Don’t Ignite It chapter 33

Roses

On the last day in Yundu, Lu Zhao accompanied Xia Yu to the ocean park to see the penguins.

Xia Yu had a fondness for black-and-white chubby creatures, not just pandas but penguins too.

Inside the penguin enclosure, there were many children. It wasn’t even a holiday, yet there were tiny kids everywhere. Some were held in their parents’ arms, some were leaning against the walls, chattering away. Their voices were babyish and cute.

Lu Zhao wasn’t particularly fond of children, but he could tolerate them.

Xia Yu squeezed his arm. “Look, there’s a baby penguin over there.”

Lu Zhao bent down, following Xia Yu’s pointing finger.

Indeed, there was a baby penguin tucked beneath its parent’s belly. Lu Zhao couldn’t tell the gender of the penguin.

“I see it.”

The baby penguin was fluffy, the kind that could make both kids and adults squeal in delight.

But Lu Zhao wasn’t very interested in penguins, not even adorable ones like this one. He turned his gaze back to Xia Yu.

Xia Yu stared intently at them, like a child looking at candy through a shop window.

Lu Zhao couldn’t help but wonder. If it weren’t for the fact that penguins couldn’t be privately kept, Xia Yu would probably find a way to bring one home.

But he quickly dismissed that thought.

Although he appeared lively and youthful, Xia Yu was actually very responsible. If he couldn’t take proper care of these small animals, he wouldn’t bring them home.

Lu Zhao couldn’t resist patting Xia Yu’s head.

Xia Yu’s hair was very soft, and the blue light from the glass reflected onto his face, even turning his eyelashes blue.

As Xia Yu watched the baby penguins, his eyes were innocent, filled with an unmistakable affection that would melt the hearts of anyone watching.

Xia Yu spent two hours in the penguin enclosure, then bought a bunch of souvenirs before finally reluctantly heading to the nearby jellyfish exhibit.

The baby jellyfish were adorable too.

Soft and squishy, they were housed in transparent tanks, illuminated by colorful lights, creating a dreamlike and enchanting sight. From a distance, they looked like a rain of flowers under the sea.

But Xia Yu didn’t dare to get too close to the larger jellyfish; he felt an inexplicable fear.

The large jellyfish gracefully swam in the silent waters, their tentacles long and soft.

But Xia Yu always felt that if he got too close, those tentacles would pull him in.

The beautiful flowers blooming underwater seemed harmless and peaceful, but it was just a deceptive posture for hunting.

He thought the large jellyfish were somewhat similar to Lu Zhao.

Lu Zhao was also elegant and cold like this, precious and dazzling, even shining brightly in the darkness.

But once you got close, those soft tentacles would entwine you, injecting venom, and you’d fall into a drowsy slumber, unable to escape.

This made his mood even more complicated.

Perhaps it was a bit cold inside the exhibit, as Xia Yu shivered. He rubbed his arms and said to Lu Zhao, “it’s getting a bit cold. Do you want to go eat.”

Dinner was served on the beach outside the hotel, at an open-air restaurant. The seafood barbecue was exceptionally fresh, and Xia Yu devoured many grilled prawns all by himself.

Not far away, someone was playing guitar.

It was probably a band hired by the restaurant, and the lead singer was a lively, tall girl with a beautiful voice.

With a mouthful of grilled scallops, Xia Yu suddenly said, “I once played the guitar on the street. It was in front of that Ezra cafe near your overseas apartment.”

Lu Zhao searched his memory but had no recollection of this incident.

“When was that?” he asked.

With a bit of sauce still on his lips, Xia Yu licked them like a kitten. “You had just gone to the overseas branch, and it was Valentine’s Day. I went to find you, but you were still at work, so I bought a cup of coffee. There was a street band outside the café, and the guitarist had a sore wrist. They were about to leave, so I helped out for a bit.”

He looked at the band not far away and nodded. “I played pretty well. Some passersby even gave me candy and said I was cute.”

Lu Zhao finally remembered.

He didn’t know that Xia Yu had played the guitar downstairs with others, but he did remember that Valentine’s Day.

At that time, it had been only a few months since he had gone abroad, and their relationship was already on shaky ground.

However, Xia Yu had come all this way to spend Valentine’s Day with him.

Xia Yu recalled even more. He took a sip of his cocktail, looked at Lu Zhao, and said in a low voice, “I remember that day, when I came back to your apartment. You gave me roses.”

In their three years together, it was the only time Xia Yu had received roses.

Xia Yu didn’t have any particular fondness for roses, but everyone knew that roses represented love, especially when given on Valentine’s Day.

He remembered it vividly. When he received Lu Zhao’s call, he had rushed to Lu Zhao’s apartment building, still panting from running. Without a chance to say anything, he had lifted his head to see Lu Zhao standing there in the snow. Lu Zhao was dressed in a slim-fitting black coat, with pure white snow behind him, an image of grace and elegance. In his arms, he held a bouquet of roses, fiery and passionate like an illusion in the winter.

