The elevator in the apartment building ascended to the seventh floor, and Lu Yuxing stepped out as the doors closed behind him. Two minutes later, the elevator began its slow descent back to the first floor.
Standing at the door of Shang Jue's home, Lu Yuxing clenched his fist in his pocket for a while before finally pulling it out to knock twice on the door.
No one answered. Of course, it was also possible that Shang Jue saw him through the peephole and chose not to respond...
He knocked again, but still no reply. It seemed that Shang Jue really wasn't home.
Lu Yuxing had to admit that this trip was a wasted effort.
He stood there for a moment, then pressed the elevator button to go down.
The elevator ascended to the seventh floor, and the doors opened. Two people stepped forward at the same time, then abruptly halted, looking at each other's faces in surprise.
Inside the elevator, Shang Jue had one hand in his pocket. Lu Yuxing noticed him first, but his gaze quickly shifted to the noticeable bandage on Shang Jue's right eye, secured with medical tape.
“Your face—”
Shang Jue was quicker to respond: “...What are you doing here?”
Both of them were momentarily stunned, exchanging words across the elevator doors. As the doors began to close, Shang Jue finally reacted and stepped forward.
He had been forced to stay at the Shang family’s house for a few days, where he had endured various discussions with Shang Xinrong before he was finally allowed to return. But coming back, he was greeted with a big... surprise.
Seeing Lu Yuxing now made Shang Jue quite happy.
“What do you want? Are you here to cause trouble?”
“I...” Lu Yuxing was interrupted by several thoughts and suddenly forgot the excuse he had prepared in the dorm. After several attempts to speak, he decided to come up with something else: “I left something here before, so I came to get it.”
Shang Jue pondered for a moment and said, “I don’t think so. There’s nothing of yours in the living room or the bedroom.”
Lu Yuxing’s eyelid twitched. “There is.”
But he couldn't specify what it was.
Shang Jue furrowed his brow in frustration and thought, “There’s a pot in the kitchen that you bought. Do you want to take that?”
Lu Yuxing replied, “...”
He changed the subject. “What happened to your face?”
Shang Jue didn’t answer, nor could he.
Could he say: I shamelessly told my family I found a boyfriend, and ended up getting scolded?
“Do you really want to take the pot? It’s quite convenient; I use it to cook noodles and stuff. I can just transfer you the money if you need it. Anyway... you can’t use it in your dorm, right?”
Lu Yuxing pressed on, “What happened to your face?”
Shang Jue walked to the front door and took out his keys to unlock it.
He turned the key, but his hand didn’t pull the door open.
Lu Yuxing pressed his palm against the door, blocking him from entering.
As if he had lost his patience, Shang Jue's tone turned unfriendly: “Didn’t I say you didn’t have to repay me like this?”
Shang Jue took a moment to remember what he had said to Lu Yuxing a couple of days ago: “This injury counts as a debt you owe me.”
He replied, “No, it was an accident. Besides, the wound is so small, it doesn’t really count as repayment, does it?”
Lu Yuxing's voice suddenly turned more serious: “Are you trying to get yourself a bigger one?”
Shang Jue was at a loss for words: “...Am I insane?”
“Then explain what happened to your face?”
Shang Jue had no choice but to turn around, leaning against the door with his back to it, facing Lu Yuxing. He propped one elbow on the door handle, letting the other hang lazily by his side. “Why should I tell you? You’re not my boyfriend.”
“...”
Lu Yuxing suddenly didn’t know how to respond, so he fell silent.
But even if he wasn’t Shang Jue's boyfriend, he still wanted an answer today.
Shang Jue sighed, “I accidentally got scratched by a piece of broken porcelain.”
Lu Yuxing scoffed.
“...I told you, you wouldn’t believe me. Why bother asking?”
Lu Yuxing insisted, “I want my pot back.”
Shang Jue pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache coming on as he tried to clarify: “A few days ago, when I went out, there was a lunatic throwing bottles against the wall, and one just happened to hit near me, and I got scratched by a piece.”
Lu Yuxing: ...
He dropped his hand from the door and coldly said, “Open the door and give me my pot back.”
Shang Jue frowned, “I’m not lying to you.”
He looked like he didn’t want to lose his pot, seeming to genuinely not be lying.
But that explanation sounded completely insane.
Lu Yuxing pressed on, “Where did you go?”
Shang Jue replied, “...To my house.”
Lu Yuxing: ...
He gritted his teeth, “And the lunatic?”
Shang Jue hesitated for a moment. “...My dad.”
Lu Yuxing: “………………”
“And the bottles?”
