Those Steps We Walked Together

The Eiffel Tower is a popular attraction for tourists who come to Paris.

She is a very famous landmark in Paris, and has even become a symbol of France in the eyes of the world.

Watching the Eiffel Tower must be selected on a clear night.

Under the night, she will be covered by bright golden lights and become the most dazzling star that lights up the night of Paris.Every hour, the lights on the Eiffel Tower will start to twinkle, like a waterfall of stars, fully interpreting the romance and magnificence of Paris at night.

At nine o'clock on a summer night in Paris, the square under the Eiffel Tower is still full of people.

Cheng Kesong and Hugo came to the center of the square side by side, stood in the distance and looked up at the extremely magnificent huge metal tower.

"Actually, there is another world-famous staircase in Paris that we didn't go to." Hugo said suddenly.

Cheng Kesong laughed immediately: "I was thinking about the steps of the iron tower just now."

Hugo stretched out his hand, signaling Cheng Kesong to give him a high five, expressing the tacit understanding between the two.

"Have you ever climbed the tower?" he asked.

"The Eiffel Tower is a must when you come to Paris. I went up last summer." Cheng Kesong laughed, "But I took the elevator."

Hugo whistled, tilted his head, and said, "Come on, let's step on the steps of the iron tower."

In fact, the story of their weekly challenge group had already set the tone, and it had nothing to do with the Eiffel Tower, but Cheng Kesong didn't want to reject this proposal.

Even though he once overlooked the whole of Paris from the top of the Eiffel Tower, even though he didn't like the tedious exercise of climbing stairs in the hot summer...but this itinerary was proposed by Hugo, Cheng Kesong suddenly looked forward to it.

The summer night wind in Paris may be really magical.

Or the role of wine.

Or maybe those two scoops of rose-scented ice cream were too intoxicating.

In short, Cheng Kesong felt that there was no hesitation or weighing in his mind, and followed Hugo up the steps of the iron tower inexplicably.

The steps of the Eiffel Tower are built by steel plates in the four-column frame of the tower body. On both sides of the steps are high barriers, through which you can see the scenery outside the frame of the tower columns.

The last time Cheng Kesong went up the tower directly chose the elevator, and it was during the day, and it was also the first time he looked at the brightly lit Paris at night from the angle of the stairs.

Hugo, who was walking in front, stumbled suddenly, and Cheng Kesong immediately stepped forward to hold his arm.

"Your shoes are not suitable for walking steps..."

Cheng Kesong looked at the flip-flops on Hugo's feet, and suddenly felt uncomfortable.

Hugo kicked off the slippers on his feet indifferently, leaned over to pick them up and threw them into the satchel with the sketchbook on his body.

Cheng Kesong was surprised: "Are you barefoot like this?"

"It's okay." Hugo didn't care.

Cheng Kesong was speechless for a while, only thinking that he must have been bewitched by something at the beginning to listen to Hugo's suggestion, and he didn't pay attention to whether the other party's clothes were appropriate, so he climbed the iron tower with him.

After hesitating for a moment, Cheng Kesong felt that he should say something: "How about... I will carry you?"

Hugo was taken aback for a moment, but then burst out laughing.

It wasn't until the tourists around him started to look at him with strange eyes that he finally stopped, his cheeks were flushed, his eyes reflected the warm yellow light of the iron tower, and he was smiling.

Cheng Kesong looked at Hugo's face and couldn't help laughing.

Hugo stretched out his arm and put it on Cheng Kesong's shoulder, teasingly said: "You...do you think I'm weak?"

"No." Cheng Kesong shook his head with a smile, and realized that his proposal just now was very unreliable.

"You don't need to carry me, I can walk by myself. But if you must behave like a gentleman..."

Hugo said so, and stretched out his hand to Cheng Kesong.

"Hold me."

He smiled and looked at Cheng Kesong.

The golden light sprinkled between the two, surrounded by the huge frame of the iron tower, iron hooks and silver paintings, dividing the night scene of Paris in the distance into triangular fragments.

I do not know where the brisk music of the accordion came, as if drowning the noise of the tourists, it slowly rotated in the breeze, once and for all, gently touching people's heartstrings.

Cheng Kesong reached out and took Hugo's hand.

The two held hands, shoulders touched, and walked up the winding steps of the iron tower step by step in unison.

Hugo's hands were slightly cold, neither dry nor wet, just right and moist.Cheng Kesong felt that the other person's skin was slightly cooler than his own, and his face gradually started to have a fever.

That's... holding hands?

The whole world suddenly felt unreal.

Even in Paris, a city known for its romance, even if people here can hook shoulders with others when they are excited, and even hug and kiss... holding hands is still an extremely intimate gesture.

Does that mean that Hugo really has the same thoughts about himself?

This big boy with a strange temperament—he also likes himself?

Cheng Kesong felt his heart beating a little chaotically, and his palms began to sweat slightly.He lowered his head and concentrated on looking at the steps under his feet, not daring to turn his head to see Hugo's current expression.

A group of tourists from an unknown country passed by the two of them. A man turned his head, whistled a friendly whistle to the two of them, and compared a pair of thumbs.

Cheng Kesong's footsteps stopped, his body became a little stiff.

At this moment, Hugo shook his hand vigorously, turned his head, and said with a smile, "Are you shy?"

"Uh, no..." Cheng Kesong replied subconsciously.

He thought for a moment and organized his words.

"I'm just a little nervous...I've never dared to show my difference in front of others before. This is the first time...to let myself be so...in public."

