Chen Jinxuan had not slept so long and so deep before. When he woke up to the chirpings of birds and glaring sunlight, he found his eyes heavy and exceptionally dry. He rose from his bed and sighed. The lingering scent from liquor wafted to his nose and invoked last night’s memories.

Chen Jinxuan picked his phone up and the moment he unlocked his phone, he was welcomed with multiple missed calls from Chen Zhuoheng and a few from Chen Ling and Han Qiyu. Chen Jinxuan wondered since when he had become so well-received.

‘Jin-ge, that Fang Yaowei must have made a terrible mistake. It is his fault, not yours. You should not spend a drop of your tear for him. Also, considering I have helped you and Chen Ling twice… maybe it is time you unblock my main number? –Han Qiyu.’

‘Jin-ge, forget about that stupid Fang Yaowei. I will stay with you. Call me if you need me—Chen Ling.’

‘You should just rest for today. I called father and told him you are sick—Chen Ling.’

Chen Jinxuan could not help but smile at the messages. Could this be what a mother hen felt when it was followed by its chicks? It was a bizarre feeling, but it was not bad.

Chen Jinxuan got off his bed and poured himself a cup of warm water to drink. After that, he cleared his throat and called Chen Zhuoheng. The call rang once and was immediately picked up. “Director Chen?”

“What did you do? What are you and Chen Ling up to? She actually argued with me!” Chen Zhuoheng hissed. “You are an adult already, why do you need your little sister to take care of you? You are the one who should take care of her and be her example!”

“I am not feeling well, so I will take two days off. If there is anything urgent, you may let Secretary Zhou email me.” Chen Jinxuan replied, slightly surprised at his hoarse voice. He wondered if he drank too much. His alcohol tolerance was not that great to begin with.

“If there is nothing else, I will go back to rest.” Oddly, Chen Jinxuan found his mood unusually good. Even if Chen Zhuoheng snarled at him, he found it acceptable.

“Hmph, Chen Ling will have to submit her internship application soon. Let her be your assistant or any director’s assistant.” Chen Zhuoheng digressed. “She told me herself she is willing to be an intern in Xiuyan Real Estate.”

Chen Jinxuan was puzzled. The one who obstinately refused to work in Xiuyan Real Estate was Chen Ling. Why did she suddenly agree? Did Han Qiyu persuade her somehow? If that was the case, then he owed him another gratitude much to his chagrin. Although he had never made his thoughts known to Chen Zhuoheng and Chen Ling, he actually wished for Chen Ling to work in the company. Not only could he take care of Chen Ling, but he could also make sure Chen Ling was learning something for her career in the future.

“Alright, I will have her assigned appropriately.”

“What about Fang Yaowei?”

Chen Jinxuan went silent for a brief moment before commenting, “The demand letter has been given to him. Huaduan law firm will make sure he leaves obediently.”

Chen Zhuoheng made a grunt that sounded neither like satisfaction nor dissatisfaction. Having nothing else to say, he hung up.

Chen Jinxuan logged in to his work email to inform Zhou Meixin about this. Inside the inbox were several already read emails from Fang Yaowei. Chen Jinxuan frowned. He did not remember reading them… Could it be Chen Ling? Could it be Han Qiyu? Ultimately, it did not matter because he would not read them anyway. He could imagine what the contents would be.

He quickly wrote an email to notify Zhou Meixin about him taking two days leave and about Chen Ling’s imminent internship application. After that, he clicked into his phone’s blacklist and removed Han Qiyu’s number from it.

The clock on the wall clicked second by second. Chen Jinxuan sank within his own thoughts as he wondered if he should call Han Qiyu. He found it untimely since he still had not accepted the fact that Han Qiyu was courting Chen Ling. Perhaps, his heart had remained the same seven years ago, and, in his eyes, Chen Ling was forever a child.

His finger tapped the call icon and he set his phone on his ear. The phone rang many times, but no one picked it up. At the last moment before Chen Jinxuan ended the call, the phone finally got through.

“Hello?” A foreign voice belonging to a man rang.

“Is Mr. Han there?” Chen Jinxuan thought that the voice sounded oddly timid—no, languid as if the one speaking was sick. It could be Han Qiyu’s older brother that he mentioned before.

“This is my younger brother’s phone. He went out for an errand. May I know who I am speaking with?”

“I am Chen Jinxuan. I just want to say my thanks to Mr. Han for helping me out yesterday.”

“…Chen… Jinxuan?”

“Yes, that will be me. Is my name not shown on the screen?”

“No… Your number is saved as ‘Chen Ling’s Older Brother’ here…”

“I see… Please tell Mr. Han to call me back.”

