Stars Run To Him

7:30 PM.

Lin Yuxing sat on the plane, with few passengers around. He stared blankly out the window.

The plane had not taken off yet, and he could vaguely see the lights in the night connecting together, like buds on a flower petal, swaying in the wind, emitting a faint glow.

At night City D was much quieter compared to City C.

Beside him, Gu Zhongyi said, “During the winter break, you can come stay at my place.”

Lin Yuxing snapped back to reality and immediately replied, “It’s okay, these injuries will heal in a few days.”

Gu Zhongyi’s apartment only had one room, and Lin Yuxing knew it would be inconvenient for him to move there.

Moreover, last night, he had fallen asleep easily due to exhaustion. If it were any other night, with such a handsome guy lying beside him, Lin Yuxing would probably suffer from insomnia every night.

So he shook his head and repeatedly refused.

Gu Zhongyi said, “I can sleep on the floor next to the bed. If that’s also not okay, I can sleep in the living room.” He was relieved that he had a large enough sofa.

Upon hearing this, Lin Yuxing became even more unwilling.

Who would want to go to someone else’s place and make them sleep on the floor or in the living room?

“I don’t want to inconvenience you.”

Gu Zhongyi paused for a moment and showed a firm stance on the matter. “Yuxing, I would be very worried about you if you are not next to me.”

The word “worried” seemed to have a magical effect. After considering it for a while, Lin Yuxing reluctantly made a concession in a soft voice. “Then you sleep on the bed, and I’ll sleep on the sofa.”

“No,” Gu Zhongyi said firmly, “You’re hurt.”

Before Lin Yuxing could respond, Gu Zhongyi decisively added, “Don’t argue with me on this. Once your injuries are healed, you can sleep wherever you want, and I won’t stop you.”

It had been a long time since Lin Yuxing had been cared for so seriously and persistently by someone.

He pursed his lips.

Gu Zhongyi held his hand, and their fingers interlocked once again. “If you don’t say anything, I’ll take it as you agreeing to the suggestion.”

Lin Yuxing leaned against him, pretending to be half asleep.

The plane finally took off.

At that moment, Lin Yuxing opened his eyes and looked out the window.

As the scenery became smaller and farther away, a hint of sadness appeared in Lin Yuxing’s eyes, causing an inexplicable anguish in his heart.

He hadn’t said anything, but he had written everything on his face.

Gu Zhongyi noticed his worries. “Leaving City D means a new beginning for you. It’s the best choice you could make.”

Lin Yuxing’s gaze flickered, and he remained silent.

After a while, Lin Yuxing, with mixed thoughts, whispered, “Maybe I am what they say I am.”

“No,” Gu Zhongyi immediately denied his mistaken perception and said. “If you were truly an ungrateful person as they say,  would you have remembered the people who helped you? And you wouldn’t be sad as you are now, would you?”

Lin Yuxing’s eyelashes trembled slightly.

Gu Zhongyi didn’t want him to feel sad and said, “You can rest assured. If your aunt is willing to divorce this time, I will help with the related procedures. After she separates from Cheng Rong, the money she earns from work should be enough for her and her son to live on. You’re still a student; don’t burden yourself too much.”

“But…”

Lin Yuxing shook his head, feeling ashamed. “You don’t have to do this. You’ve already helped me enough.”

Gu Zhongyi dismissed his concerns and lifted their joined hands, making Lin Yuxing look closely.

Lin Yuxing didn’t understand.

Gu Zhongyi raised his chin slightly and said, “Only when you’re in love do hands hold each other like this.”

Lin Yuxing remained speechless.

“Yuxing, you should give me a chance to prove myself,” Gu Zhongyi said gently. “Your boyfriend comes from a powerful family. It would be a shame not to use him, right?”

For a moment, Lin Yuxing was at a loss for words. He had never realized that Gu Zhongyi could be so good with words.

But those words, unfortunately, touched Lin Yuxing deeply, and Gu Zhongyi once again comforted his heart.

Lin Yuxing seemed to relax.

He leaned on Gu Zhongyi’s shoulder and brought up that day’s events.

“This afternoon, I told Shaohua that he should listen to Aunt from now on. He’s usually silly, but today he seemed to understand and even cried.”

Thinking about this, Lin Yuxing couldn’t pretend not to feel upset.

He contemplated for a moment and confided in Gu Zhongyi, “Although Shaohua isn’t very intelligent, he has always been obedient and attached to me. We grew up together. Aunt always doted on him, and even Uncle, despite his temper, couldn’t bear to hit him. I envied him and felt jealous, but I couldn’t bring myself to dislike him.”

Lin Yuxing’s voice was very soft, so soft that those words were whispered as a secret meant only for Gu Zhongyi’s ears.

Gu Zhongyi quietly listened.

Lin Yuxing was grateful that Gu Zhongyi didn’t mock his feelings at all

He pursed his lips and seemed to want to explain the reason to Gu Zhongyi and share the deepest loneliness in his heart.

That was a story he had never told anyone before.

Outside the window, it was a dark night, and Lin Yuxing spoke as if he was talking in his sleep, slowly revealing the story.

“Senior, you may not know, but I have a twin brother.”

Upon hearing this, Gu Zhongyi’s gaze evaded for a moment.

“When we were young, our father abandoned us and left us in an orphanage. We relied on each other for survival,” Lin Yuxing said. “I used to resent my brother.”

“Why?”

Lin Yuxing lowered his eyelids, and there was a slight sweat on the palms of his hands, intertwined with Gu Zhongyi’s.

