This wasn't love at first sight

Ning Shile had thought all he needed to do was get him a meal. He hadn't expected the little brat Cheng Yang to keep pushing his luck!

"Peel me a banana. The big one." Cheng Yang lay in his hospital bed like a pampered lord, ordering Ning Shile around.

Ning Shile took a deep breath.

[I'll put up with it.]

A banana wasn't enough. His eyes turned to the fruit basket. "Peel me a pear, too."

Ning Shile closed his eyes, tamped down his temper, then opened them again.

[I'll keep putting up with it.]

Cheng Yang watched Ning Shile's hands, and before long, he had another request. "Hey, hey, don't just peel it. Cut it up, too."

Ning Shile glared at him.

[I'll still put up with it.]

"How am I supposed to eat pieces that big? Cut them smaller—"

Enough was enough. There was no need to put up with him anymore!

Ning Shile reached out and stuffed the entire pear into his mouth. "Eat, eat, eat! Go on, eat it!"

Cheng Yang's mouth was stuffed full. When he pulled the pear out, he worked his jaw a little, then couldn't help laughing at Ning Shile's expression. "Why are you still so hot-tempered?"

Ning Shile turned his head away and said coldly, "Why are you still so annoying?"

At that, Cheng Yang tilted his head and leaned into Ning Shile's line of sight. Ning Shile glared at him and turned the other way, but Cheng Yang shamelessly followed him around again. "Do you hate me that much?"

"Yes!" Ning Shile was emphatic, his whole face scrunching up. "I really hate you!"

Cheng Yang laughed, but then his laughter faded.

His eyes filled with loneliness as he said softly, "I'm leaving."

Ning Shile paused and looked at him. "Leaving?"

Cheng Yang nodded and explained, "Going abroad."

Ning Shile was a little surprised. Cheng Yang had indeed gone abroad in the original story, but Cheng An had sent him there.

Now that Cheng An had fallen, no one was left to control Cheng Yang. Why was he still going?

He thought of Su Jinyu, who should have appeared long ago. After such a long delay, he had shown up again today in much the same way.

Ning Shile clenched his fists.

[Could it be... no matter what I do, things will still find some other way back to the original plot?]

But Cheng Yang going abroad wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

In the original story, Cheng Yang had gone abroad to further his studies in computer technology, then encountered a top hacker on the international internet. The hacker was skilled but despicable, and had reached into the core of a secure network. The two had fought an evenly matched battle online.

In the end, Cheng Yang had won, becoming a legend in the process.

Something was clearly off about Cheng Yang's mood. He put away his playful expression and looked intently at Ning Shile. "Will you miss me when I'm gone?"

This was the first time Ning Shile had ever seen Cheng Yang like this.

The Cheng Yang he remembered had always been grinning and cocky.

Now, though, those brown eyes, usually tilted upward, held anticipation mixed with a little fear. It suddenly made Ning Shile feel that perhaps Cheng Yang wasn't so annoying after all.

"Forget it." Cheng Yang suddenly waved a hand, cutting Ning Shile off. "Don't answer. If you say something I don't want to hear, I really won't be able to sleep."

Retreating to get his way, huh? Ning Shile fell for exactly that sort of thing. "I'll miss you, I'll miss you. I'll miss you, all right?"

He waved the little cat ornament in his hand. "Since this cat is so cute, I suppose I can spare you a thought."

Cheng Yang smiled. It seemed he'd chosen the right gift.

"Oh, right." As though something had occurred to him, Cheng Yang asked, "What's really going on between you and Zheng Ye? I'd never heard of you having any connection to the Zheng Family before."

"That? I guess I got dragged in as a stand-in?" Ning Shile thought back to what had just happened between Zheng Ye and Su Jinyu, then explained, "There's nothing between Zheng Ye and me."

"Really..." Cheng Yang looked thoughtful.

He thought for a moment and was about to ask another question when someone suddenly knocked on the door. Then, with a click, it opened, and Zheng Ye appeared in the doorway.

