#THE WAY THIS MAN CONTINUES TO RUIN ME FOR THE REAL WORLD AKSKFJSJK WHY ARE YOU SO GODDAMN FRIGGIN UNREAL

[perhaps-in-anotherdream]

[CN] 5th Anniversary Event – Final Day (Victor)

⌚Warning⌚ This post contains detailed spoilers for content yet to be released in the global server! ♡

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[Anika’s Notes]: Since I haven’t translated the previous 4 days yet (will hopefully do later) – here are some things you need to know:

It was initially MC’s plan to arrange a vacation for them (! MC be cooking before he gets home and everything to surprise him) 🥺

But it turns out, Victor is the one who gives MC a bigger surprise by having already planned everything and organizing the trip – telling her that all she needs to do is enjoy. 🥹

And most importantly, throughout the entire vacation (i.e. all prev. 4 event days), Victor has been sneaking out EVERY MORNING – telling MC he either went for a run, or had some urgent matters to handle. 🫠🫠

And he sneaks out today too, but then PG decides to clown a bit LOL🤡

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✧ [Final Day] ✧

I browse the calendar in my hand and find that this “vacation trip” seems to be already drawing closer to the epilogue.

MC: How do vacations always go by so fast…

MC: Victor, today we…

Brrring brrring – – before I can speak, Victor’s phone rings again.

Victor: Mm, I’ve got it.

Victor: I will come by to confirm the specific time.

Accompanied by the hint of silence on the other side, Victor sets down the phone.

He then stands up. There seems to be a slight urgency in his expression.

MC: Is it something important?

Victor: Mm, I need to make a trip there myself.

Victor: But I won’t be going out of this area.

MC: Go quickly, then. I’ll be waiting for you here.

Victor: Not gonna ask more questions digging into the details this time?

MC: Because I know that you’ll definitely come back very soon.

Victor: [precious, soft laugh]  Dummy.

The voice that was still a little tense just a moment ago has now relaxed, reinstating its forever-steady state.

Victor: You won’t have to wait too long.

–

Victor: Wait for me. You won’t have to wait too long.

MC: What can I do first while waiting for Victor…

MC: …!?

MC: A text message? Who is this from?

MC: [reading the text]  “‘Numerous choices in life’ – a special event opens at the theater…”

MC: [reading the text]  “We warmly invite you to join us and experience for yourself – Loveland City Theater.”

MC: …a special event at the theater?

MC: It seems like Victor won’t be back for a while, and the Loveland City Theater isn’t very far away.

MC: Let’s go there and have a look~

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*INSERT PG’s CLOWNERY*  After MC arrives at the theater; she is shown the cruel “What-ifs” video: Here!

[Please do remember to watch the video before proceeding further]

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Fragments of everything we’ve been through in the past appear vividly before my eyes, finally cumulating into a blur of water-stream.

I gently close my eyes as they overflow with tears, feeling a little grief-stricken, but also grateful.

We went through countless possibilities of running in the opposite direction, and yet we’ve arrived at each other’s side.

I exhale softly, and suddenly a helpless voice resounds next to my ear.

Victor: Didn’t I tell you to wait for me near the hotel?

Victor: How did you end up running here within such a short time?

I turn my head and see that familiar face of Victor.

Victor’s gaze falls on my reddened eyes, seeming a little surprised. Without waiting for him to say anything, I throw myself into his arms at a blazing speed.

My hands exert slight pressure to embrace the treasure I once lost and have now found. I just want to hold this person in front of me a little tighter.

There is a pause in the breathing in my ears, and a warm hand pats my back.

Victor: What’s wrong? What did you see just now?

I try hard to calm my emotions and look up, pretending nothing has happened.

MC: …nothing much. It was just a little bit emotional.

MC: It just suddenly dawned on me that perhaps everything I’m experiencing now was made possible by the countless choices made in the past.

MC: We’ve been through so much. But fortunately, fortunately, we didn’t pass by each other.

Victor gazes thoughtfully into my eyes, his voice suddenly turning softer.

Victor: Dummy, it’s not “fortunately.”

Victor: When it comes to us, there has never been a second possibility.

Encased by the reassuring and calming warmth, the last trace of restlessness within me suddenly dissipates.

I nod and gently interlock his fingers with mine. Then, I hear his voice which is laced with a peal of laughter.

Victor: Let’s go. It’s time to go to the next site.

Victor: The destination of our journey won’t stop here.

–

The stars at night are akin to the inextinguishable city lights, hanging high in the sky.

Victor leads me through the streets adorned with clusters of trees on the sides, and we slowly walk into a flat area.

