It seemed some people in the world were naturally gifted at this kind of thing without needing to be taught.

When kissing Chen Shu, you'd get the illusion of being deeply loved by him. His eyes would hold only you, bodies pressed tightly together, the thin clothes unable to block his scorching body heat, making even the air feel thin.

"Mmph..."

Zhuang Yihan couldn't help but frown and let out a muffled groan. He struggled to turn his head away to avoid Chen Shu's kiss while firmly pressing against the other's shoulders, trying to create distance between them. However, perhaps due to a lack of oxygen to his brain, his strength waned until his entire body went soft, leaving him at the other's mercy.

The dim car compartment was filled with the ambiguous sounds of kissing, and the temperature climbed degree by degree.

Zhuang Yihan's cold gaze was tainted with desire, and he couldn't stop a few physiological tears from overflowing. The upturned corners of his eyes were tinged with a faint crimson hue. His raven-feather-like eyelashes were wet with moisture, giving him a more vulnerable and fragile appearance than during the day.

Chen Shu clasped his ten fingers, pinning them firmly against the black leather seat. Their lips and tongues tangled desperately, his breath aggressive and domineering, a far cry from his usual nonchalant, half-smiling demeanor.

Zhuang Yihan was forced to tilt his head back in response. The buttons of his white shirt came undone one by one, exposing his sexy collarbones to the air, making him shrink back from the cold. He finally realized something and was abruptly jolted from his passion. He grabbed Chen Shu's hand as it was unbuttoning his shirt, his low, hoarse voice unable to conceal his panic:

"Chen Shu!"

"..."

Chen Shu paused at his words, raised a faint eyebrow, and finally stopped his actions. He casually raised a hand to wipe the corner of his mouth, feeling a slight taste of blood. His already beautiful lips now looked as crimson as blood, exuding a strange beauty in the darkness. He smiled and asked, feigning ignorance:

"What's wrong?"

"You!"

Zhuang Yihan was so angry he wanted to push him off, but seeing Chen Shu's half-smiling expression, he couldn't bring himself to do it. Instead, he grabbed the other's collar, the corners of his eyes still flushed with lingering desire, and questioned in a low voice, "Are you insane!"

Yes, insane. For a moment, Zhuang Yihan couldn't find a more fitting word to describe him. Unfortunately, his heavy panting held no threat at all.

Chen Shu showed no awareness of having done anything wrong. He simply lowered his head, buried his face in the crook of Zhuang Yihan's neck, and rubbed against him affectionately. His lazy voice was slightly drawn out, sounding almost like he was whining, as he asked in a warm whisper by his ear, "We can't have sex, so we can't even kiss?"

Zhuang Yihan felt the ticklish sensation on his neck. His gaze froze at the words, and for a moment, he didn't know how to explain.

It wasn't that kissing was forbidden, but that their relationship didn't warrant it. This act was, after all, a bit too intimate, qualitatively different from a hug.

Kissing today would lead to sex tomorrow. That's how boundaries disappear. Once you take one step back, you can't stop the rest from following.

Zhuang Yihan tried to even out his breathing and looked down at Chen Shu. He had to use a bit of force to make the other man look up at him. His low voice was unreadable in the darkness:

"Why did you kiss me just now?"

Chen Shu looked at him, deliberately hesitating to answer.

Zhuang Yihan frowned. "Speak."

Chen Shu pursed his lips before slowly uttering a single sentence: "Because I like you..."

As soon as he finished speaking, he felt the hand on his chin quietly drop, revealing a trace of bewilderment and shock.

Zhuang Yihan clearly hadn't expected such an answer. For some reason, he let out a laugh of exasperation. "Do you even know what liking someone is? Just because I helped your father with his illness and paid for your schooling, you like me?"

Congratulations were in order. He finally no longer thought, like in his past life, that Chen Shu 'liked' him for his money.

Chen Shu's lips curved into a barely perceptible smile, which he quickly hid by lowering his head. His voice was low and muffled. "I just like you. There aren't that many reasons."

Zhuang Yihan stared at him fixedly. "But liking me isn't a good thing."

As expected, Chen Shu looked up at him. His eyes, with their clear blacks and whites, looked exceptionally beautiful no matter when one saw them. "Why?"

