Chapter 7: One Wrong Move

Before opening the door, Yan Xinfeng had already guessed who it was.

“What are you doing here?” He stopped at the door, his voice laced with deliberate detachment.

“Normally, people greet each other first when they meet.”

Wei Tingxia leaned against the doorframe and reached out to him, wiggling his fingertips. “Hello.”

The knuckles pressing on the door handle tightened slightly. Yan Xinfeng said flatly, “What happened yesterday when you greeted me?”

He had nearly sent the man to the emergency room.

When the topic came up, Wei Tingxia did feel a bit guilty. The hand that had greeted him slowly dropped and ended up behind his back, an obedient smile hanging on his face.

“Can I come in?” He asked politely.

Yan Xinfeng replied quickly, “No.”

He had just been haunted by the shadows of the past and had no mood to tangle with Wei Tingxia. Even looking at him one more time made him feel like he had aged two years.

But this was not something he could avoid just because he did not want to.

The Wei Tingxia who had been shut out did not panic. His gaze wandered down the corridor.

“Where are Hu Yao and the others?” He asked casually.

“I told them to rest—”

Before he finished speaking, Wei Tingxia, having gotten the answer he wanted, slipped inside through the gap between Yan Xinfeng and the doorframe like a slippery fish and boldly walked into the suite.

Yan Xinfeng, who realized too late: “…”

Shouting for the bodyguards to drag him out now would look too ugly. Yan Xinfeng took a deep breath and closed the door.

When he turned around, Wei Tingxia was already nestled in that single-person sofa—he seemed to have a particular fondness for this spot. But compared to daytime, the current Wei Tingxia showed a bit more respect for working in the early morning hours and did not put his legs on the table again.

The suite was immersed in dimness, with only a few fixed light sources and the computer screen emitting cold light. Wei Tingxia leisurely watched Yan Xinfeng approach, shadows of varying depths cast on his sharply contoured face by the light.

“What exactly do you want?” Yan Xinfeng’s voice carried vigilance.

“Nothing special,” Wei Tingxia said casually. “I just can’t sleep.”

This sentence was like a key that instantly unlocked the floodgates of memory.

Wei Tingxia had trouble sleeping well before. Normal people went to bed at ten and slept until six the next morning, but after lying down at ten, Wei Tingxia often woke up at three or four in the morning. It was as if his body, after enduring a harsh and difficult life for too long, forcibly compressed his sleep time again and again, just to fight for a way out in the future.

Later, when they lived together and Wei Tingxia slept in Yan Xinfeng’s arms, he no longer woke up in the early morning.

His explanation for it was that he knew Yan Xinfeng would not let him suffer.

Yan Xinfeng had always kept those words in his heart.

“…”

He slowly sat down across from Wei Tingxia. His gaze swept over the soft pajamas the man in front of him wore, passed over the messy tips of his hair, and then he slowly said, “Not used to it yet?”

Wei Tingxia said, “I can’t get used to it.”

“Pretentious.”

Staying up late to handle work brought not only dry, aching eyes but also a brain not fully awake under external stimuli. Yan Xinfeng said the mocking words too playfully, almost like flirting.

“I’m not,” Wei Tingxia denied, frowning in irritation. “I just can’t sleep.”

He curled up on the sofa, irritable from the poor sleep, his fingers unconsciously tapping the sofa surface, making faint sounds.

Yan Xinfeng looked in the direction of the sound and was then drawn to the faint scars on the fingertips. This was one difference between Wei Tingxia and his past self—the scars had formed over these five years.

In the early morning hours, with the night deep and quiet, the cruise ship sailed across the boundless sea. The only sounds were each other’s breathing and the faint surging of waves.

The indoor light was too dim, but it was precisely this heavy darkness that shrouded half of their faces, making it impossible to see each other’s expressions clearly. Instead, it brought a rare peace of mind compared to daytime.

For the who-knows-how-manyth time, Yan Xinfeng asked, “What do you want?”

He was very tired and very confused. He desperately needed an answer.

Following his question, Wei Tingxia looked at him. “I think you know.”

Yan Xinfeng smiled.

“You want money.” He said with certainty.

Wei Tingxia did not deny it. He said, “Indeed, but I want something else too.”

Yan Xinfeng let out a mocking huff and crossed his legs. “Should I be glad that I still have something that can attract you?”

This was harsher than any previous words. They really should not be talking about this.

A long-separated reunion was one thing, but the problem was that they had left behind many issues before parting. Old wounds were hard to heal, leaving rough, uneven scabs that still hurt like a fresh cut when pressed.

Wei Tingxia thought briefly, then suddenly stood up.

His movement was abrupt, without any warning. Yan Xinfeng was stunned for a moment as he watched Wei Tingxia go around the coffee table and, two seconds later, straddle his lap.

“…”

The headache that had slightly eased flared up again, as if two long needles drilled in through his temples, scraping against his skull and stirring his brain.

Along with the pain came an indescribable restlessness, burning in his throat like fire—not anger, nor desire.

Shadows fell from Wei Tingxia like a thin veil. Yan Xinfeng tilted his head back slightly, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he sized up the man sitting on him.

The motion highlighted his facial contours well. Yan Xinfeng was thinner than five years ago. Wei Tingxia looked for a while, then slowly reached out, his fingertips brushing his cheek.

