IROAWTMTFL Chapter 44

Fenjiezou Island is located at the watershed between the north and south of Hainan, often experiencing diverse climates due to this geographical feature, hence its name. It is a typical island scenery with cliffs, coral reefs, azure seas, and fine white sand—a place Yan Yan had visited before and desired to return to.

In the afternoon, the two disembarked from the ship and landed on the island. They put their luggage into their reserved wooden cabin before heading to the mountaintop. Yan Yan particularly liked the small temple at the summit, it had a great view. Listening to the temple’s wind chimes and feeling the sea breeze, even he, who usually couldn’t sit still, could sit there for hours.

Every scenic temple had a wishing tree, and Fenjiezhou Island’s mountaintop temple was no exception. Wishing plaques and red ribbons adorned the wishing tree and its surroundings. Yan Yan had scorned these things during his previous visit, but this time, perhaps out of boredom, he bought a wishing plaque and started writing.

[Yan Ximing, Qian Ruqing…]

He paused for a moment. After a while, he added Zhuang Yiyun’s name before continuing to write.

[In the new year, may you be healthy and safe.]

After writing the simple and sincere blessing, he quickly hung the plaque on the tree, specifically choosing a spot not easily visible. Zhuang Yiyun mustn’t see it; otherwise, he might think he had some intentions toward him. It was only because Zhuang Yiyun was a good person that he wrote it. If he misunderstood, that would be a loss!

After hanging the wishing plaque, he called Zhuang Yiyun down the mountain for dinner. Zhuang Yiyun was taking photos on the other side of the wooden walkway when he heard Yan Yan’s call, prompting him to invite Yan Yan over.

On walking over, Yan Yan noticed Zhuang Yiyun was aiming the camera in his direction. Thinking about that photo “Miracle”, his movements stiffened slightly. He was afraid Zhuang Yiyun would take one like “The Holy Light” or something. If that happened, he might just kneel directly at the man’s feet. Losing meant losing his dignity!

Seeing Yan Yan trying to avoid his camera, Zhuang Yiyun put down his camera. He didn’t say much, just gestured for Yan Yan to look at the other end of the walkway.

“Shall we descend from this side?”

It was a path Yan Yan hadn’t walked before. It looked somewhat desolate, which sparked his curiosity immediately and he readily agreed.

The two explored the semi-abandoned mountain road, and reached the foot of the mountain when moonlight began to fall. The sound of waves crashing against the shore echoed in their ears, and the leaf-strewn path became slippery in places. There was even a section of an abandoned wooden walkway. Despite the increasing darkness, neither of them asked if the other was scared. With their growing mutual understanding, they seemed to share an unspoken understanding.

That night, they shared a bed again, but neither of them said much. Zhuang Yiyun went to sleep early, he wanted to capture the sunrise. He was all set to wake up at 4 AM and head to the mountain. Yan Yan just lay on the bed, playing on his phone. He arranged the photos he took that day into a grid and chatted with people in the comments section until late before finally falling asleep.

Orange looked at the photos without liking or commenting. He didn’t need any words this time to confirm their location. He had been there too, the sea view from the mountaintop temple on Fenjiezhou Island was so breathtaking that anyone who went there would never forget it. His flight was scheduled for the next afternoon, so he checked the time and bought a high-speed train ticket from Sanya to Lingshui.

He sincerely hoped that this visit would be a pleasant surprise, not a shock.

The next day, Zhuang Yiyun returned from photographing the sunset and Yan Yan was still sleeping. He also decided to first catch up on some sleep. Later, he woke up and took photos of the island. When Yan Yan got up, he went to find him. After a while, Yan Yan got bored and they decided to explore separately. Yan Yan went for water activities like diving.

At 7 PM, Yan Yan was waiting for his food alone in the restaurant when his phone suddenly rang. It was Orange.

He was a bit surprised. Over the past few days, he hadn’t had time to think about anything else. Suddenly receiving a call from Orange, he felt like he was abruptly returning to reality from isolation.

“Orange?”

