章節 19: Chapter 19 Stolen Light
Lu Xun carefully illuminated the corners, opened the cabinet doors, and only then turned on the lights, casually switching off his phone.
"It's fine now. Come in."
"What's going on?" Lu Heyang frowned as he walked in, glancing around.
"The door lock was tampered with."
When leaving, Lu Xun usually locked the door with just one turn and then returned the keyhole to its horizontal position.
"There might be more." Lu Heyang stepped through the dining area and stood before the desk, staring helplessly at the scattered photos and documents. Even the calendar on the wall was crooked.
He knew his real information had undoubtedly been leaked. If the netizens and media could find his phone number, they could naturally locate his address too. Was someone acting out of a sense of justice? Only to find he wasn't home?
Lu Heyang didn't know whether to be more furious that his most private and secure space had been violated, or relieved that at least no one was hurt. He rubbed his temples, feeling utterly drained.
However, Lu Xun's mind was entirely focused on something else.
"Check your belongings," Lu Xun suggested, straightening the calendar and putting the scattered items back in place.
"It's fine." Lu Heyang forced a pale and awkward smile, unable to hide his frustration. "As long as my computer is still here, that's all that matters. I don't keep much cash at home anyway."
"It's not safe here. You should stay somewhere else—better to stay far away from me." With that, he walked into the bedroom and slammed the door behind him, leaving Lu Xun standing alone in the living room, as if he were the only one concerned about the apartment.
Lu Xun stared at the closed door, picking up a fallen photo frame nearby. In the picture, Lu Heyang stood barefoot on a sandy beach, with a vast expanse of blue ocean behind him, blending into the clear sky. He was smiling brightly, not wearing glasses, his eyebrows and eyes fully exposed to the sun, with the sea breeze lifting his clothes and dark hair.
Lu Xun had seen this photo before.
Seven years ago, on New Year's Eve, he spent the holiday alone at school. The school had kindly prepared dumplings for students staying on campus, hanging red banners and decorations. Everyone gathered to have New Year's Eve dinner and watch the Spring Festival Gala. There were steaming hot meals and lively faces, but it still wasn't the same. It wasn't like when Su Mei, Lu Bingwen, and Lu Heyang were there.
They had been a tense, forcibly assembled family, yet they maintained a delicate balance.
They followed the same rituals as any other family: sticking window decorations and "Fu" characters. When he climbed the ladder, Lu Heyang would stand below, holding the edge of the chair, his face expressionless and cold. Lu Bingwen would complain about how crooked the decorations were, picking fault in everything, while Su Mei would be busy in the kitchen, screaming when she found a bug in the vegetables.
But now, he was used to it—almost numb to it. Holidays, for someone without a home, were no different from any other day. In fact, they were even more unbearable.
He ate just a little and then left the dining hall, his breath turning white in the cold air. Fireworks burst in the distance, followed by a crackling sound as the deep black sky was pierced by brilliant sparks, expanding into huge, colorful petals. All of this only highlighted the emptiness of the vast campus. Some ash from the fireworks landed on his shoulder, which Lu Xun brushed off under the corridor light before entering the dormitory.
He crawled into bed, turned on the small lamp at the bedside, and picked up his phone, opening Lu Heyang's social media account from abroad.
Lu Heyang rarely left traces online, but luckily, he wasn't entirely untraceable.
The first photo on his profile was this one, taken at Hapuna Beach in Hawaii, USA.
Lu Xun used his thumb and forefinger to zoom in, meticulously examining every inch of Lu Heyang's forehead, eyebrows, eyelashes, nose, and lips, almost greedily. Lu Heyang's skin was several shades lighter than his own. Under the sunlight, the exposed skin of his neck and shoulders still appeared fair, the muscles of his forearms well-defined, and beneath his shorts extended his beautifully shaped calves and ankles.
Annoyed, Lu Xun snapped his phone shut and tossed it aside, creating a shallow dent in the blanket, but he couldn't suppress the rising heat in his body.
Lu Heyang's dazzling smile and radiance only emphasized Lu Xun's loneliness, stirring a bittersweet resentment in him. Yet within that resentment, he found himself reaching an emotional peak.
Suppressing his breaths, he wiped himself clean with a tissue, suddenly feeling disgusted with himself. It was as if he were an unsightly bug, feeding off of Lu Heyang, stealing his light bit by bit.
Years later, seeing this photo again, Lu Heyang was still the irreplaceable Lu Heyang, and Lu Xun now knew, with complete clarity, that he wasn't some stand-in, a cuckoo in the nest. He no longer wanted to be a thief of light. He wanted to be a beam of light in his own right, equal to Heyang's. He wanted to merge with him in this moment, becoming a burning flame; or, together, they could travel light-years away into the farthest distances.
He picked up the photo frame, his thumb gently caressing Lu Heyang's smiling face. Pulling out his phone, his fingers hovered over the screen for two seconds before he made up his mind, tapped the screen, and hit send.
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