Rainy Night

Today was the anniversary of the Yu family patriarch's death. Back then, the company had run into trouble, and he had suffered a heart attack. Resuscitation failed, and he died. His body had been buried in a cemetery on the outskirts of the city. Yu Zechuan had spent the past five years in prison. Presumably, no one had gone to pay respects to a man who had been dead for so long in his place.

Yu Zechuan arrived at the suburban cemetery, got out of the car, and took a bouquet from the backseat. He had no intention of revealing his identity. Wearing a baseball cap and a mask, he slipped silently into the cemetery. The elderly security guard was dozing in his booth and failed to notice.

The cemetery was regularly weeded and cleaned, but that only made it feel more deserted and bleak. Yu Zechuan found the old man's headstone and bent to lay the flowers before it. He stared at the kindly black-and-white photograph, then finally bent his knees and knelt.

It was the first time in five years that he had come to pay his respects.

Yu Zechuan moved his lips soundlessly before uttering a word he had not spoken in a long time. "Grandpa..."

Autumn brought frequent rain. It drenched him so thoroughly that even the gaps between his bones seemed to radiate cold, but Yu Zechuan did not react. He reached out to stroke the hard, freezing stone and slowly lowered his head. There was no sobbing, no despair, only a silence lonelier than the night itself.

"Grandpa, can you still recognize me?"

"Xue Jin says I'm different from before. I'm so afraid you won't recognize me."

Yu Zechuan slowly traced the scar on his face. The other inmates had given it to him. They had originally aimed for his eyes, but he had barely dodged; the blade had cut straight from his temple to his cheek, as though it had severed his life as well.

He had been sent to the hospital afterward, but the wound became infected and penetrated into his mouth. The pain had kept him awake night after night. He had wanted to cry, but he did not know why he could not. All he could do was stare at the ceiling with bloodshot eyes, one night after another. It was not until he came to the cemetery today that he finally understood why.

"After you died, there was no one left to look after me."

Something seemed lodged in his chest, making even breathing difficult. Yu Zechuan closed his eyes and pressed his forehead to the icy headstone, his fingers digging into his palm until it broke. Calmly, he said:

"Jiang Boyun will go to hell."

"Grandpa, I'll go down there too. So will he."

He had made the most vicious oath of his life, determined to end this debt in blood.

The sky was blanketed in dark clouds, and muffled thunder rolled overhead. Rain pattered wildly against the window, beating out a noisy clamor. Now and then, lightning flashed, illuminating the room as brightly as day and making its lifeless stillness all the more pronounced.

Lu Yan sat tied to a chair, his head turned toward the window. The night air felt piercingly cold. "It's been four hours. Why isn't Yu Zechuan back yet?"

Xue Jin was working on his laptop on the sofa. At that, he checked the time on his phone. "I'm not worried. What are you worried about?"

Lu Yan thought, I'm not worried, but my eyelids are about to give out. Helpfully, he suggested, "Why don't you untie me and lock me in the bedroom to sleep while you wait for him out here?"

"In your dreams." Xue Jin was clearly not so kindhearted. "If I don't get to sleep, neither do you."

With that, he shut his laptop and looked up at Lu Yan. "Don't you like him? What, you can't even wait a few hours? Don't tell me it's all an act."

Lu Yan pretended not to understand the test behind his words. Smiling without quite smiling, he said, "I really do like him. Have you ever seen anyone put on an act as convincingly as I do?"

But Xue Jin only laughed. He had the same rakish air as Lu Yan, proof that he was different from Yu Zechuan: an old hand at love affairs. "You can fool Zechuan with that, but don't try it on me. I know every last thing about you and Jiang Boyun. I haven't called you out only because I couldn't be bothered, but that doesn't mean I'm stupid."

"I'd advise you not to try anything. Otherwise, Zechuan won't even have to lift a hand. I'll be the first one to finish you off."

Xue Jin looked refined, and even when he made threats, his manner was unhurried. Yet no one could doubt he meant every word.

Lu Yan raised his brows. "What are you to Yu Zechuan? What does what happens between him and me have to do with you?"

Busybody.

Xue Jin choked. "I'm his..."

Before he could finish, a series of beeps from the keypad lock sounded in the outer room, cutting him off. Lu Yan's heart tightened. He had been just about to draw Xue Jin's identity out of him. "What are you to him?" he pressed.

Xue Jin ignored him. The next second, Yu Zechuan pushed open the door and walked in. He was soaked through, his clothes plastered to his skin. The hazy yellow light spilling through the room did nothing to warm his cold, impassive face.

