Page 73 of He Is My Bride
“See you, Cousin—Wu Hanjun!” Yiyi still couldn’t bring himself to address his older cousin so casually, even if with Big Sister Li around he seemed more like a human and less like an infallible immortal.
Hanjun himself thought the Wu household had begun feeling more like a family with Li Ying there to topple down the walls everyone had built around themselves over the years. He could only hope his uncle wouldcome around.
Chapter 15: Pregame
The next day was Li Ying’s and Anne’s final in Shanghai before they would fly back for the solar New Year.
Li Ying was feeling down for the entire morning, lamenting their departure and his inevitable separation from Hanjun. At least Hanjun didn’t have to go to the office today, so he could stay and cuddle Li Ying to make him feel better.
“Why don’t you come back for the Lunar New Year in February?” Hanjun suggested, brushing his fingers through Li Ying’s hair while he clung to him.
“It’s still one and a half months away,” Li Ying mumbled, eating Hanjun’s hair.
“Stop that.”
“No.” Li Ying kept softly munching on Hanjun’s locks.
“Focus on your studies and it will go by swiftly.”
“I can’t even sleep without you, how am I supposed to be without you for a month, a week, even a day?”
“Our separation is temporary,” Hanjun said and took Li Ying’s right hand, touching his thumb upon the diamond on his ring. “But this is a promise that is forever. Just… hold on.”
Li Ying’s eyes welled up, and he buried his face into Hanjun’s neck. Every moment Hanjun’s warmth surrounded him, every moment he could smell the clean cypress scent off his skin was more precious now that they were slipping through their fingers. Once he was calm again, Li Ying said:
“But when will that promise be fulfilled, Hanjun?”
“I think we should wait until you graduate and can move here, but we can start looking for auspicious dates already. If we want to book a good venue for a good date, we must act soon.”
“Do we really have to wait for over a year? And what if your uncle won’t give us his blessing? He still hates me.”
“He doesn’t hate you. Don’t worry, Li Ying,” Hanjun said calmly. He remembered his grandmother’s reassuring words after the family dinner, and trusted that Wu Yiheng would come around.
Li Ying pouted. “Hanjun! I want to marry you next summer! Isn’t next year just as auspicious as the one that follows? Why don’t we have a June wedding during my summer recess and then start planning a delayed honeymoon when I graduate? What are the auspicious dates for next June?”
“Next… June? It would be very difficult to find a venue so soon.”
“I don’t care! I don’t want a big wedding, no one from my side will come anyway…” Li Ying bit his lip to keep it from trembling as he felt like crying again.
“Li Ying.” Hanjun knew he had to be firm when his boyfriend continued to be so impatient, stay calm when he got over-emotional. “There will be no small wedding for a Wu. It will be a society event of the decade.” Hanjun caressed Li Ying’s hair to comfort him as he went on, “I don’t care about all that, but my family and the Shanghai society do, and I…” Hanjun paused, falling into thoughtful silence before continuing, “I want to do this right, by everyone. By Uncle Yiheng and the Wu family, by all good custom and tradition, and by you. You, too, deserve a proper wedding, because,” Hanjun took LiYing’s head gently between his hands and lifted his face to meet his gaze, “you are not just a mistress. You are my wife… Husband.”
“Hanjun…” Li Ying’s voice was no more than a whisper.
Hanjun kissed him softly. “I ask you to be patient until we can have a proper wedding on the most auspicious of days, when all of Shanghai can witness how Li Ying becomes mine before heaven and earth. Alright?”
Hanjun pulled Li Ying into another kiss, deeper this time, and they lingered in it until they had joined fully, and Hanjun loved Li Ying in a way he hoped the man could cherish in memory until next they met.
—
Towards the evening, Li Ying got his mojo back. It would suck to wait and he knew there would be many evenings when he would cry himself to sleep, missing Hanjun from his side, but he trusted his fiancé: theywouldget married properly, at a proper time, and then nothing could separate them again. Li Ying still worried about Wu Yiheng, but Hanjun seemed trusting.
Anne came over, as they had agreed, to help Li Ying put together a look for the night. Li Ying had been messaging with her yesterday and told her what he’d been thinking:
