The last time he came to Hengrui Group, he was still a destitute and down-on-his-luck nobody, apprehensively going through layers of announcements, waiting for Huo Mingjun to receive him.

A year had passed. Xie Guan's image was a little better than before, but he was still ordinary and plain. Wearing a hat and glasses frames for disguise, he carried a few cake boxes in his hand, looking like a delivery boy, yet he was welcomed directly into Huo Mingjun's office.

This change in treatment wasn't because his own value had risen. Even a film emperor wouldn't dare act presumptuously at the gates of Hengrui. Whether it was the apartment or the company, his ability to move freely in areas inaccessible to ordinary people was only because Huo Mingjun had long since let down his guard, even before Xie Guan had noticed.

Like a clam opening its sturdy shell, personally offering up its soft insides and expensive pearl to him.

Xie Guan watched the ever-changing numbers on the elevator's LCD screen, his heart aching from the torment of his own imagination: "Chasing someone so recklessly, isn't he afraid of losing both the person and the wealth?"

He was worried to death. For a moment, his heart couldn't accept the divine plot twist of "my good friend might want to sleep with me," yet he couldn't help but worry for Huo Mingjun about how he could successfully pursue him. He was practically being driven to schizophrenia.

The elevator glided to the twenty-seventh floor and let out a crisp chime.

Fang Hui walked out briskly from the assistant's office and greeted him with a smile, "Good afternoon, Boss Xie is getting more and more handsome."

"Thank you, you're as beautiful as ever," Xie Guan exchanged a round of flattery with her and handed her one of the boxes. "I saw a dessert shop on the way here and bought a few cakes. Share them with Assistant Zhong, Assistant Lu, and the others."

"How polite of you, even bringing treats to feed us. Thank you so much," Fang Hui took the box, saying gleefully, "I'm going to take a picture and post it on Weibo, saying my male god came to our company to deliver cakes. I'll make all my other friends die of envy, hahaha."

Xie Guan walked along the corridor toward the door of Huo Mingjun's office, enjoying the show and not minding stirring up trouble: "Right, you can also livestream yourself eating it for them to see—and then get taken out by your friends through crowdfunding."

Before he could finish speaking, the office door was pushed open from the inside. Zhong Heguang came out, politely greeted Xie Guan, and then urged, "The boss is waiting for you. Please go in."

Xie Guan smiled at his words, walked into the office, and closed the door behind him.

When the sound of the lock clicking shut was heard, Fang Hui immediately went, "Wow~" and said, "The boss has been suffering for so many years, and someone is finally bringing him a love-bento."

Zhong Heguang silently took the cake box from her hands.

The outer room still had an imposing atmosphere that made one not want to linger. Xie Guan went around the living room area and strolled to the door of the inner office. Huo Mingjun was sitting at his desk, looking at the computer screen, his brows slightly knitted, with a faint vertical line between them. He was usually expressionless when in work mode, his features three-dimensional and well-defined, looking sharp to the point of being a little scary. Xie Guan was used to his amiable appearance and had almost forgotten the experience of his calves cramping up whenever he stood in front of him in the past.

His mind, full of messy thoughts, miraculously quieted down the moment he returned to Huo Mingjun's side. Xie Guan suddenly realized that whether he was seen as a friend or was being liked, this powerful sense of security could not be given to him by anyone else but Huo Mingjun.

Xie Guan, having been ground down by the whetstone of society for so many years, had tasted all the bitterness of being isolated and helpless. He felt he had developed a body of bronze and iron, yet he absolutely couldn't withstand someone treating him, a weed, like a precious flower held in their palms.

He walked into the inner room, feeling a bit stifled by the layers of suppressed emotions, and called out softly, "Mingjun."

"You're here?" Huo Mingjun looked up, his expression softening as if ice and snow were melting. "How was the recording? Did it go smoothly?"

Xie Guan placed the exquisite paper box on the desk, his throat tight. He didn't speak, only nodding.

Huo Mingjun immediately saw that something was wrong and beckoned him over. "What's the matter? You don't look very happy. Were you wronged during the show's recording?"

Xie Guan couldn't withstand his tone, which was like coaxing a child. Leaning back against the desk behind him, he burst out laughing. "What a question. It's not like that many people have it out for me. Am I especially easy to bully in your eyes?"

"When you first came in, your face was so long it was almost touching the floor," Huo Mingjun said. "You didn't say anything either, just stood there with your head down. Can you blame me for overthinking?"

Of course, only you would overthink it.

If you weren't so sensitive to his emotions, constantly paying attention to his actions, who would immediately notice he was in a bad mood after he had only said one sentence?

Xie Guan suddenly leaned down and hugged him tightly.

Huo Mingjun froze.

"Mingjun," Xie Guan pressed against the side of his neck, murmuring in his ear, "Mingjun..."

Huo Mingjun's right hand, which was hanging by his side, lifted. After a long hesitation, it landed cautiously and restrainedly on the back of Xie Guan's fluffy head, stroking down his nape, one stroke at a time. He sighed tenderly, "Just what kind of shock did you receive... or are you trying to act spoiled with me in a roundabout way?"

"It's nothing," Xie Guan said in a hoarse voice. "I just wanted to thank you."

Huo Mingjun hadn't even finished letting out a sigh of relief before his heart was precariously hung up again. He waited with trepidation for what was to come, afraid that Xie Guan's next words would be, "You're a really good person."

Fortunately, Xie Guan's bout of sentimentality ended there. He casually let go of Huo Mingjun and straightened his flattened collar. "I brought you some snacks. Want to try them?"

The doubt in Huo Mingjun's heart hadn't dissipated, but he considerately didn't press the issue and went along with his words, "Okay."

