In the Same Boat

Qu Yiheng stood in front of the mirror and looked at it repeatedly for a long time before he left the house. He is usually not such an image-conscious person, but today’s situation is special.

He looked at his hair in the mirror and regretted it a little. He had known that Yao Zhan was coming, so he should have gone to the hairdresser to get a good cut.

When he went out, it was rare for him to take a taxi.

Turning on the navigation on the mobile phone, he watched himself getting closer and closer to the place.

Probably because he had been single for a long time and had lived a solitary life, Qu Yiheng was no longer used to meeting people in this way. The shorter the distance got, the more nervous he felt. Even with the air conditioning on in the car, his palms were full of sweat.

If that last meeting was a way to make up for the regrets of youth, then what the hell was he doing now?

The journey from home to the restaurant took a total of forty-three minutes.

Qu Yiheng paid the money, got out of the car, and looked at the restaurant’s door sign twice to confirm it before feeling at ease.

He sent a message to Yao Zhan: ‘I’m here, what about you?’

Yao Zhan replied quickly: ‘I’m already inside, table 13.’

Qu Yiheng pushed the door in and a waiter came up immediately.

Waiter: “Hello, sir, how many people?”

Qu Yiheng raised his hand and rubbed the tip of his nose: “I’m looking for someone at table number 13.”

“Sir, this way, please.”

He followed behind the waiter, pretending not to be deliberately looking for the other person, pretending to walk very calmly with each step.

“This way!”

Someone raised his hand and spoke.

Qu Yiheng looked over and saw that it was Yao Zhan at table 13. He was no longer dressed in all black, the light-coloured T-shirt made him look much brighter.

He thanked the waiter and squeezed out an awkward smile as he walked over to Yao Zhan, who pulled out a chair and sat opposite the other man.

Yao Zhan kept looking at him with a smile and asked, “I came over suddenly. I didn’t disturb you, did I?”

“No.” Qu Yiheng picked up the glass and took a sip of water. His heart was beating so fast that he wanted to take a deep breath.

Although there had been no contact between them for fifteen years, Yao Zhan could see that Qu Yiheng was still essentially the same person who was not good with words. The other party didn’t dare to look at him directly since he came in. He sat there and kept drinking water non-stop, like a deer who had strayed into the forest by mistake. The little deer could only use this method to cover up his panic.

“Let’s order.” Yao Zhan handed the menu to Qu Yiheng, “I don’t know what you like to eat, so I thought I would order it when you came.”

When Qu Yiheng reached out to take the menu, he accidentally touched Yao Zhan’s hand, which, by definition, was perfectly normal, but it was as if he was suddenly electrocuted at that instant. The electric current spreads from the tips of their fingers touching each other to his heart instantly, causing his body to go limp.

So to say, when certain people meet certain people, they will really have a very wonderful reaction.

But this reaction may be two-way or one-way. Qu Yiheng felt that there was a one-way reaction between them.

Before coming here, Qu Yiheng had specifically checked out the signature dishes of the restaurant. When he ordered, he acted like a regular customer. Yao Zhan leaned back in his chair and looked at him with a smile, as if he was enjoying a classic movie that was re-screened years later.

“See if there’s anything else you want to add.” Qu Yiheng handed the menu back towards Yao Zhan, who said, “No, that’s fine.”

The waiter took the menu and left, leaving the two of them speechless again.

To say that they are facing each other in silence is only on the surface. In fact, there’s a lot of tension under their calmness.

While Qu Yiheng was thinking of what to talk about to make things less awkward between them, Yao Zhan was thinking that seeing Qu Yiheng this time seemed to be a little different from the last time.

The last time they met, they were unprepared for their reunion after fifteen years. After drinking, they went straight to the point and had a good time. After which they barely talked about anything and parted without taking a serious look at each other. Now, looking at Qu Yiheng sitting here, Yao Zhan feels that even if he is in the crowd, he has a feeling of being out of place with the world.

“Uh… I see you often say in the group that you are very busy with work…” Qu Yiheng did not intend to pry too much into Yao Zhan’s personal affairs. He felt as if the two of them had a tacit agreement not to ask each other much, but after thinking about it for a long time, he couldn’t really find any topic to talk about, so he had to pull this out.

Yao Zhan smiled helplessly, “Yes, when I was in school, I heard that there were doctors who died of exhaustion at work every year. At that time, I thought it was just people being alarmist, but who knew it was true.”

“You’re a doctor?” Qu Yiheng was a bit surprised. He remembered that when he was in high school Yao Zhan said that he wanted to study bioengineering, but he never thought that he would study medicine.

“Is it that surprising?” Yao Zhan laughed. He looked at Qu Yiheng’s surprised look and found it very amusing, “I am not only a doctor, but also a Pediatrician.

Qu Yiheng was even more surprised. He couldn’t imagine Yao Zhan getting along with children at all.

In his memory, Yao Zhan was a person with little patience. At that time, Shao Wei had dragged Yao Zhan to give him maths tutorials, and every time he didn’t understand, Yao Zhan would impatiently go to the side to smoke, and Shao Wei would repeat the lesson.

That kind of person, who now has to see small children every day, that scene must be quite interesting.

“What are you thinking?” Yao Zhan asked, “Does it seem a bit unbelievable?”