Xia Yu had been stunned.

And when Lu Zhao noticed Xia Yu, they hadn’t seen each other for a long time, and the sudden reunion had made him slightly uncomfortable. However, he quickly handed Xia Yu the bouquet of roses and said, “Happy Valentine’s Day.”

To this day, Xia Yu remembered that scene and the pounding of his heart.

But he played with the small umbrella on top of his cocktail and asked Lu Zhao with a hint of confusion, “Why did you give me roses back then?”

He had been excited and happy at the time, thinking it was a sign that Lu Zhao was softening towards him. He had even believed that Lu Zhao might love him a little.

But now he knew that at that time, Lu Zhao had already planned to separate from him, an ordinary and calm decision, like an item on a schedule that had to be executed when the time came.

Just as Lu Zhao had once said, they were just casual lovers, and when Lu Zhao wanted to end it, he didn’t need Xia Yu’s consent.

So he didn’t understand why Lu Zhao had bothered to do something unnecessary, giving him a brief illusion of being lovers.

Lu Zhao fell silent for a long while.

For a long time, he himself didn’t know why he had bought those roses.

It wasn’t in his nature.

Whether it was Valentine’s Day, Christmas, or Chinese Valentine’s Day, he wasn’t interested in any of them.

These were just marketing gimmicks to make money, and he was a businessman himself, so how could he care about such superficial things?

But that day, as he walked past a flower shop on his way home from work, he looked inside at the roses. There was a girl holding a bouquet of roses, laughing and talking with her boyfriend. He suddenly thought, would Xia Yu be happy if he received roses? Would he smile like that, warm and sweet?

Xia Yu was always easy to please.

Receiving a bouquet of roses would probably make him happy, make him show a beautiful smile, soft and sweet, sticking to him like a piece of sweet rice cake.

He didn’t know much about flowers, so he had the florist pick out the most expensive bouquet and brought it home—a showy but ultimately empty gesture used by businesses to deceive people.

He had given himself a reasonable excuse; since they were about to part ways, he could be a little nicer to Xia Yu.

But that wasn’t the truth.

Now he understood that at that time, he simply wanted to make Xia Yu happy, to see Xia Yu smile.

And now, Xia Yu sat across from him, looking puzzled, without suspecting that the roses were a declaration of love.

Lu Zhao suddenly felt powerless.

Over the past three years, he had accumulated too many mistakes, like a blunt knife cutting into flesh, leaving Xia Yu deeply scarred.

Now, all that pain he had inflicted with his own hands seemed to have rebounded onto himself.

“Because I thought you’d be happy to receive roses,” Lu Zhao said. “I thought you’d look beautiful holding roses. When you came all this way to see me, I was actually very happy. But I was foolish back then; I didn’t realize that it meant I loved you.”

He had been too presumptuous, treating Xia Yu as a schedule on a calendar that he could manipulate at will.

But in the end, it was he who had been manipulated.

Xia Yu was startled by Lu Zhao’s sudden confession.

His hand trembled, and he accidentally tore the small umbrella from his cocktail.

After a while, he dryly replied, “Oh.”

Lu Zhao loved him.

In the past, it would have been a rare occurrence.

But now, after hearing it so many times, he had somehow learned not to care.

Since they had finished eating, he wiped his hands with a napkin and said, “I’m full; let’s go back to the hotel.”

Lu Zhao looked at him with deep eyes.

“Okay.”

Back at the hotel, neither of them mentioned the incident on the beach again. Lu Zhao carried Xia Yu to the shower, but halfway through, he got distracted by something else.

Most of Xia Yu’s body was submerged in the water.

Because they had been in there for quite a while, the once warm water had become slightly cold. Xia Yu held onto Lu Zhao’s arm, water droplets fell from his chin to his collarbone, and Lu Zhao kissed them away.

White foam floated on the water’s surface, obscuring the view beneath.

Xia Yu looked into Lu Zhao’s icy-blue eyes and suddenly remembered the jellyfish he had seen in the afternoon, silently drifting in the pitch-black water, strangely beautiful and almost otherworldly, inviting him to approach in silence.

And though he knew the danger, it was difficult to resist.

As if sensing Xia Yu’s distraction, Lu Zhao pinched him as if in punishment.

His hand was large and scorching, pressing against Xia Yu’s skin, making him feel like he was melting.

Lu Zhao lowered his head to kiss Xia Yu, using his tongue to transfer a candy, sweet and slightly sour.

Confused, Xia Yu opened his eyes, not understanding where the candy had come from.

Lu Zhao said, “You mentioned earlier that someone gave you candy abroad. So, I’m giving you candy too. Can I take you on a date now?”

Xia Yu raised an eyebrow, biting the pink candy between his teeth until it broke, releasing the taste of fruit juice on his tongue.

“Well, I’ll have to think about it.”

The vacation came to an end, and Lu Zhao’s good days also came to a close.