Chapter 42 Part 2

“Exactly, exactly,” a man with a large chest quickly agreed in a somewhat coquettish voice. “The boss is still willing to take us on this trip despite the poor performance, which shows high hopes for everyone. Don’t get discouraged—work hard, and maybe one day we’ll open a branch here in Hong Kong.”

Zhu Ran: “…”

Alright, so they were gym trainers on a team-building outing.

Zhu Ran relaxed. Then the woman in front suddenly turned and asked, “Hey, you two gentlemen, interested in swimming or fitness?”

Zhu Ran: “…”

When he did not reply, she pressed on. “What about Pilates or boxing?”

Zhu Ran: “…Thanks, no need.”

Pushing sales on tourists—business must really be bad. Zhu Ran did not want to talk anymore and simply put on his earphones to play deaf. After a bit, he realized he might be ignoring Huo Boyan, so he handed him one of the earphones too.

The sky was still bright, the sun half-set, though the streetlights had already come on. The double-decker bus cruised through bustling streets, the breeze gentle enough to make even the muggy air bearable.

Zhu Ran passed the earphone over, and Huo Boyan’s palm felt scorching hot, slightly sticky with moisture.

It was then that Zhu Ran noticed Huo Boyan’s lips had turned very red, just like they had been on the cruise ship back when Huo Boyan had forcefully kissed him—that deep crimson shade.

Zhu Ran’s throat bobbed as he deemed the Cantonese song playing too suggestive and switched tracks on his phone.

The bus inched forward slowly, and a husky, tender voice emerged from the earphones.

“Always dreaming of flying past meridians above the clouds

Can’t tell night from day

Carrying expectations too big to contain, rushing over in haste

Thinking it over once, once again”

Rush hour choked the city with traffic, the bus starting and stopping amid distant taillights twinkling like stars.

Zhu Ran brushed back his wind-tousled hair. Just then, Huo Boyan clasped his palm with that burning hand.

The bus jolted from the congestion, and Zhu Ran’s heart pounded erratically in tandem.

“We search for each other in the middle of this road

We lose ourselves at both ends of this path

Whenever dusk sunlight renders everything gold

Look how that yellow dazzles so bright”

The bus reached an open seaside stretch, and the sunset burst out from behind the buildings, golden light flooding the world in an instant.

Zhu Ran instinctively squinted, then quickly adjusted to the not-too-intense glow. He looked up at Huo Boyan’s face in the sunlight.

Huo Boyan happened to be looking at him too, his pupil color lightening and turning translucent in the sun, as if he had been gazing at Zhu Ran for a century.

Zhu Ran’s cheeks heated, his heartbeat growing more intense.

By now, the bus had entered the highlight of the route: the seaside road with sunset, ocean, glittering skyscrapers, and a romantic sea breeze.

But neither paid it any mind. Zhu Ran and Huo Boyan’s gazes locked, their heads inching closer and closer…

“Whoa~” A muffled exclamation rose around them.

Though these people tried to keep their voices down, dozens of robust young men and women had impressive lung capacity—it came off as comically conspicuous.

Zhu Ran snapped out of his daze and whipped his face to the side, spotting passengers from the lower deck crammed at the stairwell, watching!

Huo Boyan, kiss missed: “…”

The onlookers seemed to realize they were in the way and retracted like turtles. Then the muscular female fitness trainer in front of Zhu Ran asked, “Sorry to interrupt, but how about this—I can film a video for you?”

Zhu Ran glanced at Huo Boyan, who did not object, and handed over his gimbal camera.

The fitness trainer took the Pocket 3, and Zhu Ran and Huo Boyan’s faces appeared in the narrow screen. At first, they were a bit stiff and polite in the shared frame, but the trainer directed them shamelessly:

“Yeah, yeah, just like that—keep smiling.”

“Closer, a bit closer.”

“Perfect—now kiss.”

Zhu Ran: “…”

The heads that had been pressed together darted apart at those words.

Huo Boyan took back the gimbal camera, his smile cooling noticeably. “Thanks, but no kiss.”

Realizing she had messed up again, the fitness trainer shut up and turned away, pretending to be deaf. The other trainers swiftly followed suit, faces averted in a collective “we saw nothing, carry on” pose.

Zhu Ran: “…”

No way could they kiss now!

Fortunately, Huo Boyan had no intention of kissing anyway. He simply held Zhu Ran’s hand and calmly gazed at the distant view.

On the security company’s special operations public channel, Ari pressed her earpiece with one hand and called the escort observers. “Duck Head, Duck Head—did the boss kiss his boyfriend?”

“No,” Duck Head replied.

Ari grumbled, “The boss is such a pure soul?”

Chen Jiaming cut in. “If you hadn’t interrupted, they would’ve kissed ages ago.”

Ari whipped around in shock.

Huo Boyan kept smiling, but it was chillingly cold.

Ari’s back hairs stood on end. She made an excuse about checking something and bolted.