Hearing this, Hugo smiled: "Oh, a restrained oriental."

Cheng Kesong also felt that he was making a fuss out of a molehill, and said with a smile, "Well, unrestrained Westerners."

Hugo raised his eyebrows upon hearing this.

"Unrestrained? It's just holding hands. If this is called unrestrained, what will you do when I kiss you later?"

Cheng Kesong couldn't handle this topic at all, he felt like his face was going to burn.

Why is the progress so incredible?

When they were eating just now, they could easily chat about some food topics, so why did something extraordinary break out between the two of them in just one hour?

It must be the glass of wine!

No, it must be the fault of that blazing ice cream ball like a rose!

"Relax, I won't kiss you on the steps."

Hugo seemed to tease Cheng Kesong into an addiction: "You have to find a place with beautiful scenery. In my opinion, the viewing platform is very good."

Seeing the embarrassment and helplessness on Cheng Kesong's face, Hugo chuckled a few times, turned his wrist slightly, spread his fingers, and penetrated into Cheng Kesong's fingers.The palms of the two of them stuck to each other like this, and their fingers interlocked, holding each other tightly.

In such a charming atmosphere, the hundreds of steps seemed to be completely ignored by the two of them.

Cheng Kesong suddenly felt a little overwhelmed when the viewing platform on the first floor was close at hand.

"Shall we... keep going up?"

As soon as the words came out of his mouth, he realized how inappropriate it was.

Sure enough, Hugo laughed again: "Are you afraid?"

Cheng Kesong was also very speechless about his stress reaction at that moment, he shook his head and said, "I also...don't know."

After finishing speaking, he added as if to fix a dead sheep: "Let's go here, your shoes don't fit well, so it's inconvenient to continue walking up."

Hugo took the flip flops out of the bag and stepped on them, then naturally took Cheng Kesong's hand and led him to the sightseeing platform around the ring tower.

The platform was already overcrowded, and the two waited for a long time before they finally got a chance to get close to the viewing fence in the corner.

Looking up, the place far in front of you is the Montparnasse Tower.

"Can you find out where our school is?" Hugo asked.

Cheng Kesong shook his head: "The field of vision here is too flat, and the lights are all in one piece, how could we find it?"

Hugo smiled.

"When...when did you start noticing me?" He put his arms on the railing and turned to look at Cheng Kesong.

Cheng Kesong looked at the only skyscraper in the center of Paris in the distance, and said slowly: "Last year's Halloween."

Hugo was really surprised this time: "Halloween?!"

"Yes……"

"So long ago! But you never took the initiative to chat with me!"

Hugo found this incredible.

Cheng Kesong smiled, and said: "I'm not sure you are... I was just admiring you at the time, and I was a little confused about what my feelings for you are... What about you? When did you notice me? of?"

"I like your paintings very much."

Hugo looked at Cheng Kesong intently, speaking very slowly.

"At the beginning, it was the still life sketch full of bones and transparent objects. You used black paper as the base and white colored pencils to draw it. At that time, I was wondering what kind of person the author of this painting was."

"After knowing your name, I saw your paintings posted in the corridor several times..."

"Then one day, I was chatting with my friend at the school gate, and he told me that the boy standing on the edge of the flower bed drinking coffee is the artist of the painting I have always liked. He also told me that you were not born in France, but a Chinese foreign students."

"But I...can't determine your...inclinations."

Hugo said, lowering his eyelashes.

Cheng Kesong was surprised: "But you still took the initiative to talk to me."

Hugo smiled: "Yeah, I took the initiative to ask you to say 'today's weather is really nice' - because of this incident, I was laughed at by them all afternoon."

"Why? Isn't this the most common greeting in Paris?" Cheng Kesong also laughed.

"Oh my god! When I think about it now, I still feel like a complete stupefied young man at that time! That was so stupid, I almost want to delete that memory from my mind!" Hugo patted exaggeratedly Pat forehead.

Cheng Kesong smiled and shook his head.

"I should have directly praised your paintings, maybe you would think I'm not so stupid." Hugo said depressedly.

"I don't think you're stupid, I'm already very happy if you can come and talk to me." Cheng Kesong admitted.

"Really?"

Hugo leaned slightly closer, his eyes were bright, and his breath almost caught Cheng Kesong's ear.

Cheng Kesong remembered what the other party said about kissing on the steps just now, and suddenly he was a little nervous, but also a little expectant.

"Really," he replied.

Hugo didn't come to kiss him, but just held on to the railing, smiling very heartily under the gorgeous lights.

The two stood side by side for a while, and Hugo suddenly asked, "Then, when your studies are over, will you go back to China?"

He was still smiling, but Cheng Kesong could see obvious uneasiness from his expression.Those light brown eyes reflected the light, showing a golden hue, for a moment, as if waiting for a sentence that would determine his fate.

Cheng Kesong avoided the piercing gaze and lowered his head.

"You... want to go back?" Hugo asked a little cautiously.

Cheng Kesong said: "I don't want to go back, but I don't know if I can stay...I like Paris, a city that can provide me with the greatest spiritual freedom...but I really don't know."

Hugo looked over silently and said nothing.

He stretched out his hand and opened his palm to wrap Cheng Kesong's tightly clenched fist.

The two stood quietly on the platform of the iron tower for a long time, until the lights of the iron tower started to flicker again, then Hugo took Cheng Kesong's hand and went back down together with him.

Sitting on the subway home, Cheng Kesong suddenly realized that Hugo did not kiss himself on the viewing platform of the Eiffel Tower as he said.