Inside the box was an incredibly exquisite piece of tiramisu. Xie Guan had carried it gently the whole way, so its shape was perfectly intact, not even the cocoa powder had spilled.

On the way to the company, he had been thinking about the dishes from today. While waiting at a red light, Xie Guan saw a famous dessert shop at the street corner. Recalling the Italian story that Tan Xiaotian had explained during the show's recording, he decisively told Huang Cheng to pull over and went into the shop to pick out a piece of tiramisu.

After some thought, he felt that bringing just one piece was a bit too deliberate, so he had the shop pack up a few pieces of cheesecake and brownies as well.

He had been acting abnormally ever since realizing that huge truth yesterday, and he still hadn't figured out his own motive for buying a pile of cakes. He just asked Huo Mingjun expectantly, "Is it good?"

Huo Mingjun: "You have a bite."

Xie Guan shook his head. "I already ate during the show recording. What do you think of the taste?"

"It's alright, the taste is quite authentic," Huo Mingjun picked up a cup and took a sip of water to wash away the sweetness in his mouth. "It's just too rich. Why the sudden thought to buy cake? I always thought you didn't like these kinds of desserts."

"Yeah, I'm neutral about sweets," Xie Guan said. "If you like it, should I go back and research a less rich, improved version?"

Huo Mingjun waved his hand. "Don't bother. I'm not that interested either. This thing's aesthetic value is higher than its nutritional value; it just looks pretty. If you have time, you might as well get on with my six dishes and one soup."

Xie Guan became happy for some inexplicable reason. It seemed his fabricated theory of love wasn't completely without merit.

He hadn't slept well last night, had gotten up early this morning to record the show, been busy all morning, and his emotions had been in turmoil for most of the day. He started to feel sleepy while talking to Huo Mingjun, turning his head to cover a small yawn.

Huo Mingjun stopped talking. "The style consultant is coming at four-thirty. If you're sleepy, you can take a nap first."

"In your office?" Xie Guan wiped away a small tear from the corner of his eye. "With people coming and going, that's not very appropriate, is it?"

Huo Mingjun stood up and opened the door to the office's adjoining suite, which was a small break room. "Sleep in here. I'll come wake you when it's time."

The moment Xie Guan saw the bed, he was so sleepy he couldn't even open his eyes. By the time Huo Mingjun had pulled the curtains, he turned back to see that Xie Guan had already closed his eyes and was lying flat.

"How did you get so sleepy." He muttered, helpless yet amused, pulled a blanket from the small cabinet by the bed to cover Xie Guan, turned up the air conditioner by two degrees, and then quietly closed the door and left.

Once outside the door, his expression suddenly turned cold.

Huo Mingjun walked to the outer living room and called Huang Cheng. "It's me. Did something happen to Xie Guan during the show's recording today?"

Huang Cheng was completely bewildered, not understanding what this was all about. He had no choice but to recount the details of today's recording process to Huo Mingjun.

Outsiders wouldn't understand, but Huo Mingjun would. Those metaphors were like a secret code between him and Xie Guan, conveying a kind of tacit understanding across the distance.

"He already knows, but he didn't turn and walk away." He felt his heartbeat uncontrollably accelerating, and thought to himself, "My flower is about to blossom."

At four in the afternoon, Huo Mingjun came in to wake Xie Guan up.

No man could see the person he admired sleeping in his bed and hold back, and this wasn't even the first time.

Last time when Xie Guan was sick, he hadn't had any romantic thoughts. But now, on the edge of the long, dark river of unrequited love, a glimmer of light where the water met the sky had finally appeared.

He reached out a hand and lightly touched the spot between Xie Guan's eyebrows. His fingertips lingered from the bridge of the nose to the beautiful, delicate lips, his heart full of feelings he could tell no one. Yet, he only bent down with extreme restraint and, as if afraid of being too abrupt, placed a peck as light as a dragonfly touching the water's surface between his brows.

In a place he couldn't see, Xie Guan's tightly shut eyelids twitched slightly.

"Wake up," Huo Mingjun shook him through the blanket. "Time to get up."

Xie Guan was "half-awake," let out a muffled whimper, and rolled over to bury his face in the pillow, refusing to open his eyes no matter what.

He had always been a light sleeper; he woke up as soon as Huo Mingjun came in but was just too lazy to open his eyes. Who knew this bastard would actually come to take liberties with him. The catkin-like touch on his face made him itch from the bottom of his heart, but he didn't dare to move, so he could only play dead with convincing acting. Immediately after, a completely different sensation landed on his forehead. It took Xie Guan two seconds to react and realize what it was, and his mind exploded with a "boom."

His premonition came true. His mental fortitude, which was already like a wall with a few pieces of plaster peeled off, finally collapsed with a crash from this light-as-a-feather kiss, turning to dust and smoke in an instant.

They had met by a one-in-ten-million chance, passed each other by at countless crossroads. Amidst sorrows and joys as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, even with overwhelming power and immense wealth, a mortal's life cast into the bustling mortal world is nothing more than a speck of soil on a mountain, a tiny drop in the sea.

The heart is moved only a few times in a lifetime; it can be encountered but not sought. It's like a breathtaking glimpse in the primordial chaos of the universe.

Xie Guan had long been mentally prepared, but at this moment of blatant affection, the kiss still made his nose tingle, and his chest filled with an indescribable, twisting and turning bitterness.

He kept his eyes closed, pretended to reach for the phone on the bedside table, and firmly grasped Huo Mingjun's hand, which was braced by the pillow.

'Such a grown man, yet so innocent,' he tried to suppress the surge of emotions, his mind wandering with random thoughts. 'Why didn't he just kiss me on the lips?'