That night began so passionately, their desires also shyly showed themselves, encountering one another. But in the end, nothing really came out of it.

The two of them had removed their outer garments. On the inside, Yi Zhe was only wearing a thin long-sleeved tee, so when Xu Tangcheng hugged him, when his hands caressed Yi Zhe's back, he could feel the spine that was slightly protruding because of the slight bent in that body.

When it came to romantic love, Xu Tangcheng's prior understanding of it was practically zero. He had no experience; even when he watched romance flicks with Xu Tangxi, he didn't have any kind of very deep understanding of the romantic plotlines in them. There were even a lot of times when he couldn't understand why the movie would have that kind of ending, why the male and female leads would embrace under all that crushing weight, or why they would go their separate ways when they clearly had feelings for each other.

Observing other people's stories was ultimately all theory and zero practical value. It was only when he pressed his chin into Yi Zhe's shoulder that he suddenly understood this thing that could last for eternity without weakening.

At this point in time, the slightly protruding spine was a soft yet enticing sensuality.

His fingers stroked back and forth. This simple movement, accompanied by the sound of breathing in his ear, gave Xu Tangcheng the feeling of steadiness and reassurance that he had not felt for a long time. He was no longer insecure like he had been before, and no longer needed to make blind guesses based solely on his own subjective view. Instead, he could hold this person in his arms and clearly and distinctly feel those emotions that were changing every second.

It turned out that this so-called love was just that when you held him in your arms, the regret and loss that was once in your heart slowly and gradually dissipated, turning into a soft sigh. Like a great weight had been lifted from your shoulders, you let out a sigh beside his ear. Then, emotions aroused, you couldn't stop yourself from wanting to kiss that ear.

The slight trembling he could feel under his chin never stopped. Even though it was already sufficiently suppressed, it made Xu Tangcheng realise that he actually only understood a very small portion of the feelings Yi Zhe had for him.

He closed his eyes. He seemed to see a heavy downpour falling in reverse, a teenager in school uniform riding a red mountain bike and barreling towards the school, going against the flow of the crowd. The splashes of water opened up the way, the scene seeming to remain eternally in that summer's day, on that night with the heavy rain and the thick fog.

The teenager looked at him across the rain and the fog. There was something akin to a treasure in his eyes, something that radiated light in his direction.

They were the deep emotions he had accumulated in those years where he had been the most mistrustful.

The hotel's curtains were very good at blocking out the light. When he woke up the next day, Yi Zhe took some time to come to his senses in the dim room.

"Up already?" Xu Tangcheng had woken up at some point and was right now nestled in Yi Zhe's arms, looking at his phone. When he felt Yi Zhe move, he lifted his head and looked at him.

In three seconds, Yi Zhe went through what happened last night. When he regained his ability to think, he carefully moved his head just a little and his lips brushed against very soft hair.

It felt fluffy to the touch, warm but not dry. Like the fragrance of grass that could be blown into motion by the lightest wind.

"Mm."

He only made a noise in response but his heart was starting to pound. He didn't know how Xu Tangcheng would react to what happened last night.

Last night, the two of them leaned against the wall and embraced, Xu Tangcheng's hand softly caressing his back the entire time. Mesmerised by this action, Yi Zhe kept his head buried, craving this indulgence and not letting him go even after a long time. Perhaps it was the effect of alcohol; Xu Tangcheng couldn't fight his sleepiness in the end and fell asleep while leaning against him.

Even though there had been no limit to Xu Tangcheng's fervour, Yi Zhe didn't dare do anything to him at this time.

Xu Tangcheng could lose control after getting drunk, but Yi Zhe could not leave him with no way out. Because he had once made a promise to him.

Hence, he summoned all the courage he had but all he dared to do was to hug Xu Tangcheng, squeeze into the same bed with him, and sleep.

Two guys sleeping in a standard single bed was truly a tight fit. Yi Zhe tried his best to keep to the edge and almost half his body hung in the air. After making ample space for the person next to him, he reached out a hand and carefully enclosed that person in his arms.

