Don’t Be a Kept Man

Chapter 102: That Snowy Day I was Unable to Wait for You to Come

Before, Xun Chuan could be described as a sharp knife: cold, glinting and unyielding, unforgiving to others and even more harmful to himself.
Only when he met Yan Yu did he seemed to have sheathed himself, retracting all the thorns he had as a guard, and became content to only watch, to be safely handled and tamed.

Yan Yu moved his hand to take away that annoying pillow creating distance between them, making Xun Chuan fall right onto him and be securely embraced, even tighter than threads being woven together.

For a moment all was quiet and peaceful in their hearts; it was hard to believe this could ever happen, and it was during this moment that the both of them even wished time would stop.
Xun Chuan rested against Yan Yu’s shoulder and lightly nuzzled him.
Seconds seemed to be quietly ticking away as cosmic dust coalescing to form stars.

Yan Yu embraced him, tucking in both of his hands, as if hugging a temperamental but pitiful wild cat, and yet also almost as if he was hugging with everything he had, leaving no space untouched.

Xun Chuan seemed to feel something and he smiled.
He leaned over, lightly biting onto Yan Yu’s lips.
Biting and then letting go, before resisting the desire to swallow the other up into himself.
He snuggled up against his neck, lightly breathing in that cigarette smoke filled scent.

Yan Yu was not a weak sauce himself and he turned his head to the side to bite at that ear so close to him.
His warm breath brought a numb, ticklish feeling, sending shivers all the way down his spine.
Xun Chuan trembled and covered his ears.
He quickly put some distance between the two of them and looked unwaveringly at Yan Yu with a pair of eyes that were just a bit misty, like the dew on a flower that was just given water.

Yan Yu grabbed the blankets beside them and threw it over them.
Xun Chuan’s line of sight was covered in darkness, and he rustled around but was pressed down by Yan Yu, 

“Nap.”

When someone reached a certain point of laziness, they could sleep until the world turned upside down.
And adding on the fact that Yan Yu had woken up so early in the morning, he couldn’t hold back his drowsiness anymore.
Xun Chuan, however, couldn’t sleep, and he zoned out in the dark, mind blanking out underneath the blankets.
He would occasionally reach out to tug at Yan Yu’s sleeve or buttons, touching here and there, never able to just settle down.
He kept it up right until a hand reached out to pinch him on the butt.

As night approached, Su Qing came over for Yan Yu.
Behind her was a 17 or 18 year old female highschooler who was still wearing her school uniform.
She was dripping wet, from head to toe, almost creating puddles wherever she went.

“Her name’s Chi Xia, drowned in a nearby park about a year ago.
Before she reincarnates, she wants to go to an amusement park.
I’m too busy to take her there, so if you could make the spirit line and take her around, that’d be great.
Just come back before morning.”

Su Qing patted Chi Xia’s head.
But the latter skittishly hid behind her, looking to be quite the introverted girl.
Su Qing rustled through her bag and then grabbed a stack of money to hand over to Yan Yu. 

“Here’s some spending funds.
Whatever Chi Xia wants to eat or drink, buy it for her.
You can keep the remainder.”

Yan Yu thought to himself, ghosts don’t have taste buds, so what could they taste? He took the money and roughly counted, 

“You’re quite generous.”

As natural as she could be, Su Qing said, 

“I’m trying to accumulate good karma here.”

Yan Yu: “Tsk.”

When Su Qing left, the apartment was left with one human and two ghosts.
Chi Xia seemed to be a bit afraid of the two, and she huddled into a corner, not daring to move.
Xun Chuan’s face scrunched up even more in irritation when he recalled that Yan Yu had never taken him out for fun.
And now he was going to accompany some other ghost to an amusement park, and the air surrounding Xun Chuan became heavier and heavier.

Yan Yu pulled out a red string from a drawer and sat on his chair to cut out a small paper man with yellow paper.
He asked as he cut, 

“Where do you want to go?”

Chi Xia’s head was originally lowered, but the moment she heard this, her eyes lit up and she hesitantly said, 

“I…… I want to go to Xin Tian Di Amusement Park.”

Xin Tian Di Amusement Park, a park about 15 stops away and where the night entry starts at 6pm and continues all the way until 10pm.
It’s a bit far, but as long as you have the money, nothing’s an issue.

