Chapter 9: Taking root and sprouting ②
Translator: Aafkee
Proofreader: ChaiTea
On the day of Chen Yifei’s return, Yan Yu personally went to the airport to fetch him. Spotting Chen Yifei coming out from the immigration gates, Yan Yu shouted for him and quickly walked over to welcome him back.
Yan Yu was wearing a set of casual clothes, which was refreshing for Chen Yifei. Having been his assistant for a few months, he had never seen Yan Yu in anything but a suit.
Yan Yu’s appearance now resembled his mischievous self from the past. He may even have a bit of a babyface – maybe Yan Yu was intentionally acting more serious and mature when it came to work?
At that thought, Chen Yifei could not help but let out a laugh, which earned him a glare from Yan Yu. “What are you laughing at? My mum bought these clothes for me,” and then, he added, “I’ll admit that they’re a bit childish but not to the point of you laughing out loud, right?”
Chen Yifei nodded, “Please excuse me. They make you look pretty young.”
“I’m not that old,” countered Yan Yu.
Having been driving himself for the past ten days, Yan Yu stretched out once in the car. He felt extra comfortable in the front passenger seat now that Chen Yifei was back. Chen Yifei first drove to his accommodation and put down his luggage, before driving to Yan Yu’s house.
Already extremely used to being in Yan Yu’s house, Chen Yifei poured himself a cup of water before asking, “What’s the plan for the vacation?”
“A friend of mine recommended this to me.” Yan Yu passed Chen Yifei some travel brochures, “Five days four nights cruise. It’ll even stop by Vietnam halfway through. I’ve heard from a few friends that went and they said their trips were pretty good. What do you think? Are you interested?”
Chen Yifei had always been less opinionated in such things. He flipped through the brochure quickly and replied without much thought, “Sure, I have no opinion.”
Yan Yu was very happy to see Chen Yifei agreeing to this and he replied, laughing, “Then pass me your passport and IC card. I’ll book the tickets.”
Yan Yu’s enthusiasm far exceeded Chen Yifei’s expectations. He was stunned momentarily before he replied, “They’re in my bag.”
Watching Yan Yu bending down to look for his documents in his back, Chen Yifei asked, “Are you gonna ask only me for my opinion? How about the others?” Thinking that this trip was part of the company’s employees welfare, Chen Yifei thought the other employees at the managerial level would be joining, too.
Yan Yu dismissively answered, “It’s just you and me.”
Chen Yifei was legitimately surprised, now. Not that he was unwilling to go on a solo trip with Yan Yu, but Chen Yifei could not help but think that Yan Yu was being a bit too open-minded. Under normal circumstances, others would have avoided him like a plague knowing his sexual orientation, but Yan Yu seemed to have no worries in that regard at all.
Chen Yifei nodded, “Fine, then.”
Yan Yu’s hands paused, turned back to Chen Yifei and said, unsure, “Chen Yifei, if you don’t think it is a good idea, you can decline.”
“I don’t mind. I prefer a vacation with fewer people, too,” Chen Yifei admitted.
The last time Chen Yifei went for a two-man vacation was when he and Jiang Ge’s relationship was still doing pretty well. Although they called it a vacation, it was basically just them rolling around in bed together in a different location. Chen Yifei did not experience much of the travelling, itself.
Yan Yu was extremely efficient and completed all the necessary procedures very quickly. Even Chen Yifei was curious about how the usual lazy and laid-back Yan Yu became so diligent all of a sudden.
On the day of their departure, the two arrived at the harbour early in the morning. Yan Yu was wearing a thin casual shirt and a pair of sunglasses on his head. He gazed at the huge cruise ship in the distance and sighed, “It would be great if I can afford such a cruise ship someday.”
Chen Yifei offered simply, “It’s time to work hard, then.”
“It can’t be just me. My assistant’s gotta work hard too.”
