After regaining his composure, He Yun saved the image and just wanted to reply—
“Headacheee” unsent a message
He Yun clutched his phone, motionless.
Did he send it to the wrong person?
Inside the bathroom, the phone was placed on the vanity.
He Yun cupped his hands with water and washed the right side of his face; cupped his hands with water and washed the left side of his face.
On the bicycle, the phone and the handlebars were gripped together.
He Yun glanced to the left, and there was no red dot; glanced to the right, and the red dot appeared.
Screech!
Passerby: How is this bike brake better than a sports car
“This bike’s brakes are so good it stops like a sports car.”
Headacheee: [Picture]
He Yun froze for a moment, took off his gloves, and typed out a long string of characters.
In the end, he deleted the long-winded message and re-typed just two words. After sending it, he added another sentence.
Yet, even after he finished walking someone’s dog, teaching his class, and eating lunch, he still couldn’t wait for Si Yu’s reply.
Did he say something wrong?
He Yun thought for a moment and opened the keyboard once again.
Ding-dong!
Si Yu subconsciously tapped on the message.
I don’t want to like him at all anymore: The second one looks good, too.
I don’t want to like him at all anymore: They both look good.
The corners of Si Yu’s mouth, which had been drooping down as if weighed down by two heavy weights, relaxed by a fraction.
His gaze shifted upward and he saw the message He Yun had sent hours ago.
I don’t want to like him at all anymore: Good-looking.
I don’t want to like him at all anymore: The first one is already very good-looking.
Si Yu finally laughed out of relief.
Loving Yu is locked in my heart: They all said it doesn’t look good.
Still liking him very much today: Impossible.
Still liking him very much today: There is never a time when Si Yu doesn’t look good.
Si Yu was dumbfounded. He tapped into He Yun’s profile picture and repeatedly confirmed it.
Loving Yu is locked in my heart: Are you really yourself?
Si Yu failed to wait for He Yun’s reply.
Because He Yun, whose face was so hot he could fry an English crumpet on it, had already hidden his phone away, nearly tempted to dig a hole on the spot and bury himself like a carrot.
He “Red Carrot” Yun struggled through several mental battles and finally crawled out of the dirt.
HY: I’m sorry for not contacting you all this time.
Almost simultaneously, a message popped up in the chat box.
Headacheee: I miss you so much.
Si Yu knew He Yun wouldn’t reply.
He sighed, tossed his phone aside, stepped out of the small cabin, and began low-oxygen training.
This wasn’t a particularly difficult task for him; after all, ever since he was seventeen, he had followed Shen Que’s requirements to perform various training routines, keeping his body fat consistently between 10% and 12%.
Upon entering his twenties, Shen Que’s demands shifted toward body shaping, and Si Yu accepted all of it.
Even after a year filled with slapping Shen Que, kicking an executive chair, and overturning a boardroom table, Si Yu would still unswervingly follow his training plan without fail.
It was nothing else, he just wasn’t sure of He Yun’s sexual orientation.
Straight or bent, if you want to win someone over, your own foundation has to be solid.
The few hours of hiking with He Yun along the White Cliffs felt truly effortless to him.
Yet this didn’t hinder him in the slightest from clutching his chest and whimpering in front of He Yun.
Huffing and puffing through a hike is nowhere near as comfortable as sitting on He Yun’s lap.
When training ended, Si Yu refused the oxygen tank handed over by Ou Xiaofeng.
“No need, I need to get used to the air here…”
As Si Yu spoke, he tapped open the message he received hours earlier.
The next second, he snatched the oxygen tank and inhaled deeply.
Still liking him very much today: Me too.
Still liking him very much today: I miss you very much.
Si Yu felt like He Yun was just coaxing him, much like how he praised his photos for looking good.
However, He Yun really did coax him into a very happy mood, especially when his gifts arrived.
“Teacher Si, this is Mr. Colton. He is an internationally renowned mountain guide primarily responsible for coordinating with the martial arts director to adjust actions based on the snow mountain conditions, ensuring the safety of the actors.”
Wrapped in thick thermal gear and looking like a penguin, Si Yu raised his short hand: “Hello, Mr. Colton.”
“Hello, Si Yu.”
Colton was a red-haired foreigner, but his Mandarin was fluent, even carrying a slight southern accent.
Before Si Yu could speak, Colton continued: “I just watched your shoot. Your personal physical fitness is exceptionally good, nothing like what Yun described.”
Si Yu was stunned.
