Just in Time Chapter 102
Translated by Sylver (ko-fi)
Chapter 102 Date
Yi Chenliang sullenly washed dishes in the kitchen.
Transparent bubbles from the dishwashing liquid formed on the bowl, and the blue cartoon character printed on its belly was smiling carefreely at him.
Yi Chenliang tapped its red nose and snorted at it angrily.
A light chuckle came from the kitchen doorway. He turned his head to see Yun Fang waving a few test papers at him.
Instantly, his anger intensified.
"Don't let me see those test papers," Yi Chenliang glared at him.
"You just came back, this result is already quite good," Yun Fang said with a smile. "The estimated total score is 503, at least you'll be in the top 500."
The second monthly exam had just finished today. As usual, there was no evening self-study session. Yi Chenliang had been studying hard for so many days, only to get this result. He felt very frustrated and had been silent all day. If Yun Fang hadn't asked him to wash the dishes, he probably would have been sulking in a corner.
"Not going to correct the wrong answers tonight?"
"No!"
"Not going to review either?"
"No!"
"Then let's go out and have some fun," Yun Fang folded the test papers and placed them on the windowsill.
Yi Chenliang looked at him suspiciously, "Really?"
Yun Fang had always been strict with his studies, never going easy on him.
"Mm-hmm," Yun Fang smiled. "You've studied for so many days, it's time to take a good rest. Work and rest should be balanced."
"Or to put it another way," Yun Fang reached out a hand to him, "let's go on a date."
Yi Chenliang's eyes lit up.
Tomorrow was Saturday. The mall wasn't too crowded. The cinema was on the fifth floor, and Yi Chenliang was discussing with Yun Fang which movie to watch.
There was a movie in the re-screening of old films that looked good. Yi Chenliang asked, "Shall we watch this one?"
The movie poster showed a man wearing a shirt and jeans with sunglasses, and a little boy who looked about seven or eight years old. The man had his hands in his pockets and was walking forward with his head down. The little boy looked somewhat confused and bewildered at the camera. Behind them was an old-fashioned car. The black and white poster looked very vintage.
"Let's watch this one then," Yun Fang went to buy tickets, and also bought a large bucket of popcorn and two sodas.
This was their first proper date to watch a movie together. Just like many ordinary couples, they sat close to each other.
The movie hadn't started yet, but the cinema had already darkened. Yi Chenliang sat in his seat holding the large bucket of popcorn. He was about to eat some himself when he seemed to remember something. He turned to the side and stuffed some popcorn into Yun Fang's mouth.
Yun Fang was lowering his head to set his phone to vibrate when Yi Chenliang put the food in his mouth. He instinctively opened his mouth and accidentally licked Yi Chenliang's finger.
Yi Chenliang coughed lightly, curled his fingers, and reached for the soda to take a sip. His fingertips left a few marks on the glass covered with a thin layer of mist.
Yun Fang watched the lit-up big screen in the darkness, unconsciously curving his lips into a smile.
Then his hand was grabbed, fingers interlocking.
Yun Fang stared at the big screen but tilted his head to ask quietly, "How will you eat popcorn like this?"
"I'll use my other hand," Yi Chenliang answered just as softly.
"What about me?"
"I'll feed you."
Yun Fang chuckled softly.
Yi Chenliang nudged him with his elbow, "Watch the movie."
"So fierce, Xiao Yi," Yun Fang teased him, but Yi Chenliang tightened his grip on his hand.
It was a very old movie, but beautifully shot.
The male protagonist was driving on a desolate road and asked the little boy sitting in the passenger seat:
[Have you ever ridden in a time machine?]
[Of course I have.]
[Then what's this?]
[A car.]
[You didn't realize, this is a 20th-century time machine. I'm the captain, you're the navigator. Ahead is the future, behind is the past. —
If life's pace is too slow and you want to fly into the future, step on the gas; if you want life to slow down, you can step on the brake here, and it will slow down.]
The protagonist stopped the car, a cigarette dangling from his mouth, [And this is the present. Enjoy the present.]
[I've only killed two people in my life, one who hurt my mother, and one who hurt you.]
At the end of the film, the man was lying in the grass with his eyes closed, looking content, just like at the beginning. Soft sunlight fell on him, countless banknotes were blown up by the wind. But the camera panned down, letting the audience see the blood beneath him.
It turned out he wasn't asleep, he had just died contentedly.
As the end credits rolled, the lights came on in the dark theater, and the audience began to leave.