Yan Yu jumped down from the platform and patted Chen Yifei’s shoulder. He pulled down his sunglasses and hummed a happy tune as he joined the end of the queue to board the cruise. Chen Yifei laughed helplessly and joined the queue with Yan Yu.
Yan Yu turned around and bumped into Chen Yifei’s arm lightly, “I’ll leave all the translation work to you.”
Chen Yifei finally understood why Yan Yu was bringing him along on this trip. Other than him, who else could be his personal translator like this?
Yan Yu was quite frugal when he was travelling, even the accommodations he chose were ‘normal’. The first thing Yan Yu did when he went into their room was stand on the balcony and look out at the ocean. Probably because he had watched too much “Sponge Bob Square Pants” when he was younger, Yan Yu had been extra interested in anything related to the ocean, which was why buying yachts became one of his biggest hobbies.
Chen Yifei entered the room with their luggage behind him. His eyes landed on the bed in the middle of the room instantly. There were not many expectations for a room on a cruise ship, but perhaps for the sake of saving space, the two beds in the room were placed right next to each other, as if there was only one bed in the room.
That was a bit awkward for Chen Yifei, but seeing Yan Yu happily taking photos at the balcony and seemingly not minding at all, Chen Yifei felt that it would be inappropriate for him to bring it up. Instead, he left his belongings on the side that was facing the outside.
As someone who was very mindful of cleanliness, Chen Yifei started working on wiping down the bathroom with a warm towel. Just as he was busy cleaning, Yan Yu returned from the balcony only to be stunned momentarily after seeing the two beds placed side-by-side.
Yan Yu did not hear about such an arrangement before he arrived. He thought it might not be the best idea for him to sleep so close to Chen Yifei, but seeing Chen Yifei naturally putting down his belongings, seemingly not minding it at all, Yan Yu thought there was no reason for him to be so affected.
Yan Yu shouted, “Chen Yifei, what are you doing?”
“I’m cleaning the bathroom.” Chen Yifei was holding the showerhead and cleaning the sink as he replied, “It’s always good to be careful when we’re outside.”
Yan Yu could not help but think about how attentive Chen Yifei is. He lay on the bed and had a good stretch, letting out a sigh of comfort, his heart filled with the happiness of going on vacation.
On the bedside table, there was cake and a bottle of champagne. There was a birthday card, too.
The cruise was very diligent with such things. They prepared small gifts like that for customers whose birthdays are in that particular month. Since Yan Yu’s birthday was not until the second half of the year, he asked, “Chen Yifei, is your birthday this month?”
“Yeah, the twentieth.”
Yan Yu smiled, “Nice timing. Let’s celebrate your birthday, too.”
Yan Yu and Chen Yifei were born in the same year, but knowing Chen Yifei’s birth date now, Yan Yu just realised that he was actually a few months younger than Chen Yifei.
Chen Yifei came out from the bathroom and opened the bottle of champagne, poured two glasses, and passed one to Yan Yu while he sat on the sofa and had a taste of the cake. “There’s nothing much to celebrate.”
“It’s your birthday, after all. You should celebrate it properly.”
The older Chen Yifei got, the more meaningless he found birthdays to be. The previous few birthdays were spent eating out casually with Jiang Ge. When he was busy, he would skip the celebration completely and treat it as a normal day.
Chen Yifei drove for a couple of hours that morning and it was almost three in the afternoon, so he wanted to take a nap. Yan Yu, on the other hand, was in high spirits, wanting to go to the deck and take pictures.
Chen Yifei nodded, “You go ahead. I’m going to take a nap.”
Yan Yu stared gloomily as Chen Yifei lay on the bed. It was meaningless for him to do it alone, so he might as well take a nap as well.
It seemed like Chen Yifei was truly exhausted, since he fell asleep very quickly, his shoulders rising and falling evenly. Yan Yu stared at Chen Yifei’s back and daydreamed once he lay down. As if realising something, Yan Yu rolled over to face the other side at lightning speed, his heart skipping a beat.
