WHI – Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Avoid.

Cannot avoid.

“Today is my birthday,” Wen Lan said.

“Nonsense, why else would we be here?” Lin Ting replied.

“What about the birthday gift?”

Lin Ting finally realized how bothersome the small object in his jacket pocket, which he had ignored all day, felt.

“It’s my birthday too,” Lin Ting laughed. “What about your birthday gift?”

“Close your eyes.”

Lin Ting closed his eyes. In the darkness, other senses always became clearer. The sandalwood scent on Wen Lan seemed to have intensified.

His hand was gently taken, and the coolness of Wen Lan’s fingertips from his wrist sent a tingle up his spine.

“All done.”

Lin Ting opened his eyes to see a red string tied to his left wrist, adorned with a Hetian Jade Safety Buckle.

“It’s not anything particularly expensive, but I just thought it suited you.” Wen Lan cupped his hand into a fist, coughed lightly by his mouth, and then looked away.

Lin Ting’s eyes welled up with moisture.

He had sensed it when his eyes were closed but hadn’t dared to be sure.

Now, with his eyes open and seeing that dazzling red, his heart couldn’t help but become chaotic.

He smiled, using the curve of his eyes to soften the overflow of moisture into his lashes.

“Close your eyes,” Lin Ting said.

He lifted a corner of his jacket and reached into the small pocket above his shirt.

There was the birthday gift that had been bothering him for a long time, finally to be taken out—a red string identical to the one on his own hand.

He openly took Wen Lan’s hand and slipped the red string onto it, then tightened both ends.

He then moved the Hetian Jade Safety Buckle to the center, and after a moment, let go: “All done.”

“You…” Wen Lan, seeing the red string on his own hand, first looked at Lin Ting’s wrist, as if to confirm something, glancing back and forth several times before a corner of his mouth curved into a smile:

“Telepathy.”

.

The bonfire was lit, and the firewood crackled in the dry, cold air, sending countless orange-yellow sparks that quickly dissipated.

Two whole roasted lambs on a rack nearby had just been sprinkled with cumin powder, their aroma of charred skin and oily meat filling the nostrils. Some impatient individuals crowded around the chef with plates.

“Want to play with sparklers?” Qin Wan suddenly leaned in, holding out a handful of sparklers.

Lin Ting, sitting by the bonfire and drawing in the sand with a stick, turned his head, but before he could take them, Qin Wan added, “Don’t worry, Brother Wen warned me. These are purely friendly sparklers.”

With that, she stuffed the sparklers into Lin Ting’s hand and left.

When Wen Lan came over with two cups of mulled wine, Lin Ting suddenly pointed a sparkler at Wen Lan’s neck, tilting his chin up slightly: “What did you warn Qin Wan about?”

Only after asking did he realize how intimate the pose was. Just as he was about to retract his hand, Wen Lan grabbed the other end of the sparkler:

“I just said no dating within the group. What, do you want to date?”

“No.” Lin Ting let go of his hand and picked up a cup of mulled wine, drinking it. The rich apple fragrance enhanced the wine’s aroma, somewhat dispelling the annoying sandalwood scent.

“Then why ask? Tsk, if you want me to make an exception for you, that’s possible too…” Wen Lan placed the sparkler on the table and said slowly.

“How?”

“You actually asked?” Wen Lan pointed at Lin Ting, his brows furrowed in displeasure.

Lin Ting smiled at him for a long time: “Just teasing you. I don’t like her. Thanks.”

“Saying thank you again, and I’ll sew your mouth shut.”

Lin Ting didn’t respond, just sipped his hot mulled wine in the cool night air by the bonfire.

“Happy birthday to you~ Happy birthday to you~” It wasn’t until a slightly off-key birthday song rang out that Lin Ting realized everyone had left at some point. Now, they were surrounding a small cart, slowly pushing it towards the two of them.

On the cart was a white two-tiered cake, adorned with white satin bows and a few large cherries. A lit candle stood on top.

The candle’s flame flickered as it neared the bonfire. This tiny point of light in the valley, however, felt like a flame shooting straight into Lin Ting’s heart.

This was the first birthday in his memory that someone had sung to him, that someone had given him a birthday gift.

He subconsciously rubbed the red string on his wrist.

This was also the first, and likely the last, birthday he would spend with Wen Lan.

Lin Ting looked at Wen Lan, whose eyes shone with a luminous glow in the firelight, so captivating he could easily fall in.

“Happy birthday.” Wen Lan raised his cup of mulled wine.

“Happy birthday.” Lin Ting also raised his cup, the clinking sound crisp.

.

Several people indeed drank too much. Although they were still sitting, a closer look revealed they were all leaning askew against each other.

Wang Xingzhi had borrowed a guitar from somewhere and was standing by the bonfire, playing and singing his own song. He was quite good. The others listened, swayed, and cheered, occasionally taking a swig from their wine bottles.

Wen Lan took a sparkler from the table and lit it in the fire, sparks crackling like electricity. He then handed it to Lin Ting.

Lin Ting took it, smiled, and drew meaningless symbols in the air: “Wen Lan, thank you.”

“You’re saying thank you again, you—”

“Let me finish,” Lin Ting interrupted him. “I’m really happy that you could give me your birthday.”

