Gu Qingzhou was more trouble than a woman. This was the first thought that popped into Jiang Xu's mind. He took the car keys, twirled them around his finger, and then readily agreed, "Alright, I'll come pick you up tomorrow."

The car flashed its lights once before driving off into the night. The evening wind blew his hair into a mess, with a few strands almost poking into his eyes. Gu Qingzhou turned and walked into the elevator lobby. The walls inside were covered with semi-glossy, semi-frosted broken mirrors, which clearly reflected his current appearance.

His clothes were slightly disheveled, the corners of his lips were red, and his usually emotionless eyes still held a lingering moisture that hadn't faded. His usual calm and self-composure had suddenly shattered, all because of a single kiss from Jiang Xu.

Gu Qingzhou watched himself, then suddenly couldn't help but close his eyes.

He didn't want to admit it, but it was the truth. Jiang Xu could always easily crush all his emotions, and then, while he was still mired in the mess, cleanly pull himself away and leave.

When the elevator reached his floor, it chimed with a 'ding'. The corridor was silent and empty, the floor tiles so clean they reflected the incandescent light from the ceiling. After returning home, Gu Qingzhou turned on the TV as usual, pulled a book from the bookshelf, and sat on the sofa, slowly flipping through it amidst the cheerful background noise.

His personality leaned towards the reclusive; he had little interest in things that were popular with the outside world. He disliked noise but also didn't like complete silence, always full of contradictions.

Gu Qingzhou's gaze slowly scanned across the pages, unintentionally landing on a poem. Before he could finish the first line, he found himself looking at the last one—"By my sorrow, the cold horn sounds; the night is long, my feelings are hard to quell."

He had a good memory; he still hadn't forgotten what he learned many years ago. The teacher's explanation of the three words "feelings are hard to quell" surfaced in his mind—it mostly referred to the feeling of being unable to let go, unable to move on, of unwillingness.

Unwilling? Why was he unwilling?

The air was silent for a moment. Gu Qingzhou slowly closed the book, glanced at the clock on the wall, and, as if remembering something, found his phone and called Jiang Xu. The first time, no one answered; the second call went through.

Jiang Xu was walking upstairs. Through the phone, his footsteps could be heard clearly, even the sound of him opening the door and turning the lock was distinct. When he saw it was a call from Gu Qingzhou, his eyelid twitched involuntarily, sensing that this was not a good sign.

Gu Qingzhou asked, "Are you home?"

Jiang Xu entered his house, feeling that he definitely wouldn't be asking about this for no reason. He pulled open the curtains to look outside and said cheerfully, "What, are you hiding at my place, planning to kill me?"

Gu Qingzhou ignored his flippancy and just reminded him, "Remember to come pick me up for work tomorrow morning."

Jiang Xu collapsed lazily onto the sofa. "Yeah, I know. You already told me."

Gu Qingzhou added another request, "Bring me breakfast tomorrow."

Hearing this, Jiang Xu raised an eyebrow. 'I don't even eat breakfast myself, how am I supposed to bring you breakfast?' he thought. He scratched his hair, thinking that Gu Qingzhou was really a handful, but could only nod and agree, "Alright."

Gu Qingzhou closed his eyes faintly, his fingertips massaging his temples intermittently. He remembered how he had brought Jiang Xu breakfast for over two, almost three years in high school. In a voice devoid of emotion, he asked, "What, are you very reluctant?"

Jiang Xu covered the mouthpiece and silently muttered "troublemaker." 'It's so hard being a gigolo these days,' he thought. 'Not only do I have to sell my body, but I also have to work as a chauffeur and a nanny.' He rolled over on the sofa and said, half-sincerely, "Not at all. I'm more than willing."

Gu Qingzhou didn't say anything else. For a moment, only the sound of shallow breathing could be heard from the other end. After a brief silence, he hung up, as if this late-night call was only to remind Jiang Xu to bring him breakfast.

Listening to the busy tone from the other end, Jiang Xu thought that the rich truly were masters. He squinted at his phone screen, and as if remembering something, his eyes darted around. Then, he changed Gu Qingzhou's contact name to Lord Gu, amused himself for a while, and finally got up to take a shower in the bathroom.

The hottest season in Hai City had passed, and the weather was gradually starting to cool. The plane trees by the road rustled, their leaves and branches quietly changing color. Jiang Xu went to the bank early in the morning to wire some money home before waiting downstairs at Gu Qingzhou's place.

It was a bit stuffy in the car, and Jiang Xu couldn't sit still. When Gu Qingzhou came downstairs, he saw him leaning against the car door, playing a game, mumbling something. He looked like he was in the heat of battle.

Gu Qingzhou walked over, bent his finger and tapped on the car window to get his attention, and asked with a deadpan expression, "Where's my breakfast?"

Jiang Xu looked up at the sound, then paused his game. His eyes held a momentary confusion, his thoughtless appearance making one want to grind their teeth in frustration. "...I forgot."

Gu Qingzhou looked at him quietly. "You didn't forget. You just never take my words seriously."

If one's mood was terrible starting from the early morning, then the rest of the day wouldn't be much better. It was obvious that Jiang Xu had thrown Gu Qingzhou's already not-so-good mood into complete disarray.

Seeing Gu Qingzhou get into the passenger seat without a word, he scratched his hair, thinking how petty this person was. Jiang Xu opened the car door, got in, then stretched his arm out to grab a paper bag from the back seat and handed it to Gu Qingzhou, nudging his shoulder. "Hey."

Gu Qingzhou frowned, his expression unfriendly. "What?"

