[ It's true. Had Hong Lu told him no, he did not wish to make this place a shared grave, Yi Sang would have bowed his head in deference and accepted that response. Yi Sang makes his request wholeheartedly and earnestly because he would take Hong Lu's answer seriously. It is for that exact reason why Yi Sang's eyes widen, returning to meet Hong Lu's. Why would he say no? Perhaps he did not feel this apartment was large enough, given it wasn't even the size of one of Hong Lu's closets. ]

I... cannot provide an answer as to why I considered that might be your decision. Perhaps I feared that none would desire this taxidermied form.

[ Now that he has an answer, it's Yi Sang's turn to curl his fingers more securely around Hong Lu's hand. Perhaps it didn't matter that he'd been stuffed with others' wishes and desires, that he hadn't quite relearned what it meant to hold his own wants within his own skin.

Perhaps he is not lifeless, not taxidermied at all. If desire is the prerequisite for declaring that one is truly alive, then maybe he was never a stuffed genius at all.

If one wished to bury them separately, they would have to pry Hong Lu from Yi Sang's grasp.

His smile is not particularly wide, but his eyes glow, clearly relieved to hear he's been granted permission to stay. He is far too pleased by the response to feel embarrassed by the fact that he'd ever considered that the answer might be "no." ]

Flowers -- yes, perhaps a sprig of plum blossom if we are able to locate one. And... other items as well, so that those who may discover us in the future can discern what sort of paths we walked.

[ It would be ideal, he thinks, to call this place both a grave and a home. ]