Chapter 13

Parsed with an automated reader. The content accuracy is not guranteed.

I had a quick look over this chap but may have a lot of awkward sentences. Will look over it again another time.

Chapter 13, Music

Nie Haixia regretted it.

True, Ah Chang was her first love and had been so since they were in elementary school and she vowed to be together with him when they grew up, but he changed after they were separated for a few years. He became rough and strange. Whenever they got intimate with each other, he would suddenly tie her up with ropes, beat, or kicked her…He changed.

She cried for many days. Even though she decided she wanted to end that relationship so she could focus properly on her new boyfriend, Ye Zi…Ye Zi’s family condition wasn’t that great, and she always felt that Ye Zi didn’t love her enough, that Ye Zi was only seeing her as an obligation, but Ye Zi really made her very touched. Until now, nobody had been nicer to her than him.

She really didn’t want to lose him. Based on what she knew of his personality, Ye Zi definitely wouldn’t be too hard on her as long as she took the initiative to be nice and treat him well. Just like last time.

And so, early that morning, she sent Ye Zi a text to apologize.

Nie Haixia: I’m sorry hubby. I admit that I used to like Deng Chang, but that’s all in the past. I was forced by him yesterday. Things were pretty between us since a long time ago. I assure you that I’ll never contact him again in the future, and I’ll make sure to be completely transparent to you in the future with anything regarding him and me. Can you give me one more chance? Let’s have a proper talk today, okay? Hubby, please don’t break up with me. I really don’t want to leave you…

She had already made the mental preparations that Ye Zi wouldn’t respond to her for the time being.

But her phone vibrated immediately. Ye Zi replied.

Ye Zi: Fine. We’ll talk about it today.

Nie Haixia: Great! I’ll buy some groceries over to your apartment okay? I’ll make you something tasty! As long as you’re willing to forgive me, I’ll make you anything you want!

Ye Zi: I’m not at my apartment.

Nie Haixia: Where are you?

Ye Zi: I’m at my friend’s house. Be back in the afternoon.

Nie Haixia: Okay, I’ll wait for you, hubby!

She bought two large bags of ingredients from the market and opened the door with the back-up key Ye Zi gave her. After heading in, she cleaned up the room a little and hummed a tune while she searched online for recipes.

She had to admit that Ye Zi really changed her a lot. Everyone had been at her beck and call as a wealthy young miss so she had never cooked in her life, much less clean. Well, those weren’t the only changes. Perhaps it may be because she had always received the princess treatment that she gradually became reluctant to spend all her time on just one guy. She wanted to have several boyfriends so she could experience their differences, and choose the best one in the end. But just for Ye Zi, she actually deleted everyone else’s phone numbers, and now she even gave up on her first love…Maybe Ye Zi really was the one for her?

At about 11 in the morning, the doorbell rang.

Nie Haixia sorted out her hair and apron before opening the door with a smile, but there was an unexpected guest at the door instead.

Surprised, she asked, “Jason? Why are you here?”

Hare shot her a pleasant smile. “I came to ask Senior for help with my homework. Is he not in?”

Nie Haixia said, “He’ll be back in the afternoon. Come in.”

She figured that if there were three of them, she might at least be able to get some help if anything happens.

Hare took off his shoes and sat down on the sofa to read his book while Nie Haixia continued cooking in the kitchen. Tap, tap. The sounds of the vegetables and meat being cut echoed through the room. The cellphone in Hare’s pocket suddenly rang. He put his book down on his lap and took his phone out, checking the surveillance footage with interest.

A black-haired boy sat up in the video and scratched his hair, seeming a little uncomfortable. His oversized pajama shirt slid down from one of his shoulders, revealing the beautiful shape of his shoulder and clavicle. Heh, the cameras were installed closer to the subject this time and the resolution was pretty good. It managed to get a clear shot even in the dark. Wonderful.

The boy grabbed his phone and looked through it. Before five minutes had even passed, he suddenly stood up and staggered a few steps forward before he managed to stabilize himself. He threw his pajamas to the floor and changed his clothes before quickly running out of the house.

Seems like he didn’t add enough of that stuff into his water last night.

Even though everything would’ve been over if he would just sleep until after the afternoon, or even the night. He didn’t have to worry or be afraid of anything at all. That should’ve been how it should’ve happened.

The corners of Hare’s lips curved slightly.

Aren’t things more interesting if they didn’t go according to plan after all?

—-

As the knife sliced the lime open, the juice sacs inside burst instantly. Its juices gradually poured out unleashing a nice fragrance. Scratch after scratch was left on the surface of the spotless glass table.