“Really just bottles.”
Lu Yuxing said flatly, “Open the door.”
Shang Jue wasn’t happy anymore: “Do you want me to tell you what year that bottle is from? It’s a bottle, I swear, porcelain.”
“I know.”
Shang Jue retorted, “Then why do you still want my pot?”
Lu Yuxing responded, “Whether you’re lying or not has nothing to do with me wanting my pot back.”
Shang Jue nearly laughed from anger.
Is he trying to take advantage of me?
The moment that thought crossed his mind, he suddenly realized: Is he getting back at me just because I took advantage first? His sense of revenge is this strong?
“…” He shot Lu Yuxing a deep glance, then straightened up and opened the door.
Once inside, he headed straight for the kitchen, collecting everything that Lu Yuxing had previously brought over. Looking at the suddenly emptier kitchen, he felt a wave of desolation wash over him, like a divorce settlement.
Shang Jue regretted not buying everything a bit faster back then. If he had, they wouldn’t have so many problems now.
Lu Yuxing followed him but didn’t go in, instead standing outside the kitchen, watching Shang Jue bustle around.
When Shang Jue looked for a few bowls and dumped the seasonings from the jars into the empty ones, Lu Yuxing suddenly felt a pang of regret for getting angry and bringing this up.
Shang Jue turned the kitchen upside down. Aside from the times Lu Yuxing had come over, he rarely entered the kitchen, but today he was becoming familiar with this unfamiliar corner of his home.
Ten minutes later, he came out carrying a pot filled with various bottles and jars, along with two knives.
He brought the pot into the living room, set it down on the coffee table, and glanced around to see if there were any other personal items belonging to Lu Yuxing.
Lu Yuxing stood in the corner of the living room, not looking around.
They had been arguing for three years, so they were used to this adversarial relationship. But in this place, they had shared the most moments, not through fights, but through kisses.
Shang Jue quickly scanned the room and found nothing else. “For now, this is all. If I find anything else you bought in the future, I’ll contact you on WeChat to return it.”
Lu Yuxing didn't answer and instead asked, "Can I see your eye?"
Shang Jue was taken aback, unsure how to refuse, as he knew that Lu Yuxing was the type not to bring up wanting to see his injury. When he remained silent, Lu Yuxing stepped forward and gently peeled back the medical tape around Shang Jue's eye.
Two fresh cuts were visible, particularly the one on his eyelid. Lu Yuxing pressed his fingertip against the skin below the wound and leaned in closer. Shang Jue's eyeball moved slightly under Lu Yuxing's fingertip, the sensation felt strange through the thin eyelid.
The wound wasn't shallow, and Shang Jue's eyelid was thin enough to give the impression that if the shard of porcelain had cut a little deeper, it might have damaged his eyeball.
"Did your dad do this?"
Shang Jue didn't want to explain his complicated family issues. He raised his eyes to meet Lu Yuxing's tightly furrowed brows. Lu Yuxing's palm was warm and dry against his face, causing Shang Jue to slightly tilt his head. The injury on his eyelid brushed against Lu Yuxing's fingertip.
Lu Yuxing's fingers froze for a moment before he slowly withdrew.
"What did Tian Miao say? Is he going to cause you trouble?" Shang Jue asked.
"His family came by. At first, they wanted to go to the police, but when they saw my injury, they backed off."
"Has Old Wang contacted you?"
"Yeah, as soon as I got back, he called me to his office. He said I started it and wanted me to apologize to Tian Miao and offer financial compensation."
"What did you say?"
"I said compensation is fine."
But apologizing was out of the question.
After Lu Yuxing spoke, he noticed Shang Jue's serious expression as he lowered his gaze in thought. Lu Yuxing coldly asked, "Are you trying to say I acted impulsively?"
Shang Jue lightly pouted, thinking, What position do I have to lecture you from now?
He turned his attention to the pot on the coffee table and asked, "Do you want me to find a bag to put this in?"
With all the scattered items, he was concerned that if Lu Yuxing dropped one while walking, he wouldn’t know if Lu Yuxing’s fragile head could handle bending over repeatedly.
"…"
"Forget it, I won't need it if I take it back," Lu Yuxing replied.
Shang Jue frowned, "Are you messing with me?"
"…You think I'm like you?" Lu Yuxing said, turning to walk outside.
Shang Jue followed him a few steps but stopped at the entrance, not stepping outside to see him off. Their current relationship made it feel too much to do so.
As Lu Yuxing opened the door, he glanced back and said, "You keep the pot for cooking noodles."