Jiang Xu crossed his legs and said, "Eat your breakfast. You can't take a joke at all, can you?"

Inside the bag was a cup of coffee and a Flower Pastry. It was usually quite hard to queue for, selling out by eight o'clock. Jiang Xu had woken up early today and happened to catch them just as they opened, so he bought a portion for Gu Qingzhou.

Hearing this, Gu Qingzhou finally realized he was being teased. He pursed his lips and said nothing, feeling a bit too embarrassed to back down, and made no move to take the breakfast.

Jiang Xu always said Gu Qingzhou was a tease, but in reality, he was one himself, always enjoying messing with people. He turned his head to look at Gu Qingzhou, leaning in to ask with a faint smile, "Are you angry?"

Gu Qingzhou ignored him, turning his head slightly to look out the car window.

Seeing this, a hint of a smile flashed in Jiang Xu's foxy eyes. He pinched Gu Qingzhou's chin, forcing him to look at him, and asked in a low voice, half-joking and half-serious, by his ear, "Gu Qingzhou, why do you get angry more easily than a woman?"

Jiang Xu always had a knack for dancing wildly in a minefield. Gu Qingzhou used to be thin and had a pretty face, so he was often told he looked like a little girl. He hated being compared to women more than anything else in his life.

Now, even if Gu Qingzhou didn't want to be angry, he had to be. He raised his hand and grabbed Jiang Xu's collar, narrowing his eyes silently. "What did you say?"

Jiang Xu, unafraid of death, repeated it once more. "I said you get angry more easily than a woman."

He was pressed close to Gu Qingzhou's ear. After speaking, without waiting for a reaction, he smiled and turned his head, planting a quick kiss on his lips before adding, "And your lips seem softer than a girl's too..."

This statement was verging on flirtation. Gu Qingzhou's body stiffened slightly at his words, and the hand gripping his collar unconsciously loosened. Jiang Xu seized the opportunity to pull away and stuffed the breakfast directly into his hands. "Eat. It's getting cold."

Gu Qingzhou snapped back to reality. His fingertips subconsciously tightened, but he grasped at empty air. He pinched the edge of the paper bag and looked up at Jiang Xu. "Have you kissed a girl?"

'What girl?' Jiang Xu thought. Back in school, girls would take a detour when they saw him. "No. Can't I just make a comparison?"

Gu Qingzhou said nothing more and unwrapped the packaging to eat his breakfast. Jiang Xu, bored, casually sized him up, only to see that Gu Qingzhou's earlobes were tinged with a blush that hadn't faded. Without even touching them, he knew they must be scorching hot.

As if remembering something, Jiang Xu was lost in thought for a moment. He probably felt that fate was a trickster. The university Gu Qingzhou attended was thousands of miles away; Hai City was just a small, secluded place, and even getting there by plane took several hours. Yet, after so many years, they had still wound up entangled with each other again.

Jiang Xu couldn't resist. He reached out and gently pinched Gu Qingzhou's earlobe, looking at him from the side. Shedding his usual flippant playfulness, his tone could even be described as gentle. "Hey, why did you come back?"

Gu Qingzhou was eating, his cheeks puffed out. Hearing the question, his chewing paused for a moment. He gave him an expressionless glance. "None of your business."

Jiang Xu suddenly felt the tips of his fingers start to burn again. He pinched Gu Qingzhou's earlobe, then saw him lower his head and eat earnestly. He couldn't help but smile, leaning closer. "Hey, I've never had a Flower Pastry before."

Gu Qingzhou didn't understand what he meant. He looked up, about to say something, when a sudden warmth covered his lips. All he could see was Jiang Xu's handsome face, abruptly magnified. His fingertips trembled, and the coffee in his hand almost fell, but the other man caught it steadily.

Jiang Xu held the back of his head with one hand. The cool tip of his nose brushed unintentionally against the side of Gu Qingzhou's face. The pressure on his lips was neither light nor heavy, and then he bit down gently before finally letting go and pulling back.

It was unclear if Jiang Xu was talking about the Flower Pastry or something else, as he gave a short, three-word evaluation: "Quite sweet."

Then he placed the coffee cup back in his hands.

Gu Qingzhou's breathing hitched for a second, and even his heart skipped half a beat. He unconsciously tightened his grip on the cup. The warmth traveled straight to his palm, making him flinch from the heat. Jiang Xu noticed, glanced at him, and then started the car. "If it's hot, let it cool for a bit before you drink."

When they arrived at the company entrance, to prevent people from seeing them and gossiping, Jiang Xu said to Gu Qingzhou, "I'll go up first. You can come up in a bit."

Gu Qingzhou was sometimes very childish. "Why should you go up first?"

Jiang Xu opened his phone and showed him the time on the screen. "Because you took too long to eat breakfast. If I go in after you, I'll be late, understand?"

Gu Qingzhou took a sip of coffee, picking at the lid without a word.

Jiang Xu glanced at his small fidgeting and suddenly let out a soft laugh, casually ruffling his hair. "I'm heading up."

With that, he opened the car door and got out, closing it behind him with a soft thud. Gu Qingzhou, however, froze for a moment at his sudden action. After a moment, he looked up at the rearview mirror. Seeing that his hair wasn't messed up, he proceeded to finish the remaining half cup of coffee.

Jiang Xu entered the office right on time. Li Si'ao looked at his watch and deliberately tried to scare him, "Bro, you're thirty seconds late. Careful Manager Gu doesn't catch you."

Hearing this, Jiang Xu glanced at him with a half-smile. "It's already good enough that I don't catch him. He dares to catch me?"