Hare casually tossed the lime slices into a cup, added some sugar, warm water, and some sort of powder into it before mixing it all up with a long spoon. A faintly sweet scent floated up from the drink. A wonderfully sweet scent.

Hare carried the cup over to the kitchen and said, smiling, “Senior, you must be tired after cooking for so long. Why don’t you have a drink?”

On the other end.

Ye Zi ran as fast as he could from the outskirts, but the area was so sparsely populated that he could hardly even find a cab!

His head was buzzing and cold sweat was constantly pouring down his back.

The first thing he saw when he opened up his chat logs after waking up was the apology text sent to him by his girlfriend. To be quite frank, he actually regretted all that immediately after. He was drunk yesterday and people tend to steer towards the extremes when they were under the influence. Indeed, he remembered having cursed Nie Haixia last night, and he really wished she would just disappear; but now that he was sober and calm, he understood that even if Nie Haixia had really cheated on and done wrong to him, they could just break up. He didn’t have to take her life! No matter how angry his girlfriend made him, the two of them had their sweet moments, and their past feelings…

While feeling regretful, he also felt anxious and fearful.

Because Hare had actually responded to his girlfriend using his phone! And they agreed to meet at his apartment!

Did Hare plan to actually kill Nie Haixia in his apartment?

Ye Zi sent a text to Hare, but he didn’t respond.

He tried to call, but his phone was turned off.

God, what is he going to do? Is he really going to kill her in his apartment??

What if…What if he wasn’t able to reach there in time? What if his girlfriend was killed before he could even open the door? What was he going to do?

Even without caring about the emotional side of things, he definitely wouldn’t be able to avoid being dragged into the case. It’s not like the guards were blind, and there were cameras in the lift too. Even his neighbors knew what his girlfriend looked like. What on earth is Hare thinking?? What is he going to do now???

Twenty minutes later, he finally managed to hail a cab.

Past twelve, he ran up the stairs, panting.

He finally made it, but he began to hesitate. Even his hand that was holding his key was shaking.

Some of Ye Zi’s neighbors greeted him amicably, and Ye Zi responded with a smile and a nod. He could feel a cold wind blowing against him in the corridor, and the back of his clothes were already soaked in his cold sweat.

After gulping a few times, Ye Zi finally opened the door.

He hoped that Nie Haixia was the only one in the room.

But of course, that was impossible.

He was greeted by the smell of food on the stove. Ye Zi stared at the pair of high-heels at the door as well as the pair of black men’s leather shoes in a size larger than his own, and his heart couldn’t help but speed up. He closed the door gently behind him and walked inside.

The sound of the TV got louder and louder. It was the sound of an entertainment program playing, and the laughter of the audience and the host seemed to be quite cheerful.

A brilliant beam of sunlight flowed in from the windows, fluttering in the air.

Ye Zi couldn’t move.

Right there on the sofa, his girlfriend was pressing down on Hare’s body passionately, pulling at his clothes.

Hare was resisting her, but her face was flushed and she seemed impatient. At this moment, her upper body was only covered by her bra, and she was trying to tug at Hare’s belt…

Ye Zi couldn’t understand.

She was supposed to come over to cook him a meal today, and they would have a talk after that.

Clearly, there was so much food laid out right there on the table.

He was just late.

So what? Was she just so impatient that she needed to have a quickie with another man right then and there?

He knew he should head over and separate the two of them. There were actually many parts of this scene that was strange, he should’ve thought about it, but Ye Zi couldn’t take a single step forward. His body was frozen stiff. He couldn’t think, and the darkness buried inside of his heart was rearing its head again. Just like a black hole, it devoured all of his reason. He was annoyed, irate, absolutely incensed.

Why did she betray him?

Why did she betray him?

He forgave her when she betrayed him the first time, and he also intended to forgive her the second time…But why did she betray him again?

Why did she have to challenge his patience time and time again?!

Why was she always looking down on him? Why couldn’t she choose him? Why did it have to be someone else?

Why is everyone like this…They’re all like this…

Whore.

Whore.

Whore.

Unconsciously, he began to mouth that word, chanting it over and over.

His body was going to be engulfed by the darkness, and he wanted to find a way to be released.

When he looked up again, that vulgar woman was pressed down on the sofa.

She twisted her body uncomfortably, just like a fish out of water. Her clothes slipped down onto the ground, and her arm swung over the coffee table, knocking the juice off. In an instant, that sweet-smelling liquid spilled over the floor.

Hare kept her down with his knees while he tied up her disobedient hands with his tie. He stuffed a lime into her mouth and appreciated the view for a moment before he grabbed some tape from his bag, sealing her mouth.

The woman began to retch and cry, and the sounds of her whining almost drowned out those of the TV.

