Chapter 36

When the two came in one after the other, they ran into Fu Cheng changing his shoes by the door.

"Morning." Perfectly at home, Shen Yi took out a pair of slippers and put them on.

Fu Cheng: "...Morning."

When he saw his older brother behind Shen Yi, he immediately remembered what had happened last night. He hesitated, then asked, "Have you eaten?"

Shen Yi: "I have."

He pulled his hoodie down from his head and let out a breath. "Take your time eating. There's still time."

His headphones hung around his neck, looking ready to fall and making one want to catch them for him. The thought had barely crossed Fu Cheng's mind when Shen Yi's headphones slipped down and landed in the palm of a hand.

Following the hand, he saw that it belonged to Fu Yuhe, who passed the headphones to Shen Yi. "Don't drop them. Come to the study with me."

"Thanks." Shen Yi took the headphones, said goodbye to Fu Cheng, and followed Fu Yuhe upstairs.

Fu Cheng watched the two go upstairs. He could guess what his brother wanted with Shen Yi, but he was a little confused... Since when did his brother meddle in other people's business? Was it because Shen Yi was his friend, so by extension his brother saw Shen Yi as a younger brother too?

Was his brother... that kind of person?

A little unnerved, Fu Cheng pushed the thought out of his mind.

Shen Yi followed Fu Yuhe into the study. Fu Yuhe told him to close the door, and Shen Yi obediently did so.

Fu Yuhe tapped his fingertips lightly against the desk, wondering how best to begin. He opened a drawer, placed the pink letter on the desk, and pushed it toward Shen Yi.

Shen Yi raised an eyebrow, a hint of amusement in his eyes. "This is what you said you wanted to give me?"

He picked up the unopened envelope, held it between his index and middle fingers, and turned it over a couple of times. In the lower right corner on one side, he saw three neatly written characters.

-For Shen Yi.

"A love letter," Fu Yuhe said. "Someone gave it to you."

Shen Yi: "Yeah, I can see that. Why do you have it?"

"Not important." Fu Yuhe didn't want to explain. "Aren't you going to read it?"

Shen Yi: "Of course I should read something like this alone. Thanks, Brother Fu."

He waved the pink envelope in his hand. There wasn't a shadow on his smiling face; his smile was radiant... dazzling.

"You're very happy." Fu Yuhe's voice was soft.

Shen Yi: "Of course being liked is something to be happy about."

Fu Yuhe: "What are you going to do after you read it?"

Shen Yi: "I'll have to wait until I've read it to know."

Fu Yuhe: "..."

The brief silence added an intangible pressure to the atmosphere, as though they were wrapped in a cocoon. Even the air felt suffocating.

At a meeting, when Fu Yuhe fell silent and expressionless, the people below him wouldn't even dare breathe too loudly. They would reflect on whether something was wrong with their proposals.

That was the powerful aura he naturally exuded.

Fu Yuhe was a little angry. Shen Yi could feel it.

"Brother Fu, don't you want other people to like me?" Shen Yi asked.

Fu Yuhe's lips twitched. "Why wouldn't I?"

Shen Yi: "That's good, then."

Fu Yuhe: "..."

It was like punching cotton. He couldn't vent his anger and had to swallow it all back down.

"I thought you were angry," Shen Yi said. "If there's nothing else, I'll go out first."

Fu Yuhe: "Don't you have anything you want to say to me?"

Shen Yi: "Ah... I forgot to say good morning."

"Not that." Fu Yuhe pressed his tongue against his cheek. "Why didn't you reply to my message?"

"Message?" Shen Yi thought for a moment and remembered that a few nights ago, Fu Yuhe had sent him a message asking, "Are you busy?" He said, "I fell asleep. You didn't send another message after that, so I thought you probably didn't have anything urgent to discuss with me."

It was unclear whether Fu Yuhe believed him. He stared fixedly at Shen Yi's deceptive face, which seemed to make people want to forgive him no matter what kind of lie he told.

Leaving everything else aside, once Shen Yi's face lost its sharp edge, it could easily win someone's favor and bring them closer. At first, Fu Yuhe had grown wary and suspicious because of the sense that something about him didn't fit, but at the same time, he had unwittingly been drawn to the contradictions Shen Yi displayed.

-His clothes soaked through after he was caught in the rain, the lean waist revealed when he lifted his shirt to wipe the sweat from his face, the lines of his bare upper body after a shower, the youthful sharpness of his little canine teeth when he smiled... his personality, seemingly innocent and pure yet harboring wicked thoughts.

And his sweet talk was like a jar of honey, softening one's heart now and then, while his kisses were so domineering they made one's legs go weak, not to mention how clingy he had been a little while ago...

All of this grew clear in Fu Yuhe's mind.

But sometimes, this person also made him grind his teeth with frustration.

He wanted to grab him and teach him a proper lesson.

Chapter 17: Only you

"Do you really not know, or are you pretending not to?" Fu Yuhe said in a low voice. "That's not what I'm talking about."

He was referring to Shen Yi's sudden change in attitude.

Shen Yi tilted his head and chuckled. "I don't understand, Brother Fu. If you don't make yourself clear, how am I supposed to know what you're talking about?"

Fu Yuhe: "..."

He didn't believe Shen Yi couldn't understand what he meant. Shen Yi was clever; at the parent-teacher conference, he had understood a single look from him, so how could he not understand this?

He understood. He just didn't want to answer.

The quiet atmosphere in the study grew somewhat tense. Fu Yuhe's eyes darkened, while Shen Yi seemed completely oblivious to the gloomy aura he gave off.