'Because it won't lead to anything, of course.'

The words were on the tip of Zhuang Yihan's tongue, but he couldn't bring himself to say them. Perhaps he should tell Chen Shu that the shadow of another person still lingered in his heart, and that was why liking him would be fruitless. But wouldn't that hurt Chen Shu's feelings? And then, that fiery, sincere affection would no longer be directed at him...

Inexplicably, he was reminded of how Chen Shu hadn't answered his call that day, and how he hadn't even wanted to come to dinner. That indifferent attitude was like a tiny needle pricking his heart. Though it wasn't a major issue, it brought an indescribable discomfort.

Zhuang Yihan suddenly asked out of the blue, "Why didn't you want to come to dinner this afternoon?"

Chen Shu looked at Zhuang Yihan in surprise, not expecting him to still be dwelling on it. 'This person in front of me is nothing like the cold-hearted man from my memories,' he thought. 'So he can also have selfish desires, feel wronged, and be petty.' Without a word, he re-buttoned the other man's messy shirt and carefully smoothed out the hem before resting his forehead against Zhuang Yihan's and apologizing:

"I'm sorry. I had a fight with my father this afternoon, so I wasn't in a good mood."

He gently caressed Zhuang Yihan's face, not minding at all the other's behavior, which might seem temperamental to outsiders. "Don't be angry anymore, okay?"

After hearing his explanation, Zhuang Yihan finally felt a bit better and then asked, "Why did you fight?"

Chen Shu didn't elaborate. "Old people can be stubborn sometimes. It was all just trivial stuff. It'll be fine in a couple of days."

Zhuang Yihan touched Chen Shu's face and let out a soft breath. Out of a selfish desire in his heart, he hesitated for a long time but ultimately said nothing about it. "...If you run into any trouble, tell me. Don't keep it to yourself, understand?"

Chen Shu nodded. Whether intentionally or not, he asked softly and earnestly, "Then can I kiss you again?"

"..."

Zhuang Yihan froze at his words. He gazed into Chen Shu's eyes, which always seemed to hold infinite tenderness and deep affection. His heart felt as if it had been struck by something heavy, bringing a completely unfamiliar sensation. With Zhuang Yihan's pride, he could neither say 'yes' nor 'no'. In the end, he could only close his eyes in silence, signifying his tacit consent.

'Forget it...'

Zhuang Yihan thought in frustration, 'If he wants to kiss, then let him kiss. I only said we couldn't have sex, not that we couldn't hug or kiss. It's not fair to blame Chen Shu for this. He's young and full of vigor; it's understandable that he can't hold back.'

Another lingering, passionate kiss began inside the car.

It started as gently as a dragonfly skimming the water's surface, then deepened inch by inch, vividly illustrating what it meant to be desperately entangled. Zhuang Yihan had previously poured all his energy into work and never had the chance to experience such ambiguous and hazy contact. He only felt his heart pound wildly with a secret thrill, as if a door to a new world had opened, and he wanted to explore every corner of it.

In the end, they kissed until he was exhausted, slumping dizzily onto the seat, not even remembering how he got home.

After that night, their relationship quietly underwent a slight change, though Zhuang Yihan didn't give it much thought. He began to ask Chen Shu out to accompany him more and more frequently, whether for meals or just to relax. It was as if they had endless things to talk about whenever they met, and even things like hugging and kissing became familiar and commonplace.

The day they went to the art exhibition, besides ordering an oil painting as a birthday gift for Xue Miao, Zhuang Yihan also ordered a new model car for Chen Shu. After all, they were meeting more and more often, and he couldn't let Chen Shu borrow a classmate's car every time.

"The manager said there's at least a three-month wait for this model. I had them arrange it through internal channels to let you pick up the car next week if possible. Once you get the documents and insurance sorted, it'll be more convenient for you to get around."

Chen Shu didn't refuse. Given their relationship, refusing would seem pretentious. He just held Zhuang Yihan against the wall in the entryway when he took him home and kissed him for a long while, asking slowly as he kissed his cheek:

"What should I do?"

Zhuang Yihan wrapped his arms around his neck, panting softly. "What do you mean, what should you do?"

