A drop of water fell from Qi Wang’s hair tip, rolling down his neck, then sliding down his spine, like a cold pen writing spells on his back.

He lowered his body, kneeling half in front of Yu Nian, looking up at him.

One of his hands held Yu Nian’s hand, inexplicably trembling.

“What do you mean by lied to me?” His voice carried a trace of indiscernible panic, but his face barely maintained composure. He didn’t dare to think too much, just cautiously speculated, “You have nothing to do with that Li Lai, right?”

As he spoke, he caught a faint scent of jasmine from Yu Nian’s hair, the scent of freshly applied hair oil.

Back then, they also had jasmine flowers in their restaurant, small, pure, and soft, hidden among the deep green leaves.

The flowering period of this plant was short, but it happened to be placed next to Yu Nian’s piano. After Yu Nian finished playing the piano, he would also be surrounded by a faint scent of jasmine.

But now, this soft floral scent suddenly turned sharp, turning into a web with thorns hanging, with each thorn emitting a chilling light, pointing straight at him.

Yu Nian’s fingers curled slightly in Qi Wang’s palm.

“Is it hard to understand?” He still avoided Qi Wang’s gaze, saying lightly, “Having no one else means that for so many years, you were my only first love. It’s not just Li Lai; all the other people I told you about were also fake.”

He felt a bit tired too.

In fact, he had no intention of saying these words aloud, starting from the moment they reunited.

Because it sounded too pitiful.

It was as if he was using this to blackmail Qi Wang into repaying him for so many years of affection.

But just now, seeing the desolation and pain in Qi Wang’s expression, he inexplicably blurted it out.

After so many years, he really hadn’t made any progress at all. People like Qi Wang, how much more resilient they were than him, yet he still felt heartache because of Qi Wang’s expression.

Yu Nian couldn’t help but laugh self-deprecatingly, but he continued, “There have been many people sent to my bed over the years, but I haven’t accepted any of them. The day you saw Li Lai, I stayed in the room just to anger you. In fact, I didn’t even touch him. The reason he’s so close to me today is because I felt sorry for him and helped him out of a little trouble.”

At this point, Yu Nian paused.

He sat in the chair, while Qi Wang knelt in front of him, holding his hand.

So much so that when he lowered his head, he could see Qi Wang looking up at him from bottom to top.

For a moment, he seemed to recall the moment he first saw Li Lai on the set, it wasn’t quite the same.

In fact, it was very different.

It was just that his mind was full of Qi Wang’s shadow at the time, so he mistook it for a second.

His hand gently stroked Qi Wang’s eyes, rubbing the corners of Qi Wang’s eyes. “Actually, Li Lai was also innocent. He was sent to me because I asked his name on the set last year.”

“But the reason I noticed him was because when he looked up, his eyes were a bit like yours.”

This sentence made Qi Wang’s heart suddenly heavy, as if it had been smashed heavily to the ground.

So that’s what it meant.

Having no one else, it turned out to be this meaning.

Not only did he not have a long-term stable lover, even his bed partners were imaginary.

He had just been resentful towards a young man named Li Lai, even absurdly comparing himself with this young model in his mind, embarrassing himself to the point of laughter.

But in the end, Yu Nian said that the person named Li Lai had a pair of eyes slightly similar to his.

His chest rose and fell, each breath sounding like an old organ being played, emitting a harsh and broken sound.

Countless emotions collided in his chest, turbulent and chaotic, unable to find an outlet.

What has he done?

Qi Wang wondered.

What exactly had he done to Yu Nian?

During these long eight years, all those lively and frivolous tabloid news, Yu Nian’s extravagant and ostentatious life, turned out to be entirely fake.

This fact was like a dense web pressing down on him, almost breaking his spine.

He gripped Yu Nian’s hand involuntarily, too tightly that it made Yu Nian feel a bit painful, causing him to furrow his brows.

The room fell into a cold silence, the tulips, roses, and peonies in the corner, arranged into a lively bouquet, ironically highlighting the loneliness of the room at this moment.

After a while, Qi Wang seemed to find his voice again, asking in a lost and bewildered tone, “Why?”

But he knew the answer in his heart.

Yu Nian sneered, “Why? Can’t I just not want to? Is that not acceptable?”

Qi Wang remained silent.

He knelt stiffly in front of Yu Nian, like a statue in a blizzard.

The mirror reflected the images of two people.

Yu Nian’s expression was indifferent, like a heartless deity, and Qi Wang was a devotee condemned by him.

But Yu Nian didn’t derive any pleasure from it.

He frowned, unable to bear this oppressive atmosphere. He had impulsively mentioned this matter because Qi Wang’s embarrassment and pain, for a moment, had affected him. But now, it seemed to have backfired. He stood up from the chair, his voice low, “I’m going to bed first.”

However, he had barely taken two steps when there was movement behind him.

A hand gripped his waist, someone pressed his shoulders, pinning him against the nearby wall, another hand pinched his chin, forcing him to look up. Shadows fell from above his head, and a pair of hot lips sealed his own.

The force was almost brutal.

Yu Nian even tasted a metallic, rust-like taste between their lips and teeth.

Since reuniting with Qi Wang, Qi Wang had always been gentle with him, so soft that he almost lost his edge. Yu Nian had almost forgotten how crazy and dominant this person could be.

One of Qi Wang’s hands pressed against his back, the other pinched his chin, forcing him to tilt his head back, straighten his neck, almost as if he were actively seeking the kiss.

At first, Yu Nian could barely maintain his composure. His eyes were slightly open, and in front of him was a sandstone painting hanging on the bedroom wall, depicting golden waves.

But soon, these icy waves began to tremble before his eyes, as if suddenly infused with vitality, surging wave after wave, overwhelming everything.

He was almost drowning in Qi Wang’s kiss.

In a daze, he heard Qi Wang say, “I regret it, Yu Nian.”

Yu Nian was taken aback.

He looked at Qi Wang.

Qi Wang was also looking at him, his eyes as dark as ink, overflowing with both love and pain, like a bird flying over a calm water surface, stirring up a myriad of waves below.

Qi Wang’s voice was suppressed as he repeated, “I really regret it.”

Qi Wang didn’t say what he regretted, but how could Yu Nian not understand? His fingers suddenly tightened, leaving a red mark on the back of Qi Wang’s neck.

A thousand words crossed his mind, spreading like ripples on the water’s surface.

But he didn’t say any of them.

He grabbed Qi Wang’s hair with one hand, tilted his head up, and kissed Qi Wang’s lips.