Your Distance

“Alright, since you said no, then this isn’t one.” Bai Changyi stroked Ting Shuang’s waist through his clothes, “Although to me, it seems like you’re proposing.”

He had presented the ring and asked for loyalty from the other party. If this was not a proposal, then what was it?

“Really…” Ting Shuang put his arms around Bai Changyi’s neck, the tip of his nose touching his. They were too close, such that both of them could only see each other. “Then, if I propose to you right now, would you accept?”

Bai Changyi licked his lips, “You could try asking.”

Ting Shuang bit Bai Changyi’s lower lip, his tone both joking and provocative, “You think I don’t dare?”

Bai Changyi just continued smiling and looking at Ting Shuang, the meaning behind it obvious: Then try asking, I’m waiting right here.

Ting Shuang felt his heart itch. He cleared his throat before, especially solemnly, saying, “Professor.”

He said it as he was sitting on Professor‘s lap, and burst out laughing after he spoke.

After laughing for a while, he calmed down and rested his chin on Bai Changyi’s neck, as if he had just been relieved of all the fatigue he’d experienced that day, “Actually, I booked a table for dinner tonight. Firstly, I wanted to discuss the future with you seriously… Because I’m not yet sure how long I’ll be staying in China. I want to wait until my dad recovers before leaving.”

“Mm.” Bai Changyi touched the back of his head and neck, “What’s the second?”

“Secondly…” Ting Shuang thought for a while, “When I left in the morning and thought about how you’d be waiting for me to return for dinner, I felt… How do I say this, I felt like nothing could stop me.”

He had a wife waiting at home, so regardless of whether he was going against a sword or a fire, he was going to emerge victorious.

After hearing that, Bai Changyi asked, “How did things go?”

“It’s pretty much resolved.” Ting Shuang briefly talked about the outcome of the incident. “RoboRun will probably be in a semi-shutdown state for one or two months. Production and sales can carry on as per usual, but research and development should be limited as much as possible. The rest of the departments have to cooperate with the investigation. There’s quite a lot happening. Hey, let’s not talk about this anymore. Let’s talk about the ring, are you wearing it or not? I painstakingly put in so much effort to swipe… um, your card… to buy it.”

“You’ve worked hard(1).” Bai Changyi held back his laughter and put out his hand.

Ting Shuang quickly grabbed that hand and put the ring on Bai Changyi’s ring finger.

The moment he put the ring on Bai Changyi’s hand, Ting Shuang felt a great sense of accomplishment. As if he had found treasure, Ting Shuang kept smiling stupidly and delightedly.

“I’m so proud.” Ting Shuang looked at Bai Changyi, his eyes bright as if stardust was overflowing from them, “You’re mine.”

Bai Changyi took out the other ring in the box and put it on for Ting Shuang.

“I am also very proud.” He smiled at Ting Shuang, “I’m yours.”

In the evening, the two of them had dinner by the windows of the restaurant on the top floor.

Above them, the huge transparent ceiling was connected to the surrounding french windows, and the night seemed to seep in from the sky. The restaurant’s lighting was just right, and music played from the black grand piano in the center of the restaurant. All the tables were far apart, and the conversations of the other guests were no louder than a murmur in the background.

There was a candlestick on the table, and the candle burned with a hint of fragrance.

“It feels like we haven’t seriously talked about this problem yet.” Ting Shuang said, “If I go off to do whatever I want to do in the future, then, just like how it’ll be when you return to Germany in a few days, I have to be separated from you by 9000 kilometers. What then?”

Bai Changyi said, “That has never been a problem. As I said, I respect your decisions.”

Ting Shuang said, “But we’ll be so far away, I’m afraid…”

Bai Changyi said, “Afraid of what?”

Ting Shuang thought for a moment before laughing, “Right, there’s nothing to be afraid of. I just… have never been in a long-distance relationship, so I don’t know how to go about it.”

“Going long-distance means–” Bai Changyi placed a plate of beef he’d cut into pieces in front of Ting Shuang, “When the time comes, you’ll have to cut this yourself.”

Ting Shuang poked the beef with a fork, “…Oh.”

Bai Changyi looked at Ting Shuang and let out a low laugh, “Aside from that, nothing would be different.”

Ting Shuang said, “…Really.”

“Mm,” Bai Changyi’s voice sounded very reliable, as if he was describing a truth that he had already observed. “You’ll get a message from me every morning when you wake up. You’ll know where I went and what I did that day. If you want to find me, you can call at any time, my phone will be turned on 24 hours a day.”

Ting Shuang said, “Then what if I want to see you?”

Bai Changyi said, “I’ll always be ready to turn on the camera.”

Ting Shuang said, “What if there are others beside you?”

Bai Changyi said, “Then you can find my videos online, there should be quite a few.”

Ting Shuang laughed, then deliberately made things difficult, “Then, if I want to meet my needs for that, you’re willing to let me fulfil them by myself by watching videos?”

Bai Changyi pretended to think about it for two seconds, “It’s not that there’s nothing we can do.”

Ting Shuang: “Oh?”

Bai Changyi leaned forward, and Ting Shuang couldn’t help but lean over the table too, wanting to hear whatever good idea he had.

Bai Changyi put his lips by Ting Shuang’s ears, his voice low and attractive. The scent of hormones immediately pervaded his sense, “If you take care of me(2), then I won’t work as a professor anymore.”

Who could hold up against that provocation?

Ting Shuang suddenly felt like his heart and soul had been stolen, and immediately asked about the starting price, “You, are you expensive?”

Bai Changyi laughed, “I’m not cheap.”

Only then did Ting Shuang realize that it was a joke. He laughed with Bai Changyi for a while before sighing, “Who could bear to take care of you?”

It was not a question of money at all. It would be like owning an extra-ordinary computer. If he wanted to, he could disassemble the case and use it as a desk, but he couldn’t bear that.

When he thought of that, he suddenly understood why Bai Changyi never stopped him every time he mentioned that he wanted to go to a certain place. Bai Changyi probably felt like that too.

Before they parted, Ting Shuang rented an apartment in the neighbourhood near the Roborun headquarters, cleaned it up, and spent two days living at home with Bai Changyi before sending him to the airport.

After sending him off and returning to the rented apartment, he saw a fountain pen on the desk.

It was the Souverän Black-Blue that Bai Changyi had lent him in the past.

Thinking about how Bai Changyi usually carried that pen with him, he sent a message over: Have you boarded the plane? You forgot to take your fountain pen.

After the message was sent, he realized that Bai Changyi was not the kind of person who would leave things behind by accident at all, so he added another sentence: Or are you giving it to me?

Twelve hours later, he received Bai Changyi’s reply: It’s for you, so you’ll think of me whenever you look at it.

They were now 9,000 kilometers apart, separated by mountains and seas.