Male Sing and His Pet Owner: Chapter 80

The weather was fine and clear, cloudless for miles, the wind coming in gusts but not affecting travel overall.

Zhan Hang went out fully geared up and was the first to claim the driver’s seat.

Zhao Kaile sat in the passenger seat trembling with fear, gripping his seatbelt, and cautiously instructed, “Brother Hang, promise me… no matter what we encounter on the road, don’t get angry, drive slowly.”

Zhan Hang raised an eyebrow, one hand on the steering wheel, and said disdainfully, “Do I need you to tell me that, little rookie.”

Fortunately, the traffic was relatively safe on a weekday during non-peak hours. Zhao Kaile hadn’t slept well last night. At first he forced himself to stay alert and chat with Zhan Hang in bits and pieces, but halfway through the drive he had already fallen asleep with his head tilted. In his dazed state he smacked his lips, and Zhan Hang roused him awake.

“Wake up!” Zhan Hang reached out and tugged his face. “We’re here. Get out.”

Zhao Kaile was still a bit groggy from sleep. He got out of the car following him, his slightly groomed hair from when he went out now sticking up in several messy clumps, looking quite comical. But he couldn’t be bothered to fix it and reached out to pull his hood up over his head.

The corner of Zhan Hang’s mouth twitched. He simply evaluated, “Slovenly.”

Zhao Kaile didn’t care at all and grinned at him. “Brother Hang, you’re so cultured… What is this place?”

Zhan Hang couldn’t be bothered to respond and led him out of the parking lot. Zhao Kaile followed him out cluelessly and saw from afar a fantastical fairy-tale castle standing in the center of the plaza.

On both sides, slender balloon people danced chaotically in the wind. Cheerful background music played. Countless smiling tourists poured through the gates, the sounds of photo-taking and peace signs rising one after another. Children screamed, chased, and roughhoused. The entire amusement park was filled with an atmosphere of joy.

“…” Zhao Kaile was already dumbstruck, pointing at the gate and saying in disbelief, “Di di di di di…”

“What are you stuttering about.” Zhan Hang lightly patted the back of his head and said speechlessly, “Did your tape get stuck? Let’s go.”

Zhao Kaile rubbed the back of his head and was completely awake now. An indescribable excitement welled up in his heart.

He even felt like shouting, but there were too many people around and he was too embarrassed, so he suppressed the impulse in his heart and trotted to catch up with Zhan Hang who was striding with big steps, eagerly asking, “Brother Hang!! When did you buy the tickets!”

“It’s not a holiday, not hard to get.” Zhan Hang said, “Lower your voice!”

Zhao Kaile nodded seriously and reached out to put an imaginary lock on his own mouth.

All around was a clamor. The two blended into the crowded crowd. Zhan Hang remembered something and reached out a hand toward him. Zhao Kaile looked at him hesitantly, then quickly fumbled in his pockets, pulled out a pack of tissues, and respectfully placed them in his hand.

Zhan Hang: “…”

He casually stuffed the tissues into his pocket, took Zhao Kaile’s hand in one hand, and walked forward without allowing any discussion, warning, “Stay close, don’t get lost.”

Zhao Kaile hadn’t reacted yet and made a sound of agreement. He let Zhan Hang lead him for quite a while before his heart finally started beating wildly with delayed realization. Wait! Two guys holding hands seems a bit weird. If people see us they’ll definitely point and whisper… after all, after elementary school graduation, boys who held hands to go to the bathroom would be called sissies behind their backs… no no no…

The air was filled with the sweet smell of drinks and various candies. Zhao Kaile nervously observed his surroundings.

To his left walked a family of three. The father held the daughter, the mother had one arm linked through the father’s arm, and with the other hand she smiled and wiped the sugar-stained corner of her daughter’s mouth. To his right was a young couple. The guy was almost as tall as Zhan Hang, and the girl was looking down at a map on her phone. The two seemed to have some disagreement about which attraction to go to and were arguing in low voices, but their hands were held tightly. In front was a group of little red caps led by a tour guide. Judging by their age they seemed to be middle school students. The boys and girls were all excitedly discussing where to line up first… No one was paying special attention to them.

Zhao Kaile breathed a sigh of relief, his palm slightly sweaty.

Zhan Hang clearly felt it too, so with a bit of mischief, he deliberately adjusted the way their two hands were held, changing from palm pressed against palm to interlaced fingers.

Zhao Kaile: “…”

What is he doing!!

His heart rate, which had just been calming down, instantly skyrocketed again. His inner scream was almost about to burst through his throat.

When they reached a less crowded area, Zhan Hang naturally let go of his hand and said like nothing had happened, “Today you’re the birthday star. Do whatever you want, you decide.”

Zhao Kaile’s face was still a bit red. He nervously stuffed his hand back into his own pocket, his palm still able to feel Zhan Hang’s body temperature. Zhan Hang was wearing a black mask, only his handsome, upright eyebrows and eyes visible outside. Zhao Kaile looked up and met his gaze, their eyes touching for a moment before separating. He then turned to look at the navigation map on the sign, searching for attraction routes.

A moment later, the two were sitting in the track seats of Buzz Lightyear Planet Rescue, surrounded by couples and parents with children in front, back, left, and right.

