Chapter 62

Chapter 62

The movie continued, and the plot began to hit its stride.

When the man expressed his apologies for the ceiling collapsing because he had been dancing for joy, and the woman replied, “Why fix it? It’s not raining,” Ning Qiuyan and Guan Heng both laughed in unison, despite Ning Qiuyan already knowing the story by heart. When the two characters on screen began to kiss, Ning Qiuyan’s ears turned a quiet shade of red.

The entire case was shrouded in mystery, but as the layers were peeled back, a series of twists brought the film to its conclusion.

The total runtime was 116 minutes. They finished watching in silence and then briefly discussed a few details.

“The original story this movie is based on is actually very short, only a few chapters,” Ning Qiuyan told Guan Heng. “The book you were looking at earlier is just a short story collection that includes it. Besides this one, it’s been remade several times, and the plot has been fleshed out to varying degrees in each version.”

Guan Heng asked, “Which version do you like best?”

The lights had been turned back on. Guan Heng was still sitting in the armchair, his fingers lightly propping up his cheek as he looked down at Ning Qiuyan on the rug.

At night, he always seemed radiant, as if he were viewed through a soft-focus filter.

Ning Qiuyan said, “I still like this original 1957 version the best.”

Now that the movie was over, Ning Qiuyan didn’t have to worry about spoilers and shared quite a few of his insights. He always felt a strong urge to share things when he was with Guan Heng, becoming less introverted-especially when talking about the films and music he was interested in, which made his eyes light up.

“Many of Agatha Christie’s works have been adapted into movies or series, and most of them are excellent, but this one is my favorite.” Ning Qiuyan leaned against the armrest of Guan Heng’s chair, his puppy-like eyes filled with nothing but Guan Heng’s reflection. “But when it comes to my favorite mystery movie of all time, I actually have another love in my heart.”

Guan Heng asked, “What is it?”

Ning Qiuyan blinked and suddenly said, “You haven’t even told me what your favorite movie is.”

“Do you want to trade?” Guan Heng lowered his gaze, looking at him gently. “But I haven’t seen many movies.”

Ning Qiuyan asked, “Why?”

Over such a long span of time, Guan Heng had dabbled in many fields of art. Could it be that because he had missed the developmental period of cinema, he really had no interest in it?

Guan Heng said, “Do you remember the few works about Vampires we talked about last time?”

Ning Qiuyan nodded.

“I was the first person to read the scripts,” Guan Heng said. “Imagine being woken up from a deep sleep by an urgent phone call and being forced to chat with someone for hours. For the next six months, you’re harassed by them every few days for advice. Then, seven months later, you receive a thick manuscript from across the ocean, only to find three hundred thousand words of absolute rubbish written on it.”

Ning Qiuyan: “…”

So that was why Guan Heng hadn’t seen many movies? For some reason, he felt a bit like laughing.

“If the movies you recommend are of this caliber, there’s no harm in watching them,” Guan Heng said, referring to tonight.

Ning Qiuyan was quite confident in his taste, so they started the second film-Ning Qiuyan’s personal favorite, the 1999 movie *Fight Club*.

After the movie started, Ning Qiuyan poured himself a cup of hot tea. Just as he was about to return to the rug, Guan Heng called him over.

The lights were turned off again.

They sat together on the long sofa, not far apart-close enough to touch with a reach of the hand.

Ning Qiuyan was a bit nervous at first, so he sat very upright, not quite daring to turn his head to look at Guan Heng’s face. He cherished this night and intended to finish this second movie with him, but the day had been long and too much had happened. Not long after the movie started, his eyelids began to grow heavy.

Drowsily, Ning Qiuyan felt himself falling.

When he opened his eyes, he was still on the sofa, but he was lying on his side with his head resting on Guan Heng’s lap, much like he had in the car.

The volume of the movie had been turned down. Brad Pitt was smoking in a hotel room.

In the quiet play of light and shadow created by the changing scenes, Ning Qiuyan curled up. Emboldened by his sleepiness, he found Guan Heng’s hand, slid his fingers into the gaps between the other man’s one by one, and fell back asleep.

Guan Heng didn’t have much time left in Sujing. Once the night passed, there were only two days and one night remaining in total.

Ning Qiuyan woke up early from his dream, finding himself covered with a blanket. The movie was over, and Guan Heng was not in the living room. The curtains were open, and the sky outside was a hazy gray; it looked to be another overcast day.

A slight noise came from the direction of the bathroom.

Guan Heng was shirtless, drying his hair as he walked out of the bedroom.

Ning Qiuyan watched him walk all the way to the floor-to-ceiling window.

Perhaps Guan Heng didn’t know Ning Qiuyan was awake, or perhaps he simply didn’t care about exposing his body. He stood calmly in front of the window, looking down at the human world just waking up among the skyscrapers.

Ning Qiuyan decided to take back his thought that Guan Heng couldn’t be summarized by the word “sexy.”

Without a doubt, Guan Heng’s perfect physique was visually striking.

His shoulders and back were broad and solid, yet his body lines were long and elegant. His waist and abdomen were lean and tight, and he even had rare back dimples that invited endless imagination.

In the hazy morning light, Guan Heng’s skin appeared a cold, pale white. Contrasted with his long black hair, he looked like a piece of cool jade imbued with an air of abstinence. As he moved, the ripples of his muscles were clearly defined.

Ning Qiuyan couldn’t help but fantasize about the sensation of hugging Guan Heng face-to-face, his fingers digging into those broad back muscles.

This scene hit his aesthetic preferences so perfectly that he could only pull the blanket over his face, yet he couldn’t look away.

As it turned out, Guan Heng did know he was awake. He turned around and asked him calmly if he wanted to go out.

It was a rare chance to go out with Guan Heng during the day. Before he could even think, Ning Qiuyan hurriedly said yes.

“Order yourself some breakfast,” Guan Heng said, tossing the towel aside as his beautiful V-line disappeared into his waistband. “And then go get a pair of scissors.”

“Oh!” Ning Qiuyan scrambled up and hurried away.

Breakfast could be ordered directly to the room, but he had to find a housekeeper for the scissors. By the time Ning Qiuyan returned, Guan Heng was already sitting there lazily with a shirt draped over him, though the front was still open.
Ning Qiuyan had long noticed that Guan Heng preferred comfortable robes, liked wearing his hair down, went barefoot, and detested being restricted.

However, this was the first time he had truly seen Guan Heng’s private side.

Guan Heng had asked for scissors because he wanted to cut his hair short.

When he finished and stepped out of the bathroom with a hairdryer, Ning Qiuyan nearly choked on a mouthful of porridge.

Long hair had dampened the sense of aggression Guan Heng exuded, but the sharp, short haircut made his features appear even more striking.

Ning Qiuyan knew that Guan Heng’s hair would grow back in a very short time and that cutting it short would lower his profile in a crowd-it was all benefit and no drawback-yet he was quite unaccustomed to this look, which traded some of Guan Heng’s classical elegance for a more modern edge.

It seemed Guan Heng had done this before; the cut was actually quite good.

Ning Qiuyan helped Guan Heng dry his hair, inevitably touching Guan Heng’s neck, cheeks, and the rims of his ears. It was a very intimate act.

By the time he finished and said, “All done,” Ning Qiuyan’s own bathrobe had loosened considerably from his movements, revealing the adhesive bandage on his neck. Guan Heng pulled him closer and touched it, causing Ning Qiuyan’s body to go weak, nearly slumping onto Guan Heng’s lap.

Guan Heng’s fingers moved downward; the purplish-red finger marks near the bandage were still very prominent.

As those cool fingers brushed against the back of his neck and the palm closed around it, Ning Qiuyan’s chest heaved rapidly, and his eyes grew misty.

Guan Heng gazed at Ning Qiuyan for a moment, their breaths mingling.

With just a slight shift in angle, he could have kissed Ning Qiuyan’s soft, full lips and tasted their sweetness.

Ning Qiuyan was even prepared for it.

Guan Heng lowered his phoenix eyes, his features etched like a painting with sharp, decisive strokes. His fingers returned to the bandage, his gaze dark and inscrutable. “Do you still want to go out?”

