Gu Zhan walked over to the table with an annoyed expression and nudged Fu Yan, who was slumped over it.

“Get up. Go upstairs and rest.”

Fu Yan didn’t move at all, looking as though he had truly passed out drunk.

The inn’s young owner had already finished clearing the table and gone to the kitchen to wash dishes, so there was no one available to help. Gu Zhan had no choice but to lift one of Fu Yan’s arms over his shoulder and haul him up. Fortunately, although Fu Yan was drunk, he was cooperative enough. As soon as Gu Zhan raised his arm, Fu Yan naturally leaned against him, one arm wrapping around his waist as if afraid of falling.

After only a couple of steps, Fu Yan suddenly turned his head and muttered toward the table:

“My... phone...”

Gu Zhan looked back. Sure enough, Fu Yan’s phone was still lying on the corner of the table.

“Damn it. Are you pretending to be drunk?”

He shook him irritably, but Fu Yan simply sagged against him with his eyes shut.

After slapping his cheek a couple of times without getting a response, Gu Zhan gave up. You could never wake someone pretending to sleep.

He stepped back, grabbed the phone, and accidentally woke the screen. The wallpaper was still the same photo he had seen when they reunited—a candid shot of Gu Zhan at an airport.

His hand paused.

Looking more closely, he realized the glass doors in the background looked familiar. It seemed to be the airport in Shanghai.

Fu Yan had already admitted to investigating him. Could it be that he had been paying close attention to him this entire year? Otherwise, how would he even have a photo like this?

Stuffing the phone into Fu Yan’s pocket, Gu Zhan dragged him upstairs.

The room was on the third floor. There was no elevator.

By the time he managed to haul the tall man upstairs and into the room, he nearly collapsed from exhaustion. The moment he saw the bed, he practically threw Fu Yan onto it.

Unfortunately, Fu Yan clung to him like a giant koala and dragged him down as well.

The two crashed face-first onto the mattress.

Still holding onto Gu Zhan’s neck, Fu Yan adjusted his position and hugged him even tighter, burying his face comfortably in the crook of his neck as if planning to use him as a body pillow for the night.

After hauling a man over six feet tall up two flights of stairs, Gu Zhan was breathing hard.

He rested for a moment before pushing at Fu Yan’s arm.

“Let go.”

Instead of loosening his grip, Fu Yan held on even tighter.

“Not showering... just sleep like this...”

“I’m not asking you to shower. I’m leaving.”

“Hm?” Fu Yan mumbled. “Going where?”

“To the inn at the foot of the mountain.”

“No.”

The moment he heard Gu Zhan wanted to leave, Fu Yan hooked a leg around him and clung to him even harder. Rubbing his head against Gu Zhan’s neck, he slurred drunkenly:

“I’m... not letting you go.”

“Fu Yan, stop messing around. I don’t care whether you’re really drunk or faking it, but there’s no way I’m staying in the same room as you tonight.”

Gu Zhan struggled to shake him off.

But the instant he freed himself even slightly, Fu Yan seemed to suddenly wake up. He firmly pinned both of Gu Zhan’s wrists and flipped over, straddling his legs.

Now all four of Gu Zhan’s limbs were trapped.

Unable to move at all.

Fu Yan stared down at him.

His eyes were beautiful—deep-set, with dark, black pupils. When he looked at someone seriously, there was a magnetic pull to his gaze.

Slowly, tenderly, his eyes traced Gu Zhan’s brows, eyes, nose bridge, and lips.

Leaning close, his alcohol-roughened voice dropped lower.

“Gu Zhan... I’m drunk. So whatever you want to do tonight... I won’t remember it tomorrow.”

“I don’t want to do anything!”

Gu Zhan gritted his teeth and shoved him again.

“Move.”

“Shh.”

Fu Yan pressed a finger against his lips and gently patted his shoulder before turning him sideways and pulling him into his embrace.

“But I do.”

His limbs locked around Gu Zhan as though trying to merge him into his own body.

Forehead against forehead.

Nose against nose.

“Gu Zhan... it’s been a year. Don’t you miss me?”

His voice grew softer.

“Because I miss you so much...”

“When I eat, I think about you. When I sleep, I think about you.”

“I haven’t gone to a football match in a year.”

“I haven’t watched a movie in a year.”

“Because every time I do those things... it feels like there should be you beside me.”

“Stop talking.”

Gu Zhan’s voice was nearly strained.

Not because he was angry.

Because everything Fu Yan was saying mirrored his own experiences perfectly.

Every thought he had buried for the past year felt like pages being turned open one by one.

“I’m going to say it.”

Fu Yan sounded almost aggrieved.

“After we broke up, I couldn’t sleep at night.”

“There was no sound of your breathing beside me.”

“No arms around me.”

“When I finally managed to fall asleep and reached out... all I touched was cold sheets.”

“I kept searching...”

“Where’s Gu Zhan?”

“Then I’d wake up completely and remember...”

“Oh.”

“You already broke up with me.”

“And then I’d spend the whole night unable to sleep.”

