Chapter 560: A Prince on White Horse

    When Gu Luoxin was just a little boy, he spent most of his time in the daycare, waiting until the time when his parents picked him up after they had gotten off work. He remembered very clearly how, unlike the rowdy boys who liked to play with toy robots and plastic swords, he enjoyed listening to the stories told by the teachers the most.

    They were all fairytales, with little girls being the sole audience. But thanks to Gu Luoxin’s naturally delicate features, he did not look out of place among the group.

    His sentiments were the same as the girls. He adored happily-ever-afters, and the part which excited him the most was always the prince, with a beautiful white horse as his mount, showing up in a dashing manner whenever the princess found herself in a pinch and magically solving all of her troubles. The similar trope was repeated again and again in different tales, yet Gu Luoxin’s fascination remained all the same. Not once had he gotten bored hearing the same thing again and again.

    Whenever this part came up, he would, without fail, find himself listening in rapture, starry-eyed, daydreaming when his own prince would appear before him and whisk him away on his majestic white horse.

    Thinking back, his sexual orientation seemed apparent early on, for not even once had he fantasized being the one to mount the white horse and marry the beautiful princesses.

    As he grew up, he gradually came to learn that the fairytale he loved was just... a tale. A beautiful fantasy. An exquisitely weaved reverie meant to entertain, filled with nothing but sunshine and rainbows. His prince would never show up. The person he had been dreaming about was not even real. No matter how long he waited and how much he daydreamed about it, there would be no princes who would magically appear before him.

    He had all the logic sorted out, yet sometimes, whenever he suffered bullying by some obnoxious bunch due to his androgynous features, he would once again find himself wondering—

    Will someone come to my rescue? Will someone help me defeat these villains and take me away? They don’t have to be a prince. Even without a white horse is also okay. As long as someone stands up for me...

    Unfortunately, that did not happen. No one came to his rescue. No one stood up to him. They all thought that the bullying was nothing more than a group of friends roughhousing. Even when Gu Luoxin showed the bruises on his body, everyone thought it was normal among boys— and that included his parents who scolded him for being dramatic and weak.

    Hence Gu Luoxin could only stand up for himself. He rolled up his sleeves and began to fight back desperately, until his bullies no longer dared to offend or bother him.

    Since then, Gu Luoxin had never sought out his imaginative prince anymore. He had, forevermore, laid his childish longing to rest, never to be revisited even in his daydream.

    ...or so he’d thought.

    But now, as Noir appeared before him without warning, Gu Luoxin had no idea why he suddenly recalled the fairytales that had accompanied his childhood. It was so strange; there was no rainbow, no blooming flowers adorning the background, yet for some inexplicable reason, Gu Luoxin felt like seeing a prince on his majestic white horse. The man he had been dreaming about since he was little, the man who would magically appear whenever he was in trouble, whenever he was sad, whenever he needed someone to lean on... had come to life.

    He was here.

    Right here. In front of him.

    Gu Luoxin stood frozen with his mouth agape, unable to believe what he was seeing. W-Why would Senior be here... and so fast...?

    "’Holy shit’?" Noir repeated with an arched brow, a faint mirth lacing his tone. The two of them still had their phones pressed to their ears, thus Gu Luoxin heard the question travel to his ear almost at the same time as it came out of the mouth of the man before him. "Is that the first thing you’re gonna say to me?"

    With a sharp breath, Gu Luoxin tremblingly ended the call with a beep.

    Was he... was he dreaming right now? Had the sadness and disappointment due to his uncle missing their appointment caused him to hallucinate somehow? Otherwise how could Noir be here... less than fifteen minutes after he called??

    "Y-Y-You... how could you... " he shuffled forward a few steps and grabbed the hem of Noir’s sleeve in a fluster. His entire person seemed to still be in a daze, like he was floating through a surreal dream. His heart felt congested with countless questions, so much that his chest heaved violently, but in the end, what came out of his mouth first was: "How could you fly with your bone wings?! The area around my neighborhood is equipped with CCTV! Hurry up and retract them ah, Senior!!"

    In his panic, he unwittingly tugged on Noir’s sleeve a few times to urge the man, all the while scanning their surroundings as though keeping a vigilant lookout despite the fact that there was no one around.

    Noir: "."

    Feeling a slight helplessness, he defended himself, "No CCTCs are pointed toward the sky."

    Not to mention, it was dark now. Even if the cameras did capture something, they would have first assumed it was a bird. No one would have associated the blurred image with a winged man. Noir had done this so many times that he could be considered a pro. He was confident that he wouldn’t be exposed.

    In spite of that, he still retracted the bone wings back into his body just to give Gu Luoxin a peace of mind.

    Seeing that, Gu Luoxin’s shoulders immediately sagged in relief, tension loosening from his body. Only then could he focus on Noir’s presence itself.

    Gu Luoxin couldn’t quite describe what he was feeling right now. Noir’s unexpected appearance brought him an overwhelming mix of confusion and sheer joy. It would be a lie to say that he wasn’t moved. He was so moved that he wanted to throw himself into Noir’s arms in a moment of impulse. But when he recalled the man’s curt replies and his cold shoulder this past week, he hesitated. He told himself that he shouldn’t harbor too much hope lest he receives another blow to his already fragile heart.

    In the end, Gu Luoxin decided to ask the man directly, "Senior, you... why are you—" here? The last word was interrupted by three consecutive sneezes in a row.

    "It’s so cold..." he rubbed his hands together and sniffled, his teeth chattering faintly. He would freeze to death sooner or later out here, and so he made a snap decision to move places. "Senior, let’s go in first and talk!" he gestured at the house behind him.

    It was fortunate that he hadn’t left for long, thus the temperature was still warm. Still, the first thing Gu Luoxin did after entering the house was to turn on the heater. Noir entered soundlessly behind him, his gaze lingering on the young man’s busy back.

    "Did you cry?" he asked without any preamble, causing Gu Luoxin to freeze.

    .

    .

    Mini theater:

    Xinxin (purely curious): how did you release your wings without tearing your clothes? Did you cut two holes on your back, Senior?

    Noir: "..."