The Crows on Your Roof

"I don't understand what you're talking about." Su Yan wanted to scoot further away but Nie Chang put an arm around his shoulders.

"Don't get angry before I've finished talking. You can still do that later."

"That's true. So you better hurry up and explain yourself!"

Nie Chang smiled and kissed his cheek. "There isn't that much to say. It's just that this would be our first time after all. I want that to be an unforgettable experience, something beautiful you'd like to remember even in ten or twenty years. After all, I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

Su Yan pursed his lips. "Don't say something like that. It sounds as if you're going to propose to me."

"Who knows? Maybe I'll do." He laughed and gave Su Yan another kiss. "Honestly, this just isn't what I imagined. You deserve so much more."

Su Yan nodded. It seemed he really didn't have any reason to get angry. Nie Chang was just thinking on his behalf. Completely appeased he snuggled up to his side and put his head on his boyfriend's shoulder. "So you've thought a lot about this?"

"Naturally. I've planned it all for years."

Su Yan looked up and found a teasing smile on Nie Chang's lips. Ah, how hateful! He was at it again! But somehow, he didn't find it as annoying as before anymore. Was this the power of love?

Come to think of it … ignoring the crows on someone's roof regardless of how loud they croaked was probably also a very romantic gesture? Or maybe that was just being blinded by love?

"By the way, you didn't answer my question before."

"Mn?" Nie Chang raised his brows. "Which question?" Didn't he just answer it? Alright, it had probably seemed as if he was just joking but it was actually the truth. He had indeed thought a lot about it. Especially in the last week when they had slowly gotten closer and closer.

"The one from WeChat! I asked what you thought was the most romantic gesture and you didn't answer. You just sent a question back!"

Nie Chang flinched. Damn. He had hoped Su Yan would have forgotten about it.

"So, what is it?" Su Yan looked at him with glimmering eyes. He was obviously very interested in what Nie Chang thought was romantic.

Nie Chang felt the pressure rise. Ugh, thinking about it now it might have been better if he had answered back then. At least, Su Yan wouldn't have been next to him and he wouldn't have had any expectations either. Now he had already pondered the question himself.

"You don't want to tell me?" Su Yan furrowed his brows. What was so bad about telling him?

Nie Chang smiled wryly. "What if you don't like my answer?"

"How could that be? Aren't you my boyfriend? I like everything about you!" Su Yan sidled even closer, a big smile on his face. He had already completely forgotten about why they were sitting like this in the first place. Ah, he felt really good right now.

"What does that have to do with each other? You might get especially angry because we're a couple now. After all, whatever it is I've done it for you, right? If you think it isn't romantic then wouldn't that be bad?"

Su Yan pondered but finally shook his head. "You're making it sound so complicated. Even if it's not romantic, at least you tried." He giggled and turned around, encircling Nie Chang's neck with his arms. "Croak, croak!"

Nie Chang was appalled. What was this? "You're wearing a sweater with a cat, not with a crow." Shit. It was really hard saying this with a neutral expression.

Su Yan didn't mind this answer. He just bent forward and kissed him. "This isn't about the sweater. It's about your crows!"

Nie Chang felt that it was harder and harder to understand what Su Yan was saying. It couldn't be that his boyfriend had been drugged again, right? "What crows?"

"The ones on your roof! Have you never heard of that? One who loves someone also loves the crow on his roof!" Su Yan looked at him as if he wanted to get praised for bringing up a proverb like that.

Nie Chang was at a loss for words though. Where had this come from so suddenly? He felt like he couldn't keep up.

Su Yan could also see that his boyfriend hadn't really understood. He gave a deep sigh as if explaining was really something that inconvenienced him deeply. "I figured it's the most romantic thing I ever did for you. I fell in love with you so much that I'm actually able to ignore the crows on your roof."

Nie Chang's brows twitched. "What crows are there on my roof?" Alright, this probably sounded a bit narcissistic but he really wasn't sure what Su Yan would see as a crow on his roof.

"Well, for example, you're permanently teasing me."

Nie Chang actually hadn't anything to retort.

Su Yan pursed his lips and played with the buttons on Nie Chang's shirt. "And you're having secrets. Like you didn't tell me about the car and you also didn't tell me that you knew how to cook. That's not okay."

"I thought we had talked that out already?" Nie Chang gulped. He somehow felt that every little thing he had done wrong in the last years might be dumped on his head now. Could it be that his whole roof was covered in black feathers?

"Well, we talked. But you didn't think I had actually forgotten, did you?"

Nie Chang gulped again. Actually … he had.

"Oh!"

"What? You remembered even more?!" Nie Chang panicked. How come after just one day of being a couple it turned out he was such a horrible boyfriend? What had happened to his years of preparation he had wanted to use to sweep Su Yan right off his feet one day?

Su Yan smiled and once again put his head on Nie Chang's shoulder in the very image of a spoiled boyfriend. "So, now that I've told you the most romantic thing I did for you, you have to answer! What do you think is the most romantic thing you've done for me?"

Nie Chang's lips twitched. He really wanted to say 'if ignoring the crows on my roof is your answer, then ignoring your quirkiness is mine' but he didn't dare to. "I guess it's indulging you?"

"Huh?"

"I mean whatever it is you say or want to do don't I always agree?"

Su Yan pondered and finally gave a satisfied smile. "You really do that!" Come to think of it that was very much in line with what he had meant when he said that the most romantic thing Nie Chang had done was caring for him. In the end, it seemed he always put his own interests second.

"Ah Chang?" Su Yan's mood suddenly seemed to have capsized, once again shocking Nie Chang.

"What is it? Don't you feel well?"

"No, that's not it. I just wondered … today … everything went wrong. Did you still like it?"

Nie Chang laughed and gave him a kiss. "If the most romantic thing you've done for me is even loving the crows on my roof, then naturally I wouldn't mind if such a little thing went wrong. After all, didn't I already say that I'm always happy as long as I'm with you? This is the first full day of us being a couple. Naturally, it's one of the best days of my life. Regardless of what goes wrong or not."

He looked down at the sweater Su Yan wore and grinned. "And I think we should take this little guy home with us."

Su Yan who had just started to smile like a flower instantly deflated and poked Nie Chang's chest with a finger. "You. Your crow is croaking again."

"So you don't want it?"

"Of course I want it."

Nie Chang chuckled and gently bit his earlobe, his voice lowering until Su Yan wasn't actually sure he had heard right. "Then let me indulge you again."