What If I Ended Up Marrying My Enemy? - Chapter 31

Chapter 31: The Photos

Yu Zhixue flipped through two more pages. The scenes looked familiar. He gently ran his fingers over the pages and asked, “Did you take these too?”

In the photos, Yu Wenxuan still looked as handsome and elegant as ever, but there was an inexplicable strangeness to them. Zhixue couldn’t quite say what felt off.

Yu’s mother glanced over and replied, “Oh, no. These weren’t taken by me. These are the ones he said he didn’t want anymore. I thought they looked pretty good, so I kept them.”

Zhixue thanked her again and finally carried the things downstairs with her.

When Yu Wenxuan saw them coming down, he stood up from his seat, walked over, and pinched Zhixue’s earlobe. “Where did you go?”

Seeing her son being nosy, Yu’s mother teased calmly from the side, “You’re so controlling. Be careful, or Xiaoxue won’t be able to take it in the future.”

Yu Wenxuan turned to ask Zhixue directly, “Would you?”

But Zhixue didn’t answer. His mind was still completely focused on the things he was holding—he treated them like precious treasure.

Seeing no response, Yu Wenxuan said goodbye to his mother and left with Zhixue.

The driver had been waiting in the car for a while. Since they’d had a bit of alcohol at dinner, they obviously couldn’t drive back.

Knowing Zhixue’s low alcohol tolerance, Yu Wenxuan only let him drink a little.

Once they got in the car, Yu Wenxuan reached over and took the items from Zhixue’s hands. He recognized the photo album and knew what was inside, so he didn’t open it.

He set it down to the side, and it made a muffled sound.

Yu Wenxuan wrapped an arm around Zhixue’s waist and pulled him onto his lap. He barely weighed anything.

Zhixue looked at him, unsure of how to respond.

“Why didn’t you say anything just now? Do you think I’m annoying?” Yu Wenxuan gently tucked a stray lock of hair behind Zhixue’s ear.

Zhixue took a few seconds to realize what he was referring to. He blinked and looked at Yu Wenxuan a few times in confusion, as if he couldn’t understand why he’d ask such a question.

“Is this the first day you’ve been like this?”

Yu Wenxuan’s hand paused on his earlobe before he smiled. “Seems like it’s not.”

“Then if I didn’t find you annoying back then, why would I now?” Zhixue tilted his head. “I like you.”

He didn’t know what was going on with Yu Wenxuan, so he started counting on his fingers as he explained patiently, trying to comfort him.

But the more he talked, the more he could feel the heat of Yu Wenxuan’s gaze on his face. He finally put his hand down and asked, “…Are you even listening to me?”

“Mhm.”

Just as Zhixue was about to continue, Yu Wenxuan added—

“Can I kiss you?”

Zhixue: “……”

Was he really listening?

After thinking for a moment, he said, “No.”

Yu Wenxuan asked, “Why not?”

“You said before that you don’t kiss drunk people in the car,” Zhixue licked his lips and added, “And I’ve been drinking.”

Yu Wenxuan searched his memory for a while before remembering when he’d said that.

“My bad.” He apologized so quickly that Zhixue didn’t even have time to react.

Lowering his voice and speaking softly, he said, “Can you kiss me, Zhixue?”

Zhixue’s gaze flickered slightly.

He sat up a little straighter, cupped Yu Wenxuan’s face, and kissed him.

The kiss he initiated wasn’t deep. It was just gentle, light licks and soft touches, like a small animal earnestly savoring something it liked.

Tender. Quiet. Innocent.

In the calm that followed, Yu Wenxuan suddenly realized—Zhixue truly knew how to love someone.

…

As soon as they got home, Zhixue insisted on showering. He sniffed himself and felt like he reeked.

In reality, he didn’t. During the kiss earlier, all Yu Wenxuan could smell was his cologne.

Zhixue placed the photo album on the bedside table, grabbed a change of clothes, and went to take a shower.

When he came out, Yu Wenxuan didn’t go to shower immediately. Instead, he picked up the hair dryer and walked over to Zhixue.

Damp strands were slowly dried, returning to their soft and fluffy state.

Once the sound of the dryer stopped, Zhixue sniffed the faint scent in the air and asked, “What’s that smell?”

Yu Wenxuan ran his fingers through his hair. “Changed to a different essential oil. Don’t like it?”

Zhixue replied, “It’s okay.”

He wasn’t very picky. After drying off, he pushed Yu Wenxuan to go take his shower.

As the bathroom door gently closed, Zhixue walked over, crouched down, and pulled out a photo from the drawer.

He flipped through the album to the last empty spot and carefully placed the photo of them watching the fireworks inside.

It was the beginning of something. From now on, they’d take many more photos together—enough to fill this entire album.

He stared at it for a while and was just about to close it and store it in the drawer when something caught his eye. His movement froze.

