Chapter 56 A Young Heart’s Stirring

After leaving the film set, the evening breeze carried a hint of coolness.

Lu Er turned his head to look at Song Jingmo beside him, his eyes sparkling. “Let’s go watch a movie?”

Song Jingmo was a little surprised. He glanced at the bustling crowd around them. “The cinema? There are too many people—you’re not afraid of being recognized?”

“It’s fine!”

Lu Er patted the mask on his face, then pulled out another identical one from his pocket and handed it to Song Jingmo. “Put this on. It’s been a long time since I watched a movie in a theater.”

Seeing how excited he was, Song Jingmo nodded. “Alright.”

The two went to a cinema in a nearby large commercial center.

Standing in front of the massive electronic screening board, Song Jingmo’s gaze swept over the titles one by one before finally stopping on one.

He raised his hand and pointed. “Let’s watch this.”

Following his direction, Lu Er looked over—it was an urban romance film he had starred in last year, about a couple reuniting after breaking up.

“Ah? This…”

A trace of discomfort flashed across Lu Er’s face, and the tips of his ears grew slightly warm. “This one isn’t that great. Let’s pick another?”

He did want to watch a romance movie with Song Jingmo to build some feelings—but not one where he himself was the lead!

Letting Song Jingmo watch him flirt and fall in love with another actress—what kind of situation was that?

Song Jingmo softened his tone. “But I want to watch this.”

When the usually aloof beauty showed a hint of vulnerability, Lu Er had no way to resist. He could only give in.

Feeling uneasy, he followed along to get the tickets, bought popcorn and cola, and found a seat in a corner toward the back.

The lights dimmed, and the big screen lit up.

As the familiar opening music played, Lu Er secretly glanced at Song Jingmo beside him.

He sat upright, his gaze fixed intently on the screen. The shifting light and shadow made his profile look especially deep and striking.

Lu Er found himself staring, entranced.

Back in university, he often dragged Song Jingmo to watch movies with him.

But Song Jingmo had always seemed uninterested—either distracted or simply closing his eyes to rest.

Yet this time, he was unusually focused.

Watching the scene on the screen where he and the female lead, Ye Qingge, gazed at each other affectionately and confessed their feelings, Lu Er recalled the filming process.

At the time, as he recited those tender, lingering lines with Ye Qingge, the face that uncontrollably filled his mind had always been Song Jingmo’s cool, distant one.

He had poured all the feelings he had suppressed for Song Jingmo into the character.

So much so that the director had praised him repeatedly for how genuine his emotions were and how expressive his eyes had been.

After the director left, Ye Qingge walked over and asked with a smile, “Lu Er, who were you really looking at through me?”

How had he answered back then?

“A very, very good… and very important friend.”

Ye Qingge smiled. “Just a good friend?”

Thinking of how long they had been out of contact, Lu Er spoke honestly for once. “Mm. But he doesn’t want me anymore.”

Ye Qingge’s expression turned oddly complicated. “A good friend… would abandon you?”

No matter how you heard it, that sounded strange.

“I did something wrong. He got angry and left me.”

“We haven’t contacted each other for years. I don’t even know where he is.”

“You never thought of looking for him?”

Lu Er looked dejected. “The world abroad is so big—I can’t find him.”

Then he joked, “If I become famous internationally, do you think he’d come find me for an autograph?”

Ye Qingge immediately understood—no wonder he had given up medicine to enter the entertainment industry.

“I read something recently. I think it suits you.”

“What is it?”

“Winter comes and goes in cycles. The people who are meant to meet will meet again. So don’t dwell on regrets—learn to look forward.”

All the waters of the world will meet again. The Arctic Ocean and the Nile will merge within damp clouds.

Even if one travels far, every road will eventually lead him home.

“Are you comforting me?” Lu Er asked.

Ye Qingge smiled sweetly. “Even though I don’t know what happened between you two, you should have hope. One day, he’ll come back to find you.”

Lu Er lowered his eyes. “Maybe he… has already forgotten me.”

“With a face like yours, who could forget you?”

Ye Qingge handed him a cup of orange juice. “Time will tell us what we truly want.”

