How had things ended up like this?

Gu Zhan sat dejectedly on the bed, his face full of frustration.

He had clearly intended to make it up to Fu Yan for that night at Shengshan. He had clearly intended to draw a line between them. He had clearly not wanted to give Fu Yan any more reason to pester him. So how had things somehow become even more tangled, with him owing Fu Yan even more instead?

What had he done last night? And what had Fu Yan done?

Gu Zhan rubbed his aching head. He actually hadn't drunk that much last night. Normally, that amount wouldn't have been enough to make him lose control after drinking and go completely wild.

But Fu Yan himself had... climbed on top of him... and taken the initiative...

Fuck. Who could possibly resist that?

When the two of them had been together before, they had tried plenty of things in bed, but usually when Gu Zhan was the top, he was the one who would go all out teasing and tormenting Fu Yan as the bottom. After all, they had both always been tops, so they were used to taking the dominant position in bed. Even when they switched roles, Fu Yan had always cooperated, but he had never been this proactive...

Gu Zhan couldn't clearly remember exactly what he had done last night. Anyway, he had come several times, and there hadn't been any condoms at his place. It seemed he had even... finished inside.

Fuck!

Gu Zhan raised a hand and wiped his face, his expression complicated as he covered his forehead.

I'm a fucking animal!

“Awake?”

Fu Yan walked in with a radiant smile.

The voice was gentle and pleasant, but to Gu Zhan's ears it sounded like the sharpest blade. His heart sank. He slowly lowered the hand covering his face, yet he had no idea how to face Fu Yan. He could only stare at him blankly.

Fu Yan smiled warmly at him. In the sunlight sparkling with tiny golden particles, even that smile seemed to glow. Then he slowly bent down and picked up, one by one, the clothes the two of them had scattered all over the floor last night, putting them into the laundry basket.

Whether it was because he felt guilty or because he was, as the saying went, judging a gentleman by the standards of a petty person, Gu Zhan couldn't help feeling that Fu Yan's slow, slightly stiff movements were deliberately hinting at something.

Save me. Gu Zhan really wanted to donate the brain that had been ruled by lust.

For more than thirty years, he had always trusted his own brain completely. So why was his supposedly superior intellect so unreliable whenever Fu Yan—and matters like this—were involved?

Fu Yan really was devious. He was actually using the opposite approach. What was he playing at? Was this some kind of “you can't catch a tiger cub without entering the tiger's den” strategy?

Did he want Gu Zhan to soften? To feel guilty? To be moved?

And then, once Gu Zhan lowered his guard, make him willingly take the bait?

Gu Zhan gritted his teeth angrily.

This man was too cunning. He wasn't going to fall into the trap so easily. He wasn't going to fall into this man's sinister little web of tenderness!

“Oh, right. Remember to wear a high-collared shirt today,” Fu Yan reminded him while picking up the clothes.

Gu Zhan lowered his head and looked at the hickeys around his collarbone. He was just about to snap back at Fu Yan when he looked up and noticed several kiss marks around Fu Yan's collar and Adam's apple as well.

Gu Zhan licked his lips and coughed awkwardly.

“Mm... you too.”

“Sure.” Fu Yan happily agreed. “I've already had the housekeeper go across the street to get me a change of clothes.”

He put the gathered clothes into the washing machine, then reminded Gu Zhan, “Breakfast is ready. Get up and eat.”

Gu Zhan slowly got out of bed, feeling both helpless and miserable.

Well... what was done was done. There is no medicine for regret. He could only take things one step at a time.

Fu Yan had made millet porridge, scrambled eggs, stir-fried vegetables, and several kinds of pickles that he had probably brought from home the night before.

Fu Yan eagerly served him a bowl of porridge and reminded him with a smile, “Careful, it's hot.”

Gu Zhan glanced at him.

“You sit down and eat too. You have work later.”

“Oh, okay.”

Fu Yan looked slightly awkward as he held onto the edge of the table and slowly lowered himself onto the marble chair.

He did it on purpose!

He was definitely deliberately playing up his suffering to make Gu Zhan feel sorry for him.

Although Gu Zhan told himself this in his heart, he still put down his chopsticks, fetched a cushion from the sofa, and placed it behind Fu Yan's back.

“Mm, thank you,” Fu Yan said softly. Gu Zhan couldn't tell if it was his imagination, but Fu Yan's cheeks seemed slightly flushed.

