Didn't you just want to come to my place?

Fan Jin raised an eyebrow, set the coffee on his table, and went back to the counter.

Shan Ye looked at the coffee in front of him. It had the same latte art as before-a tree.

Was this the only design he knew how to make?

Shan Ye smiled.

He cupped the mug in both hands and took a sip. This time, he wasn't as reckless as he'd been the first time. He drank in small sips, carefully savoring the flavor.

About half an hour later, Shan Ye was looking at his phone. He'd just posted to WeChat Moments, using a photo he'd taken from the side of the coffee and the flowers on the table.

A little while later, Fan Jin answered a call. Shan Ye didn't know who was calling; he only saw Fan Jin nod and say, "Okay, I'll be right over."

For some reason, Shan Ye didn't like hearing people say that, especially when he was spending time with someone. If they answered a call and said they'd be right over, he would feel uneasy.

After cleaning up the counter, Fan Jin said something to Zhang Nan, then put on his jacket and came over.

Shan Ye looked at him. "Are you leaving?"

"Come with me."

Shan Ye's eyes widened.

Where? Who cared where?

As long as he could go with Boss Fan, anywhere was fine.

Shan Ye immediately stood up and put his phone away. "Let's go."

They left the café one after the other. Fan Jin didn't say where they were going, and Shan Ye didn't ask.

Shan Ye followed behind him, a smile lingering on his lips.

Fan Jin glanced back at him, and Shan Ye immediately wiped the smile off his face.

They stopped at an intersection, where Fan Jin hailed a taxi.

Shan Ye stayed close beside him. Fan Jin opened the door and let Shan Ye get in first.

They both sat in the back seat, and Shan Ye spent the entire ride brimming with anticipation.

For no particular reason, he even sent his mother a WeChat message: "Mom, I might not come home tonight. Or I might come home late."

Then he put his phone away, thoroughly satisfied. The smile never left his face.

Fan Jin glanced at him, unsure what Shan Ye was so happy about.

Twenty minutes later, the taxi stopped, and they got out.

Shan Ye followed him to the entrance of a shop.

Shan Ye: "?"

A car dealership?

Fan Jin walked straight inside and found the person who'd called him.

Shan Ye spotted his own car inside at once. He hadn't seen it for days and had actually missed it a little.

Fan Jin tossed him the keys. "Your car's fixed."

Shan Ye stood stunned for a couple of seconds, watching Fan Jin go to the front desk to sign the paperwork.

He looked at his car and let out a deep sigh. So it was you getting fixed. Why did they have to fix you so fast?

He walked around to the rear of the car. The big dent was gone, and so were the scratches. Boss Fan had hit his newly purchased Audi A6. That had to be fate, too.

Shan Ye's lips curved upward when he saw Fan Jin coming over.

"Anything still wrong with the car?"

Shan Ye shook his head. "No, it's fine."

"What about yours?" He remembered that Fan Jin's car had been damaged too, but he hadn't seen it here.

Fan Jin was silent for a few seconds. "I fixed it myself."

Shan Ye raised an eyebrow. "You know how to fix cars, too?"

"Yeah."

Shan Ye said nothing.

"I'm heading off." Fan Jin slipped his hands into his pockets and started toward the exit.

"Wait."

"Let me give you a ride."

Fan Jin turned back and looked at him impassively.

Afraid he would refuse, Shan Ye said, "You already got my car fixed. Giving you a ride isn't asking too much, is it?"

Fan Jin turned around, walked back, and opened the passenger door of Shan Ye's car before getting in.

Seeing that he'd agreed, Shan Ye felt an inexplicable surge of private delight.

The wind had picked up outside that day. It looked like rain, and the air was a little chilly.

Shan Ye turned the temperature up a little. "Are you cold?"

"No." Fan Jin looked out the window.

An awkward silence hung between them. Shan Ye was a chatterbox; his conversations rarely fell this flat. Faced with someone as quiet as Boss Fan, he racked his brains.

So he grasped for something to say. "Boss Fan, I'd had this car for less than a month when I ran into you. That has to be fate."

The other man gave a quiet "Mm."

"That day... why did you suddenly rear-end me?" He'd never been able to figure that out. The road had been wide, and there hadn't been any other cars. No matter how bad Fan Jin's driving was, he shouldn't have rear-ended him.

"Were you distracted?" Shan Ye asked.

Fan Jin said, "Yes. I was distracted."

"Then you really need to be careful. You can't let yourself get distracted while driving. It's dangerous."

Fan Jin ignored him.

He really had been distracted that day, because of his grandmother. She was getting old and had called to ask when he was going to get married. Fan Jin was the old woman's last remaining descendant in the world. When his mother passed away, his grandmother had still been able to get around on her own. Now she truly was old, unable to walk or move about, spending all day lying in a nursing home.

Fortunately, her memory was still intact, and she still worried about Fan Jin finding a partner.

Fan Jin had fallen silent for a long time on the phone that day. In the end, he'd told her, "I'm sorry, Grandma. I can't get married, and I won't have children."

His grandmother had been so angry that she started coughing, scolding him in a trembling voice. "If you don't get married, you'll end up all alone in your old age, just like me. When you die, there won't even be anyone to bury you."

Those words had hurt Fan Jin deeply. He knew his grandmother had always been lonely, especially during the ten years he'd spent in the military, when their visits had been few and far between.

But ever since leaving the military, Fan Jin had often visited her at the nursing home, bringing her food, clothes, and everyday necessities.

Fan Jin's heart ached. He had no father or mother, and now his grandmother didn't have much time left either.

He'd promised her, "Don't worry. I'll take care of you for the rest of your life and make sure you have a proper burial."

Lost in those thoughts, he'd failed to notice the red light ahead and crashed into Shan Ye's car.

Seeing him staring out the window, Shan Ye asked, "Boss Fan, where do you live?"

"Spring Breeze Alley. Do you know it?"

Shan Ye paused. "Uh... I will in a second." He brought up the navigation app on his phone to search for it.

Keeping his eyes on the road ahead, he tapped at the screen, but failed to type the right characters several times.

Suddenly, Fan Jin leaned over to enter the address on his phone for him. Shan Ye hadn't even pulled his hand back yet. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Fan Jin's ear, very close to him.

A faint scent of laundry detergent drifted from him.

Shan Ye gripped the steering wheel with both hands, pressed his lips together, and kept his gaze fixed on the road ahead.

Man, you're interfering with my safe driving!!

Shan Ye followed the navigation to an apartment building. Their city, Muzhou, had plenty of high-rises and plenty of old apartment buildings, though they were in different districts. Shan Ye lived in a single-level apartment of over two hundred square meters downtown and rarely came out this way.

When they reached Spring Breeze Alley, Fan Jin said, "Just stop here. Parking's difficult up ahead. There's only a small parking lot."

"It's fine. Tell me how to get to the parking lot."

Of course he couldn't stop here and let Boss Fan out. Wouldn't that mean getting sent straight back home?

Following Fan Jin's directions, Shan Ye found a space in a cramped parking lot.

After getting out, Fan Jin turned back and said, "Come on."

"Where?"

Fan Jin lowered his gaze slightly. "You parked here because you wanted to come to my place, didn't you?"