A huge lake shows forth before our eyes, its bluish-green ripples dancing slowly. The lights reflecting off the lake’s surface set off the surrounding landscape extraordinarily brightly.

MC: Is there some kind of exhibition going on here?

I point to the posters and signs hoisted up in the distance and ask, slightly puzzled.

Victor: A rose exhibition will be held here tomorrow.

MC: Eh? So why did we come here today, then?

The words haven’t yet left my mouth when I see a foreigner attired in a white suit hurriedly walking over to us.

Victor: Henry.

Henry: [he speaks in Chinese btw]  Mr. Victor, you’ve finally arrived.

The other party’s fluent accent takes me completely by surprise, and it seems that he’s been waiting for a really long time to say these words.

Victor: How’s the exhibition coming along?

Henry: Everything is going smoothly.

Henry: It’s really all thanks to the sponsor you introduced that we’ve been able to bring so many roses from the Meisen Estate.

Henry: And now, not only do we have a collection of nearly all the roses in the world here, but countless people will be able to enjoy their beauty to their heart’s content.

Henry: “For everyone can enjoy finding the rose belonging to them” – there is no place better suited than here for this theme right now.

Victor: [hurriedly cuts him off]  Henry, keep an eye on the time.

Victor’s reminder causes the excited look on Henry’s face to calm down, and he hastily waves his hand behind him.

The heavy iron gate is slowly pushed open, revealing a long aisle that spirals upward.

Henry: As a token of gratitude to you, the rose garden will be open tonight for only the two of you.

Henry makes a gesture of invitation, then he opens the entrance to the park behind him.

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“Find the rose you love the most.”

This is the first placard we see as we walk into the rose garden.

The long, inclined path is spread out with vast clusters of roses that invade the line of sight in a bossy manner, so much so that they don’t even leave one the time to think about anything else.

The fragrance of roses surging from all sides lingers around the tip of my nose, interweaving into the symphony of romantic poetry.

MC: So beautiful…

I pull Victor with me and walk up to the roses by the roadside, where a short poem is written on a small sign.

“In me the tiger sniffs the rose” – it’s from « In Me, Past, Present, Future meet » by Seigfried Sassoon.

MC: Victor, don’t you find that this sentence resembles you right now?

I quietly bring the rose in my hand to the tip of Victor’s nose.

Victor: [sulks]  You mean, I’m fierce?

MC: What I mean is, you both belong to the cat family.

MC: And when a rose and a big cat are brought together, don’t you think it’s really cute?

As I quip, the corners of Victor’s lips seem to slowly curve up into an arc.

Victor: Good excuse.

Victor: But there is another layer of meaning to this poem.

Victor: [In English]  My loves leap through the future’s fence, To dance with dream-enfranchised feet.

Victor softly reads out the first half of the poem, his steady voice seeming to penetrate the shackles of time.

Victor: Regardless of what choices were made, they’ve all already turned into the past.

Victor: The crucial point is the journey ahead. How do you want to walk that path?

Victor casts his gaze over, and his eyes look as if an endless stream of time is flowing within them.

The palm of his hand that he’s extended to me is akin to a wordless question, knocking on the door of my heart.

MC: I’ll hold your hand and walk together, of course~

I take Victor’s hand without the slightest hesitation. This is an answer that doesn’t require any thought whatsoever.

We walk into the long flower path. The surrounding seems to have been painstakingly planted with the same kind of flowers.

The short branches stretching out are adorned with clusters of bright, splendid red. It’s reminiscent of coming out of a classical oil painting.

MC: I know this one. It’s the small-leaved rose lily.

MC: “Just like it is to everyone else, it’s the most perfect rose to me.”

I quietly read the words written on the placard and indistinctly feel ripples stirring in my heart.

Victor: After seeing so many, which one do you like the most?

MC: Each and every one of them has a very charming feel…

MC: Lovely, resilient, and very precious-looking. They all have their own charm.

MC: Ahh, it’s so hard to choose… do you have a rose you like the most?

Victor: I seem to have asked you this question first?

MC: Just answer first.

I raise my head to meet Victor’s gaze, trying to find an answer in his eyes.

And he doesn’t look away. He simply gazes at me quietly as if everything else around him doesn’t even exist.

Victor: I’m looking at the one I like the most right now.

Hearing his straightforward words, the blush on my cheeks unconsciously climbs up to the tips of my ears.

Victor: And what’s your answer?

Victor’s face is now right in front of my eyes. The warmth of his breathing is very light, but it lands on me with a burning heat.

My answer is the same as his.

The words in my heart cry out as if to alleviate my heart from jumping out of my chest. I hurriedly pull Victor along and continue walking further, coming to the mouth of a canopied passageway.