Wen Lan’s face was flushed by the bonfire: “Do you have anything to do tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow?” Lin Ting remembered tomorrow’s schedule was a golf course halfway up the mountain. “Aren’t we going to play golf tomorrow?”

“Give me an hour, no, half an hour is fine,” Wen Lan said, not looking at Lin Ting, but staring at his wrist. “I have something to tell you.”

“What is it?” Lin Ting asked. “Tell me now.”

“There are too many people now,” Wen Lan looked up, a smile he couldn’t suppress on his lips. “It’s a secret.”

.

By the time they returned to the large dormitory, though the 20-odd people weren’t as passed out as the night before, they had basically seen their bedding and crawled into it, their consciousness already hazy.

Lin Ting headed straight for the bathroom.

Even though it was autumn or winter, he turned the shower water temperature down a bit, hoping to calm himself.

“Secret,” these three words exploded in his mind like a thunderclap. He only remembered vaguely saying “Mm” and nodding.

He couldn’t help but think of that one-in-ten-thousand possibility.

The possibility that he liked Wen Lan, and Wen Lan happened to like him too.

The possibility that he wasn’t just an ordinary member of Wen Lan’s “human salvation plan.”

The possibility of “like” and “like,” rather than “saving” and “being saved.”

The possibility that just as all things in the world have their male and female counterparts, they were both “different.”

Perhaps tomorrow’s “secret” wouldn’t be that one-in-ten-thousand chance, but Lin Ting’s chest couldn’t help but churn.

He thought of the water droplet that had slid down Wen Lan’s taut muscles and into his waistband that night, and how the wet red string had clung to his arm, making it look even more alluringly vibrant.

And the fleeting thought he’d had when buying him the red string hadn’t been entirely pure.

He closed his eyes, but at the moment he lowered them, he saw the red string on his own hand.

…

Lin Ting simply turned the water to cold.

.

When he came out again, the lights in the dormitory were mostly off, leaving only a warm yellow night light in the corner.

Wen Lan was lying in his bedding, playing on his phone.

Lin Ting walked over and crawled into the bedding next to him.

“Why did you take so long? Almost an hour,” Wen Lan turned off his phone, propped himself up on his side, and asked.

“Was it that long? I took a bath,” Lin Ting picked up his phone and looked at it. Besides the photos his friends had posted in the group chat, there were no other messages.

“A bath?” Wen Lan said, his hand reaching for Lin Ting’s wrist. “A cold bath? That’s so icy.”

Lin Ting gently pulled his wrist away: “Mm, a cold bath.”

After that, he didn’t bother with Wen Lan’s reaction, pulled up his blanket, and closed his eyes to sleep.

Actually, he wasn’t sleepy at all. To be precise, he wasn’t sleepy in the slightest. Even after staying in the bathroom for so long, even after showering in cold water, he could still feel a certain part of his body buzzing with excitement.

This feeling was unpleasant. He could only close his eyes and try his best to suppress his thoughts.

Lin Ting heard Wen Lan turn over beside him and the rustling sound of adjusting the bedding.

Then everything returned to quiet.

In the darkness, Lin Ting kept his eyes closed, trying his best to enter a state of not thinking about anything, of knowing nothing. Everything could wait until tomorrow.

Perhaps it was all just his overthinking. Maybe the so-called secret was just some brotherly… normal conversation between men.

Maybe Wen Lan liked another girl and wanted his help.

Thinking this, Lin Ting’s anxious and excited heartbeat gradually slowed.

Until a corner of the blanket was lifted, and a hand, hot with the fervor of youthful infatuation, reached in and gently held his.

Instantly, a tremor like the collapse of mountains and rivers spread rapidly from that spot to his limbs.

In the darkness and silence, Lin Ting could even clearly sense that on the wrist of that hand, a thin string was pressing against his skin, gently rubbing with the movement of that hand.

Long fingers parted his, then gently stroked his fingertips with their pads, and finally, carefully clasped together.

Lin Ting desperately controlled his breathing until he heard the breathing beside him become slow and deep, and the hand gradually lost its strength.

That one-in-ten-thousand possibility.

Whether it would be a slow, steady flow or a fierce, one-time flood.

Lin Ting thought about it for almost the entire night.

.

The next day, Lin Ting was the last to wake up.

By the time they had packed their luggage and boarded the bus to the golf course halfway up the mountain, he was still a bit groggy.

Wen Lan noticed his poor state and nudged him with his elbow: “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Lin Ting smiled at him and walked into the hall with the others.

According to the guide, this golf course had only been open for less than six months. Lin Ting had never played before and had little interest in such a quiet sport. He hadn’t even bothered to research golf when he was researching skiing.

“Shall I teach you?” Wen Lan took off his jacket, revealing a slightly loose gray sweater.

Even in the middle of winter, he had rolled up his sleeves, revealing the red string underneath.

Lin Ting averted his eyes: “You guys play. I’ll just watch.”

Wen Lan leaned down, about to say something to Lin Ting, who was lounging on the sofa, leisurely popping a macaron into his mouth, when he heard Song Mi shouting loudly from the tee box with a golf club:

“Brother Wen! Come quickly!”

Wen Lan took a deep breath: “Wait for me.” He stood up and left.

Lin Ting swallowed the cloyingly sweet macaron and rubbed his fingertips.

“Okay,” he said softly, looking at the retreating figure.