Almost instantly, a shy and quiet face appeared in An Zhihan’s mind.
Without realizing it, he turned around to look.
When he saw the face of someone he had only briefly encountered before, An Zhihan paused.
It was that young man…
At the table by the window, the slightly harsh afternoon sunlight poured in, softening the young man’s fair face. Even his hair, eyelashes, and the tiny fuzz on his skin seemed to glow with a golden warmth.
He was taking photos of the dessert with his phone.
It was something many young people did.
His pale pink lips curved upward in a shy smile.
He looked so quiet.
So soft.
His slender wrist rested on the edge of the table.
The corners of his eyes curved slightly downward, and beneath one eye was a tiny red mole.
He wasn’t stunningly beautiful.
Yet even dressed in plain black clothes, without any jewelry, he did not seem inferior compared to the other expensively dressed guests in the restaurant.
He looked like a literary youth from a novel.
Completely harmless.
Without the slightest aggression.
The kind of person who made others feel comfortable.
Kenlav said,
“He really looks like a warm landscape from a postcard.”
“When I look at him, I can’t help thinking of the farm from my childhood, with the scent of rice fields in the wind, and the golden retriever that used to play with me.”
Foreigners tended to express themselves somewhat dramatically, with abundant emotion.
Yet at that moment, An Zhihan found himself wanting to agree.
At the same time, he couldn’t help thinking:
That mole was in exactly the same place as Yan Mo’s.
On the left side.
Small and delicate.
It had been the only feature that made Yan Mo different from his older brother, Yan Fei.
Kenlav noticed that the usually mature and restrained man was actually staring at the young man in a daze.
He laughed loudly.
“What do you think? Should we ask for his contact information? I remember you like men, An.”
And An was divorced.
It was said that An’s first wife had also been a man.
And that his first and second wives had been twins with identical faces.
An had not had a good relationship with his first partner. The one he truly liked had been the second—his first partner’s twin brother.
But after marrying the older brother, An had divorced him very quickly.
And after learning that the younger brother had died unexpectedly, An had been depressed for a long time.
Kenlav didn’t understand.
Why would someone divorce a partner, then find another person with the same face?
If he loved the face, why divorce the first one?
If he loved the person, why divorce at all?
Kenlav truly could not understand which one was An Zhihan’s true love.
An Zhihan turned back around.
Hearing Kenlav’s words, he shook his head.
“No need.”
“He resembles my wife…”
“Searching for someone else’s shadow in another person just because you can’t have the one you love is foolish.”
“And it desecrates the person you love.”
“Oh~”
Kenlav blinked at him.
An Zhihan smiled helplessly.
The bitterness in his voice was stronger than the coffee in his hand.
“In the past, I was exactly that kind of foolish person…”
He had hurt Yan Mo.
At the time, he hadn’t realized it.
Only afterward, when looking back, did he discover how sharp and cruel his words to the young man had been.
How cold and harsh his attitude had been.
An Zhihan was often surprised by it.
His upbringing had been strict.
Even toward the lowest-ranking employees in his company, he treated people with politeness.
So why had he been so heartless toward Yan Mo?
Later, An Zhihan visited a psychologist several times.
The psychologist told him that some people were like that.
They could be kind and polite to outsiders, yet the closer someone was to them—the more they treated that person like family—the more easily they lost their temper.
He had hurt him too deeply…
No wonder, after Yan Mo passed away, even though An Zhihan missed him and felt guilty, he had never once dreamed of him.
Perhaps the young man’s heart had been completely broken.
Perhaps he no longer wished to see him.
“Alright, alright.”
Kenlav shrugged.
But then he smiled and said,
“Once we finish talking, let’s go say hello. I want his contact information.”
An Zhihan frowned at him.
“I remember you don’t like men.”
“That’s true.”
Kenlav didn’t care.
Pointing his coffee spoon toward Yan Mo in the distance, he said,
“But if it’s a boy like him, someone who makes you feel comfortable just by looking at him, even being friends would be nice.”
For some reason, seeing Kenlav eager to approach that young man made An Zhihan feel slightly uncomfortable.
After finishing his meal, Yan Mo raised his hand and called the waiter over to pay the bill.
But the waiter smiled and said that the gentlemen at another table had already paid for him.
There was ambiguity in the waiter’s eyes, along with a trace of self-assured understanding.
Yan Mo froze.
【You got hit on again~】
The system sounded prouder than if it had been the one admired.
It snorted.
【I told you, Host is a different type of handsome. It’s not only the dazzling, gorgeous type who can be attractive. Before, plenty of people asked for your contact information too~ Hehe. Anyone with taste can appreciate how wonderful you are.】
Those bastard exes were all tasteless!
Yan Mo sighed helplessly.
“Being hit on isn’t necessarily a good thing…”
As an adult, one should understand that there was no such thing as a free lunch.
He had long passed the age where he would secretly feel happy over receiving “special treatment.”
“Besides, if I don’t have that kind of intention, it’s better to refuse early.”
Yan Mo spoke softly.
The system pouted.
【Fine…】
Yan Mo raised his head and said to the waiter,
“Could you refund the money to them? I can pay for myself. I don’t know them, and accepting this would make me uncomfortable. I’m sorry.”
“But the bill has already been settled…”
The waiter looked at Yan Mo in confusion.
His thoughts were practically written on his face.
He won’t take advantage of a free meal? Is something wrong with his head?
Looking closely, he isn’t even that good-looking.
He must be secretly delighted inside.
Those people look rich anyway. They’re different from us.
Why make this so troublesome? Why can’t he just happily accept it?
When attractive people were admired, insisting on principles seemed incomprehensible.
And someone like him, whose appearance wasn’t especially striking, probably seemed even more tactless to outsiders for refusing a flirtatious gesture.
If possible, he didn’t want to trouble anyone either.
Yan Mo sighed.
But his voice remained gentle and firm.
“Please help me refund it to them.”
“…”
“…”
After paying for the meal himself, Yan Mo stood up to leave.
Suddenly, two tall shadows fell over him, blocking his path.
A voice speaking Chinese with a noticeable rolling accent sounded.
“May I ask why you refused to let me pay for you?”
Ah.
The strangers who had paid his bill had come over to talk.
It would be better to refuse quickly.
If he stayed outside too long and ran into those men, it would be disastrous.
Yan Mo thought this instinctively.
Standing from his chair, he raised his head with a polite smile.
“Thank you for your kindness, but I don’t really like owing—”
Favors.
His voice abruptly caught in his throat.
Yan Mo stared blankly past the tall foreign-looking man in front of him.
His gaze landed on An Zhihan standing behind him.
“Sir?”
“…”
“Sir!”
“…”
His throat tightened.
His tongue felt frozen in his mouth.
The frightened system began screaming again.
Yan Mo seemed to hear that sentence—
“Don’t you feel ashamed?”
It echoed over and over beside his ears, accompanied by the violent pounding of his heart and his intense urge to flee.
His scalp prickled.
No.
His reaction was too obvious.
An Zhihan had clearly noticed something was wrong.
He was looking at him now.
The way he frowned meant he was thinking.
He had to adjust quickly.
Speak.
Say something.
“Sir?!”
Kenlav looked at the frozen boy in surprise.
His pupils were wide, his body rigid.
Had Kenlav’s appearance frightened him?
Had he mistaken him for some kind of thug?
Fortunately, the quiet and gentle-looking boy finally reacted.
He forced out a pale, weak smile.
“I’m sorry.”
Kenlav, still puzzled, heard the boy say:
“I have low blood sugar. When I stood up just now, I felt dizzy for a few seconds. I didn’t mean to ignore you.”
Ah.
So that was it.