Zhou Chaosheng's fingers curled tightly as he clutched his clothes, pressing firmly against his chest, suspecting that something was wrong with his heart.
Otherwise, why was his heart beating so frequently and violently, even accelerating for no reason?
That missed beat. It was like trying to hit a high note but failing, suddenly suspended in midair, then plummeting downward. Before the weightlessness could even register, it surged upward again, erratically rising and falling.
He had followed the rules for twenty-seven years. Twenty-seven whole years, never once overstepping.
But now...
Now, his mind felt as if it were tightly bound by tangled threads, inescapable and unbreakable. As if those threads had seeped into his brain, firmly entwining all his thoughts and reasoning into a single, chaotic mess, leaving him unable to even think about why.
"Chaosheng... Zhou Chaosheng?"
Jiang Yuanye's voice carried undeniable sharpness, instantly shattering the invisible barrier Zhou Chaosheng had unconsciously built between himself and the outside world.
He heard Jiang Yuanye calling him but didn’t want to answer, didn’t want to respond. He wanted nothing more than to turn around and leave, to get away from Jiang Yuanye, to escape this unsolvable dilemma.
After spending so much time together, could he still see Jiang Yuanye as he once did?
That second, that moment Zhou Chaosheng felt as if his brain was on the verge of overload. He had never been this chaotic, never before so utterly lost about what to think or do next.
"...Zhou Chaosheng, can you hear me?"
Jiang Yuanye waved a hand in front of his face, frowning slightly. "What's wrong with you? Do you feel unwell? Did you eat something bad at breakfast?"
Zhou Chaosheng realized that if he didn’t respond soon, he might expose himself in front of Jiang Yuanye. He had no choice but to speak, but when he did, his own hoarse voice startled him.
"...I'm fine."
Jiang Yuanye frowned again. "You call that fine? Your voice is hoarse like an old broken bellows. Did you eat too many sweets and get sick of them?"
As he spoke, he reached into the right-side pocket of his backpack, pulled out a thermos, unscrewed the lid, and handed it over. "Here, drink some. It's warm."
Zhou Chaosheng hesitated as he took it. The thermos had an insulating ceramic coating, so it shouldn’t feel hot to the touch, yet somehow, it did.
"..."
This was something Jiang Yuanye had drunk from.
Zhou Chaosheng lowered his head, silently staring at the thermos in his hands.
"Why are you just standing there? Drink it." Jiang Yuanye urged.
Zhou Chaosheng's expression was complicated, with a hint of clear hesitation.
Seeing him remain motionless, Jiang Yuanye rubbed his chin thoughtfully, as if he'd figured something out. "Wait, don't tell me you still have a cleanliness issue with me?"
It sounded almost like he was saying: We're already partners, how can you still have a cleanliness issue with me?
Zhou Chaosheng lowered his eyes. His previously wavering thoughts disappeared completely after that remark. He forcibly stuffed the thermos back into Jiang Yuanye's hands and said coldly, "Thanks, but I don’t want it."
Jiang Yuanye eyed him suspiciously. "Your cleanliness obsession is that bad?"
"...No, I just don’t want to drink plain water."
Jiang Yuanye tsk-ed, then pulled his bag forward, unzipping it to rummage inside. After a moment, he took out a single-serving packet of honey.
Without a word, he zipped his bag back up, tore open the packet, and carefully squeezed the honey into the thermos.
Zhou Chaosheng: "..."
Was he really determined to make him drink this?
Jiang Yuanye screwed the lid back on and shook the thermos a few times before handing it over again.
"Here, drink it now."
He was the one who refused to drink plain water, and Jiang Yuanye had simply added honey for him. Now that the honey was in, if he still refused, it would seem unreasonable. Zhou Chaosheng was caught in a dilemma, neither able to accept nor reject it.
Seeing this, Jiang Yuanye raised an eyebrow and said, "What, do you want me to feed it to you?"
Zhou Chaosheng quickly grabbed the thermos.
Between an indirect kiss and being fed by Jiang Yuanye, the former was at least more dignified.
Just as he took a sip of the honey water, Jiang Yuanye suddenly commented, "...I thought you would drink it upside down."
"Cough, cough!" Zhou Chaosheng had just swallowed when he was caught off guard and choked violently.
"Hey, slow down..." Jiang Yuanye placed a hand on his back, patting and rubbing gently to help him catch his breath. "What's the rush? No one's fighting you for it."
Zhou Chaosheng: "..."
After taking in the panoramic view of Iceland's capital from the top of Hallgrímskirkja, the group took the elevator back down. Initially, they had planned to head straight to the harbor next, but the two women in their group came to a stop as soon as they spotted the autumn foliage near the church, unable to resist taking pictures.
The men followed closely behind. Once they reached the autumn foliage, the two women didn’t hesitate and confidently struck their poses.
"Xiao Man, tilt your head a little more. Yunzhi, you can place your hand on her shoulder and lift the other toward the sky. Yes! Just like that!"
Zhuo Chenyang directed their movements from the side while Jiang Yuanye moved around with his camera, searching for the best angles. Behind them, Fang Yi and Zhou Chaosheng stood silently, though not completely. Occasionally, they chimed in with a few compliments about the shots.
