Chapter 98: A Dream of Compensation

The housekeeper responsible for cleaning the house noticed that Ning Yixiao’s obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) seemed to have improved significantly.

For instance, he used to insist that all books on the bookshelves be categorized and arranged strictly according to his requirements. Yet, the other master of the house loved reading; books were left open and abandoned everywhere—from the bedroom to the living room and the study. Every time the housekeeper wanted to put them away, Ning Yixiao would stop her.

“Just leave them there. He’ll start pacing around the whole house looking for them in a moment.”

“Understood.”

Aside from books, Su Hui also loved home decor and renovations. The previously cold and sterile house, which looked like a showroom, was now filled with soft furnishings he had added. Because he suffered from decision paralysis, the positions of the small sofa and coffee table were always changing. The desk was covered in his sticky notes and sketches—all things Ning Yixiao once couldn’t tolerate—but now, he didn’t seem to mind at all, and even specifically instructed the housekeeper not to tidy them up.

Judging by his expression, there wasn’t even a hint of forced tolerance; everything felt natural.

People really do change.

However, Su Hui would try to tidy up himself. Even though maintaining constant order was difficult for him, he always tried to restrain his urge to move things whenever he went into Ning Yixiao’s study, fearing he would forget where they were supposed to go.

He applied hand cream to Ning Yixiao’s hands at scheduled times every day.

“Your hands seem much better recently,” Su Hui said, head bowed, massaging his fingers as he applied the cream. “They feel very comfortable to hold. It seems the symptoms of excessive hand-washing have really eased.”

Ning Yixiao loved the feeling of being taken care of by him. Sometimes, he would even intentionally find opportunities—like pretending to go wash his hands in a place where Su Hui could see him—just to watch him drop his book, run over, and take his hands.

“What did Grace say? Did you have a new assessment?” Su Hui asked, looking up.

“Mm,” Ning Yixiao replied, holding Su Hui’s hand in return. “She said the root of my previous symptoms was emotional stress and a high tendency for control. Not interacting with people and disliking staying in chaotic environments were things that actually exacerbated it.”

His high level of control always trapped him in a pursuit of perfect order. Perhaps because he had experienced too many setbacks, Ning Yixiao could barely tolerate mistakes, derailments, or failures; he could only stuff himself into a suffocating yet orderly world.

But Su Hui had returned, embraced him, and used his teeth to bite a small opening in the vacuum bag that had imprisoned him.

Oxygen flooded in, and he was saved.

Ning Yixiao knew there was one person in this world who, no matter what he did—whether it was right or wrong—firmly believed he was perfect, with no need for him to try to approach perfection.

“Now that I’m in contact with you every day and willing to go many places, it’s basically an unconscious exposure therapy.”

As Su Hui listened, he sensed something off and teased him, “Exposure therapy… does that mean you think I’m dirty?”

Ning Yixiao laughed, “You are the cleanest person in the world.”

Su Hui knew he would say that, but he still felt a bit smug. “Then I shall reluctantly shoulder the arduous task of helping the little dog with his exposure therapy.”

“Thank you.” Ning Yixiao’s hand lifted his hem. “Can we start the treatment now?”

“Why are you like this… don’t, it tickles.” Su Hui couldn’t escape; he rolled halfway across the bed, only to be dragged back with one hand.

Ning Yixiao pinned his hands behind his back, rubbing his nose against Su Hui’s tip-toes with infinite tenderness.

“Can’t I kiss you?”

“I can, I can.” Su Hui had no choice but to surrender, allowing him to kiss and caress him.

Ning Yixiao especially liked to kiss his tattoo, nibbling on the thin skin and leaving a tooth mark on the letter ‘M’.

After tossing and turning for most of the day, Su Hui was completely exhausted. He kept his eyes half-closed, letting his hair stick to his face, too lazy to push it away. Outside the window, it was overcast, and it began to rain.

“Will the cherry tree we planted get ruined by the rain?”

Su Hui was still panting as he spoke, his chest heaving, his skin glistening with a thin layer of sweat.

Ning Yixiao brushed the damp hair from his forehead, “No, the rain is just right.”

Su Hui rubbed his face against his palm, “Will it bear cherries next year?”

Ning Yixiao knew it wouldn’t—it takes at least three years for a sapling to bear fruit—but he still replied calmly, “Who knows.”

