“Ah? Th-this...” Xiao Chen was stunned on the spot. But her shocked expression lasted only two seconds before it turned into delighted excitement. “So that’s why President Gu never had a girlfriend! Oh my gosh, you two look so good together. You’re both ridiculously handsome!”

Her eyes sparkled brighter and brighter as she spoke. Her hands curled excitedly in front of her chest as if she was only a step away from applauding.

Leaning close to the person beside him, Fu Yan whispered,

“Coming out isn’t as difficult as you imagined.”

Gu Zhan nodded, but his expression was far from as relaxed as Fu Yan had expected. He seemed momentarily dazed. Quickly composing himself, he pressed a finger to his lips in a gesture for silence and said gently to Xiao Chen,

“No one else knows about this yet. Could you keep it a secret for us for now?”

Oh no. Oh no.

Xiao Chen had only ever seen the serious, unsmiling President Gu at work. She had no idea he could be this gentle when he was in love.

Ahhhh!

Suppressing the scream of excitement inside her, she nodded solemnly and mimed zipping her lips shut, as though she had just received an extremely important mission from upper management. Completely captivated by her boss, she became even more disoriented and once again failed to find her seat.

Only after Fu Yan kindly pointed her in the right direction did she finally make it there.

Fu Yan sat down beside Gu Zhan with a smile.

“I’ve realized President Gu is pretty good at charming people too. That little girl was completely dazzled by you.”

Gu Zhan forced a faint smile in response but said nothing.

Fu Yan noticed it immediately.

Ever since they had come out to Xiao Chen, Gu Zhan’s expression had seemed unnatural, as though he were forcing himself to stay calm.

The stadium was filling up. The match would begin in five minutes, and the noisy crowd was hardly the place for a serious conversation.

Gu Zhan’s hand resting on his knee unconsciously clenched into a fist.

Seeing this, Fu Yan gently covered it with his own and squeezed reassuringly.

“It’s about to start. Let’s watch the game first.”

━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━

The green field stretched out fresh and vibrant beneath brilliant floodlights.

Bodies sprinted across the pitch, sweat flying.

With every impressive play and every passionate cheer, the atmosphere in the stadium climbed higher and higher.

Gu Zhan gradually forgot the awkwardness from earlier.

His attention and emotions became completely absorbed in the thrilling match.

“Over there! Over there!”

“Ooooh!”

“Nice! Nice!”

“Great shot! Great shot!”

The entire stadium echoed with excited shouting.

Several giant LED screens hung above the field. The main screen broadcast the match live, while side cameras occasionally focused on coaches, referees, and spectators.

Some die-hard fans seemed immune to the cold, wearing nothing but team jerseys while jumping and waving wildly in their seats. Others rushed down to the front barriers during critical moments, leaning over them to wave flags and shout encouragement.

One of the teams playing tonight had been Fu Yan’s favorite for years.

He cheered enthusiastically throughout the match.

The first half ended in a tie. The second half remained neck-and-neck.

Every spectator sat on edge.

A sharp whistle sounded.

The opposing team scored.

The score was tied again.

Only three minutes remained.

The previously roaring stadium seemed to fall silent in an instant.

Everyone held their breath, waiting for the decisive goal.

“Beautiful!”

At the critical moment—

Goal.

Another goal.

Fu Yan nearly jumped out of his seat.

Grabbing his hand, Gu Zhan laughed excitedly.

“They won! They won!”

The stadium exploded into chaos.

Some spectators ran around sharing the news. Some celebrated wildly. Others hugged their companions with tears of joy.

Fu Yan pulled Gu Zhan into a tight embrace and patted his shoulder.

“That last goal was incredible!”

“Yeah. I thought it was going to end in another draw. Hahaha—”

Gu Zhan was laughing heartily when something warm suddenly pressed against his lips.

Fu Yan had kissed him.

The movement was so sudden their teeth even knocked together.

The corners of Gu Zhan’s mouth curved upward.

He kissed back tenderly.

Their lips and tongues met, sharing the joy and excitement of the moment.

Then—

A dazzling beam of light swept over them.

As bright as midday sunlight.

Impossible to escape.

