助理建筑师 羲和清零 119

Assistant Architect by Xi He Qing Ling

Chapter 119: Shadow

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When they finally arrived inside their home, Zhang Siyi wasn’t given a moment to remove his shoes, as he was pushed hard against the door. Gu Yu grabbed his wrist in one hand and stroked Zhang Siyi’s cheek in the other. Gu Yu’s advancements took Zhang Siyi breath away.

While caressing the side of Zhang Siyi’s head, as if to make up for the time apart, Gu Yu forcefully kissed Zhang Siyi. After a moment of surprise, like a starved man at a buffet dinner, Zhang Siyi quickly responded to Gu Yu kissing with an even deeper more sensuous kiss. Desperate for each other’s attention, their lips parted momentarily for a gasp of air before tightly pressing them together again. He broke free from Gu Yu grasp and held onto him tightly. As Zhang Siyi continued to kiss Gu Yu deeper and more aggressively, Zhang Siyi felt like a different persona had taken control of him. Kissing wasn’t enough.

The two remained locked together until they heard a ‘woof’ and could feel Townhouse next to them. Returning to his senses, Zhang Siyi looked down at the dog and laughed. Gu Yu also laughed.

With watery eyes, he smiled and looked at Zhang Siyi and huskily whispered: “I missed you.”

Zhang Siyi’s heart beat violently. He never knew that such a simple admission of love would have such a strong effect on him. “I missed you too” Zhang Siyi said from the bottom of his heart. Everyday and every night he has thought of Gu Yu.

Zhang Siyi wanted to repent for all his wrongdoings towards his ex-girlfriend because he never really thought about her. For twenty-three years, until now, he didn’t understand what a real relationship was and realized how irresponsible he had been towards her.

Holding Zhang Siyi’s face Gu Yu kissed him on the forehead then released him. He said softly: “Let’s eat first.”

Zhang Siyi followed him into the kitchen like a small puppy.

Gu Yu opened the refrigerator to evaluate their food options. Now that it had been almost a week since their last grocery run, the food was almost all gone. He rummaged through the sparse items and found a pack of frozen dumplings. He asked Zhang Siyi casually: “Are you ok with dumplings?”

Even though Zhang Siyi attention wasn’t on eating at the moment, he answered: “Yes.”

Gu Yu also found a couple of eggs and some shrimp. Together with a few vegetables, he set up a pot to boil in order to make soup. Like a married couple wanting to know what their loved one was up to while they were away, Gu Yu asked Zhang Siyi about how things have been and what he had been eating the last few days. As the water heated to boil, Zhang Siyi took a few minutes to answer Gu Yu.

Smelling the vinegar that Gu Yu used to dress the dumplings, Zhang Siyi was reminded of Tao Fei posting on his social media and asked: “Why did you and Tao Fei wear a suit when you reported the project?”

Gu Yu handed one of the bowls of dumplings to him: “It’s necessary on formal occasions.”

Zhang Siyi grabbed two sets of chopsticks from the drawer and walked to the table with his bowl: “How come I didn’t see your suit when you got back?”

“I don’t like the extra luggage so I used a courier service.” Gu Yu sat down and picked up his chopsticks ready to eat then asked: “How did you know I wore a suit?”

“I added Tao Fei’s to my WeChat contacts today and saw photos of you on his social media page.” Zhang Siyi didn’t want to sound jealous, but he couldn’t help complain a little!

Listening to Zhang Siyi, Gu Yu took out his phone from his pocket to see what he was referring to. Looking down at the phone, Gu Yu frowned.

Zhang Siyi asked: “You haven’t seen it?”

Gu Yu put the phone on the table and as calm as ever, he said: “I’ve blocked him.”

Although Zhang Siyi initially felt irritated by Tao Fei WeChat posts, when Gu Yu mentioned Tao Fei being blocked, Zhang Siyi felt reassured. Laughing and smiling he asked: “Why did you block him?”

“He posts stupid things every day. It’s annoying.” Gu Yu frankly said.

 “……” Tao Fei’s self-portraits were described as “stupid stuff” ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Zhang Siyi’s dark feelings were overthrown by Gu Yu words. What beautiful peach? He was tossed aside.

After eating, Zhang Siyi cleared the table and went to the kitchen to wash the dishes. He saw Gu Yu pick up his phone again and noticed his thumb move continuously over the screen. Zhang Siyi didn’t know who he was chatting with. When he was finished washing the dishes, Gu Yu pocketed his phone and they grabbed Townhouse’s leash.

While walking the dog, the two caught up on office related issues and stopped here and there to let Townhouse mark a tree. Suddenly while standing, Gu Yu grabbed Zhang Siyi and pulled him close face to face. Gu Yu continued to position himself and stepped slightly to his left then leaned forward.

Zhang Siyi wasn’t sure what was happening then he watched Gu Yu pull out his phone from his trousers and take a photo of the shadow on the ground. Zhang Siyi glanced down and realized with pleasure what Gu Yu was doing. It looked like the shadow of the two people together under the streetlight were kissing! Feeling hot all over, Zhang Siyi never would have thought Gu Yu was capable of doing such a romantic thing.

