Zhou Siming didn't come back after he left that day, and he didn't return to stay at night either. Si Tu tidied up his room, and Gong Qi asked in a low voice, "Will he come back?"

Si Tu thought about it seriously and said, "Probably."

But Xing Yan said, "No, he won't."

Si Tu thought about it again and then shook his head, "I don't know."

Han Xiaogong argued with him for half the night. The next day, everything seemed normal, and he even ate a lot. It was hard to imagine that he was the one who had such a fierce argument with Zhou Siming the night before.

But occasionally, when he wasn't talking, he would space out, with his feet on the sofa, his chin resting on his bent knees, and his eyes staring at a point, looking a bit dazed.

Qin Fang sat down next to him. Han Xiaogong glanced at him and smiled. Qin Fang also smiled but didn't talk to him.

"When I haven't slept well, I usually don't let people sit next to me because I look ugly," Han Xiaogong said after a while.

Qin Fang shook his head with a smile, "You think too highly of straight... men's eyes. I don't know if there's a difference, and even if there is, I can't tell."

Han Xiaogong nodded, "That's why I didn't drive you away."

Qin Fang sat with him for a long time. They didn't talk much. Later, Xing Yan called Qin Fang to go out together. Before Qin Fang left, he lightly pressed Han Xiaogong's shoulder.

Han Xiaogong laughed and said, "You sunny, warm straight men are really tempting to turn."

Qin Fang raised his eyebrows and said, "Someone has turned me."

Han Xiaogong said, "You weren't that straight to begin with. Even if he didn't turn you, you'd end up the same anyway."

After he said that, Qin Fang didn't say anything more and went out with Xing Yan. Later, when he thought about it himself, he felt it made a lot of sense. He had been pursued by many girls before and had many short-lived relationships, but he had never been so moved. Compared to now, those previous relationships didn't really have the flavor of love, and there was no emotional impulse.

Qin Fang was carrying a bunch of things, and Xing Yan rode his bike with him. In the end, they went to an orphanage.

Xing Yan stopped the bike outside the gate. The two of them registered at the entrance, and only then did the old gatekeeper let them in.

A group of children were playing in a messy way in the yard. When they saw them come in, their eyes all fell on them, mostly timidly, but also with curiosity.

Qin Fang asked, "Should we distribute these to them?"

"No," Xing Yan said, "Outsiders can't directly give things to them, and they don't dare to take them either. It all has to go through the institution."

Qin Fang nodded, "That's safer."

The dean was an old lady who looked to be in her sixties. She was short and thin but looked very healthy, walking with vigor. She spoke to Xing Yan quite cordially when she saw him, and also asked about the others, how Si Tu's health was, and if Zhou Siming and Han Xiaogong were living well.

She also asked who Qin Fang was. Xing Yan said he was his friend, and the old lady looked up at Qin Fang, patted his arm, and said, "Good, good."

Xing Yan chatted with her briefly, put down the things, and also left a stack of cash, which looked like it was ten thousand.

Qin Fang didn't know he was going to the orphanage. He was used to not asking in advance wherever he went with Xing Yan, so he wasn't prepared and just left all the cash in his wallet, although it wasn't much.

When they were leaving, there were children standing at the door behind them, huddling together and quietly watching. Qin Fang, sitting in the car, smiled at them, and a little girl also smiled at him, her eyes simple and her smile pure.

The two of them didn't go back directly but went out to buy some things on the way. Actually, Qin Fang didn't expect Xing Yan to go to the orphanage, which surprised him a lot.

Because after interacting for such a long time, he always felt that the few people living in the small building were all very... how to describe it, a bit cold, except for Si Tu, who was not a warm person. Si Tu was much more normal, but that was also in comparison to them. They didn't seem like people who would go to an orphanage.

While walking and buying things together, Xing Yan said, "When we were young, the dean would come to see us during the holidays, bring us things to eat, and give us New Year's money."

Qin Fang sighed, "The old lady is so kind."

"Mm." Xing Yan nodded, "Every year before the New Year, Si Tu always has us go to deliver things and money."

Qin Fang asked, "Then why doesn't he go himself?"

Xing Yan said, "He never goes. Usually, it's me and Zhou Siming taking turns."

Qin Fang reached out and grabbed Xing Yan's wrist. Xing Yan lightly shook his hand. He seemed to really like these affectionate little gestures. Qin Fang said, "I feel like I discovered a different side of you today."

Xing Yan turned his head to look at him and asked, "What am I usually like?"

Qin Fang didn't answer, just shook his head with a smile.

Xing Yan said softly, "Selfish, dark, cold, that's the real me."

Qin Fang subconsciously frowned, "No."

Xing Yan didn't continue. He held Qin Fang's hand for a moment and then didn't let go, walking with him openly like this in the crowd. Their palms were pressed together, carrying each other's warmth.

While shopping, Qin Fang also bought two red short-sleeved shirts, a very simple style with a small logo on the left chest. The color looked very festive.

Qin Fang didn't have any fixed style when it came to clothes. He wore all styles, and anyway, no matter what he wore, it was all about the face. But Xing Yan refused such things, saying he didn't want them and wouldn't wear them.