Hugging Xu Tangcheng to sleep was something that he had never even thought of and Xu Tangcheng was even lying on his side and facing him the entire time. The distance between the two of them was so close, close enough that Yi Zhe felt that he only needed to lean forward a little bit and he could step into Xu Tangcheng's dream.

He raised a hand gently and touched that nose bridge.

At this moment, he was sure that he would never ever fall in love with another person. Because when he hugged Xu Tangcheng, amidst this tranquility, he finally understood all of a sudden that his life was actually complete.

He had said that he would not cause any more trouble for him but he still hoped that his dreams tonight would have him.

At the start of the night, Yi Zhe stayed in the same position and stared at the person in his arms. He couldn't bear to sleep, and also didn't dare to. He couldn't predict where the story would go tomorrow morning, so he felt even more that the time now was the happiest he would ever be.

The greatest happiness, and also the most apprehensive one.

He thought of many things, his mind running wild. He thought of the past, thought of the present, and even thought of—if this dream never ended—what kind of future they would have. He tried his best to hold on, wanting to stay a little longer in this situation while awake, but the shocks and the emotional upheavals of the night left him exhausted like his spirit had been thrown into disarray. He didn't know what time it was when his body finally could not bear it anymore and sank into a slumber.

"Still want to sleep? If not, let's get up." Seeing that he was in a daze, Xu Tangcheng rubbed his own belly and said, "I didn't eat enough yesterday evening, I'm starving."

Yi Zhe didn't think that Xu Tangcheng would act so normally and not bring up last night at all.

He couldn't be sure whether or not Xu Tangcheng remembered but when brushing his teeth, he thought that since Xu Tangcheng didn't express any doubts about the two of them sleeping in the same bed, perhaps he did remember what happened last night.

But...

He stopped. Toothbrush half-raised, a mouth full of foam, he looked in the mirror.

But if he remembered, was this how he should react?

He went further down this line of thought and realised that he didn't know at all how Xu Tangcheng should react if he remembered.

He had probably stayed in the bathroom for too long; the person outside was calling him.

"Yeah!" He quickly gave a vague response.

"What are you doing?" Xu Tangcheng's voice seemed to be right at the door. "If you're still not coming out, I'm really going to starve."

Yi Zhe immediately answered, "Right away." He quickly rinsed his mouth and washed his face.

When he came out, Xu Tangcheng was already waiting at the room door. He had Yi Zhe's jacket draped over one arm and his head was lowered, hands playing with his phone.

"Ready?"

Yi Zhe nodded. He took his jacket from him and put it on.

"Then let's go." Xu Tangcheng put his phone away and looked around them. He said to him, "Nothing left behind, right?"

Yi Zhe shook his head. The two of them hadn't brought anything here in the first place. They wouldn't have forgotten anything.

Xu Tangcheng reached out and pulled the room card out and opened the door.

Yi Zhe kept his eyes on him, following close behind. The two of them were barely a step apart. His brain was still carrying out a silent debate on the topic of whether or not Xu Tangcheng remembered last night. Lost in his thoughts for a moment, he didn't notice that the person in front of him had suddenly stopped after opening the door.

"Ah, I forgot something."

Xu Tangcheng had just finished speaking when Yi Zhe crashed into his back.

The person who had already stepped out the door came back in. Squeezed in by him, Yi Zhe quickly retreated. Before he could steady his footing, he heard the sound of the door closing.

And then—softly, lightly—a kiss fell on his lips.

The door was once again opened. The person in front of him walked out. This time, he did not turn back again.

The shutting of the door sent him into a stupor. This tall person stood where he was, unmoving, stunned for a long while.

In the corridor, Xu Tangcheng felt his heart pounding hard enough to shake the earth. He had alcohol helping him yesterday night but just now, he had forced him to act calm before kissing Yi Zhe.

The carpet under his feet was scarily soft. The further Xu Tangcheng walked, the more he slowed down, but still it was only when he was almost at the elevator that he finally heard footsteps thumping behind him.

Yi Zhe very quickly caught up to him. Both his hands were tightly gripped and folded behind his back, while that pair of long legs were taking very quick and very small steps. He looked rather odd.