“Brother Yan, I’m at Fenjiezhou Island’s pier. Can you come pick me up?” Orange’s voice was tense, a mix of excitement and nervousness. He was both anticipating the meeting and fearing rejection.

Yan Yan was surprised, thinking he might have misheard. “Fenjiezhou Island? How did you know I’m here?”

“I’ve been here. I saw your moments,” Orange replied.

Yan Yan didn’t ask further questions and just told Orange to wait for him at the pier. He informed the restaurant staff that he had to pick up someone and would come back for his meal later.

On his way to the pier, he kept wondering why Orange had suddenly come to find him. Had something happened? Perhaps it was a because he was preoccupied, so he didn’t realize how his Moments had made his pursuers feel uneasy and anxious.

The pier was full of crowds of people coming and going on the island. Only a young man was standing against the flow. Yan Yan approached, and it was the familiar face he had seen in the live broadcast.

Orange was not tall, around 1.7 meters, and looked nearly the same as he did in the livestreams, indicating he rarely used beauty filters. Yan Yan walked over and greeted him.

“Orange?”

“Brother Yan?” Orange’s eyes widened in surprise, clearly astonished by Yan Yan’s appearance. He had never seen it before because Yan Yan never showed his face in his broadcasts.

It was something he had often speculated about. He thought Yan Yan might have an average appearance, which was why he never revealed his face. He didn’t expect him to be so handsome in person. His emotions felt like a rollercoaster ride, soaring to a peak in an instant before plummeting down.

Brother Yan is so handsome and he liked Brother Yan very much, but since his conditions are so good, the possibility of him liking him is even smaller.

“Let’s not stand here. Have you eaten? Let’s talk while we eat,” Yan Yan said, leading Orange toward the restaurant. Most of the tourists on the island had already left, so there were fewer people on the streets. Meeting a friend from the internet so suddenly left them both at a loss for words.

Orange seemed visibly nervous the entire way until they sat down in the restaurant. Finally, he relaxed slightly.

“I didn’t expect you to come suddenly, but you’re welcome. We did plan to meet anyway.” Yan Yan showed exceptional patience with the gentle and obedient young man, and took the initiative to introduce himself. “I’m Yan Yan, the ‘color’ of 颜(yán), and the ‘extension’ of 延(yán). Nice to meet you.”

“Cheng Cheng, the ‘journey’ of 程(chéng), and the ‘clear’ of 澄(chéng).”

“Both are homophones…”

They looked at each other and both burst into laughter, lightening the atmosphere considerably. The unexpected connection through their names was something neither of them had anticipated as online friends.

Yan Yan handed him the menu and told him to look at it and order. Cheng Cheng took it but didn’t really look at the menu. He opened it but didn’t read a single word.

Seeing his reaction, Yan Yan knew they wouldn’t enjoy the meal unless they talked first.

“Why did you suddenly come to find me? Did something happen?”

Cheng Cheng’s gaze fell on Yan Yan’s distinctive golden semi-long hair and said: “Brother Yan, you’re not a 200-pound guy, and you don’t wear big gold chains or have tattoos.”

“Are you disappointed?”

Cheng Cheng shook his head. How could he be disappointed? Brother Yan was so handsome.

Yan Yan looked at him, his gaze encouraging. It was rare for him to be so persuasively kind. He was afraid that something might have happened to him in real life, so he asked if something unpleasant had occurred.

Cheng Cheng shook his head again, looking at Yan Yan. He finally summoned the courage to express his feelings. Unable to contain his affection, he held nothing back in front of his crush.

“Brother Yan, you said you would find me after the New Year, but you didn’t. So, I wanted to come find you. I wanted to meet you in person and ask you the question I asked last time. When I confessed to you before, you said we should meet first. Now that we’ve met, do you have an answer?”

There was no beating around the bush. Cheng Cheng’s straightforwardness left Yan Yan somewhat defenseless. Cheng Cheng’s gaze was like his name, crystal clear.

To be honest, being suddenly approached by a netizen after they checked his moments and asked for a confession was a bit shocking. But how much courage does it take for a young man to come all this way to see him during the New Year?

