The city about a twenty minute bus ride from the resort they were staying at was fairly small. There was about a dozen shops, a couple of restaurants, a cinema and a bowling alley. Compared to Sun Fang’s city on Guillotine, this city was, in fact, very small. But he didn’t know how to say that and not sound condescending, so he simply didn’t.
At sunset, the sun laid heavy over the town. Sun Fang had already acquired more than five shopping bags so far, filling them up to the brim with every knickknack and clothing he saw. He was swaggering through the town with sunglasses on his nose and a wide-rimmed sunhat on his head, his feet in tall heels and a long sundress swishing around him. He was beautiful. He was elegant. He was deadly.
He was, also, feeling kind of empty. The conversation with Mo Cheng had taken a lot out of him and the fact that he had to do it again with Mianmian soon almost made him cry. He hated this sudden case of setting things right that he’d developed out of nowhere. It was, frankly, just annoying.
Kicking the asphalt softly, he swaggered over to one of the few restaurants this town had. He had already eaten lunch at another one across the town, so he figured he should spread his wealth out and go somewhere else for dinner. Thankfully, this place had outdoor seating so he didn’t have to lose the ocean view.
”Come,” he waved at Ivy and sat down around a glass table covered by a parasol. He arranged the bags on a chair, scooting it close so they wouldn’t be stolen. Ivy followed him, settling down its own pile of bags. A server swiftly came with a pile of menus and smiled awkwardly at them.
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.
Pulling one open, Sun Fang quickly glanced over them, then slowed down and took his proper time. While he was looking over the options and debating with himself between three very attractive option, Ivy was staring right at the ocean to Sun Fang’s right. Ivy was staring so intently, gaze not flinching in the most minutiae direction, that Sun Fang wondered what it was seeing and he turned to look, too. It was just the ocean. Waves beat gently on the shore. The sun was coloring the water orange on the horizon.
Okay, it was fucking breathtaking. But they’d been at the beach at least eight times now, and Ivy’s memory was much better than his. ”Do you like the ocean?” Sun Fang asked, putting his menu down. He wasn’t really reading it anyway, and it was much more fun talking with Ivy than browsing through a wine list.
”It’s beautiful,” Ivy said. Sun Fang smiled, and Ivy continued, ”The ocean is magnificent.”
Sun Fang’s smile gentled, and he rested his head on his hand, humming softly. ”Do you want to live closer to the ocean?”
”There are no oceans on Guillotine,” Ivy promptly responded. It still wasn’t looking at him, the gaze glued to the ocean. It was sitting so still it would’ve scared him had it been human. Ivy’s eyes were metallic and made of camera pieces, modified to somewhat resemble human eyes because it turned out cameras in a humanlike face was creepy.
”We could leave Guillotine,” Sun Fang suggested, laughing softly when that was what finally made Ivy look at him.
Ivy’s head tilted, a stiff movement to belie its confusion. ”But you love Guillotine,” it said, voice lowering a couple of decimals.
Sun Fang laughed louder. He held out his hand over the table and when Ivy gripped it, he tightly squeezed the cold appendage. His eyes softening, his smile widening, he leaned forward over the table and said, ”I love you far more than I love Guillotine. And if there’s something you want, I want to give it to you. I just want you to be happy.”
”You are being unfair,” Ivy said after a second. It was still holding his hand, squeezing back softly. It added, ”My job is to make you happy.”
”I’ve never wanted to be a job to you,” said Sun Fang. His eyes watered a little, strangely.
”You are not,” Ivy said, instantly. It looked at him, the prolonged eye contact uncomfortable.
Sun Fang swiftly retaliated, ”So then, how can it be your job to make me happy?”
Ivy fell silent, gaze looking back at the ocean. Finally, it said, ”You are being contrary. I do not understand why you’re speaking in circles.” Ivy passed, and then said, ”I am only allowed to be with you because it’s my job to take care of you and make you happy.”
Sun Fang’s eyes burned. He licked his lips and said, squeezing Ivy’s hand far too tightly, ”You aren’t owned by the Sun Family anymore, Ivy. You being allowed to stay with me isn’t contingent on you working for me. You don’t have to take care of me, or make me happy, or do anything you don’t want to. I don’t own you, Ivy.”
Ivy stared at the ocean. Sun Fang stared at Ivy, keeping their hands connected and valiantly pretending his own wasn’t trembling. He waited for Ivy to say something, waited for Ivy to react.
”But I want to make you happy. I want you to always be happy,” Ivy said at last.
Sun Fang gulped. He pressed a hand to his tingling eyes and breathed out in a large gust of wind. ”You make me happy. Always. I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. But you also don’t have a lot of experience with free choice and I don’t ever want to stop you or be the reason why you don’t get to do something you want. And really…” Sun Fang breathed deeply again, sniffling surreptitiously. ”I’m not actually that attached to Guillotine, Ivy.”
Ivy’s head bent, and Sun Fang’s chest hurt. He tugged on Ivy’s hand, and when he had eyes gaze again, grinned. Ivy, instantly, smiled back.
IT’S TEARS OF HAPPINESS OK?! Damn onion ninja…!
thanks for the chapter <3