Jiang Xu had a rather lazy personality and had no motivation for anything other than making money. He finished his noodles in a few bites, then sat at the table, staring blankly at the unwashed bowl and chopsticks for a while before subconsciously looking at Gu Qingzhou.

Gu Qingzhou noticed his gaze but paid it no mind. He set his book aside, got up from the sofa, and went to the bathroom to take a shower.

Jiang Xu could only resign himself to washing the dishes. Not knowing how to cook was one thing, but not knowing how to wash dishes was a bit too fake; even he didn't believe it. Perhaps it was an occupational hazard, but Jiang Xu always habitually sized up the design style of the room, finally concluding that he found it displeasing no matter how he looked at it.

A home should feel like a home; it should be warm and cozy. Gu Qingzhou had decorated this place like a hotel. The edges and corners were rigid and stiff, and it looked completely devoid of life. He probably wasn't even afraid of ghosts at night.

Gu Qingzhou took about twice as long as usual to shower today. By the time he walked out of the bathroom, Jiang Xu was already leaning against the sofa playing a game, currently getting a team together with Li Si'ao and the others.

Li Si'ao had dragged Fang Qia, that black hole of a gamer, into playing again: "Bro, wait a bit before starting the match. She's blow-drying her hair, she's not ready yet."

Jiang Xu was already used to it. He took advantage of the free time to play Anipop. Gu Qingzhou sat down beside him, his hair still slightly damp with moisture, making his fair skin seem even more translucent and cold, which in turn made the wound on the other half of his face extremely conspicuous.

He probably wanted to continue reading his book, but for some reason, he picked it up halfway and then put it back down, asking casually, "You're going to play a game?"

Jiang Xu was originally lounging on the sofa, his legs propped up just right. But because Gu Qingzhou sat down, he had to bend his knees. His gaze was fixed on his phone screen as he gave a mumbled reply, "Yeah, a team shooter."

Gu Qingzhou paused for a moment, then suddenly said, "I play too."

Jiang Xu gave him an impassive glance, then looked away, pretending he hadn't heard.

Gu Qingzhou pressed his lips together slightly. "Let me play with you."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Xu couldn't help but remember the last time he'd been headshotted by him. His expression was a bit strange. He tapped his phone screen unconsciously, his eyelid twitching. "No, I refuse."

Gu Qingzhou looked a little unhappy. "Why?"

'Don't you have any idea why?' Jiang Xu thought. He played games for fun, not to die. He rolled over, deliberately not speaking to or looking at Gu Qingzhou.

Gu Qingzhou probably knew the reason. He paused, then pressed his lips together and said, "I won't kill you this time."

Jiang Xu felt quite amused upon hearing this but still didn't look at him, keeping his eyes glued to the screen as he played. Gu Qingzhou, displeased, tried to snatch his phone, but Jiang Xu didn't let him succeed. With a flick of his wrist, he hid the phone behind his back.

Jiang Xu looked at him with a grin, saying shamelessly, "What are you trying to do, molest me?"

Gu Qingzhou's cool fingertips were gripping his wrist. He subconsciously let go upon hearing that and shot him a fierce glare. Unfortunately, with his damp hair falling over his forehead, he didn't look very intimidating. Paired with the wound on his face, he actually looked a bit pitiful.

It had been many years since graduation, and Jiang Xu was long past the age of being a hot-headed youth. But for some reason, he was always a bit of a tease in front of Gu Qingzhou. Seeing this, he stopped teasing him and compromised, "Alright, fine, I'll let you play. The match is starting, I'll invite you in."

With an extra person in the team, Li Si'ao naturally noticed and immediately sent Jiang Xu a voice message to prove his innocence: "I wasn't the one who invited Manager Gu in, ah. Don't blame me again when he takes you out later."

The voice message was playing out loud. Jiang Xu raised an eyebrow upon hearing it, thinking that last time, if it hadn't been for dodging Fang Qia, that gaming black hole, he wouldn't have been taken out by Gu Qingzhou.

