My Heart Beats - Chapter 16
Chapter 16
Standing at the doorway, the two exchanged glances. “Ask me in for coffee,” Xueman silently wished. “Come in for a cup of coffee.” Ah, excellent!
Yinchi opened the door and led Xueman into the house. “Huh? Why is it so hot?” The moment she entered, Xueman felt the temperature inside was much higher than before. “I installed central heating recently. Now the whole house is warm, so you, you crazy person, won’t be cold anymore.” Xueman took off her scarf, took off her jacket, but still felt immensely hot. “No, it’s really too hot. I have to go back and change.” “Wait!” Yinchi pulled her back, the force so great that she almost pulled her into an embrace again. Xueman placed her hands on Yinchi’s shoulders, looking at her flushed cheeks. For a moment, neither of them knew what to say.
“Um, I have clothes you can change into.” Saying that, Yinchi went into the bedroom and brought out a set of pajamas. Xueman picked them up: a pink T-shirt and a pair of pink cotton shorts. What? Are these her pajamas? She couldn’t help but glance at Yinchi. She noticed the tag hadn’t been removed. Did she buy them specially for me? “What are you looking at? They came free with the heating installation.” After saying that, Yinchi sat down on the sofa, picking up her guitar and fiddling with it.
Does she think I’m an idiot? Pajamas as a gift for installing heating? Xueman thought angrily. So, she changed her clothes in front of Yinchi in a few quick moves. “You!” Yinchi hadn’t expected such a bold move. The embarrassment and shyness burned inside her like fire, instantly rushing from her neck to the top of her head, impossible to hide.
Lightly dressed, Xueman sat down next to Yinchi, leafing through the sheet music on the stand. “You’ve written this many songs?” Yinchi turned her face away. “Mhm. Many aren’t finished yet.”
“You have a simple, transparent heart, yet you maintain a distant, unreachable boundary…” Xueman started singing, tapping a rhythm. “This song is lovely, it sounds just like you. But it’s a shame it only has three measures.” Yinchi took the music, flipped through the pages, and put it back on the shelf. “I’m working on this one lately. The melody is finished, and I’ve written a few lines of lyrics. Why don’t you help me think of something?” “Sure. Let me hear it.”
Xueman put her legs up on the sofa, leaned her face close to Yinchi to look at the music, her chin resting gently on Yinchi’s shoulder. It was as if all the lights in the world had dimmed once again. Perhaps people in love are the best poets, able to sing the world’s most beautiful hymns. Yinchi’s heart felt warm and beat rapidly. This peculiar feeling made her voice sound even more enchanting.
She closed her eyes and sang softly: “Forgot how it began, maybe it was just a feeling for you. Suddenly realizing that I…” “I’ve deeply fallen in love with you, it’s truly simple…” Xueman sang a line right into her ear, filling in the words that were still blank on Yinchi’s sheet music. Yinchi opened her eyes, hardly believing her ears. The confusion she couldn’t face in her own heart had just been given the best possible answer by Xueman. Xueman continued to sing: “Loving you till the world turns dark and bright, it doesn’t matter anymore…” “Right and wrong, unable to choose…” “No regrets following love day and night…” “That crazy person is me….”
Yinchi loosened the guitar strings, picked up a pen, and quickly wrote down the beautiful lyrics. “I haven’t thought of the chorus part yet.” “I have already thought of it.” “How could you have thought of it? I haven’t played this song publicly.” “Every night, just before falling asleep, I can hear you playing it. Its melody has long been imprinted in my heart.” “Then what do you want to sing?” “You play. I’ll sing it for you.” Yinchi put down the pen, and the gentle, simple melody once again echoed softly in the space surrounded by love.
“I love you, can’t help but love you, baby, say you love me too. I love you, never want to lose you, baby. I couldn’t be happier, as long as we’re together, we can do anything…” “Although the world is ever-changing, use the most sincere heart to make love simple…”
Yes, sometimes love is that simple. It spreads and burns like a wild fire, permeates the whole space like air. If only you pay attention, it’s actually very easy to grasp.
“How did you come up with such beautiful lyrics?” Yinchi was deeply moved by her singing. Xueman buried her head even deeper into Yinchi’s neck. “I didn’t ‘come up with’ it. They are simply the words of my heart. I just said them out loud, said them for the person I like to hear.” Said them for the person I like to hear? Yinchi smiled shyly. “And one last line.” Xueman wrapped her arms around Yinchi’s shoulders: “If you still have some confusion, please lean in and listen to my heart. Hear me say, ‘I love you, Yes I do.'”
As the song ended, Yinchi turned her face to look at Xueman, gazing at her slightly flushed, beautiful face and eyes filled with a tenderness that mirrored her own. Yes, I shouldn’t hesitate anymore, I shouldn’t let the person I like get away again. Their noses lightly touched once more… This time, with only a slight dip of her head, she kissed her—kissed heaven, kissed the world’s most tender floral fragrance.