“Then you…” Mu Ran stammered for a long time, unable to come up with a solution.
If it were in the past, he definitely would have sneaked into Lu Chengfeng’s bed. Even if he just curled up under the covers, the mere thought that Lu Chengfeng was right beside him and that he could see him the moment he opened his eyes would make his heart leap with excitement.
But now, what he needed to do was draw a clear boundary!
Without realizing it, Mu Ran was fiddling with his wrist, shaking it back and forth. “Then I’ll sleep on the floor.”
Right now, he was the one who needed Lu Chengfeng, so it wouldn’t be right to make the other person sleep on the floor. What kind of person would that make him?
“No.” Lu Chengfeng refused neatly and decisively.
Using the duvet, Lu Chengfeng rolled Mu Ran up like a sleeping roll and nudged him further inward toward the bed, then naturally lay down on the outer side. “The doctor said I have to keep an eye on your medication.”
Mu Ran opened his mouth to speak, but stopped. He was well aware that he couldn’t cut ties with Lu Chengfeng all at once; if he reacted too strongly, Lu Chengfeng might just pick up on something else.
“Then I’m going to sleep first.” Mu Ran was indeed worn out to the extreme. Staying in a hospital bed was truly a miserable experience, and now that he was lying on the soft bed in his own home, his eyelids felt heavier and heavier.
Lu Chengfeng let out an “mm,” and only after confirming that Mu Ran was lying down properly and orderly did he tiptoe off to take a shower.
Opening the wardrobe, it was filled with Mu Ran’s clothes. Under his watchful eye, Mu Ran usually dressed strictly and properly on the outside, but underneath he actually liked cute styles—even his pajamas were printed with large cartoon characters.
Therefore, amidst this dazzling array of clothes, a few white garments looked particularly eye-catching.
Lu Chengfeng rummaged through them for a moment and pulled out a white pajama set to check the size. It was his own size, and the tag hadn’t even been torn off yet evidently, it had been newly bought.
It looked like Mu Ran hadn’t really planned on moving out on his own after all.
The sound of water in the bathroom wasn’t loud, sounding much like white noise. With his consciousness drifting, Mu Ran actually fell fast asleep.
Only, this sleep wasn’t a very sound one. In his daze, he seemed to sense the sound of water stopping, the mattress sinking beside him, and a wave of warmth surrounding his entire body.
The midnight thunderstorm arrived right on schedule. Mu Ran rolled over and instinctively pulled the quilt up, wanting to cover his head this was his habitual ostrich-style coping mechanism.
However, a hand gently pressed down on him, and then began slowly and rhythmically patting his back, bringing him waves of reassurance.
When he woke up the next morning, the sky was already bright.
Rubbing his eyes, Mu Ran habitually reached out toward his side, only to find it ice-cold.
Lu Chengfeng must have gone out for his morning jog.
This guy held himself to ridiculously high standards, running his life like a schedule. Every minute of his day was meticulously planned out. Who on earth could ever make someone like Lu Chengfeng turn into that kind of frantic, unhinged version of himself?
Too lazy to think about it anymore, Mu Ran casually fished out his phone, and right on cue, a message popped up.
Mu Ran clicked it open and saw it was from He Jing’an, the gist of it being that he heard Mu Ran was out of the hospital and wanted to treat him to lunch today.
It was about time to go out and clear his head anyway.
The alarm clock on the nightstand showed it was past ten. At this hour, he could skip breakfast entirely and head straight out to meet up after washing up.
The sunlight was mild and pleasant, filtering through the dense foliage to create dappled spots of light. After the rain, the air was filled with the fresh scent of tender sprouts.
Standing under the sunlight once more, Mu Ran felt as though his hospital stay had lasted an entire century.
“A-Ran!” He Jing’an stood at the entrance, waving at him.
Mu Ran followed the voice over, and only when he got closer did he notice a young man standing beside He Jing’an.
The boy looked young, but he was very tall, with a crossbody backpack and black headphones draped around his neck. A white shirt with the collar slightly open revealed his fair collarbones. The youth smiled wantonly, exposing playful little tiger teeth.
“Let me introduce you.” He Jing’an took the initiative to speak, patting the youth’s shoulder. “This is my cousin, He Yuncheng, currently a junior in college.”
“Ran-ge,” He Yuncheng reached out his hand, staring unblinkingly at Mu Ran. “I’ve heard so much about you.”
“Hello,” Mu Ran politely reached out for a light handshake.
He Jing’an pulled the two of them inward, explaining as they walked, “This cousin of mine has also reached the age where he needs to come home and get some seasoning through hard work. I figured I’d bring him to meet you, so if there’s anything he can help you with, you can take him under your wing.”
“Me?” Mu Ran seriously questioned this. “You should have Lu Chengfeng do this kind of thing.”
He Jing’an spread his hands. “Aigoo, President Lu is a very busy man. You can’t even get him out for a drink on weekdays. Besides, Lu Chengfeng isn’t suited for teaching people; his temper is terrible, and I’m afraid he’d scare my cousin to tears.”
Terrible temper?
Even though Lu Chengfeng was a bit rigid and aloof, it didn’t seem like he had anything to do with having a terrible temper, right?
He still remembered back in school when a stereometric drawing had him dizzy and spinning, Lu Chengfeng had spent a full three days breaking it down piece by piece and feeding it to him step by step, yet he had never once seen Lu Chengfeng lose his temper.
And a year ago, when he had just graduated and was always full of grand ambitions, feeling like he could conquer the world, only to end up losing everything down to his last cent he never expected that Lu Chengfeng would actually dare to use the Lu Group to guarantee him, and in the end, who knew what method Lu Chengfeng used to successfully pull through that crisis safely.
