NOVEL WEB Chapter 95: Nostalgia
“So? Where are we headed?” Viktor asked as he walked with Yue out of the temple. It was nearing sundown and Yue had dragged him along.
“Somewhere nostalgic.” Yue chuckled.
“Nostalgic?” Viktor asked, holding Yue’s hand. Yue stared at their interlocked fingers for while, he was considering turning around and changing to a more feminine Hanfu but he decided against it, his reign of terror required for him to look masculine.
“Yes, Chances are I’ll be very upset by the time we come back to the temple though so please be ready to ‘comfort me’,” Yue said with a cheeky smile.
“Why do you even wanna go if you’re gonna be upset?” Viktor asked, furrowing his brows.
“Because I want to tell you about it,” Yue explained nonchalantly.
“About what?” Viktor was confused, Yue’s whole mood surrounding their destination confused him.
“About the place where I…grew up?” Yue said and picked up the pace. He looked like he wasn’t even sure if that was the right way to word it.
Viktor didn’t know how to feel about that. He felt like he kept learning so much about Yue and Yue knew so little about him. He mostly didn’t tell Yue about himself out of shame. The more he learned about Yue the more he felt that he wasn’t enough for him. The more he felt like a spoiled brat.
—
“Oh,” Yue murmured in passing as he looked at what looked like an inn with an unpainted sign. He didn’t seem to dwell on it much as he walked around the town with Viktor. They both wore veiled hats so they stood out a little but many other people who looked like cultivators were passing by anyway so there wasn’t much worry.
They sat down at a small restaurant that was across from the inn and a server quickly came up to them.
“What would you like…sirs?”
“Huangjiu.”
“Are you sure? Our Huangjiu is from the place down the road, it is very expensive.” The server asked.
“Yes, I’m sure…What happened to the old inn?” Yue didn’t actually plan on asking but the question just came out.
“It closed a few years back. The lady who owned the inn suddenly packed up and left with her son saying they had been cursed.” The server explained.
“I see…” Yue murmured.
The server left and Viktor looked at Yue with a curious expression.
“So this is the place where you grew up?” Viktor asked.
“I guess…More specifically I grew up there.” Yue murmured, pointing at the empty inn.
“Did you know it closed? Is that why you said you were going to be upset?” Viktor asked.
“No. That’s not why.” Yue said and chuckled in a self-deprecating way.
“In the 17 years since I lived there, I only went back once. As an attempt to prove to myself that I’d overcome every struggle that had come my way. And even though it was true that I had come out of it stronger and that I had won in the end…I was still unhappy.” Yue’s smile was almost carefree and incredibly sad at the same time.
Yue and Viktor both stopped speaking when the server returned with a jar of Huangjiu and some cups for them to use.
“I’m going to need two more of these,” Yue said to the server, tapping the jar. The server looked shocked, usually, two people would be unable to finish one jar without being blacked out by the end of it.
“S-Sir this is really strong Huangjiu…You might regret it…”
“I won’t.”
The server left reluctantly.
“This is stronger than the Huangjiu you’ve had before,” Yue said to Viktor who had already noticed that from taking a sip.
“The Huangjiu you had back then was from the inn. This Huangjiu is from a different place.” Yue murmured.
Viktor didn’t really say much, he just let Yue speak as he wished.
“I had always wanted to taste the inn’s Huangjiu when I was a kid. When we tasted it in Paris I thought it was good but I wasn’t really paying attention to the fact that it was from the inn. I still prefer this one...” Yue murmured.
The server returned and placed the other two jars down. He bowed and left quickly but he was observing them as they drank, worried he’d have to clean up a mess.
“...Did the inn…treat you badly?” Viktor asked.
“Of course they did.” Yue laughed, “Because of my eyes everyone thought I was cursed…I don’t even know why she took me in really.”
“The only person who didn’t treat me badly was her eldest son. But it was short-lived…I knew that I should keep my prophecies a secret but when I saw a prophecy of him dying I had to tell someone so they would help him. But they called me crazy and locked me away from any customers. And then he died…and it was all pinned on me.” Yue murmured. He immediately regretted deciding to talk about it, the memory was painful and even the alcohol didn’t help.
Yue had drunk a lot more than Viktor but he was perfectly fine and continued to drink.
“That’s about as much as you had last time…” Viktor murmured.
“It’s harder for me to get drunk here,” Yue mumbled, gazing at the inn.
–
Yue didn’t speak until the server came back, shocked that they had finished their Huangjiu.
“W-would you like anything else?”
“No.” Yue quickly replied and paid before leaving.
He walked quietly with Viktor through the town. It was much later now but a lot of stores were still open.
—
“ I should’ve thrown this cursed child out long ago!” The innkeeper yelled as she tossed Yue onto the street.
