A Certain Someone ( The On1y One ) Chapter 096 – Nonsensical Rambles

“Former Boyfriend.”

Sheng Wang had his own personal agenda when he chose to switch his major as well as the team he ended up in upon entering the company.
There was this line that trended at one point, saying that there’s less than six degrees of separations between any strangers in this world. Sheng Wang had thought, more than once, that if he dealt with enough foreign business, his network of people expanded widely enough, maybe he would meet Jiang Tian by chance under some circumstance.
Then it couldn’t be blamed on their tie not being severed cleanly enough, it should be said that life is unpredictable, or that it is fated to be. And he would be speaking with a lighter burden on his back, with less concerns too.
Little did he know that when the day truly arrived, he was tongue-tied instead.

He wanted to say, “I dreamt of you when I was having a sleep in this morning.”

It was the same as countless times before; Jiang Tian wore a wide T-shirt, the lapels on his blue and white uniform wide open, his sleeves rolled to his elbow, sitting on the windowsill with a leg curled up, white wireless earpiece stuffed in his ears as he did questions.
The sunlight outside was too bright, the air condition hummed as it worked; the temperature in the bedroom had always been rather low. The person sitting on the windowsill turned around, saying: Don’t rock your chair while you memorise.
He even dreamt of Jiang Tian sprawled over the table, catching up on his sleep. His left hand rested on the back of his neck as always, when he was disrupted from his sleep, his brows would knit in impatience. When he walked, he wasn’t too fast or too slow, but he would go three steps at a time whenever he went up and down the stairs. After he ran, he would be covered in a thin layer of sweat; he was both dazzling and cold.

However, Sheng Wang did not say anything in the end — the boy in his dream had already taken off his school uniform, changing into a foreign dark-coloured coat. He travelled from afar, covered in dust. When he looked across at him from a few meters away, he was like the fog that would arise early winter morning.

It was at this moment that Sheng Wang realised belatedly: they had been separated for too long. The world ran ahead swiftly, not slowing down just for two certain people. Time could change too many things, even the sharpest and most jagged of rocks could be worn down into dust.
He was suddenly a little afraid upon seeing the real person.

Someone opened the door to the private room, his colleague came over and clapped on his shoulder. “Aren’t you supposed to be fetching someone? Why are you being a vertical wooden log here?”
Sheng Wang stared blankly before he tore his eyes away from Jiang Tian, turning to ask, “What did you say?”
The other PhD that came with the professor stuck his head out from behind, letting out an “oh” and then laughing. He waved at Jiang Tian across the people, saying, “Finally, you’re here at last. Your traffic jam sure jammed for a little too long, the prof has been going on about you for a while now!”
What followed next was quite a few people all pouring out from the room, getting in between Sheng Wang and Jiang Tian, and then ushering them inside with lighthearted conversation.

Sheng Wang went back to his seat as though he was sleepwalking. He brought his cup up, and sipped a mouthful of tea — the tip of his tongue hurt as it got scalded, and his heart, abruptly compressed just now, gradually relaxed; it delivered blood to his four limbs and hundreds of bones, pump by pump. His numb fingers finally regained feeling.

Sheng Wang looked up, and saw Jiang Tian being moved to sit down next to the professor. He took off his coat, revealing a clean shirt that fitted him well. As he unbuttoned his collar, he answered the professor’s questions.
He seemed to be out of it too, he only nodded or gave simple replies. When he unbuttoned his cuff and folded it up, he finally looked up and in his direction; his gaze cut across the round table and the mirth that filled the room, landing on Sheng Wang.

The colleague was acute, and asked almost instantly, “Eh, I was just thinking. Don’t tell me the two of you know each other?”
The entire table stopped their conversations, and looked over with curiosity in their eyes, dancing back and forth between the two of them.

Sheng Wang stilled, and thought this scene was so absurd to the point of being ridiculous. The him in high school never would have thought — not even until he died — that one day he would be sitting at the same table with Jiang Tian, with the two of them at the ends furthest away from each other, and the people around them would say in shock, “So you two do know each other.”

He nodded stiffly, and at the same time, he heard Jiang Tian answer with a “Mn”.

“University classmates?”
“No,” Sheng Wang said.
“I think you didn’t go to a local university, right?” Jiang Tian’s fellow doctor only brought it up offhandedly, but the two people at the table met eyes, and fell into an enigmatic silence simultaneously.

For that one split second, Sheng Wang wished for any unnecessary people around them to just disappear; all his attention was nailed dead across the table, he had nothing to spare for anything else at all.

Fortunately, his colleague, Zhang Chao was a talkative person, he wouldn’t let there be even a single second of silence in conversations. “You’re overseas for your entire time in university? That’s great, I thought I’m surrounded by the school next door again even though I’m literally just eating. That saves me from a battle of tongues over which school is better again.”
The entire table roared with laughter.

