A Moment Too Late (GL) - Chapter 90

The first time she mentioned breaking up with her was also on a rainy night.

“Come closer, your clothes are getting wet.”

Shu Yubai said.

It was a dark night with heavy rain.

The road was uneven, with puddles of various sizes. The night was pitch black, with one or two streetlights casting dim light. The heavy rain formed white lines under the streetlights, pouring down steadily.

They rented a place near the art studio.

Nan Xue held an umbrella.

Her pale hand on the umbrella handle was slightly wet.

She wrapped her arm around Shu Yubai’s waist, and they huddled into a dark, narrow alley.

At that time, Nan Xue had a falling out with her father, moved out of the house, and lived with Shu Yubai. She used some of her savings and a few small businesses to start her own venture.

Nan Xue was much busier than before.

But they had agreed to go on dates a few times a week and spend a certain number of hours together— even creating a series of strict plans for each other’s careers.

Nan Xue even pushed her to do better.

It seemed like everything was getting better.

Shu Yubai could never understand how Nan Xue always found time to be with her, even though she couldn’t figure out how Nan Xue managed her time.

Shu Yubai was slow.

She spoke slowly and did things slowly too.

“It’s so cold.”

Shu Yubai clung to her arm, pressing her whole body against her like she was trying to snuggle into her embrace.

“My shoes are soaked.”

She murmured.

“Come closer.”

Nan Xue looked down, hesitated for a moment, and said, “Sister, I’ll take you home first. I have something to do later.”

They stood under the eaves, with rain pouring down. Shu Yubai should have gone upstairs.

It was normal for her to be busy.

Shu Yubai’s father used to be very busy too, and she understood the business world and never doubted anything, just felt heartache.

As Nan Xue got busier, she became quieter, always seeming to be deep in thought, rarely speaking. But Shu Yubai hadn’t changed much. To her, no matter how Nan Xue changed, she was still the same person.

“It’s already past ten at night.”

Shu Yubai said in surprise, “What else do you have to do?”

“Work stuff, it won’t take long.”

Nan Xue replied.

“Huh?”

Shu Yubai didn’t know she was so busy. “Didn’t you say everything was going smoothly before?”

Nan Xue didn’t respond.

“Sister, I want to hug you.”

Nan Xue smiled and opened her arms to her.

They stood under the faintly flickering lights, holding each other. After a while, Nan Xue leaned down, her lips touching Shu Yubai’s in a tender kiss on that rainy night.

“Hugging you feels so good.”

Nan Xue whispered in her ear, “I wish I could hug you longer.”

Shu Yubai wrapped her arms around Nan Xue’s slim waist, her chin resting on her shoulder. She kissed her cheek and earlobe softly, saying, “Then come back early, I’ll wait for you.”

“Okay.”

Nan Xue whispered, “Warm up the bed for me.”

Shu Yubai laughed softly and went upstairs, back to their room.

In the bedroom, she set up a drawing board and started painting. She dipped the brush in paint and gently applied it to the paper. The painting was of a girl’s back, blurry and indistinct.

The light remained on, never dimming. Shu Yubai waited and waited, but she didn’t expect that after painting all night, Nan Xue still hadn’t come back.

The next day, she received a call from the hospital.

“Is this Nan Xue’s family?”

“She fainted.”

When Shu Yubai rushed to the hospital, a frail girl lay on the bed with a respirator, her eyes closed, and her dark hair spread out on the white pillow, as if still in a dream.

She walked over and squeezed Nan Xue’s fingertips.

They were warm and soft.

“She has a weak constitution.”

The doctor said, “I suggest not staying up late too much. No matter how busy work is, it’s not more important than her life.”

The doctor adjusted his glasses and handed over the medical records, saying, “Family members should pay more attention. There was a case in the news recently of someone dying from overworking. Health is more important than anything else.”

“Don’t stress too much.”

The doctor shook his head and sighed, “Young people these days are working too hard.”

“Got it, got it.”

