The Missing Piece: 貌合神离

Extra Story 2: Secrets

 

There was an ID photo in the wallet. The person in the photo looked like a student. His bangs were extremely short, revealing his smooth forehead and bright eyes. With his lips slightly pursed, he looked somewhat serious.

 

Shen Mo recalled that the photo had been taken when he was in college so that he could attach it to his CV. He didn’t know how Ji Mingxuan had obtained it, but Ji Mingxuan kept it in his wallet every day. No matter how Shen Mo looked at it, he felt that it wasn’t a good photo, but just as he was about to take it out of the wallet, he heard a sound from the bed.

 

He hurriedly stuffed the wallet into Ji Mingxuan’s coat again and slipped back into bed.

 

Ji Mingxuan flipped over and wrapped an arm around Shen Mo’s waist. His eyes still closed, Ji Mingxuan only rubbed his chin against Shen Mo’s neck and asked, “Where did you go?”

 

The rubbing tickled Shen Mo, so he dodged a bit to the side. “The bathroom.”

And I took a look at your wallet on my way. Of course, Shen Mo didn’t say the second part out loud.

 

Holding Shen Mo in his arms, Ji Mingxuan said, “I’m taking the day off today. Let’s sleep a little longer.”

 

Shen Mo had realised that Ji Mingxuan especially enjoyed hugging him in bed like this, refusing to get up even when they were awake. But those who had become fathers no longer had holidays. Shen Mo reminded him, “Xiao-Ning will be getting up soon.”

 

Ji Mingxuan let out a muffled response and immediately opened his eyes. He looked at Shen Mo for a few moments before taking Shen Mo’s chin and kissing him hard. Only once he’d had enough did he let go of Shen Mo and get up to dress himself.

 

Shen Mo was somewhat out of breath from the kiss. He lay in bed for a while longer before he heard Ji Ning knocking outside the door.

 

Ji Ning first called, “Daddy!”

 

And then called, “Uncle!”

 

He rapped loudly on the door, as if he wouldn’t stop until the door opened. Now that Ji Mingxuan had finished washing, he already looked quite refreshed. He walked over to open the door and picked Ji Ning up. “Come, let’s have breakfast.”

 

Ji Ning waved his little arms and asked, “What about Uncle?”

 

Shen Mo heard Ji Mingxuan answer, “Uncle was very tired last night. Be a good boy and don’t bother him.”

 

Why did you do it so many times if you knew I was tired? Wrapped in the blanket, Shen Mo didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He was the kind of person who couldn’t stand leisure; he didn’t like lying around, even on his days off. So he soon got up, thinking about taking advantage of the sunny day to clean the windows and whatnot.

 

But right after lunch, Ji Mingxuan gave Shen Mo a task: to go buy a pair of cufflinks with him. Shen Mo was actually the one who brought up the matter first. Mr Ji loved the pair of cufflinks he’d picked, but it wasn’t a good idea to wear the same cufflinks all the time. 

 

Ji Mingxuan happily accepted the suggestion, immediately saying that he’d like to choose another pair, so long as Shen Mo went together with him. They happened to be free today anyway, so of course Shen Mo didn’t turn down the offer. After he coaxed Ji Ning to sleep in the afternoon, he went out with Ji Mingxuan.

 

Ever since Ji Ning returned from overseas, Shen Mo and Ji Mingxuan had been constantly busy with him. They hadn’t spent any time alone in a long while. 

 

On their way, Ji Mingxuan said, “We’ll eat out tonight.”

 

Shen Mo said, “But Xiao-Ning….”

 

“Chen-jie is there to look after Ji Ning. It’ll be okay. You don’t have to spoil him like this.”

 

“He moved to a new environment after all. He’s not used to it yet.”

 

Ji Mingxuan glanced at Shen Mo and snorted. “You’ve been spending a little too much time on him, haven’t you?”

 

Was he getting jealous of even a kid?

 

Shen Mo chuckled. “Xiao-Ning resembles you a lot, Mr Ji.”

 

Ji Mingxuan snorted again and said nothing else. Sneaking a look at his face, Shen Mo figured that he was in quite a pleasant mood.

 

They hadn’t chosen a specific place to shop, so they just strolled through the malls in the city centre. Shen Mo actually didn’t know how to choose cufflinks—he looked here and there and still had no idea, so he could only ask Ji Mingxuan which styles he liked.

 

Right away, Ji Mingxuan flaunted the ring on his left ring finger. “Just pick a pair that matches this.”

 

As he spoke, he turned the ring deliberately, almost as if to dazzle everyone around him. Shen Mo felt quite embarrassed, but he still chose a pair of cufflinks accordingly. However, he hadn’t expected to come across someone he knew. 

