People passed by in an endless stream, but Qi Bailu remained silent. When Ruan Qiuji reached him, he took the suitcase from his hand and remarked, "You don't look very happy."
Qi Bailu certainly had no reason to be happy. The next flight wasn't for another three hours. The two of them could only watch the crowds mill about as they waited in the terminal, and rebooking the tickets had cost him a significant fee. Ruan Qiuji watched him pull out his phone to change the flight. As the interface appeared, Ruan Qiuji cast a discreet glance downward to see which cabin class Qi Bailu was booking. "Buy one for me too," he said.
During those few days in Shanghai, Ruan Qiuji had consistently treated him to meals. Qi Bailu had suggested splitting the bill, but Ruan Qiuji refused. When Qi Bailu insisted on sending him a digital red envelope, Ruan Qiuji never accepted it. Buying the plane ticket today would serve as repayment.
"This seat?" Qi Bailu selected a spot and showed it to him. Ruan Qiuji glanced at it and nodded immediately. Qi Bailu doubted he had even seen where they were sitting, as long as they were together.
As they walked through the terminal and sat down, the two of them were quite conspicuous. Some passersby even surreptitiously pulled out their phones to take photos. Qi Bailu, unable to sit still under the scrutiny, pulled a black baseball cap from his backpack and shoved it onto Ruan Qiuji’s head. However, wearing a baseball cap with a suit only made him look more eccentric, especially since the cap featured pink embroidery that boldly read *Muse*. Ruan Qiuji watched the person who had been filming them walk away, then took the hat off to inspect it. He didn't seem to mind it; he put it back on and quipped, "A shining star, loved by all."
Qi Bailu looked into his shimmering eyes and pulled the brim of the hat down a little further. "Or you could go to the VIP lounge."
Ruan Qiuji lifted the brim to look at him, draping the jacket he had just taken off over the armrest. "I just got here and you're already chasing me away?"
"Who told you to come?"
Ruan Qiuji could tell he was upset, though the anger wasn't directed at him. He guessed that this trip home had been an unpleasant one for Qi Bailu. After a moment, seeing that Ruan Qiuji surprisingly didn't talk back, Qi Bailu realized he hadn't hidden his expression well enough.
"Did they make you sad?" Ruan Qiuji asked.
Qi Bailu said nothing, merely staring at the dark glass curtain wall ahead. The reflections of scattered lights looked like a projection of the entire universe. Suddenly, Ruan Qiuji said, "I know some people, if you have a need."
"What kind of need?"
"They can take people out to sea. Make them disappear forever."
Qi Bailu glanced at him, thinking Ruan Qiuji was joking, but there was no trace of a jest on his face. This was a blatant suggestion of a kidnapping and hit. Qi Bailu was momentarily speechless. He locked eyes with Ruan Qiuji for a while; Ruan Qiuji’s eyes were hidden in the shadow of the baseball cap, his pupils dark, carrying a cold and shadowy allure.
In the depths of that gaze, Qi Bailu actually considered it for a single second—if he could make the Zhou brothers disappear together, no one would ever be able to threaten him with his past again.
"How much do they charge?"
"Who do you have in mind?"
Qi Bailu stared at him intently. If he nodded right now, Ruan Qiuji would likely pay the bill for him.
"Just curious. I was just asking."
"You look tempted."
"I'm not that stupid. If I did it, you'd have leverage over me. What are you laughing at?"
Ruan Qiuji’s laughter was muffled. He leaned back against the chair and turned his head. "I'm laughing at how carefully you calculate things."
Qi Bailu felt a sudden flicker of fear. Spending so much time with this man, he had almost forgotten that Ruan Qiuji also had a predatory side. Everything was fine when he was being tender, but if one truly enraged him—Qi Bailu had yet to see what Ruan Qiuji looked like when he was genuinely furious.
Before Qi Bailu could respond, more passersby recognized them, likely due to the trending topics from the recent awards ceremony. They whispered as they walked past. Qi Bailu crossed his arms and lowered his head, pretending he wasn't himself and acting as if he didn't even know Ruan Qiuji, radiating an aura that screamed *I am alone, do not disturb me*. The two passersby kept looking back.
"They're looking at you," Ruan Qiuji noted.
"I know."
Seeing how tense he was, Ruan Qiuji asked, "Don't want to be photographed?"
Qi Bailu had dealt with cameras for so long that he wasn't easily intimidated by them; what made him nervous was the fact that Ruan Qiuji was sitting right next to him. The video of Ruan Qiuji presenting him with the award had sparked quite a bit of discussion online. His assistant had even shown him a gossip thread, which he had closed after just two glances.
"Don't you care about your reputation at all?"
"What reputation?"
"..."
Since Ruan Qiuji put it that way, Qi Bailu seemed to relax along with him.
Changing the subject, Qi Bailu asked, "Did you go to Xiamen?"
"You should have told me in advance that you were leaving Xiamen."
"You didn't tell me in advance that you were flying here, either."
If Ruan Qiuji had been a few minutes later today, they would have missed each other. But it was just right—as the books say, not a step too early, not a step too late.
"At least it's a surprise."