Xu Tangcheng turned his head and saw that his lips were tightly holding back a smile, pressed together into a line that looked very cute.

"You…"

After Yi Zhe said that single word, the two of them reached the elevator.

His body swayed. The line formed by his lips slowly and gradually turned into an increasingly larger curve.

"We…"

Like it was purposely going against him, a crisp ding followed right on the heels of that we that he had said, purposely not letting him speak the rest of the words

There were people in the elevator. One man and one woman, probably a pair of lovers.

Under their gazes, Xu Tangcheng let out a cough and controlled his facial muscles that were also acting rampantly the whole time. He reached out and tugged on Yi Zhe's sleeve.

"Let's go."

The woman in the elevator shifted, giving them more space.

As the elevator descended, Yi Zhe was still smiling single-mindedly. At the start, Xu Tangcheng was only looking at him out of the corner of his eyes or looking at his reflection in the elevator door. Around the third floor, he finally could not resist anymore and turned his head openly without hiding anything from the other two people in the elevator.

It was only when he took a look in this way that he noticed a tiny dimple by the side of Yi Zhe's mouth.

"Huh?" Xu Tangcheng felt rather curious. He leaned around Yi Zhe to look at his other cheek. "Have you always had a dimple here?"

Yi Zhe pressed his lips together and turned his head to the side. He was probably trying to talk to Xu Tangcheng normally but he could not control the smile that kept taking over his face so the expression on his face was especially comical.

"What's a dimple?"

Xu Tangcheng felt that this person would not be so ignorant. Yi Zhe was probably laughing to the point of lacking oxygen now and his intellect had temporarily taken leave. But Xu Tangcheng still lifted a hand and poke that little hollow on his face that was filled with mirth.

"This thing."

With this poke, Yi Zhe's mouth completely failed to cover up. A neat row of teeth was swiftly revealed and the dimple deepened, so sweet it could make one feel faint.

So this was how he looked like when he was truly and exceptionally happy.

This sudden thought sent Xu Tangcheng's mind into a flurry and he could not carefully experience this regret that came late.

"I don't know," Yi Zhe said. "Maybe I only got it just now."

The pair of lovers in the elevator turned their heads in unison to look at them. They were probably unbearably curious about why two guys would look at each other and laugh so hard.

Yi Zhe's dimples put on a showy appearance for quite some time. Even at class, his thoughts could take a sharp turn when he was mulling over his coursework, turning until his thoughts went back to that morning when Xu Tangcheng had suddenly kissed him. Indeed, all roads lead to Rome.

For once, Zheng Yikun was back and attending a class, yet the person beside him was smiling like a fool the entire time. It was so foolish that he really couldn't bear seeing it anymore and at the end of his patience, he jabbed Yi Zhe. "Even if the tables have turned and your secret love is now a success, you should show some respect for the solemn atmosphere in the class, all right?"

"Oh." Yi Zhe let out a soft cough and opened his book. Then, he suddenly turned to look at Zheng Yikun.

How did he know that his secret love was a success now?

"I'm not dumb." Before he could say anything, Zheng Yikun seemed to see through his thoughts and spoke. "The way you're acting is just a step below putting a sign above your head."

It didn't matter to Yi Zhe whether or not Zheng Yikun was dumb. However, when he reluctantly pulled his thoughts back from Xu Tangcheng for the time being and guided Zheng Yikun to finish copying his coursework, Yi Zhe suddenly realised that this person seemed to have not come to class for a while now.

"Why haven't you been coming to class recently?"

After copying the last formula and tossing both their books to the subject rep sitting in front, Zheng Yikun finally said, "Mm, this is the first time I'm attending class ever since school started. Venerable old sir, you finally realised."

Yi Zhe didn't say anything, ignoring his teasing, and waited for him to explain.

"I'm doing sales outside."

Yi Zhe found it rather hard to understand those words. "Sales?"

"Yeah." With that, Zheng Yikun sprawled on the desk and went to sleep. Yi Zhe mulled over it for a while but did not understand what this person was doing.

