Chapter Text
Hu Tao asks him out of nowhere. "Venti what does love mean?"
Venti was surprised by Hu Tao's sudden question. "What's with the question?" he asks back. "I don't know. Maybe because you have experience?" she says. "Oh."
Well he HAD experience. Love? What is love? Although he wanted to answer 'Xiao is love', he couldn't. She won't be able to understand it anyway.
"Let's see... I guess its all your emotions in one?" he finally says but Hu Tao tilts her head in confusion. Venti just laughed. "Well according to studies, people have 9 emotions, or maybe more. But I only know 9, and those are sadness, fear, anger, disgust, surprise, contempt, guilt, shame and of course happiness." Hu Tao was silent for a while. "I don't get it," she says.
"Alright think of it like this. Did you ever feel sad when you were with Yanfei?" Venti asks her and her face immediately became as red as a tomato. "Why do you have to know?" she says, looking away. "You asked me a question and I'm just helping you understand it," Venti replies.
"Well yeah... when she doesn't give me cuddles and kisses," she finally answers. "What about fear?" Venti waits patiently for her answer. "Yeah I guess so," she answers. She didn't want to give a specific answer for that question. "Anger?"
"When she reads those thick books for me to sleep! Its just making me head ache!!" she says in a rather loud voice making the others look at them. She sits back down properly and clears her throat. "You don't really have to listen to those right?" Venti says but Hu Tao shakes her head. "Because! I want to know all about her and her likes, her dislikes, everything!! Even those painful words she keeps reading..." Venti just laughed it off. "Okay. Disgust?"
Hu Tao thinks for a while. "I don't really know about that. well she hates messy and dirty things so she often makes me clean. I think she's the one who thinks I'm disgusting because I puke everytime I drink with you and Zhongli"
A memory popped into Venti's mind. He ignored it.
"Whats next... Oh, surprise?" Hu Tao laughed. "She's always full of surprises. I think I get to learn a lot more from her everyday." Another memory pops in venti's mind. He tried his best to not let his tears drop.
"What about contempt?" Venti continued with his questions. "Oh that. I used to hate her because she annoys me a lot but I realized its what made me fall for her." Hu Tao smiled widely.
'He used to hate me too,' he thought.
"Guilt?" Hu Tao clears her throat once again. "There are a lot of things which I'm not really allowed to do but sometimes when I get angry at her for ignoring me... I'm such a kid I know! It's embarassing!!!!" she says and hides her face on the table. "Shame?" Venti continued to ask her.
So much memories are coming back to him, it was getting harder to hold it in as the time pass by.
"Yeah that too..." she says in a soft tone. "Are you happy?" Venti finally asks. Hu Tao lifts up her head. "Happy with what?"
"Are you happy with Yanfei?" She nods immediately. "Of course I am why wouldn't I be?" she says as she plays with the ring on her finger. "I guess I've answered your question," he says but Hu Tao just laughed. "Nope. I answered my own question. You just asked me a bunch of questions with my question. Thanks anyway."
Just then her phone rings. "Hey! Yes I'm on my way." She gets her jacket from the stool and gestures to venti that she was heading out. 'Ah its Yanfei.' He waves goodbye to Hu Tao as the door of the coffee shop closes.
Venti drinks the last sip from his cup and watched Hu Tao as she runs across the street and went inside a taxi.
"Off she goes," he whispers to himself.
He then walks out of the coffee shop after a few more minutes and started walking home.
"Its been hundreds of years since you left. When are you coming back?" he says and stares at the sky for a while.
Once he reached home, he immediately took out his precious box and started re reading his letters for the nth time.
His name was always the first he sees everytime he opens a letter.
As the sun goes down, he finally let out his tears.