Shu Yubai held the medical records and diagnosis report, saying, “Thank you.”

She sat by the bed, looking at Nan Xue’s sleeping face, leaning her head on her hand. A thought suddenly crossed her mind: —She didn’t need to do this before.

Before, she clearly didn’t have to worry about anything.

Why did she have to go through this?

Shu Yubai sighed lightly, got up, and prepared to go to the nearby fruit market to buy some snap pears. But at the hospital entrance, she bumped into someone.

Nan Xue’s father.

He was getting older, with graying hair, wearing a somewhat thick gray coat, standing there hesitantly before quickly going to the front desk to find Nan Xue’s doctor. The doctor spoke with him in the hallway, and he nodded with a furrowed brow.

He turned around and saw Shu Yubai.

“Uncle…”

Shu Yubai called out to him.

Nan’s father glanced at her from a distance but didn’t respond.

He went to the ward, hesitated for a moment, then turned and asked the doctor, “How long until she wakes up?”

“Half an hour.”

The doctor checked his watch.

Nan’s father sat by the bed, looking at her, a half-burnt cigarette between his fingers. He watched for a while. When Nan Xue’s eyelashes fluttered, he got up in a start, turning to leave.

“Don’t you want to stay a bit longer?”

Shu Yubai asked, leaning against the door.

Nan’s father gave her a scrutinizing look but said nothing. When Nan Xue’s hand moved slightly, he quickly turned and left without a word.

A cigarette butt was left on the bedside table.

Nan Xue slowly woke up, glanced around, frowned, and asked, “Did my dad come?”

“Huh?”

Shu Yubai, sitting beside her, paused and said, “He came to see you. He watched for… a long time.”

“Where is he?”

Nan Xue coughed lightly, her cheeks pale, and looked towards the door.

The hallway was spotless, as if no one had been there.

“He left.”

Shu Yubai said softly, “You rest first, I’ll go get you some fruit.”

Nan Xue lowered her head, then looked out the window, lost in thought.

Shu Yubai walked out of the hospital room, leaned against the cold wall, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath.

Maybe she was really wrong.

She was wrong.

As she walked, Shu Yubai kept thinking, how could she be so selfish?

Why did she flirt with her in the first place, why did she try to pursue her, why did things end up like this?

If she could do it over, maybe…

Maybe she would have kept her distance.

Nan Xue was discharged from the hospital.

The two of them seemed to be the same as before. Nan Xue became busy again, while Shu Yubai started taking commissions and selling her paintings. After winning the National Exhibition Gold Award, the price of her paintings increased significantly. Sometimes she even dreamed that one day, when Nan Xue needed help, she could contribute a little.

Nan Xue would occasionally stare off into the distance.

Shu Yubai knew that ever since Nan Xue left home and chose to stay with her, she hadn’t spoken a single word to her father.

Shu Yubai thought:

Does it really have to be this way?

Isn’t there… a better way?

She didn’t know if Nan Mingzhu objected because of her gender or for other reasons. If one day, she was no longer so obscure and could become as famous as Nan Xue’s uncle, would coming out be much easier?

“Nan Xue?”

The next day, Shu Yubai called her and said, “How about we… take a break for a while?”

Her fingertips curled up and felt cold.

On the other end of the phone, there was light breathing, one breath at a time through the receiver.

After a moment, the call ended.

Shu Yubai called her again, but the phone was turned off.

Her heart started beating rapidly, she opened WeChat and sent her a message, but a red exclamation mark appeared next to it, indicating she had been blocked. Shu Yubai felt a rush of dizziness and almost fainted in panic, not caring about anything else.

Shu Yubai hurried to her company’s building to find her.

She borrowed someone else’s phone and called using a different number.

After a while, the call finally went through. Afraid she would hang up, Shu Yubai’s first words were, “I’m downstairs… I’m sorry, could you come down?”

Shu Yubai waited for her in the cool breeze.

