Although Wen Yun had told Xie Zhinan to come in the next day for overtime, in reality, Wen Yun himself didn’t come to the office the next day.
At first, Xie Zhinan didn’t know he wasn’t there. When it was time for lunch, he hesitated about whether to eat in the cafeteria or downstairs at a nearby restaurant.
Going downstairs to eat to avoid someone seemed a bit obvious, so he chose to eat in the cafeteria. After all, he couldn’t possibly run into Wen Yun again, could he?
He decided to go to the cafeteria in the end.
As expected, Wen Yun wasn’t there.
When Xie Zhinan arrived, he scanned the cafeteria with his eyes, did the same after getting his food, and again when he sat down.
…Wen Yun wasn’t around.
He stood there for a long time, feeling a bit unclear about his emotions. After a while, he quietly lowered his lashes, sat down, and began eating.
When Li Mo entered the cafeteria, she spotted Xie Zhinan sitting in the corner, eating slowly, looking somewhat lonely.
It had been a while since then, and her diet plan had completely failed. Just a few days ago, she had promised herself that this time, she would take back everything that belonged to her!
But after a few days of eating nothing but salad, she had become discouraged. Frustrated and questioning her life, she finally gave up two days ago, thinking, “This damn world is already so bitter—how can I not eat something good?”
So, she indulged and ordered junk food for two days in a row. Today, she spent half an hour debating whether to order junk food again. While staring at the food delivery screen, a few minutes later, the phone screen went dark, revealing a new pimple on her forehead. After two seconds of silence, she decided to head to the cafeteria instead.
Li Mo saw Xie Zhinan eating alone and grabbed her food before sitting next to him. She greeted him, “Xiao Xie.”
Xie Zhinan looked up and saw it was Li Mo, his expression warming a bit. He replied, “Mo Jie.”
After a pause, he asked, “Didn’t you say you were going to order that spicy shrimp you like for lunch today?”
Li Mo waved her hand. “I’m having a heat rash, and I don’t want to eat more salad. I came to the cafeteria for something lighter.”
“Why are you eating alone?” she changed the subject, winking at him and lowering her voice. “I heard some gossip from other departments, and they said you have lunch with Mr. Wen every day. Is that true?”
Xie Zhinan: “…”
He paused for a second, trying to figure out how to respond, but Li Mo was quick to catch on. Narrowing her eyes, she lowered her voice further. “Are you going to tell the truth?”
Xie Zhinan pressed his lips together, then quietly said, “It’s… it’s true we’ve had a few meals together, but it was just by coincidence.”
“How could it be just a coincidence that you’re always eating with him alone?” Li Mo asked suspiciously.
Xie Zhinan: “.”
Xie Zhinan said, “I don’t know either.”
How is it that he always runs into me alone like this?
I even got caught when I went to the convenience store to eat.
Li Mo squinted her eyes and stared at him suspiciously for a long time, still feeling that something was off. “You know that women’s sixth sense is really strong, right?”
Xie Zhinan: “…I guess?”
Li Mo continued to ask, “So, you two really don’t know each other?”
Xie Zhinan wasn’t really keen on letting anyone find out about his connection to Wen Yun, but Li Mo had always been kind to him, and he didn’t want to lie to her. So, he said, “We went to the same school.”
Afterward, Xie Zhinan added, “But we weren’t close.”
When he said this, his voice grew softer and more vague, sounding a bit guilty.
Li Mo didn’t notice his unease. Her attention had already shifted to their school connection. “You two went to the same school? High school?”
“…Mm.”
Really not close?
She felt like Wen Yun didn’t seem the type of person who would eat with an old schoolmate he wasn’t close to.
Li Mo was about to ask more, but when she saw that Xie Zhinan had lowered his head and slowed his eating, she quickly realized that he wasn’t interested in talking about this topic and might even be trying to avoid it.
Not wanting to press him, Li Mo naturally changed the subject. “By the way, I heard that Mr. Wen went on a business trip and won’t be at the company for the next few days.”
Xie Zhinan froze. “A business trip?”
“I saw it in the small group chat,” Li Mo said, pulling out her phone and opening the chat to show him.
Sure enough, the group was discussing that Wen Yun had gone on a business trip, and no one had seen him at the company all day.
…He’s on a business trip, yet he still told me to go in for overtime?
….
After lunch, they both returned to their desks. Li Mo had already put on her eye mask to nap, while Xie Zhinan thought for a moment, then took out his phone to message Wen Yun.
But as soon as he opened the chat, he wasn’t sure how to start.
Should he just ask if he was on a business trip?
Would a normal subordinate ask their boss something like that?
Xie Zhinan stared at the chat box lost in thought.
His chats with Wen Yun were very brief; at the top was the transfer record, and the last message was just a simple “Okay” from Wen Yun.
Xie Zhinan unconsciously started scrolling up and down, but no matter how much he scrolled, there was nothing more.
Just this short page.
He couldn’t scroll up or down.
It felt like this was all the conversation and interaction they had—this tiny, pitiful exchange.
Xie Zhinan’s gaze unintentionally drifted to Wen Yun’s profile picture.
That dazzling aurora.
A certain desire stirred inside him, a temptation that had been seducing him since last night.
