The first thing Su Yansheng saw when he opened his eyes was a cluster of people, some whispering, some smiling bashfully, not daring to point, looking in the direction of a person in a navy blue suit, champagne glass in his hand, looking out the window and a person standing three feet away from him with a slightly bent posture. The man, 193 cm tall was one of the tallest people in the room and it was obvious that even though people wanted to approach him, he had the power to silently deter them from trying.
Yan tried to get a look at these two people who looked like they had just walked out of a cover magazine, the other person beside navy suit had his back turned to Yan, dressed in all white? but he could still tell that this person looked really good, but when he tried to step closer, a commotion in the other room grabbed his attention, making him miss the conversation between the two people he had been observing before.
Yan tried to look around for Guo zhen but couldn't find him, but he saw someone that looked suspiciously like Fang Rui, all cleaned up and looking like he belonged in this kind of setting.
From the surroundings, Yansheng could tell that this was the banquet hall, the place where Father Li was supposed to announce his identity, but close to the center stage, a sobbing Li Wei was on the floor, a deep cut on left hand, blood spilling everywhere and madame Li was beside, pressing a cloth to his injury to stop the blood. There was a buzz in the air, everyone restless and Yansheng cursed under his breath. He still handn't found Guo zhen, his guest not the memory version.
'What was going on?'
Passing by the front door, Yansheng saw a black corvette pull away, someone standing by the entrance way, back slightly hunched. It was the other guy who had been speaking to navy blue.
Yansheng didnt know his name so that moniker would have to do for now.
Then he watched the smaller framed man with glossy hair, his back still turned to him, walk with unsteady steps in a particular direction.
For some reason, this person who he hadn't seen his face yet, compelled him to follow.
That was when Su Yansheng finally saw his Guo zhen.
His guest, had his arms crossed, leaning against a wall at the archway of the garden behind the banquet hall, a blank look on his face, staring at the design of the floor like it had the solution to world hunger.
He knew the answer to that question already, his inn, he.. he…
Su Yansheng walked up to stand beside Guo zhen, for some reason, looking him up and down, he said in a low voice, maybe trying not to break the tranquility of the atmosphere, "where have you been?"
It should be impossible for him and his guest to stay separated for so long and the memory walk to keep on functioning like a separate entity. He needed to talk to Fei bao about this when he got back.
Something strange was happening, thinking back Su Yansheng realized, from the arrival of this guest, breaking the rule of only one new arrival per week, something had changed. He needed to figure out what.
Guo zhen heard Yans voice. Before he could look up to respond, in the corner of his eyes, he saw white pants and white sneakers. His breath hitched for a second.
He decided against responding, turning his head away from the person approaching.
In his haste to speak to Guo zhen, Yan had forgotten about his slightly drunk and maybe sad tour guide who had been kind enough to inadvertently show him the way, and had walked ahead of him. Hearing footsteps approaching, Yansheng was about to look back when he felt a breeze pass beside him, the person running past him and moving toward a slightly dark corner of the garden.
" Sun chao, stop!"
Both Su Yansheng and Guo zhen looked in the direction of the voice.
A slightly startled Guo zhen, not hearing what the he had called out, stared at the person who had suddenly appeared before him. He was dressed in a white cashmere turtleneck, white pants and he had on white sneakers as well.
After appraising his look which seemed a bit out of place, Guo zhen looked at the hand the person had used to grab the sharp edge of the knife he was holding. The other person was gripping the knife strongly, like his life depended on it, his palm already cut and bleeding from the wound.
Guo zhen still held on to the knife, not letting go, unsure about what was going.
When he finally looked at his face, he saw a mixture of unshed tears, a look of reluctance and anger on his face. Then it finally dawned on him, this person.. this person was protecting him?
A storm Guo zhen never realized he had been fighting finally calmed at the realization. For the first time, someone was protecting him.
They didn't know who he was, they didn't care about anything and had selflessly reached out to help him.
Guo zhen let go of the knife.
He saw the other person exhale, as if they had been holding their breath all along. Then a flash of pain crossed their face.
It seemed the pain was finally kicking in. The tears that had been in his eyes finally gliding down his cheeks. He raised his hand up to look at the wound. Then gave Guo zhen a pout and look of 'it's all your fault.'
A soft look crossed Guo zhens face instantly. So his protector wasn't so invincible after all.
