Your Distance

“I…” Ting Shuang looked down at Bai Changyi’s legs, face turning red.

Liking you…

Liking…

Like!

He said he likes me!

Fireworks went off in Ting Shuang’s mind for a while, before he stuttered, “You… Do all middle-aged men talk like this? A-are you confessing your feelings, or are you giving me an exam? Do you love giving people exams that much?”

Laughter flashed in Bai Changyi’s eyes, “What, you don’t know how to answer this question?”

Ting Shuang’s eyes were sparkling, and on his flushed face was an infinite amount of joy from knowing that the other party liked him as he announced, “What is there to not know about this question? I’ve done it before, I choose A!”

It didn’t matter what B was, he was right as long as he chose A.

Bai Changyi looked at Ting Shuang, chuckling, “Not going against me(1) anymore?”

Going against him…

Ting Shuang thought about being fair and all…

When he was working in the café, didn’t he also want to give all the desserts and caffeinated drinks to Bai Changyi?

He admitted, he personally didn’t really mind stuff like being fair, he was only afraid that their relationship would become a sexual transaction between an old professor and a young student.

Since Bai Changyi also liked him, then…

To hell with fairness.

Do i, not justice. (?) 

“Then, just control the extent of it… then it’s fine…” Ting Shuang reached up for Bai Changyi’s head, pulling it closer for a kiss.

The next second, he was brought under the control of Bai Changyi’s lips.

“What extent,” Bai Changyi asked in a low tone.

“Mm…” Ting Shuang panted as he accepted the forceful kiss of the other party, and answered, “Get a hold of it yourself… Look… You can let your bias fill you up to the armpits, but you can’t possibly have so much it flows to the other side of the Earth… Right…”

There was a hint of a smile in Bai Changyi’s voice, “Mm, got it.”

The two of them slowly held hands as they kissed, and even after the kiss ended, they didn’t let go.

Ting Shuang swung their entwined hands in a large arc in the air, making a rash suggestion, “Let’s go out to play?”

Bai Changyi joked, “We’re outside right now.”

“No. Come over here,” Ting Shuang pulled Bai Changyi back to the bicycle rack in their courtyard and took out the keys to unlock his bicycle. “We can ride the bike to the city centre for some fun. I’ve never gone there at this hour.”

All of a sudden, Ting Shuang deeply understood Zhu Wenjia. 10pm in the evening was the best time to go out for some fun with your boyfriend, how could he use it to sleep?

Bai Changyi asked, “With only one bike, how do we ride there?”

Ting Shuang said boldly, “I’ll give you a ride.”

“Two people can’t ride on the same bike here, don’t you know?”

“Ah…” Ting Shuang also remembered that fact, “Then… We’d better drive there…”

Bai Changyi, seeing that Ting Shuang seemed a little disappointed, said, “Want to make a bet?”

“What bet?”

“Bet that the traffic police aren’t on shift at this hour,” Bai Changyi straddled Ting Shuang’s bicycle, and untied the tie that he had fastened before leaving the house, casually hanging it on the bicycle handle. Then, while unbuttoning two of the buttons on his dress shirt, he smiled at Ting Shuang, “Get on.”

“You…” Gazing at Bai Changyi’s smile, Ting Shuang suddenly felt like he had been stabbed in the heart.

An old man occasionally doing such absurd things, who could resist that?

Getting onto the bicycle’s backseat, Ting Shuang wondered out loud, “Bai Laoban, are you going wild because you’re old?(2)”

Bai Changyi looked back with a chuckle, “What, am I not allowed to?”

Ting Shuang placed his hands on Bai Changyi’s waist, a broad smile across his face, “Of course I allow you to. Why wouldn’t I?”

Yes, they knew that there were more suitable times, and better opportunities to go out together in the future. But that wasn’t tonight, and that wasn’t right now.

Some moments can only be experienced once in a lifetime; like beautiful scenery on a fine day, or the exciting feeling of a pounding heart.

The bicycle with two people on it exited the courtyard, and rode along the bicycle path towards the city centre.

After 10pm in the evening, there were hardly any pedestrians on the street, and it was a long time before even a single car passed them by on the road. Many traffic lights had ceased operation.

The bushes and trees on the two sides of the path had grown to be even more luscious in the warm spring and summer, and leaned heavily towards the middle of the path.

“Hey, slow down–” Ting Shuang shouted in the wind.

Bai Changyi slowed down after hearing that. When they passed by the cherry tree that was ahead of them, Ting Shuang reached out and plucked off a small branch of half-ripe cherries.