He covered Su Hui with a thin blanket. Su Hui felt too hot and pushed it aside, his waist exposed, marked with a mix of old and new traces.

“Su Hui,” Ning Yixiao said, his fingertips tracing that line of English text. “Help me get a tattoo.”

“A tattoo?” Su Hui propped himself up on his elbows, leaning against Ning Yixiao, not asking why. In an instant, he imagined the needles piercing Ning Yixiao’s skin, the sharp pain already pricking his own heart.

“But tattoos are very painful.”

Ning Yixiao didn’t mind, “I’m not afraid of pain.”

Su Hui didn’t speak, pausing for a moment before getting out of bed wrapped in a blanket. “Close your eyes. Wait for me.”

When he returned to the bedside, Su Hui didn’t expect Ning Yixiao to have actually closed his eyes. His heart skipped a beat, and he leaned over to kiss the corner of Ning Yixiao’s eye.

“Can you open them now?”

Su Hui made a few sticky, negative monosyllabic sounds in his throat. “No.”

“Why did I have to close my eyes?” Ning Yixiao asked again.

“Just to try something.”

Ning Yixiao didn’t understand what he meant, only feeling Su Hui grab his hand. A second later, a sharp, slight pain appeared on the back of his hand, like a mosquito bite, followed immediately by another one right next to the first spot.

“Does it hurt?” Su Hui asked.

Ning Yixiao didn’t wait for the command and opened his eyes. He found that Su Hui was actually holding an automatic pencil, stabbing his hand with the lead.

It was truly a behavior very consistent with Su Hui’s personality.

“Are you treating me like a child?” Ning Yixiao caught his wrist.

Su Hui sat beside him, clicked the end of the pencil, and pricked his own hand too. “Tattoos are thirty times more painful than this.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

Su Hui couldn’t dissuade him, “Fine, then what kind of tattoo do you want? Words or a drawing?”

“Words,” Ning Yixiao said. “I’ve decided. Just write ‘See you around’.”

Su Hui turned his head to look at him, blinking. The two exchanged a glance.

He solved Ning Yixiao’s riddle almost immediately, reading out the answer, “Hui (洄 – to eddy/flow back)?”

A faint smile appeared in Ning Yixiao’s eyes, “How are you so smart?”

Su Hui couldn’t explain why. It was like a subconscious reflex.

His name was water flowing back; it was like some kind of omen—twisting and turning, always returning to Ning Yixiao’s side.

“Why not use ‘See you later’?” Su Hui asked again.

“Because ‘See you around’ has a sense of uncertainty. You never know how long the departure will be, and meeting again could be very accidental.”

Hearing his explanation, Su Hui felt a bit sad for no reason, but it really suited them.

“Okay,” he smiled. “But not today, I don’t have the tools. Wait for me to prepare, okay?”

Ning Yixiao agreed.

A rainstorm took away the last of the summer, and autumn arrived quietly. Because of work, Su Hui returned to New York alone for a while, running back and forth between Bella and Keisha’s studios.

He frequently received calls from the academy, inviting him to return and continue teaching, even offering to help him secure a position as a visiting professor.

Su Hui had no interest in these titles. The only thing that made him feel nostalgic for his past work was the act of creating art with the students.

Compared to the conditions offered by the academy, he was much happier to hear that they had expelled Mike.

When talking to Ryan on the phone, Su Hui heard the follow-up, “I heard his dad, who donated money to the academy, came personally to drag him back. They seem to have locked him in some forced rehabilitation center.”

“It seems his dad still has some sense of right and wrong.”

“If he really had it, he would’ve disciplined him long ago. Who knows who was applying pressure behind the scenes, otherwise, why would the academy expel him?”

When he heard that, Su Hui immediately thought of Ning Yixiao and asked him.

[Little Cat: Yixiao, did you go to Mike’s dad?]

After a while, Ning Yixiao replied, very briefly.

[Puppy: Mm.]

[Little Cat: How did you convince his dad?]

The reply came within seconds, as if it required no thought at all.

[Puppy: Didn’t need to convince him. I’m his biggest client.]

Fair enough.

Su Hui understood immediately.

Sure enough, the real world needs people like Ning Yixiao.

A month later, the MsnF New York campus was completed. The iconic building in the center was a circular domed glass structure, serving as the brand’s flagship store.

To promote the New York campus, Su Hui specifically moved Reset1224 from the ongoing touring exhibition, placed it in the open space in front of the flagship store, and rearranged the environment and lighting, turning it into a large-scale piece of public installation art.