He grabbed the hand that was bleeding, took out an handkerchief from his breast pocket, and tied the wound for him.
Softly, " I wasn't trying to hurt myself."
Humph, the other person turned his face away, not believing a word Guo zhen said.
A look of indulgence crossed Guo zhens face again, he moved to clean off the blood that had somehow gotten on the other person's face, cleaning it off with his thumb.
"I'm guessing I know who that is." Su Yansheng moved his hand towards his sleeve in the motion of bringing a snack out, but then remembered where he was, gave up.
Guo zhen said nothing, watching the two oblivious people, each, perhaps, in their own world.
"Come on, look at that kaleidoscope of emotions on your otherwise barren face."
Not able to take it any longer, Guo zhen finally responded.
"Lu zhihao."
"Hmm, I know."
After attentively removing the blood on the other persons face, Guo zhen wanted to ask who he was when he felt a weight on the hand that he was about to remove from his cheek.
He had fallen asleep, face pressed up against his palm.
'This person was too trusting,' was the first thought that came to Guo zhens mind. The second most perplexing thought was, 'he looks cute.'
He immediately moved to remove his hand but the other person simply fell towards him, still asleep. Guo zhen had no choice but to catch him.
Lifting him up in a bridal carry, he made sure not to bump his injured hand against anything, moving through the garden, towards the guests complex.
While carrying him, Guo zhen had time to properly look at his face.
It seemed this person might be older than him, from the small fine lines on his face, hardly noticeable if you didn't stare hard enough.
Earlier, he had noticed he had eyes the color of hazelnuts, almond shaped and slightly downturned at the outer coners, giving a calm and gentle appearance.
His face was oval shaped, his skin pale. He also had a softly pointed chin, giving a delicate and elegant structure.
His eyebrows were straight, slightly thick but neatly shaped, his nose straight and slim and his lips were medium full with a natural shape and slighty curved into a faint restrained smile even though he was out cold.
Guo zhen had never spent so much time looking at someone's face, neither had he used so many words to describe someone either. He needed to stop.
'Was he taller than him? It seemed he was taller than this stranger,' he kept thinking, forgetting about the chaos of his family, forgetting the setup that Li Wei had orchestrated, forgetting that his father had demanded he change his surname or else he wouldn't be allowed into the Li household registry, even though that was the only thing he had held on to all his life, and forgetting about the plans he had brought with him from the northern city region, his home.
All that mattered right now was 'him.'
"So Fang Rui did come, I wasn't imagining things."
Su Yansheng and Guo zhen had been watching memory Guo zhen carry someone away when they spotted Fang Rui in the shadows, watching as his brother left with someone in his arms, a blank look on his face.
"I had a feeling he had appeared here."
"You didnt know before?"
Staring at Fang Rui, a lost look on his face, "No I didn't."
So even memories the owner was not aware of, or had not be cognizant of, were apearing.
Something had changed, it might even still be in the process of evolving, and Yan knew he had to get to the bottom of this, for not just himself, but for the almost two hundred guests who were currently resting at his Inn.
'Would it be rude to force Guo zhen to speed up his journey?'
'No, no, that would be too unethical,' he thought.
He was a responsible inn keeper, okay.
He just had to see this through first.
"Hey."
Guo zhen raised his eyebrow at him, expecting him to continue.
"So to make you fall in love with me, all I need to do is get injured on your behalf?" Yan, feeling a little mischievous, wanted to mess with Guo zhen a little.
A lot of possibilities crossed Guo zhens mind, but when he realized this person was in a way, asking for the way into his heart, he knew he had to deter him.
Guo zhen had a look of mild disgust on his face, "Are you sick?"
Ha.. ha.. ha…
"No I'm not, this is a very valid question." Yan not realizing he was getting closer to death, kept on his path.
For some reason, Guo zhen was angry, at a lot of things, but most especially at the idea that this person might get hurt.
"Shut up."
"Ai." Yan started to laugh under his breath, but when he saw the murderous look on Guo zhens face, he realized he might have teased him too much.
"I'm sorry." Nobody liked when others made fun their choices when they were in love. It wasn't his place. For the next ten minutes at least, he.. he..
Letting out a snort, Guo zhen walked away from him, but deep down, he was relieved, relieved that Su Yansheng was not going to do anything stupid. He didn't need him to. Yan.. he was okay the way he was.
More than okay.