Qu Yiheng nodded and smiled slightly, “Yeah, I didn’t expect it.”

“What about you? You went to the Art Academy. What are you doing now?”

The smile on Qu Yiheng’s face suddenly faded, he lowered his head and blinked several times, and finally said with a little confidence, “I’m just painting, drawing some manuscripts for publishers or something.”

“That’s good.” When Yao Zhan said this, the waiter just brought up the food.

When Qu Yiheng saw that the food was served, he finally didn’t have to force himself to find something to say, so he said, “Let’s eat first.”

As the two of them ate, Yao Zhan said, “I heard that this basement is a bar?”

“Well, we can go and have a look later.”

Yao Zhan was waiting for him to say this.

In fact, given their current situation, even if they didn’t drink, having sex was inevitable and since Qu Yiheng had agreed to meet, it was the same as agreeing to do that. This is a tacit agreement between adults.

But Yao Zhan felt that if Qu Yiheng drank a little wine, he could be more relaxed. He could see that from the time the other party came in until now, he had always been tense and cautious in everything he did, and he was tired of watching.

Neither of them ate much. Firstly, they were not hungry, and secondly, they did not meet to eat. Eating so much on such occasions was purely heartless.

Qu Yiheng took the initiative to pay the bill, and Yao Zhan stood behind him and said, “The meal is on you, but I have to take care of the wine later.”

There is also a tacit agreement between adults that you and I will not owe each other anything when it comes to treats, although no one is short of money, but it is not the same thing.

The two went downstairs, and before reaching the bar, Qu Yiheng regretted it a little. This place wasn’t as quiet and classy as Dou Yucong had said, but cheesy for sure. It was only a few o’clock and there were already drunks haunting it.

They met a man on the stairway, who stared at Qu Yiheng from top to bottom.

Qu Yiheng, who was already afraid of attracting trouble, frowned as he walked inside, and the man turned to follow him.

Yao Zhan didn’t notice at first, but after noticing, he immediately blocked the other man.

The man glared at him angrily and Yao Zhan said, “Sorry, he has a companion.”

Qu Yiheng, who heard the sound of talking, turned his head back, but he didn’t see what had just happened. As soon as he turned his head, he was led inside by Yao Zhan with his arm around his waist.

Yao Zhan whispered in his ear and asked, This is gay, right?”

Qu Yiheng wasn’t sure, as he hadn’t been here at all.

Yao Zhan led him to an inconspicuous seat, and only after the two of them sat down did Qu Yiheng let out a sigh of relief.

“You’re really quite popular.” Yao Zhan smiled at him, then beckoned the waiter to come over.

Qu Yiheng didn’t say anything, feeling a little annoyed by what happened just now.

He hated being watched by unfamiliar people. He felt like there was something strange about him, or that he was an alien in this world. Otherwise, why would those people be looking at him?

He was uncomfortable, unaccustomed, and felt distracted.

“What to drink?” Yao Zhan put the drink list brought by the waiter in front of Qu Yiheng, and found that he did not look too good, and asked worriedly, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Qu Yiheng looked at the hard card and ordered one of the wines marked “hot” on the back.

“Same for me, thanks.” Yao Zhan returned the drink list to the waiter, and after he left, he asked, “Are you sure you’re okay? You don’t look well.”

“Really nothing.” Qu Yiheng didn’t want to continue the conversation and raised his hand to rub his ear uncomfortably.

It was only then that Yao Zhan realised that today he was wearing earrings.

Three on the left and five on the right.

Yao Zhan said, “When did you get your ears pierced? I remember that you were afraid of pain in high school.”

Qu Yiheng paused for a moment as he rubbed his ears, then put down his hand and said, “When I was in college, I went to get my ears pierced whenever I was uninspired.”

“And you got inspired after getting the piercing?”

“At least it made me feel better.”

Yao Zhan laughed: “You are being self-abusive.”

“I guess so.” Qu Yiheng had always known that he had some psychological problems, but they weren’t serious, they weren’t harmful and didn’t affect his life. In modern society, who doesn’t have some physiological problems.

“So that’s how you got the tattoos on your body?” Yao Zhan remembered the tattoos he had seen last time, and he actually wanted to point them out one by one and ask what they meant.

“Pretty much.” Qu Yiheng said evasively, “You have to stimulate your nerves when you’re not inspired.”

“It’s quite hard for you guys in the arts too.” Yao Zhan sipped his wine and looked at the man in front of him.

Qu Yiheng was silent for a moment, then said, “Who has it easy? It’s not easy for everyone to live, actually.”

Yao Zhan smiled, he really wasn’t used to chatting with Qu Yiheng like this. In his memory, Qu Yiheng was a young boy who was a bit awkward and not very good at talking and who let him make all kinds of requests without saying a word most of the time.

That boy had indeed grown up, fifteen years on, and he was no longer the same person who had offered to kneel down and make him comfortable, when he asked if he could.

But that was good, Yao Zhan thought, at least thinking a little more can protect him from being bullied.

“By the way,” Yao Zhan said, “Have you been busy lately? If not, you can be my local companion for a few days. I heard that you have a lot of good food over here.”

Of course, Qu Yiheng wasn’t busy. He said “Yes” and then said, “Where do you want to go, I’ll take you there.”

As soon as he said this, he had to drag Dou Yucong home again to do his homework in advance.