You Know the Reason

As Yu An spoke, he kept his eyes fixed straight ahead, his expression calm and his steps steady, without the slightest hint of panic.

Song Yuechi froze for a moment before reacting a beat late. He was so frightened that he could barely speak. "Th-th-then w-we-we..."

The agent walking ahead noticed they had fallen behind and turned back with a smile. "What's wrong?"

Song Yuechi forced himself to shout calmly, "N-no... nothing."

But his voice trembled, and his face had gone pale.

A sinister gleam flashed through the agent's eyes. "That's good, then."

Yu An stepped in front of Song Yuechi, blocking the agent's view. "How much farther?"

The agent pointed to the dimly lit intersection ahead. "It's just up ahead."

"Oh." Yu An looked at him with bright, tranquil eyes.

The agent curled his lips into a smile, faintly tinged with disdain.

Song Yuechi was so scared that he was practically hanging off Yu An. "Yu An, what do we do? Should we call the police?"

Yu An couldn't shake him off, so he gave up and said expressionlessly, "Run first, then call the police."

Song Yuechi's eyes welled with tears, deeply moved. "I won't run. I won't leave you behind..."

Yu An cut him off. "You'll only get in my way if you stay here."

"Huh?" Song Yuechi didn't understand.

Yu An noticed two heads peeking out from around the corner. He stopped walking and raised his voice slightly. "Want some water? I'll get it for you."

Song Yuechi looked baffled. "I never said I wanted—"

Before he could finish, he saw the agent walking toward them.

"Students, why did you stop again?"

"I'm getting water." Yu An slipped one backpack strap off and held the bag in front of him, slowly rummaging through it right in front of the man.

Song Yuechi was terrified, but when the agent approached, he still stepped in front of Yu An and shouted shakily, "What are you trying to do?!"

The agent sneered and reached for Song Yuechi. "I—" Thud!

The fierce-looking man abruptly collapsed to the ground, his eyes rolling back as his body convulsed nonstop.

Song Yuechi turned around blankly.

Yu An held the stun baton he had just used and frowned. "He's not out? Looks like the voltage isn't high enough."

After saying that, he crouched down, grabbed the man by the hair, and slammed his head against the wall several times with a bang, bang. Only then did the man close his eyes and pass out.

Yu An clapped his hands in distaste. When he got up, he saw Song Yuechi staring at him as if turned to stone and reminded him, "Run."

"Oh." Song Yuechi turned around dazedly. "Th-then... I won't get in your way."

The accomplices on the other side had already noticed what was happening and were running toward them.

"Run faster." After reminding Song Yuechi, Yu An started digging through his bag again.

The two accomplices who ran over glanced at the unconscious man on the ground, then glared furiously at Yu An. "You little brat!"

Yu An pulled two guns from his bag. "Don't move."

His gaze and voice were far too calm. The two accomplices were actually bluffed into stopping.

"Biu~" Yu An moved his index finger, and a jet of water shot from the barrel, hitting one of the accomplices squarely.

The two men flew into a rage. "Fuck, today I'm gonna—"

Yu An raised the other gun and shot each of them once.

Then came two dull thuds.

Before they lost consciousness, Yu An kindly explained, "This one's a tranquilizer gun."

"Yu An!"

He seemed to hear He Li'an's voice.

Yu An slowly turned around and saw He Li'an hurrying over, with a panting Song Yuechi trailing behind him.

"Are you okay? You..." He Li'an's collar and hair were a little messy. He gripped Yu An's shoulders and looked him over from top to bottom, then caught sight of the three people on the ground from the corner of his eye. His expression froze.

Afraid He Li'an would misunderstand, Yu An explained, "They're not dead. They just passed out."

He Li'an stared at him for a moment. Only after confirming that Yu An was uninjured and looked perfectly normal did he let out a breath. "It's good that you're okay."

Yu An stuffed the tranquilizer gun into his backpack and held the water gun in his hand, fiddling with it. "Why are you here?"

He Li'an replied without changing expression, "I was passing by."

Yu An asked casually, "Where were you going?"

"..."

The question seemed to put He Li'an in a difficult position. He didn't answer for a long time, but Yu An could sense that his breathing had grown heavier than before, as though he was angry again.

"Are you in a bad mood?" Yu An sprayed the three people on the ground with the water gun.

The water gun ran dry. He shook it twice, put it back into his backpack, then looked up at He Li'an. "You've been angry all day."

Angry in the morning, and angry now too.

He Li'an's expression paused slightly. "Sorry."

His gaze fell on the three people on the ground. Sensing Yu An's calm indifference, his tone became a little heavier. "Do you know how dangerous that was?"

"I know." Yu An tipped his head up to look at him, his eyes still calm.

Looking at him like that, He Li'an swallowed the words in his throat.

Yu An had prepared all those self-defense tools and knew very well how to protect himself. There was no need for He Li'an to say anything more.

It seemed that... he had no reason to stop Yu An from moving out and living alone.

"Yu... An..." Song Yuechi came running over, panting heavily, and dropped straight onto the ground. "The police should be here any minute..."

As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of police sirens came from nearby.

After giving their statements at the police station, Song Yuechi was picked up by his driver, while Yu An got into He Li'an's car.

They had always had a driver when they rode together before. This was Yu An's first time alone with He Li'an in such a small space, and he felt as though the car had become more cramped than usual. He couldn't sit still.

He Li'an noticed something was off. "What's wrong?"

"Open the window." Yu An thought it might be too stuffy.

In the early winter weather, the wind rushed in, carrying a bone-chilling cold that stung Yu An's face.

"Close it."

He Li'an patiently rolled the window back up.

Yu An still felt restless. "He Li'an."

"Mm." He Li'an kept his eyes on the road.

"What kind of person do you want to marry?"

As soon as the words fell, the car suddenly braked hard.

There happened to be a crosswalk ahead, so Yu An thought nothing of it and assumed He Li'an was merely waiting for the light to change.

He Li'an's voice was lower than usual. "Why are you asking that?"

"Because..." I want to marry you.

That would be too direct.

Song Yuechi had said that "fishing" wasn't supposed to work like that. He couldn't be so straightforward; he couldn't let He Li'an bite the hook.

Seeing Yu An suddenly fall silent again, He Li'an glanced at him. "Hm?"

"You know the reason." Yu An looked at him with innocent eyes.

He Li'an's hand tightened around the steering wheel. His Adam's apple bobbed twice as he said quietly, "What childish thing are you saying?"

Yu An didn't like hearing that. He huffed, crossed his arms, and ignored him.

He Li'an's lips curved slightly. "I'll help you find a place."

Yu An was unhappy, and his tone was terrible. "No."

Yu An was indifferent and calm most of the time. It was extremely rare for him to sulk so openly.

He Li'an secretly glanced at him several times, finding it rather amusing. "Why not?"