Assistant Architect

Assistant Architect by Xi He Qing Ling

Chapter 158: Heart Lock

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At the moment of being released, ZhangSiyi felt the loss. As much as he wanted to remain in Gu Yu arms, he knew they couldn'tshow such intimate embraces in public.

Zhang Siyi believed that Gu Yu also feltthe same loss as he did. Emblazoned on their hearts, the feelings transmittedbetween them for five sweet seconds were precious.

As they moved around the observationdesk, they came upon a stall that was selling heart padlocks! If requested, thesalesperson could engrave both names on it so they could hang it together akilometer above ground in the sky. Even though it was just a gimmick to makemore money, how could a couple pass up the opportunity to express their lovefor one another?

Gu Yu asked Zhang Siyi: "Should we buyone?"

Zhang Siyi: “……” Really?Gu Yu still believed in this kind of thing?

Even though Zhang Siyi wanted to buyone, he didn't have the courage to speak up. Also, if his colleagues found out….

It’s a shame. Zhang Siyi casuallyfound an excuse: “A thousand Yen is too expensive. Forget it."

Suddenly, Zhang Siyi was being pushedfrom behind towards the direction of the stall. Certainly, for Gu Yu if 'expensive'was the only reason, it was no reason at all.

“Hey…” Zhang Siyi blushedand looked around alarmed. Quickly, he walked up to the stall and bought a lockwith Gu Yu by his side.

A very gentle women was selling locksat the stall. Watching them smiling brightly, she spoke while handing them alock. Unfortunately, neither of them could understand Japanese so they didn'tknow what she said. Perhaps, it was a blessing….? She gestured to a book whereit was obvious the people buying the lock wrote their names. Gu Yu wrote down anacronym: GX.ZSY-6.20.2015

Afterwards, the two walked to the sideof the guardrail and snapped the lock together onto the chain links. At themoment they heard the locking mechanism 'click' into place, not only did theyphysically lock the padlock, but their hearts were locked together forever aswell.

When they turned around, Gu Yu andZhang Siyi froze. Not far away, Tao Fei and Lu Qiao were standing staringintently in their direction.

It took only a moment hesitation untilGu Yu walked up and greeted them calmly. Zhang Siyi wasn't a very good actor.He started to sweat and panic. It doesn't matter if Tao Fei watched, but whatabout Lu Qiao? What would he think?

Tao Fei smirked and said jokingly:“Oh, you two are being so romantic. You bought a lock?"

Until he heard Tao Fei, Lu Qiao waswondering what the heck were those locks for. He felt very strange…… For thefirst time, he began to wonder if Gu Yu and Zhang Siyi were real lovers. Ifthey weren't, was it necessary to buy a love lock as part of the game?

However, Gu Yu's performance was so smooth.He calmly and indifferently asked: "Would you like to buy one too?"

Tao Fei laughed: “With me? Get inline!”

If Lu Qiao was asked, he would say 'fuckoff'. Isn't that the normal response? But Tao Fei also joked, leaving Lu Qiaofeeling confused. Is he the only one that thought it was strange for Gu Yu andZhang Siyi to buy a love lock?

Truthfully, it wasn't just him. WhenZhang Siyi and Lu Qiao went to the bathroom, Tao Fei yelled at Gu Yu: “Youare being too obvious!"

Gu Yu looked away. He also feltperhaps it was too much, but he couldn't help it. His actions were completelydominated by his emotions. "I know, I'll pay more attention." Even saying thus,he wasn't at all expressing concern and instead, he had a dazed look and broadsmile on his face. Not for a moment did he regret buying the lock with Zhang Siyi.

Tao Fei glared at him: “Get ittogether! The stench of love is too strong!"

Gu Yu: “……”

After spending an hour and a half visitingthe Umeda Sky building, they were feeling a little reluctant to descend to theground. The end of the day's trip was spent eating ramen at a restaurant thatGu Yu took them too.

Combined with the need to wake upearly in the morning to get to the airport and walking around touring in theafternoon, they were completely exhausted upon returning to the hotel. In particular,Lu Qiao was both physically exhausted and mentally exhausted.

At home in Haicheng, Lu Qiao thoughthis lifestyle was very stable. He was satisfied with his home and had enoughpocket money to enjoy a few things he wanted. Now that he was with hiscolleagues, reality hit him in the face at full force. Any excitement he feltin the beginning of the trip vanished and what remained was confusion andsorrow.

When Zhang Siyi returned from hisshower, he saw Lu Qiao awake on the bed unmoving. He asked: "Aren’t you goingto take a shower?”

Lu Qiao looked at his phone and lazilysaid: "In a little bit."

While drying off his hair, Zhang Siyi tookout his sketch book from his bag to sum up the day's events. After a few weeks, he developed the habit ofwriting and sketching every day. Now, if he does not write a few thoughts down,he felt like his day wasn't complete.

Compared to when he first started, hissketching ability has greatly improved. Even Gu Yu praised him a few days ago fordrawing more professionally. As a result, Zhang Siyi gained a sense ofaccomplishment that gave him the confidence he needed to persist in his task andtake notes in his sketchbook every day.

