Chapter 8: Who Likes Pink Anyway?

Ji Xu stepped onto the wet beach, his toes sinking into the fine sand soaked by seawater, a cool sensation surging all the way up from the soles of his feet.

At first, he only walked back and forth in the shallow water, letting the sea waves lick his ankles and calves time after time, the white foam shattering against his skin before receding, leaving behind a thin layer of fine sand grains.

On the shore, a few children were squatting to build sandcastles.

One child’s red plastic shovel was washed away by the water.

Ji Xu bent down to help scoop it up and hand it back.

The child said, “Thank you, Brother.”

He grinned, smiled, and continued walking forward along the water’s edge.

After walking for about ten minutes or so, fine beads of sweat began to break out on the tip of his nose, dried by the sea breeze into a thin layer of salt frost.

The sun gradually rose higher, its rays growing increasingly intense.

With nowhere to seek shade, his face was flushed red from the sun, a faint layer of pink floating across his cheeks and the bridge of his nose, as if someone had lightly brushed it with blush.

He raised the back of his hand to wipe the sweat from the corner of his forehead, but his gaze remained glued to the people thrashing about in the sea not far away.

Some were swimming, some were floating on inflatable rafts, and others were splashing water at each other in a chaotic tussle, their laughter blending with the sound of the waves and carrying over from afar.

Ji Xu stopped in his tracks and reached out a finger to tug at the hem of Rong Du’s shirt.

Rong Du turned back to look at him.

Ji Xu’s face was flushed red, his eyes slightly squinted from the harsh sunlight, yet the glittering light inside those eyes was exceptionally clear.

He tugged at Rong Du’s clothes, his voice carrying a slight hint of a coquettish tone: “Rong Du, can we go down and play too?”

Rong Du looked in the direction of his gaze.

On the surface of the sea, human figures floated about in groups of two and three, while further away, a family of four sat swaying on a kayak.

He turned back to look at Ji Xu again.

The tips of Ji Xu’s toes were already stretching toward the deeper water, his entire center of gravity leaning forward, ready to dash over at any moment.

“Can Ah Xu swim?”

Ji Xu shook his head, crisp and straightforward, without the slightest guilt: “No.”

Looking at his righteous and confident demeanor, Rong Du held back a smile and pursed his lips: “You can’t swim and yet you still want to run into the deep water.”

“That’s why I’m pulling you along with me, right?”

Ji Xu tugged at his clothes again, pulling with a bit more force, dragging Rong Du a step forward.

Sunlight fell upon the crown of Ji Xu’s head, illuminating his medium-length hair with a halo of pale gold light.

He raised his face to look at Rong Du, the sweat beads on the tip of his nose glistening in the light, his lips slightly pursed because they were blown dry by the wind.

Rong Du was all too familiar with that expression.

Ever since they were young, whenever Ji Xu put on this look, it meant he had set his mind on something and wouldn’t let go.

Rong Du let out a sigh, bent down, pulled off the T-shirt he was wearing, and casually draped it on a spot on the beach away from the tide.

Bare-chested, he walked into the sea.

The seawater submerged his ankles, knees, and thighs.

When it reached his waist, he stopped, turned around, and extended a hand toward Ji Xu: “Hold on tight to me.”

Ji Xu cheerfully stepped into the water.

The moment he entered the water, he shrank back slightly.

The seawater was considerably colder than the place where he had been splashing around just now, a chill surging all the way from his toes to the base of his thighs.

He shook his head to shake off that chill, then took two steps forward.

The water level rose from his knees to his waist.

Extending his hand with five fingers spread wide, he cupped the hand Rong Du held out to him without missing a beat.

Rong Du’s fingers immediately tightened, wrapping his entire hand inside his palm.

The dry palm pressing against the seawater-chilled back of the hand made Ji Xu shiver once more from the temperature difference.

“Walk forward,” Rong Du said, taking a step backward into the depths first.

Ji Xu followed him.

The sandy ground beneath his feet gradually became softer and steeper.

With every step, the seawater spilled a little higher, pushing from his waist to his ribs, and then to his chest.

