Seventh Year Of Separation chapter 22

We Didn’t Break Up Amicably

Gu Jiahe was suddenly thrown onto the bed, his balance momentarily lost. He quickly grabbed onto the sheets to steady himself, then scooted backward along the edge of the bed.

But the next moment, he was grabbed by the ankle and pulled back by Li Zhao.

Li Zhao moved swiftly, pressing down on him, his thighs tightly gripping Gu Jiahe’s waist.

“Li Zhao, do you know what you’re doing?!” Gu Jiahe used his arms to push against him, trying to appeal to his reason.

“You know what I want to do,” Li Zhao’s tone was cold, each word clear.

“Do you have a fucking problem?!” Gu Jiahe couldn’t help but curse.

Li Zhao seemed provoked by his words, freeing one hand to firmly hold his wrist, staring into his eyes. “Since you’ve done it with me once, can’t you do it again?”

As if feeling it wasn’t enough, he almost gritted his teeth as he continued, “You can do it with others, but not with me? What’s the difference?”

Gu Jiahe felt he was being unreasonable. “I’m not that kind of person you think I am.”

After saying it, he felt his explanation was unnecessary. Damn it, what kind of person he was now had nothing to do with Li Zhao. Even if he was in a mess, he didn’t need to explain to him.

Li Zhao still refused to let go, and the two remained locked in this stalemate on the bed. Gu Jiahe couldn’t break free, but he continued his futile efforts.

Seeing his struggle, Li Zhao coldly chuckled, the scent of alcohol still lingering on him. “Are you short on money now? I can give you some.”

Gu Jiahe was stung by his words, instantly raising his knee to kick his chest. Once, twice, thrice, with increasing force.

But Li Zhao didn’t flinch, enduring his kicks without a sound.

Seeing Li Zhao’s resilience, Gu Jiahe chose to calm down and reason with him.

“Li Zhao, if you let go now, I’ll treat it as if you were just drunk, and I can forget all of this. We’ll pretend like nothing happened.”

“I’m not drunk,” Li Zhao prevented him from continuing to kick, pressing down on his knee with force, causing Gu Jiahe to gasp for air.

Seeing Li Zhao loosen one hand, Gu Jiahe seized the opportunity to slap him across the face.

In that instant, Li Zhao’s eyes widened, tilting his head slightly. The slap didn’t land on his cheek but hit his ear.

Snap! The sound was crisp, the palm feeling like a blade.

Buzz—Li Zhao’s eardrum resonated for several seconds.

The slap was heavy, leaving a red mark on his skin beside his ear.

Gu Jiahe’s palm stung painfully.

The room fell silent.

At that moment, Li Zhao froze. It was as if his soul had left his body, and it took him half a minute to come back to himself. He slowly released his grip on Gu Jiahe’s hand.

Taking advantage of Li Zhao’s loosened grip, Gu Jiahe shook him off, rolled off the bed, and stood up. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he couldn’t help but tremble slightly, turning to look back at Li Zhao.

But Li Zhao seemed nailed to the spot, motionless. It wasn’t until two minutes later that he slowly got off the bed and sat on the floor with a thud.

With his tall stature, he squeezed into the narrow hallway of the two beds, his legs bent, his eyes vacant.

After a while, he suddenly spoke in a low voice, as if he had become a different person. “Gu Jiahe, what… why did it come to this?”

Gu Jiahe’s eyelids flickered, taking a deep breath before looking at Li Zhao. “Li Zhao, we’ve been apart for a long time. Both you and I know that. We broke up amicably, and there’s nothing…”

He wanted to continue, but Li Zhao’s voice interrupted him.

“Amicable breakup?” Li Zhao’s tone turned cold again.

“Was our breakup amicable? Gu Jiahe, speak to your conscience.”

“You just called me once, informed me unilaterally that we were breaking up, and then you disappeared completely. Do you have the nerve to say we broke up amicably?”

Memories long buried within Gu Jiahe were forced open. He leaned against the wall, covering his eyes with the back of his hand.

“Perhaps in your mind, our breakup was amicable. But it definitely wasn’t in mine. Definitely not,” Li Zhao’s voice was like a nail, piercing deep into Gu Jiahe’s heart.

Rumble—thunder suddenly rumbled in the previously quiet night.

But just two or three minutes later, the sound of pouring rain came. Gu Jiahe glanced through the curtains at the dense rain outside, feeling his heart in turmoil.

That memory was a monster he had covered with a white cloth for so long. And now, Li Zhao wanted to uncover it all, expose it in broad daylight.

Li Zhao showed no sign of stopping.

“Do you know how long I waited for you in the cold wind for twelve years?” Li Zhao’s voice drowned out the sound of the rain.

Gu Jiahe’s Adam’s apple moved, then he shook his head.

“Do you know what day that was? January 27, 2012. Do you fucking remember?!” Li Zhao stared at him, demanding an answer.

“Your birthday.” Gu Jiahe wouldn’t forget that date. It was the day Li Zhao turned twenty-two.