On the day of completion, Su Hui asked Jing Ming to take a photo of him. The photo included him, the installation art, and the building behind it.

He posted this photo on his social media account.

[@EddyS: The new home of the time capsule [Heart]]

This action immediately caught the attention of social networks. With the help of this already well-known piece, the MsnF flagship store became a new “it” spot for social media check-ins, remaining a hot topic.

Of course, fans who loved the two of them were knocked unconscious by this sudden, massive dose of sweetness.

[The artist is really good at this. He used his work to promote his husband’s campus. As expected, I love watching people at the peak of their respective fields fall in love.]

[It really is beautiful. Who wouldn’t stop to take photos and browse the store?]

[Don’t even mention it. Now you have to queue just to take photos. Seeing the line makes me want to just go inside and shop first (this might be the strategy, actually).]

[Writing ‘promotion’, reading ‘large-scale public confession’.]

Ning Yixiao traveled from the Bay Area to New York to attend the promotional event held at the new campus. Many reporters asked about his private life, but he didn’t answer any of them. As usual, he kept a cold face and only answered questions related to work.

Before leaving, he was surrounded by a group of young fans asking for autographs. Usually, Ning Yixiao wouldn’t sign autographs at public events like this, fearing commercial implications. Carl was used to it and stepped in to block them, but one girl shouted excitedly, “Shaw, I really love Eddy!”

Ning Yixiao, who had been in his cold-faced elite mode, suddenly broke into a gentle smile.

“Thank you.”

This video was, of course, posted online.

[Incredible. This thick ‘family member’ vibe.]

[The girl didn’t even say she liked him, she said she liked his wife.]

[Damn, this is the first time I’ve seen him smile like that in public. Turns out the name ‘Eddy’ is a smile-catcher.]

After the event ended, it was already dark. Ning Yixiao got into the car and gave the driver the address to Bella’s studio.

“Not going home?” Karl, in the passenger seat, turned to ask.

Ning Yixiao seized the opportunity to open his laptop to deal with work while replying to Karl, “Su Hui is doing a makeup test today. I’m going to pick him up, and then we’re going to eat with Jing Ming and the others.”

When Karl heard the name ‘Jing Ming’, alarm bells went off in his head.

He’s not going to go on a date with a female celebrity again, get followed by paparazzi, and drag his boss down with him, is he?

But then Karl thought, It seems there are already plenty of paparazzi following Ning Yixiao directly these days.

“Do you need me to book a table at a restaurant?”

“No need. You can go straight home and rest.”

Karl was quite touched; he finally got to get off work early.

Hopefully, I won’t have to worry about my boss’s PR over the weekend.

When Ning Yixiao arrived, Su Hui hadn’t finished work yet, so he stayed in the car and worked while waiting. Half an hour later, Su Hui came down, ran to Ning Yixiao’s car, and knocked on the backseat window.

As soon as Ning Yixiao looked up, he saw Su Hui’s smiling face.

Su Hui was wearing a large, dark grey beanie and his black thin-knit sweater. The clothes weren’t a perfect fit—they were a size too big—with long sleeves covering half his palms and a wide neckline revealing his collarbone. He also had a large, dark brown crossbody bag, making him look a bit lethargic overall.

He truly had the air of a model.

“You’ve been waiting a long time, right?” He opened the car door and got in, the silver hoop on his earlobe swaying. “Bella and the others took another car and told us not to wait for them.”

“I just arrived too,” Ning Yixiao nodded, closed his laptop, and held his hand. “Your hands are freezing.”

“It was still very hot during the day. Suddenly it got windy at night.” Su Hui looked out the window, where the wind was whipping up golden leaves, spinning them in the low air before carrying them away.

“You won’t be cold once we drink a bit.”

“Drink less.”

Su Hui leaned against his shoulder, his tone very obedient. “I’ll listen to you.”

Although he made this promise, Ning Yixiao actually couldn’t stop him. Especially with Jing Ming sitting nearby, who was very keen on drinking games. Su Hui, a ‘game black hole’, ended up drinking enough in penalties after just a few rounds.

“Ah, I really lost too many times.” Su Hui was very frustrated, burrowing into Ning Yixiao’s arms and lying on his lap. “Not playing, not playing.”

Ning Yixiao didn’t speak, only stroking the back of his neck with a faint smile on his face.