“Looking up flights from Shanghai to Beijing over and over again...”

Before he could continue, Gu Zhan suddenly silenced him.

With his lips.

He simply couldn’t listen anymore.

His hands and feet were pinned, leaving him no other way to shut him up.

Because Fu Yan’s eyes had turned red.

And Gu Zhan didn’t know whether his own eyes had reddened too.

All he knew was that his chest felt painfully sour—and strangely warm.

Like the alcohol he had drunk earlier had started working again.

The warmth spread through him, fermenting, surging, making his blood boil and clouding his thoughts.

Their lips remained pressed together.

For a full three minutes.

Nothing else.

Then Gu Zhan pulled away slightly.

“Please.”

His voice was weak, almost pleading.

“Just stop talking.”

Fu Yan gazed at him.

Then smiled.

“You kissed me first this time.”

Without hesitation, he kissed him back.

The kiss was fierce and possessive, as if he wanted to devour him whole.

The intensity shocked Gu Zhan back to some semblance of clarity.

He turned his head and struggled, but Fu Yan refused to let go.

In the end, Gu Zhan bit him again.

Only when pain registered did Fu Yan finally loosen his hold.

“You bit me again?”

Fu Yan touched the corner of his injured mouth with his tongue, sounding almost petulant.

Gu Zhan glared.

“If you kiss me like that again, I’ll bite you once more.”

Fu Yan immediately pecked him dozens of times in quick succession.

Then grinned proudly.

“See? You can’t bite me.”

“You—!”

Looking at the childish idiot in front of him, Gu Zhan finally believed that Fu Yan might actually be drunk.

Half-awake.

Half-asleep.

Not even fully aware of what he was saying.

Then...

Were those heartfelt confessions drunken nonsense?

Or drunken honesty?

Gu Zhan’s thoughts were a complete mess.

Before he realized it, Fu Yan had already started kissing along his neck, fingers wandering toward the buttons of his shirt.

He tried to resist.

But his limbs were still trapped.

And more importantly...

His body was far more honest than he was.

By the time he noticed, he was already responding unconsciously.

A whole year.

How could I not miss you?

He kissed Fu Yan back passionately.

Tracing his lips along his ear.

Nipping at his earlobe.

Biting lightly at his throat.

His voice shook with restrained emotion.

“You brought this on yourself.”

Then he rolled over with all his strength, pinning Fu Yan beneath him.

━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━

It was past four in the morning.

The sky outside was still gray.

Gu Zhan sat alone by the bay window, smoking one cigarette after another.

What the hell did I do last night?

I actually slept with Fu Yan?!

He had always considered himself an exceptionally disciplined person.

Yet every bit of self-control he possessed seemed utterly useless whenever Fu Yan was involved.

Fu Yan could provoke him effortlessly.

Control him effortlessly.

Make him surrender effortlessly.

And now things were only going to get worse.

Fu Yan had already been trying every possible way to win him back.

After last night, there was no way he would let go.

What was he supposed to do?

He raked a hand through his hair in frustration.

One thing was certain:

He would never allow himself to repeat the disaster of a year ago.

━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━

The sound of running water from the bathroom stopped.

Wrapped in a towel, Fu Yan walked over.

His chest was covered in faint red marks left from the night before.

Gu Zhan immediately looked away.

He didn’t want to look at the evidence of his own lapse in judgment.

Fu Yan tugged his bathrobe closed and teased:

“Can’t you wear a bathrobe properly? Who are you trying to seduce?”

Gu Zhan looked at him expressionlessly.

The coldness in his gaze stopped Fu Yan’s hand in midair.

The smile on Fu Yan’s face slowly faded.

After a long pause, he withdrew his hand and leaned against the wall with a bitter smile.

“I’m heading back to Beijing.”

“After signing the investment agreement with Brand C, I’ll keep my promise.”

“The exclusive distribution rights for next year will be yours.”

Lifting Gu Zhan’s chin, he looked down at him.

“I keep my word.”

“I’m not letting you sleep with me for free.”

Anger flashed across Gu Zhan’s face.

He slapped Fu Yan’s hand away.

“Fu Yan, what kind of person do you think I am?”

“Do you really think I’m the sort of person who’d sleep with someone for business?”

“Oh?”

Fu Yan’s tone was mocking.

“Then what was last night?”

“Don’t tell me it was genuine feelings finally surfacing?”

Though his words were teasing, his eyes searched Gu Zhan’s face desperately for confirmation.

They stared at each other for several seconds.

Then Gu Zhan calmly walked to the bedside table.

He pulled a thick stack of cash from his wallet.

And stuffed it into the towel wrapped around Fu Yan’s waist.

“Consider it me paying for you.”

Instantly, Fu Yan’s eyes turned blood-red.

His fist clenched and swung toward Gu Zhan’s face.

Gu Zhan closed his eyes.

But the expected blow never came.

Instead—

CRASH!

The glass coffee table beside them shattered.

Fu Yan stood there trembling, face twisted with rage, blood slowly seeping through his fingers.

Without another word, he quickly got dressed.

Then kicked the door open and left.