Once the photos were taken, the group made their way around the side of the church, strolling down a path that led straight toward the ocean.
As usual, Jiang Yuanye walked close to Zhou Chaosheng, their shoulders nearly touching. Initially, it had taken Zhou Chaosheng less than three days to get used to Jiang Yuanye’s proximity, but now, it was as if he had regressed to square one, feeling uncomfortable all over again.
"Don't walk so close to me," Zhou Chaosheng couldn't help but say.
Jiang Yuanye gave him a puzzled look. "What's with you? Are you jealous? Because I was just taking photos of the girls?"
Did this guy have anything in his head besides jealousy?
Zhou Chaosheng was speechless. "You're overthinking it."
He shifted away slightly, but Jiang Yuanye immediately closed the gap again, even reaching out to wrap an arm around his shoulder. "Then why are you avoiding me if it’s not that?" he asked, dissatisfied.
Zhou Chaosheng, caught off guard, accidentally bumped into Jiang Yuanye’s shoulder. It wasn’t a hard collision, but the inertia caused their heads to nearly touch. Of course, it was Jiang Yuanye who leaned in first.
"....."
His heart skipped a beat.
Only now did Zhou Chaosheng begin to worry about his own health. Once could be dismissed as a bad night's sleep, but twice, three times—over and over—it was starting to wear on him.
"I'm not avoiding you. I just don’t like people being too close to me," Zhou Chaosheng explained, his voice slightly strained.
Jiang Yuanye pointed to himself. "Even me?"
Looking at those big, blinking eyes, Zhou Chaosheng inexplicably saw a hint of grievance in them. As a result, the words "No, not even you" never made it past his lips.
"Well? Yes or no?"
As he spoke, Jiang Yuanye squeezed his shoulder lightly through the thick down jacket.
Zhou Chaosheng was silent for a moment before finally saying, "Do whatever you want."
Jiang Yuanye chuckled. "So that’s a yes?"
Zhou Chaosheng remained quiet.
"If you don’t say anything, I’ll take that as you admitting I’m not just 'other people' to you."
Zhou Chaosheng was just about to respond when Zhuo Chenyang, who had been walking behind them, suddenly jogged over with his backpack.
"Jiang... Lovien-ge, can you take a picture for me? I want a shot with my back facing the mountains and lake up ahead."
Jiang Yuanye glanced at Zhou Chaosheng, who seemed a little frustrated, then squinted and laughed. "Sure! Take a few steps back, and I’ll film a short clip for you too."
At 10:30 in the morning, the streets were nearly empty. Zhuo Chenyang felt completely at ease as he turned his back to the quiet road.
After a three-second countdown, Jiang Yuanye pressed the shutter, capturing a few shots before switching to video mode.
Through the lens, the unique Nordic blue tones appeared slightly muted. Only by looking past the viewfinder, gazing directly into the distance, could one take in the shimmering ocean, the layered clouds, and the sharply defined mountain ridges in their full glory.
"My friends, this place is truly breathtaking. It’s so beautiful, it feels like a dreamland where deities reside, rather than somewhere on Earth..."
Zhuo Chenyang’s voice carried his awe as Jiang Yuanye followed his movements with the camera.
In the frame, the deep blue sea stretched to the horizon. Above the water, a lighter shade of icy blue rippled with hints of varying depths, like uneven strokes of oil paint blending from ocean to snow-capped mountains and sky, each layer progressively lighter and clearer.
Standing on this land, no matter how extensive one’s vocabulary, it was difficult to find words worthy of describing Iceland’s natural beauty.
Jiang Yuanye’s gaze drifted away from the scenery, settling on a figure just a few steps away. He lingered there, lost in thought.
He stared for a long time, intently, as if engraving that silhouette into his memory. At that moment, time seemed to freeze. The boundary between the sea and sky blurred, leaving only that figure—standing out, breaking through the constraints of time, embedding itself in both his eyes and his heart.
Wherever he looked, all he saw was Zhou Chaosheng.
The sky was blue, the sea was blue.
And the blues of Iceland melted into his soul, brushing away a thin layer of snow, attempting to conceal the restless beat of his heart.
He pressed the pause button.
Silently, subtly, he shifted the camera’s angle.
Without anyone noticing, he focused the lens on a particular someone.
Click.
Along with his heartbeat, the shutter fell.
After taking a few satisfactory photos, he then deliberately turned the camera back toward Zhuo Chenyang, pressing the shutter dozens of times in quick succession, layering new images over the ones he had secretly taken—covering them up, little by little.
After striking dozens of poses, Zhuo Chenyang turned around, flashing his white teeth in a grin as he asked Jiang Yuanye, “Ge, how did the photos turn out?”
Jiang Yuanye, against his conscience, said, “That last video wasn’t great. The lighting made your skin look darker, and you were out of frame. How about… we shoot it again?”
“Ah?!” Zhuo Chenyang’s face fell in disappointment, looking utterly crestfallen. He had thought his performance just now was quite decent. How could he have been out of frame…
“…Alright, let’s do it again.”
Jiang Yuanye hummed twice in agreement, raised the camera, and, with a serious expression, reshot the scene.