Yan Yu secured the paper man in the lining of the drawer, creating a substitute.
One end of the red string was tied around the paper man, and the other around Chi Xia’s wrist, binding the two together through him as the medium.

The red string curiously began to grow longer and longer in Yan Yu’s hand, as if it could be pulled and tugged to an infinite length.
Each inch it grew meant an extra inch where Chi Xia could move.
Only the direction and the length was controlled by Yan Yu.

Chi Xia floated downstairs and Yan Yu prepared to lock the door, but when he turned his head, he found Xun Chuan still on the bed, not moving.
He knocked on the door, 

“Let’s go.”

Xun Chuan hazily blinked, smiling so very fakely as he said, 

“She’s the one who wants to go to an amusement park, not me.
Isn’t it enough for you to accompany one hmm.”

Yan Yu thought to himself, Xun Chuan has certainly made some improvements.
He would have already blown his top before, but now he could even talk so normally with him.
He spun the key in his hand once before saying, 

“If you don’t come now, don’t be sneaking behind me like a thief later.”

He had always seen through Xun Chuan so easily; in Yan Yu’s eyes, Xun Chuan was only a half sized adult.
Whatever he’s thinking, it would always show up on his face.
Truly a person who wasn’t a hidden palace amongst hidden palaces.

Chi Xia was skinny, and she was also a bit on the tiny side.
Wearing a large uniform, it looked all too baggy on her, making her look like a kid who stole her parents’ clothes.
From what Su Qing said, she had died from drowning in a nearby park, in order to save a drowning child.

Right before Xin Tian Di Amusement Park’s entrance was a street of food vendors.
When they stepped out of the car, Yan Yu had that red string in his hand with Xun Chuan on his left and Chi Xia on his right.

Chi Xia gazed at the stand with the pots of frying oil, unwilling to leave.

Yan Yu gave her a look, 

“Are you a ghost that died by starvation?”

Chi Xia seemed to be swallowing her saliva as she said,

“When I was still alive, I had always been on a diet and didn’t dare to eat such fatty foods.
It’s been so long since I had a skewer of fried stuff.”

Yan Yu grabbed a skewer of pork loin and another of leek tofu to let the stall owner fry them off.
Glancing beside them, Chi Xia saw a bubble tea place and floated over, salivating with her eyes.
She had no way to place an order and so Yan Yu could only go and pay up, following behind like a full time nanny.

Xun Chuan was in his solid state, sitting by himself on a bench by the road.
A cold aura surrounded him, which attracted all the eyes of everyone passing by.
As the amusement park at night was quite rowdy and crowded with many young teenagers and adults, quite a few beauties wanted to come up and ask for his number but were scared off by the look in his eyes.

Yan Yu came back over and handed him a cup of bubble tea, sighing as he said, 

“Quite a few blossoms hmm.”

Xun Chuan held in the urge to explode the cup of bubble tea Yan Yu was holding and swatted his hand away from him, 

“I’m not drinking that.”

He couldn’t taste any flavors anyway.

Yan Yu naturally knew that there would be no taste for him, but he thought since he bought it for Chi Xia, there was no reason not to buy it for Xun Chuan.
So at this point, he could only stab the straw into the cup and drink it for himself.

Chi Xia was a spirit, which meant normal humans wouldn’t be able to see her.
If she was to eat in public, all others would see is things floating up in the air.
So Yan Yu asked the stall owner to pack the food and found a place that was quite isolated for her to eat.

Only when humans lose something do they realize what blessings they had before.

Chi Xia greedily took in all the colorful lights around her and all the roadside greenery that she actually wanted to go and touch.
Watching her from the side, Xun Chuan became lost in thought, only coming back to his senses when Yan Yu rested a hand on his shoulder.

Yan Yu explained, 

“In case you get lost.”

Xun Chuan didn’t shrug it off and only said in response, 

“You were never like this before.”

Bringing him out, accompanying him, spending time with him.

Yan Yu chewed on the pearls in his mouth, and said with a fairly muffled voice, 

“Making up for it today.”

Xun Chuan turned his head to look at him at those words, 

“What were you doing then when I was alive? Why are you like this, waiting only until I died to be like this?”

Yan Yu didn’t say anything, but he suddenly felt like the pearls in his mouth were cavity inducing.
The milk tea had become so sweet it was muffling his brain and nose. 

He took a look around.
Seeing Chi Xia floating away from the merry-go-round and running towards the ferris wheel, he pulled on Xun Chuan and said, 

“Let’s go.
You should experience what it’s like to ride the ferris wheel.”