 

Really, it was quite a coincidence—the last time he’d finished buying cufflinks, he also met Zhao Yi, who’d had dinner with them once.

 

Shen Mo remembered that Zhao Yi had been popular for some time, but then gradually disappeared from the screen, perhaps because he’d retired. Shen Mo wouldn’t have recognised him if he hadn’t stood out so much—one of his cheeks was swollen, clearly from an injury; his left shoe was also missing, and he walked around limping.

 

Even in such a sorry state, Zhao Yi still acted calmly. Ignoring others’ surprised looks, he went directly to a shop assistant, asking her to get him a pair of shoes.

Then, he sat down to try on the shoes. His movements were elegant, as if he were sitting right in front of a camera. When the shop assistants peeked at him, he even looked up and smiled, making the young girls blush.

 

Shen Mo wanted to take a closer look, but Ji Mingxuan turned Shen Mo’s head around and said, “Mind your own business.”

 

Ji Mingxuan and Zhao Yi’s relationship was something Shen Mo had never figured out. Besides, it had been so many years already; it’d be embarrassing to mention it right now. So he didn’t ask anything and conscientiously continued choosing cufflinks. In the end, he chose a wine-coloured pair that matched Ji Mingxuan’s ring rather well.

 

Ji Mingxuan looked at it and nodded in satisfaction. So Shen Mo went to the checkout with his wallet. By now, Zhao Yi had already changed his shoes. He came over and greeted Ji Mingxuan.

 

Looking at his face, Ji Mingxuan said, “Seems like you haven’t been doing so well.”

 

Zhao Yi let out a laugh and raised his chin. “I was the one who chose this.”

 

He didn’t seem to regret it at all. As such, Ji Mingxuan didn’t say anything else.

Zhao Yi glanced at Shen Mo, who was swiping his credit card, and asked, “How come Mr Shen is the one paying?”

 

“Of course he is.” Ji Mingxuan seemed quite proud. “I’m living off him now.”

 

Taken by surprise, Zhao Yi had on a somewhat indescribable expression. After a while, he sighed. “I shouldn’t have changed my target so soon back then. If I’d continued to go after you, Mr Ji, maybe I’d be the one standing there right now.”

 

Ji Mingxuan smiled. He was gazing at only Shen Mo. “You wouldn’t have succeeded.”

 

Zhao Yi let out another sigh. “I knew it.”

 

He still seemed somewhat disheartened. Ji Mingxuan didn’t say anything in reply. After Shen Mo finished paying, he came back and, upon seeing Zhao Yi standing to the side, didn’t know whether to say hello.

 

On the other hand, Zhao Yi greeted him naturally, “Long time no see, Mr Shen.”

 

So Shen Mo chatted with Zhao Yi for a while. They’d only exchanged a few words when Ji Mingxuan’s eyes swept over. Shen Mo understood at once; he hurriedly took out the cufflinks he had just bought and put them on for Ji Mingxuan.

 

Zhao Yi couldn’t watch this any longer. He said goodbye to the two and left with a wave. Ji Mingxuan held his cufflinks up to the ring and compared the two, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly. Obviously, he felt much more pleased than before.

 

It was already late, so they went to a nearby restaurant for dinner. Shen Mo had figured out Ji Mingxuan’s taste by now, so all he ordered were Ji Mingxuan’s favourite dishes.

 

As they were eating, Ji Mingxuan suddenly spoke up, “Aren’t you going to ask about my relationship with Zhao Yi?”

 

“Oh,” Shen Mo asked, “what’s your relationship?”

 

Ji Mingxuan replied, “I only had a few meals with him due to business matters.”

 

Shen Mo still said, “Oh.”

 

Even if something had really happened between them, it’d been years already; why would Shen Mo be jealous of it? But Mr Ji was clearly dissatisfied by Shen Mo’s reaction, pulling a long face for the rest of their meal.

 

Shen Mo felt that Ji Mingxuan was becoming increasingly temperamental, almost turning into Ji Ning.

 

Just as they were about to finish their meal, Chen-jie called and said that Ji Ning was refusing to eat, so the two hurried back home.

 

Ji Ning hadn’t seen them in a whole afternoon; he was a little sour indeed. Not only did he refuse to eat, he even started wailing, his tears rolling all the way down his cheeks. Shen Mo felt really apologetic, coaxing Ji Ning in every way. In the end, only by taking out his phone and letting Ji Ning play games for a while did he get Ji Ning to blaugh again.

 

Chen-jie reheated the cold dishes, and Ji Ning obediently finished most of his rice. After dinner, he lay on the sofa and played on the phone with Shen Mo.

 

Ji Mingxuan rubbed them, “Take care of your eyes,” and went to his study to read documents. Having taken the day off, he still had quite a lot of work to catch up on. But soon afterwards, he heard Ji Ning calling him in the living room, “Daddy, Daddy! Come here! Come here!”