Lost in thought, Zhang Siyi was diligentlywriting his notes that included the details of the airport in Kanai, the sizeof the seats in the Japanese subway as well as the main design points and featuresof the Umeda Sky Building.

Lu Qiao felt bored and checkedthe WeChat group that Zhang Siyi had set up for the office staff long ago. Hesuddenly spoke up and asked: "Four, why don't you chat in the group anymore?"

“Ah?” Zhang Siyi closed thenotebook and turned around to face him.

Lu Qiao: “In the WeChat group thatyou created….. Everyone is chatting in it."

Zhang Siyi smiled and said: “Iforgot about it. I've been too busy recently.”

In truth, it's not so much that he isbusy, but having Gu Yu by his side has subtly influenced his habits. At whatpoint did he start thinking that chatting in WeChat was a waste of his time?

Now, Zhang Siyi felt that it wasbetter to use his time more productively such as reading or writing in hissketchbook. He felt like his life was becoming more enriched as compared to hisstate of being before meeting Gu Yu and as a result, he didn't feel the need tolook at his social media pages all the time anymore.

Ironically, Zhang Siyi mobile phone sounded.There was a text message from Gu Yu: "Come over."

Zhang Siyi: “What are you doing?Its half passed eleven and you haven’t slept yet?

Gu Yu: “Just come.”

Speechless, Zhang Siyi put thesketchbook under his pillow then informed Lu Qiao: "Boss requested me. I'mgoing to his room for few minutes. Then I'll come back."

Lu Qiao: “Oh."

Watching Zhang Siyi leave the room, LuQiao withdrew his eyesight. He meant to returned his attention to his phone butinstead, he noticed the sketchbook under Zhang Siyi's pillow.

….. Why was ithidden? Isn't it just a sketchbook? Is there something to be ashamed of?

Throughout the day Lu Qiao’s noticed avariety peculiar actions between Zhang Siyi and Gu Yu like the same fragrance on their cloths, thecloseness they displayed on the airplane, and the incident with the lock. Allof these occurrences left questions in Lu Qiao mind which served to increasehis desire to find answers. With his curiosity piqued, he climbed out of his bedand peeked at Zhang Siyi sketchbook.

Opening the book, he glanced at fewpages from the beginning of the book and saw a few sketches of various dimensionsand didn't think too much of it. Clearly, these are drawings from an architect.Since his drawings weren't very good, perhaps Zhang Siyi was embarrassed aboutthem and felt like he had to hide his sketchbook?

Looking at the poor quality of thedrawings, Lu Qiao felt better. He was about to close the book and put it backwhen he saw a different style of drawing on the follow page. It was a very professionaldrawing of a log cabin in perspective with extensive notes beside it. Herecognized the handwriting right away. It was his Boss's. Strange, why did GuYu draw in Zhang Siyi's sketch book?

As Lu Qiao continued to turn the pages,his expression grew darker and darker. The rate at which Zhang Siyi drawing improvedwas too fast. The drawings at the beginning were like a child's, but furtheralong in the book, they were quickly getting better and better. In addition tothe sketch, Zhang Siyi wrote many notes about the architectural details relatedto the image.

Looking through the book, Lu Qiao witnessedthe growth of a person first hand. If at the start, he felt a little disdainfor Zhang Siyi, now he broke out in a cold sweat.

Although they are colleagues, they arealso competitors. Knowing how quickly Zhang Siyi caught up to him, Lu Qiao feltan enormous pressure. With a heavy heart, Lu Qiao turned to the last page; a sketchof a lock leaped into view. A beautiful line of English text wrapped around theedge: "Lock our love forever."

As if he was caught at discovering a terriblesecret, he frantically closed the book and put it back under Zhang Siyi's pillowand quickly went back to his own bed to lie down.

………

Zhang Siyi knocked on the door of Gu Yuand Tao Fei's room: "What is it?"

Tao Fei was lying in bed with his fullattention to his iPad. Hearing the burst of music, Zhang Siyi knew he wasplaying a game and stated: "Playing the Era of Music, huh?"

Just as Tao Fei finished the round, heregretfully called: "Damn it! I missed five!”

Noticing Zhang Siyi's presence hesmiled: "Brother said you are very good at this game."

As if he presented his own trophy, Gu Yueagerly pushed Zhang Siyi forward: “Quick, play a game and let him seeyour score.”

Zhang Siyi: “……” Dang! GuYu called him over in the middle of the night for this?

Zhang Siyi reached out to take theiPad from Tao Fei and realized Tao Fei had been playing the game on Gu Yu'siPad. –Gu Yu installed the game on his own iPad??

Not really understanding what wasexpected, he glanced over at Gu Yu questioningly. Zhang Siyi saw Gu Yu looking athim intently with all seriousness. Zhang Siyi sat down then took a deep breathto calm his nerves. Ho-ho-ho….. he couldn't embarrass himself in front of Gu Yu!

He flexed his fingers then selected a song he hadn't played before…….

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