Zhan Hang crossed his arms and asked expressionlessly, “Why do I have to sit on this too?”

Zhao Kaile whispered, “I’m too embarrassed to go alone… please please.”

Zhan Hang made a sound of agreement. A staff member came to check the safety equipment. Zhao Kaile immediately sat up straight, his face full of anticipation waiting for the attraction to start.

A minute later the track slowly moved forward. In the darkness, only the LED lights around them occasionally lit up, cooperating with mechanical shooting sounds going biubiu. The children screamed excitedly, some pulling their parents to loudly introduce things, some arguing with the playmate next to them saying you got it wrong, very lively. Zhan Hang found everything happening around him incomprehensible and simply quietly looked at the path ahead, occasionally glancing at Zhao Kaile to observe his reaction. Zhao Kaile was holding up his phone excitedly recording video, but when he turned to the left he saw Zhan Hang was looking at him. He immediately didn’t dare to continue filming, his hand trembling, nearly dropping his phone.

He put away his phone and turned his head awkwardly, thinking what’s going on what’s going on! Why is Brother Hang so weird today!

Zhan Hang saw his reaction and instead didn’t want to restrain himself anymore. The corner of his mouth curved slightly, and he proactively asked, “Why aren’t you filming anymore?”

Zhao Kaile said vaguely, “Mm, the lighting is bad, I’ve already filmed a lot…”

Zhan Hang asked again, “Should I help you film?”

Zhao Kaile: “No no no…”

The child behind him had been dissatisfied with Zhan Hang for a while and leaned over to ask in a childish voice, “Uncle, can you sit a little shorter? I can’t see the front!”

“…” Zhan Hang turned around and said fiercely to the child, “No.”

The colorful lights reflected on his face. The child was stunned and immediately got scared by his gaze and burst into tears, wailing as he burrowed into his father’s arms. The middle-aged man looked at Zhan Hang full of resentment and said reproachfully, “You can’t be like this…”

Zhao Kaile’s face went dark. He hurriedly apologized to them frantically.

The two came out of the attraction area, and Zhao Kaile hurriedly dragged Zhan Hang away, afraid that father and son would come out and continue pointing at him.

In the morning, Alice in Wonderland Maze, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Mad Hatter Tea Cups, and so on were all visited by Zhao Kaile. At lunch the two casually found a restaurant to take care of it. After the meal, each holding a cup of oolong tea, they wandered around on the crisscrossing small paths.

Warm sunlight spilled down. Not far away, two guys walked toward them, their pinky fingers hooked together, each also holding a cup of milk tea. When they passed by, the slightly shorter guy even smiled at Zhao Kaile and raised the milk tea in his hand, a sort of隔空碰杯 (air toast). Zhao Kaile responded to him cluelessly, then realized the other party must have mistaken him and Zhan Hang for a couple too…

This is way too awkward!!

Zhan Hang asked, “Sit up ahead for a bit?”

Zhao Kaile said incoherently, “I’m fine… whatever…”

The two walked to a relatively secluded little pavilion and sat side by side. Zhan Hang took off his mask and let out a long breath. Zhao Kaile laughed, feeling a bit of heartache for him, thinking being an artist is quite frustrating, you can’t even relax properly when you go out to play.

“Brother Hang, where did you go to play when you had free time before?” Zhao Kaile asked.

“Nowhere.” Zhan Hang crossed one leg, expressionless. “What’s fun about going out alone? Isn’t it comfortable lying at home?”

Zhao Kaile said, “I didn’t go out often before college either. Later I met Brother Yao… that’s Sister Li’s cousin. He would take me along when he went out to play, hehe, it’s only fun with friends.”

He finished his oolong tea, childishly flattening the lid along with the cup, folding it into an irregular trapezoid.

Zhan Hang said with a look of displeasure, “Is that so? Don’t bother people casually from now on. Doesn’t he have a girlfriend?”

“Yeah.” Zhao Kaile was a bit surprised. “Brother Hang, you remember so clearly.”

Zhan Hang casually made up an excuse. “How can I memorize lines if my memory is bad?”

Zhao Kaile laughed. “We’ve all graduated now, so it definitely won’t be like before when we made plans to hang out every few days. Everyone has their own things to be busy with.”

Zhan Hang asked, “Anywhere else you want to go? I’ll take you when I’m free.”

Zhao Kaile was stunned by his question and couldn’t help but look up at him.

Zhan Hang still had no expression, only his eyes carrying a bit of warmth, like a gentle big guy, exceptionally patient waiting for Zhao Kaile to respond.

A warm breeze gently blew past outside the pavilion. The noisy voices of people were sometimes distant, sometimes near. Countless thoughts ran through Zhao Kaile’s mind, and he inexplicably felt a bit of a stuffy nose.

Zhan Hang completely didn’t know what he was thinking about again and raised an eyebrow slightly. “Why are you mute again? Speak.”

“Brother Hang.” Zhao Kaile said moved, “My brother can’t even remember my birthday. He relies entirely on app notifications. You’re too good.”

Zhan Hang humphed. “Good that you know, count yourself…”

Zhao Kaile was so moved he didn’t know what to do, reached out and hugged him tightly.

Zhan Hang: “…”

The wind outside the pavilion suddenly stopped. The world was completely silent, only the sound of heartbeats echoing continuously.