Manhattanhenge

Chapter 1: N.
An Unexpected Reunion

It had been six years of separation.
Their reunion should have been a more presentable one.

“Are you truly not going to reconsider?”

The man’s voice through the phone call sounded very young.
His tone was terribly sincere.

“Miss Jones adores your works very much.
She started to take note of you even when you had just begun creating.
To be honest, there’s not much of a difference between this and your works being hosted for an exhibition.
As collectors, we will similarly take precious care of them.
Even putting aside the considerable remuneration, her engagement party will attract great levels of media attention.
We’ve invited many media outlets.
This would also be beneficial for you…”

Su Hui’s head was spinning, the seriousness on his face was making him look particularly patient.
He poured his pills on his palm, and after taking a gulp of cold water, he raised his head and swallowed the pills down.

Sensing that the speaker seemed to have finished, Su Hui rejected his offer softly, “I’m deeply sorry.
I haven’t been… in a great state recently.
I believe you all will be able to find someone more suitable.”

The call ended, and the dim room suddenly quietened to a level that gave Su Hui’s heart palpitations.

The metallic taste on the tip of his tongue had yet to completely dissipate before the side effects had already arrived.
He sat on the bed, hands trembling uncontrollably.
These were all things Su Hui was long used to, so he did not think much of it.
He only quietly looked outside the window, gazing into the ashen gray of gloom.

[Seattle is really dull.
Look at this weather, yet it’s still not snowing.]

He remembered these words Liang Wen said before he left earlier.

At that time, he couldn’t respond with a single word.
And this was still true.
Being unable to give a response was incredibly impolite, but Liang Wen did not criticize him for that.
Su Hui was always very grateful for his understanding.

Once his depression set in, he would turn very slow.
His thoughts would freeze, mind becoming muddled as his emotions plummet into the very bottom.
As if he was a worm that suffered a blow to its spine, he could only lie on the floor without moving, no different from a lifeless piece of waste paper.

In his mind, a voice that seemed both alike and yet unlike his own was repeating every flaw he had, every seemingly reprehensible mistake he ever made.
The soil under his feet crumbled inch by inch — as if in a split-second, he would be forced to approach the window, jump off and plummet straight into this frigid world.

Su Hui turned his head very sluggishly, reaching for the eye mask on the bedside table.

Next to it, he noticed Liang Wen’s forgotten sunglasses.

Liang Wen had snow blindness.
He always wore glasses in such weather just in case.
Su Hui knew that he should get up right now and return it to him — after all, this was not a small trifle; it involved his driving safety.

But he could not move an inch at all whatsoever.
His body was being controlled by boundless despair.

Escaping was his habit.

It was a very long time later when Su Hui dialed Liang Wen’s number and put his phone on speaker.
Then he put on the eye mask, lying back down in difficulty with knitted brows.

Even though this place was clearly not as cold as New York, he seemed to be frozen from head to toe.
The hotel blanket seemed to weigh down on him like a heavy layer of ice, preventing him from breathing easily.

With a frosty phone ring followed by another, Su Hui shut his eyes.
The effects of the medication were surfacing little by little.
The sensation of being held down became increasingly heavy, and his eardrums, too, were turning swollen and painful; he could not hear anything clearly.

Liang Wen did not pick up.

It was like he was forcibly compressed into a terrifying dream.
In the distorted space was a myriad of tangled black lines that impeded his vision.
Su Hui kept running, and kept running.
Suddenly, he fell into a deep hole.
Looking miserable and in pain, he dragged himself to his feet and discovered there was a blue firefly emitting a faint fluorescent light.
Su Hui moved closer to it little by little, perceiving the person hiding inside.

It has been a long while since he last dreamed of him.

As if under a spell, he carefully reached out.

In the instant before he touched it, the person turned into countless butterflies that flew away.

.

Ning Yixiao was listening to his assistant reminding him about his schedule and agenda tomorrow, head lowered to look at his watch.

Assistant Carl was a very clever person.
He immediately inquired, “Would you need me to book a return ticket for you tomorrow? I had a look.
There are still business class tickets available for a few though rather early flights.”

“Sure.” Ning Yixiao took the room card from the lady at the counter and slightly nodded his head in response.

Carl glanced at the room card in his hand and said again, “I apologize.
This is the best business hotel I could book at the last minute.
It’s almost Christmas, so it’s a bit tricky to book a room.”

“Don’t worry.
You can go eat.” Ning Yixiao didn’t have much of an expression, walking to the elevator alone.

Just as he stepped foot into the elevator, he received the company’s call regarding an investor who suddenly wanted him to attend a personal banquet.
It involved the company’s upcoming financial plans and was set to start at 7 pm that day.

The work partner in the call repeatedly emphasized the importance of their finances this time around.
It was currently their most crucial juncture.

“I understand.
I will be there on time.” The elevator door opened.
Ning Yixiao walked out of the elevator, and the choppy phone signal was gradually recovering.
He listened to his business partner’s secretary introduce the banquet tonight as he walked further into the hallway.

There were not many rooms on this level.
He very quickly found the matching room of the room card on him — 2208.

These few digits strangely made him feel a slight sense of agitation.
So, Ning Yixiao stopped in his steps, quietly gazing at the number for a few seconds.
It was when he came back to himself that he swiped the card and opened the door.

The air-conditioning in the room was very cold, and the air faintly emanated a very mild wood fragrance.
Ning Yixiao gently closed the door and walked inside.
He suddenly discovered a faint light coming from the room.

Likely, due to the accumulation of work stress which left his entire body tensed — and not to mention, there was his fastidiousness with cleanliness too — he found this type of mistake quite unacceptable.

The caller sensed something was wrong, and asked, “Shaw, are you still listening?”

“Give me a moment.
I need to do something, so let’s end the call first.” Ning Yixiao dialed for the front desk according to the information on the room card.

“Hello.
Have you cleaned the room?”

Suddenly, a voice came from inside the room.

“Liang Wen, you’re back?”

It was a voice that he would never, ever forget.

There was this one moment where Ning Yixiao’s heart practically stopped, collapsing on the spot.
Blood that was originally flowing throughout his body seemed to have frozen in an instant.
Turned into a sticky, swollen, congealed liquid that almost wanted to burst free of his skin and blood vessels.

That voice was still resounding in his head.

You’re back…

Ning Yixiao pushed himself to take a step forward.
After his first step, his subsequent ones became so fast that he tripped over himself, as if he was chasing anxiously for an answer.

Su Hui found it quite strange.
He didn’t think he gave the room card to Liang Wen.
Even i