Old DreamChapter 3

Fan Hongxuan went home and washed his face. Then he thought maybe he should change his clothes to see Yu Zhehan. He chuckled at himself, feeling like a young man in love. No, not in love; just having a crush. But hearing that Yu Zhehan had never been married or in a relationship stirred up some small emotions.

Gently, itchy, and persistently, memories of him laughing freely in the sunshine that year kept popping up. shBq25

At ten thirty, Fan Hongxuan knocked on Yu Zhehan’s door.

Yu Zhehan seemed to have just arrived home, who came to open the door while still wearing a suit while just taking off his tie.

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“…Yu…” Yu Zhehan obviously found the person in front of him unbelievable. The two hadn’t seen each other since they graduated from university. Actually, he couldn’t even remember the last time they met in a hurried hallway.

“I just moved in across from you,” Fan Hongxuan smiled as he was pointing back at his own door. 71bShA

Yu Zhehan hadn’t changed much; he just seemed a bit more mature than in university, wearing glasses on his nose. He looked slightly surprised but cute seeing Fan Hongxuan. His little habits seemed unchanged, like tilting his neck slightly to the right… and when he laughed, he probably still blushed a bit.

Fan Hongxuan smiled and touched his nose, as he was feeling calmer than he imagined. It was surprisingly Yu Zhehan who seemed surprised.

“Aren’t you going to invite me in?” Fan Hongxuan offered the fruits, beer, and invitation card he had in his hand.

Yu Zhehan reached out to take them but paused for a moment. “Are you… getting married?” His gaze fell on the bright red invitation card, and he seemed momentarily overwhelmed… Someone he hadn’t seen for many years suddenly moved in across from him… with a new family?

Fan Hongxuan’s heart suddenly clenched as he was looking at Yu Zhehan’s suddenly pale face, and the thought that he had been suppressing surged up again, telling himself it was impossible—maybe Yu Zhehan…

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

“Ah, no… that’s for the silly big guy,” Fan Hongxuan pointed at the invitation card in his hand. “He finally managed to win over that girl; it wasn’t easy.”

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But what both of them wanted to ask each other, yet couldn’t bring themselves to, was—‘What about you?’ YyUvgx

* * *

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And that man he had liked was sitting in his living room at this moment—maybe it was just a simple case of unrequited love between them, Yu Zhehan thought.

He wasn’t bold when it came to feelings, especially since he realized he liked someone for the first time and that someone was a man. b5wzeJ

As they gradually became more familiar, Yu Zhehan discovered that his feelings for Fan Hongxuan were different from those of regular friends. But it seemed like Fan Hongxuan didn’t like men—he had known about a few girlfriends Fan Hongxuan had had, but Fan Hongxuan found girlfriends too troublesome and let those relationships fizzle out. So, it was probably not a liking for men after all.

There had been attempts to subtly test the waters, but Fan Hongxuan’s response was no different from that of other straight guys. Yu Zhehan had even boldly walked up to him wearing only his underwear—a move he thought was the boldest he could make—but there was no reaction and no outcome.

There were also late-night fantasies of intimacy, but perhaps they were just that—fantasies?

Later, both of them got busy with their own lives, and their relationship gradually faded away, eventually losing touch in the sea of people. IdgtB3

Maybe it’s for the best, thinking that he’ll always stay in his heart just the way he is.

With these thoughts in mind, the two of them were sitting in Yu Zhehan’s living room, opening two cans of beer.

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The conversation wasn’t particularly profound; it was mostly about their own experiences over the years. They shared interesting work and social experiences but skipped over the topic of relationships. It was as if both of their times were stuck back in their university days.

Fan Hongxuan’s behavior was quite relaxed and cheerful, and after a few rounds of drinks, Yu Zhehan also loosened up a bit. They no longer sat stiffly, occasionally bumping shoulders or patting each other’s legs. Two hours flew by, and only after a while did Fan Hongxuan realize it was getting late and that tomorrow wasn’t a day off. v9Kljq

“I should go to bed,” he said, shaking the empty beer can in his hand and accurately throwing it into the trash can.

Meanwhile, Yu Zhehan seemed a bit more drunk than him, having already slouched on the sofa without moving. “Hey, Zhehan, get up; it’s time for you to go to bed too.”

But Yu Zhehan just looked at Fan Hongxuan with a silly smile, his drunkenness evident. “Huh? Why does the Hongxuan in my dream look so much older…?”

Fan Hongxuan’s heart suddenly skipped a beat, feeling like he couldn’t hold on any longer. He didn’t dare to think about the meaning behind that sentence, or maybe he didn’t need to guess at all. Jpyg4k

The old dream, hidden deep in the corner of his heart with a dusty and forgotten, began to secretly bloom.

After much effort, Fan Hongxuan finally managed to drag the drunk Yu Zhehan into the bedroom. Despite Yu Zhehan being slender, he was the same height as Fan Hongxuan. And with Fan Hongxuan also being a bit tipsy, it was a struggle.

After tossing Yu Zhehan onto the bed, Fan Hongxuan felt too tired to move and simply laid down as he leaned against him and fell asleep.

In the dream, both of them were still the same as they were in their youth, a bit awkward and shy, sitting together under the basketball hoop, sharing the same bottle of water. avSOVF

* * *

‘Am I reliving an old dream?

Or am I finally picking up the past that I’ve neglected for too long?’

The story begins to converge from here. pzHRZT

* * *

The next morning, Yu Zhehan woke up from a hangover, the alarm clock at the bedside reminding him mercilessly that he was already late for the day. But what was even more unsettling was—there was someone sleeping beside him.

The person had deep black eyes, smiling at him with a strikingly handsome face.

Yu Zhehan’s mind felt a bit scrambled. xjK32f

“Morning,” Fan Hongxuan greeted casually.

“…Morning.” But what was going on?

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

“I think I might be ten years late in saying this.” Fan Hongxuan sighed deeply. He had thought he would never see this person again in his life, yet for some reason, they ended up living next door. What he had thought was unrequited love with no hope of ever being reciprocated, he suddenly found out was mutual. It seemed like fate was playing a joke on him, but he still ended up laughing in the end.

“I like you.” Ct5knF

Fan Hongxuan cupped Yu Zhehan’s face and pressed his lips against his.

‘I think you and I had the same dream.’

FIN etsAFf