Romance in the summer: Chapter 9

Zhao Yun’s lips were still buzzing from the kiss and his hands were tingling from touching Ma Chao’s body. His heart thumped furiously and his body’s temperature was high from the intense kiss just now. It felt too good to be true, Zhao Yun thought in a daze as he breathed in Ma Chao’s scent deeply. Mmmmm, he had a rich clean smell that always smelt so good. Ma Chao continued to look at Zhao Yun with a burning fire in his eyes, and then pulled Zhao Yun into a deep hug. ‘I love you,’ Ma Chao whispered breathlessly, his head buried deep inside Zhao Yun’s soft brown hair. Zhao Yun’s eyes watered when he heard those words but he struggled to maintain his composure. How many times had he hoped to hear those words from Ma Chao’s lips? And now it had happened.

‘Zhao Yun?’ Ma Chao asked tensely and pulled back slightly to gaze at Zhao Yun’s face. Still, Zhao Yun remained quiet, hardly daring to believe what was happening. He was scared that if he opened his mouth to speak, everything would fade away and he would just wake up in his bed.

‘Please speak to me,’ Ma Chao said worriedly, lifting Zhao Yun’s chin with his thumb. ‘W-what about the wedding?’ Zhao Yun finally managed to find his tongue as panic bubbled inside him. Tomorrow was the big day! People from near and far will be coming to his wedding, what should he do? Ma Chao’s hands dropped to his side as he groaned, turning his back towards Zhao Yun so that he couldn’t see his expression. ‘Ma Chao?’ Zhao Yun prompted. Ma Chao couldn’t possibly leave him alone like this after kissing him and confessing to him, right? From the glow of the moon, Zhao Yun could see Ma Chao’s fingers curled into a fist as he struggled to find the words. ‘Are you going to leave me like this?’ Zhao Yun asked, his voice cracked. He hated how weak and whiny he always sounded when he was near Ma Chao, it was as if a part of a brain inside him died.

Releasing his breath noisily, Ma Chao cracked his knuckles and spun around to face Zhao Yun. All the doubts in his eyes were gone as he stared at Zhao Yun with so much love in his eyes that Zhao Yun nearly melted into a puddle right there. ‘I-I promise I will take care of this,’ Ma Chao said, raising his fingers to push Zhao Yun’s hair from his face. ‘A-are you sure?’ Zhao Yun rasped, his heart skipped at beat at Ma Chao’s touch. ‘Just-’ Ma Chao paused for a while as if considering something, and then he lifted his head and nodded. ‘Just go with the flow tomorrow. I will appear when the time is right,’ Ma Chao promised.

Go with the flow? Zhao Yun’s heart sank when he heard that, what could Ma Chao possibly be planning? Ma Chao leaned in for a short and sweet kiss, wiping away all of Zhao Yun’s troubled thoughts as their lips touched. ‘I will see you tomorrow.’ With one last longing look, Ma Chao strode away casually, his spikes shinning under the moon light, leaving Zhao Yun stood on the bridge gaping after Ma Chao’s back.

xxxx

‘Master Zhao Yun?’ There was a knock on the door followed by a gentle voice. ‘Are you ready for the ceremony?’ Zhao Yun swallowed hard as he tried to reply as calmly as possible. ‘Just give me another minute. I will be out there soon.’ There was the sound of shifting footsteps as if the person was contemplating on what to do next. ‘Very well,’ the person said uncertainly, the sound of footsteps fading into the background. Only then Zhao Yun breathed out deeply, releasing the huge amount of stress mounted inside.

Zhao Yun walked towards the full-length mirror in his room and stared into it. He smoothed the front of his new traditional red long robe embroidered with an image of a dragon at the back. Zhao Yun’s hair was cleanly washed and combed back neatly into a ponytail. Since morning, Zhao Yun had been hiding in his room alone because he didn’t want to face anybody yet.

Butterflies fluttered nervously in his stomach as Zhao Yun wondered where in the world was Ma Chao and what had he planned? Zhao Yun had waited all night and morning for Ma Chao’s presence to appear in his doorstep and rescued him from this nightmarish wedding. Zhao Yun remained full of hope this morning, thinking that maybe Ma Chao planned to elope with him or cancelled the marriage. But nothing happened and much to Zhao Yun’s disappointment, everything proceeded smoothly.

The time was getting closer to the prosperous hour with every ticking minute, which means that Zhao Yun couldn’t possibly hide in here any longer. There was another sharp rap on the door and a timid voice spoke up. ‘Master Zhao Yun, it’s time.’ Zhao Yun’s heart skipped a beat and he felt as if he was punched in the gut. ‘Very well, I will be here soon,’ Zhao Yun swallowed a gulp before replying nervously. Ma Chao, where were you?

xxxx

The whole spacious chamber was all decked out in red, the furniture, the carpets, curtains and banners. Zhao Yun could hardly recognize the chamber when he first stepped in. Trays of delicious food and jewelries were placed in front of the Jade Emperor statue. Those are the preparations for Zhao Yun’s wedding. All around him, people chatted and laughed with one another happily, but he was oblivious to their cheerful vibes. Zhao Yun scanned the sea of people nervously for Ma Chao’s face, but he couldn’t find him. People kept on sidling up to him to offer their congratulations as they clapped his back cheerfully, Zhao Yun merely replied with a weak smile.

‘You look very handsome today, Master Zhao Yun.’ Jiang Wei suddenly sneaked up from behind and grinned at Zhao Yun. Today he was wearing a brand new green long robe with two eagles embroidered at the side. ‘Thank you,’ Zhao Yun muttered, keeping a safe distance away from Jiang Wei. He still hadn’t forgotten how Jiang Wei had approached him and teased him in front of Ma Chao. ‘Looking for Ma Chao?’ Jiang Wei asked softly, his eyes twinkling as he drank from his wine goblet gracefully.

Zhao Yun blanched at those words, he avoided Jiang Wei’s penetrating gaze as he talked back to him as casually as possible. ‘Have you seen him?’ Zhao Yun asked, trying to keep the urgency out of his voice. Please say yes, Zhao Yun added in the inside. ‘Can’t say I have.’ Jiang Wei shook his head slowly from side to side. Zhao Yun couldn’t keep the disappointment from showing in his eyes as much as he tried. ‘What happened between you guys?’ Jiang Wei asked, after seeing Zhao Yun’s crestfallen face. Zhao Yun was about to reply nothing when the sound of firecrackers exploding covered his voice.

‘The bride is here!’ Someone shouted from the outside as the sounds of beating drums and blowing horns rose in the air. Everyone paused in their action as all eyes turned towards a worried-stricken Zhao Yun who could only grimaced.


To be continue…

What a cliff hanger, wonder what would happen next. Would Zhao Yun really become a married man or would Ma Chao come to rescue him just in time? Please leave a review/comment behind and thank you for reading the story. =]