Ou Renjin did not say anything else. He naturally pulled his hand out of Ou Shaowen's hand and touched his head comfortingly. Ou Shaowen stretched out his hand to grab him, but in the dark he only lightly touched his wrist and he withdrew his hand.
Silence returned.
Ou Shaowen held his breath in his chest, forced himself to close his eyes, and began to listen to his own breathing, hypnotizing himself to fall asleep.
He has always been good at falling asleep as quickly as possible no matter what the circumstances, because in many cases, he can only escape in this way.
After a while, when Ou Renjin turned his head to look at him, he was already sleeping soundly, with steady breathing and his posture as proper as always.
He really falls asleep quickly. Ou Renjin sneered, not knowing what he was laughing at. Well, if he cried to him at this time, he might not know what he was thinking.
When Ou Shaowen woke up early the next morning, the room was empty except for him. He was stunned on the bed for a while, then slowly moved his legs off the bed. His slippers were on the other side, and he was too lazy to go around and put them on, so he opened the closet door barefoot.
Not all of Ou Renjin's clothes were taken away, only half were left.
He stared at the clothes for a while, picked one and put it on. It fit him perfectly, just like his own clothes.
He went to the bathroom again. He found that all the things that Ou Renjin usually used were not put away. They were spread out there. Shower gel, shampoo, men's perfume, these smells mixed together in the small room, as if forming a unique smell that belonged to Ou Renjin. He sniffed gently and felt that even this smell made him happy.
When he went downstairs, he became the Ou Shaowen who didn't care about anything. He went to the kitchen to chat with Aunt Zhou for a while, had breakfast, got in Uncle Li's car, and went to the company to continue training.
In order to prepare for the initial evaluation of "Under the Lights", the company specially hired a well-known choreographer to choreograph a passionate song and dance for them, with a tight beat and many difficult and varied movements. Song Yijiu actually knew that this arrangement was all for Ou Shaowen, which could best reflect his strengths and at the same time expose his weaknesses. But the company also promised to give him time to show his personal skills alone.
So he didn't complain about anything. During this period, after class, Ou Shaowen would spend nearly one or two hours to teach him the movements again, and he would practice more on his own every day. His current goal was simple, to not drag Ou Shaowen down on the stage of the initial evaluation.
"Be safe, see you tomorrow." Song Yijiu stopped at the gate of the community and waved to Ou Shaowen with a smile.
Originally, he planned to continue to make an appointment with him for dinner tonight, but Ou Shaowen said that he had made an appointment with his aunt at home to taste her new dishes. When he heard this reason for refusal, if he didn't already have a certain degree of understanding of Ou Shaowen, he would probably think that he was reluctant to even make an excuse.
Ou Shaowen got out of the car and turned around to stare at him for a while. After Song Yijiu raised his eyebrows at him in confusion, he suddenly invited him, “Do you want to try it too? Aunt Zhou’s cooking skills are very good.”
Song Yijiu was stunned for a moment, then immediately refused, "Forget it. If I go there at this time, I will have to trouble Auntie to order more dishes. It's too much of a bother. Let's make an appointment next time. I'll go when I'm ready."
That was the legendary "Golden Villa", and with his boss in charge there, Song Yijiu really didn't want to get involved in such an embarrassing situation.
"I don't like it next time, but this time? It's okay. I have a lot of ingredients at home. You can also try my cooking."
"Will you come?" He asked calmly, and his desire to invite him didn't seem very strong. However, this was the first time he took the initiative to invite him, and perhaps his mood was the same as when he had nervously asked him to have dinner together before. Thinking of this, Song Yijiu felt a little soft-hearted. He sighed softly and compromised, "Okay."
"But... I think I need to confirm, is Mr. Ou here too? Will he have dinner with us later?"
Ou Shaowen lowered his eyes and shook his head silently.
Song Yijiu breathed a sigh of relief and waved to him heroically, "That's fine, get in the car."
When an unfamiliar car stopped in the garage of the villa, Ou Renjin's attention was immediately drawn to it. He threw the project budget request in his hand onto the coffee table beside him, slid lightly on the ground, successfully came to the computer, and cut out the surveillance footage of the living room.
Not long after, Ou Shaowen and another man came in, talking to each other.
Ou Renjin knew this person, Song Yijiu, who had just taken Ou Shaowen to eat hot pot, nicknamed 019, and was the first person he took the initiative to mention in front of him.
This was not the first time that Ou Shaowen brought a friend back to the villa. The last one he brought back was someone who was good at disguising himself and wanted to step on him to climb up. He was so stupid that he didn't know whether this so-called friend now would be his true friend.
Ou Renjin watched quietly. The living room was too empty and the radio was not very good. He could not hear clearly what they were talking about. However, Ou Shaowen's expression was very different from before. Although he did not show how happy he was obviously, his expression was completely relaxed, which showed that the person he was facing was not someone who would make him feel bored or burdened.
They talked in the living room for a while, and then went straight into the kitchen. Ou Shaowen took over Aunt Zhou's hand and cooked the next dish himself. Song Yijiu smiled shyly at Aunt Zhou, and then seemed a little nervous and only talked to Ou Shaowen.
At this time, Ou Renjin could hear their conversation very clearly.
"You really know how to cook?"
