“Brother are you angry.”
Only after Song Shiwei mentioned it did Huo Kairan belatedly feel a burning, slightly stinging sensation on his lips.
He raised a hand to touch them. “Maybe I ate something too spicy yesterday?”
Song Shiwei handed him a handheld mirror.
Huo Kairan examined himself carefully in the mirror, also feeling puzzled.
What on earth did he eat yesterday? Some kind of super-spicy bomb?
Song Shiwei silently observed him.
In the other’s unconscious movements, a flash of red suddenly appeared from the edge of his loose collar.
He suddenly reached out and gently pulled aside the fabric there.
On the side of his neck, two overlapping red and purple marks were clearly imprinted, starkly conspicuous against his fair skin.
“What is this?” Song Shiwei looked at him.
Huo Kairan also looked down, repeating dazedly, “What is this?”
Song Shiwei, with the same focus he usually applied to studying cultural relic fragments, took a magnifying glass from a drawer, leaned in, and carefully examined the shape, edges, and color gradation of the two marks.
After a while, he pushed up his glasses, speaking cautiously, “Morphologically speaking this is quite consistent with the characteristics of a hickey.”
“How is that possible?” Huo Kairan dismissed it. “I’ve never even been in a relationship, how could I have a hickey?”
Even as he said this, Song Shiwei himself found it unbelievable, yet he worried that this simple-minded young master might have been deceived.
Hesitantly, he changed his words. “Then… it could also be an allergic reaction.”
But as his gaze returned to those equally red and swollen lips, the doubt in his heart didn’t dissipate; instead, it grew.
Huo Kairan shrugged and put down the mirror. “Then it must be an allergy.”
Seeing him so certain, Song Shiwei asked, “Why?”
Huo Kairan tossed Xiao Bai into the air, then hastily caught the snake again under the other’s horrified expression, laughing. “Because my brother brought me home yesterday, and after that, it was just the two of us at home.”
In that instant, Song Shiwei abruptly turned his head.
His high-intellect brain, usually immersed only in ancient texts and cultural relics, felt as if a bomb had been dropped into it. Countless fragmented clues exploded, piecing together a spine-chilling guess. His face instantly turned pale.
“Ranran, you.”
Huo Kairan had already straightened his collar, kissed Xiao Bai, and waved reluctantly. “Then I’m going back. Shiwei-ge, that scoundrel Huo Lin only allowed me to come play for half an hour.”
Song Shiwei’s delicate eyebrows furrowed tightly.
Seeing the other’s completely innocent appearance, the warning that almost rushed to his lips ultimately stuck in his throat.
He took a deep breath, his tone unprecedentedly serious.
“You be careful in everything.”
“Huh? Okay.” Huo Kairan put down Xiao Bai, turned to leave, muttering softly, “Why is everyone acting so strange today.”
On the way back, Huo Kairan received a text message.
[Thank you, Kairan. However, I’ve decided not to go to Yunke anymore.]
The sender was Gao Chaoguang.
It seemed Huo Lin had indeed given him the internship opportunity.
But why did he give it up?
Huo Kairan tapped the screen, feeling a headache coming on, wondering if he should just block him.
As if sensing his hesitation, another message immediately followed:
[Can we meet one more time? I have something I want to say to you.]
Huo Kairan hesitated for a moment, unsure whether he should listen to this explanation.
Actually, Huo Lin handled it quite well; perhaps he shouldn’t have gotten involved in this matter.
Huo Kairan thought for a moment, then simply opened Huo Lin’s WeChat and tossed the question over: 【Brother, can I go out with Gao Chaoguang?】
After all, Huo Lin definitely wouldn’t agree.
That way, he could refuse without any psychological burden.
When Huo Lin received this message, Sun Jiajia was reporting work in front of him. Seeing the message, he momentarily lost focus.
“Mr. Huo, regarding the market promotion for the third quarter.” Sun Jiajia was still speaking eloquently when he suddenly felt a chill.
“Um… Mr. Huo, are you still listening?”
The man across from him, always with an imposing presence, now felt even colder, making Sun Jiajia rub his arms.
“Assistant Sun,” Huo Lin suddenly looked up, “there’s a question.”
Sun Jiajia immediately fell silent, took out his notebook, held it with one hand, and hovered his fingers over the keyboard, ready for action: “Please go ahead.”
“Suppose you’ve kissed someone you like. The next day, they propose going on a date with someone else and come to ask for your opinion. What should you reply?”
Sun Jiajia, who had been diligently taking notes, was caught off guard by this complicated love triangle”Huh?!”
He cautiously asked, “Mr. Huo, is it you.”
Huo Lin: “It’s you.”
Sun Jiajia nodded repeatedly, “Oh, it’s me. If it were me, and I got cheated on and then had it rubbed in my face, I’d go bang my head against a wall.”
Huo Lin fell silent.