“Ahem.” Gu Zhan lowered his head to eat, pretending to make casual conversation.

“Can you even go to work like this? Why don't you stay home and rest?”

Fu Yan smiled.

“No, I still have to take you to work.”

Gu Zhan immediately spoke faster.

“Why do I need you to take me? Can't I go to work without you? I have a driver.”

“I gave Xiao Li a bonus. He's gone on vacation in Europe, so there's no one to take you to and from work.”

Gu Zhan was furious.

“He took a bribe. Fire him tomorrow.”

Fu Yan replied calmly, “Right. So you still don't have a driver.”

Gu Zhan stubbornly said, “Can't I hire another one? If necessary, I'll drive myself...”

“But I want to commute to and from work with you,” Fu Yan interrupted, his eyes burning as he looked at him.

Gu Zhan didn't even need to look to know how devastating Fu Yan's dark eyes could be when they focused exclusively on him.

He didn't dare look. He avoided Fu Yan's gaze and continued drinking his porridge. After a while, he mumbled, “I'll take you later.”

Fu Yan frowned.

“Wouldn't that be inconvenient? I have dinner tonight, so I'll need the car.”

“Can't you find a driver tonight?”

Fu Yan answered firmly, “No.”

Gu Zhan sighed helplessly.

“Fine. I'll pick you up tonight too.”

“Great. I'll send you the address later.”

Fu Yan beamed and put some vegetables into Gu Zhan's bowl.

“Here, try the pickled mustard greens my family's chef made.”

Looking at that triumphant smile, Gu Zhan angrily swallowed a huge mouthful of porridge.

━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━

Nine that evening.

As promised, Gu Zhan arrived at the location of Fu Yan's dinner. He sent Fu Yan a brief WeChat message:

𓉘 I'm here. 𓉝

About five or six minutes later, Fu Yan came out—but he wasn't alone. Three or four people accompanied him, all of them walking unsteadily and swaying their heads. They had clearly been drinking.

Among them was a young man wearing a mustard-yellow sweater. He had his arm around Fu Yan's shoulders, talking animatedly while gesturing excitedly with his hands. The two seemed to be having a very lively conversation.

The young man was clearly quite drunk, and Fu Yan thoughtfully escorted him to his car, even opening and closing the door for him. Until the very end, when they reluctantly waved goodbye, Fu Yan wore a pleasant smile.

Fu Yan seemed to be in a good mood. Still smiling, he walked over to Gu Zhan's car and got into the passenger seat.

“Did you wait long?”

Gu Zhan said nothing. He frowned while staring at the car disappearing into the distance.

Last night, Fu Yan hadn't gotten angry when Gu Zhan had been close to Yu Xing. Gu Zhan had thought that perhaps Fu Yan had finally learned to understand and accommodate him.

Apparently not.

It was simply because Fu Yan himself had now joined the game and was thoroughly enjoying it.

Gu Zhan naturally appeared aloof, so even at social occasions where he had to put on an act, he was accustomed to maintaining a polite distance from people.

Fu Yan was different. With his warm, approachable personality, once he loosened up, wasn't he bound to flirt with people everywhere?

Seeing that Gu Zhan wasn't speaking, Fu Yan glanced sideways and noticed his serious expression and fixed gaze on the car that had just driven away.

He looked at him with interest.

“What are you thinking about?”

Gu Zhan started the car without answering.

Fu Yan immediately understood.

“That friend just now is completely straight. Li You introduced us. We've worked together twice, but we're not particularly close. He'd had too much to drink, so I was just looking after him.”

The corner of his mouth lifted.

“You wouldn't happen to be... jealous, would you?”

“Hmph.”

Gu Zhan sneered.

“Have you forgotten what our relationship is now? What could I possibly be jealous about?”

“Oh?” Fu Yan raised his brows. “And what exactly is our relationship now?”

“At most, we're ‘re-employed fuck buddies.’ Or you can think of it as the ‘transactional relationship’ we had.”

Fu Yan chuckled.

“Then, sir, haven't you forgotten to pay last night's bill?”

“You—”

Gu Zhan was speechless. He gritted his teeth.

“Fine. I'll transfer it to you on WeChat later.”

“Haha.”

Fu Yan laughed twice before his expression became serious.

“Gu Zhan, I'm not going to immaturely restrict your social relationships like I used to. But that's not because I have plenty of social engagements myself, nor is it because I don't care who you spend time with or that I don't mind it.”

“I'll always be petty about you. I'll always be jealous.”