After hearing his answer, Li Zhao’s gaze softened, losing the sharpness it had before.

“You knew damn well. Why?” Li Zhao’s voice trembled slightly.

Gu Jiahe stood there, not understanding why Li Zhao would bring up these old matters after so many years.

Suddenly, Li Zhao lowered his head, laughing softly.

“I’m just a piece of shit. Gu Jiahe, I’m just a piece of shit. You abandoned me, yet I still desperately sought you out. I allowed you to push me away time and time again.”

Gu Jiahe didn’t dare to look up at him, fearing to see Li Zhao’s expression. He feared that the winter of twelve years ago would replay itself here.

But then he remembered the scar on the inside of Li Zhao’s left ring finger, and a surge of emotions swept over him. Looking up, he asked, “What right do you have to judge me now? Aren’t you already…”

“What right do I have?!” Li Zhao couldn’t help raising his voice, his suppressed anger bursting out.

The atmosphere teetered on the brink of danger once again. Gu Jiahe didn’t want to fuel the fire.

Li Zhao remained seated, continuing to sit there.

“I hate you, Gu Jiahe. I hate that you left without a word. I hate that you broke up with me on your own accord.”

No one could tell if Li Zhao was sober or drunk.

Gu Jiahe stubbornly believed he was drunk. “You’re drunk.”

“I hate you.”

“You’re drunk Li Zhao,” Gu Jiahe repeated incessantly.

Gu Jiahe suddenly felt the scene was familiar.

How ridiculous his life was. This moment was just like when he was seventeen, holding onto Qian Liyun. In that old bedroom corner, Qian Liyun also kept repeating, saying how much she hated Gu Jianmin, asking why Gu Jianmin treated her like that.

Perhaps his life was just a cycle of dark humor.

“If you want to hate me, then hate me,” Gu Jiahe just wanted to open the door and leave the room. Even breathing felt difficult.

Outside the window, the rain intensified, the raindrops forming a curtain, falling diagonally from the sky like sharp knives aimed at the window glass.

The sound was crisp yet cruel.

Gu Jiahe grabbed two personal items, walked to the room’s door, and then turned the doorknob.

Click—the door lock made a sound, indicating he was leaving.

“Gu Jiahe!” Li Zhao called out his name with all his might from behind.

Gu Jiahe suddenly trembled in response, his hand paused. Then, he turned his back, and in a hoarse voice said, “Enough!”

Bang—the door was forcefully shut by Gu Jiahe, leaving behind a gust of wind swirling in place.

Gu Jiahe was still wearing the white hotel slippers and a thin beige pajama.

At the end of the hotel corridor, a window was slightly open. The gusts of wind brought by the torrential rain swept in through the gap, creeping into the hem of his pajamas. He couldn’t help but shiver and tightened the hem of his clothes.

In the end, he took the elevator to the hotel lobby and asked the duty front desk for a single room, spending an extra three hundred and fifty yuan.

It seemed like everything was predetermined from the beginning. He was destined to spend this money.

He regretted a bit, why didn’t he insist on getting his own room from the beginning? Then tonight’s events wouldn’t have happened.

He regretted even more, perhaps he shouldn’t have agreed to this business trip from the beginning. He could have done the training online.

He even regretted going to that convenience store on that stormy night, and even more so, he shouldn’t have hooked up with Li Zhao then.

Gu Jiahe didn’t know where to start regretting. It seemed like whatever he did was wrong. Like in a branching decision tree, no matter which option he chose, it would eventually lead to this embarrassing outcome.

Holding the new room key card, he pushed open the door to the new room. This deluxe king room was larger and had a better view than the standard room.

Gu Jiahe took a few steps inside and through the glass door of the balcony, he saw the bright red gantry cranes in the distant harbor.

The coast at midnight was devoid of seagulls and luxurious cruise ships.

He lay down on the bed in the new room, tossing and turning until midnight without falling asleep. This bed was exactly the same as the previous one, even wider by 60 centimeters.

In his mind, he kept seeing Li Zhao’s face as he left. The sleeping pills were still in the drawer by the bedside, and he forgot to bring them out.

There was no clock in the room, Gu Jiahe listened to the sound of the pouring rain, eyes wide open, unable to tell the time.

It wasn’t until he couldn’t keep his eyelids open that he slowly fell asleep.

The sound of rain didn’t stop in his dreams. Everything around was white.

Gu Jiahe vaguely felt like he had slept for a while, his body floating in the clouds, but there was a voice constantly coming and going in his ears.

Until just before dawn, that voice suddenly became clear and terrifying.

“Gu Jiahe!” a voice shouted his name loudly.

Gu Jiahe felt as if he was being pressed down by something, unable to open his eyes. It wasn’t until he forcefully lifted his eyelids, his heart still racing. The ceiling was dimly lit, and the rain outside not only hadn’t stopped but had intensified even more.

“Gu Jiahe!”

“Gu Jiahe!”

The voice echoed in his mind like a curse.