It wasn't just a surprise. Having someone by his side felt like having an anchor; the gloom from earlier dissipated significantly. Ruan Qiuji placed his hand over Qi Bailu’s and gave it a squeeze. Qi Bailu lowered his eyes, watching his hand being held. Ruan Qiuji’s fingers were somewhat cool, but they transmitted a sense of stability.
Instead of calming down, Qi Bailu’s mind became restless as the various stray thoughts he had suppressed began to resurface. The swing from sorrow to joy easily created a jarring sense of contrast. When one has been wronged, comfort is often the hardest thing to bear. Ruan Qiuji fixed his gaze on Qi Bailu’s face and asked, "You're not going to cry, are you?"
"It wouldn't be for you."
Qi Bailu pulled his hand away with a hint of annoyance. His nose had just begun to sting with the threat of tears, but after Ruan Qiuji said that, it felt as though the things that had happened to him were actually worth crying over. It was possible he would never return to this place again. His life before the age of twenty-three was a different existence entirely—only a few years had passed, yet it felt as though the world had turned upside down.
Ruan Qiuji handed him a handkerchief. Qi Bailu didn't take it, turning his face away. Ruan Qiuji tucked the handkerchief back into his pocket and looked at his damp lashes. "In that case, it would be my sin."
Qi Bailu closed his eyes and pretended to sleep. Ruan Qiuji watched him for a while and didn't wake him, letting him rest. In the end, Qi Bailu hadn't expected to actually fall asleep in the airport. He slept for over two hours. When he jolted awake from a nightmare, Ruan Qiuji wasn't beside him. The suit jacket was draped over Qi Bailu, and the baseball cap sat on the chair.
Qi Bailu looked around, confirmed his luggage was still there, and turned to see Ruan Qiuji on the phone a short distance away. He was leaning his arm against a railing, his eyes fixed on this spot. When Ruan Qiuji saw him wake up, his expression didn't change, but the corners of his eyes and brows seemed to light up inadvertently.
It felt as though Qi Bailu had been waiting for such a look for a very long time.
Their seats on the plane were next to each other, with Qi Bailu by the window. Qi Bailu remembered he had downloaded some movies on his tablet. He scrolled through them, only to find that the only one there was *As Beautiful as Flowers and Jade*. Ruan Qiuji remembered the movie as well; they had run into each other on the flight from Beijing to Hangzhou back then, and Qi Bailu had been watching this very film. Qi Bailu decided not to watch it, but Ruan Qiuji was struck by the memory.
"You seemed a bit afraid of me back then," he said.
"Was I?"
"Yes."
"I don't remember," Qi Bailu said pointedly.
"What *do* you remember?"
Qi Bailu studied him and said, "I remember you stole my music box."
"So you remembered me."
"Because you were obnoxious."
Ruan Qiuji said, "Why did we wait until now?"
It was the kind of line perfect for a romantic segue, but Qi Bailu didn't take the bait. He glanced at him and then looked away. They weren't a couple; there was no need to discuss such topics.
Ruan Qiuji could sense that Qi Bailu was deliberately avoiding certain things. Qi Bailu lowered his head to untangle his headphone wires. Even this scene was identical to two years ago, except this time, Qi Bailu untangled them in a flash. He hooked one bud into his ear. Seeing Ruan Qiuji watching him, and knowing he was about to listen to music, Ruan Qiuji picked up the other bud before he could put it in. His expression asked: *May I?*
Qi Bailu wasn't a miser; he had no objection to sharing music. Once Ruan Qiuji had the earbud in, Qi Bailu looked down and pressed play. Ruan Qiuji listened for less than two lines before frowning. After a few more lines, he asked, "I can't understand a single word?"
"I can't understand it either."
Ruan Qiuji saw the song title was *Hǎihǎi Rénshēng*. Qi Bailu explained, "It's in the Minnan dialect." He had heard it in Xiao Tang’s car with Lin Yuewei earlier and found it interesting, so he had used a song-recognition app to find it.
"Is there a difference between Minnan and Cantonese?"
"I'm not from Guangdong."
Ruan Qiuji seemed to pause for a moment before saying, "I can't hear the difference."
"There are some differences."
"What are they?"
They were back in a loop.
Qi Bailu couldn't quite explain it. His undergraduate professor had been very strict in speech class, so he was sensitive to language. Besides, he had heard Cantonese opera and felt they weren't the same language at all.
"...You can Baidu it," Qi Bailu suggested.
They looked it up together but still couldn't tell the difference. The playlist cycled to another song. Qi Bailu said, "In the Minnan dialect, *Ruan* means 'I'."
"Yours?"
"No, 'I'."
Qi Bailu added, "So, you could change your name to 'I Autumn'."
"Doesn't sound good."
Before Qi Bailu could laugh, Ruan Qiuji said, "You seem to have never called me by my name."
"Your memory is terrible."
"When?"
"In Xiamen."
"It seems your memory is better than mine."
As Ruan Qiuji spoke, he leaned down and pressed his lips against the curve of Qi Bailu’s ear. The sound of his breathing caused a slight vibration against the eardrum. Most of the lights in the cabin were off, as if everyone else was slumbering in the darkness. At thirty thousand feet, if one wanted to kiss the person beside them, they could—it was far easier than plucking the moon or the stars.
In the next moment, Ruan Qiuji pushed him firmly against the back of the seat and pressed his lips against his. In these clouds, perhaps if they lost themselves for even a second, they would fall.