 

Ji Mingxuan knitted his eyebrows, put the documents aside, and walked out.

Ji Ning and Shen Mo were laughing together at the phone, as if they’d seen something interesting. Ji Ning waved his arms and called, “Daddy, come take a look!”

 

So Ji Mingxuan strode over and went to their side to take a look. Only then did he notice that the phone’s front camera was on and that their three faces were reflected on the screen. Seizing the chance, Shen Mo quickly pressed the shutter icon.

 

Click.

 

The picture was captured right after the flash. Ji Ning and Shen Mo were smiling happily in the photo, whereas Ji Mingxuan was frowning slightly instead. The three of them were closer than ever.

 

Looking at the phone, Shen Mo said, “You’re too serious, Mr Ji.”

 

Ji Ning shouted, “Let me see! Let me see!”

 

And the two began to discuss.

 

“It’s quite a nice shot. I’ll print it out later and put it in my wallet.”

 

“I want one too!”

 

“But you don’t have a wallet, Xiao-Ning. Where will you put it?”

 

“Hmm…” Ji Ning thought it over before saying, “I’ll just put it together with my New Year’s money.”

 

“Okay.”

 

Ji Ning cheered happily. When he turned around and saw that Ji Mingxuan was 

still standing at the side, he waved his hand. “You can go, Daddy.”

 

Shen Mo also said, “You can go back to work, Mr Ji.”

 

As if they were throwing him away now that they’d finished using him. Speechless, Ji Mingxuan stood there for a while before returning to his room.

 

That night, Ji Mingxuan naturally had his way with Shen Mo again; Shen Mo didn’t even want to get up the next day. In the afternoon, however, he still paid a visit to the studio, both to supervise the work and to have Yang Yue print out the photo for him.

 

Yang Yue had already met Ji Mingxuan. When she first learned that Ji Mingxuan was the future “Missus,” her expression revealed more shock than a Magnitude 10 earthquake. But Yang Yue quickly accepted this fact and even praised Shen Mo for his good taste, commenting on how super handsome Mr Ji was. After that, she referred to Ji Mingxuan as “Mr Ji” like Shen Mo did; she never called Ji Mingxuan the “Missus” again. Shen Mo felt somewhat disappointed.

 

Fortunately, Yang Yue was quite an efficient worker; it took just a few days for her to have the photo printed. Shen Mo was quite satisfied with it. He not only put one in his wallet but also used another to replace the old ID photo in Ji Mingxuan’s wallet.

 

Ji Mingxuan initially disagreed, but Shen Mo quickly overpowered his weak resistance. He still managed to save that old, yellowed photo, although Shen Mo didn’t know where he kept it.

 

The last photo was for Ji Ning. The little guy had long since lost all interest in it, though. After taking a casual glance and making sure both Daddy and Uncle were in the photo, he hurried away to play with his new toys.

 

Shen Mo still remembered the promise they’d made, so he stored the photo together with Ji Ning’s New Year’s money. Ji Ning was young, but he’d already saved plenty of money. His passbook was stored right in the drawer of the master bedroom’s nightstand.

 

Shen Mo entered the bedroom. While he was opening the drawer, he pulled a little too hard, and the entire drawer came out of the nightstand. Just as he was about to put it back in, he found a small box hidden under the drawer.

 

The box was square and had a velvet surface; it looked quite familiar, just like the ones that often appeared at the end of certain romance dramas. Shen Mo’s heart skipped a beat. He couldn’t help but reach out and pick up the box. 

 

Opening it, he indeed found a pair of rings inside. They looked the same as the one he’d painted on Ji Mingxuan’s left hand, but they were finer than the one he was wearing now. Each with a diamond on top, they glowed and sparkled in the sun.

 

So it turned out that Mr Ji had also prepared rings, but Shen Mo had ended up being a step ahead of him. This was the confession that Ji Mingxuan had never said out loud. Shen Mo felt moved, almost tearing up.

 

With his finger, he gently stroked the pair of rings. He didn’t know how long had passed when he heard Ji Ning calling him outside, “Uncle, come out and play with me!”

 

Only then did Shen Mo’s attention return. He put the pair of rings back in the corner and, as if he’d found out about nothing, carefully fixed the drawer back in place.

 

In the living room, Ji Ning was playing with his new toys enthusiastically. Ji Mingxuan, on the other hand, was reading documents to the side and, when he saw Shen Mo come out, gave him a casual glance.

 

He often said that it was Shen Mo who had pursued him first.

 

Yes, Shen Mo thought, that’s right.

 

As for Mr Ji’s little secret, he might as well let it be a secret forever.