He felt as though the soles of his feet were about to lose touch with the bottom, his entire body lifted upward by the buoyancy.

He subconsciously tightened his grip on Rong Du’s hand, while his other hand frantically paddled at the water.

Rong Du stopped in his tracks.

The two of them paused at a position where the seawater submerged Ji Xu’s chest, where Ji Xu could only plant his feet firmly on the sand by standing on tiptoes.

A wave came over.

It was not the gentle, shattering wave that lapped up near the shore, but a slightly larger one that surged over from afar and only broke apart upon crashing near the shore.

The seawater abruptly surged high up to Ji Xu’s chin.

Before he could react, his footing gave way, and his entire body was pushed backward by that wave—his feet lost their footing, the seawater instantly surging over the top of his head.

Saltwater poured into his nose and mouth, his fingers still clutching Rong Du’s hand tightly, but his whole body had already fallen backward, his hair spreading out in the water, his vision filled with oscillating, foamy blue-green.

The chaos lasted for only two or three seconds.

Rong Du’s arms reacted faster than his brain, exerting sudden force to scoop him up from the water.

When Ji Xu’s head broke through the water surface, he choked on a mouthful of water, leaning against Rong Du’s arm and coughing twice.

Seawater poured out from his nose, salty and astringent, his throat burning hot.

His hair was entirely plastered against his face, clinging in strands to his forehead, cheekbones, and the corners of his mouth.

Water droplets dripped down from his chin, his eye sockets flushed red from the irritation of the seawater, tiny water droplets hanging from his eyelashes.

“Are you okay?”

Rong Du supported his arms and back to help him stand firm.

The water reached only to Ji Xu’s waist now.

Taking a step toward the shallow area, he re-anchored his feet firmly on the sand, though his legs were still weak, his fingers still resting on Rong Du’s forearm.

After finishing his last two coughs, Ji Xu used his wet palm to wipe the water and hair off his face, parting the strands of hair clinging to his eyes.

He sniffed.

The salty taste still lingered on his tongue, but the corners of his mouth slowly curled upward—that smile first curved on one side, then on both sides, his whole face flushed red and dripping wet, his hair sticking to his face in a mess, looking disheveled yet vibrant.

He shook his head forcefully, tossing out the water droplets on his head and splashing them all over Rong Du.

“I’m fine!” he said, his voice a few degrees brighter than before.

“Let’s do it again, let’s do it again! You hold onto me, and I’ll try.”

Seeing his enthusiastic appearance, the words “How about we go up?” that had reached Rong Du’s lips were swallowed back down, and he handed his hand to him once more.

This time, Ji Xu no longer just clutched tightly onto Rong Du without letting go.

He imitated the posture of those swimmers he had seen before choking on water, his two legs thrashing beneath the water surface while his hands also learned to stroke the water, his entire body floating forward a few inches in a wobbly manner.

Holding onto his wrist, Rong Du slowly backed away in rhythm with him.

Ji Xu chased forward, splashing in the water like a toddler learning to walk.

Water splashed everywhere, and several mouthfuls were choked into his mouth again, but he didn’t care in the slightest, thrashing harder the more he played.

“Rong Du, teach me how to swim!”

Ji Xu stopped to catch his breath, his hands still clinging to Rong Du’s forearm, looking up at him with a face full of water and a bright, radiant smile.

“Sure.”

Rong Du let go of his hand and took half a step back.

“First, kick your legs up and don’t stop, and stroke your hands like this—” He turned sideways and demonstrated a simple paddling movement for Ji Xu.

Ji Xu stared for two seconds, imitated the movement, and began thrashing about.

His two legs kicked wildly beneath the water surface, throwing up water sprays higher than a person, his whole body wobbling forward a short distance.

Although his posture was comical and his speed pitifully slow, he surprisingly didn’t sink.

Ji Xu himself was startled for a moment and thrashed even harder, swimming a large circle in doggy-paddle style around Rong Du, the water spray splashing up and shattering into sparkling silver flakes in the sunlight.

