Yuan Mian rarely, if ever, lost face in front of others.
Even in the earliest days of their relationship, he had maintained his composure.
The instant the door closed, cutting off his silhouette, Fu Tianle’s mind flickered with a single thought, he wanted to run after him.
But humans are creatures of circumstance. They influence their surroundings and are influenced in turn.
Fu Tianle, accustomed to adoration and being the center of attention, froze for just a few seconds. Every pair of eyes around him secretly watched his expression. The slightest trace of regret or panic was magnified by the surrounding voices:
“You’ve had too much to drink, huh? Don’t say things like that. No wonder sister in law’s upset.”
“Careless words, President Fu. You’d better go apologize properly.”
“Fu, you really let your mouth run away with you this time.”
Hearing this chorus, Fu Tianle couldn’t rise. He picked up his glass, mock-splashing it toward the speakers. “You’ve appointed your Fu as judge now? Counted all your girlfriends? Get lost!”
Everyone erupted in laughter. Fu Tianle lit a cigarette, cursing and laughing: “Enjoy it, then!”
The gathering didn’t last long.
The dinner ended earlier than planned. No one insisted on a second round. Even Fu Tianle, the life of every party, didn’t suggest going to a bar or club. Amid shared, unspoken jokes, they returned home before midnight.
In this city, Fu Tianle truly had a home. Yuan Mian’s apartment had become his own.
They weren’t conventional cohabitants but for Fu Tianle, a wandering playboy always traveling, Yuan Mian’s small nest was his most frequent stop.
The door code had been set by Fu Tianle himself. Inputting the digits of their anniversary, the door quickly swung open.
The room was plunged in darkness, the air carrying the familiar, faint scent of fragrance he had grown used to.
Had he already gone to sleep?
Fu Tianle shrugged off his coat, slipped off his shoes and, on the way, a half-formed sentence lingered in his mind. Once home, words spilled out as they came, unplanned. He walked toward the bedroom door, speaking with his voice lowered, a rare humility in his tone: “Still angry? Mianmian, I was just joking with you.”
He knew he had overstepped. Although it had been a long time since he had put effort into soothing Yuan Mian, Fu Tianle had always been the perfect lover to countless handsome men and beautiful women. Flattery, coaxing and the art of appeasing someone, he had never lost his touch.
Yet his words fell into silence.
Yuan Mian’s bedroom was empty. The bed was neatly made, spotless.
The person who lived here had not returned.
At that moment, Yuan Mian was in the hospital.
It had happened suddenly, he had been hit by a car.
It occurred in a parking lot; the vehicle was moving slowly. Though he was knocked down, the injury wasn’t severe.
Yet the impact shattered Yuan Mian’s psychological defenses. He hadn’t anticipated that the calm, composed self he normally embodied would collapse upon seeing the faint crimson mark on his palm. It felt as though the sky itself had fallen. He crumpled to the ground, trembling uncontrollably, crying in a way that seemed to shake every fiber of him.
The driver of the car got out and tried to help him up several times but Yuan Mian could not be steadied. He cried on, clutching at the driver’s waist, whispering in a choked, repetitive mantra: “You hit me… you hit me…”
Tears poured like a broken dam.
He cried for more than ten minutes, until the tears dried and his head felt heavy, before finally regaining a semblance of composure.
The driver waited silently until he had finished, then escorted him to the hospital.
And then came the checks, the waiting, the re-checks, the continued waiting.
Through it all, there was no argument, no conflict between them. On one hand, there was no need; on the other, Yuan Mian only realized after his crying spell that he recognized the driver, the very man whose presence at the dinner table had silenced the room: Hu Guangtong.
Hu Guangtong, the man whose influence and wealth even at the peak of his own family’s fortunes had been a gulf apart from the Hu family’s empire and now? The gap had only widened.
This was a person Yuan Mian could not afford to offend.
The thought brought a swelling ache to his eyes.
Yuan Mian knew it was from crying too hard and hesitated whether to reach for an ice pack. A medical ice pack appeared in front of him and a deep, steady voice spoke from above: “Apply it.”
Yuan Mian paused, took it but didn’t lift his head. He closed his eyes, feeling the cold press against him.
The ice pack was chilling, heavy, a weight pressing on his eyes like a night without stars. Not a single ray of light penetrated it. He needed this now, though the words “thank you” seemed to lodge in his throat, caught and choked, impossible to release.
When he tried to speak again, tears slid down his cheeks, accompanied by an uncontrollable, bitter smile.
His mind wandered, blank and unbidden:
Why had it to be Hu Guangtong?
At a moment like this, the coincidence felt cruelly theatrical.
This man had always been special to Yuan Mian.
Not because of the dinner table encounter with Fu Tianle, not at all.
He was Yuan Mian’s first love, the one few knew about.
Generally, when someone is embarrassed or in distress, they avoid being seen by the people who matter, especially by someone they once loved and fate had arranged such an ironic twist: that person, for Yuan Mian, was precisely Hu Guangtong.