When he saw the boxes and boxes of supplies Colton hauled over, Si Yu was even more stunned.
Down jackets, fleece tops and bottoms, and hard-shell jackets; hats, gloves, and scarves; snow boots, hiking boots, and mountaineering boots; thermos flasks, energy bars, and chocolates; trekking poles, crampons, and ice axes.
“Where on earth did He Yun get so much money? Hurry, return all of this to him!”
“Hahaha! Your worry is completely unnecessary. Do you know Wilmot?”
Si Yu shook his head.
“Wilmot is the world’s largest membership-based extreme sports and mountaineering outdoor club. If you need it, Yun can call upon a team of top-tier guides to accompany you for a stroll up K2.”
Si Yu grew interested and asked, “Did you and He Yun meet while climbing?”
Colton shook his head.
“His maternal grandfather, the elderly Marquis of Leafgreen, was the founder of Wilmot. Wilmot exists precisely because Yun liked it.”
Listening to this, Si Yu lowered his eyes.
In his early years, all of the elderly Marquis of Leafgreen’s children passed away prematurely, and the Marchioness also passed away from childbirth complications when giving birth to He Yun’s mother.
The old marquis deeply cherished his only daughter, and when choosing a fiancé for her, his eyes landed immediately on He Gongchu, a rising star in politics and a Chinese-British immigrant, valuing the fact that he was bound to accomplish great things in the future.
And He Gongchu indeed did so.
If He Gongchu hadn’t chosen to abandon politics for business, or if he hadn’t been so greedy, then the Leafgreen family, having already voluntarily relinquished their title, and He Yun’s destiny would have turned out completely different.
Suddenly, he missed He Yun terribly.
Si Yu walked into the wooden cabin and called He Yun.
“Can’t we video call?”
Taken aback by the question, Si Yu picked up a mirror, looked at his increasingly shorter haircut and redder cheeks, and resolutely refused.
“I cut my hair too, even shorter than yours.”
Si Yu sat up straight.
“I recently found out there’s still a balance on my gym membership, so…”
“Call, call, call, call, call! Take off your shirt and call!”
Watching the voice call end followed immediately by an incoming video notification, He Yun began seriously pondering whether he should take off his clothes.
Connecting the video call, He Yun’s pupils dilated in shock.
“Si Yu, are you planning to blow up the snow mountain?”
“Wuwuwu!”
“If not, take off your mask.”
Si Yu hadn’t opened the ventilation valve and almost suffocated himself to death.
“Hoo!”
Si Yu removed his mask, exhaling a long breath, but still insisted on exposing only half an eye.
“You…”
“Look at these abs, chest muscles, and mermaid lines, I know you have them, I’ve touched them!”
“…”
He Yun stood stiffly without moving.
He never dreamed in a million years that one of the methods he would later use to coax Si Yu would involve taking off his clothes.
“Not taking it off? Fine then, hanging up.”
“Hey!”
Resigned to his fate, He Yun stood up, crossed his arms, grabbed the hem of his shirt, and under Si Yu’s slowly shifting gaze, stripped off his gray cashmere sweater.
“The arm muscle definition is pretty good, but there’s another layer, keep going.”
Ou Xiaofeng, passing by outside, caught a snippet of audio: Damn it! Brother Si Yu won’t get so angry at that legendary He Yun that he resorts to cybersex, right?
Just as He Yun took off his base layer, he discovered the video call had been hung up by Si Yu.
He Yun:
“1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.” He Yun paused in silence. “Not a single one is missing.”
Si Yu’s right hand was still maintaining the gesture of holding the phone, but the phone itself had already ended up in Ou Xiaofeng’s hands.
“Bro! You absolutely cannot give up on yourself! Cybersex isn’t illegal, but you can’t stoop to this!”
“…Right now, if I kill you, is it illegal?”
“Huh? Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah!”
Ou Xiaofeng was pinned into a snowbank and ruthlessly beaten by Si Yu.
“Go to sleep now, I’ve arrived at the airport.” Si Yu pushed open the door of the airport VIP lounge. “I’ll let you know when I land. Yeah, good night.”
Why won’t my hair grow out already? My face is still red!
Si Yu looked at himself in the front-facing camera, losing even the desire to take a selfie.
Just as he was about to put down his phone, he spotted Shen Que through the screen.
“What’s going on with your face? Didn’t you wear sunscreen?”
Shen Que walked up to Si Yu and placed a brown paper bag exuding a mochi aroma onto the table.
