Falling into the Immaculate Sea · Chat

<narration>It was 3:30 PM when the wind chimes at the entrance of Summer Whispers clattered. Lu Zhiyan ducked inside, his jacket slung over his shoulder, wearing a faded black T-shirt with a loose collar. He made quite an entrance. Wen Ruxia, who was watering succulents behind the counter, glanced up at him, said nothing, and continued watering.</narration> <narration>Qi Lan didn't react at all, sitting in his usual spot drawing, his pencil making a scratching sound against the paper.</narration> <message>Lu Zhiyan threw himself into a rattan chair against the wall, stretching his long legs out and staring at the ceiling. After about three seconds of silence, he couldn't help but speak up: "It's stiflingly boring in here. Let's talk about something."</message> <narration>Wen Ruxia put down the watering can, fished a cold can of Coke from under the counter, and tossed it across the room. Lu Zhiyan caught it with one hand, deftly pulled the tab, took a swig, and let out a burp.</narration> <message>"Didn't you say you had a performance yesterday?" Wen Ruxia asked.</message> <message>"Finished it. Then we rehearsed for another three hours. He Ding couldn't hit the beat to save his life; I was so pissed I wanted to shove the drumsticks down his throat."</message> <message>Qi Lan's pencil didn't stop, but the corner of his mouth curled slightly: "You said you wanted to shove them down his throat last time, too."</message> <message>"Last time was just to scare him. This time, I meant it."</message> <message>Wen Ruxia was already laughing as he turned to change the water for the roses on the shelf. As he trimmed the stems, he asked, "So you're free today?"</message> <message>"Yeah." Lu Zhiyan rested the Coke can on his knee and tilted his head toward the window. "The weather's decent. I'm thinking of heading down to the beach later; it's been too long."</message> <message>Qi Lan looked up, glanced at him, set his pencil down, and closed his sketchbook. Lu Zhiyan turned to look at him: "You coming too?"</message> <message>"Yeah, to get some air." Qi Lan stood up and pushed his chair back under the table. "I've been drawing all day; my neck is stiff."</message> <message>Wen Ruxia turned around, still holding a trimmed rose branch: "What time do you two plan on being back? Mu Qing said he'd be here later. I'll have him bring some meatballs so we can have hotpot tonight."</message> <message>"Depends." Lu Zhiyan had already stood up, accurately tossing the empty can into the corner trash bin. "If we find something interesting, we might stay a bit longer. You two go ahead and eat first."</message <narration>He grabbed his jacket from the back of the chair, while Qi Lan already had his sketchbook tucked under his arm. The two of them headed out one after the other, the wind chimes ringing again. Wen Ruxia stood behind the counter watching the door close, a slight smile on his face, as he continued to arrange the trimmed roses into the vase.</narration> <narration>The pier was about a twenty-minute walk away. The afternoon sea was a grayish-blue, the sunlight shattered into fragments of bright white glare that made one squint. Lu Zhiyan walked to the edge of the tide pools, squatting down to flip through the rocks, looking for flat ones suitable for skipping. Qi Lan found a clean rock nearby to sit on and opened his sketchbook, twirling his pencil between his fingers. He wasn't in a hurry to draw; he watched the sea for a moment first, then looked down and sketched a few lines.</narration> <message>"Tch." Lu Zhiyan threw a stone; it skipped three times. "Not bad."</message> <message>Qi Lan didn't look up: "When was the last time you were here?"</message> <message>"Last month, I guess. I practiced singing that night until my voice was completely shot." Lu Zhiyan kept squatting and flipping rocks, his mouth never stopping. "After I got back, I even saw a post on a forum from a passerby complaining about a lunatic screaming at the sea in the middle of the night."</message> <message>"You deserved it."</message> <message>"Why do you sound exactly like Ruxia?"</message> <message>Qi Lan finally looked up at him: "Because we both tell the truth."</message> <message>Lu Zhiyan laughed, brushed the sand off his hands, and sat down next to Qi Lan. He gazed out at the sea for a moment, then suddenly pointed into the distance: "Look, what's that?"</message> <narration>Qi Lan followed the direction of his finger—near the shallows, a patch of grayish-green material was snagged on a reef, half-submerged in the water, bobbing with the waves.</narration> <message>"A fishing net, probably," Qi Lan said. "An abandoned one."</message> <message>"Who would just dump this here?" Lu Zhiyan frowned. "That's really unethical."