He Li'an, Are You About to Fall for Me?

Yu An could hear the amusement in He Li'an's voice.

He thought He Li'an was becoming more and more inexplicable.

Wouldn't ordinary people be upset after being rejected? But He Li'an was different. The more Yu An rejected him, the happier he seemed.

"You're neither my boyfriend nor my partner, so why should I accept your help?" There was a hint of petulance in Yu An's words.

He Li'an's expression visibly darkened. "That blond-haired classmate..."

Yu An reminded him, "Song Yuechi."

He Li'an pretended not to hear and continued, "Why can he go apartment hunting with you?"

"He's my friend."

"I'm your senior."

"Other than freshmen, everyone is my senior."

"..."

For a moment, He Li'an had nothing to say.

Over the past few days, Yu An had shown him goodwill at every turn. Even that day in the student union office, when He Li'an had revealed a less-than-gentle side of himself, Yu An had still been willing to stay close to him.

But now, because of that blond-haired male student, Yu An was speaking to him with such indifference.

For the rest of the journey, neither of them spoke again.

They arrived home just in time for dinner. The atmosphere at the table was equally tense. It was the first time Zhu Wen had encountered something like this, so he did not dare say much.

After Yu An finished eating, he said as usual, "I'm full," then got up from the table and left.

He Li'an glanced at Zhu Wen.

Zhu Wen tacitly turned and followed him out. He soon returned to report, "Young Master Yu An went for a walk."

As if unable to believe it, He Li'an confirmed it again. "A walk?"

Zhu Wen said, "Yes."

He Li'an suddenly gave a short laugh, his tone slightly cold. "Very good."

Zhu Wen rubbed his chilled arm and asked in confusion, "What's so good about it?"

"After arguing with someone, he still has the mood to go for a walk. Isn't that a good mentality?" He Li'an still wore a smile, but there was no warmth to it.

Zhu Wen cautiously asked, "Did you and Young Master Yu An have an argument?"

He Li'an said nothing.

Zhu Wen automatically took that as confirmation. "Then is it possible that Young Master Yu An doesn't think the two of you argued at all?"

He Li'an abruptly raised his head.

Yu An sat in the Wind-and-Rain Corridor, answering Song Yuechi's call.

"Today seriously scared me to death, but you were really amazing. You took down all three traffickers, Yu An. You're practically my god..." Song Yuechi launched into an endless stream of praise.

Yu An listened seriously and accepted it gladly. "Mm."

"Oh, right." Song Yuechi shifted the subject. "Are you and He Li'an okay? At the police station, I thought his expression looked awful the whole time."

Without thinking, Yu An said, "We're fine."

Although He Li'an had said something in the car that Yu An did not like, and Yu An had been a little unhappy at the time, it was fine now.

He was someone who held grudges, but he did not hold grudges against He Li'an.

"That's good." Song Yuechi let out a sigh of relief. He Li'an was already someone who seemed different on the surface than he was underneath in Song Yuechi's eyes. Song Yuechi was truly afraid that, if He Li'an got angry, he might do something bad to Yu An.

Yu An unconsciously pinched the corner of his clothes. "How did you run into He Li'an today?"

"I met him as soon as I came out of that road. He happened to be getting out of his car and walking toward us."

"...Oh."

After ending the call, Yu An sat there a while longer before getting up and heading back. The moment he entered, he saw He Li'an sitting on the sofa, reading documents.

He was dressed in loungewear, reclining comfortably and lazily against the sofa. His long legs were crossed, his eyes lowered as he slowly turned the pages.

So handsome.

Yu An watched him for quite a while, yet He Li'an did not notice him.

So Yu An took the initiative to walk over.

He did not sit directly beside He Li'an. Instead, he stood there, lowering his head as he quietly watched him.

He Li'an noticed him and slightly lifted his eyelids. "You're back."

His tone was a little cold, making him seem distant.

Yu An lightly frowned. "Thank you."

"Hm?" He Li'an continued reading the documents, acting as though he did not care much.

"I know you weren't just passing by."

The man who had been relaxed and languid moments ago seemed to have been struck by an immobilizing pressure point. He froze instantly, his body stiff with undisguised loss of composure.

Yu An had been observing his reaction ever since he started speaking. Such an obvious lapse made Yu An happy.

He somewhat understood why He Li'an sometimes liked teasing him.

Teasing someone was not about watching them make a fool of themselves. It was about wanting to see their most genuine emotional reactions because of you.

It was a very intimate interaction, exclusive and deeply possessive, one that could bring a kind of spiritual pleasure.

A little addictive.

After a long while, He Li'an put down the documents. When he looked up, his expression was still fairly calm, but the moment he saw Yu An's lips curled high in a smile, it cracked.

His annoyance at being exposed could no longer be hidden. He gritted his teeth. "Yu An!"

His voice was sharper, but it held no real aggression.

Yu An sat beside him with a smile. "Senior, you really love getting angry today. This is already the third time you've gotten angry."

He Li'an was too handsome. Even when he was angry, he looked handsome.

Yu An decided he would make him angry often from now on.

He sat as upright as though he were in a textbook, with a rare, brilliantly sincere smile on his face. Altogether, he still looked like an innocent, well-behaved child, but He Li'an could sense that the child was entertaining bad ideas.

Was exposing him really making Yu An this happy?

He Li'an simply tossed the documents aside, speaking with a self-abandoning air. "Yes. All three times I got angry were because of you."

Yu An's eyes widened slightly in confusion.

That innocent expression again.

But He Li'an would not fall for it again.

He held Yu An's gaze. "I got angry this morning because you decided to move out without telling me beforehand. I got angry this afternoon because I was afraid you'd realize I had deliberately followed you. And just now, I got angry because you exposed me without mercy, and I felt a little embarrassed."

He was not worried in the slightest that saying this would increase Yu An's psychological burden, because Yu An was mentally stronger than he had imagined.

He even somewhat looked forward to seeing Yu An's flustered expression.

Yu An was too clever, clever to the point of being a little sly.

If He Li'an had to use a small animal to describe Yu An again, he definitely would not call him a simple, harmless puppy. He was a little fox.

A little fox who had not yet grown up—beautiful, sly, a little fox.

Yu An began to think it over, analyzing it seriously. "You're not someone with a bad temper, but today, you got angry three times because of me. That means you care about me a lot."

He Li'an pressed his lips together slightly and offered no opinion.

"So..." Yu An leaned closer, looking straight into his eyes as he asked seriously, "He Li'an, are you about to fall for me?"

His clear voice was so pleasant it seemed to grow tiny hooks, boldly reaching into He Li'an's chest and making his breath catch for a moment.