Yun Fang tilted his head to look at the silent Yi Chenliang, "Xiao Yi?"
Yi Chenliang looked a bit sad, his lips tightly pressed together, "He wasn't a bad person at all, why did they shoot him?"
"They thought he had a gun, thought he had killed many people," Yun Fang pondered. "If he hadn't said it, the audience would have thought he killed many people too, just like the sheriff in the movie. He didn't tell them."
Yi Chenliang lowered his eyes dejectedly, "He's dead, so why is this movie still called 'A Perfect World'?"
"His world wasn't perfect, but he gave that child a perfect world," Yun Fang gently stroked his head, his eyes soft. "It's okay, it's just a movie."
Yi Chenliang stood up with the empty popcorn bucket and soda. After a few steps, he suddenly turned back to Yun Fang and said, "That child was his childhood self."
Yun Fang smiled, "Mm-hmm."
Leaving the cinema, Yi Chenliang was still immersed in sadness and angry at the arrogant agent who fired without orders at the end. "What right did he have to be so presumptuous?"
Just as annoying as Su Shengwen.
"There are always people like that in the world," Yun Fang hadn't expected the movie to upset him so much. He took Yi Chenliang's hand, "Want to go to the arcade?"
"Have you been there before?" Yi Chenliang's attention was instantly diverted, his eyes full of excitement. "I've never been!"
"Hmm, I... haven't played there either," Yun Fang smiled and asked, "Shall we try it?"
Yun Fang exchanged a big bag of game tokens at the counter, waving them at Yi Chenliang. In a generous tone like a big shot treating his little brother, he said, "Play as much as you want today."
Yi Chenliang laughed at his tone, "Alright, big brother!"
"Hey, over there!"
"Behind!"
"Left!"
"Damn, I stepped on it, why isn't it moving?"
The "big brother" and "little brother" were fumbling around on the dance machine, vividly demonstrating what severe lack of coordination looks like.
"Shit!" Yi Chenliang stomped hard on the front arrow sensor, but missed the best timing. He tugged at Yun Fang's arm, "Hey, hey, behind you!"
Yun Fang tried to step backward, but his foot went to the left rear, perfectly missing again.
The two fumbled about, not knowing whether to watch the screen or their feet, one cursing and one laughing. With the energetic music playing, they somehow managed to finish one song.
Yi Chenliang looked at their pitiful scores and pulled Yun Fang off the machine, "This machine must be broken."
Yun Fang nodded in full agreement.
Just then, an elementary school girl with pigtails inserted a few tokens and started dancing skillfully, with good aesthetics and rhythm. Yi Chenliang and Yun Fang watched in awe.
The little girl finished a song with her bouncy dance, then turned to Yun Fang and Yi Chenliang, arrogantly lifting her chin.
Yun Fang: "......"
It felt like they were being looked down upon.
Yi Chenliang covered his face with his hand and pulled Yun Fang away, "Damn, let's go!"
Yun Fang laughed as he was dragged away, comforting him, "Different strokes for different folks. It's not embarrassing."
The two went to play basketball. Yi Chenliang finally regained his confidence as a high school student. He casually spun the basketball in his hand, showing off to Yun Fang.
Yun Fang gave him a thumbs up, "So cool."
Then he mercilessly crushed Yi Chenliang in terms of shots made.
Yi Chenliang felt deceived, "You've never played basketball before!"
"Indeed, I haven't touched a ball in many years," Yun Fang humbly said, "Just luck, that's all."
Yi Chenliang was so angry he wrapped his arms around Yun Fang's neck, "You must have played before! You big liar!"
Yun Fang pulled him along, smiling, "No, really, I'm just naturally gifted."
Yi Chenliang held onto him, "I don't believe you!"
"You're almost choking me," Yun Fang teased, grabbing his wrist. "If you choke me to death, you won't have a boyfriend anymore."
Yi Chenliang gritted his teeth in frustration but finally loosened his arms.
Passing by a claw machine, Yun Fang confidently said to appease him, "I'll get you a doll."
Seeing Yun Fang's self-assured look, Yi Chenliang reluctantly nodded and pointed at the yellow mouse in the display case, "I want that Pikachu."
"Leave it to me," Yun Fang calmly rolled up his sleeves, inserted coins and grabbed the joystick in one smooth motion. "I'll get you two."
Ten minutes later, Yun Fang fell silent.
Then he voiced the same doubt Yi Chenliang had earlier. "Is there something wrong with this machine?"
