Rong Xingyu set the cushion he had been holding aside and got up toward the entrance.
Hearing Ethan’s words, Rong Xingyu curved his eyes and smiled. "Yes."
If one liked someone enough, how could they fail to recognize even the sound of his footsteps?
Rong Xingyu jogged over to the entryway, listening as the door lock made a soft click.
"You’re back."
As soon as Rong Xingyu finished speaking, he felt his body being pulled forward and then he fell completely into Ding Yixin’s arms.
Ding Yixin’s hand slid down to Rong Xingyu’s lower back, holding him tightly.
"Eh?" Rong Xingyu blinked and asked softly by Ding Yixin’s ear, "What’s wrong?"
Why was he suddenly hugging him like this?
But Ding Yixin did not speak. What answered Rong Xingyu was a kiss so gentle that it felt almost lingering.
"Mmm..."
Rong Xingyu’s legs went a little weak. He leaned entirely into Ding Yixin’s embrace, relying on Ding Yixin to support him just to barely stay standing.
But for some reason today, Ding Yixin seemed unwilling to let Rong Xingyu go, he continuing to kiss him and entangling with him.
When Ding Yixin’s tongue touched Rong Xingyu’s palate, Rong Xingyu’s body began to tremble slightly.
By the time this long kiss finally ended, Rong Xingyu felt as though all the strength had been drained from his bones. He leaned against Ding Yixin’s chest, feeling as if his mind had turned sticky and muddled.
Ding Yixin raised his hand and wiped the corner of Rong Xingyu’s mouth.
Rong Xingyu finally came back to his senses. When he realized that they had just done that right here, his face flushed completely red.
He lightly punched Ding Yixin in the chest and said reproachfully, "What are you doing?! Ethan is still at home!"
Ding Yixin glanced toward Ethan who was sitting in the living room.
There was not the slightest trace of embarrassment on Ethan’s face. Instead, he excitedly gave Ding Yixin a thumbs up.
Ding Yixin nodded at him and calmly accepting Ethan’s praise.
Rong Xingyu: "..."
However, Ethan did not expect that he would very quickly be "burned after crossing the bridge" and thrown out of Ding Yixin’s home.
Sitting in the passenger seat, Rong Xingyu thought about how Ethan had been in tears at the airport earlier, nearly hugging his leg and crying "I don’t want to leave," and he could not help but laugh.
Although Ethan was very pitiful, it was really, really funny.
Seeing Rong Xingyu smiling so brightly, with his eyes curved, Ding Yixin’s expression also softened.
"Yuyu, could you pull down the sun visor?"
Rong Xingyu looked at the dim parking garage around them and a question mark slowly popping up over his head.
Blocking what sun, in the middle of the night?
But he still raised his hand and flipped down the sun visor in front of him.
"Eh?"
Rong Xingyu’s eyes widened. He saw that a pure white lisianthus had been taped to the sun visor.
Beside it was a pair of simple silver rings and a card with the words "marry me" written on it.
Rong Xingyu covered his mouth with both hands and subconsciously holding his breath.
Then, one by one, warm yellow star lights lit up inside the car.
And in the garage outside, tens of thousands of lights shone, like countless stars in the sky finally converging into a Milky Way.
"This is..." Rong Xingyu heard his own voice choke, his eyes gradually reddening.
Ding Yixin took the rings down from the sun visor.
He gazed at Rong Xingyu, the love in his eyes more dazzling than the vast starry river above, making Rong Xingyu unable to resist sinking into it.
"Ever since I decided to propose to you, I imagined many different plans," Ding Yixin let out a low laugh, his voice deepening. "I thought that no matter where I proposed, there should be a surprise, the witnessing and blessings of your friends and family, and the sense of ceremony of holding flowers and kneeling on one knee."
Ding Yixin gently rubbed the pair of rings in his hand, his brows and eyes incomparably tender. "But Yuyu, I can’t wait anymore."
"I want to use this silver ring, right now, to lock you by my side forever."
"So that you can never dodge it, never escape."
Ding Yixin looked straight into Rong Xingyu’s eyes and spoke slowly, "Will you marry me, Yuyu?"
Rong Xingyu opened his mouth and tears slowly slid down from the corners of his eyes.
Surprise, joy, happiness, and countless other emotions filled Rong Xingyu’s heart, surging wildly within him.
Rong Xingyu bit his lower lip.
He then placed his hand into Ding Yixin’s palm and nodded heavily at him.
"I..."
But before the word "willing" could leave his mouth, Rong Xingyu’s vision suddenly went dark.
He felt his consciousness gradually drifting away.
His body collapsed weakly, and the last thing he remembered was Ding Yixin lunging toward him.
For a brief moment, Rong Xingyu even thought that so Dr. Ding could actually show such an expression of terror.
The Dr. Ding in front of him had always been calm and restrained as if everything were firmly under his control.
When had Rong Xingyu ever seen Ding Yixin look so emotionally exposed, so shocked and pained?
Rong Xingyu smiled at Ding Yixin and subconsciously wanting to comfort him.
But his eyelids grew heavier and heavier and the hand he had lifted fell heavily back down.
When Rong Xingyu woke up again, he realized that he was no longer in the car.
Rong Xingyu sat up and looked around.
All around him was thick, viscous darkness, and he could not see that familiar face at all.
"Dr. Ding?" Rong Xingyu’s first reaction was to look for Ding Yixin beside him.
He called out Ding Yixin’s name. "Are you here?"
But the darkness around him was like a gaping mouth, swallowing all sound whole.
Let alone a response from Ding Yixin, Rong Xingyu could not even hear an echo of his own voice.