The next day, Yu Nian was awakened by his phone ringing.

He groggily reached out from under the covers, grabbed the phone, and took a while to press the answer button and put it to his ear. It was his secretary reminding him that he had a meeting in the afternoon and also a private gathering with a certain editor.

It took him a moment to remember that that day was supposed to be the first day back to work at their company.

He struggled to open his eyelids and finally looked at the screen of his phone.

10:30.

Yu Nian: “…”

In theory, he should have been at the company by this time too.

He struggled to sit up from under the covers. The deep blue silk sheets slipped off him, revealing his round and fair shoulders, with deep and shallow bite marks on them. His pajamas were messy, with two buttons on the right side wrongly fastened.

“I know, I’ll go in the afternoon,” Yu Nian’s voice was hoarse. “Did you book a table at Huaxia for me today, like I asked you to?”

“It’s already booked. A private room at 7 o’clock tonight.”

“Good.”

After hanging up the phone, Yu Nian slipped on his slippers and walked into the living room.

As expected, Qi Wang was there, working on his laptop with a cup of coffee beside him.

Yu Nian sat down opposite him and grabbed a small piece of toast from Qi Wang’s plate, biting into it directly without manners. He asked, muffled, “Why didn’t you wake me up? It’s your fault I’m late for work.”

Qi Wang had been in the living room for over two hours. He transferred some files to the opposite side and looked up at Yu Nian. “I did call you twice. The first time, you told me to scram, and the second time, you reached out and hit me.”

He silently extended his right hand, showing Yu Nian, “You said you’d bite me if I kept bothering you.”

Yu Nian: “…”

Although he had no recollection, it did sound like something he would do.

But he wasn’t particularly nervous about work this morning. It was just that it was the first day back to work of the year, so he wanted to set a good example by going in early.

After finishing the toast, he continued to argue unreasonably, “But you also kept me up late last night.”

Qi Wang chuckled softly, not arguing, “That’s true.”

He watched Yu Nian start to peel nuts again and eyed his coffee. He closed his laptop, reopened the coffee machine, and made another cup.

But when he brought it back, Yu Nian had already picked up his cup and taken several sips.

There was a bit of fresh cream on his lips, which he licked off, glancing at Qi Wang. He raised his eyebrows smugly, his pink tongue poking out to clean up the cream.

Qi Wang stared at him for a few moments, then slowly leaned down, lips close to Yu Nian’s, but not kissing him. Their gazes locked, and Yu Nian’s eyelashes fluttered, stirring up a small storm like butterfly wings.

Qi Wang politely asked, “Can I kiss you?”

Yu Nian almost burst out laughing, finding Qi Wang’s false pretenses amusing.

He leaned back, propping his arm on the chair back. He tilted his face up, his lips slightly swollen.

“Okay,” he said softly, with a smile that wasn’t quite a smile, “but be gentler.”

He paused, looking up at Qi Wang, his voice lowering even further as the tip of his nose lightly brushed against Qi Wang’s cheek, “You bit me yesterday, it hurt a little.”

This sentence delayed Yu Nian’s originally scheduled mealtime by over half an hour.

But he had indeed been exhausted last night. Besides cuddling for a while, Qi Wang hadn’t done anything substantial.

After lunch, stubbornly lying on the sofa for a while, Yu Nian eventually got up and went to work.

Qi Wang accompanied him downstairs to the company building. Yu Nian was about to get out of the car when Qi Wang grabbed his hand.

Yu Nian turned back, “What’s wrong?”

Qi Wang raised his hand, pulling Yu Nian’s shirt collar out from under his loose sweater. The stiff denim fabric of Yu Nian’s shirt had folded in half due to haste, tucked within his clothes.

But as he straightened the collar, Qi Wang still gazed at him, asking, “Can I pick you up for a date tonight?”

Yu Nian paused, mentally calculating today’s schedule.

“I have dinner plans tonight,” Yu Nian unconsciously gave a brief explanation, “it’s work-related.”

A barely perceptible smile flickered in Qi Wang’s eyes.

“I can wait.”

Yu Nian touched his nose, “That’s fine. Meet me at Xilu Kitchen.”

He didn’t ask where Qi Wang wanted to go; anywhere was fine.

Yu Nian took the elevator to the third floor, entered his office, set down his bag, and brewed a cup of tea.

His secretary had already placed the documents he needed to review on the desk. After a while, the secretary knocked on the door and entered, placing the guest list for an upcoming evening event on his desk for confirmation.

Yu Nian’s secretary, Zhuo An, was two or three years older than him. He was always steady and meticulous, with a gentle and reserved demeanor. He got along well with Yu Nian, and their interactions were not overly formal.

After exchanging New Year greetings, Zhuo An greeted him with a smile, “It’s rare to see you sleeping in this morning and not answering calls. I called two or three times and started worrying if something had happened.”

Yu Nian chuckled at his words.

He was quite surprised too. His insomnia had been particularly severe over the past two or three years, but it had gradually improved over the past two months.

Before the New Year, he had actually gone to see his psychologist again, who sincerely congratulated him, saying that he was in much better shape than before.

Yu Nian confirmed the guest list, “No issues.”

Zhuo An then handed him other invitations sent by various people, casually remarking, “It’s been a year, and you seem to be in a really good mood, almost as if something good has happened.”

Yu Nian paused his hand flipping through the documents. He looked up and smiled again, “Mmh?”

Zhuo An pondered for a moment, “It’s just that you seem to be in high spirits, probably because you finally took a break for yourself, and your complexion has improved.”

She smiled helplessly, “After all, you used to stay up too late.”

Yu Nian smiled again but didn’t say anything more, just saying, “I’ve ordered afternoon tea from Yurong Mansion. You guys can have it yourselves when it arrives.”

Qi Wang left after dropping Yu Nian off. While stuck in traffic, he replied to emails from his studio in New York, declined an invitation to an art forum, infuriating the studio’s manager who scolded him for being distracted by love instead of focusing on work.

He calmly closed the chat window.

Back at Yu Nian’s house, Qi Wang sat on the sofa and looked at the parting gift from the landlady.

He had only taken a glance at it this morning and didn’t expect it to be a photo album.

There were very few photos, only seven or eight, documenting Yu Nian from the ages of 19 to 25.

When he first saw it, Qi Wang almost held his breath. He flipped through the pages, watching Yu Nian gradually mature from youth to adulthood, seeing the innocence in his eyes slowly settle into grace and composure.

The most striking photo was one taken on a cloudy day in 2021.

Yu Nian had grown up, looking thin, with beautiful yet sharp features, slender fingers holding a cigarette, gazing faintly at the camera.

A bleak wind blew past his temples, and his gaze was even more listless than the winter day. Behind him, there was a faint morning mist, with the gray mountains faintly visible in the distance.

Qi Wang caressed the photo, undoubtedly feeling a pang in his heart seeing Yu Nian in the picture, yet unable to resist the beauty captured within.

Since becoming famous, he had hardly painted portraits.

But facing Yu Nian, he wanted to capture every moment of him.