Now that he knew Bai Yue had ulterior motives, Zheng Yang felt like he was carrying an unbearable secret.
Unforgivable by heaven or earth.
A bolt of divine punishment waiting to strike him down.
It even went against his ancestors.
This left him dazed for quite a while — even a bit righteously indignant.
Zheng Yang thought, I actually let such a dangerous beast lurk beside Ye Xi and didn’t even notice. What a mistake.
Of course, this was partly Ye Xi’s own fault too.
Who told Ye Xi to have such poor judgment and stick to Bai Yue like glue every day?
But still, Zheng Yang felt that as a righteous, kind, and noble older brother…
He bore some responsibility.
So, over winter break, he moved in with his biological father for a while. Whenever he bumped into Ye Xi in the building, he made a conscious effort to be a bit more pleasant.
He still wasn’t quite used to expressing kindness to Ye Xi.
But at mealtimes, he would quietly place Ye Xi’s favorite dessert in front of him.
At night, if Ye Xi was in the living room, he would sit silently across from him instead of heading upstairs right away.
And when Ye Xi mentioned an upcoming exhibition to his friends over the phone, Zheng Yang would have the butler buy tickets — and hand them to Ye Xi the next day.
Thanks to Zheng Yang’s quiet efforts—
A few days later, Ye Xi was sitting with Li Rui in a café, sipping on an iced latte. His expression was serious as he told Li Rui:
“Zheng Yang seems to be possessed.”
Li Rui choked on his juice and started coughing.
As he reached for napkins, he looked at Ye Xi in confusion. “What do you mean? What did he do?”
Ye Xi looked pained. “That guy… lately, he doesn’t snap at me when he sees me. At the dinner table, he still ignores me mostly, but he actually gave me cake.”
Even though the cake was barely a foot away from him — Ye Xi had placed it there intentionally to eat it later. But because Zheng Yang inexplicably offered it to him, he felt forced to eat it right away.
“And that’s not all,” Ye Xi said grimly. “Two days ago, I got bitten by a bug, and he actually brought me ointment. Then just now, when I said I was heading out to meet you, he even asked where I was going and whether I needed a ride. Like he could drive — he doesn’t even have a license. It’d just be the driver taking me.”
The more Ye Xi talked, the more bewildered he looked.
His expression was grave, even worried. He asked Li Rui, “If this isn’t possession, what is it? Did something evil get to him? Was he cursed? He used to laugh coldly whenever I went out, saying I had a pin in my butt because I couldn’t sit still.”
And if Ye Xi didn’t go out, Zheng Yang would complain that he stayed indoors so long he’d start growing mold.
In short, he was impossible to please.
Li Rui took a big gulp of juice, puffing up his cheeks.
It was suspicious.
He remembered when he first met Ye Xi back in middle school — Zheng Yang was already in the same school, and every time they crossed paths in the hallway, Zheng Yang’s expression was terrible and he’d often provoke fights on purpose.
Six years had passed, and never once had Zheng Yang shown signs of changing for the better.
Li Rui swallowed his juice with a gulp and said seriously, “As much as I’d like to say it’s a case of possession, sadly, after the founding of our country, it became illegal to turn into spirits — so curses probably aren’t allowed either.”
Still, Zheng Yang’s behavior was too abnormal.
He scooped another bite of cake and asked Ye Xi, “Did you maybe do something recently that made him warm up to you? Or did your dad talk to him and tell him to be a better brother?”
“No way.”
Ye Xi immediately rejected the latter. He said coldly, “You know my so-called dad. He barely shows up once a year, never gets involved in anything between me and Zheng Yang. But if I ever hurt Zheng Yang, he’ll definitely show up right away to scold me.”
Ye Xi wracked his brain.
He really hadn’t done anything recently — still treated Zheng Yang like air and avoided provoking him.
If he had to say something, then maybe the change started after the cultural festival that day…
Ye Xi frowned, took a bite of cake, and asked Li Rui, “Could it be because I hugged Bai Yue at the cultural festival, and Zheng Yang picked up on something and thinks I like Bai Yue? Then he felt I didn’t stand a chance and started pitying me?”
“No way,” Li Rui scoffed. “Straight guys like him aren’t that sharp. And let’s be real — is he even that kind? If he knew you had a crush on Bai Yue, he’d probably punch you first.”
That was true.
Ye Xi shrugged. Whatever — who could guess what Zheng Yang was thinking. Maybe he was just being weird for no reason.
The two of them happily shared three pieces of cake. Since they couldn’t figure out Zheng Yang’s strange behavior, they decided to forget about him.
As Li Rui browsed for aromatherapy diffusers on his phone, he asked Ye Xi, “Has Bai Yue sent you any messages recently?”
Bai Yue had been abroad for almost two weeks. The study program he was on even took them deep into the mountains for two days, where the signal was poor — so he hadn’t contacted Ye Xi much on those days.
But at the mention of Bai Yue, Ye Xi’s eyes lit up with a smile.
“Yes.”
Every night when he had time, Bai Yue would send him pictures. After they left the mountains and regained signal, he would message Ye Xi right away.
Ye Xi happily showed Li Rui his phone. “Bai-ge said they went to a mining area and collected some small mineral specimens to bring back. He said he’s giving them to me.”
He’d even tried fishing for info — asking if Zheng Yang would get any.
Bai Yue had said no.
[I got some local specialties for Zheng Yang. He’ll probably like them.] Bai Yue had said.
Ye Xi was even more pleased.
His legs swung unconsciously as he bit down on his straw.