During break, the class monitor came over. Zheng Yikun was still sleeping so the class monitor told Yi Zhe to tell Zheng Yikun to see the course mentor. The subject rep in the row in front of them usually got on quite well with Zheng Yikun and turned around to ask the class monitor if they knew what was going on.

"It looks like he skipped too many classes, Faculty Head Zhang complained about him to the mentor… and insisted that the mentor do something about it."

Yi Zhe withdrew his gaze from the window and looked at the class monitor, then at the steadily napping Zheng Yikun.

He had lunch with Xu Tangcheng in the afternoon and when talking about their respective days, Yi Zhe brought up Zheng Yikun. Xu Tangcheng had not met this Zheng Yikun before but he had heard a bit about him from Yi Zhe and felt that he was someone who tended to act on his own.

"I guess he doesn't like what he's studying now and has other plans," Xu Tangcheng cocked his head in contemplation and said.

He was just about to continue speaking when he saw Yi Zhe picking out the coriander in his bowl bit by bit. He had reached a bit late today and it was Yi Zhe who had bought both their meals earlier.

Xu Tangcheng asked Yi Zhe curiously, "Why didn't you ask for no coriander when you were getting it?"

He didn't know where his confidence came from but he was sure that Yi Zhe wouldn't have forgotten this.

That pair of chopsticks paused in mid-air, a piece of coriander at the tips. Yi Zhe's other hand rubbed a couple of times on his thigh, like he was rather discomfited.

"I…"

He was stammering, which made Xu Tangcheng even more curious. Xu Tangcheng leaned forward a little amidst the noise and the bustle, pushing his face nearer to him. The T.V. was replaying the thirty-minutes news segment. Against the background of the solemn and serious voice, Xu Tangcheng observed the minute and subtle changes on Yi Zhe's face.

"I want to feel what it's like to openly and publicly pick out coriander for you."

Xu Tangcheng was first stunned, then speechless with laughter. Yi Zhe looked at him laughing and leaning back against the chair, then looked right and left before his own mouth curved up and he laughed along.

Pushing the bowl over, Yi Zhe said, "Done."

Two bowls of beef noodles: one with no coriander, one with an extra portion of coriander.

Xu Tangcheng picked up some noodles, still thinking of Yi Zhe's sweet words just now, wondering if it had been on purpose or not. When they were done eating, without waiting for him to tidy up his utensils, Yi Zhe took away his chopsticks and then placed both their bowls on the same tray. Xu Tangcheng watched silently, not saying anything, but when they went out the door and Yi Zhe walked a step ahead of him to lift the curtains over the door for him, resulting in two girls beside them looking over unintentionally, Xu Tangcheng finally could not bear it anymore.

"Yi Zhe," he called out to him.

Yi Zhe waited for him to walk out before lowering the curtain and catching up to him. "Hmm?"

Xu Tangcheng looked around them—there weren't many people. He reached a hand out and pinched Yi Zhe's sleeve. The black fabric came together into a small peak between those two pale fingers and the two of them drew nearer each other.

Yi Zhe understood what he was doing and lowered his head a little to hear his words.

"Don't use the same tricks you use on girls on me."

Xu Tangcheng said those words laughingly. Even though they were warning words, there was really no threat at all in those eyes curved into a smile. But Yi Zhe still stopped where he was and stared at Xu Tangcheng's back, genuinely reflecting on himself for a while. Walking ahead, Xu Tangcheng couldn't resist laughing, feeling that this person was totally taking care of him like he would a girl. He really wasn't used to it.

Before long, Yi Zhe chased after him from behind. He was just about to say something when he bumped into a coursemate greeting him. Yi Zhe stuffed the words he wanted to say back inside and lifted his chin at that other boy in a cursory greeting. After that, he finally turned his body and said to Xu Tangcheng, sounding rather aggrieved, "I've never done that for a girl…"

Xu Tangcheng looked up at him with a smile that was not quite a smile.

"I only do that for you."

Like he was afraid that Xu Tangcheng wouldn't believe him, Yi Zhe even stressed on it. "It's true."