Realizing he had blurted out his true thoughts, Sun Jiajia slapped his own mouth and said sheepishly, “Um… so, Mr. Huo, are you okay?”
Huo Lin didn’t answer, just looked at him quietly.
Sun Jiajia cleared his throat, trying to adopt a professional and analytical attitude: “Seriously, if it were someone I truly liked, they must have many qualities worth admiring. In such a situation, there might be a misunderstanding. I would choose to believe they have the ability to handle their own affairs.”
Huo Lin lowered his eyelashes and softly repeated, “Believe.”
Huo Kairan arrived at the dessert shop near their former high school as agreed.
The whole way, he kept muttering to himself
Huo Lin actually replied with “Okay.”
He actually said “Okay”?
He really was acting strange today.
“Kairan,” Gao Chaoguang called several times before snapping him out of his thoughts. “What would you like to order?”
Huo Kairan glanced at the menu. “Just a cup of hot water.”
“Back in school, you always loved standing outside this shop and looking in. I thought you really liked it here,” Gao Chaoguang said nostalgically.
Huo Kairan raised his chin slightly. “Back then? I was looking at that bird. There used to be a canary in a cage outside this shop.”
Gao Chaoguang was taken aback. “Oh, I see.”
Huo Kairan asked, “Why did you turn down the job at Yunke?”
Gao Chaoguang pursed his lips. “I Jiang Xu was right. I’m too insecure; the gap between us is too big. And too proud I didn’t want you to look down on me.”
Huo Kairan frowned. “What does that have to do with me?”
Gao Chaoguang took a deep breath. “Did you hear everything Jiang Xu said yesterday?”
Seeing the other’s silent acknowledgment, he mustered the courage to confess: “He was right. I really did think that way. It’s despicable, but I couldn’t help thinking, what if.”
Huo Kairan sipped hot water through a straw, voicing the words he couldn’t bring himself to say: “If I were to be kept by someone, would you want to keep me too?”
Gao Chaoguang lowered his head in shame. “I’m sorry. I just like you too much.”
Huo Kairan bit the straw, thinking seriously for a few seconds. “I don’t think this feels like liking someone.”
Gao Chaoguang suddenly grew agitated. “Kairan, you can question my character, but not my feelings! I’ve genuinely liked you for many years. It was only because you said you’d stay in Xihai that I applied to a university here.”
Huo Kairan couldn’t understand it and even felt a faint sense of aversion, wondering if he might be a bit homophobic.
“Come on, don’t pin everything on me. If you hadn’t gotten into university, would you blame me for affecting your performance too?”
Gao Chaoguang, who was about to start reminiscing about the past, choked on his words.
“Time is limited. I don’t really want to hear it.”
Just as Huo Kairan was about to stand up, his gaze suddenly fell on the glass window, where the reflection of his long-haired profile caught his eye. “Do you see me as a girl?”
Gao Chaoguang immediately denied it. “Of course not!”
Huo Kairan narrowed his eyes, studying him with a hint of curiosity, as if stepping into a new, unknown territory.
He pondered seriously: Why would a boy like another boy?
Gao Chaoguang grew increasingly uncomfortable under such scrutiny.
He straightened up, his voice strained. “Kairan, I just want an answer. Have you really never liked me, even a little?”
Huo Kairan stood up, feeling there was no need to continue the conversation.
“No. Now I even dislike you a bit.”
An entire afternoon wasted.
Returning home, Huo Kairan began bothering Huo Lin again, asking what time he’d be off work.
But this time, no matter how many messages he sent, there was no response.
It was almost seven o’clock.
Huo Kairan stared at his silent phone, filled with confusion.
Rubbing his tired eyes, he didn’t go to his bedroom. Instead, he curled up on the living room sofa, stubbornly determined to wait for Huo Lin to come home so they could eat together.
But waves of hunger kept hitting him. Tormented by both exhaustion and hunger, he unknowingly fell asleep curled up on the sofa.
Huo Lin returned to the old house at one in the morning.
Late at night, he pushed open the door, his gaze instantly locking onto the slender figure curled up on the sofa.
All his anger, bitterness, and awkwardness suddenly vanished without a trace at that moment.
Huo Kairan was docile in his sleep.
His dark hair spilled across his pale cheeks Huo Lin’s palm could completely cover that face.
Thick eyelashes, a small, straight nose, and lips still flushed red from being kissed.
Huo Lin’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he forced himself to look away.
He bent down, his long arm slipping beneath the slender legs, lifting the person steadily and carrying him back to the bedroom bed.
In his sleep, Huo Kairan caught the familiar, comforting scent. Unconsciously, he stretched out his arms, wrapped them around Huo Lin’s neck, buried his face in the crook of his neck, and nuzzled against him with a sense of dependence.
A drowsy murmur, soft and hazy, drifted into Huo Lin’s ear:
“Brother… are you mad at me?”