He glanced at Cheng Yang on the bed, then said to Ning Shile, "Lele, let's go."

Ning Shile stood up. "I'll head out, then? I'll come see you another day."

"Okay." Cheng Yang nodded.

Then he looked at Zheng Ye. The man wore a long coat, his expression cool and his posture straight. Everything about him rubbed Cheng Yang the wrong way.

"Hey!"

Zheng Ye looked over.

Cheng Yang's expression was hostile, with a hint of warning. "Treat Lele well, you hear me?"

Zheng Ye said nothing, merely looking at Cheng Yang impassively.

Then his phone suddenly vibrated.

Zheng Ye took it out and found that, at some point, its screen had turned on. Displayed on it was the Zheng Corporation's internal surveillance feed.

Cheng Yang stretched, then looked straight up at Zheng Ye and smiled. "You know what I'm capable of."

It was a blatant threat.

Yet Zheng Ye barely reacted. He put his phone back in his pocket and looked at Ning Shile. "Let's go."

Ning Shile nodded and waved goodbye to Cheng Yang.

Then the two of them left, and the door closed softly behind them.

Click.

Cheng Yang stared blankly at the doorway for a long time before looking at the pear Ning Shile had just cut for him.

He tried a piece.

It was crisp and sweet.

Yet for some reason, it tasted a little bitter.

Cheng Yang sat in a daze for a long while, then suddenly remembered a saying.

An unspoken crush was a war fought alone.

The evening rush hour had passed, and there were far fewer people on the road now. Zheng Ye slowed the car, too.

Sitting in the passenger seat, Ning Shile held back for a long time before finally asking, "Where's Su Jinyu?"

"He left," Zheng Ye answered simply.

Ning Shile paused, then asked, "How bad were his injuries?"

"Not too bad."

Ning Shile murmured an acknowledgment and turned away. After a long silence, he broke the quiet again. "What about you? Were you badly hurt?"

"I'm fine." The other man was still sparing with his words, offering only that brief reply.

[...]

[Zheng Ye's a total lovesick fool! Confirmed!]

[You've only met him once, and now you won't even talk to me?]

Ning Shile grumbled inwardly, feeling rather disgruntled.

[How does someone who seems perfectly normal turn into an idiot the moment he falls in love?]

Ning Shile simmered.

[Then again, Zheng Ye was a complete lovesick fool in the original story!]

[Even when his company's confidential information was stolen, he knew Su Jinyu had done it, but he still wouldn't give up. He even wanted to give Su Jinyu another chance!]

[Whenever Su Jinyu was even a little nice to him, Zheng Ye got so happy and talkative! He'd spill absolutely everything!]

[Oh, right, I think Zheng Ye even told Su Jinyu about Grandma Zheng!]

[For God's sake, those two deserve to be stuck with each other forever! You have my blessing!]

Grandma?

Zheng Ye was a little surprised. Had he actually told Su Jinyu about that, too?

Then it seemed he really had loved Su Jinyu deeply in the original story.

But Zheng Ye couldn't understand it.

He clearly remembered what he had felt the moment he saw Su Jinyu. He could guarantee that it hadn't been anything like love at first sight.

It had been heartache.

His heart had clenched violently, as though a dull blade were slowly carving him apart. It had felt as if he were tightly bound, sinking into a bottomless abyss. He could clearly sense the world around him, yet he couldn't move. Suffocation and pain had swept through his entire body.

Zheng Ye had thought that after spending three years lying in bed in a vegetative state, fully conscious but unable to control his body, he would have become numb to that kind of helplessness. Yet in that moment, he truly hadn't been able to stay calm.

The feeling had been too sorrowful, too real—so real that Zheng Ye had felt as though he'd experienced it before.

But he couldn't remember.

Had I really loved Su Jinyu that much in the original story?

Zheng Ye had never loved anyone, but he knew that truly loving someone wouldn't feel like this.