Although Yan Yu attempted to fall asleep by closing his eyes, perhaps due to the swaying of the cruise ship or him being not used to the new bed, or perhaps, it was because Chen Yifei was lying right behind him causing him to stay wide awake, he was very unable to fall asleep.
Yan Yu lay on the bed wide awake until past five in the evening. Only then did he feel slight movements from Chen Yifei, who started waking up. Chen Yifei checked the time and nudged Yan Yu lightly.
Chen Yifei saw that Yan Yu was pretty awake as he turned back to look at him. He yawned and asked, “Didn’t you sleep?”
“I couldn’t fall asleep,” Yan Yu stated.
“How come? Not used to it?”
Yan Yu sat up, “Maybe. Forget it, I’ll be able to fall asleep at night once I’m tired. Let’s take a walk on the deck.”
There was an open-air swimming pool and a bar on the deck. When the two arrived, there were quite a lot of people taking selfies with their selfie sticks near the railing. The weather was extremely good that day, the ocean wind was strong enough that people’s clothes were making noticeably flapping noises in the breeze.
Yan Yu was in an extremely good mood as he went around taking pictures like a mad man. He even took multiple pictures from the same angle.
Chen Yifei had looked very cute when he was young. He was always dressed up by his parents and relatives as they took his pictures. Chen Yifei was clearly traumatised by his childhood experience as he especially disliked taking pictures. He decided to sit on the deck chair instead and looked at the small islands from afar.
Yan Yu turned around excitedly, wanting to ask Chen Yifei to take a few selfies together, but was instead completely distracted by Chen Yifei who sat alone and quietly admired the scenery. The quiet Chen Yifei looked especially casual, losing his usual aura of aloofness and seemed more like a part of the beautiful scenery.
Yan Yu stood behind the stairs and sneakily took a few pictures of Chen Yifei. Browsing through his pictures on his photo album, Chen Yifei’s picture looked extra eye-catching amongst his other scenic pictures.
Yan Yu had a very strong urge to set the picture he took of Chen Yifei as his locked screen wallpaper but thought better of it as it would be extremely awkward and would also probably cause quite a misunderstanding if others were to see his phone. After some hesitation, he decided to set the picture as his WeChat chat background instead.
Yan Yu had used pictures of pretty girls as his wallpapers when he was younger, so there was nothing wrong with him doing the same with pictures of handsome guys.
(T/N: LMAO, SURE.)
Yan Yu walked towards Chen Yifei and snapped his fingers, pulling Chen Yifei up, “Come on, let’s take a few pictures together.”
Chen Yifei was pulled along unwillingly by Yan Yu, “I don’t like taking pictures.”
“How can you not take pictures when you’re travelling?” Yan Yu added, “Such a waste of your handsome face.”
Chen Yifei held on to a nearby pole and planted himself, pulling back at Yan Yu, “Being handsome doesn’t necessarily mean I like taking pictures.”
Yan Yu cast a sidelong glance at him, “Who would call themselves handsome like that?”
Chen Yifei lifted the corners of his lips and smiled lightly. He then found a small sofa nearby and sat down, “You go ahead.”
Yan Yu held up his phone and faced it towards Chen Yifei threateningly, “I will take pictures of you in secret if you don’t come.”
Chen Yifei glanced at him begrudgingly, “Do what you want, as long as I don’t see it.”
The two decided to settle for dinner at a small bar on the top deck. Yan Yu flipped through the English menu, which he could not understand at all, so he randomly browsed through the photos on the menu instead.
Yan Yu pointed at a set meal on the menu, which looked delicious given its colourful plating. The waiter took their orders and gave the two a meaningful smile as he collected the menu from them.
Chen Yifei let out a sigh, knowing that Yan Yu definitely had no idea that he had just ordered a couple set meal.
