During weekends, even if it was not part of their agreement, the Chen couple still saw each other. They used the weekends to visit the home appliance shops and interior design shops in the hope of finding the best piece of furniture in their still-barren dream home.
Upon learning the living conditions of her husband one weekend when she came over, she clicked her tongue in dismay. "Tsk."
One Sat.u.r.day morning when she surprised her husband and visited him in their dream home, she got dismally surprised herself.
Seeing the pitiable state of the husband without her, she promised herself to set things right.
Carefully, without waking up the sleeping Chen Linyun, she snuck in between his arms and found the familiar warmth and scent of his body. She welcomed herself in his safe embrace.
As usual she took in his scent while rubbing her nose amorously. 'I missed this terribly.'
Upon reflex, Chen Linyun tightened his hold around the lady. He was still asleep.
"Ughmm… Jinxu…" He murmured in his sleep while ending it with a slight brush of his lips on her crown.
'I have to make it up to him.' The lady vowed internally, feeling extremely bad at the situation she had set her eyes on that morning.
From then on, she was hands-on in fixing and arranging their home until it met her own standard of satisfaction.
And so, in the end they were seeing each other almost five times a week, and even everyday.
During their dates, they were trying something new, like going to a different restaurant to eat out for food trip, or go visit a new park, or play in the arcade like highschoolers. At times they go nightclubbing and barhopping together, dressed up to the newest trend, and playing as if they were strangers and the other was. .h.i.tting on the other, flirting. They were quite experimental and playful, although still maintaining such a safe distance physically.
At seven in the morning every single day, they met and started their day right with yoga. They both enrolled in a yoga cla.s.s where they can both test and improve their patience, inner peace and self-healing. Of course, on the sides, their flexibility also improved tremendously.
They would go there separately as they've agreed to just meet at the venue, since they were still living separately, yet they were enjoying this setup immensely. It gave them enough s.p.a.ce to breathe and move freely without losing connection. In other words, they were developing such healthy independence and less reliance on each other. They were becoming whole again, individually yet together.
More often than not, it was such a test of endurance and self-control for Chen Linyun. Just a few seconds' worth of stare at his profusely sweating, extremely s.e.xy wife from after their morning yoga session was enough to make his sleeping libido roll like crazy. Yet, every single time, he was quite successful in taming himself by taking deep deep breaths while keeping his eyes closed for quite some stint, and a number of times, an inevitable trip to the shower room for a cold splash.
At certain times when they preferred the peace and quiet, they stayed at a coffee shop just enjoying each other's company until one or two in the morning, just chatting and joking around. They never seemed to lack in topic. And even if they saw each other almost every day, they could not get enough of one another. Of course, every time, Chen Linyun would send the lady home safely to her cozy apartment.
It's as if they were starting over again, and they were both enjoying it, and making the most out of it. Because their journey was rather drastic, this was a welcome slower pace in their rather rollercoaster-like lives.
Both were enthusiastic to try and exhaust every date ideas. Both were taking it one step at a time every single day. Surprisingly, to them, it wasn't dragging or boring. They were having lots of fun. It was also such an eye-opener to be able to find out that life and this world in general had so much to offer, which would otherwise be unavailable to them both if they had kept on moping around and sulking in their separate abodes.
During this period, Xue Jinxu was getting more and more comfortable with Chen Linyun. Although not as close physically as before, they were quite contented as to where their relations.h.i.+p was at the moment. They were actually not in a hurry, and contrary to their state physically, well, spiritually, they were quite almost inseparable already – almost as one. Their souls were quite connected by this invisible red thread of fate which was made stronger by their little episodes or drills of getting to know each other more or making memories, which was, in layman's terms, called dates.
Chen Linyun, as usual was quite understanding. And at this epoch in their lives, he was, in a sense, also relis.h.i.+ng each moment of it, even too much that he was forgetting all the pain that he had been feeling just a few months back. It seemed as if all the pain had subsided and had been replaced by a deeper sense of repose.
Perhaps soon enough he would even have forgotten the pain that they experienced in losing their first child. That was wishful thinking. Of course, even at this wonderful attempt at getting back to their own two feet, strongly, at the back of their minds was the memory of their dearest first baby.
But then, as the lady put it during their walk in the park a few days back, every experience, no matter how harrowing, was quite a welcome part of their journey together, which should not be forgotten – even, and moreso, the memory of their dearest first child.
With this realization, they were becoming more mature people – almost leaps away from the youngsters both impulsive and aggressive who simply one day, decided to visit the civil registry to get married in secret.
They were becoming the responsible adults who understand the repercussions of their actions now, more than ever, no matter how well or bad the intention behind is.