Gu Qingzhou didn't say anything. He hugged a throw pillow, his expression placid, showing no sign of embarrassment, but the tips of his fair ears were growing slightly hot, a faint blush gradually spreading over them.

Some time had passed since their last game, and when a new round started, the situation was subtly different. For example, Fang Qia was finally no longer sticking to Jiang Xu, but was instead completely within Li Si'ao's protective circle. Another example: Jiang Xu had gained a little tail...

Jiang Xu went to the East District, and Gu Qingzhou also went to the East District. Jiang Xu went to the West District, and Gu Qingzhou also went to the West District. After this repeated a few times, Jiang Xu finally couldn't resist raising an eyebrow and asking, "Why do you keep following me?"

To be honest, having a human-shaped killing machine following behind him was making him pretty nervous.

Gu Qingzhou didn't look at him. His fingers, fair and slender, controlled his character on their own. Even sitting casually on the sofa playing a game, he couldn't diminish his innate elegance and noble air. Upon hearing the question, he sneered, "Are you the only one who can walk this path?"

Jiang Xu said, "You can walk it, just don't shoot me in the back."

What was that saying again? 'There are always treacherous subjects who want to harm this sovereign.' That was more or less his mood right now.

At his words, Gu Qingzhou's fingertips paused. He immediately sped up, maneuvering his character to run ahead of Jiang Xu's and disappearing from sight in an instant. Though he didn't say anything, it was obvious he was angry.

Jiang Xu looked up and saw him sitting in the corner of the sofa. His figure was slender, occupying only a small space. His silent appearance was just as withdrawn as when they were in school, when all he did every day was solve problems, coming and going alone and ignoring everyone.

It was just a game; there was no need to be so serious. Jiang Xu touched the tip of his nose, wondering how to coax him back, when he saw Gu Qingzhou's game character on his screen suddenly turn around and come back, stopping right in front of him.

Jiang Xu thought, 'He's not going to take me out again, is he?' The moment this thought arose, he was about to move away, but then he saw Gu Qingzhou suddenly drop a pile of defensive gear in front of him with a clatter, leaving him stunned.

Jiang Xu subconsciously asked, "What are you doing?"

Hearing this, Gu Qingzhou moved his gaze from his phone screen and looked at him quietly, saying only one word: "Pick."

Those who knew would understand it was a goodwill gesture and an apology. Those who didn't would think someone owed him a million or so.

'You're just a department manager at best, why are you acting like a domineering CEO?' Jiang Xu thought. He moved his slightly numb leg and stretched it out subconsciously. Who would have thought it would press right against the sensitive part of Gu Qingzhou's lower back, causing the latter's body to stiffen.

Completely oblivious, Jiang Xu picked up the gear while sitting up straighter and leaning over to talk to him. Still as flippant as ever, he said with a smile, "I'll just treat this as protection money from you, then."

Gu Qingzhou wasn't bad at games to begin with. In the second half, the two of them cooperated and nearly wiped out more than half of the enemy squad, while Li Si'ao and Fang Qia had disconnected mid-game with low health, failing to 'dog it' to the end.

Before they knew it, it was already 1:30 in the morning. Li Si'ao sent a voice message: "I can't take it anymore. Sleep, sleep. I still have to work tomorrow."

Jiang Xu felt a secret thrill of pleasure. "I'm taking tomorrow off."

Li Si'ao probably found this unusual. "Yo, why are you taking a day off? Don't want your perfect attendance bonus?"

Hearing this, Jiang Xu shot a meaningful glance at a certain someone beside him, then typed out a reply: [Can't be helped, my lord is sick, I have to take care of him.]

After typing and hitting send, he quit the game, finally got up from the sofa, stretched, and said to Gu Qingzhou, "Hey, I'm going back to my room to sleep now."

Gu Qingzhou paused, then said, "As you wish."

The master bedroom and the guest room were not in the same direction, and with the good soundproofing, no sound could be heard. After the living room lights were turned off, it fell into darkness, with only a faint glimmer of light seeping through the crack under Gu Qingzhou's closed door.