Chen Shu never minded coaxing him. After all, saying a few sweet words wouldn't cost him anything. Zhuang Yihan lacked emotional validation, and Chen Shu always provided it in abundance. He asked worriedly in a warm whisper by his ear, "I feel like I like you even more now. What should I do?"

Zhuang Yihan's face couldn't help but feel a little hot at his words. He shot Chen Shu a sideways glance. "Buying you a car makes you like me more? If I buy you a house in the future, what will you do then?"

Chen Shu rubbed against his neck, his voice low and nasal, sending a tingling sensation through Zhuang Yihan's ears. "You're not moving in with me, so I wouldn't care even if you gave me a house."

When he wanted to coax someone, no one could resist.

Zhuang Yihan pushed him twice but couldn't get him off, so he let him continue to hold him. However, the corners of his lips curled up slightly in an irrepressible arc, clearly pleased by the coaxing. "Silly, isn't it good to have a house and a car?"

How many people in A City struggle their entire lives for this? In a world of fickle relationships and cynical attitudes, only these things are truly reliable.

Chen Shu kissed Zhuang Yihan. Because their lips and tongues were touching, his low voice was somewhat muffled in the darkness. "It's good... but not as good as you..."

Zhuang Yihan said nothing, only tightening his arms around Chen Shu's neck. He was reluctant to let him go. Not knowing what had possessed him, he found himself asking, "It's late. Do you want to stay over tonight?"

Chen Shu knew he was talking about the guest room, but compared to his previously guarded and distant attitude, it was easy to see that the defenses around Zhuang Yihan's heart were beginning to crumble.

Chen Shu gently brushed the stray hair from Zhuang Yihan's eyes with his fingertips and unexpectedly saw the shimmering moisture in them. 'So this is what he looks like when he's moved,' he thought. 'But it's not enough. Far from enough.'

While thinking this, he showed none of it on his face. "It's fine, it's not too late to go back now. Besides, I have things to do at school. It's not good to stay out all night."

Zhuang Yihan, feeling he had misspoken, didn't bring up the topic again. He slowly let go of Chen Shu and straightened his collar. "Then pick a car from the garage and drive it back. Xue Miao's birthday party is in two days, remember not to be late."

Chen Shu smiled and nodded, took a set of car keys from the entryway, and then turned to leave, leaving Zhuang Yihan standing there alone with an indescribable emptiness in his heart.

It was already approaching the early hours of the morning. The garden downstairs looked even more serene under the moonlight. Chen Shu didn't leave immediately. Instead, he sat on a bench downstairs and smoked a cigarette, which helped to slightly suppress the craving churning inside him.

[You haven't really fallen in love with him, have you?]

The appearance of this Black Snake was always so ill-timed. It coiled on Chen Shu's shoulder, staring with great interest at the long, thin shadow that had appeared out of nowhere on the ground. It hissed, flicking its tongue, its voice enticing:

[Loving someone will make you unhappy. We only need to be loved. Understand?]

Perhaps the moonlight was too gentle tonight, as even its tone was a few degrees softer than usual.

Chen Shu nonchalantly lowered his gaze, staring at the shadow on the ground with a smile. His handsome, deep features were hard to read in the night. "Couldn't I just be acting?"

This Black Snake sometimes couldn't fathom the complex thoughts of humans. It flicked its tail. [Can love be acted out?]

"Of course, love can be acted out,"

Chen Shu seemed to be mocking its stupidity, asking in a low, deliberate tone:

"Otherwise, what are all those heart-wrenching romantic movies? A joke?"

After he spoke, for some reason, he suddenly lost interest in smoking. He got up from the bench, stubbed out the cigarette, and threw it into the trash can. In two days was Xue Miao's birthday party. That would be the real main event. If Chen Shu remembered correctly...

Jiang Xi would also be attending.

The person who had played Zhuang Yihan for half his life, made him suffer for half his life, and made him jealous for half his life—they were finally going to meet.

Chen Shu looked up at the bright moon in the night sky, his expression thoughtful. 'Zhuang Yihan, let me see what you'll choose this life. Will it be my heavy and sincere 'favoritism,' or Jiang Xi's bruising 'games'?'

He was genuinely curious.