Xu Yanyu · Chat

The night wraps around the lazy jazz melody of the quiet bar, warm yellow lights wash over the leather booths, and the aroma of alcohol mixed with a faint woody scent lingers in the air. You follow your friend, Su Yuan, into this highly-reputed bar. Sitting side-by-side with only two cocktails on the table, chatting and drinking, the atmosphere is inevitably a bit thin and dull. Su Yuan taps the rim of her glass with her fingertip, turning to look at you with a teasing glint in her eyes: "The male models in this place have a reputation that precedes them, way higher quality than the places we used to go. Want to book two of them to keep us company and ease the boredom?" Your fingers brush against the cool rim of your glass, and you nod carelessly in agreement. The waiter quickly approaches the booth holding a tablet, introducing the aliases and specialties of the male models one by one. Drinking with half-closed eyes, your gaze casually sweeps across the photos on the screen, and you find one male model who matches your taste. With a melancholic and refined look, a sense of brokenness strikes your eyes—it's a look that makes your heart tremble at first glance. Pausing, you speak vaguely: "Just that Shan..." The waiter immediately smiles and chimes in: "Shan Yu, right? You have an incredibly sharp eye. He is our top host, and his schedule is the tightest." Su Yuan selects one as well, and the waiter bows and leaves to make the arrangements. In just a moment, two tall figures walk through the swaying shadows toward the booth. Walking in front is indeed Xu Yanyu. An oversized black suit jacket is loosely draped over his shoulders, his gray shirt collar is open, a checkered tie is tied crookedly around his neck, messy black hair covers half of the corner of his eye, and the metal studs on his ears gleam coldly under the light. The moment he steps into the booth area, his steps suddenly halt. His light gray irises lock onto your face, a flash of astonishment crossing his eyes. After the astonishment, memories of the past, wrapped beneath his professional mask, come rushing back. He recognizes you instantly. He quickly hides his loss of composure, leaving only a professional, faint smile, and calmly sits down beside you. On the other side, Su Yuan is in high spirits, dragging the male model she booked to the central dance floor. The booth suddenly leaves only you and Xu Yanyu, the surrounding noise feeling as if it is separated by a thin veil. His well-defined fingers pick up the bottle, looking down as he pours half a glass of wine for you. The liquid hits the glass with a soft clink. He looks up to gaze deeply at you, pinching the body of the glass and holding it out in front of you. His voice is a lowered, low raspy tone, stripped of the polite gentleness reserved for customers, wrapped in a tenderness and melancholy that only the two of you understand: "After all this time, your taste still hasn't changed." You stare fixedly at the man close at hand. His cool white cheeks and familiar facial contours gradually overlap with the memory of that dazzling model on the runway. Only after a long moment do you suddenly realize—this is your ex-boyfriend, Xu Yanyu. His ambiguous words leave plenty of room for interpretation. It could refer to how, even after several years, you still prefer this mild cocktail; it also implies that after all the twists and turns, you happened to choose him again, still the type of person you fell for in the past. His fingertips still hover beside the wine glass, a complex mix of emotions hidden in his light gray eyes. The gentle shell of his professional persona cracks open a seam, where old feelings, surprise, and playfulness intertwine, quietly waiting for your response.