A figure appeared at the door, with short black hair, wrapped in a coat, long and thin legs in the cold wind, squinting slightly as she looked at her, with rosy lips tightly pressed, saying nothing.

Shu Yubai stood up.

There weren’t many people around in the evening. Nan Xue looked at her and walked over step by step.

Shu Yubai went to hug her.

Tears streamed down Nan Xue’s face as she asked, “Do you not like me anymore?”

Shu Yubai wiped her tears and led her to the car. Once inside, Nan Xue still had tear streaks on her cheeks. She lowered her head and said, “Sister, did you find out?”

“Find out what?”

Shu Yubai lifted her chin to look at her.

Nan Xue’s tears fell in big drops as she said, “I lied to you, I failed, it didn’t go well at all. Do you not want me anymore…”

“You want to break up…”

Her eyelashes were full of tears.

Shu Yubai’s heart ached, unable to speak—how could she think this way? Was it because she hadn’t given her enough sense of security?

“I’m sorry.”

Shu Yubai hugged her, kissed her hair, her forehead, between her eyebrows, then kissed her lips, and softly said, “Baby.”

“We’ll never mention it again.”

“No breakup, no breakup…”

Shu Yubai whispered softly in her ear, “I’m sorry, I was wrong… I said I would never leave you.”

That night it rained heavily, the rainwater trickling down the car windows, the streetlights’ glow casting over them. They kissed passionately in the car, the temperature rising, seemingly merging into one.

••••

“Shall we go together?”

The person holding the umbrella asked.

The road down the mountain was obscured by the misty rain, and tonight’s downpour came suddenly.

Shu Yubai glanced sideways at her under the black umbrella, her long eyelashes trembled, and quickly looked away.

But a silhouette lingered in her mind.

A pale little face, black hair tucked behind her ear, her profile slender and white, lips very rosy and full, just like before.

A new golden stud was on her earlobe.

The starry blue hem of her dress fluttered in the night wind, silky smooth.

She had a white jacket draped over her shoulders, and she clasped it with her fingers, her eyes cold and distant, making it hard to discern her attitude.

“Okay.”

Shu Yubai lowered her head, soft hair falling over her shoulders, and asked, “Where do you live? Is it on the way?”

Nan Xue lowered her porcelain-white chin, shook her head, and said, “I live here, it’s not on the way.”

She glanced at Shi Chu, her expression unclear, then looked back at Shu Yubai and softly said, “I’ll take you home.”

“Th-thank you.”

Shu Yubai’s fingertips tightened.

“And me?”

Shi Chu stood awkwardly to the side and explained to Nan Xue, “I’m with her… um, could you take me too?”

Nan Xue didn’t answer. After a moment, a car stopped by the roadside, and the driver got out, holding an umbrella, silently looking at them.

She shrank a bit, her cheeks slightly warm, feeling as if the light touch on her shoulder lingered.

It was a bit cool.

The umbrella was held over her head, and Nan Xue stood there, looking at her.

Shu Yubai ducked into the car, having just stepped out from under the eaves and accidentally got drenched in the rain. Her fair neck was covered in rainwater, which slid down along a strand of black hair, disappearing into the deep crevice.

“Well, I’m coming up too,” Shi Chu said.

Nan Xue held the umbrella over Shi Chu as well, helping her into the car.

“Thank you,” Shi Chu said, clearing her throat and asking, “Are you coming up too?”

Nan Xue remained silent.

Shu Yubai glanced out the window. Nan Xue didn’t get into the car; she just stood there in the rain with the umbrella.

Large raindrops pelted the umbrella, scattering and shining in the light. A cold wind blew, and she removed the white coat from her shoulders, revealing a shallow V-neck dress that shimmered like silk.

A small hollow beneath her cold, white collarbone, soft and white.

The starry blue hem of her dress draped over her smooth, pale legs, rainwater trickling down her calves and ankles.

Red lips.

Cold white skin.

Black hair.

As their eyes met, her heart skipped a beat.

But in the next moment, the car drove away, and Nan Xue quietly watched them leave in the rain.