Si Yu crossed his arms, closing his eyes to feign sleep.
Accustomed to Si Yu’s indifference toward him over the past year, Shen Que unbuttoned his suit jacket and sat down beside him.
“I heard you agreed to let them cut your hair. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“It’s my own hair. Why on earth should I tell you?”
“The old you would have.” Shen Que gazed steadily at Si Yu. “Even what clothes to wear when going out, you used to ask me.”
Suddenly, Si Yu chuckled.
He opened his eyes, gently cupped his own chin, and tilted his head to look at Shen Que.
“Then do you like the clothes I’m wearing today?”
Shen Que’s gaze uncontrollably drifted from Si Yu’s face down to the fair skin exposed at the V-neck collar of his white cashmere sweater.
Seeing Shen Que nod, Si Yu leaned in a fraction closer and said softly, “He Yun has a gray one.”
Sure enough, Shen Que’s expression darkened instantly.
Si Yu stood up, and just as he stretched lazily, Shen Que pushed him back down onto the sofa.
Observing Si Yu’s nonchalant yet intrigued expression as he looked at him, Shen Que took a deep breath and looked toward the bodyguard standing nearby.
Understanding the cue, the bodyguard immediately stepped outside to inform the airport staff to clear out the VIP lounge.
“Clear it out? I’m a first-class customer too!”
“I’m terribly sorry, sir, but one of the gentlemen is an airline board member and an airport VIP. We have now upgraded your flight’s service tier to VIP status as well and applied a full waiver for your pre-booked round-trip tickets. Does that sound acceptable to you? Excellent, sir, please follow me.”
Si Yu watched the door being carefully locked by the staff and let out a laugh.
“It sure is great being rich and powerful. You can make whoever you want arrive, and make whoever you want leave.”
Understanding the underlying subtext of his words, Shen Que said in a deep voice, “Just because of what happened back then, you hate me this much?”
“Hate you?”
Si Yu looked as though he had heard the funniest joke in the world.
After laughing, Si Yu reached out an arm and rested it on Shen Que’s shoulder. “Not really. Hating someone seems like it takes effort, you know.”
Shen Que lowered his head. After a moment of silence, he grabbed Si Yu’s slender wrist and pulled him into his embrace.
“Si Yu, if you like playing games like this, I don’t mind playing along. But, are you sure He Yun…”
Finally, Shen Que saw Si Yu’s expression darken as well.
Yet the joy of being the victor lasted for merely a single second before Shen Que realized this was all because he had mentioned He Yun.
His heart was instantly flooded once again by a tide of bitter jealousy.
Shen Que let go, stood up straight, and straightened his diamond-embedded cufflinks.
“If it were the He Yun of a year ago, you could still expect him to pull together the 2 billion in breach-of-contract penalties for you. But right now, he probably can’t even scrape together 200 pounds. Are you planning to run a charity poverty-alleviation program by staying with him?”
“I love him.”
The three words spoken without a moment’s hesitation by Si Yu struck like a heavy hammer, shattering Shen Que’s pride.
“Someone like you will never understand what he means to me.”
“What are we going to do then?” Shen Que twirled the luxury watch on his wrist. “You’re still tied to someone like me for another ten years.”
“What are we going to do then?” Si Yu lightly tugged at the collar of his cashmere sweater. “You’re still going to have to watch He Yun and me live in blissful harmony for another ten years.”
They understood each other far too well, possessing the most profound understanding of each other’s pain.
Shen Que walked away.
Si Yu sat back down, staring blankly with unfocused eyes at the brown paper bag left behind by Shen Que.
“Si Yu.”
Si Yu was jolted awake by He Yun’s voice, looking in astonishment at the phone he was holding up to his ear.
“Why are you crying?”
Si Yu raised a hand to touch his face, only to realize he was genuinely crying.
“I don’t know. Did you call me?”
Woken up by Si Yu’s phone call, He Yun sat on the sofa and sank into a prolonged silence.
When landing in Manaus, 27 hours had passed since his phone call with He Yun.
Si Yu had long since completely forgotten about that incident, but the person who had arrived at the capital of Amazonas state 17 hours earlier clearly hadn’t.
Si Yu watched He Yun cut through the bustling crowd and humid air, walking straight toward him.
“You… why are you…”
Before Si Yu could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by He Yun’s embrace.
It was just like their first embrace, but this time, it was different.
“I was worried about you.”
He Yun pulled him closer into his arms.