“I tell you two…” Jing Ming looked at them with an expression of “I can’t bear to watch.” “Why does everyone say marriage is the graveyard of love? You two are the opposite; after getting married, you’re holding hands and jumping straight into the river of love. It’s like a water burial.”

Bella was so amused by his unique phrasing that she nearly spat out her drink. “Jing Ming, why don’t you do stand-up comedy? Being a rich kid is a waste of your talents.”

Chloe couldn’t help but complain, “Then we’d all become his material, none of us could escape.”

“True. The way you guys are paired up… I would’ve brought a date today if I’d known.”

“Don’t,” Bella was terrified. “If you expose us both, I’d really thank you.”

Su Hui had a bit too much to drink. The voices of everyone chatting sounded like birds circling above his head, making his eyes dizzy, and the posture of lying facedown only intensified this dizziness.

“So dizzy…”

Ning Yixiao lowered his head, heard Su Hui’s quiet mumbling, and scooped him up. Seeing his eyes were blurry from drunkenness, he leaned into his ear, “Want to go outside and sober up?”

Su Hui nodded, “Mm, want to.”

Ning Yixiao took off his black suit jacket and draped it over Su Hui’s shoulders, half-embracing him as they left the bar. Outside, many people were standing in the wind, chatting while holding wine glasses.

The autumn wind carried a distinct chill. Su Hui felt a shiver, his mind clearing up significantly, his whole body trembling.

“Cold?”

Su Hui shook his head but leaned closer to Ning Yixiao.

His drunken, hazy eyes and flushed face were framed under the beanie, revealing only a little—only facing Ning Yixiao, as if just for him to see.

Ning Yixiao took his hand, and the two walked forward. Su Hui’s thoughts were jumping, suddenly skipping from Bella’s autumn/winter line to their past topics in Beijing.

“Beijing’s autumn is really beautiful, and very long.”

They had experienced a very long and full passionate love during that golden autumn.

“Mm,” Ning Yixiao was also pulled back to the past by Su Hui’s words.

As Su Hui spoke, he suddenly stopped, hugged Ning Yixiao, stood on his toes, and kissed him. When they separated, he looked quietly into Ning Yixiao’s eyes in the darkness.

“Ning Yixiao, we’re spending autumn together again.”

Ning Yixiao bumped his forehead against his, “There will be many more autumns.”

Su Hui liked his response and smiled like a child. He loosened his arms and spread them wide, embracing the night wind blowing in his face.

“Do you know? In ancient times, the wind had another name, an idiom.”

“What idiom?”

“‘Waking-Bone Real Man’ (醒骨真人).” Su Hui turned his head to look at him, smiling. “Doesn’t this name sound cool? When the wind blows, it wakes up even the bones. Just looking at these characters feels cool and chilly.”

“It does.” Ning Yixiao loved it when Su Hui shared these strange yet interesting pieces of trivia. His own life was a series of planned black, white, and grey lines; Su Hui brought him colorful, unrestrained dots.

“Your clothes smell so good.” Su Hui lowered his head and took a serious sniff. “A very comfortable cologne scent.”

He was drunk, his walk a bit unsteady. Ning Yixiao stretched out his hand from time to time to steady his wrist.

This street was filled with chic bars and cafes. The two stopped and started, eventually standing by a red wall. Ning Yixiao suddenly wanted a cigarette, so he lit one out of the wind, took a puff, and the exhaled smoke formed faint halos under the dim, yellow lights.

“I want to smoke too.” Su Hui reached out, posing like a child asking for candy.

Ning Yixiao didn’t rush, took a puff, and held his hand with the cigarette up high, intentionally not giving it to him.

“Let me have a puff.” Su Hui stepped closer, almost pressing against Ning Yixiao’s chest.

Ning Yixiao lowered his head and blew the smoke ring toward his face, like a provocation. The circular white smoke ring was quickly blown away and dragged out by the wind, landing on Su Hui’s face like flowing light.

Through the smoke, the still-drunk Su Hui suddenly stood on his toes, parted his lips, and inhaled the smoke in the posture of a kiss, his half-closed eyes incredibly ambiguous.

This made Ning Yixiao think of the past, beneath the morning glory flowers on campus, where they used cigarettes as a substitute for a kiss.

In the end, he couldn’t resist lowering his head to kiss Su Hui, and also passed the cigarette to him.

“Smoke then.”

