Captured By The Cold Detective (BL)-Chapter 418: Just The Two Of Us
As it turned out, the birthday celebration in He Juan’s agenda was mainly to go on a shopping spree to switch out Mu Yuze’s entire wardrobe.
This was the first time Mu Yuze had ever seen He Juan shop and he could only stand and watch, dumbfounded, as the man picked out half of the clothes in the store without even looking at the pricetag. A line of staff was trailing behind him, beaming from ear to ear, as they readily fetched the clothes he pointed from the rack.
It was literally a scene straight out of a soap opera Mu Yuze had once watched in the afternoon.
"Why are you standing there so quietly?" He Juan asked in slight amusement, bringing him out of his reverie. "Do you see something you like? Oh, please give me this one too, still with the same size." The last sentence was directed toward the staff, who replied with, ’yes, sir!’ before taking the denim jacket and adding it to the cart.
"J–Juan gege..." Mu Yuze was getting dizzy just by looking at the small hill of clothes inside the cart. He sidled up to He Juan and asked feebly, "Don’t you think it’s too much?"
He Juan gave him a pointed look that meant that his protest would not be heeded, "I haven’t taken your rapid growth into account. Soon, you will not be able to wear most of your clothes anymore. And you still say that it’s too much?" Not giving the boy a chance to respond, he grabbed a dark blue colored tee from the rack beside him and placed it in front of Mu Yuze’s body. A look of satisfaction surfaced in his silver eyes, "Hmm, this suits you so well. Go and change into this, and don’t forget the cotton shorts!"
Dazed, Mu Yuze could only follow the staff’s lead and enter the dressing room. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺
When he came out clad in brand new clothes, He Juan was sitting on the leather couch while flipping through a magazine with his long leg crossed one on top of the other, while the staff were busy ringing up all of the clothes behind the counter.
Sensing his presence, He Juan raised his head and Mu Yuze felt his heart skipping a beat at the way those silver eyes lit up at the mere sight of him. "Look at you..." He Juan tossed the magazine aside, rose to his feet and walked over to him, scanning him from head to toe with a look of utter delight. "Tsk, now you’re making me reluctant to bring you out. What if someone sees how dashing our Xiao Ze is and decides to kidnap him?"
Mu Yuze ducked his head and felt his ears warm up in response, though he tried his best to put on a poker face. "... Ridiculous," he commented in a soft murmur.
Who would want him but He Juan? All his life, he had been scorned for his scrawny and bruised appearance, and it was only He Juan alone who had no qualms to shower him with genuine praises despite how unsightly he looked.
He Juan let out a deep and smooth laughter, then he reached out to pinch Mu Yuze’s crimson earlobe in teasing. "Let’s go and get some food, shall we? Aren’t you hungry?"
Now that he said it, Mu Yuze belatedly realized how all of this walking and shopping drained his energy even faster than a sparring session with Song Yin. It was a wonder how He Juan could maintain his spirit until now and still looked energetic as if he could go on for a few hours more.
Alas, just the mere notion of it was enough to give Mu Yuze chills and he quickly nodded in response to He Juan’s query if it meant he could escape faster from this place.
"Good," He Juan smiled and ruffled his hair. "Let’s go."
Next, He Juan took him into an elegant French restaurant, where Mu Yuze tried eating escargots and ratatouille for the first time. He was not a picky eater to begin with, but He Juan seemed strangely fixated on letting him try the dishes he had never even heard of before.
"For your next birthday," He Juan suggested as he took a languid sip of red wine, and again Mu Yuze found his gaze drawn toward those beautiful lips puckered on the rim of the glass. He hurriedly whipped his head down once he realized what he was doing, his heart beating so fast as if he was caught committing a heinous crime. ’W–What the hell? You have never been like this before, Mu Yuze! Snap out of it!’
"How about a trip out of the country? You have not traveled around before, have you, Xiao Ze? Paris, Venezuela, Switzerland... there are so many breathtaking places in the world you have to see. If you prefer someplace closer, Singapore or Japan are also okay."
It took Mu Yuze two seconds to fully digest what He Juan had told him, and only then was his attention diverted from the alluring sight of He Juan’s wine-stained lips. "Out of the country?" he furrowed his brows. "I don’t know..."
The life he was living now, free from constant worry of hunger and dread of cold, had already surpassed even his wildest dreams. Sometimes, he would wake up in the morning and marvel on how amazing his fate had turned out to be. He still needed a reality check once in a while, and traveling out of the country had not even crossed his mind even once.
Sensing the boy’s confusion, He Juan made a decision right then and there, "Okay! We will go on a short vacation later. Let me prepare your passport first. Hmm? Singapore sounds good for a start. Winter there is very warm compared to China. You will definitely enjoy it."
Mu Yuze grabbed his lime juice and took a small sip for his throat had turned dry all of a sudden. "Just... the two of us?" he asked gingerly.
"Of course," He Juan replied in a matter-of-fact tone. "Or do you want to invite other people? Your friend, Zhong Yun perhaps? I am not sure if Marius and his brother will be available at that time..."
"No, no, it’s okay," Mu Yuze hastily rejected that idea. Despite his easy-going personality, Zhong Yun could be keen at unexpected times. Who knew if he would be able to sniff out Mu Yuze’s hidden feelings? Moreover, it was his first vacation ever, with He Juan to boot! He would be damned if he allowed anyone to go with them! "There’s no need to invite anyone else. Only the two of us... is already enough..." his voice eventually trailed into a soft murmur, and his ears warmed up at the notion of the two of them being all alone in a foreign country. D–Did it mean they had to stay in the same hotel room and—
’No, don’t let your mind go down the gutter, Mu Yuze! Juan-gege is kind enough to bring you to places, so don’t you dare ruin it with your filthy fantasies!’
Alas, once the fantasy took root in his mind, he found himself powerless to dispel it, and it lingered in his mind akin to sticky and melted cotton candy until they concluded their outing and made their way to the dojo.