“But I'd rather trust you.”

“Now I finally understand that you don't belong to me alone. Someone like you is destined to have a higher and farther sky.”

For a moment, Gu Zhan fell silent.

He felt his heart clench, though he couldn't put the sensation into words. The atmosphere inside the car seemed to heat up rapidly. His mouth felt dry.

After a while, he couldn't stand the quiet yet restless atmosphere anymore and deliberately ruined the mood with a flat remark.

“Are you reciting poetry? Why are you talking so ridiculously pretentiously?”

Fu Yan laughed twice. His large hand reached over and gently squeezed the hand Gu Zhan had casually resting beside his leg.

Gu Zhan quickly pulled his hand away.

“Don't distract me while I'm driving.”

Fu Yan didn't get angry. He simply smiled and withdrew his hand.

It wasn't long before they arrived. Gu Zhan parked the car downstairs from Fu Yan's apartment.

Fu Yan reluctantly glanced toward Gu Zhan's residential building across the street.

“You're stopping here?”

“Where else would I stop?”

Gu Zhan meaningfully glanced down at Fu Yan's lower body.

“Just behave yourself. Or do you want to get fucked again?”

Fu Yan secretly glanced at him, unfastened his seat belt, and leaned close to his ear.

“Perfect... I do want to fuck you.”

He immediately kissed Gu Zhan on the lips, skillfully tasting both his upper and lower lips. Before Gu Zhan could react and bite him, he quickly pulled away.

“That counts as interest on your unpaid bill.”

He licked the corner of his lips, looking at Gu Zhan suggestively.

“Want to come upstairs and sit for a while?”

Fu Yan glanced toward his building.

“It's the top floor at the very southern end. If you can't sleep tonight, you're welcome to come bother me anytime.”

Gu Zhan shot him an irritated look.

Fu Yan smiled.

“Okay, I'm leaving.”

He was just about to open the door when Gu Zhan suddenly seemed to realize something.

“Wait. Which apartment did you say was yours?”

Fu Yan turned around and pointed seriously.

“That one. The top floor at the southernmost end. It's easy to spot.”

Gu Zhan's eyes suddenly lit up.

“You were home that night on Christmas Eve?”

“Yeah.”

Fu Yan sat back down.

“You weren't actually spending Christmas with Du Zhe, were you? You went downstairs to my building because you missed me, didn't you?”

“What are you talking about?”

Gu Zhan couldn't understand how Fu Yan knew.

That night, he'd encountered Wang Yanqiao at the hotel getting a room with someone. If the person in that room hadn't been Fu Yan, then why had Wang Yanqiao posted a photo on his social media of himself holding hands with Fu Yan?

That hand definitely belonged to Fu Yan. He could recognize it at a glance.

“Chuyin caught you downstairs from my building. And you're still denying it?”

Seeing Gu Zhan frown thoughtfully, Fu Yan added,

“Oh, I should explain that night too. The person you saw with Xiao Wang at the hotel wasn't me. It was his new boyfriend.”

“I actually explained it to you before. Xiao Wang and I were only ‘together’ in the eyes of our parents. We were just getting what we each needed out of the arrangement.”

“What about his social media post?”

The question slipped straight out of Gu Zhan's mouth. Only after saying it did he realize that he seemed far too concerned about Fu Yan's relationships.

Fu Yan gave him a knowing smile.

“You really do care who I'm dating. You even went through Xiao Wang's social media.”

“It's not what you think,” Gu Zhan coldly explained.

“That was something Xiao Wang posted for his mother to see. His family is strict. If he hadn't gone out with me, his mother wouldn't have allowed it.”

Gu Zhan fell silent.

So the top-floor apartment he'd been staring at from afar for an entire year—the one that had seemed to remain dark all this time—really was Fu Yan's home.

He hadn't been looking at the wrong place.

Then... was what Fu Yan had said about thinking of him all year also true?

Had they both been missing each other all this time?

Gu Zhan met those dark eyes, complicated emotions stirring within his own.

“Any other questions?” Fu Yan asked softly.

Gu Zhan shook his head, still staring blankly at him.

Touched by his slightly dazed expression, Fu Yan took advantage of the moment and quickly kissed him on the cheek.

“Then I'm leaving. I'll pick you up tomorrow morning.”

With that, he promptly got out of the car.

Gu Zhan covered the spot on his cheek that had been “violated” and angrily muttered,

“Immature.”