Nie Chang winced and looked up with bleary eyes. Without either of them noticing, half the night had already passed. Nie Chang still hadn’t found anything and had just admitted to himself that whoever the other person was he could do nothing against him.

Well, it was to be expected. Even though Nie Chang was a good hacker in his world — even one of the best if one only counted his home country — he was light-years away from the skills the people in the Heaven Corporation had. Yes, the Heaven Corporation wasn’t part of the same world as Su Yan but that is another story so let’s get back to those two mortal friends.

"What happened?" Nie Chang frowned, rubbed his eyes and sidled over.

Su Yan hugged the notebook to his chest. "It’s nothing. Continue."

"Su Yan …" Nie Chang leaned over, his eyes half closed. "If I remember correctly, that’s my notebook you’re hugging there. And aren’t I here just because you called me?"

"Yes to both. I’m still not telling you!"

Nie Chang looked at the notebook and finally sighed. "Fine, then you don’t." He then took a look at his watch and rubbed his eyes again. "We should go to bed. It’s really late already."

Su Yan looked at his own watch and his eyes went wide. "Fuck! I’ve got work tomorrow, too!"

Nie Chang put the notebook down and stood up. "Well, think about my offer. I certainly wouldn’t blame you if you were late to work because you spent the night with me." He chuckled lowly. Well, I do hope we’ll spend our future nights with activities that are a little more enjoyable than the things we’ve done tonight.

He followed Su Yan into his bedroom and eyed the bed. Mn, it was as small as he remembered. Just perfect for his purpose! Su Yan was already searching for some spare bedding, though. He had to hurry!

"Eh, Ah Yan, don’t put yourself out on my account. It’s so late already. How about I just squeeze in with you for tonight?"

Su Yan froze. "Uh … No, that …"

Nie Chang lifted his brows. This wasn’t the expected reaction somehow? "What’s the problem?" He went over and looked at his friend. It seemed like Su Yan was avoiding him? He didn’t even look at him.

This … Nie Chang narrowed his eyes. It couldn’t be that, after all this time, Su Yan finally got it? And now he was embarrassed about sharing his bed with someone he knew was in love with him? Interesting! If that truly was the case, he definitely couldn’t let go of this opportunity!

"Come on, it’s so late already. We’re both tired. Let’s speed this up, alright?" To make sure his point came across Nie Chang pulled his shirt over his head.

Su Yan stared at his chest, aghast. This somehow looked just like in the videos he had seen today …

Wait. He shook his head. This was just him thinking too much. On every other day, he would have already said yes because, well, it really was too much work and he didn’t really mind anyway. But now, faced with the suggestion to share his bed with Nie Chang he couldn’t help but think of the things he had seen online.

"Alright." His voice sounded a little thin, earning him another interested glance from Nie Chang. As if to prove to himself that everything was alright, Su Yan slipped out of his own shirt.

Suddenly, two men stood in front of each other in the bedroom with the upper part of their bodies naked.

This … Why was the atmosphere so strange?!

Su Yan suddenly didn’t know how to proceed. Looking at Nie Chang standing in front of him, he couldn’t help but blush. Should he pull down his pants or not? Why was he even wondering about that?!

Nie Chang fought hard not to let the smile escape that was threatening to blossom on his lips. He just reached down and unbuckled his belt.

Ah, this felt good. He had been in love with Su Yan for so many years but that guy just didn’t get it. And now they were getting naked in front of each other and he actually blushed! He really wanted to know how he got this sudden blessing. Maybe he could make use of that somehow to further their relationship?

Without a worry in the world, Nie Chang stripped his pants off and observed Su Yan’s reaction. It was … quite amusing. Su Yan obviously didn’t know where to look. He evaded his gaze but then he hurriedly looked back as if he would miss out on something if he didn’t. Really, what was he thinking?

Of course, it wasn’t that he might miss out on something. Instead, Su Yan felt bad about looking away. After all, they were both men and friends so what was there to be embarrassed about? Wouldn’t Nie Chang think he was strange if he couldn’t look at him just because he was stripping?

Nie Chang looked at his friend and couldn’t help reaching for his underwear. He really had a teasing personality. He just wanted to see how Su Yan would react. The result didn’t disappoint: Su Yan froze and his eyes bulged.

Nie Chang took his hand back and masked his laughter with a cough. The last time he had seen him so flustered had probably been when they were writing their final exams …

He shook his head and just lay down on Su Yan’s bed. There was no reason to get impatient after all those years. If he stripped completely, that clueless, heartless guy would probably kick him out of his flat.

"What’s up with you, Ah Yan? Still not coming into bed?" He patted the spot beside him and smiled. Now he was really dancing around the thin line separating what Su Yan could accept and what was out of the question. Let’s see how he reacts.

Su Yan, filled with the dreaded feeling of having done something wrong, likewise stripped and burrowed under the blanket. He turned away from Nie Chang and closed his eyes. Not that that made anything better. He just felt even clearer that someone was lying beside him.

For a long while, he couldn’t fall asleep. His thoughts always returned to the things he had read and seen that day. But finally, the fatigue accumulated from a day of hard work and a taxing night took its toll. Thus he finally fell asleep. He dreamed some strange things, though.