It wasn’t until they reached the apartment building and Lu Xianyan handed Shu Ci his backpack that Shu Ci remembered the three of them had walked back together.
The more he thought about it, the guiltier he felt, his lips drooping slightly.
Even that tiny expression didn’t escape Lu Xianyan’s notice. “Not happy?”
Shu Ci froze, then quickly shook his head. He decided not to dwell on it. “By the way, are you going to the lab tomorrow?”
“Weekend. I’m off.”
“I have to go out tomorrow,” Shu Ci said after a moment, negotiating softly. “Before I leave, can I ask you to help with the treatment?”
After a pause, Lu Xianyan asked, unusually proactive, “Where are you going?”
“Mm… some work stuff. I need to stop by the publishing house.”
Shu Ci didn’t expect Lu Xianyan to say he’d go with him.
Of course he was happy to have company. Early the next morning, after washing up, he took the initiative to bite the back of Lu Xianyan’s neck, and the two of them took a taxi to the publishing company.
Downstairs was a café. Shu Ci ordered Lu Xianyan a coffee. “Be good and wait here, okay? Don’t run off.”
Lu Xianyan sat upright and nodded.
For a split second, he looked exactly like a large dog waiting patiently for its owner to return.
If Lu Xianyan knew he was being compared to a dog, he probably wouldn’t be pleased.
But once the thought popped into his head, the more Shu Ci looked at him, the more he resembled one.
Especially when he added, “I’ll wait for you.”
Shu Ci suppressed the urge to pat his head and secretly curved his lips.
At the counter not far away, Fu Zhiheng had just finished packing a strawberry smoothie. The moment he turned around, he saw Shu Ci—who had been chasing him not long ago—gazing at a stranger beside him with bright, sparkling eyes.
His already sour expression darkened further.
What was this? Switching targets so quickly?
No loyalty at all.
That’s what Fu Zhiheng told himself, yet his gaze refused to move away.
After not seeing him for a while, Shu Ci seemed even prettier.
Speculating about their relationship, Fu Zhiheng finally spared the stranger a glance—only to notice a faint bite mark on the man’s neck.
Small. Shallow.
He knew it. Shu Ci must have gotten a boyfriend for that kind of thing.
Luckily, he was straight and had rejected him from the start.
Shu Ci had chased him for a month?
From the day they added each other on WeChat, he’d only sent messages for eighteen days at most.
Didn’t even know how to pursue someone.
Good morning, good night—treating him like a check-in machine. Otherwise, just awkward small talk.
Later, who knows whose advice he took—he even learned to send those slightly suggestive photos.
The kind with a deliberately tempting angle, collar loose and slipping, faint pink clearly visible.
Fu Zhiheng hadn’t expected mild and slow-tempered Shu Ci to do something like that. Most people probably would’ve fallen for it instantly.
Like the guy in the café downstairs—just one look at his expression and it was obvious he was completely captivated.
Obedient like a dog.
Inside the meeting room, after the small meeting ended, Ming Li went to fetch two bestselling books from the company to give Shu Ci, asking him to wait a moment.
The door closed with a bang.
An awkward silence fell.
Fu Zhiheng felt irritated.
Before, Shu Ci would always greet him first and stare at him with that dazed look.
Now, alone in the same room, Shu Ci didn’t even glance at him. He was looking down at his phone, messaging someone.
Fu Zhiheng didn’t have the habit of peeking at other people’s screens.
But right now, he really wanted to know—who was Shu Ci texting? The guy downstairs? What had the other person said to make Shu Ci’s lips curl upward like that?
When he smiled… he looked that beautiful.
A thin, prickling sourness spread in Fu Zhiheng’s chest, clogging his throat and leaving him uncomfortably tight.
Shu Ci was indeed texting Lu Xianyan.
The meeting had gone on for a while, and he was worried Lu Xianyan might be getting impatient.
—The way he treated him now was a bit like how he used to treat the dog he’d raised as a child.