“Yan Xinfeng…”

Wei Tingxia called his name softly, gently, with a hook hidden inside. “Actually, we shouldn’t talk about these things. It’s a long-separated reunion—we should do something else.”

Yan Xinfeng was really about to laugh from anger this time.

“Wei Tingxia, how are you this slutty?”

He asked with his mouth, but his hand unconsciously lifted, gripping the slender waist in his arms—as if to lift him off, or to press him deeper into his embrace. “Haven’t you found anyone else these years? How come you pounce on me the moment you see me—”

His words cut off abruptly. Yan Xinfeng jerked his head back, his chest heaving violently. In his arms, Wei Tingxia slowly licked the fresh bite mark on his Adam’s apple before sitting up straight.

Staring at the bite mark on Yan Xinfeng’s throat, Wei Tingxia hooked up the corner of his lips in satisfaction. After thinking for a moment, he said directly, “Don’t worry, no one is better than you.”

This sentence was like a stimulant shot straight into an artery. The pounding heartbeat instantly occupied all of Yan Xinfeng’s thoughts. Chaotic, frenzied desire clamored and struggled behind the gate, and Wei Tingxia personally turned the valve, letting desire overwhelm the last remnants of their reason.

Yan Xinfeng did not even know how they moved to the bed. Only in the few seconds when reason returned did he grip Wei Tingxia’s thigh and lift him up, seeing moonlight fall on the sea surface and reflect back into their room.

The shimmering water light reflected in Wei Tingxia’s eyes. He lay on his back, a faint smile on his lips, his gaze toward Yan Xinfeng no different from before.

Five years seemed worthless in the rush of desire, but it was only seemingly so.

Yan Xinfeng could not help bending down and kissing his lover as he once had. Five years ago, he had been played like a toy in the palm of Wei Tingxia’s hand. Five years later, it was the same.

The headache grew even more intense.

…

…

The next morning was a total disaster scene.

The moment Yan Xinfeng felt the warmth beside his pillow, he felt everything was over.

Although objectively speaking, this was the best sleep he had gotten recently without any medication, it did not stop him from feeling dizzy and lightheaded after waking up.

He should not have stayed up late handling work last night, and even more, he should not have opened the door knowing who was knocking.

Now it was too late. Yan Xinfeng stared at the mother-of-pearl sheen patterns on the ceiling, a bitter taste rising in his throat.

The already tangled mess had been knotted dead by his own hands.

The bedding beside him was bundled into a lump, only revealing a head of messy hair. Wei Tingxia slept deeply, his upper body wrapped tightly, but half of one sleek, long leg stuck out from the covers, unceremoniously draped over Yan Xinfeng’s waist. Kiss marks trailed from his ankle all the way into the bedding—it was clear they had gone wild last night.

“…”

Yan Xinfeng took one glance and then retracted his gaze as if burned by fire. When he got out of bed, he did not dare look back, moving very lightly to avoid disturbing the good dream of the person beside him.

By the time he appeared in front of Lu Zhao, forty minutes had passed.

Lu Zhao was having a sweet video call with his fiancée while eating breakfast. When Yan Xinfeng entered, he was drinking water with a very strange smile on his face. His gaze shifted casually, then nailed dead onto Yan Xinfeng’s neck.

The next second, a mouthful of water sprayed out like a fountain. Fortunately, Lu Zhao reacted quickly, or it would have all splashed on his phone.

“Damn…”

Ignoring everything, Lu Zhao jumped up anxiously, blew several kisses at the camera, and said, “Baby, something came up on my end. I’ll hang up now—we’ll chat later, muah muah!”

Without waiting for his girlfriend’s reply, Lu Zhao ended the call and rushed to Yan Xinfeng in one stride, his expression shocked.

Yan Xinfeng ignored his theatrics and walked straight past him to sit down.

Lu Zhao followed closely, his voice pitched higher. “You slept with him?”

“…”

Yan Xinfeng glanced at him and said nothing—silence was admission.

Lu Zhao slapped his thigh hard. “I knew I shouldn’t have put you two on the same floor. Dry tinder and a blazing fire—you either fuck or you fuck! Look—”

He pointed at Yan Xinfeng’s neck. “—good enough!”

Yan Xinfeng gave him a disgusted look.

He had come here precisely to avoid Wei Tingxia, but it proved not to be a good choice. Lu Zhao was more annoying.

Lu Zhao was still grumbling in frustration. “Look at you—usually you’re a decisive, all-powerful guy that no one can hook even if they try. How does he manage to treat you like a dog? Why is that?”

He was genuinely baffled. From the moment Wei Tingxia appeared until now, this question had circled in Lu Zhao’s mind without an answer.

After muttering to himself for a while, Lu Zhao finally considered his brother’s feelings.

He patted Yan Xinfeng’s shoulder. “It’s fine, you slept, so you slept. You’re both adults, willing parties—no one lost out.”

Yan Xinfeng said coldly, “If you can’t talk nicely, shut up.”

“Hey, how do you talk? I’m just friendly comforting you.”

Lu Zhao shook his head, then had a sudden realization about what Yan Xinfeng was thinking and changed tack. “It’s fine. I think the main issue last time was you letting him run. As long as he doesn’t run this time, you two can still live happily ever after.”