If there was a word that depicted the call perfectly, it would be ‘awkwardness’. There was no knowing what impression Chen Jinxuan gave Han Qiyu’s brother to produce such an awkward moment. In any case, Chen Jinxuan had conveyed his message and it was enough.

After ending the call, Chen Jinxuan’s eyebrows pulled towards each other. A sigh escaped his lips. He mulled whether he should let Chen Ling decide for herself. He would still be worried, but he could not take away Chen Ling’s freedom of choice. Whether Han Qiyu and Chen Ling could walk together till the end… it was not up to him.

If his relationship with Chen Junhuan was not so horrendous, would Chen Junhuan be worried about his relationship back then with Fang Yaowei. Would he have become a refuge?

Surprised at his own imagination, Chen Jinxuan put his palm on his face as he sighed. Imagining Chen Junhuan being kind to him was another level of hopelessness. Perhaps, he was exhausted due to work and Fang Yaowei that he could not help but be suspicious of everything. He should cut off this bad habit before the end of his holiday.

Chen Jinxuan’s gaze fell on the desk calendar in the dining room. He had not adjusted the date of his calendar for weeks. Seeing the date, he began to compare the days before he confronted Fang Yaowei and the days after. He felt liberated indeed, but he also felt… foreign to his supposedly familiar environment. He had gotten rid of all items belonging to Fang Yaowei, but he kept seeing shadows of him in his condominium—in the kitchen, in the living room, and in the bedroom.

Chen Jinxuan shook his head, getting rid of the haunting memories before fixing the calendar’s date. This was when he remembered Li Guangchen, a friend of his and a senior to Liu Mingsi. Chen Jinxuan took his phone out and searched for ‘Li Guangchen’ in his contacts. Then, he sent a message.

Not more than a minute, his phone rang as Chen Jinxuan had expected. He picked it up and heard a familiar voice of a man.

“My flight is at 1 PM. Fetch me at 2 PM.”

Chen Jinxuan smirked as he remained silent.

“Jinxuan?”

“I hope you don’t mind a vespa.”

“Have you gone bankrupt?” A scoff came from Li Guangchen. His voice was deep, and it brought an unintentional intimidation even though he was clearly cracking a joke. “I don’t mind vespa, you mind it.”

“You were the one who bought me that vespa. I believe it is not wrong to drive you with it.” Chen Jinxuan teased. “Except, there is no room for your luggage.”

“I will remember this. I might just side with Fang Yaowei and fight his case against you.” When Li Guangchen said so, his voice was calm and indifferent. Anyone who only knew him by the surface would have believed this, but not Chen Jinxuan. Chen Jinxuan knew this friend of his was joking, but then again, everything related to Fang Yaowei would never be a joke.

Chen Jinxuan sighed as he sauntered to his bedroom. With one hand he opened a cupboard and picked a grey shirt with a pair of jeans. “It is not funny.”

“I have heard from Mingsi. I would have loved the show if only I did not have to help that fox-like old man with his branch law firm in another town. In any case, if you need to deal with him, call me. I’ll have to head to the airport now, so see you at 2 PM.” Li Guangchen said and ended the call.

Chen Jinxuan tossed his phone to his bed as he headed to his bathroom. After getting dressed, he went to the kitchen. He figured Li Guangchen would want to have dinner together, so he only ate a bowl of instant oatmeal to fill his tummy. Swiftly finishing his brunch, he draped his black leather jacket over his shoulder as he stepped out.

As the airport was slightly far, Chen Jinxuan had to depart earlier. On his way to the airport, Chen Jinxuan was once again consoled by the wind as he rode his bike. Time sure flew, he thought. Thinking of Li Guangchen, it would be a lie if he said he was not delighted. 

Chen Jinxuan waited by the entrance of the arrival route. It did not take long until he saw a man neatly dressed in a black well-ironed suit walking over. His black hair was parted in the middle with some bangs dropping naturally by the sides of his temple. A silver-rimmed glasses was set on the bridge of his pointed nose, bringing along the air of a stern yet charming man.

Li Guangchen walked over smoothly with a hand-held suitcase. Without even a greeting, he sat on the back seat of Chen Jinxuan’s bike. Silence filled their surroundings for a moment before laughter escaped their lips.

“Dinner?” Chen Jinxuan turned his head around as he handed a helmet to Li Guangchen.

“It’s still too early. I ate something on the plane. Let’s play some games at your place like we used to.” Li Guangchen’s gaze softened once in a blue moon as his lips pulled into a small smile. “I need to talk to you about some matters too.”

“Take-away?”

“Burgers.” Li Guangchen put on the helmet. He placed his suitcase between him and Chen Jinxuan. After that, Chen Jinxuan stepped on the starter and started the engine, bringing them back to the central city.