Instantly, Gu Zhan realized what had happened.

He shoved Fu Yan away.

Staring at him in alarm.

Fu Yan fell back against the seat and exhaled heavily, momentarily dazed.

The light that had just passed over them belonged to the stadium’s camera spotlight.

Which meant—

Their kiss had almost certainly been displayed on the giant LED screens.

Many Slungshot employees had tickets to tonight’s game.

Simply attending the match together wouldn’t have been a problem. After all, not everyone was as observant as Xiao Chen and able to recognize Gu Zhan’s shirt on Fu Yan.

But now...

Their spontaneous kiss had been broadcast in public.

Even if it had only appeared for a few seconds, Gu Zhan worried someone sharp-eyed might recognize them.

“Let’s go.”

Pulling down the brim of his cap, he tossed those words to Fu Yan and hurried through the crowd.

━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━

Inside the car, Gu Zhan leaned back in silence.

Fu Yan looked at him, opened his mouth to speak, then ultimately chose to start the engine without saying anything.

On the drive home, Gu Zhan spoke noticeably less.

Several times Fu Yan tried to start a conversation—about the match, about the highlights—but Gu Zhan seemed distracted.

Nothing like the lively man from earlier.

His thoughts kept returning to what had happened at the stadium.

Coming out to Xiao Chen.

Being caught kissing Fu Yan on camera.

Neither event had been part of his plan.

He knew that if he intended to seriously date Fu Yan, coming out was inevitable.

But he wasn’t ready.

What would his business associates think if they found out?

What would his employees think?

Would it negatively affect Slungshot, a company still in a period of rapid growth?

The company had only gone public on NASDAQ the previous year.

His next goal was the New York Stock Exchange.

After that, the upper ranks of the Fortune Global 500.

Achieving those ambitions required not only effort, but careful planning and precise judgment.

He couldn’t accept the possibility of one impulsive emotional decision disrupting years of hard work.

And then there was his mother.

If more and more people learned about his sexuality, eventually the news would reach her.

How could he explain it to a woman who had always hoped he would marry and start a family?

Gu Zhan was accustomed to thoroughly evaluating every move before acting.

Having his sexuality exposed so suddenly left him feeling out of control.

And he hated that feeling.

At the same time, tonight had stirred complicated feelings toward Fu Yan.

Part of him instinctively blamed him.

Fu Yan had come out to Xiao Chen without discussing it first.

But from another perspective...

For someone like Fu Yan, who had never cared about public opinion, coming out was as natural as drinking water.

He had already introduced Gu Zhan to his parents.

Meanwhile, Gu Zhan was the one constantly hiding and avoiding things.

Perhaps he had never given Fu Yan enough sincerity or enough security.

And that realization filled him with guilt.

When he had pushed Fu Yan away after the kiss, he had caught a fleeting look of disappointment in his eyes.

He loved Fu Yan.

So why was he hurting him?

Even now, sitting alone with him in the car, Gu Zhan had pretended to be tired and closed his eyes.

He was avoiding the conversation.

Avoiding the subject of coming out.

Because he still didn’t know what answer he could give.

The longer they spent together, the more he realized something:

Outside the bedroom, they weren’t nearly as compatible as they were inside it.

In bed, they fit together perfectly.

In life, there were frictions everywhere.

━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━

Beep.

Fu Yan entered the code and unlocked the door.

Looking at the unusually quiet Gu Zhan, he finally decided to speak.

“About tonight—”

Before he could finish, Gu Zhan silenced him with a kiss.

They hadn’t even turned on the lights.

In the darkness, Gu Zhan pressed a hand against his chest and another behind his head, pinning him against the wall.

His hot tongue slipped past Fu Yan’s teeth with practiced ease.

He sucked gently on Fu Yan’s soft lower lip while his tongue stirred skillfully inside his mouth.

Leaving no room for anything else.

Fu Yan could only respond in kind.

Gu Zhan didn’t yet know how to give Fu Yan the answer he wanted.

So instead—

He would give him satisfying sex.

Because that was where they understood each other best.

He hoped their physical intimacy could ease some of Fu Yan’s hurt.

Even if only a little.

And he hoped that closeness would give him courage.

Courage to commit to his choice.

Courage to face whatever came next.

The heat was already on inside the apartment.

After only a few minutes of kissing, both of them felt warm.

Still embracing, they stumbled deeper into the apartment while tugging at each other’s coats.

Fu Yan’s shirt buttons had all come undone, exposing his broad chest.

Firm and elastic beneath the touch.

Especially tempting in the darkness.

Gu Zhan gave his chest a light push.

Fu Yan sank onto the sofa.

Straddling his lap, Gu Zhan wrapped his arms around his neck and kissed him passionately.

His tongue occasionally flicked over Fu Yan’s prominent Adam’s apple before moving lower and lower...

“W-wait...”

Fu Yan grabbed his waist.

Reaching over, he switched on the lamp beside the sofa.

“Gu Zhan. Let’s talk.”

The sudden light made Gu Zhan squint and raise a hand to shield his eyes.

Fu Yan dimmed the lamp.

“Did coming out to Xiao Chen today put pressure on you?”

For a long moment, Gu Zhan simply stared at him.

Not because he didn’t know the answer.

But because his boyfriend was just... too good.

Whether because of personality or experience, Fu Yan handled relationships far more effortlessly than he did.

And Gu Zhan knew he could sometimes be too sharp, too focused on himself to notice the other person’s feelings.

Just like now.

This was clearly his problem.

Yet Fu Yan was looking for fault in himself.

Any lingering resentment Gu Zhan had felt vanished instantly.

Only guilt remained.

He reached up and brushed back the hair on Fu Yan’s forehead.

“No. It’s not your fault.”

He smiled faintly.

“I’m just... overly cautious sometimes. I worry too much.”

Fu Yan shook his head.

“You’re worried more people finding out will affect Slungshot. And you’re worried about your mom.”

His gaze softened.

“You seem strong on the outside, but your heart’s actually very soft.”

“My mother is definitely the biggest reason,” Gu Zhan admitted.

“And work matters too.”

“You might not fully understand.”

“People chase after Fu Corporation’s business.”

“Fu Corporation rarely has to ask favors from others.”

“My situation is different.”

“I can’t risk Slungshot because of personal issues.”

He paused.

“I remember when I first started a business in college.”

“I ran an online clothing store.”

“After six months, business was doing well.”

“Several factories trusted us enough to give us direct agency rights for new products.”

“One day, we went to a warehouse to photograph a new clothing line.”

“The model was a younger student from my university—a tall athlete who often worked part-time for us.”

“At the time, I genuinely knew nothing.”

“I didn’t know he was gay. And I didn’t realize that after working together several times, he had... developed feelings for me.”

“During lunch break, while no one was paying attention, he secretly kissed me.”

“Whoa.”

Fu Yan couldn’t help interrupting.

“Wasn’t Senior Gu still completely oblivious back then?”

“Don’t interrupt.”

Gu Zhan smacked the top of his head and laughed.

“I really was oblivious at the time. The experience dealt quite a blow to the fragile heart of a ‘straight man.’”

Clearing his throat, he continued.

“The important part is that the warehouse had surveillance cameras. The factory owner saw everything. He was in his forties and had traveled widely, so you’d think he’d be open-minded.Instead, once he realized we were gay, he assumed we had diseases.”

“He said a lot of disgusting things and kicked us out.”

Fu Yan moved as if to speak.

Gu Zhan reacted immediately and covered his mouth.

“I know exactly what you’re about to say. That happened ten years ago. Society has progressed. People are more accepting now. And you’re right. But think about it. Many of the businesspeople I deal with are still from the older generation.”

“Take your father, for example. If not for you, would he have accepted gay people so easily?”

“Mmph—”

Fu Yan made a muffled protest beneath Gu Zhan’s hand.

Clearly trying to speak.

“Fu Yan, just give me a little time—”

Before he could finish, something warm and wet slid across his palm.

Startled, he loosened his grip.

“Can I... talk now?”

Fu Yan asked triumphantly.

Gu Zhan removed his hand.

Fu Yan immediately seized the opportunity.

“So, Senior Gu...”

A grin spread across his face.

“Was that your first kiss?”

“???”