</message> <narration>Qi Lan didn't respond, but he didn't look away. He stared at the net for a few seconds, suddenly feeling that something wasn't right. The dark shadow in the middle of the net didn't look like a rock or seaweed. He squinted and stood up.</narration> <message>"What is it?" Lu Zhiyan turned to look at him.</message> <narration>Qi Lan didn't answer; he had already taken a few steps toward it. Lu Zhiyan stood up as well, following him across the wet sand. As they got closer, he stopped too. Something was tangled in the net—the faint outline of a human silhouette was visible.</narration> <narration>Both of them froze at the same time. The figure was wrapped in multiple layers of the net, wet hair plastered against the side of their face, obscuring most of their features. One arm hung out through the mesh, limp, fingers slightly curled and turned white from the seawater. Motionless.</narration> <message>Lu Zhiyan reacted first, cursing, "Fuck, who just leaves a net like this?!" He strode over in two steps, squatted down, and reached out to feel the person's exposed wrist. The skin was cold, but the pulse was very, very faint—just a single throb.</message> <message>"They're alive!" he shouted back at Qi Lan. "Give me a hand, this net is tangled way too tight."</message> <message>Qi Lan had already squatted beside him, trying to pull at the net, but it was snagged so firmly it wouldn't budge. "I have a knife in my pocket." He pulled out a small folding knife and handed it to Lu Zhiyan.</message> <narration>Lu Zhiyan took it, his movements unusually swift yet careful. He avoided the person's body, cutting the tangled nylon cords from the outside in. Qi Lan helped by holding open the cut sections of the net. Both were in a frantic rush, neither speaking, leaving only the sound of the blade slicing through rope and their heavy breathing.</narration> <message>"Be gentle," Qi Lan said in a low voice.</message> <message>"I fucking know," Lu Zhiyan replied, though his movements did indeed become lighter. He avoided the bare forearm and sliced through the last coil of rope wrapped around the lower leg.</message> <narration>The person slid down, falling into Lu Zhiyan's instinctively open arms. So light. Lu Zhiyan dazed for a moment. He looked down; the person in his arms was soaking wet, their hair spreading out to reveal a pale face. Their eyes were closed, lashes damp with water, and their breathing was so shallow it seemed like it might stop at any moment.</narration> <message>Qi Lan had already stood up, taken off his jacket, and handed it over. Lu Zhiyan took it and wrapped it around the person, his movements clumsy as he muttered quietly, "...I'm going to find out who threw this net, just you wait."</message> <narration>He didn't curse too loudly, afraid of disturbing the person in his arms.</narration> <message>"Let's go, back to Ruxia's first," he said. "He's got hot water and blankets there."</message> <narration>Qi Lan nodded, put the knife away, bent down to pick up his sketchbook from the sand, and followed along. After a few steps, Lu Zhiyan suddenly looked down at the person in his arms again. A sense of familiarity slowly bubbled up. He couldn't say exactly what was familiar. He couldn't see the face clearly, but the way those hands hung—he remembered that night, when he had fallen into the sea drunk and felt a warmth on his waist. A pair of hands had supported him, pushing him toward the shore. He didn't remember what those hands looked like, but he remembered the strength—not heavy, but very steady.</narration> <message>"...Qi Lan." He didn't stop walking, but his voice was very low.</message> <message>"Yeah."</message> <message>"Do you think..."</message> <narration>He paused, not knowing how to put it. Qi Lan walked beside him, tilting his head, his gaze falling on the side of the face obscured by wet hair for a couple of seconds.</narration> <message>"Let's get back first," Qi Lan said.</message> <narration>Lu Zhiyan didn't say another word, shifting his hold to lift the person higher as he walked toward the flower shop.</narration> <choice_group> <choice id="1">Jolted so much I can't help but gag, protesting in dissatisfaction: "Stop shaking me! The fish is gonna throw up!"</choice> <choice id="2">Leaning on Lu Zhiyan's shoulder, instinctively nuzzling him: "It's you... the unlucky guy who fell in the water that day..."</choice> <choice id="3">Lying on the sofa, opening my eyes dizzily, I instinctively look for my tail, but it's gone, replaced by human legs; terrified, I roll over and tumble onto the floor: "Where did my beautiful tail go!!!"</choice> <choice id="4">Waking up soaking in a bathtub, I see someone crouching in front of me combing my hair; I warily pull away, my tail whipping up a splash that soaks him: "Evil human! Get away from me!!!"</choice> </choice_group>