On the screen, the male lead played by Lu Er was playing basketball.

The female lead, played by Ye Qingge, sat in the audience, holding a boy’s school jacket.

Song Jingmo recalled how, back in school, every competition on campus would have Lu Er’s lively presence.

Running, jumping, shooting—his sweat glittering in the sunlight, accompanied by deafening cheers and screams.

After every victory, Lu Er would always run straight to him, like a little cat waiting for praise.

“Here, keep this for me. I want mine to be with yours.”

“Keep it at your own place.”

“No way, I want it with yours. I’ll come get it when I get married.”

In the end, those trophies were neatly arranged on the bookshelf in his room.

Lu Er had never come back to take them.

Song Jingmo clearly remembered the first time he realized his feelings for Lu Er had crossed the line of friendship—it was during their final year of high school.

He had gone abroad to visit his parents during a break.

They had a clear plan for his future—after graduation, he would go overseas for further studies.

At that age, his understanding of the future was still vague. He felt their plan wasn’t bad and quickly accepted it.

After returning home, he told Lu Er about it.

He would never forget Lu Er’s reaction.

That boy who always smiled carefree seemed to have all the light drained from him in an instant.

He rushed home and had a huge argument with his mother, insisting on going abroad together with him.

But Lu Er’s mother, because of his father eloping overseas with a lover, held deep prejudice against foreign countries and firmly refused to let him go.

The conflict between mother and son escalated violently. Lu Er went on a hunger strike in protest.

His strict mother beat him more than twenty times with a ruler, leaving his back bruised and bloodied. He couldn’t get out of bed for days.

That summer, Lu Er became unusually clingy.

He followed Song Jingmo everywhere, his eyes filled with anxiety and fear, as if terrified of being left behind.

He went to the Qu family’s house almost every day, and later simply refused to leave, staying directly in Song Jingmo’s room.

As the end of summer approached, Song Jingmo packed his luggage.

The day before departure, Lu Er was tricked by his brother into going to a neighboring city.

The next day, when Song Jingmo arrived at the airport with his suitcase, he saw Lu Er.

The boy wore a dirty white tracksuit, his hair soaked with sweat. His face was streaked with tears, and he had even lost one shoe.

The moment he saw him, he rushed forward and clung tightly to his waist, burying his tear-streaked face in his chest, crying hysterically.

“Did you tell my brother to trick me into that remote place? There wasn’t even a car—I ran for seven hours…”

“Why did you lie to me with him? Good thing I ran fast…”

“I won’t blame you for lying to me. Can you just not leave?”

“I’m begging you—don’t abandon me.”

His voice broke with sobs, hot tears quickly soaking through Song Jingmo’s shirt. “Don’t leave me. I’ll study hard. I won’t get into fights anymore…”

Those reddened, tear-filled eyes, brimming with fear, were like a heavy hammer, smashing apart the future he had carefully planned.

He couldn’t bear to see Lu Er cry.

Never.

At that moment, he clearly realized that his feelings for Lu Er had long surpassed friendship.

All rational plans and parental expectations collapsed in the face of that boy’s burning tears and desperate embrace.

Gently hugging the trembling body in his arms, he murmured, “Okay. I won’t go.”

The boy in his arms lifted his tear-reddened eyes and said with all his strength, “We’ll stay together forever. Never separate.”

The sunlight that day was bright. Lu Er clung to him, crying until he could barely breathe.

He kept repeating—forever together, never apart.

Even though Song Jingmo knew that Lu Er’s “forever” was just the dependence and reluctance of a best friend—

He still took it seriously.

He wanted to stay with Lu Er forever—even if only as a friend.

On the screen, the male and female leads finally embraced after enduring hardships, as soft background music filled the theater.

Song Jingmo turned his head slightly. The flickering light from the screen fell across Lu Er’s focused profile, making his delicate, beautiful face appear even more striking.

Six years had passed.

That boy who once cried and begged him not to leave—what kind of feelings did he now hold for him?

If they were destined to have no future together, he still did not regret falling in love with Lu Er from the very beginning of his youth.