Chi Xia was still in her spirit form, so she couldn’t buy any tickets.
Yan Yu lined up for about half an hour before he finally bought two, bringing along Xun Chuan as the other on the ride.
Looking out from the window of the cabin, it was a view of the endless sky, paired with a glimmering and shining lake reflecting from below.
When the ferris wheel was slowly rising, the view looked quite amazing.

Chi Xia sat across from them, and when she saw the pool of water, her body suddenly trembled.
Both of her hands hugged her knees and she didn’t say anything, with only her pair of pure eyes looking outwards, tinged with a bit of wishful desire.
Little by little she swallowed that cup of bubble tea, and even if there was no taste, she was still very happy.

Yan Yu asked, 

“Do you have any other unfulfilled wishes?”

Chi Xia’s family situation wasn’t that great, so she didn’t really have the desire to go see her family.
She shook her head at his words, a bit shy as she said, 

“No, but…… I haven’t ever gotten into a relationship with a boy even to this age.”

Her eyes stared at Yan Yu, as if to hint at something.
Seeing this, Xun Chuan’s face immediately darkened, but then thought that he shouldn’t fight with a little girl like her and so he forcefully held it in.

Yan Yu twisted his ear, 

“Hmm… I have a partner.”

Xun Chuan couldn’t help but glance at him.

Chi Xia smiled, 

“You are a human, I am a ghost.
Even if you have no partner, we couldn’t be together.”

Xun Chuan’s state of mind did not take a happy turn; instead, it became even worse.

The ferris wheel was slowly rising and it stopped at the highest point.
It’s been said that if they were to wish at this time, everything would come true.
Chi Xia closed her eyes and her hands came together to silently make a wish.
Yan Yu didn’t believe in these kinds of things and so he had no reaction. 

It was at this time, he felt a strong force at the back of his head pushing him and then his lips were immediately bitten down on with force, and they bloomed with a sudden and sharp color.

Facing up towards Yan Yu’s questioning look, Xun Chuan kept still in this position and then lowered his eyes.
Slowly, lightly, kissing him once before retreating away slowly.

When Chi Xia opened her eyes at the perfect timing to miss all of this, she found that the ferris wheel had already passed the midpoint and was slowly starting to descend.
Her expression became a bit sad before she quietly said, 

“In the past…… I had really wanted to die…… but now to really have died, I start to reminisce about when I was alive…….”

Wanting to walk under the sun, wanting to feel those warm and comfortable rays shining upon them, tasting everything sour, sweet, bitter, and spicy.
Even if that taste wasn’t what they expected, anything was better than how it was now.
Everyday, they have to hide in the dark and rot away, as if their existence was a walking zombie.

After leaving the ferris wheel, Chi Xia took one last reluctant look behind her before saying quietly to Yan Yu and Xun Chuan, 

“Thank you to the both of you.”

Before Su Qing left, she gave Yan Yu a small bottle to absorb Chi Xia into after he finished resolving her unfulfilled desires.
When it was time, she would be sent for reincarnation.
Hearing her words, Yan Yu nodded his head slightly and then untied the red string, twisting out a spell to take her spirit body into the jar.

Not far away from the merry-go-round, there was a clown who was modelling balloons.
Wearing a classic rainbow outfit, he had two bells on his shoulders, and a head full of green hair with a big red nose.
Combined with a big laughing smile painted on his face, he looked quite strange.
After all the balloons were handed out, the crowd around him began to dissipate.

The clown left then, swaying from side to side as he walked, looking very unstable on his feet.
Like a jumping egg, moving left to right, right to left.
He was also holding a big hammer which looked quite heavy, as if one hit could crack open a skull.
His actions were very exaggerated, looking left and right, before looking towards the bottom of the ferris wheel.

At this time, Yan Yu was pulling Xun Chuan to leave, thinking how in a few days the ghost door would be opened, and he couldn’t help but ask, 

“Do you have anywhere else you want to go?”

Xun Chuan: “X City.”

Yan Yu’s feet paused in their footsteps.

Xun Chuan’s mouth tugged up and he repeated himself, 

“I want to go to X City.”

On that snowy day, that place where he had not been able to wait for Yan Yu to come.

TL Tidbit:

The ‘Xin Tian Di’ in the amusement park name means New Day/New Opening/New Start