duet

Zhou Nian froze under his fingertips.

As if he didn't hear clearly, or just couldn't believe what he heard, he choked up for a moment before saying, "I..."

Pei Xun looked down at him.Zhou Nian paused for a moment, as if he was gathering his strength, but in the end he still didn't continue, only shaking his head slightly and slowly.

It doesn't hurt anymore.

He still didn't look at Pei Xun, he lowered his head and let the fine hair fall down on his forehead, dividing his vision into pieces.In the stagnant silence, he heard Pei Xun sigh imperceptibly.

No sound came from the ear, but the light and shadow in front of him suddenly flickered.Zhou Nian was stunned, subconsciously raised his face, and his eyes almost fell into Pei Xun's eyes.

Pei Xun knelt down on one knee, looking up at him.

Zhou Nian had never seen him in such a solemn posture, his mind was blank, and he leaned back without thinking, and the back of the chair was also tilted by his movements.With the wall behind him, he had no way to avoid it, and could only be forced to look at Pei Xun—and Pei Xun was also staring at him deeply.

For the first time tonight, he finally saw Pei Xun's appearance clearly.

In the late autumn night, there was heavy frost, cold and dew, and the temperature was close to single digits, but Pei Xun was only wearing a thin shirt.He left in such a hurry that he forgot to retrieve his coat when he left the bar and rushed to the airport without stopping.How could he still care about his clothes when he was in a hurry, as soon as he landed, he ran straight here again.

... No wonder his hands are so cold.

Zhou Nian can make up the complete cause and effect in his heart without thinking about it.His heart tightened suddenly, and then he throbbed in pain.After staring blankly at Pei Xun for a moment, he suddenly grabbed the man's hand, put it between his hands, and held it tightly.

"I..." He put his forehead on Pei Xun's palm and forced out his voice word by word, "...I'm sorry, I..."

"—shh."

Pei Xun interrupted him.He looked into Zhou Nian's eyes, and his voice was calm and gentle: "I know."

"..."

In the seemingly endless silence, neither of them spoke again.Zhou Nian's lips trembled, but he didn't say anything.

He finally raised his eyes, his eyes were red.

He had a pair of black and white eyes, and when he was looking at someone, he looked like a puddle of ink in the white snow.Even at this time, the red seems to be drawn with fine brushwork, and it is still beautiful.

As long as it is him, everything is good-looking.

Pei Xun stretched out his hand, caressed the corners of his eyes, and deliberately smiled at him: "Okay, don't cry."

Zhou Nian didn't speak.He bent down and hugged Pei Xun tightly.

Words are useless: they are feeble and weak, far from enough to convey what is going on in the heart.At the moment, it's all unnecessary.Because Pei Xun knew and understood everything he wanted to say.

Zhou Nian buried her face on his shoulder, clasped her hands behind Pei Xun, twisting tightly.He hugged him so tightly, Pei Xun could clearly hear his intense heartbeat, like sparks splashing everywhere, almost bursting out of his heart.

He gently stroked the back of Zhou Nian's neck and asked in a low voice, "Are you tired?"

Having gone through a whole day of violent ups and downs, and being impacted enough to endanger his career, Zhou Nian was already exhausted, leaving only a dangling string to support him to cope with the many matters that came one after another.Finally hugging Pei Xun, smelling the familiar scent, the whole body relaxes, and the drowsiness sweeps up.He rubbed against Pei Xun's cheek, and replied muffledly: "Yes."

"Then go to sleep." Pei Xun rubbed his hair.

Zhou Nian hugged him a little tighter, and nodded slightly, not long after, Pei Xun heard his heartbeat gradually calm down, returning to a regular beating sound.

He waited for another tens of seconds before slowly letting go of him, got up and walked to the hospital bed, and walked back with the quilt in his arms.Zhou Nian was closing his eyes, his eyelashes drooping smoothly, only occasionally trembling slightly.So Pei Xun gently shook off the thin quilt, and tucked in the corners of the quilt for him.It seemed too cold inside, so he went to the controls and turned up the temperature.

After doing all this, he stood beside Zhou Nian for a while.It wasn't until he was convinced that the man was really asleep that he turned around and left, closing the door gently.

Xu Li was standing outside the door.

When such a thing happened to the artists under her, she was undoubtedly the busiest one—all work arrangements had to be re-planned, and many previously confirmed jobs faced the possibility of suspension or even cancellation.This night is doomed not to rest, she naturally can't leave, she just wants to wait for Pei Xun to leave before continuing to discuss matters with Zhou Nian.Unexpectedly, after Pei Xun came out, she didn't let her see Zhou Nian's shadow, closed the door directly, and then silently gestured to her to come to the other side.

"What did the doctor say?" He asked as he walked, "How long will it take to recover?"

"...At least a month." She was a little surprised, but still followed him to the corner: "——if the wound can be treated carefully. Even if it heals, there may be a scar left."

"En." Pei Xun nodded.

"I have a friend who knows someone who does plastic surgery," Xu Li hesitated, and said, "If it doesn't work in the end, you can..."

Pei Xun smiled.After a short pause, he continued to ask, "What plans did he have for this month?"