He shouldn’t be thinking like this. He shouldn’t be curious about someone else. He and Wen Yun should still maintain a safe superior-subordinate relationship…
He knew this, and there were countless reasons to stop his next action. But his hand moved, and his finger pressed on Wen Yun’s profile picture.
It was quiet in the office during lunch break, so quiet that Xie Zhinan could hear his own heartbeat.
His throat felt dry, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he involuntarily swallowed.
Wen Yun rarely posted on Moments, only a few posts in total.
The most recent one, from nine years ago, was when he graduated from high school and posted about leaving for abroad.
It had a picture of the airport, and the caption was short—just the word “Leaving.”
Scrolling up, there was a post from five years ago.
Wen Yun posted a photo of the aurora.
Xie Zhinan paused, then compared the aurora photo with Wen Yun’s current profile picture.
They weren’t the same.
Wen Yun had gone to Northern Europe again.
When they were still together, Xie Zhinan had once asked Wen Yun about the origin of his WeChat profile picture. It wasn’t even a question he asked on his own; he wasn’t used to asking Wen Yun anything actively, afraid of bothering him or being annoying.
It was a moment when he had stared at the picture for a while, and then Wen Yun had brought it up himself, asking, “Are you curious?”
Xie Zhinan was curious, but he wasn’t sure if that kind of curiosity would annoy Wen Yun, so he hesitated and shook his head cautiously.
Wen Yun slightly turned his head, narrowing his eyes and giving him a cold glance. “If you’re not interested, then I won’t talk about it.”
Xie Zhinan sensed that Wen Yun seemed a little upset, and after a long pause, he hesitated before saying, “I’m interested.”
“Do you want to hear it?” Wen Yun asked at that moment.
Xie Zhinan also asked, “Do you want to tell me?”
Wen Yun replied, “Oh, so you don’t want to hear it.”
Xie Zhinan quickly shook his head and honestly said, “I want to hear it.”
His large, glistening eyes were full of Wen Yun’s face, looking at him seriously and attentively.
Wen Yun raised his hand and gently pressed it on his head, saying, “Before high school, I went there when I was feeling down.”
Xie Zhinan felt sad that Wen Yun had such moments of unhappiness, but he was tongue-tied and couldn’t find the right comforting words. Instead, he held Wen Yun’s hand tightly, trying to offer some warmth, and asked, “Why were you feeling down?”
After asking, he quickly worried he might have overstepped, so he swiftly stopped speaking and added, “Sorry, if you don’t want to talk about it, you don’t have to. I didn’t mean to pry…”
Before he could finish, Wen Yun, who had already lost patience with their back-and-forth, forcefully turned his hand to hold his palm tightly, trapping his hand, squeezing it to the point where Xie Zhinan felt pain, silencing him.
“It’s just something at home,” Wen Yun said.
He said a little, but not everything. It seemed like he didn’t even know how to bring it up.
Xie Zhinan didn’t ask further, nor did he mention that his hand hurt. Instead, he raised his other arm and, with great thoughtfulness, gave Wen Yun a hug. “That’s why you went all the way there, huh?”
Wen Yun remained silent for a long time, then replied with a soft “Mm,” saying, “A place that’s cold and far away, desolate and lonely, it’s easy to forget pain and worries there.”
Five years ago… What was it that made Wen Yun feel pain and distress?
That key moment, just happened to be the time they broke up.
Xie Zhinan’s finger trembled.
His soul returned to its place, and he pulled himself out of the memories, only to realize that, without meaning to, he had liked the post.
Xie Zhinan panicked. He hurriedly tried to unlike it, but before he could, Wen Yun’s message arrived.
[Y]：?
Xie Zhinan felt like he had been caught spying, overwhelmed with nervousness and shame, his heart racing as a result.
He let out a heavy breath, trying to throw away the disordered thoughts along with the exhale.
It was impossible.
Xie Zhinan thought, Wen Yun wouldn’t be upset over their breakup.
When they broke up, Wen Yun had agreed without a hint of hesitation.
He quickly regained his composure and replied to the message.
[Xie Zhinan]：0.0
[Y]：What are you doing?
Xie Zhinan could only steel himself and reply.
[Xie Zhinan]：Are you on a business trip?
[Y]：It seems you’re very concerned about me.
Xie Zhinan stared at the “you” that Wen Yun had sent in the message.
This time, it seemed like he was being sarcastic again.
Xie Zhinan decided to ignore the illogical… but maybe somewhat logical… comment.
[Xie Zhinan]：…So, should I still stay late to work tonight? 0.0
[Y]：What do you think?
Xie Zhinan was silent for a second, then obediently changed the way he addressed him.
[Xie Zhinan]：If you need it.
As soon as he sent it, he realized it sounded wrong. His heart skipped a beat, and in a panic, he tried to retract the message, sending a new one.
[Xie Zhinan]：If the company needs it.
There was a long silence from the other side before the reply came.
[Y]：Then you don’t need to work late tonight.
[mfn]
Author’s Note:
Hehe, Wen Yun wouldn’t really make Xie Zhinan work overtime, right? He wouldn’t abuse his power to make his baby suffer!
He’ll find ways to create opportunities for that.
Hehe, see you next time!
[/mfn]
