Moonlight Left Behind chapter 10

The second half of the performance was even livelier than before night fell. The Black Fox Band came out again to sing two more songs. Tang Jingyu jumped around with the crowd, but Lin Qinzhou felt lost and didn’t hear a word.

Their original plan was to find a few bands to chat with and seek inspiration by the end of the night. However, the bands were busy packing up and getting ready to leave, while Lin Qinzhou stood there in a daze. Tang Jingyu called out to him several times before he snapped back to reality.

“What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?” His complexion didn’t look great, and Tang Jingyu felt a bit worried.

“No,” Lin Qinzhou shook his head, “I’m just a little tired.”

He didn’t even know what was wrong. Ever since Qin Yue left, it felt as though his soul had gone with him.

He didn’t believe in love at first sight, yet he had indeed… developed feelings for Qin Yue.

Lin Qinzhou couldn’t deny those impulses and desires.

“How about we head back tonight? We still have two more days, and we can come back later,” Tang Jingyu suggested.

“No need. The Black Fox Band is only here today; if we miss it, we won’t have another chance.” Lin Qinzhou didn’t want to hold his friend back, “Let’s go, I see them!”

By the time they returned, it was almost midnight. Normally, the guesthouse would be quiet at this hour, but that night it was quite lively, filled with others who, like them, had just come back from the festival. Some were even gathered together, excitedly discussing their favorite bands and songs.

To his surprise, Qin Yue was still awake, sitting at the front desk reading a book. When he noticed them return, he closed the book and greeted them.

Tang Jingyu yawned widely and went straight upstairs to sleep, while Lin Qinzhou, who had just claimed to be tired, walked over quietly and crouched beside Qin Yue’s wheelchair.

“Aren’t you going to rest?” Qin Yue asked. The crouching position made Lin Qinzhou appear slightly shorter, almost as if Qin Yue were looking down at him. He raised an eyebrow casually, and in the dim light, his dark eyes gleamed with a hint of an imperceptible smile.

Lin Qinzhou countered, “What about you, Boss Qin?”

“I can’t sleep,” Qin Yue replied frankly.

Lin Qinzhou gazed into his eyes, “Why?”

Qin Yue hesitated for a moment, then returned the question: “Are you and Mr. Tang very close?”

This question struck Lin Qinzhou. They had been friends for many years; how could their relationship be anything but good? It was impossible for them to travel together if it weren’t.

“Yeah, we’re quite good friends. We’ve known each other for many years,” Lin Qinzhou answered. Qin Yue fell silent again, blinking slightly as if he were a bit unhappy.

Lin Qinzhou’s heart raced. He gently placed one hand on Qin Yue’s knee, feeling the bony protrusions beneath the blue cloud-patterned coral blanket.

Holding back the sting in his nose, he asked softly, “Boss Qin, why do you want to know this?”

“Boss Qin, are you concerned?”

Qin Yue’s expression softened slightly. “I’m just a little envious.”

“Envious?”

“Yeah, envious.” Qin Yue’s eyes were deep-set and narrow, slightly upturned at the corners. When he focused his gaze on Lin Qinzhou, it gave Lin Qinzhou the illusion that he was being liked in return.

He swallowed hard, his throat dry from shouting at the stage or from the chilly air. “Envious of what?” he asked Qin Yue. “Are you envious of our friendship or of how close Jingyu and I are?”

These two sentences sounded similar at first, but if one listened closely, they could discern the different meanings. Lin Qinzhou knew that Qin Yue understood.

He thought Qin Yue would evade the question like he had in the past, but this time, Qin Yue spoke up.

“I used to have a friend too. Then he left here, and I haven’t seen him since. I miss him very much.”

Lin Qinzhou felt a pang in his heart. The excitement from the performance slowly faded, replaced by a chill. “Was that person important to you?”

“Very important.” Qin Yue stared into Lin Qinzhou’s eyes, his words piercing through with sharpness, “He is the most important person in my world. No one else is more important than him.”

“Really?” Lin Qinzhou stood up, slowly exhaling a breath, his tone laced with unrecognized resentment and frustration. “But he’s already gone. Are you sure there won’t be anyone more important than him in the future?”

