan; He Qingchuan seemed to have no interest towards the outcome, or perhaps he was clear on it. He agreed to do as He Qingchuan told him to do, but now rebellion rose up inside him. He tipped his chin up and said casually, “Then I’ll go with er-ge.”

Qiu Huaijun said regretfully to He Qingchuan, “My sleeping posture isn’t good, and it’d be no good to disturb da-ge. Er-ge’s bed is larger—”

He Qingchuan had him be obedient; the precondition was that He Qingchuan needed to give an order. Since He Qingchuan didn’t tell him which bedroom to go to, then his method couldn’t be called “disobedient”.

Qiu Huaijun released a breath, an inexplicable feeling of elation rising within him. He gave He Qingchuan a provocative look, then smiled at He Wang. “I’ll be disturbing er-ge.”

*阿姨; aunt, auntie, term of address for woman 1+ generations older not necessarily blood related. Refers to the housekeeper in this context

Author's note

A little gentleman that thought he escaped from evil clutches, but actually squeezed into another set of evil claws (. There's a picture on Weibo, can look at that for reference ovo

Let's look at the situation tomorrow, high probability there'll be an update (don't exclude low probability...

Translator's note

He Qingchuan has glasses =w=