Love Me, Please Look - Chapter 12
Chapter 12
“Huh?”
Zhang Shixu froze, staring at the photo in disbelief before turning to Qi Junhe. “How did you get this picture?”
Qi Junhe gave him a knowing smile and gestured for him to look more closely.
In the photo, a young Zhang Shixu—likely second or third grade—was performing a sign language rendition of Grateful Heart during a volunteer visit to a welfare home.
As Zhang Shixu studied the picture, he realized something astonishing: the elegant woman in the center was a younger Xu Xinyi, and the adorable little boy standing in front of her—the one with a doll-like face—was none other than Qi Junhe as a child.
For a moment, Zhang Shixu was speechless.
“We met a long time ago,” Qi Junhe said softly, pulling Zhang’s memory back to that distant day.
Back in third grade, Zhang Shixu had led his school’s sign language team. That day, their teacher had taken them to a welfare home to perform for a charity event—one attended by an important donor.
Zhang Shixu didn’t understand what “donation” or “sponsorship” meant back then. All he knew was that their team had been practicing hard and needed to perform flawlessly.
Their teacher led them onto the school bus. For Zhang Shixu, this wasn’t his first time at the welfare home. In first grade, he’d gone there once—after Ye Xu had encouraged him to join the sign language club, saying, “Why not learn sign language? You can help more people that way.”
Ever the obedient student, Zhang had joined the club, and by second semester, he’d already participated in outreach activities at the welfare home.
When they arrived this time, the place had transformed dramatically. The once-worn facilities were now bright and modern.
The kids on the bus couldn’t stop chattering about how fancy everything looked—”Even better than our school!” one exclaimed.
The auditorium had been renovated, and the children from the home were all neatly dressed. Even the normally noisy little ones stayed quiet—clearly, everyone had been prepped for the event.
Led backstage by their teacher, the kids prepared for their performance. Zhang peeked through the curtain and saw the dean walking in with a modestly dressed woman holding the hand of a shy little boy. That child looked around nervously at the crowd.
Just then, the teacher called for them to get into position.
Their performance went smoothly—every gesture in their sign language routine was executed to perfection, honoring all the time and effort they had poured into rehearsing.
After the show, their teacher told them they could wander a bit but needed to gather again before the bus left. The kids dispersed, some going off to find their new friends among the children of the welfare home.
Zhang Shixu wandered alone toward the playground, noticing that even the running track had been replaced, and new basketball courts had been added.
As he walked, he suddenly heard quiet sobs.
Without hesitation, Zhang followed the sound and found a small boy sitting at the edge of the track, crying.
“Are you okay?” Zhang asked gently.
The boy didn’t answer. Zhang noticed he wore a pale blue shirt with a small vest, and dark blue shorts. He looked familiar—it was the same doll-like child he’d seen earlier.
“Did something happen?” Zhang asked, crouching down and patting his shoulder.
The boy looked up, eyes filled with tears—like a little cat that had been crying.
Then Zhang noticed: the boy was holding his knee, which had a small cut.
“Can I take a look?” Zhang offered.
The boy silently nodded and revealed the scraped knee, bleeding just a little.
Zhang pulled a tissue from his pocket and gently wiped away the bl00d.
“Don’t cry. Are you lost?” he asked.
The boy gave a small nod.
Zhang paused, suddenly realizing: “Can you not speak?”
The boy lowered his head again, ashamed.
Zhang scolded himself for being insensitive. “I didn’t mean it in a bad way,” he said quickly. “I know sign language.”
That made the boy look up. His big eyes were still red from crying, his little nose wrinkled from the sniffles.
“I’m sorry,” Zhang apologized again, genuinely.
The boy responded in sign: It’s okay.
Zhang wiped away his remaining tears. “Don’t cry. Let me take you back to your mom. That was your mom earlier, right?”
The boy nodded, pointing at his injured knee. “But my leg hurts.”
“I’ll carry you,” Zhang offered.
He crouched down and said, “Climb on.”
The little boy hesitated, stunned by the offer.
“Come on,” Zhang urged.
Finally, the boy got on his back, and Zhang stood up—thankfully, the boy wasn’t too heavy.
As they walked toward the auditorium, Zhang casually said, “You’re so pretty—are you an Omega?”
Being a Beta himself, Zhang couldn’t pick up on pheromones, but the boy didn’t deny it, so he took it as confirmation.
“You’re really cute. Want to be friends?” he asked.
The boy didn’t respond—just buried his face in Zhang’s neck. His warm breath tickled Zhang’s skin, sending a strange shiver through him.
Soon, they were spotted by two panicked bodyguards who had been searching for the missing child.
“Thank you so much!” one of them said as they lifted the boy off Zhang’s back.
Zhang shook his head modestly. “It’s nothing.”
Noticing the boy’s injury, they rushed him inside to find his mother.
The boy looked like he still wanted to say something to Zhang, waving for him to come closer, but Zhang didn’t budge. He didn’t feel the need to take credit.
Checking his watch, Zhang saw it was getting late. He waved goodbye silently, and the little boy waved back until he disappeared from view.
…
“So, that little boy… was you?” Zhang said, still trying to wrap his head around it.
Qi Junhe leaned into him, nuzzling his face into Zhang’s neck like he did back then, breathing in the familiar scent of laundry detergent on Zhang’s clothes.
Zhang Shixu didn’t respond right away. After a moment, he smirked. “Then why did you pretend to trip and fall when we met again years later?”
Qi Junhe looked up sheepishly, clearly embarrassed. He changed the subject, “Back then, I called you over because I wanted to tell you my name. Isn’t that what friends do?”
“Oh?” Zhang teased, pulling away. “So… do you still want to be friends now?”
“No,” Qi Junhe replied with a straight face.
Zhang raised an eyebrow. “Why not?”
“Because we’re already a couple.”
“You lied to me back then—you said you were an Omega.”
Qi Junhe waved his hands, flustered. “No, no! I never said that.”
Zhang loved seeing him panic like this—it made him want to tease him even more. Smiling, he leaned in and kissed Qi Junhe on the corner of his mouth.
Their faces were only inches apart as Zhang looked him in the eye. “So you recognized me the moment we met again, didn’t you?”
It wasn’t a question. It was a statement.
Qi Junhe nodded, then leaned in and kissed him.
Their kisses were still few and far between, but every time it happened, it left both of them breathless. Qi Junhe’s lips were warm and insistent, his tongue gently exploring Zhang’s mouth. Caught off guard, Zhang opened his eyes in surprise.
Qi Junhe chuckled, reached up, and gently covered Zhang’s eyes, continuing the kiss with growing passion.
Just as things started to heat up, Zhang’s alarm went off.
It was his reminder for the high-speed train.
“I’ve gotta go,” Zhang said, shutting off the alarm. He gently pushed Qi Junhe away, who clung to him like a piece of sticky candy.
Qi looked heartbroken.
“I already miss you,” he whispered.
Zhang smiled. “I haven’t even left yet.”
“I still miss you.”
Zhang bent down and kissed his forehead, tousling his curls. “Come on, walk me out.”
Qi Junhe reluctantly followed him out. After briefly saying goodbye to the elders, the two headed to the station.
Qi drove in sulky silence, but Zhang Shixu was secretly delighted—so he had been recognized all along.
“Don’t be upset,” Zhang comforted him. “I’ll be back by the fourth day of the new year.”
He continued coaxing Qi along the way, and when they finally arrived, Qi still didn’t want to let him go.
Zhang had to pull him aside and give him a few kisses just to get him to smile. At last, Qi waved goodbye—though he clearly didn’t want to.