In his memory, Lu Chengfeng was forever a reliable figure, as if no matter how big the crisis was, it was completely trivial in front of him.
It seemed he had never lost his temper at him, either.
He was actually quite curious to see what Lu Chengfeng looked like when he went wild, and really wanted to witness the moment Lu Chengfeng lost control.
“Alright, then leave him to me, though I can’t guarantee what kind of results I’ll teach out of him.” Mu Ran copied He Jing’an’s gesture and shrugged. “You know, I don’t go to the office very often either.”
He Jing’an pulled Mu Ran over, turning his back to He Yuncheng with a defensive posture, and whispered, “Actually, I just find him too annoying. You love to play, so taking him out to play is fine too. Just for a few months, I believe in you!”
Mu Ran: “I really thank you for having so much faith in me.”
He Jing’an breathed a sigh of relief. “You’re truly a good brother.”
The three of them took their seats. He Jing’an and He Yuncheng sat on one side, while Mu Ran sat by himself on the other. Even though he was holding the menu, Mu Ran kept feeling as though a burning gaze was fixed squarely on him.
He Jing’an didn’t even finish eating a few bites before heading to the restroom. Mu Ran lazily sliced his steak and asked casually, “What’s your major?”
“Finance,” He Yuncheng answered immediately.
“Same as mine. Then why don’t you report to my company tomorrow? There happens to be a meeting, so you can share some of the workload for my assistant.” Mu Ran started assigning work like a proper boss.
He Yuncheng’s eyes lit up, making no effort to conceal his emotions. He stood right up and sat down beside Mu Ran, propping his chin with one hand as he scrutinized Mu Ran.
So pretty. He was precisely his type.
Whether it was those fair hands with pink-tinged fingertips, or this arrogant and unyielding personality, both precisely hit his preferences.
From the moment his older brother showed him the video footage of the gathering, he had been dying to meet the real person.
“Ran-ge, are you in a relationship?” He Yuncheng tilted his head with an innocent expression.
Mu Ran: “No.”
“You mean no girlfriend, or… no boyfriend?” He Yuncheng’s tone was winding, drawing out the ending as if he had insight into Mu Ran’s orientation and was deliberately probing.
Mu Ran’s hand cutting the steak paused. His heart rate spiked abruptly, and he reined in his voice: “Neither. Can you ask some nutritious questions?”
He Yuncheng wiped away his smile, his brows drooping as well. “What a pity. Ran-ge is so good-looking, there should be lots of guys and girls who like you. I like Ran-ge too.”
A brief silence.
It was true that Mu Ran was never short of admirers; the men and women who had chased after him were too numerous for him to count. He had painstakingly made sure he didn’t look too much like a homosexual precisely out of fear that Lu Chengfeng would find out.
This kid in front of him…
He always had a somewhat bad premonition.
“Ran-ge, I know you and I are the same kind of people.” He Yuncheng leaned in closer, just a few centimeters away from Mu Ran. “Why not admit it?”
“What kind of same kind of people? Stay further away from me.” Mu Ran tried to keep his tone even. “If you make any more jokes, I’ll have your brother take you back.”
He Yuncheng moved a bit further away, shifting the topic: “Oh right, Ran-ge, I have a classmate who is exceptionally fond of President Lu. I heard you’re President Lu’s childhood friend—for my cousin’s sake, could you help bridge the gap and make an introduction?”
“What’s this? Did you take someone’s money?” Mu Ran blurted out, before suddenly catching some information.
Lu Chengfeng?
The corners of He Yuncheng’s lips curled up. He tucked a stray lock of Mu Ran’s hair behind his ear, completely evading Mu Ran’s question: “Just joking. Look, you caught me.”
He had seen through it long ago: Mu Ran liked Lu Chengfeng.
Every single video footage showed Mu Ran secretly watching Lu Chengfeng whenever the latter wasn’t paying attention. That kind of obscure, restrained gaze only ever appeared when looking at the person one loved.
So what?
He wanted to give it a try.
“How… how did you know?” Since things had already reached this point, there was no need for him to hide or cover it up anymore.
He Yuncheng glanced back toward the restroom direction, making sure He Jing’an was nowhere in sight, before turning back. “Judging by the looks of it though, President Lu probably doesn’t like Ran-ge. Why don’t you consider trying someone else?”
“Change to someone else?” Mu Ran didn’t quite catch his meaning.
He Yuncheng leaned back against the sofa and said earnestly, “I’ve always believed people shouldn’t hang themselves from a single tree. I heard President Lu doesn’t like men. What would it look like if your feelings were exposed? Maybe it’s a bit inappropriate for me to say this since we’ve only just met, but Ran-ge, from the very first time I saw you, I thought you were gorgeous. Would you want to try it out with me? Even if it’s just starting as friends?”
“What do you like about me?” Mu Ran asked in return.
“You’re very good-looking, and I like good-looking people.” He Yuncheng blinked. “Really.”
Mu Ran tightened his grip on the cutlery, seriously pondering He Yuncheng’s words.
Perhaps what he said was right. Even if it was just making a friend first, he might be able to pull himself out of the emotional quagmire he was currently trapped in.
At the very least, he wouldn’t be revolving around Lu Chengfeng alone anymore.
Wasn’t his original intention to find a distraction anyway?
He didn’t want to date this kid, but becoming friends and hanging out together seemed entirely possible.
“Oh right.” As if remembering something, He Yuncheng added, “Did Ran-ge see that late-night news article about President Lu from a few days ago? That person… is my classmate.”