Zhang Chao then said, “If it wasn’t university, then…the same high school?”
Jiang Tian said, “Same class.”
The fellow doctor next to him clapped him, “Why didn’t you say that you have an old classmate here earlier!”
This person’s EQ was slightly lagging behind; he only realised that it wasn’t quite appropriate of him to say it after the deed was done. There’s an old classmate at a dinner, but the person himself didn’t know at all. That could only mean one thing: although they were classmates, they were clearly not on very good terms — at the very least, they rarely stayed in contact. It’s likely that they don’t even know what the other person is doing now.

As compared to the blunt and straightforward academics opposite them, Sheng Wang’s group was much more flexible. Zhang Chao immediately followed up, grumbling, “How was there supposed to be an earlier? All of us only got the notice this morning that our dinner is covered.”
The other people all started to laugh, concealing that one moment of enigmatic awkwardness.

That doctor who looked more of the honest type started acting more carefully after stepping on a landmine. He didn’t bother going on about classmates and former acquaintances, and devoted all his energy into praising other people. He praised everyone, from the professor to his fellow postgraduates, and then he began laying on the praises thick on Jiang Tian. “He’s amazing. After graduating from his major, he applied for the PhD straight away. The few of us, we were terrified when we applied at the start, scared of receiving a rejection. He wasn’t worried at all — the professor had his eyes on him a long time ago, he’s already a foot in. Usually, for all sorts of conferences, the professor would definitely include him even when there’s restrictions on the number of people that can go. And all we could do was watch, couldn’t even poison him either.”

The professor would stumble over his words whenever he spoke in Chinese, but he had no trouble listening at all. He laughed heartily like Santa Claus, saying, “Next time, I promise. Next time there’s a conference like this, I’ll definitely invite you to go with me.”
“Should’ve done this a long time ago, prof. At the very least, there would be girls thanking you if you leave him behind.
The professor laughed again.
……

Sheng Wang felt like a half-rusted nail. He was already vibrating in his seat, distubred by the magnetic opposite, but he still had to spare half of his attention towards listening to their conversation carefully.
He had never been this serious, not even in class, and yet his ears were stuck on casual chit chat, not daring to miss a single word. He picked and picked at those jokes and narrations, filtering out for all the parts relevant to Jiang Tian. He put together a tiny corner of those dawdling years. He felt pride listening to some, and a wave of bitter ache as he listened to the others.

Those were the years he missed.

This professor was a quarter Russian, and his interest in alcohol far exceeded all and any other food — especially so in cold seasons. Zhang Chao and the few others could handle their alcohol super well, and they drank drinks after drinks with the guests from afar.
Sheng Wang drank quite a bit too. Everytime he lifted his glass, Jiang Tian would look at him, all the way across the dishes on the table.

The lamp at the top of the private room was fancy and elaborate, the lights and lines intercrossed. Along with the reflection caused by the clinging of glass against glass, their eyes would occasionally get dazzled. It was within this chaotic mixture of light that the two of them sat at two ends with restraint, their gazes entangling again and again.

The moment his glass was emptied, he went to hide away on a couch in a corner of the private room.

After everyone had their heart’s content of food and drinks, they went to the bathroom one after another. The private room was suddenly quiet and much emptier, with only a couple of people left at the table, still softly chatting away.
Sheng Wang took the warm water left heated on the table and poured himself a glass. Jiang Tian returned from the bathroom, and headed straight towards him, going around the round table.

It was as though Sheng Wang had his acupuncture points pressed, his shoulders and neck were stiff as he held the glass. As he drank with his head up, he could even hear the way his bones and joints creaked.

The sofa seat softly sank — Jiang Tian sat down next to him. His hands were clasped together, he could smell the faint scent of hand soap. Sheng Wang looked aside, and saw the familiar little mole by his wrist.
Once, at their most intimate moments, he had grabbed Jiang Tian’s hand, and pressed kisses to that spot; the other person pulled him to him with the same hand, and kissed him back.

With a flicker in his eyes, Sheng Wang withdrew his gaze. The finger, holding the drinking glass, circled the rim subconsciously.
They used to sit together like that before too; when they were fine, he used Jiang Tian as his resting pillow. In stifling times, they were seated on two opposite ends. But they were rarely like this exact moment: not exactly near, not quite far either, the both of them dead quiet.

Sheng Wang actually wanted to say a lot of things; with every line that surged to the tip of his tongue, it retreated back before he could open his mouth.