Qin Fang didn't listen to him and still bought them, "It's the New Year, you have to wear them."

"No." Xing Yan shook his head without hesitation, looking very ruthless.

The shop assistant, a young girl, said with a smile, "It's the New Year, it's okay to wear a bit of red."

"You've already escaped by not buying two red coats," Qin Fang said to Xing Yan with a smile while waiting for the shop assistant to issue the receipt. "Last year, Hua Tong bought a red down jacket for the New Year."

Xing Yan said, "You might as well kill me."

Qin Fang laughed, and the shop assistant couldn't help but laugh too.

In the end, Xing Yan still wore that shirt.

On the morning of New Year's Eve, Qin Fang got up and put it on right away. Qin Fang's face could pull off this kind of heavy color. He looked very handsome in anything he wore, but this skin tone... was not very friendly.

Actually, Qin Fang wasn't particularly dark, just a normal wheat color, but he definitely wasn't white. This color was picky about skin. It made white people look whiter and those who weren't white look even darker.

When Xing Yan opened his eyes, Qin Fang had already finished getting ready, a clean and refreshing handsome guy. When he saw that Xing Yan was awake, he walked over, bent down, and kissed Xing Yan on the lips.

Xing Yan made an "Mm" sound, frowned slightly, and covered his head with the blanket, not fully awake yet.

He was usually the kind of person who always looked composed and restrained, but occasionally this slight deviation from his usual image could drive Qin Fang crazy with infatuation. Qin Fang's heart tingled with delight early in the morning. He lifted the thin blanket covering Xing Yan's head and kissed him on the lips again.

The handsome boy who had just washed up carried the vitality of the morning, the fresh scent of facial cleanser, and the minty aroma of toothpaste, which was very likable.

Xing Yan let him kiss his mouth. With his eyes closed, he raised his hand to wrap around Qin Fang's neck and pulled him down. The single bed let out a protesting wooden creak.

"Hey, I'm wearing shoes," Qin Fang said with a smile, falling onto Xing Yan's bed with half his body pressing against Xing Yan.

Xing Yan didn't care about that and showed no intention of letting go. He wasn't fully awake yet, his body emanating a dry, warm heat that felt especially comfortable when their skin touched. So Qin Fang adjusted his position, lying on his side with one leg stretched out of the bed.

Xing Yan buried his face in the back of Qin Fang's neck, inhaling the faint, fresh fragrance with every breath. Xing Yan pressed against his neck, his voice still low and hoarse, "Take off your shoes."

Qin Fang's face carried an indulgent smile as he took off his shoes and put both legs back on the bed. Xing Yan still had one arm around his neck while the other clasped his lower abdomen, a posture that completely enveloped him in his embrace.

This was actually the first time they had lain on the same bed since they got together. They had done it often when they were still brothers, but not since they were no longer brothers.

Lying like this now, every pore and nerve in their bodies was slightly tense, but it also felt extremely comfortable. Being pressed so close was comfortable, and being held like this was also very comfortable.

Qin Fang had never been held like this before. This posture was actually very... weak, the posture of a protected weakling. But Qin Fang didn't want to move; he liked it a lot. With his back pressed against someone while being encircled around his vulnerable neck, these things made his masculine instincts sense danger on one hand, but on the other hand, they had a fatal attraction for him.

Xing Yan's breath sprayed on Qin Fang's neck, his face still rubbing lightly against Qin Fang's neck in a subtle manner. With every bit of Xing Yan's breath and contact that Qin Fang felt, his heart tightened and ached slightly, as if he liked it so much that his heart was spasming.

These silent little movements and warm touches suddenly made one feel very much like two animals nestling together quietly, then intimately rubbing their furry faces against each other and gently touching mouths.

Xing Yan held Qin Fang in this embrace for quite a while. Later, when Qin Fang wanted to move a little, Xing Yan suddenly said in a muffled voice against the back of his neck, "Don't push your waist back."

"Wh--" Qin Fang had only said one word before he shut his mouth.

The hand Xing Yan had placed on his belly lightly grabbed and said in a low voice, "...Don't ask naive questions, Fang-ge."

"I won't ask anymore." Qin Fang's breathing became a little light and a bit disordered.

Xing Yan was very careful not to touch Qin Fang's legs. They had been together for quite a few days, and Xing Yan had never made Qin Fang feel embarrassed or awkward in this regard. He controlled the degree very well, occasionally making a little joke to tease him, but never really showing anything.

Now the two arms clasping Qin Fang burned his skin with their fiery temperature. Actually, neither of them was any better off than the other. Qin Fang closed his eyes and adjusted his breathing for a long time.

Because of this very comfortable embrace, it started the whole day off on a good note, and his mood remained upbeat throughout.

After Xing Yan got up, he changed clothes in front of Qin Fang. The red shirt on his body exposed his arms and neck, where one could even see faint blue blood vessels, fair and delicate. But the better something was, the more one wanted to destroy it. Looking at it always made one want to take a bite.

Qin Fang also said very honestly, "I want to bite."

Xing Yan raised an eyebrow and pointed to his own neck, indicating for him to come and bite.

Qin Fang only kissed him on the blood vessel.

The two of them left the room one after the other.