But the thought that Bai Yue wouldn’t be back for a while left him a little deflated.
He sighed to Li Rui, “I miss him every day, but they’re always busy with events and classes and seminars. I don’t want to bother him too much.”
He quietly put away his phone and looked out the window at the bustling crowd. His pale, clean face was reflected in the glass, and he had a royal blue Bluetooth earpiece on that looked like a stud earring.
“You’re doing fine,” Li Rui nudged him under the table. “Bai Yue still messages you every day. That’s practically like a couple. I’m the one who’s miserable. I send Sheng Yuhe a hundred messages, and he replies to one.”
He sounded like he was full of resentment.
But Ye Xi looked at him and couldn’t help thinking — Isn’t that because you talk too much?
He’d seen it before: Li Rui could send dozens of messages to Sheng Yuhe in a single class period, often with a few selfies thrown in.
Ye Xi suspected Sheng Yuhe’s phone got so many notifications it might overheat.
But wisely, he didn’t say that out loud.
An hour later, their coffee cups were empty.
Ye Xi and Li Rui packed up their things, getting ready to split up.
Ye Xi planned to stop by the bookstore. A comic he’d been waiting for had just come out, and one of the themed items was only available at certain bookstores, so he had to go stand in line.
“What about you? Going home?” he asked Li Rui.
Li Rui shuffled his toes on the floor, looking a little bashful, as if he didn’t quite know how to say what he wanted.
“Nope, Sheng Yuhe is coming to pick me up. Didn’t I jump up 36 places in the final exams? He has to take me on a date.”
Li Rui let out a mischievous chuckle.
Ye Xi: “……”
Good grief, and just now you were jealous of Bai Yue messaging me.
Meanwhile, you’ve already moved on to physical contact.
“Because it’s Valentine’s Day,” Li Rui puffed out his cheeks and said, “it’d be such a waste not to go on a date. You could at least call Bai Yue or do a voice chat or something.”
Just as he finished speaking, a silver Ferrari screeched to a stop outside the café.
The window rolled down, revealing Sheng Yuhe’s refined, aloof face.
“Get in,” he said to Li Rui.
Li Rui instantly flapped over like a little parrot, hopping into the car. He’d even worn a pink jacket that day to match the holiday mood.
With a whoosh, the silver Ferrari sped off.
Leaving Ye Xi standing alone at the entrance of the café.
“Choosing love over friendship,” Ye Xi muttered with a laugh. He opened his umbrella and stepped onto the sidewalk.
A light snow had fallen that day—tiny snow grains—not quite enough to create a romantic K-drama scene, but still enough to add a bit of festive atmosphere.
He looked around and finally noticed how strong the Valentine’s Day mood was.
It was only because he had come here by car that he hadn’t paid attention to his surroundings.
As he walked, he began to realize that there were many couples along the street. Pretty girls held pink and red roses in their hands, their laughter like silver bells, utterly heart-stirring.
So nice.
A soft feeling of envy welled up inside Ye Xi.
He thought of what Li Rui had said—he could also call Bai Yue for a voice chat.
But even though he held his phone for a long time, he didn’t dare be so blatant.
Instead, he just sent a couple of voice messages to Bai Yue.
“Bai-ge, it’s snowing here. It’s light, but it’s the first snow of the year.”
“How about where you are? Did anything fun happen today?”
Whoosh whoosh—the messages were sent.
Just after sending them, he spotted a small flower shop at the corner. Its storefront was dark green, not much bigger than a phone booth, but decorated in a dreamy style, glowing with warm light despite the rainy, snowy weather.
Outside the shop, pink roses glistened with dewdrops, their buds half-closed like fairy tales waiting to be told. The owner, dressed in a black puffer jacket, was busy but still greeted him kindly.
Ye Xi stood outside for a while.
He hadn’t looked at those “how to seduce” guides in a long time.
Bai Yue wasn’t even home. Who was he supposed to seduce?
But coincidentally—no, fatefully—he had reviewed one last night.
The instructor had knocked on the blackboard and explained a key point:
“During important holidays—Valentine’s, your birthday, Christmas—you can post pictures of flowers or gifts from admirers to make your crush feel a little pressure. If that feels too bold, you can just send out a ‘single’ signal. Buy yourself a bouquet, post it with a caption like ‘a little romance I gifted myself,’ or even better, send a selfie with the flowers to your crush and say, ‘they looked so pretty, I bought them on a whim.’ Any guy with a brain will know what that means!”
Should… should he do it?
Ye Xi looked conflicted and a little embarrassed. The most he’d ever done was try seducing Bai Yue when drunk—that was already pushing his limits.
To follow the tutorial step by step would be way too obvious.
Girls doing that seemed lively and cute. But he was a reclusive high school boy who usually hid in corners. If he did something like that, he’d just come off like a lunatic… like Zheng Yang.
Ye Xi bit his lip, utterly at a loss.
Just as he was about to turn away, the shop owner finally had a moment and called out to him with enthusiasm.
“Hey handsome, want to come in and take a look?” The owner, wearing braided pigtails, was full of energy and friendliness. She cheerfully pulled out a beautifully wrapped single rose from the side. “Even if you don’t come in, this one’s for you! We’re giving these to our regular customers today, but there are a few left. You’re so good-looking, you deserve one!”
Ye Xi was stunned.
He looked at the stunning rose in his hand—vibrant and fresh. Even though it wasn’t specially for him, it still lifted his mood.
He quietly accepted it, hesitated for a second, then softly said to the shop owner, “Could you wrap a bouquet for me too, please?”
