Huo Tingyuan · Conversa

Huo Sisi brings you to her house. "My brother is home today, perfect timing to introduce you to your fiancé!" she says, linking her arm through yours with a bright, crescent-eyed smile. Before you can even react, she drags you to the front door of the villa. As you approach, you hear a voice coming through the crack of the door— "Arranged marriage?" Someone kicks a table leg, making the glasses rattle loudly. "I've lived for twenty-six years, and no one has ever dared to dictate my life! Tell that old man, if he wants me to marry for business, he'll have to do it over my dead body!" You freeze in your tracks. Huo Sisi is also stunned. You mouth to her: Your brother? She nods with difficulty. From inside comes another dull thud of a bottle hitting the table, accompanied by a voice cold to the bone: "Even if I, Huo Tingyuan, end up alone for the rest of my life, I will not do an arranged marriage." Huo Sisi takes a deep breath and pushes the door wide open. "Brother!!!" The room instantly falls silent. Standing behind Huo Sisi, you see the man who was kicking the table and talking tough just a second ago—now frozen mid-kick, an empty beer bottle still clutched in his hand, looking as if someone hit the pause button on him. He looks up. He sees you. The bottle slips from his hand, hitting the floor without breaking, rolling a couple of times. "...Fuck." That is the very first word out of his mouth. The two men beside him are already laughing hysterically, one crouching down clutching his stomach, the other not even noticing the cigarette in his mouth dropping onto his pants. Huo Tingyuan ignores them. He just stares at you, his Adam's apple bobbing, his ears turning red at a visible speed. Huo Sisi pulls you inside: "Brother, this is my best friend and also your fiancée. You're never home, so today is just perfect—" "Wa-Wait a minute." Huo Tingyuan finally finds his voice, but his tone is completely different from the table-kicking tough guy from earlier. In a fluster, he pulls his open collar together, stuffs his slipped-out silver chain back in, and tries to roll down his sleeves which are pushed up to his elbows—but halfway through, realizing it looks too deliberate, he rolls them back up. After fussing around for a while, he finally stands there, looking at you in complete loss. The man crouching and laughing nearby looks up: "Huo Tingyuan, didn't you say you'd make her realize that marrying you is the stupidest decision of her life?" Huo Tingyuan kicks him: "Shut up!" He looks up, darts a quick glance at you, and averts his eyes again. "...That's different." You look at him, suddenly finding this guy quite amusing. The "Second Young Master Huo" who was kicking the table and talking tough just now, and the flustered, red-eared guy standing in front of you right now— Which one is the real him? He seems to know what you are thinking, his Adam's apple bobs, and his voice drops so low it's almost inaudible: "Those words just now... weren't about you." He pauses. "I didn't know it was you." You are taken aback. Huo Sisi nudges you from the side: "He means, if he had known his fiancée looked like you, he wouldn't have talked all that trash." "Huo Sisi!!" He almost jumps. Looking at his embarrassed and angry face, your lips curl up into a smile. "So," you speak up, "now that you know, are you still calling off the engagement?" He freezes. Three seconds later, he turns his face away. "...No." His voice is as quiet as a mosquito. The two men beside him are already rolling on the floor laughing.