“Thank you.” Su Hui’s smile held a hint of subtle triumph.

Even though Su Hui wasn’t good at games, Ning Yixiao always lost to him.

After finishing the cigarette, Su Hui stubbed it out. Suddenly remembering something, he opened his crossbody bag, rummaged around, and hid something behind his back.

“Ning Yixiao, show you something.”

He took Ning Yixiao’s hand and placed a thin, transparent sheet in his palm.

Ning Yixiao lowered his head and looked at it carefully, then froze.

It was a tattoo sticker with a string of handwritten English on it, in Su Hui’s handwriting: See you around.

Not only that, at the end, there was a hand-drawn butterfly.

“I had this custom-made, it took many samples before I was satisfied. I finally received the final version today. Feels pretty good, want to try?”

Ning Yixiao laughed, “You really are treating me like a child.”

“I don’t want you to be in pain,” Su Hui whispered, “I can’t bear it.”

He wanted to try. He used the remaining bottled water in his bag to dampen Ning Yixiao’s collarbone, applied the sticker, and soon, the lettering was transferred to his skin.

“It really looks good.” He admired it for a moment, then took a picture to show Ning Yixiao.

“How long will this last?” Ning Yixiao asked.

“Definitely over a week.”

“Too short.”

Su Hui hugged him, “It’s okay, I can make plenty, enough for you to use for a lifetime.”

Ning Yixiao’s heart stirred, and he didn’t speak, only reaching out to pinch Su Hui’s cheek. He cupped his face, his gaze sliding from his moist eyes to the corner of his lips, and then leaned down to kiss him very preciously.

The two shared a moist, long kiss in the autumn wind.

If Ning Yixiao were to rank the pain he had experienced in his life, the pain of a tattoo wouldn’t even make the list. Yet Su Hui treated it with such solemnity, as if he didn’t want him to suffer even the slightest pain.

But clearly, Su Hui’s own tattoos were all done by himself, without any anesthesia.

How much pain had he been in when he first lost his family?

Ning Yixiao didn’t know; he only knew that this person was truly a silly one.

Pulling away, he said very earnestly, “Thank you.”

Su Hui replied illogically, “I love you too.”

His hangover hadn’t fully worn off, but Su Hui was feeling sleepy. Ning Yixiao sat on a bench outside the bar, and Su Hui habitually climbed onto his lap, burying his face in his warm collarbone. Their size difference always allowed them to interlock perfectly in this position, and Su Hui could relax completely.

“I want to nap for a while.” He rubbed against Ning Yixiao’s side neck.

Ning Yixiao chuckled lightly and kissed the top of Su Hui’s head, “Even a ‘Waking-Bone Real Man’ can’t wake up a little kitty.”

Su Hui smiled muffledly, wrapping his arms around Ning Yixiao’s waist, “Didn’t ask you to make sentences with idioms.”

Across the street, Ning Yixiao vaguely noticed someone looking at them, even picking up their phone to take pictures, but he didn’t care. He didn’t want to interrupt Su Hui’s dream, only pulling the suit jacket draped over him up a bit to cover his head, wrapping his arm around his back and patting him gently twice.

“Sleep.”

He let him sleep in his arms for twenty minutes. Bella and the others came out, planning to head home.

Ning Yixiao didn’t wake Su Hui up. Instead, he scooped him up in that very position, walked to the car parked on the roadside, and transferred the ‘koala’ inside.

“You guys seem to have been photographed.” Jing Ming sat in the passenger seat, his voice very quiet. “This time it has nothing to do with me.”

He swiped his finger across his screen, and when he saw the photo of the ‘smoke kiss’, the seasoned veteran of the love game was stunned, unable to resist saving the image and sending it to Bella.

“I wouldn’t have known you guys were here filming a movie. Sigh, these little girls have more to fangirl over again.”

“Keep it down.”

Jing Ming immediately turned around, glanced at Su Hui leaning on Ning Yixiao’s shoulder.

“OK, OK.”

Su Hui was half-asleep, vaguely grabbing Ning Yixiao’s sleeve, murmuring, “Puppy…”

“Puppy?” Jing Ming turned around again, staring at Su Hui, then back at Ning Yixiao. “Calling whom?”

Ning Yixiao feigned ignorance, looking out the car window, “Calling Xue Gao (Snow Cake).”

“Really? Why do I feel like it isn’t?”

“Shut up,” Ning Yixiao said coldly.