Lu Yan immediately fell silent.

Yu Zechuan took off his shoes in the entryway, stripped off his wet black coat, and tossed it into the bathroom. The movement made the lines of his muscles more pronounced. Two or three crisscrossing scars marked his exposed arms, offering a glimpse of his years in prison.

Xue Jin stepped forward. "How was it? Did everything go smoothly?"

He seemed to know what Yu Zechuan had gone out to do.

Yu Zechuan gave a quiet hum and roughly towel-dried his hair. "Thanks for your help today."

"It was nothing. Sitting here is the same as sitting anywhere. It's late. I'm heading back."

This was a studio apartment, with no spare room for Xue Jin. He packed up his laptop bag and left. Before going, he glanced at Lu Yan, still tied to the chair, and lowered his voice to tell Yu Zechuan, "Watch out for that Lu guy."

"I know."

"No, you don't."

Xue Jin frowned and stared intently into Yu Zechuan's eyes. Meaningfully, he said,

"Yu Zechuan, you can't beat him."

The words were far too cryptic. Even after Xue Jin left, Yu Zechuan could not grasp their deeper meaning. Frowning, he looked at the man tied to the chair, only to find Lu Yan watching him with an innocent gaze.

Concern laced Lu Yan's voice. "You're soaked. Go change into something clean, or you'll get sick."

He did not ask Yu Zechuan to untie him. His first thought was concern for the other man's health. His dark eyes followed Yu Zechuan's movements, almost imperceptibly, while a secret affection drifted through the air. No one would have doubted how much he liked this man.

Yu Zechuan hated that look. Whether it came from family or from Jiang Boyun, he had been fooled enough. His past suffering reminded him over and over that love was something even more terrifying than hatred.

"Don't look at me like that."

Yu Zechuan walked over to Lu Yan, lowered his gaze, and gripped his chin. His eyes beneath his tousled fringe were ice-cold as he spoke in a low voice, one word at a time. "Otherwise, I won't be able to stop myself from gouging out your eyes."

Lu Yan pressed his lips together slightly. The crystal chandelier above was reflected in his eyes like shattered stars. "Can't you give me a chance to like you?"

Yu Zechuan found it laughable. "You say you like me. Then do you know what I like to eat most? What I hate eating? Do you know what colors I like to wear, which colors I dislike, or what kind of people I hate most?"

The string of questions left Lu Yan silent.

Yu Zechuan's lips curved coldly. "See? You don't know anything. What right do you have to say you like me?"

He let go of Lu Yan's chin. It was hard to tell whether he was disappointed or felt something else. He had known from the start that the man before him was only putting on an act, yet when Lu Yan truly could not answer, the irony still stung in a way he could not put into words.

Yu Zechuan picked up a change of clothes and was about to go into the bathroom when a voice suddenly rang out behind him.

"You like matcha cake, and you hate green peppers most..."

"You like white and light-blue shirts, and you don't like gaudy red and purple..."

"You hate hypocritical liars most of all."

Lu Yan spoke slowly, concealing the slightest hint of uncertain hesitation. He deliberately kept his voice low, yet every word reached Yu Zechuan clearly through the noisy rain outside.

Yu Zechuan stopped in his tracks, his expression changing. He could not stop himself from tightening his grip on the clothes in his hands, but he did not turn around. Instead, he went straight into the bathroom, and the door he slammed shut exposed the turmoil within him.

"Bang!"

The steady sound of running water rose, blanketing the silence in the room.

A black heart silently emerged from the air. Had it possessed human features, its eyes would have been fixed on Lu Yan at that moment. [How do you know?]

Lu Yan tipped his head back against the chair, inexplicably feeling as if he had survived a catastrophe. His fingertips twitched lightly as he answered in a voice only the two of them could hear. "I guessed."

"There were leftovers from lunch on the table. In the shredded pork with green peppers, all the pork had been picked out, but not a single piece of green pepper had been touched..."

"There was a bite of matcha cake left in the dessert box beside it, and the dinner Xue Jin packed up tonight also included a serving of matcha cake..."

"That food was brought to Yu Zechuan for him, so it could only reflect Yu Zechuan's preferences."

In the original host's memories, Yu Zechuan wore only white and blue to work every day. Added to his rather aloof personality, it was a safe bet that he disliked gaudy red and purple.

Of course, he could have guessed wrong, but Lu Yan had decided to gamble.

As it turned out, he had bet right.

The System suddenly laughed. No one knew what it was laughing at. Its black body gradually vanished into the air, leaving behind a meaningful sentence: [May you survive...]