Have you received the nonsensical rambles I’d sent?
Why do you never reply?
Does it still hurt when you think about before?
Is it still stuck like a thorn in your heart, or have you managed to let go?
Is there someone better around you now?
Is there someone that can still make you laugh?
Has your heart throbbed for someone else for a split second?
……

When he was seventeen-eighteen years old, he couldn’t understand why people would only say some meaningless nothings upon reuniting after a long separation. It was only at this moment then Sheng Wang understood: it wasn’t that they had nothing to say, but that they didn’t dare to ask. A journey to a field full of landmines, a wrong step and then they would be blown to smithereens……
They might as well do small talk..

He watched the plain water sloshing around in his glass. He turned to ask Jiang Tian, “Did you let Xi-ge and the rest know about you coming back?”
“There wasn’t enough time,” Jiang Tian said.
“Was it rushed?”
Jiang Tian was silent for a moment before saying, “It was a last minute decision.”

The words exchanged couldn’t be anymore dull, but Sheng Wang’s heart clenched in wave after wave; like there was an invisible hand gripping it, and then letting it go again and again.
He licked the edge of his dry lips, and was quiet for a moment. “How long will you be here?”
“Half a year.”

Sheng Wang’s thumb rubbed the walls of the glass with much force, and nodded.
He could see Jiang Tian out of the corner of his eyes, his gaze was lowered — like he was looking at his fidgeting. His thumb slipped, and he tucked it away again. Jiang Tian looked for a long time, thinking who knows what.

Sheng Wang wanted to ask: Have I changed a lot? Am I very different from the me in high school?
But before he could speak, he heard Jiang Tian ask softly, “You drank so much, do you feel okay?”

Sheng Wang blinked, and was temporarily quiet for a few seconds. “I’ve practised in secret, I’m not down after three drinks anymore.”
Jiang Tian’s eyes were on him. He stuck his hand out, waving his palm before him, “I’ve raised it to five glasses now.”

His expression for that one split second had a trace of his youthful self; of the way he opened his peacock tail, bragging. It was just an abrupt crack, and then that was hidden away again. Jiang Tian opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but someone opened the door to the private room from the outside. The sound of chit chatting and bantering poured in. Those who went to the bathroom, who went to the smoking lounge for a cigarette were all back. They took their coats from the rack, and were making final small talk.

The atmosphere on the couch was instantly ruined. The professor called Jiang Tian, speedily going on about something — probably the arrangement for tomorrow or the day after. Zhang Chao pulled in Sheng Wang, and was busy trying to arrange for cars for everyone.

He most certainly did not exceed his limit, but Sheng Wang felt incredibly intoxicated. His brain was in perfect tandem with his manic heartbeat, making him feel dizzy, like he wasn’t on solid ground. Every phone call and arrangement made were like decisions made instinctually with his body, his tongue had a will of its own, automatically saying the appropriate things.

By the time he made two trips back and forth and entered the private room once more, he found the person missing; it was just him and Zhang Chao left. At this time, on the contrary, he felt like he was terrible with words. He did not manage to convey to Jiang Tian so many things.
He suddenly remembered the period of time when he just entered Class A: once, when he went to Xi Le for food and forgot to bring money, Jiang Tian came over to redeem him with his phone. When the two went back to the classroom, the practice paper for the afternoon break had been given out for a long time. He was left with only 15 minutes, and no matter how he rushed, he still left a lot of questions untouched.
The moment the paper was whisked away from him — that’s what he was feeling right now.

Zhang Chao called a substitute driver for Sheng Wang too. The two waited for the person at the open air parking lot. He was much older than Sheng Wang, when Sheng Wang interned, it was under his hands. Eventually, they became equals. He was like a worrisome older brother quite often; he would keep an eye on Sheng Wang, trying to stop him from working himself to the bone.

He was on WeChat, adding people into his contact list one by one. He said to Sheng Wang, without even looking up, “I’ll send all of them to you after I finished adding them.”
Sheng Wang wasn’t paying attention. “I have them already.”
Zhang Chao was surprised. “You have the contacts of that many people? All of them?”
Sheng Wang then realised that he only had Jiang Tian’s. He changed his answer, saying, “I got it wrong, send it to me later, thanks.”
“Sure,” Zhang Chao nodded.

When he was done adding, Sheng Wang’s phone vibrated a few times in a row — they were all contacts recommended by Zhang Chao. He did not look through them immediately. Instead, he heard Zhang Chao suddenly ask, “You were high school classmates with that Dr. Jiang? Why do I feel like it wasn’t just that?”
His intention was to clarify if there was any conflict or issue between the two of them, but it became an entirely different meaning upon entering Sheng Wang’s ears.

The night wind was strikingly cold in this season; Sheng Wang tugged his scarf, covering his mouth and nose. He glanced at the direction of the parking lot, saying, “It wasn’t just that.”
“How would you put it?” Zhang Chao asked.
Sheng Wang mulled, saying, “Former boyfriend.”
Zhang Chao choked on a lungful of wind. “AY WHAT THE FUCK……”

TO BE CONTINUED.