Catching a glimpse of Gu Yu continued concentration on his phone, Zhang Siyi guessed he was uploading the image to his social media page. Thinking he would send it to Zhang Siyi alone because of Gu Yu conservative nature, he didn’t react much. He smiled and said: “I saw you take the picture so it won’t be a surprise to receive it.” As they say, love makes people do stupid things. Has Gu Yu also become silly?

Gu Yu grinned at him and said: “I have made it public.”

“What!?” Zhang Siyi was shocked. He quickly pulled out his mobile phone and opened WeChat. He really saw the photo taken by Gu Yu at the top of the circle of friends.

In addition to the photo, Gu Yu also wrote something sentimental: “Love has arrived.”

Zhang Siyi couldn’t believe it. He grabbed Gu Yu phone to look at it for himself and confirm it. He really did make the image public.!

In just a few seconds, there are already a row of ‘likes’ below the photo. They are all from people Zhang Siyi doesn’t know. The number of new messages at the top is still increasing at a rate visible to the naked eye. Knowing Gu Yu’s personality, this type of news is exceedingly exciting for people that are friends with him.

“You’re crazy!” Zhang Siyi flushed bright red and his heart couldn’t stop pounding in his chest: “You said we had to keep our relationship a secret.”

Gu Yu recovered his phone from Zhang Siyi’s grasp and said: “It’s just a shadow. No one can recognize who the people are.”

Zhang Siyi looked at his own phone and inspected the image again. Since the image was taken at an angle with the streetlight, their shadow was stretched out very long. The top of the shadow was a little blurry and aside from the height of the people being slightly different, it was really difficult to tell who was who. The one thing for certain, is that Tao Fei is definitely not among the two people in the image as the two people in the photo have short hair.

Gu Yu rubbed Zhang Siyi’s head and smiled: “Are you still jealous?”

 “……” Zhang Siyi puffed up his face: “Who is jealous.”

Gu Yu laughed and said nothing. With Townhouse in tow, they walked back home.

After Zhang Siyi’s initial surprise, he slowly calmed down. His heart floated with a sigh of relief: “Aren’t your parents going to see it?”

Gu Yu took a deep breath of cool air and looked up at the sky slightly. He said calmly: “They will see it sooner or later. They may not know that you are a boy for a while. My dad is a smart person and he will be able to figure it out eventually. With time, a family can overcome anything. Don’t be afraid. We will take it one step at a time together.”

“Hmm” Zhang Siyi said and looked down at the road: “Actually, your sister has already guessed that you are gay.”

Gu Yu froze momentarily: “Hmm?”

Zhang Siyi slowly recounted what Gu Yao had said to him when he chatted with her about Gu Yu. At the end, Zhang Siyi was embarrassed to admit: “It was from her that I found out you might like me……”

Now, Gu Yu understood what had happened that day and why Zhang Siyi was like a changed person.

Zhang Siyi paused and said: “She also said that no matter how you choose, she will support you and bless you.”

Gu Yu was silent for a long time. With a content sigh he mumbled: “Silly girl….”

Zhang Siyi raised his hands and proclaimed: “So, you can tell your sister about us!”

Gu Yu turned to look at him and smiled. “Stupid, she already knows.”

Zhang Siyi: “…… Huh?” Σ( ° △°)

After returning home, Zhang Siyi took out his mobile phone to view the shadow picture once again. Unsurprisingly, Gu Yao sent a message to the trio chat group that was created by her brother months ago.

Gu Yu: “Congratulations!”  [Snickering]

Zhang Siyi: “……” Shit! It turns out, he was the only one who’s been kept in the dark!?

Zhang Siyi: “You always knew?”

Gu Yu: “Since last month.”

Gu Yu honestly confessed to Zhang Siyi about peeking at his mobile phone.

Zhang Siyi said: “When I asked you before, why were you still playing dumb?”

Gu Yu: “Who was the one that was dumb?”  ╮ (╯_╰) ╭

Zhang Siyi: “……”

Seeing the 100-yuan red envelope dangling in front of them, the two immediately forgot why they were quarreling. Zhang Siyi snatched 93% of the amount and Gu Yao only was able to get 7%.

Zhang Siyi: “Muahahaha!”

Gu Yao: “Hey! The administrator is playing favorites!”

Gu Yu looked at the two of them in the group, smiled and shook his head.  As compensation, he privately gave Gu Yao a 100-yuan red envelope. She wanted to tease Zhang Siyi and was about to take a screenshot and send it to him but her brother’s message stopped her: “Don’t bully your brother-in-law.”

Gu Yao: “……” A 100 yuan a bribe? Ah! What is this sweet and sour feeling?! My heart hurts! My Brother is no longer her own brother!

Gu Yao whined: “But brother, don’t you think making the photo public was being too risky? I broke out in a cold sweat for you!”

Gu Yu gave her a red envelope and said: “You might have to provide some cover in the future.”

Any annoyance she felt was easily brushed aside not by Gu Yu’s sugar-coated words, but because she genuinely wanted to help her brother: “Don’t worry! This younger sister will spare no effort to pave the way for you and Brother Siyi’s future!”

…….

Since Tao Fei had been in the company for a month, he was officially welcomed to join the company. The night before Zhang Siyi’s business trip to Yunnan, Gu Yu organized another group dinner. Zhang Siyi remembered what happened during his welcome party and was eager to see how Tao Fei would fare during his.

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