“Because we had made a promise to be adopted together, but he left me and walked away.” Lin Yuxing curled his lips, a bitter smile mixed with sadness. “He could have rejected that adoption, but he didn’t. He said he really wanted to be adopted; he longed for a home.”

Life in the orphanage was boring, and everyone wanted to escape.

Lin Yuxing was the same.

Since childhood, they had been taught and instilled with one belief: that being adopted would bring happiness to everyone.

But happiness seemed hard to grasp. Who could truly know where it was?

Lin Yuxing took a deep breath. “…He also said he would convince his adoptive parents to take me with him. But which family would want me?”

It was in that year that Lin Yuxing got burned, completely losing any chance of being adopted.

No normal family would want him.

“The orphanage director said that my brother went abroad with his adoptive parents and would never come back. It turns out he knew from the beginning that once he was adopted, he would go live overseas.”

Gu Zhongyi was speechless. “Yuxing.”

“The orphanage director told me not to wait anymore and not to hold a grudge against my brother.” Lin Yuxing closed his eyes, surrounded by endless disappointment. “I know he was only 8 years old back then, and many things were beyond his control. But I… I keep thinking about him. I didn’t really need him to actually take me away. Even if he just kept me in his thoughts and visited me once in a while, I would have been content.”

Lin Yuxing remembered the year when he was 8, when he desperately begged his brother not to leave. He pleaded many times, crying until he fainted. In the end, it was his brother’s words, “I will definitely come to get you!” and “When have I ever lied to you?” that made him sadly let go.

Could it be that his brother had to deceive him because of his own immaturity?

Lin Yuxing often dreamt of his twin brother and would remember the time they spent together. His brother was the hero of his childhood, protecting and caring for him.

Whenever Lin Yuxing hid somewhere and shed tears, his brother would always find him and sing a tuneless nursery rhyme, sharing an unrealistic dream.

……

“Silly little star, don’t cry. If they take your candy, hit them back. Haven’t I taught you that?” His brother held his hand and assured him, “When I grow up, I’ll open a big supermarket. Then you can have candy every day.”

Little Lin Yuxing rubbed his eyes and sobbed, “How much money will that take?”

“Who cares how much money it takes? I’m so smart, I’ll definitely become a big boss in the future, and you’ll be the little boss.” His brother wiped away Lin Yuxing’s tears, deliberately rubbing his face. “Stop crying, you’re always crying. That’s why they like to bully you.”

“But… I can’t beat them…”

“Silly little star, if you can’t beat them, come find me. Tomorrow, I’ll talk to the orphanage director and move to your dormitory.” His brother felt sorry for his weak little brother. “We’re twins. There’s no reason for us to sleep apart.”

“Yeah, that’s right!” little Lin Yuxing sniffed and his tears kept flowing.

“Oh, if you keep crying, you’ll go blind.”

“No, I won’t…”

“You will. If your eyes go blind, you won’t be able to see me opening a big supermarket, and you won’t have any candy!”

Lin Yuxing was scared and stopped his tears. He hugged his brother tightly and rubbed against him.

His brother laughed cheerfully. “Such a silly little star.”

At that time, there was a crescent moon in the sky, and his brother brought him back to the cramped dormitory. The worn-out bedding emitted a damp smell.

Lin Yuxing timidly stood in place, always looking up at his bunk bed. His brother urged him to sleep, and he obediently climbed onto the bed with slightly swollen eyes. “Brother, can you sleep here too?”

“Sure.”

The two small bodies squeezed together, face to face.

The boy on the top bunk was the one who always bullied Lin Yuxing. He deliberately kicked the bed to scare them.

Lin Yuxing immediately tightened his grip on his brother’s hand.

His brother clenched his fist, with a face exactly like Lin Yuxing’s, exuding a fierceness that Lin Yuxing had never seen before. Although they were twins, their personalities were completely different.

That night, he pulled the troublemaker from his bed and had a fight.

He understood the law of survival among orphans: the weak are prey to the strong.

He, an Omega, beat up an Alpha boy until his face was bruised and swollen.

The Alpha boy cried in pain,

He raised an eyebrow and sternly warned, ” if you ever dare to bully my little brother again, I will find a way to kill you!” He spoke clearly, tightening his hands around the Alpha boy’s neck, forcing him to look at him. “I mean what I say…”

But as soon as he turned around and faced Lin Yuxing, who was trembling behind him, his expression immediately changed.

From sinister to sunny, it only took him a second.

He smiled brightly and reached out his hand. “Come on, little star, let’s go to sleep~”

Memories were both beautiful and bitter.

…….

As Lin Yuxing recalled the past, his heart felt heavy and uncomfortable.

He told Gu Zhongyi, “I always think that even my own trusted brother didn’t want me, but Shaohua always thinks about me. So, even if my misfortune is indirectly caused by Shaohua, I can’t bring myself to hate him.”

In his heart, he put Cheng Shaohua, who disappeared like his brother, in the same place.

They were both his brothers.

People always have difficulties, people always have flaws.

Lin Yuxing had been trying to reconcile with his own knots and constantly persuading himself, sacrificing himself.

Now, he had cut off the binding rope.

With a hint of bitter orange fragrance he felt a sense of relief. “After speaking those words to Aunt today, my shoulders suddenly felt much lighter.”

It was okay to be selfish.

Lin Yuxing wanted to have his own life, and this was a good start.

He added, “But, Senior, if you hadn’t been by my side these past few days, I probably wouldn’t have had the courage to do this. Thank you.”

After hearing those words, Gu Zhongyi’s gaze became deep and profound. His thousands of words were condensed into a kiss that landed on the back of Lin Yuxing’s hand.