People always say that Gu Sheng is just a womanizer, but only the women who’ve actually been with him know that nothing ever happened.
He really doesn’t want to bring up these things anymore.
Though he knows Gu Yao was just joking and didn’t mean anything else, and she no longer has those prejudices against him, he still felt a bit uncomfortable hearing Gu Yao mention his past.
He also regrets his behavior over the past couple of years, even if it was just putting on a show.
"I know, I know, nothing, nothing," Gu Yao said with a smile.
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"Everyone’s gone, stop holding on, I still have to buy some things."
"You can carry it with one hand, or tell me what you need, and I’ll help you carry it." Gu Sheng tightened his grip on her hand, showing nothing on his face, but inwardly he was a bundle of nerves, his palms sweaty.
"Second brother, sometimes I suspect you have a split personality. Just seeing you like that, I can’t imagine how you dealt with those women before," Gu Yao teased with a laugh.
"Don’t mention them."
"Okay, okay, I won’t, I won’t. Let’s buy some food and go back to cook."
"Mm." Gu Sheng held Gu Yao’s hand, bought some of her favorite snacks, and went to checkout.
Since Gu Yao didn’t bring it up again, Gu Sheng held onto her hand all the way back home.
No matter how heavy the things they bought were, he carried them with one hand and held Gu Yao with the other.
At this moment, Gu Sheng felt like no one in the world was luckier than him.
Thinking back on how Gu Yao grew up being held by him , he can recognize Gu Yao’s hand as soon as he takes it.
Back at their place, Gu Yao helped Gu Sheng with the preparations, and the two cooked dinner together.
Day by day, their relationship completely returned to how it was before.
For Gu Yao, this was just the normal way siblings and family members get along, but for Gu Sheng, and even for their neighbors, they seemed like a couple.
Unintentionally learning from a neighbor that Gu Sheng told others they were a couple, Gu Yao was momentarily stunned, then couldn’t help but laugh.
She thought how much her second brother feared women now, how terrified he was of being approached.
In their not-so-big but cozy home, you could often hear a man call out "Yaoyao" with a gentle tone, a pampering voice.
And you could often hear a lively and cheerful girl call out "second brother" every now and then.
The quietest time of the day was probably after Gu Yao went to school and Gu Sheng sat on the living room sofa, holding the portrait Gu Yao had drawn for him, often a whole day passed like that, or he appeared on the balcony, repeatedly watering the potted plants, waiting for that figure downstairs to appear.
When Gu Yao didn’t come home at noon, Gu Sheng couldn’t even be bothered to cook or eat.
So, when Gu Yao unexpectedly came back at noon that day, after having planned to eat at school, and saw the empty dining table and Gu Sheng seemingly watering flowers on the balcony since she left in the morning, Gu Yao uncertainly asked, "Bro, aren’t you eating lunch?"
"...I was just about to make lunch. Didn’t you say you were eating at school at noon? Why did you suddenly come back?" At the moment Gu Sheng saw Gu Yao after zoning out the whole morning, it felt as if the sky turned blue for him.
"The afternoon class got rescheduled to start at three, so I came back to eat. I thought I’d be just in time." Gu Yao touched her empty stomach.
"I’ll make something for you right away." Gu Sheng quickly put the watering can aside, stepped off the balcony, and headed to the kitchen.