Qin Yue smiled slightly, his tone unwavering. “There won’t be.”

There won’t be.

Lin Qinzhou felt utterly defeated. He closed his eyes, turned away from Qin Yue, and forced himself to appear indifferent, saying, “Understood.”

The two parted on rather unhappy terms. After showering and lying in bed, Lin Qinzhou’s chest felt heavy.

He felt as if he were falling into despair again. His emotions easily dipped; one moment he was happy, the next he felt hollow and uncomfortable, like a feather floating in the air, unable to settle or find a place to land.

“Ah—” He flipped over forcefully, burying his face in the pillow, pressing down hard on his mouth and nose, trying to experience the sensation of suffocation.

This would give him a brief thrill, followed potentially by more loss of control or finally calmness. The outcomes were unpredictable, like opening a blind box.

Fortunately, that day was the latter. —Just as he was about to suffocate himself, Lin Qinzhou finally released his grip on the pillow.

He felt drained, lying flat on the bed, gasping for air. In the darkness, it felt as if hands cruelly constricted his throat. His vision began to blur, making it hard to distinguish anything.

He staggered to sit up, reaching for the small pill bottle on the nightstand and swallowed two pills dry. Then he lay back down, staring at the ceiling, waiting for the medication to take effect.

—He had gone too far. How could he say such things to Boss Qin? Those words were almost not just hints but quite obvious.

Reflecting on his earlier actions, he felt he must be losing his mind. Falling in love at first sight with someone was something he would never have dared to imagine before; now he was being so bold and outrageous.

This was not something Lin Qinzhou would do.

But why did he not realize anything was wrong at the time, as if it were perfectly natural for him to say those things to Boss Qin?

—Qin Yue should like him.

—There shouldn’t be anyone more important than him in Qin Yue’s heart.

Lin Qinzhou couldn’t help but laugh at his own absurd thoughts. He had never liked anyone before, so he didn’t know whether this was normal or not. Eventually, he ended up obsessively browsing the gossip forum, reading about others’ experiences and troubles in love.

One question asked: “My boyfriend cheated with my best friend, but I don’t want to break up, nor do I want to lose my best friend. What should I do?”

The reply from another user: “Then just join them.”

Another user, seemingly complaining but actually showing off, said: “My boyfriend is so annoying. He wants a good morning kiss and a good night kiss every day. He insists on reporting where he’s going, and I have to do the same. He sends me hundreds of messages in a day, and he gets jealous if I talk to any other guys, even if they’re older.”

The users replied in unison: “Stop showing off! Have you watched Don’t Talk to Strangers? You should hurry and run away!”

The most bizarre comment came from someone named “Little Mushroom on the Island.” She used the gossip forum as her diary, recording many romantic moments with her boyfriend. The first half was sweet like an idol drama, but the second half took a dramatic turn—

Little Mushroom’s relationship faced opposition from her parents. On his way to secretly meet her, her boyfriend got into a car accident and then—lost his memory. After that, it turned into an emotional saga of eight thousand words.

Lin Qinzhou didn’t have the patience to read such a long post, so he scrolled straight to the replies, and the users’ mocking responses were predictable—

“Jie, did you join the wrong group? This is the relationship group, not the fiction group next door.”

“The one above is wrong. These days, even novels don’t use amnesia plots anymore, so why don’t you just say your boyfriend is paralyzed and needs a wheelchair? I think that would be even more touching.”

“What on earth is this?” After reading through the responses, Lin Qinzhou felt he was completely normal compared to these experienced love commentators.

But the amnesia part struck him unexpectedly.

Oh, and the wheelchair.

All the elements were there.

—So I really have never seen Qin Yue before…

He couldn’t help but start to care about this question again, even whimsically wondering if that person he could never quite see in his memories was actually Boss Qin.

Maybe years ago, they had feelings for each other, but he got sick and lost his memory, forgetting Qin Yue, while Qin Yue had been waiting for him to return on Coral Island.

Tsk.

What a touching story; if posted on the gossip forum, it might be criticized for being cliché.

Lin Qinzhou was almost speechless from his own imagination, weakly exiting the app, turning off his phone, and forcing himself to sleep.