Yu Zechuan showered for a long time. A full half hour passed before he finally came out. Lu Yan was leaning back in the chair, his eyes half-lidded and looking a little sleepy. At the sound of Yu Zechuan emerging, he opened them again.

Seeing Yu Zechuan looking at him, Lu Yan smiled. "Go get some sleep. If you're worried, give me another injection."

Look how much he liked Yu Zechuan. He considered the other man in every respect. Even Jiang Boyun might not have managed this much.

Yu Zechuan had never considered Lu Yan a threat. Lu Yan was clearly tall and well-built, with the physique of an ordinary man, but for some reason he always carried a frailty that made him seem sickly to the bone. It gave Yu Zechuan the impression that he could take Lu Yan's life with a flick of his finger.

In front of Lu Yan, Yu Zechuan pulled a folding knife from the drawer. Without a word, he walked behind him and deliberately asked in a chilling tone, "Aren't you afraid of dying?"

Lu Yan's expression was calm. "No."

He was not afraid of death, but he wanted to live.

The cold, sharp tip of the knife traveled slowly down his spine before reaching Lu Yan's wrists. Yu Zechuan suddenly sliced hard. The rope snapped at once and fell to the floor with a soft hiss, like a snake.

Lu Yan froze for a moment, then looked at Yu Zechuan instinctively. "You're not afraid I'll run?"

"If you want to die, go ahead and run."

With that, Yu Zechuan grabbed the back of Lu Yan's neck and shoved him straight into the bedroom. For a moment, Lu Yan suspected Yu Zechuan might be planning to force himself on him, but Yu Zechuan only stood at the door and tossed out a warning. "Go to sleep. Don't try anything."

With that, he slammed the door shut. After a sound of the lock turning, silence returned.

Lu Yan smiled. What kind of kindhearted kidnapper was this, letting the hostage sleep in the bed while he went to sleep on the sofa? But since Yu Zechuan had said that, it meant he would not kill him tonight. Lu Yan could sleep easy.

He stretched and got into bed without the slightest psychological burden.

Yu Zechuan sat on the living-room sofa with his arms folded and his eyes closed, but sleep was nowhere in sight. He had not had a good night's sleep in five years. His long time in prison had accustomed him to maintaining an intense state of vigilance. Even the sound of a pin dropping could set his sensitive, taut nerves on edge.

He had his eyes closed, as though sleeping, but he was really only resting them.

The clock on the wall turned noiselessly, marking the passage of time. In the latter half of the night, Yu Zechuan suddenly came down with a high fever. His head felt foggy, and his throat burned with pain. He immediately sensed the change in his condition and forced himself upright from the sofa to pour himself a glass of water. Then a faint knock suddenly came from the bedroom.

Knock, knock, knock.

"Yu Zechuan, are you asleep? I need to use the bathroom."

Yu Zechuan paused, only then realizing it was Lu Yan's voice. He rose from the sofa with a frown, but a fierce wave of dizziness suddenly struck him. His body swayed twice beyond his control, and he nearly fell to the floor.

Yu Zechuan pinched himself hard, barely gathering enough focus to make it to the door. He unlocked it with the key and let Lu Yan out, his voice hoarse and broken. "Ten minutes. Hurry up!"

Lu Yan had only just crawled out of bed and was in the sort of groggy state where he did not recognize anyone. Hearing that, he noticed nothing wrong. Eyes half shut, he went to the bathroom and muttered to himself, "Ten minutes is something only a two-pump chump would do. Your man Lu needs at least two hours."

Yu Zechuan: "..."

Yu Zechuan was so feverish that his mind was muddled. He had no energy to dwell on Lu Yan's words. Without saying anything, he stood guard by the door and waited for Lu Yan to emerge. Most of his body lay in shadow. The cold air in the living room seeped in through his skin, leaving him chilled to the bone, and cold sweat soon soaked much of his back.

Lu Yan became a little more alert after using the bathroom. Remembering that he had not showered today, he took a quick shower while he was there. He found a set of disposable toiletries in the bathroom and carefully brushed his teeth and washed his face. Only after finishing all that did he step out, thoroughly satisfied.

"You can go back to your room now."

After saying that, Lu Yan headed straight toward the bedroom. He had taken only two steps when he realized Yu Zechuan had not followed. He turned back to the bathroom door and reached out to pat him. "Hey, what's—"

Before he could finish, Yu Zechuan suddenly listed to one side and collapsed straight into his arms. Lu Yan caught him instinctively, only to find him frighteningly hot. Shock flashed through his eyes. "Yu Zechuan?!"