The waiter even gave them a gentle smile when he served their meals, wishing them an early happy Valentine’s Day. Chen Yifei could only smile gratefully without making it awkward.
After the waiter left, Yan Yu asked curiously, “What did he say just now?”
“Nothing much, just wishing us a pleasant dinner,” Chen Yifei partially lied.
“Oh.”
It would take two days before the cruise arrived in Vietnam. There was nothing else to do other than eat, drink, watch theatrical plays or gamble on the cruise.
The internet connection on the cruise ship was not that stable, making it difficult to load any videos at all so Chen Yifei took a shower and prepared to go to bed early. Yan Yu was browsing through the pictures he took during the day. He had secretly taken a few more of Chen Yifei afterwards. Yan Yu could not bring himself to delete any of them even if some of them were of the same angle.
In the end, there were so many pictures of Chen Yifei that he simply created a new photo album and named it “Assistant”.
It started raining at night, and the cruise ship swayed slightly, making Yan Yu restless as he tossed and turned sleeplessly. On the other hand, Chen Yifei remained in the same position motionlessly. Yan Yu did not dare move with too much force, afraid of waking Chen Yifei up.
This was why Yan Yu disliked sleeping together with other people. Even if he had a girlfriend, he would choose to sleep in different beds as often as possible. He had to be mindful of this and that when he slept with others, making it really difficult for him to sleep peacefully.
This time, however, seemed to be a little different. Rather than that being the only reason, it felt like his proximity with Chen Yifei has made him slightly nervous.
Although he was nervous, he eventually fell asleep past midnight. Yan Yu couldn't care less once he was asleep. Thinking it was his own bed, he began extending his limbs with absolutely no restraints.
Chen Yifei was woken up by Yan Yu’s kick in the middle of the night. He opened his eyes drowsily, surprised to see Yan Yu’s leg on his waist.
Chen Yifei felt that Yan Yu was especially close to him, though he would never have thought Yan Yu would have such a bad sleeping posture. Chen Yifei put down Yan Yu’s leg lightly, tucking him under the blanket before turning his back to Yan Yu to continue his sleep.
Yan Yu scooted towards him again not long after, using his arms this time. Chen Yifei could almost feel Yan Yu’s chest on his back.
Chen Yifei was a normal man. Given that Yan Yu fit his sexual orientation, Chen Yifei still felt affected no matter what.
He pulled down Yan Yu’s arm again. Since it seemed like Yan Yu preferred his side of the bed, he swapped sides with him. Chen Yifei even replaced his own position with a bolster.
Just as expected, not long after Chen Yifei swapped sides, Yan Yu once again reached out with his arms, on the bolster this time. Yan Yu even laughed foolishly in his dreams, as if he found it quite comfortable to be hugging the bolster.
Unintentionally seeing his foolish laugh while confirming that he would not roll off the bed, Chen Yifei could not help but lift the corners of his lips, too.
---------- Translator’s note:
I've said this in my other series (TTT) too, but I would like to say it again here in case some people don't read the other series:
I would like to express my thanks to my first coffee provider, ChaiTea, and my proofreader for TTT, Superclubs2! (I am still looking for a PR for FTBF btw) Honestly didn't expect anyone to donate anything so I was pleasantly surprised. Thank you so much! (I did treat myself to a cup of ice latte 😊) Also, I have a discord server, if anyone is interested. I am mostly using it as my private notebook/archive right now, but I have made several channels in there in case anyone is interested. It will make notification and communication easier, but not a necessity! Feel free to join me at https://discord.gg/wjnTKxdR2d🥳 (tho there's only me in there right now LMAO but we can talk about different novels like the nerds we are?) It will also come in handy for NSFW chapters in the future... 😶
Thanks for translating! Lol, YY taking sneak shots with permission.
ReplyDelete😏😏😏😏
DeleteHehehehe I grinned upbruptly my jaw broke🤭😝🥴
ReplyDeleteThey are so fluffy I can't handle. 😍😍
Delete