Even now, Chen Jinxuan could still vividly remember the day he first met Li Guangchen. It was during his first year of college. He sneaked out of his class to smoke in an alley when he saw someone else had occupied the alley. He was only out for a smoke when he witnessed Li Guangchen beating the hell out of a group of seniors. Based on the books tossed aside on the floor, they were all from the law department.

Noticing a presence, Li Guangchen turned around to glare at Chen Jinxuan. Li Guangchen himself was not a lawful person by nature. Seeing that Chen Jinxuan stayed to watch the show, Li Guangchen found him hateful at first.

“If you are not going to help, scram. What a waste of space and air…” Li Guangchen spat as he avoided a fist that flew towards him. With force, he sent a knee over to the attacker’s stomach.

Not letting the provocation get him, Chen Jinxuan leaned his shoulder on the way and lit a cigarette. He sucked a mouthful of smoke and blew it in Li Guangchen’s direction.

After knocking down the five seniors, Li Guangchen went to deal with Chen Jinxuan.

“Looking for trouble, are you?” Li Guangchen hissed as he marched towards Chen Jinxuan.

Chen Jinxuan’s eyes were cast downward, and, on the floor, he saw shattered silver-rimmed glasses. Throwing a glance at Li Guangchen, he saw some scratches on his nose and cheeks. He bent down and picked it up for Li Guangchen. “I am only here for a smoke.”

Li Guangchen did not bat an eyelash at Chen Jinxuan’s explanation and was in a terrible mood. What was a bone-thin wimp like Chen Jinxuan doing in the alley when he was busy teaching the seniors some lessons? In addition to that, to dare to blow smoke at him… This rascal was asking to be beaten!

A brawl happened between them, and Li Guangchen was definitely astonished to discover that he could not get any easy advantage from Chen Jinxuan who looked fragile. Another factor that surprised him was the fact that they were both trained in aikido.

When they were found by the security guards, they were sent to the detention centre to be lectured. Eventually, they found that they were both members of the aikido club with different schedules. The rest of the story went without saying.

Chen Jinxuan rode to a restaurant they frequently visited and bought two portions of take-away. Soon enough, they arrived at Chen Jinxuan’s condominium.

Li Guangchen placed his suitcase down in the living room and changed out of his office suit. He wore a long-sleeved sweater and a pair of cargo trousers. He sat next to Chen Jinxuan on the sofa in the living room as he spoke, “Although we have gathered enough evidence to sue Fang Yaowei, it will be faster if we can get his own confession.”

“He won’t. He will obediently resign because he knows he will lose the case.”

Li Guangchen raised his eyes to look at Chen Jinxuan. He knew about the relationship, and he knew Chen Jinxuan was speaking the truth. Still, something about Chen Jinxuan’s decisive understanding of Fang Yaowei irked him.

If only he could be there instead of Liu Mingsi, he would have given Fang Yaowei, that bastard, a good beating on behalf of his buddy. At this thought, Li Guangchen found it even more annoying because he recalled the videos Liu Mingsi sent to him as supporting evidence.

Exactly at this moment, the door to the condominium opened. The lock ‘clacked’ and the door was pushed inside. Li Guangchen narrowed his eyes as he saw the man who had wronged Chen Jinxuan entering.

“Xuan-ge, I heard you are unwell. I brought you some—” Fang Yaowei spoke as he lifted a plastic bag filled with what seemed to be packed food. When he stepped further inside, he saw an unknown man sitting next to his ex-lover.

“What are you doing here?” Chen Jinxuan did not expect that Fang Yaowei would be so shameless. He did not expect that Fang Yaowei could pretend as if everything that happened between them was nothing.

“Am I not welcome?” Fang Yaowei frowned then revealed a grin when his gaze shifted to Chen Jinxuan. He tossed aside the spare key to Chen Jinxuan’s condominium which was given to him years ago. “After dumping me, you immediately found a replacement… I see. You are not as virtuous as you claim to be, Xuan-ge.”

“He is lawyer Liu’s senior at Huaduan law firm.” Chen Jinxuan sighed as he glared at Fang Yaowei.

Li Guangchen made a polite smile at Fang Yaowei. “Jinxuan, you do not need to prove yourself to him. I believe he is only here for an answer. Am I right, Mr. Fang?”

Fang Yaowei’s smile dissipated when he heard Li Guangchen. From the brief introduction Chen Jinxuan made and from the way that man addressed him, Fang Yaowei knew this man must have known the intricacies between him and Chen Jinxuan. The smile on Li Guangchen’s face irritated him. Something about it felt like danger.

In the next moment, Li Guangchen cupped Chen Jinxuan’s chin and let their lips meet aggressively. While nibbling at Chen Jinxuan's lips with hunger, he raised his eyes and arched an eyebrow at Fang Yaowei.

Fang Yaowei’s face twisted into a scowl while his clenched fists trembled and ‘clacked’.