He didn’t reply immediately and his expression became serious. He eas accustomed to playing around with customers in the bar, so he never expected this online friend to have such sincere feelings.

Zhuang Yiyun had completely occupied his mind in the past two days. After Cheng Cheng sent him a message last time, he didn’t think about it carefully. Now that he thought about it, was the other party already very anxious when he asked him that question?

Yan Yan didn’t know that Cheng Cheng had already suspected it, so he ran over boldly because of the overwhelming sense of crisis. In his(Yan Yan’s) mind, this matter was simple. He never intended to engage in online relationships, planning to meet in person was to see if there was any chemistry. However, now… he admitted that Cheng Cheng was cute in person too, but there were no romantic feelings.

For things he was sure about, he wouldn’t beat around the bush. Moreover, Cheng Cheng was being so sincere; dragging things out would only hurt more. Long-term pain was worse than short-term pain.

“Cheng Cheng, if you’re willing, let’s just be friends. I’ll take care of you like a younger brother.”

Even though the young man didn’t catch the underlying message of “if you’re not willing, we won’t see each other again,” such a clear rejection was enough to make him feel distressed, and his eyes turned red in an instant.

When the expected blow landed, nobody felt good, especially Cheng Cheng, whose tears fell uncontrollably.

“Don’t cry…” Yan Yan fumbled with a tissue box, handing him a tissue. This kid seemed even more adorable in reality, making him cry like this filled him with a sense of guilt and he almost said something ridiculous like, “Big brother will buy you candy.”

“I don’t want to cry… but I can’t help it… wooo..” Cheng Cheng cried harder and asked, “Brother Yan, do you have someone you like?”

Yan Yan instinctively denied it. He was only lusting after Zhuang Yiyun and was prepared to break things off if he started a relationship with Cheng Cheng. Although he was reluctant, if it did happen, he had to let go.

He was wild, but he wasn’t into PUA, where love interests needed to separate body and mind. Emotions could be avoided, but if a relationship was formed, he couldn’t engage in desires with others.

Cheng Cheng wanted to ask, “Who are you out here with?” but managed to hold back. After being rejected, asking such a question would make him look like a pervert peeking into someone’s life.

An online friend… just an online friend… This made him want to cry even more!

In the end, Yan Yan had to coax him with great effort, barely managing to get him to eat. The crucial part was not to overdo the coaxing. He had just rejected someone, he couldn’t become a gentle, caring big brother. Otherwise, how would the other person move on?

Seeing Cheng Cheng crying like this, he chastised himself. He shouldn’t have gotten close to an 18-year-old who clearly had feelings for him.

After finishing dinner, Yan Yan checked the time. It was 8:30 PM, and the last boat to leave the island had already departed.

“Orange, have you booked a room? You can only stay on the island tonight.”

“No.”

Cheng Cheng shook his head, wetting another tissue. The look he gave Yan Yan seemed to say, “I’m heartbroken, and you’re asking me about such trivial things. Is that appropriate?”

“Tsk…”

Yan Yan felt like facepalming. He suddenly had a bad feeling. Rooms on the island were hard to come by, so he had no hope of finding any. He took out his phone and called the customer service center. Sure enough, it was as he suspected.

The 18 year old boy had come to find him, so he couldn’t just leave him like that. But he was staying with Zhuang Yiyun… Yan Yan’s scalp tingled, realizing an even more serious problem. If he brought this kid back to their room, how would Zhuang Yiyun react?

“There’s no other place to stay on the island. How about you spend the night with me?” Yan Yan forced himself to ask. “Don’t worry, you can sleep in the bedroom alone. I’ll stay in the living room and won’t disturb you.”

Cheng Cheng looked at him, then took out his phone to search for hotels and made a series of reservations with no hope.

Yan Yan took the opportunity to send a message to Zhuang Yiyun, who was out taking nighttime photos. “The stars are so beautiful tonight. Maybe you should take more pictures, capture the sunrise tomorrow morning?”