He looked at the photos next to the fireworks picture, then his fingers trembled as he flipped back to earlier ones.

Suddenly, he understood why those photos had always felt strange.

—Because in every single one, Yu Wenxuan wasn’t looking at the camera.

Yu Wenxuan had a strong sense for cameras—everyone knew that.

Whether it was a group shot or a candid on campus, he could always spot the camera and look right at it.

Zhixue followed his gaze in the photos with his finger, recalling college memories and trying to guess where Yu Wenxuan had been looking.

The auditorium stands, classroom windows, the glass corridor by the stairs…

Then he turned his eyes to the others in the pictures. Yu Wenxuan had always been well-liked—that much Zhixue had realized long ago.

He was always with others, attending the same events or competitions. It was the only way to see him.

But unlike Yu Wenxuan, who always had people around, no one ever invited Zhixue. He wasn’t exactly the friendly type and didn’t like taking pictures either.

Still, he sometimes sat far away, watching Yu Wenxuan smile in the crowd—those moments made his eyes sting.

So he learned to look away, to close his eyes.

Hiding in dim corners, he would quietly twist a lock of hair around his fingers, listening to the sounds of joy around him.

“Back then, I thought you were really beautiful. If you had smiled at me, I would’ve chased you for sure.”

Yu Wenxuan’s words from yesterday suddenly echoed in his mind.

If those weren’t just comforting words, if he hadn’t misremembered the locations in those photos…

Looking at them now, a ridiculous thought suddenly took root in his heart.

“You always leaned against a wall in photos, playing with your hair or just quietly looking down.”

A voice broke the silence.

Fresh out of the shower, Yu Wenxuan saw Zhixue sitting on the bed, so focused he hadn’t noticed him coming in.

He walked closer and saw the album in Zhixue’s hand—and those discarded photos that should’ve been thrown away.

Zhixue’s lashes trembled. “How do you know that?”

A damp body pressed up against his back. Yu Wenxuan crouched down and wrapped his arms around Zhixue’s shoulders, pulling him into a hug. “…Yeah, how did I know?”

His voice brushed against Zhixue’s ear—quiet but certain. “Didn’t you already guess?”

Didn’t you already guess?

Zhixue’s hands began to tremble. No matter how many deep breaths he took, it didn’t help.

Yu Wenxuan gently clasped his hand and peeled back the past like it was nothing. “Because I was watching you. You always looked so lonely sitting there alone.”

With his back turned, Yu Wenxuan couldn’t see Zhixue’s pale, stunned face. All Zhixue could feel was how dazed he was now that his suspicion had been confirmed.

In all those silent, heavy moments—when he thought no one noticed him, slouched in a chair with his eyes closed—Yu Wenxuan had been watching him.

“You used to hate me, didn’t you?” Zhixue asked, his voice trembling.

“Hate?” Yu Wenxuan repeated with a small laugh. “It was because I was unwilling to accept it.”

“Yu Zhixue,” he said his full name—rare and soft, as if talking to himself, or gently mocking his own past, “since you were different from the start, why couldn’t you just stay that way?”

“No one can stay calm in that kind of situation. I couldn’t either.”

Zhixue wanted to turn around, but the hug was too tight.

Yu Wenxuan seemed like he wanted to finally get everything out, leaning his head on Zhixue’s shoulder.

“Sometimes when I heard people talking about you, I wanted to defend you—say you were actually really well-behaved, that you always answered questions properly. But I couldn’t say anything.”

“Because I had no way to prove it was true.” His fingers clenched tighter around Zhixue’s palm. “I couldn’t let it go.”

Your kindness was fleeting, but it trapped me for so long.

…

After the photos had been printed, one copy was always given to Yu Wenxuan, but he never looked at them. He just stored them away.

Until one day, on a whim, he pulled them out and started sorting through them.

As he flipped through, his hands abruptly stopped.

That odd detail—Yu Wenxuan noticed it more clearly than anyone else.

Each time his gaze was turned away from the lens, he knew exactly where it had gone.

Yu Wenxuan had once heard someone say, “Eyes are part of the heart.” He only now understood what that meant.

He thought he could move on without a trace, believed the feelings had long faded. But in moments when his mind went blank, he couldn’t stop looking.

In his final two years of college, Yu Wenxuan collected many photos where he wasn’t looking at the camera.

Holding them in his hand, he eventually flipped them all over—faces down—and prepared to throw them away.

Those photos felt like proof that even when Zhixue clearly didn’t like him, he’d still cared like he was losing his mind.

His pride wouldn’t allow that.

“What are you trying to throw away?” His mother came in suddenly and spotted his actions.

Yu Wenxuan looked down at the photos and was silent for a moment before saying, “…Just some ruined pictures.”

“My attitude toward you has always been full of contradictions, but I couldn’t stop myself from looking at you.”