Hu Guangtong was the embodiment of Yuan Mian’s youthful arrogance, the symbol of his most carefree and splendid days, a bright daydream etched into the past.
Looking back, at fourteen, Yuan Mian’s parents were at the pinnacle of their family enterprise. That year, he saw Hu Guangtong for the first time.
They were schoolmates. One day, Yuan Mian overheard classmates discussing an extraordinary transfer student. Curious, he went to see him and the moment he laid eyes on Hu Guangtong, his heart stirred with fascination.
There was never a need for a complicated reason to like someone. Yuan Mian recognized his own orientation early. Hu Guangtong had a serene, almost lunar beauty, his tailored school uniform with a subtle British influence blending East and West into balanced elegance. Yuan Mian was striking on his own, a radiance of swirling clouds and shimmering light but Hu Guangtong seemed even more extraordinary, utterly devoid of pretension, pure as the wind and snow.
Yuan Mian’s heart skipped a beat.
There was another incident that cemented Hu Guangtong’s image in his mind. Their school had many wealthy families, often with petty quarrels. One rich sibling pair had fallen into conflict: the brother, in a fit of revenge, poisoned his sister’s pet and hid it in her locker.
When the sister returned, the locker was unbearable, filthy, crawling with maggots. She adored her pet and could not touch it.
Hu Guangtong happened to pass by. Without a word, he removed his jacket, wrapped the animal carefully and carried it to safety, holding the grotesque mess away from her view. His expression did not waver.
This calm, beyond ordinary teenage composure, beyond human instinct, stunned Yuan Mian. Later, confiding in friends, he declared: “I will spend my life with Hu Guangtong.”
His friends were stunned. “Which Hu Guangtong?”
“The only son of the Hu family, who else?”
“You know he’s the only son of the Hu family. You dare to pursue him?!”
“We’re not even friends yet.”
“Then what are you talking about?”
“I like him. I really like him. I’m in love.”
“Love isn’t one-sided! He has to like you too!”
Yuan Mian was adamant. “Why rush? He will like me. I’m wonderful. Everyone likes me. My mom says I’m a little sun everyone adores.”
He was naive, confident and in no way arrogant in his mind.
When pressed on what if Hu Guangtong didn’t like him, he simply answered: “I’ll find a way.” Firm, unwavering.
He even tried to plan it secretly: how to meet Hu Guangtong, what to say first.
Laughably, this so-called ‘romance’ lasted briefly, a purely private infatuation of Yuan Mian’s. He never confessed, never even spoke a full sentence to Hu Guangtong. Before he could implement his plans, the news of his parents’ car accident arrived. That young love was buried by misfortune, left in an anonymous corner of time.
Yet for Yuan Mian, it could still be called a romance because he had truly, purely loved Hu Guangtong.
Then misfortune struck. Now, years later, fate had brought them together again under such circumstances.
Yuan Mian turned his face away, wiped his tears and did not speak.
Hu Guangtong, however, spoke first: “Are you okay?”
Yuan Mian forced out a slow, measured reply: “I’m fine.”
Hu Guangtong’s expression was unreadable. He left briefly, only to return soon after, insisting on taking Yuan Mian for a new series of tests.
Yuan Mian asked, somewhat dryly, “Aren’t the previous ones enough?”
Hu Guangtong’s voice and appearance had changed since Yuan Mian last remembered him yet the presence remained. He was like a breeze, light, impartial, brushing past everyone. Leading Yuan Mian along, he said: “A car accident isn’t just a simple fall. Caution is necessary.”
Though he said this, the tests they undertook were unrelated to the accident.
He had arranged for a psychologist and brought Yuan Mian for a depression assessment.
Waah! It’s puppy love…
✦ ✧ ✦
Fleurveil
[Translator]
☕ A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE TRANSLATOR
The Realm has many treasures. Coffee is currently its favourite.
☕ BUY THEM A COFFEE →
✧ (づ｡•ㅅ•｡)づ ☕ ✧
✦ thank you for reading ✦
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ChaptersChapter 1 · Why don’t you go and keep him company?Chapter 2 · He opened the door and left without looking backChapter 3 · Why Hu Guangtong of all people?Chapter 4 · Have you broken up with Fu Tianle?Chapter 5 · Hello, I am Yuan Mian’s fiancé.Chapter 6 · You liked Hu Guangtong from the beginningChapter 7 · I want to spend the rest of my life with you.Chapter 8 · Have you seen Yuan Mian recently?Chapter 9 · Yuan Mian has already started talking to someone elseChapter 10 · He wasn’t Yuan Mian’s first love?Chapter 11 · Are you comparable to Hu Guangtong?Chapter 12 · Yuan Mian would certainly love Hu GuangtongChapter 13 · They’re going home together for dinnerChapter 14 · Extra 1Chapter 15 · Extra 2Chapter 16 · Extra 3