Cold Zone

At seventeen, Cheng Yun and Pei Xun were friends. They went to the same school and were close enough to share a pair of pants. At eighteen, Cheng Yun and Pei Xun were comrades, tirelessly pursuing the same goal. But at twenty-seven, Cheng Yun and Pei Xun stood on parallel paths, living completely different lives. After Cheng Yun left without a word all those years ago, he knew that he and Pei Xun would be a long time coming back together. But the rain fell especially hard on the day they met again. The damp, stifling summer heat was smothered by the chill that swept through the hospital when Cheng Yun met Pei Xun's eyes. It was so cold that Cheng Yun almost thought he was suffering from hypothermia. “It's been a long time.” His voice was rough and hoarse, painfully difficult to get out. The other man's expression didn't change. After a long pause, he replied, “Cheng Yun, are we really friends who can make small talk?” Cheng Yun saw the cold distance in Pei Xun's eyes. When they were young, he had pictured those eyes countless times. They'd once been just as distant, yet softened with tenderness whenever Pei Xun fed stray cats and dogs. They'd also once beamed with laughter in front of him, like a cute little puppy. He'd watched those eyes go from cold to warm, and wanted to treasure them for the rest of his life. But now, faced with Pei Xun's indifference, all he could do was hurriedly lower his gaze and watch the raindrops on his clothes fall one by one to the floor. He had never felt so utterly wretched. In Pei Xun's eyes, Cheng Yun was an elegant, beautiful cat. Cheng Yun's impeccable family background and striking looks meant he was never short of friends. His eyes, tilted slightly upward at the corners, always seemed to hold a hint of hauteur, at odds with his gentle nature. But now, in this seemingly endless downpour, the proud, graceful cat was drenched, its head drooping. Even those proud, upturned eyes had lowered. Poor thing, Pei Xun thought, at a rather inappropriate moment. “Wait here.” For reasons he couldn't explain, he called out to the cat as it was about to leave. Yet when he returned, he witnessed the cat leaving once again. He'd been abandoned again. Pei Xun felt an anger and hurt unlike anything he'd ever known. Still, he wanted to find the little cat soaked by the rain, dry its wet fur, and hold it in his arms to comfort it gently. Warm on the outside, cold within, catlike uke x cold on the outside, warm within, doglike seme I'm like a tropical plant. Every day apart from you is a place where the temperature drops below freezing. Theme: Face everything bravely.