Ning Qiuyan’s heart pounded wildly. “…Yes.”

“Mhm,” Guan Heng said. “Go get dressed.”

And so, they did not kiss.

It wasn’t until he returned to the bathroom to put away the hairdryer that Ning Qiuyan finally let out a breath.

The situation was spiraling out of control because they both seemed to desperately crave more intimacy.

No, they couldn’t. Ning Qiuyan splashed cold water on his burning face to cool down. There were some things Guan Heng didn’t need to state explicitly for him to understand.

If they continued like this, no matter how good Guan Heng’s self-control was, it was highly likely that Ning Qiuyan would be bitten a second time in short order.

That was a result neither of them wanted to see.

On the bathroom floor, Ning Qiuyan spotted a white clump that vaguely retained the shape of hair strands.

It turned out that when any part of a member of the Vampires left their body, it would turn to stone as if exposed to sunlight.

Ning Qiuyan knelt down and touched it with his finger; the white clump crumbled into powder, leaving no trace of whom it had once belonged to.

The day passed quickly, an experience Ning Qiuyan internally dubbed “An Ancient Vampire’s Modern City Tour.”

Qu Shu had sent over some clothes suitable for a human to wear in this season to help Guan Heng blend in better. Ning Qiuyan, knowing how damp and cold Sujing could get in winter, bundled himself up thickly and put on a knit scarf.

They didn’t take a car, choosing instead to head out on foot.

Sujing was very busy in the early morning; the roads were filled with a constant stream of vehicles, and commuters were all in a hurry.

Guan Heng had been away from Du Island for a few days, but this was his first real step into the world he had left over a hundred years ago.

Re-entering society after a century, Guan Heng showed no signs of discomfort; he was a composed observer.

This world belonged to humans; the construction and development of society were driven collectively by them.

Change happened too fast, evolving with each passing day.

From a historical perspective, the general patterns of change were consistent; it usually took a century or two for a qualitative leap to occur. As long as one lived long enough, no matter what era they were in or when they woke up, they wouldn’t miss those grand transformations.

Though nothing had gone according to Guan Heng’s plans, Ning Qiuyan believed that this trip to the human world still held a different kind of significance for him.

Ning Qiuyan bought hot milk at a convenience store and tucked the bottles into his large coat pockets. Not far from the hotel, he took one out and offered it to Guan Heng. “Would you like one?”

Guan Heng, of course, did not need it.

Ning Qiuyan knew this as well; his original intention was just to let Guan Heng warm his hands with the milk. After being declined, he stepped toward the side of the road and placed the bottle on the ground.

He didn’t stop there.

Ning Qiuyan’s pockets were like bottomless pits; he actually pulled out two more bottles, keeping one for himself and placing the other next to the one on the ground.

These were for the people protecting him, Ning Qiuyan told Guan Heng. He used to do this often back when he was in Wutong. Since he didn’t know how many of them there were, he usually left two bottles.

Guan Heng had no objection to this, only saying, “They won’t take them.”

Ning Qiuyan was shocked. “Why?”

Had the ones he left before all been taken by other people instead?

Guan Heng replied, “One of the most important aspects of their job is to minimize their presence as much as possible.”

Even though the incident involving Ning Qiuyan this time was partly due to the change in surveillance intensity compared to Wutong and was an accident, those people still bore some responsibility. They hadn’t taken Ning Qiuyan’s milk back in Wutong, and they certainly wouldn’t dare to take it now.

Ning Qiuyan understood.

He looked around, then turned his gaze back to the milk bottles on the ground, suddenly feeling at peace with it.

It was fine. Even if they never took them, it was still a good thing if that hot milk helped someone else in need.

Guan Heng had known for a long time that Ning Qiuyan did this; he had even seen photos of Ning Qiuyan sitting at the entrance of N° in the Underground Plaza, leaning against the iron railing and drinking milk.

However, Guan Heng had never stopped him.

Back then, he had allowed Ning Qiuyan to retain his unique innocence.

“Don’t leave them next time,” Guan Heng said in a cold tone, though he was merely stating a reality. “Just try your best to ignore them.”