“I just learned it.”
Song Yijiu smiled and said, "That's right, you are always a quick learner and can do anything very well."
Ou Shaowen pursed his lips slightly, looking somewhat happy.
"Let me help. It's embarrassing to just stand there and watch."
Ou Shaowen did not refuse, and handed him a bundle of local celery, then turned to Aunt Zhou and said, “You go to the living room and rest for a while, we will just stir-fry the next two dishes.”
"...Oh, okay, I've prepared the meal. I'll take these dishes out first. Be careful not to splash the oil on the guests." Aunt Zhou looked at Song Yijiu hesitantly and slowly walked out of the kitchen.
Song Yijiu even stood more casually. He put the celery in his hand under the tap to rinse it, and then began to pick the leaves one by one. "I heard that the competition will take nearly three months, and it will be under closed management throughout the whole process. We can't contact the outside world at will, so I want to take a day off tomorrow, stay at home for a day, and have dinner with my parents. Let me tell you first."
Ou Shaowen paused for a moment, "Oh."
After a while, he asked, "Can't I make a phone call?"
"It seems that there will be a specific time for you to call, but there are only a few opportunities, and they won't last long." Song Yijiu turned his head and saw that he was stunned, his eyes were unfocused, and he seemed a little confused. He flicked his finger with water droplets on his face, "It doesn't matter, come and play with me when you are bored, and I will bring a few chess sets and teach you how to play when I go in."
Ou Shaowen came back to his senses, nodded at him and said "OK".
Ou Renjin didn't know what he was feeling as he watched the surveillance video on the computer screen for nearly an hour. They had a pleasant chat from beginning to end. Song Yijiu was not as boring as him. He could play many things that were of no use to him.
He has made crickets out of grass, race cars out of plastic bottles, disassembled countless remote controls to figure out how they work, and dyed his hair because he thought it looked cool, for which his dad severely beat him up. He doesn't really take the initiative to chat, and doesn't really like to talk, but the few little things he mentions can be very interesting.
Ou Shaowen also found it very interesting. His slight sense of depression and reluctance just now seemed to quickly disappear in the ongoing conversation. When he sent Song Yijiu out the door, his tone seemed somewhat cheerful. He waved to him with a particularly vivid expression and said, "Be careful on the road."
Ou Renjin took one last look at Ou Shaowen, whose eyes were bright on the screen, then closed the monitoring page, sat quietly in front of the computer for a while, and then chuckled softly.
He slid his chair back to the coffee table, picked up the budget request that he had not finished reading, and continued reading it.
Ou Shaowen went upstairs, hesitated for a while at the stairs, and finally pushed open the door of Ou Renjin's bedroom. He liked the smell in this room more. His memory of smell seemed to be so profound that it had some connection with his emotions. So every time he smelled the smell that represented Ou Renjin, he seemed to be happier than before.
He opened the door of the closet, picked out a piece of clothing from it, held it in his arms, and lay on the bed and sniffed it gently, with a somewhat satisfied expression. As for the pillow that was originally intended to be used as a replacement for Ou Renjin after he left, it was lying alone in his own bedroom, and the bed was so clean and tidy that there was no sign that anyone had slept on it.
Another day passed, and Ou Renjin finally called in the evening.
Ou Shaowen was having dinner at the time. In his hurry, his chopsticks hit the dishes very rudely, making a crisp sound. He could not see his own expression and had no idea that his eyes were like stars that suddenly brightened up.
"Hey, Ou Renjin, I miss you a little bit."
The words that Ou Renjin was about to say were stuck in his throat. He seemed to smile and said, "Why didn't you call me if you missed me?"
He was silent for a moment, "I'm waiting for you to hit me."
He has never been a person who likes to take the initiative to call others. He is like a lighthouse standing still, emitting light to you stubbornly all the time, but will not take the initiative to approach you.
"That won't do." Ou Renjin's tone was very relaxed and casual. "I have too many things to think about and deal with every day. When I think of you, it's been a long, long time. This time it was two days, and I don't know how long it will be next time."
Ou Shaowen’s fingers holding the phone tightened slightly, as if he had heard something he didn’t want to hear, “How long will that be?”
"I don't know how long it will be. But when I think of you, I will take the initiative to call you. What about you? To be fair, shouldn't you take the initiative to call me as well?"
"But..." He dragged out the last line of his voice, a little overwhelmed, "If I call you every time I think of you, I can call you 10,000 times a day. That won't work, right?"
Ou Renjin's breathing stagnated and his heart skipped a beat, as if a deer had bumped into him, or as if a wave had hit him, leaving a sour, salty and bitter taste. He didn't know how to answer for a moment.
Ou Shaowen seemed to be saying sweet words to him, but also seemed to be accusing him of being wronged. He was saying, you only think of me once every two days, but I can think of you many times in a day.
"Yeah, that doesn't seem to work either." After a long while, he replied softly, "Then if there is a moment when you feel that you miss me very much, when you miss me more than usual, you can take the initiative to call me once, okay?"
"I called you, can you come over to see me?"
Ou Renjin laughed, "But, only if you take the initiative to ask, there will be a chance of a response! Just like before, if you hadn't taken the initiative to ask me to go to the villa to accompany you, this would not have happened."