Rumor-Mongering

Duan Xu put away the note, poured himself a glass of warm water, then sat at the dining table and obediently finished the food Shen Yanlang had made.

After eating, he returned to bed and leaned against the headboard. He glanced at his phone. "Shen Yanlang should still be on the plane at this hour, right?"

After thinking it over, Duan Xu still sent Shen Yanlang a message: [Let me know when you arrive. I'm a little sleepy, so I'm going to sleep first. Good night.]

Not long after sending the message, Duan Xu lay down and fell asleep.

But Shen Yanlang was not on a plane at that moment. He was alone in another one of his apartments.

The lights were off. Shen Yanlang sat on the sofa, clutching his phone as though it were some precious treasure he could not bear to let go of.

The moment the screen lit up, he immediately picked it up to check. Seeing the message eased some of the irritation that had plagued him for so long. He stroked the words on the screen, seemingly able to feel Duan Xu's soft skin, and he craved it deeply.

"Xuxu..."

*

Duan Xu slept for a long time, from after seven in the evening until six in the morning. When he woke up, it was still dark outside, but he had slept too much and could not go back to sleep.

He sat up and turned on the light, then immediately checked his phone. Shen Yanlang had sent him a message sometime after three in the morning.

Shen Yanlang: [I'm here. Good night.]

Duan Xu curled his lips into a smile and calculated the time difference. It should have been around eleven at night over there, so he first asked: [Are you asleep?]

Shen