Page 8 of He Is My Bride
Hanjun was gay, but he thought he would have loved Li Ying in any shape or form, in any lifetime.
If only Li Ying were a woman!
“Is that all, Uncle?” Hanjun asked, keeping his tone polite.
There was a quiet sigh on the line. “That is all for now. Hanging up.”
“Bye, Uncle.” Hanjun waited for Wu Yiheng to hang up first.
Hanjun returned to the bedroom. He watched Li Ying’s sleeping face and felt his heart being torn in two.
Chapter 2: A Year To Forever
Li Ying was leaving the hospital after another busy day in the emergency room. One more week left of his rotation. He had to admit, it was an interesting, high-intensity environment, but Li Ying wasdead seton his chosen field.
It was Hanjun’s turn to cook today, but Li Ying thought it better to check up on him to clarify, so he wouldn’t end up scraping something up in a hurry again:
Li Ying got on his bike and headed home. While waiting at the traffic lights, he checked his phone for Hanjun’s response:
Always soup, is he trying to tell me something?Li Ying sent Hanjun a heart.
Biking along, Li Ying spotted a bunch of bright pink peonies outside a flower shop that was about to close. The flowers were just past their best bloom but still beautiful, held in a green plastic bucket with a sign ‘-50%’ on it.
“Hey, nice lady!” Li Ying called for the florist, and soon the suave young man was pedaling onwards with a bouquet of peonies withan extra 20% off.
Li Ying arrived at the condominium where he had moved in with Hanjun over a year ago. It was the kind of luxury condo with a 24/7 desk, a private gym, and even a small pool. Very cushy.
Having left his ride in the bike storage. Li Ying headed up to the top floor. The jingle of his own set of keys still made his heart giddy with joy. Life was definitely looking up for Li Ying, considering he had moved to a place like this straight out of his foster parents’ residence. The Qians lived in a nice house in Brooklyn Heights, but this was on another level.
Li Ying still had support from his foster father, his ‘Uncle’ Qian, but he could never have afforded to live in this condo by his current means. However, Hanjun’s uncle had apparently bought the place for him, so Hanjun had thought it fair if Li Ying just paid his share of the remaining living costs.
Li Ying had sworn that once he was a doctor, he would step up and contribute more financially. He was thankful that Hanjun didn’t seem to expect that though. In fact, Hanjun never brought up the matter of finances, for which Li Ying was grateful.
Despite his carefree appearances, it wasn’t easy for Li Ying to depend on others, since Mrs. Qian, Uncle Qian’s wife, had always reminded him whose house he lived in and who put the food on his plate. Mrs. Qian was partial to her own children, and whiletheynever got such snippy reminders, it wasn’t their fault their mother was like that.
Li Ying had always been close to his foster brother Kai and his foster sister Amy—they both had taken Western names, but Li Ying went by the one his mother had given him.
His name was theonlything Li Ying’s biological mother had given him.
“I’m home,” Li Ying announced as he entered the hall.
“Welcome home,” Hanjun called from the living room.
Li Ying threw his leather jacket over a chair and kicked off his Converses before running and jumping at Hanjun just as he stood up from the couch, almost toppling him right back down.
“I kept the soup warm for you, you should… eat?” Hanjun had noticed the peonies in Li Ying’s hand.
“I got my wife flowers, aren’t I a good husband?”
Hanjun smiled. It was cute to be called ‘wife,’ though the nickname was usually reserved for Li Ying.
“Thank you.” Hanjun kissed Li Ying and took the lush pink bouquet from him. “Help yourself to borscht, I’ll put these in water.”
“Hanjun?” Li Ying called to him as he filled his bowl.