After finishing a lap, he swam back in front of Rong Du, clinging to the water and panting heavily, his chin resting on the water surface.

He raised his eyebrows triumphantly at Rong Du, water droplets sliding down his brow bone: “How about that, am I awesome?”

Looking at his silly doggy-paddle style, Rong Du couldn’t completely hold back his laughter, the corners of his mouth curving upward into a distinct arc.

He nodded, his voice carrying laughter that couldn’t be suppressed: “Mhm, Ah Xu is very awesome.”

Satisfied, Ji Xu plunged back into the water to continue thrashing.

He tossed back and forth at the boundary between the shallow water and the depth of Rong Du’s waist for more than half an hour, gradually working out a slight clue from the initial doggy-paddle.

Occasionally, he could stroke several times in a row without choking on water.

Although his posture still couldn’t be called elegant, at least he could maintain himself without sinking to the bottom.

His lips turned somewhat pale from being soaked in seawater, and the skin on his fingertips began to wrinkle.

After being washed in seawater for too long, a layer of fine salt residue formed on his skin, feeling rough to the touch.

He stopped to look at his wrinkled finger pads, sneezed, and finally became well-behaved.

“Let’s go up.”

Rong Du walked over to pull him, and the two of them stepped through the water toward the shore together.

Ji Xu’s legs were a bit soft, his steps floating as he walked, so Rong Du half-supported and half-dragged him onto the beach.

Sunlight baked onto the skin cooled by the seawater, warmth surging back again.

A layer of goosebumps broke out on Ji Xu’s arms and quickly subsided.

They found a place to shower by the shore, rinsed off the sea salt on their bodies with fresh water, and then slipped into a small shop nearby selling swimwear and beach supplies to buy two sets of dry clothes.

Ji Xu picked out a white short-sleeved shirt and a pair of navy blue shorts, while Rong Du took a gray set.

The two of them changed into dry clothes in the narrow fitting room, rolling their wet clothes into a bundle and stuffing them into the plastic bag provided by the shopkeeper.

Ji Xu’s hair was still dripping water, the back of his neck and collar soaked wet.

He wiped it casually twice with the towel draped over his neck, leaving his bangs sticking out stubbornly in a few tufts.

The shopkeeper was a young Omega, looking to be in his early twenties, with a round face, curved eyes, and two shallow dimples on his cheeks when he smiled.

Standing behind the counter watching Ji Xu walk out, his gaze paused on Ji Xu’s face for a moment, then fell onto his still-dripping hair tips.

“We have a hairdryer here,” the shopkeeper took the initiative to speak, his voice soft as he pointed behind the counter.

“You can blow-dry it over there, it’s free. Going out with wet hair makes it easy to catch a cold.”

Rong Du glanced at the shopkeeper, then looked at Ji Xu’s wet head, and nodded: “Go blow-dry it. I’ll wait for you.”

Ji Xu walked behind the counter.

The shopkeeper took out a white hairdryer from a drawer and handed it to him.

Ji Xu said thank you, plugged it in, and began blowing his hair facing the mirror.

The warm air blew the wet hair open strand by strand, water droplets flinging off from the tips of his hair.

The face in the mirror gradually restored its dryness, with that faint layer of red left behind by the sun still lingering on the tip of his nose and cheekbones.

Standing not far away tidying the shelves, the shopkeeper occasionally looked up toward Ji Xu’s direction, his eyes carrying that subconscious gaze of being attracted by a good-looking person.

He noticed the Beta standing next to Ji Xu—Rong Du leaned against the edge of the counter, looking down at his phone, but every few seconds he would raise his head to glance at Ji Xu’s back.

Ji Xu dried his hair, returned the hairdryer to the shopkeeper, and smiled again to say thank you.

The tips of the shopkeeper’s ears were red as he took the hairdryer, his voice growing even softer: “You’re welcome, feel free to come again next time.”

Ji Xu didn’t think much of it, turned around to walk to Rong Du’s side, and the two of them picked up the plastic bag containing the wet clothes and walked out the shop door.