Yi Chenliang laughed mercilessly, finally getting even. He mimicked Yun Fang's earlier tone. "Leave it to me. I'll get you two."
"......" Yun Fang irritably tapped Yi Chenliang's forehead.
Yi Chenliang rolled up his sleeves, "Come on, let your boyfriend save your face!"
"A bit to the left... to the right... Hey!" Yun Fang stepped back but couldn't help directing.
After several failures, Yi Chenliang pushed him aside, "Stop giving useless directions."
"Damn," Yun Fang laughed at his serious expression. "Hey, I'll give useless directions if I want to, what are you going to do about it?"
"You're seriously hampering your boyfriend's fighting spirit!" Yi Chenliang tilted his head and gave him a kiss. "Be good, wait on the side."
Caught off guard by the sudden kiss in public, Yun Fang's face reddened. He looked up at the chandelier on the ceiling.
Then he remained quiet and well-behaved throughout.
In the end, Yi Chenliang performed exceptionally well and managed to grab a yellow mouse after much effort. The two excitedly high-fived.
Yi Chenliang proudly held the Pikachu by its ears and stuffed it into Yun Fang's arms, "Here."
Yun Fang smiled and poked Pikachu's rosy cheeks, "Wasn't this the one you liked?"
"If I like it, you must like it too. It's all the same," Yi Chenliang poked Pikachu's fluffy bottom. "It's for you!"
Yun Fang pressed the Pikachu against Yi Chenliang's cheek, smiling with crinkled eyes, "Thank you, boyfriend. Here's a Pikachu kiss for you."
Yi Chenliang instinctively touched his face. Although being pressed by a plush toy didn't feel like much, he just felt happy.
The two played a few more games with Pikachu in tow. They were either bad or very bad at the games, complete novices compared to the middle and elementary school kids around them.
"Want to go sing?" Yi Chenliang pointed to a mini KTV booth in the corner. "I've never heard you sing before."
"I'm not very good at singing," Yun Fang hesitated.
"I'm not either," Yi Chenliang enthusiastically pulled him in to insert coins. "It's okay, no one else can hear us anyway."
They spent some time inside figuring out how things worked and discovered a recording function that could be transferred to their phones. Yi Chenliang immediately became interested, "We can save it as an alarm ringtone."
Yun Fang laughed at him. "Then you'll grow to hate it."
They put on the provided headphones, and Yi Chenliang picked up the microphone, "Hello? Hello? Boyfriend, are you there?"
Yun Fang winced as Yi Chenliang's amplified voice came through the headphones. He picked up the other microphone and smiled, "I'm here."
Once they figured out how to use it, they started selecting songs. However, since neither of them listened to much music usually, they knew very few songs and were at a loss for what to choose.
"Let's sing this one," Yun Fang selected a song.
Yi Chenliang agreed without hesitation. He glanced at the song title, which was "Floating Life."
"The name sounds nice," he said.
"It's mostly the same tune throughout, easy to sing," Yun Fang smiled.
As the intro played, all Yi Chenliang could hear was the pleasant piano accompaniment and Yun Fang's slightly deep voice.
[No one to share a drink with me
No one to tell me night has fallen
No one to ask if my porridge is warm
No one to stand with me at dusk
He really likes you, like the wind traveling eight thousand miles…]
Yi Chenliang sat on the high stool watching Yun Fang, who was turned sideways towards him, looking at the lyrics on the small screen, his gaze gentle and calm.
There was a variation of the wedding march in the middle.
Yun Fang's gaze left the lyrics screen and turned to Yi Chenliang.
Though the noisy arcade was just outside, all Yi Chenliang could hear was the gentle piano, and all he could see was this gentle person before him.
[He really likes you, like spring rain falling softly
He really likes you, like the noisy cicadas of summer
He really misses you, like autumn leaves falling silently
He really likes you, like winter snow seeping into the heart
…..
He really, really likes you, really really likes you]
Yun Fang had never confessed to him, never said "like" or "love." He always maintained excessive restraint and composure, never explicitly expressing his feelings.
But today, he said "really likes you" to Yi Chenliang many times.
Through the lyrics, in a small room with no one to disturb them, wearing headphones, no one else could hear.
Except themselves.
Yun Fang's deep voice was especially clear in the headphones. He gazed gently at Yi Chenliang, and they silently looked into each other's eyes as the piano music played. Then they slowly sang the last few lines of the song.
[Someone treats me with sincerity and truth
Someone worries about me silently
Someone knows my cold and warmth
Someone accompanies me for the rest of my life]