He had no desire to sleep. He leaned his back against the edge of the bed and sat on the floor, then quietly lit a cigarette. The window was half-open, and he could faintly feel a cool breeze sweeping past outside, lifting the light-colored curtains into the air and scattering the smoke before it could gather.

The first time Gu Qingzhou had smoked was because Jiang Xu had taught him. That menace was always either dragging him to skip class and fight, or to cheat on exams. In any case, nothing good ever happened when the two of them were together. Their homeroom teacher would get a headache just from seeing them and had nagged them about it endlessly.

In the bottom drawer of the bedside table, there was a photograph, pressed firmly underneath everything else. If you said the owner of the photo liked it, it had been left there so long it had gathered dust. If you said the owner didn't like it, it was nevertheless kept within arm's reach.

Gu Qingzhou closed his eyes, a thin mist of smoke escaping his lips. Then he pulled the photograph out from the drawer and held it up before his eyes, facing the light—

It was a group photo from a sports meet, of a group of seventeen or eighteen-year-old boys standing on the athletic field. Gu Qingzhou and Jiang Xu were standing in the back row. At that time, their faces were still green and immature, but even the most dazzling sun couldn't suppress their spirited and vigorous air.

Through the light, a faint, inconspicuous tear could be seen in the middle of the photo. Gu Qingzhou had been the one to rip it back then, and he had later taped it back together.

He held the cigarette between his fingers, slowly caressing the edge of the photograph.

In the picture, Jiang Xu was wearing a blue and white school uniform, his hairstyle neat and clean. At first glance, he looked a bit like a model student. His good friend Da Hong stood to his left, and Gu Qingzhou stood to his right. When the photo was taken, he had casually slung his arm over his friend's shoulder, yet he had been awkwardly reluctant to put his arm around Gu Qingzhou's shoulder. The two of them had even had a small falling-out over it.

To test into the same university as Jiang Xu, to leave this city with Jiang Xu, to work at the same company as Jiang Xu—back then, Gu Qingzhou had many, many plans for his future, and Jiang Xu was the most important part of them all.

Now, he had accomplished everything, but that person was absent from his future...

The glowing tip of the cigarette slowly consumed the remaining half. Gu Qingzhou was burned slightly, which brought him back to his senses. He remained silent, stubbed out the cigarette butt, reined in his thoughts, and then turned off the light to sleep.

The sleep schedule of a corporate slave is often extreme. On workdays, they get up as early as possible, but on weekends, they sleep till the world turns dark. The next morning, Gu Qingzhou checked on him at eight o'clock; Jiang Xu was still asleep. He came again at nine; he was still asleep. He didn't wake up until it was nearly noon.

Jiang Xu's hair was messy, and he smoothed it down in a few quick motions. His voice was nasal, still heavy with lingering sleepiness. He leaned lazily against the doorway. "Do you have a new toothbrush and towel? I want to wash my face."

Gu Qingzhou was applying anti-swelling medicine to his face. Hearing this, he put down the cotton swab and found him a new set of toiletries.

Jiang Xu was still a bit groggy from sleep. He washed his face with cold water, which woke him up a little. He squinted at Gu Qingzhou's face. He wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but he felt like it looked a tiny bit worse than yesterday...

Gu Qingzhou noticed his gaze, and his hand paused in the middle of applying the medicine. "Breakfast is on the table. Go heat it up yourself."

Jiang Xu glanced at the table, then looked back. After a moment of silence, he walked over and took the medicated cotton from his hand. "Don't apply this kind of medicine if the skin is broken. Wait for it to scab over, or the swelling will get worse."

Gu Qingzhou subconsciously reached to touch the wound, but Jiang Xu caught his hand. "Don't touch it."

Gu Qingzhou was wearing white loungewear, giving him a clean aura, and he lacked the cold, stern feeling he had when wearing a suit. He looked in the mirror, then asked Jiang Xu, "...Is my face very swollen?"

Jiang Xu paused. He felt that the other man's dark, moist eyes resembled those of some small animal. He couldn't resist. He tilted his head and gave him a quick kiss, saying in a low voice, "No."