When the sea breeze blew head-on again, Ji Xu’s hair was already dry, blowing gently backward with the wind.

His hair was a bit longer than when he first came to Haicheng, already covering his shoulders, the tips of his hair wafting slightly in the wind, carrying the warmth just brought out from the hairdryer.

The two walked slowly along the coastline, stepping on the dry sand warmed by the sun.

The tide line beside them advanced and receded, with sea gulls occasionally flying low over their heads, letting out one or two sharp calls.

After walking for a stretch of road, Rong Du suddenly stopped in front of a small stall.

It was a small shop set up with a blue-and-white striped sun canopy, hung with various woven bracelets, seashell wind chimes, plastic sunglasses, and a row of hair ties.

Rong Du bent down, his gaze sweeping across that row of hair ties, and reached out to pick one up.

He turned it over to look at it, put it back, hesitated for a moment, and picked up another one beside it—a pink one, with a fluffy little ball dangling from it, and a tiny plastic pearl adjoined next to the ball.

It was clearly something a little Omega would like.

By the time Ji Xu shuffled over, Rong Du had already taken out change from his pocket and paid.

He handed the pink hair tie in front of Ji Xu, his fingers pinching that loop of elastic band as the little pink ball dangled and swayed.

Ji Xu took the hair tie, looked at it, and then raised his head to look at Rong Du.

The tips of Rong Du’s ears carried a trace of red that was not easily noticeable—the color was very faint, almost unnoticeable on his yellowish skin tone, but because Ji Xu was close, he noticed it.

Ji Xu lowered his head, gathering the medium-length hair at the back of his head with his hands to tie a low ponytail.

The pink hair tie was exceptionally eye-catching against the black hair ends, the fluffy little ball dangling behind his neck, swaying back and forth with his movements.

Having tied his hair, he leaned half a step forward, his face drawing very close in front of Rong Du, close enough to almost feel the temperature of each other’s breath.

“Rong Du,” Ji Xu tilted his head, a hint of playful mischief in his voice, “do you think I like pink?”

Rong Du’s line of sight flickered across that face that was too close, then hastily shifted away, landing in the air beside Ji Xu’s shoulder, as if unable to find a stable landing point.

That faint layer of red on the tips of his ears became a bit more pronounced, spreading slightly from the edges of his ears toward his cheekbones.

His lips moved, his voice much lower than usual, as if squeezed out from his throat: “…It’s that I like you using pink things.”

After he said those words, the air went quiet for a moment.

Ji Xu froze.

His eyes widened, reflecting half of Rong Du’s turned-away face inside them, along with the light shattered into tens of thousands of pieces on the distant sea surface.

Those words revolved once in his brain, and then revolved again.

Every single word was recognizable when taken apart, yet combined together, they made him unable to react for a moment—it’s that I like you using pink things.

Did this sentence mean… did it mean Rong Du liked seeing him use pink things, or that Rong Du wanted to see him use pink things, or… his heart inexplicably skipped a beat, his ears buzzing as the sound of the sea breeze and waves retreated far away.

He wanted to ask another question, but Rong Du had already turned back around, covering his wrist with his palm to drag him forward.

Rong Du’s pace was a bit faster than before, his side face turned to Ji Xu, his jawline drawn somewhat tight, that layer of red on the tips of his ears not yet fully faded.

“Let’s go,” he said, his voice restoring its usual tone, though if one listened carefully, a trace of panic that hadn’t been hidden in time could still be found.

“Let’s find a place to eat first, I’m hungry.”

Ji Xu was pulled forward a few steps by him.

The wind blew in from the side, blowing the tips of his hair up together with that little pink ball, the fluffy sphere lightly rubbing against the back of his neck.

He looked down at his wrist being clutched by Rong Du, then raised his head to look at the back of Rong Du’s head.

That sentence was like a pebble tossed into the water, the ripples still expanding outward, circle after circle, unable to stop no matter what.

He opened his mouth, but ultimately said nothing, just letting himself be dragged forward by Rong Du, stepping on the footprints of varying depths in the sand, with the sea behind them and the slowly lighting lamps ahead.

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