Some of the people walking by looked shocked and then outraged. They were going to give the innkeeper a piece of their mind until they saw Yue’s eyes and quickly backed away.
Odd colored eyes were never a good thing. They always led to calamity. Just like the boy with light eyes who killed his family, this 3-year-old boy definitely would have a similar fate.
Yue almost wished he could cry about it. He wanted to wail but he had already tried that as she dragged him out of the locked room and it was clearly not helping.
‘Ah…It seems this is what I deserve?’
‘But for What?’
‘What did I do?’
‘Did I cry too much when I was a child?’
‘No that couldn’t be the Case…I’m still a child and Ge cries much more than I do.’
Yue stood there accepting the beating the innkeeper was giving him. He honestly felt numb to it. It wasn’t weak, it was probably the hardest she had ever hit him but somehow her words hurt much more.
He already knew they were true. Everyone knew they were true. They had gone unsaid until this moment but Yue always knew.
“You will never be a part of this family! Or any family you cursed monster!”
‘Perhaps this is what I deserve for being born?’
Yue felt a slight twinge in his subconscious,
‘If she hits your head once more…you’ll probably die.’
He considered covering his head a little more but he stopped himself, It was useless—
And then he had a prophecy.
A prophecy of meeting a man and suddenly being whisked off the alleys to a better place.
And that’s why he decided instead of covering his head...He should just run away. And he did.
—
Yue’s mood lightened up after remembering his very last memory of being in the town. He didn’t smile but the pressure lightened up a little.
Viktor felt a little drunk but not nearly enough to start acting out. It was enough to get past the silence though. He decided to just say what he wanted to say and ask what he wanted to ask.
“How do you not hate humans?” Viktor asked as they stopped at a bridge in the middle of a bridge that led to the town’s gates.
Yue looked a little surprised by the question.
“I would hate them,” Viktor added, leaning against the railing of the bridge.
Yue chuckled a bit, “I know you would.”
Viktor turned to face him with a surprised expression.
“I have you all figured out, Vitya,” Yue said and slipped his hat off.
Viktor was a bit confused about Yue slipping off his hat but he was about to make some sort of remark about Yue teasing him when Yue moved the veil away from his face and kissed him.
“You’re drunk aren’t you?” Yue giggled after pulling away and watching Viktor’s airy expression.
“No,” Viktor responded after a second.
“Liar. Your reaction time is slow. And your eyes are too.” Yue said and put his hat back on before taking Viktor’s hand and dragging him along.
—
“Geez, how is a drunk man supposed to comfort me?” Yue teased as he watched Viktor’s pouty expression as he pushed him onto the bed in the temple.
“I’m not drunk. This can’t even be considered drunk.” Viktor said and pulled Yue onto his lap.
Yue laughed and kissed him again.
—
“How do I not hate humans?” Yue whispered the question to himself as he watched Viktor sleep with his head laying on his lap.
“I mean….I've considered it.” Yue stroked Viktor’s hair, noting how long it had gotten.
“I’ve met so many bad humans…so so so many… but I’ve also met some really good ones… So my opinion is neutral.” Yue said and smiled at Viktor.
“My opinion on half-human half-tortoise people on the other hand…” Yue wished Viktor was awake to laugh with him but he chuckled at his own joke anyway.
He didn’t sleep that night, he just watched Viktor for a while, and then he watched the sky through the skylight while humming a little tune he’d heard somewhere.
—
“Good morning, Vitya,” Yue said and smiled as he watched Viktor raise his head a little. He had gotten bored near sunrise and began braiding Viktor’s hair for fun. Viktor was finally conscious enough to notice and open his eyes to see what was happening.
“Good morning, my love.” Viktor yawned. After yawning he watched Yue’s amused expression for a while with a clueless look until he was suddenly hit by a headache and a whole bunch of memories.
“Ack! Wipe that from your memory please.” Viktor said and dropped his head to Yue’s lap.
Yue’s best Viktor imitation got cut off before he could even say anything when Viktor cut him off with a kiss.
“I would like to see more of Drunk Viktor in the future.” Yue giggled and pulled away from Viktor.
“You won’t,” Viktor grumbled.
“Vitya is so cool and calm until he’s drunk.” Yue laughed.
“Ugh…Don’t remind me.”
A/N: Sorry for the super late chapter I've had a lot on my plate lately but also I've been conflicted on how I should time things for the story. And I'm very sorry to announce that the angst is in fact going to make it's grand re-entrance soon. I feel like I've barely given you all a break from it but it must be done (●'◡'●), Next chapter will have the smut scene that I strategically skipped so I could get this chapter out at an okay time so look forward to it because I'll be jumping into a 2-3 chapter mini battle arc and then a fuller arc later on that will definitely not be very honeymoon-y like the more recent chapters (✿◕‿◕✿) thanks for reading my story and my little rant here, I'll try to update around Sat-Monday like usual nowww