Gu Wuyan · Chat

“This one?” “No, too plain.” “This one?” “Too flashy.” “Tsk, Yun Haiyan, don't push it.” Gu Wuyan throws the beach shirt with vibrant plant prints onto the bed. The sea breeze blows in from the wide-open balcony, ruffling his slightly curly hair. Gu Wuyan frowns slightly, growing impatient. “This is the seventh one. If you tell me later ‘I think the first one was the best match~’, I swear I'll kill you.” The boy called Yun Haiyan crinkles his olive-green eyes with a snicker. He immediately grabs a blue-and-white block print beach shirt and baggy white shorts and heads toward the bathroom. “Heh, this one. Definitely this one.” The bathroom door closes and opens again. Yun Haiyan is wearing the blue-and-white outfit he just picked; the cool tones make his skin look fair. He steps out, ruffling his ash-brown hair with a cocky look. “Well? Gu Wuyan, am I handsome or what?” Gu Wuyan glances at him, scoffs, and rolls his eyes. “Could anyone be more handsome than me?” He types on his phone while pulling open the hotel room door to head out, still urging: “Hurry up. I just contacted the surf shop owner to reserve two boards for us. Don't come crying to me if your favorite color is gone because we were late.” “Coming, coming.” Yun Haiyan catches up in a few steps and drapes his arm over Gu Wuyan's shoulder. “I'm gonna surf my heart out today!” Gu Wuyan laughs out loud as if he’s heard a joke. “Give me a break. You? I think you just want to use surfing as an excuse to dive in like a sea lion.” “Hey, what’s that supposed to mean? I might not be able to surf, but I love the feeling of diving headfirst into the ocean.” Yun Haiyan reaches out to press the elevator button. As the elevator doors open, Gu Wuyan adjusts the gold-rimmed round glasses on the bridge of his nose, puts his phone into the pocket of his light khaki beach shorts, walks in, and presses ‘1’. “Is that so? I thought you were addicted to those barking sea lion videos on Douyin and planned to go back to nature by cosplaying one—the ‘thing that can't be hanged,’ the ‘un-flushable turd,’ the ‘land-wriggler,’ the ‘uppercut-immune,’ the ‘killer whale snack,’ the ‘cunning little sausage.’” Yun Haiyan freezes at the string of descriptors before bursting into laughter. “Hahahaha, what kind of descriptions are those!” They chat as they walk out of the hotel lobby toward the beach. In Sanya during July, even by the sea, you can feel the waves bringing in heat. The shimmering, distorted hot air is almost visible. The two walk across the sand in flip-flops. There are many attractive men and women around, some running, some walking, some playing in the water, and others crouching on the sand building castles. Soon, Yun Haiyan is defeated by the heat. He walks over to a small stall to buy a coconut to cool down. While he’s buying it, Gu Wuyan has already grabbed two surfboards from the rental place. He’s wearing custom prescription waterproof and anti-fog goggles on his head, holding his gold-rimmed glasses in one hand and tucking the two boards under his other arm as he walks toward Yun Haiyan. The sea breeze catches the corner of his orange-and-white beach shirt. “Damn, you’re fast.” Yun Haiyan takes the coconut with a straw from the vendor and takes a sip. “Wait till I finish this.” Gu Wuyan drops one of the boards at Yun Haiyan's feet. “Take your time. I’m going in first.” He pulls the goggles down over his eyes and tosses his glasses and phone to Yun Haiyan. “Keep an eye on these. If even one is missing, I’ll use you as a surfboard when I get back.” Yun Haiyan catches the glasses and phone, stuffing them into his pocket. He leans against a coconut tree, watching Gu Wuyan already heading into the water. He finishes the coconut in a few gulps, puts the belongings in a nearby locker, and heads into the sea with his board. The beach is filled with laughter, and waves come one after another. Gu Wuyan takes a boat further out. Without any safety gear, he throws the board onto the surface, jumps in, paddles a few times, and stands up. With knees bent to maintain balance, he rides the surge of the waves, feeling the power of the water and maneuvering the board with effortless grace. Yun Haiyan is a bit more pathetic. Wearing a life jacket, he tries to stand. A wave comes, the board tips, he leans back, and falls headfirst into the water. He surfaces coughing, wiping his face while still laughing. As Yun Haiyan falls for the third time, Gu Wuyan happens to paddle over. He watches him surface, wipe the water from his face, and squint around as if looking for something. “Looking for your board?” Gu Wuyan asks. Yun Haiyan blinks, then looks down at himself—the board has drifted off somewhere. Gu Wuyan can't help it; he bursts out laughing. Yun Haiyan glares at him and starts swimming toward the shore. Gu Wuyan follows, saying as he swims: “Next time rent a kid's board. Those are stable.” Yun Haiyan turns back to curse at him but chokes on a mouthful of water the moment he opens his mouth. This miserable sight makes Gu Wuyan howl with laughter. After playing for a while, the two finally head back to shore. Gu Wuyan carries his board and walks toward the lockers with Yun Haiyan, the two of them teasing each other along the way. “I really should have recorded a video so you could see yourself just now.” Gu Wuyan walks ahead, turning around to face Yun Haiyan, mimicking his hilarious loss of balance by waving his arms wildly in the air. While mocking him and walking backward, his heel hits something round and heavy. Gu Wuyan loses his balance and falls backward. In an instant, the world spins, and his tailbone throbs. Before he can react, he sees a blur approaching him in the air. Almost by reflex, he pulls his surfboard up to block his face. After a sharp *thwack*, he snaps back to his senses. He looks down at the board, then up at you, stunned for a couple of seconds. You hear the crack and the gasps from the people around you. You rip off the blindfold and see Gu Wuyan dazed on the ground. You quickly apologize and help him up. Yun Haiyan's expression changes, and he takes a step forward about to snap, but then he hears Gu Wuyan rubbing his aching tailbone and saying, “I'm fine.” Yun Haiyan stands by, silent now, but his eyes linger on your face for a few seconds. Gu Wuyan brushes the sand off himself, glances at the ground and then at you, and cracks a grin. “Blindfolded watermelon smashing? I thought you only saw stuff like this in anime. I didn't think people actually did it?”