The narrow, canopied passageway is a little dark. I can’t help but tighten my hold around our interlocked fingers a little more.

The road isn’t long. But for some reason, we don’t say a word on the way and just feel the warmth of each other’s palms in silence.

It’s as if we can keep walking like this endlessly as long as we are by each other’s side, even if we have no idea where the path ahead may lead.

At last, a burst of ethereal light appears at the far end of our line of sights.

MC: Is there some kind of surprise ahead?

I raise my head. Victor’s face is hazy in the faintly shimmering light, but I find it impossible to look away.

Victor: It’s still roses.

MC: Is that so?

Victor nods, and we walk forward.

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We keep on walking until the dotted starry sky gradually comes into view, and what accompanies it is the irresistible fragrance of roses.

And the moment we walk out of the canopied passageway, it’s indeed what Victor said.

MC: It’s really roses…

The vastness of red spreads wholly across the horizon, composing a rose-colored ocean beneath the endless night sky.

The intense moonlight in the sky seems to be tinged with a layer of crimson.

My entire field of vision is invaded and occupied overwhelmingly, wrapping all around me as if I were not allowed to escape.

Victor: There will be many people coming to see this exhibition.

Victor: But you’re the first person to see them.

Victor’s tender voice echoes in my ears, and I seem to realize everything he wants to say at the moment.

The experience of this trip, which initially stemmed from a sense of novelty, seems to have turned into a thread that ties together all our long-standing memories.

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[Tidbits from Anika]: MC here is referring to the entire anniversary event, where throughout this trip, they recreated together, and Victor personally designed to recreate many of the memories from their past dates in these five years.

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Although, just as before, he still doesn’t need other people to come and witness, silently pouring out everything he wants to convey.

But now, he will proclaim his answer to everyone with the grandest gesture possible.

Perhaps, it’s the style of expressing that belongs only to Victor, flowing quietly. It’s akin to calm yet eternally advancing time.

MC: I must say, it’s still very much the style of CEO Victor~

MC: So, when can we experience such a trip again?

Victor: There is no such thing as a free lunch in this world.

The words haven’t yet left his mouth when I find his generous arms pulling me into his embrace.

His steady voice stifles a soft laugh, and it reverberates in my ears.

Victor: But you are the exception.

SWOOSH––

A long-drawn crackling sound resonates in my ears out of nowhere. And soon after, gigantic blazes of lights fill the entire sky.

The rose-like crimson fireworks thoroughly light up the entire night sky. It seems as if the whole world exists only in that one color.

Delicate rose petals stream down from the air, like a rain of roses.

Victor: The timing is just right.

MC: Wow, is this a part of the exhibition too?

I look up following the rose petals drizzling from the air, and my eyes have already been dyed as pink as they could be.

Victor: This is a surprise prepared for you.

The fireworks blooming in the sky halo the dazzling glow in Victor’s eyes with overlapping haze. When the word “surprise” leaves his mouth, the memories during this period also come flooding into my heart.

I think about him waking up early every morning and pretending to go for a run, the abrupt phone calls, and the slightly anxious urging he gave Henry when we walked in here — all of these point to a common answer.

MC: So, when you used to go out early in the morning, that was to actually arrange this?

Victor: Not too slow on the uptake this time.

The flowers falling arbitrarily from the sky seem to have created a silent world.

And the final piece to fill this world – is his soft kiss.

The gentle yet powerful sensation of stimulation spreads from my lips to the tip of my tongue, and it seems that if the next second goes by, I will never be able to wake up from this again.

Victor: MC, happy fifth anniversary.

His surging breath engulfs me intensely, as if to not allow me the slightest opportunity to catch my breath.

The gorgeous fireworks continue to unfold their dazzling light in the night sky.

I reach out and brush aside the tips of his hair falling on his forehead and happen to pick a tiny rose petal while doing so.

I point to the continuously blooming fireworks in the night sky, as I’m reminded of the sky awash in the glow of the sunset I saw from the windowsill with him that day.

The Rose Festival, which was interrupted because of an accident, now seems to have drawn to a perfect end.

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[Tidbits]: MC is referring to their “Rose All Day” date in EN~

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MC: I remember that you said back then, “the most beautiful rose” is not just the rose itself.

MC: CEO Victor, is this a continuation of the message you conveyed that day?

At the end of this unique holiday experience, he’s brought this rose-colored world for me.

Victor: That was then. But that’s not what it means now.

MC: Is there any difference?

The last cluster of fireworks soars into the sky, sending out a blazing sound in the long-standing silence.

He lowers his head and looks at me, his eyes reflecting infinite rays of resplendent lights.

Victor: The most beautiful rose has been by my side all along.

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