Xu Li was taken aback.To her surprise, Pei Xun didn't seem to care much about the things he should have cared about the most - why do rich people like to be celebrities, don't they just like that face... She didn't show these emotions on her face, Instead, he considered another thing: These have already involved the specific arrangements for the artist's work. After all, Pei Xun is an "outsider", so he shouldn't have provided these to him.

The trade-off of pros and cons is only a moment.She smiled, and handed him the schedule—many of the jobs in it were in danger of being terminated. Perhaps Mr. Pei's ability could provide some leeway...

He just glanced at it briefly and returned the schedule without any comments: "Then please, discuss it with them... Try to postpone these tasks for one month."

"What if they don't agree?" She asked, "For example, "Xia Ke Xing" - such a high-investment movie may not be willing to put down the progress and wait for him, even if he is the leading actor -"

And Pei Xun did not disappoint her.

"I'll take care of it," he just said.

People who are used to running around for days are suddenly picked out of the tediousness, and they will always feel a sudden sense of emptiness, as if they have nowhere to live and lost their direction for a while.

It has been ten days since he returned home, and with proper treatment, Zhou Nian's wound quickly scabbed over, like a deep red brand mark.Such a trace obviously put him out of work for the time being, and no one knew how long this period of time would last.

Thanks to his good living habits, he didn't completely waste this time, and still worked and rested as usual.It's just that after waking up on time every day, I don't know what to do - the work that seemed to be endless in the past has stopped. As for the follow-up of those contracts, Xu Li didn't tell him the details, but only let him rest assured .He has never cared about these things, he didn't ask more questions, he just wanted not to let go of his job.But when I actually picked up the script, I realized something was missing.

The plot on the paper is still familiar to him, and he can clearly remember every word and sentence, and when he closes his eyes, he can outline in his mind the expressions and actions that the characters should have.But does it still make sense to remember?When will I be able to show it in front of the camera again? ——Can he return to the set again?

Xu Li didn't talk about the future with him, nor did Pei Xun, it seemed that they had a tacit understanding, using silence as a barrier, carefully guarding him in the protective circle, trying to make him feel at ease.He also understood their intentions, didn't read the comments about this matter online, and still tried his best to behave as usual-at least in his own opinion.

When Pei Xun walked over, he saw Zhou Nian sitting by the window with a script on his lap.Xiao Bai was running wildly around him in circles, and occasionally stopped when he was tired from running, and condescended to let him stroke his hair.Zhou Nian placed his hand on top of its head and stroked it gently.

The booklet lying across his lap has been turned over too many times, and the corners have faintly frayed.Zhou Nian's gaze was fixed on it, but his usual focus was not on his face.It wasn't until Pei Xun approached that he seemed to wake up suddenly. He flipped through the pages unnaturally, then raised his head and smiled at him.

These days, he has been like this, as if holding a cup full of water, he needs to hold the rim of the cup carefully all the time, so as not to let his emotions spill out.Pei Xun paused for a moment, and didn't point it out. He just walked to the window and parted the curtains on both sides: "It's too dark, be careful with your eyes."

The moment the sunlight came in, he didn't miss Zhou Nian's almost subconscious little action.As if he was not used to the sudden light, he turned his face slightly and hid in the shadow on one side.

Maybe he didn't realize it himself.Before the injury, Zhou Nian was never photophobic.In fact, every morning when they were together in the past, Zhou Nian went to open the curtains first, and then went back to the bed to wake him up.

Pei Xun looked at him, and suddenly said, "Do you want to go out for a walk?"

Outside the window is the clear and clear sunlight in autumn, and the last few stacks of red leaves are still left on the tall and thin tallow tree by the courtyard wall, which rustles when the wind blows.This is the good time when there is not much left before winter. It is not too cold to move around, and you don't have to dress too bloated.Usually he was the one who took Pei Xun to go out, but when he saw this person offer to go out, Zhou Nian was startled, and the word "good" was about to be dropped, but he took it back halfway.As if thinking of something, he turned his eyes away: "...Let's talk about it later."

He and Pei Xun seldom go out together, and the few times are when no one is around at night.Now that the sky is still bright, there is always a need to cover up, and there is still the possibility of being noticed by others... But these are just excuses, he just doesn't want to be seen by others.

Zhou Nian turned his face slightly, and turned the intact half of his face to Pei Xun.

He waited for a while, but did not hear Pei Xun's answer.The man leaned against the edge of the sofa, only looked down at Xiao Bai, and stopped talking.

He pursed his lips tightly and lowered his eyebrows, looking preoccupied.Zhou Nian became uneasy, and immediately went to hold his hand: "If you want to go, I'm fine..."

During this period of time, when Pei Xun laughed, he could feel a little more relaxed; but as long as Pei Xun frowned, he would worry about what he did wrong.Fears and joys are tied to him alone.He thought for a while, and added: "I can go anywhere."

"Really?" Pei Xun raised his eyes.

The vague sense of loss and exhaustion disappeared the moment he raised his head.When looking at Zhou Nian, he smiled again, looking even brighter than before.Zhou Nian felt relieved and nodded.

It doesn't matter to be photographed, he simply thought, if he can make Pei Xun happy...

"I know there is a place," he heard Pei Xun say, his voice light and yearning, "no one—just the two of us."