They weren’t big, and were a greenish red, unlike the dark red ones you could buy at the supermarket.

He plucked off one from the branch, casually wiped it, and held it up beside the mouth of the person sitting in front of him.

“Is it dirty?” Bai Changyi chuckled as he made a sound of disgust, but still opened his mouth to eat it.

Ting Shuang asked, “Is it sweet?”
Bai Changyi said, “It is.”

Ting Shuang thus plucked off another one, stuffing it into his mouth without worry–

“Hiss– It’s so sour?! It’s so sour I could die!”
Bai Changyi’s lips curved up, “Really, the one I ate was quite sweet.”

“Then I’ll let you eat all of them,” Ting Shuang held the rest of the cherries up in front of Bai Changyi’s mouth, “Hurry and eat them. Cycling must be tiring, so they’re all for you.”

Bai Changyi laughed, “I’m not eating, I’m doing this voluntarily.”

“Eat one, just eat another one,” Ting Shuang persistently stuffed the cherries into Bai Changyi’s mouth.

 Bai Changyi ate that cherry that was so sour your teeth would fall out, and turned his head to the side to kiss Ting Shuang’s hand. “You’re just messing with me.”

“Who’s messing with who?” Ting Shuang tipped up the corners of his lips, circling his arms around Bai Changyi’s waist again.

Bai Changyi looked down at Ting Shuang’s hands, “Hey kid, what did you use to wipe off the cherry juice?”

“… I didn’t bring a serviette.”

Bai Changyi took out a handkerchief from his pocket and passed it behind him.

Ting Shuang took it and wiped his hands before stuffing it into his pocket. “I’ll return it after I wash it, ‘kay.”

The bicycle turned into a small meadow from the path, and in the middle of it was a small road on which automobiles were banned. It was a short road leading to the city centre. Both sides of the road did not have any street lamps, and there weren’t any buildings in their surroundings. The view was vast, and the blue sky settled over them like the huge dome of a church, full of flickering stars.

The world moved along in silence.

As the bicycle rocked, Ting Shuang started singing softly behind Bai Changyi.

“Du bist das Beste, was mir je passiert is

Es tut so gut, wie du mich leibst

Vergess den Rest der Welt,

Wenn du bei wir bist”

He had learnt this song, “Das Beste”, when he had just started learning German. Aside from those four lines in the chorus, he didn’t remember anything else.

After singing, he thought over the meaning of the lyrics, “Is this song too mushy…”

Stuff like how “you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, the way you love me feels so good”…

Stuff like how “I forget the rest of the world when you’re with me”…

It really was mushy.

Bai Changyi chuckled, “Mm, it is a little.”

Ting Shuang thought that Bai Changyi would refute his sentence, but didn’t expect him to instead agree about how the lyrics were mushy. Ashamed, he said, “Then I want to hear you sing something that’s not mushy.”

Bai Changyi said, “Mm, something that’s not mushy. Let me think.”

Ting Shuang thought; Let’s see what you’ll sing.

Bai Changyi thought for a while, cleared his throat, and started singing in an especially serious, deep and resonating voice:

“Wacht auf, Verdammte dieser Erde,

die stets man noch zum Hungern zwingt!”

Ting Shuang had planned to criticise whatever Bai Changyi would pick to sing regardless of which pop song it was, but the moment he heard the first line, he couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

Heck.

In which era was the old professor born in?

At such a happy and joyous moment, he actually started singing the german version of “L’internationale”; Stand up, damned of the Earth, stand up, prisoners of starvation!

Bai laoban really wasn’t mushy, not mushy at all.

On the backseat of the bicycle, Ting Shuang laughed until his whole body shook.

Bai Changyi continued singing two more lines, before he too couldn’t hold back his laughter, “I’m not singing anymore.”

Laughing, Ting Shuang urged him on, “Don’t, go on go on, I’ll record it to use as my alarm.” As he said that, he took out his phone from his pocket. “I’m ready to start recording.”

Bai Changyi asked, “Alarm?”

Ting Shuang held his phone out beside Bai Changyi’s mouth, “Yeah, I’ll set it as my alarm tone, and I’ll definitely wake up laughing everyday. I’m pressing start! Three, two, one–”

Slowly and unhurriedly, Bai Changyi repeated the same German sentence into the phone three times, “Ting, I regret to inform you that you did not pass this round of examinations.”

Ting Shuang: ?

His trembling finger pressed on the button to stop the recording.

A line of words appeared on the screen: Save this recording?

His thumb tapped: No.