Hare picked up the knife that still smelled of citrus from the table and smelled it. With his gaze down, he licked the blade. Finally, he raised his eyes to Ye Zi. His eyelashes that were dyed golden by the sunlight made him appear almost pure. “Ah Zi, should I kill her?”

Ye Zi stared at him, and then at the woman who was struggling on the sofa. Suddenly, he laughed. Opening his lips, a cold voice poured out; a voice that almost sounded like it belonged to someone else.

“Kill her. Now.”

As if they were roleplaying, Hare smiled to him. “Yes, sir. Also, could you close the curtains?”

Ye Zi went to the window and pulled the thick windows shut. Instantly, the room was drowned out by darkness. The only source of light left in the room was the blaring lights of the TV screen.

Since the sofa was laid against his view, he couldn’t see what was happening, but he could hear it.

There were many noises, such as those of the TV, from his imagination, reality, falsehood. All those sounds mixed in together, forming a strangely magnificent tune.

The elegant melody of the violin rang out from the TV. The soprano in the red dress raised her arms, her voice reaching a high note beautifully, a beauty that almost felt as if he had been brought to a Gothic church. Such a sacred and solemn feeling it was. The rose-colored fluids soaked through the sofa, flowing onto the tiles, constantly expanding as if it was going to dye the entire space with its bright colors.

He could hear the noises from the streets. People were laughing, cars were whirring by, hazy like the low and elegant hum of a cello. Every so often, he could hear a sharp noise of something being pierced, and the dull drag of something being cut apart. Ah, such rhythmic drums, the ethereal low chime of a flute, a mysterious jingle from a triangle, maybe even a cunning vibrato?

He could hear Hare’s voice intermittently as if he was explaining each act of the piece.

“Are these the lips you kiss him with? Let’s just cut them off.”

“Do you look at him with these eyes? Haha.”

“How pitiful.”

“You won’t ever get to go singing with him ever again.”

“Are you still crying? What’s the use?”

“Nobody told you…to touch the one person you weren’t supposed to…Hahaha…Hahahaha…”

He couldn’t see Hare’s expression, but he could imagine what his joyful laugh would look like.

The beginning started out dull, then it grew brazen before arriving at a lingering finale. The words that came from his mouth were strange, one after the other, sometimes high, sometimes low. Though he indulged himself in his laughter at times, he was filled with compassion the next.

Taunting, torturing, appeasing, destroying…It almost seemed like he was just playing with a toy.

Tear off the toy’s eyes, cut off its mouth, then cut the neck, pull out the contents, break it apart.

The music was too stimulating, so much so that Ye Zi could feel his ears buzzing.

His right ear was ringing.

Just like the call of a cicada, it rang over and over without interruption.

Unknowingly, he had slid down the cold walls onto the floor.

The dark red liquid continued to spread, almost reaching to his feet.

Ye Zi’s mood seemed to rise and fall with the flow of the music.

Even though he enjoyed it…the music seemed to inspire him, and at moments, he even felt light with joy.

But in the next moment, that cruel ambition would disappear without a trace.

Strangely, he felt empty, scared, and helpless to no end. A heavy sense of despair pressed down on him, and the ringing by his ear grew so loud that he could no longer ignore it.

He buried his head in his knees and tried his best to cover his ears. His entire body was shaking.

But why? Why is it still so loud? So loud…

Everything’s so noisy.

So noisy.

So noisy.

…

He had no idea how much time had passed, but besides the light ringing left in his ears, all the other noises disappeared.

The lights were turned on and the sudden brightness was blinding.

Hare stepped over to him with his bare feet, both stained with blood up to his trousers. But in fact, his entire body was.

Ye Zi retreated out of instinct until his back hit the cold wall. He raised his head to look up at Hare, but he couldn’t see his expression clearly against the light.

Clink. The knife in Hare’s hand fell to the ground, several drops of blood splashing onto the floor.

He crouched down in front of Ye Zi and caressed his cheek softly with his bloodied fingers.

For some strange reason, Ye Zi’s body stopped shaking as much.

Even if Hare’s appearance looked terrifying with all the blood, even if he was the very embodiment of the devil who had just walked out of Hell at this moment.

Ye Zi gradually calmed down even by looking at this image of him.

Hare pulled him gently into his arms and stroked his back, whispering into his ears like a tender lullaby. “Nobody will be able to defile you again in the future.”

“Nobody can dirty you anymore.”

“Nobody will betray you anymore.”

“That’s great.”

|TOC|

So, bad news. I left my computer on and Windows 10 must’ve done something weird because my files rolled back. I need to retranslate A Straight Guy’s Nightmare despite almost being done and I lost a lot of tabs too. 😥

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