Early the next morning, Shang Yichen, his eyes slightly bruised from lack of sleep, walked out of his bedroom. He had stayed in bed late last night, unable to get any rest, still waiting for a message from Zhou Yi that never came. This was the first time Zhou Yi had treated him this way, and Shang Yichen was furious. After only a few hours of sleep, he had woken up again, unrested.

With a groggy head, Shang Yichen made his way to the kitchen as usual. But when he saw the familiar figure busy at the counter, his heart skipped a beat. He blinked and opened his mouth to speak.

The person in the kitchen turned around first, greeting him with a warm smile, “You’re awake, Yichen. Good morning!”

Shang Yichen froze when he saw Gu Shuning’s face. The words he had prepared died in his throat. Zhou Yi was no longer in the apartment; the person in his home now was Gu Shuning.

This realization hit Shang Yichen harder than he expected. A strange feeling stirred in his chest, and he noticed a quiet sense of loss forming between his brows, a feeling he didn’t even recognize at first.

His disappointment was evident, and Gu Shuning, ever perceptive, noticed it right away but chose to pretend as if nothing was wrong. She kept up her considerate demeanor, “I made you coffee, and breakfast is ready.”

Shang Yichen forced a smile and replied, “Thank you for your hard work. What did you make for breakfast?”

Gu Shuning picked up a sandwich with cheese, lettuce, and bacon, “A sandwich.”

For a brief moment, Shang Yichen’s smile faltered. The weather had been getting colder, and he preferred hot meals like soup or noodles in the morning. If Zhou Yi were here, he would have made something warm, like soup noodles or steamed dumplings. Looking at the sandwich in Gu Shuning’s hand, Shang Yichen felt unappetized.

The smile remained on his face, but it was strained. “It looks delicious.”

Gu Shuning’s smile widened as she handed him the plate. “I made two, just for you. You should eat a full breakfast.”

As he looked at her smile, the expression on her face inexplicably reminded him of Zhou Yi for a brief moment.

Shang Yichen stared at Gu Shuning, his mind distracted. His Adam’s apple bobbed, and he forced a tight “Okay.”

Sitting at the table with Gu Shuning, Shang Yichen mechanically chewed the sandwich, the food tasteless to him. His mind kept returning to the thought that if Zhou Yi were here, he’d be eating something warm, something Zhou Yi would have prepared with care, rather than this cold sandwich.

Swallowing the food, Shang Yichen couldn’t shake the disappointment that gnawed at him. Why was he thinking of Zhou Yi again? He picked up the coffee and took a sip, but as his gaze moved across the table to Gu Shuning, a thought struck him. He noticed that when Gu Shuning lowered her head to eat, her facial features bore a resemblance to Zhou Yi’s—about four or five points alike. This made him nervous. Despite his reasoning that he shouldn’t compare her to Zhou Yi, he couldn’t stop himself from looking for similarities between their faces.

Gu Shuning noticed the intensity of his gaze and, to break the awkwardness, decided to speak. “Didn’t you sleep well last night?”

When Shang Yichen looked up at her, he felt a wave of hidden disappointment rise in his chest. Gu Shuning didn’t look like Zhou Yi anymore, not in this moment.

Suddenly, Shang Yichen realized what he had been doing—he had been looking at Gu Shuning through Zhou Yi’s eyes for the past three years. He had always been trying to see Zhou Yi in her face.

The food in his throat felt stuck as the weight of his thoughts hit him. He didn’t know what was wrong with him. Zhou Yi had only been gone for one night, yet he couldn’t stop thinking about him, feeling an unexpected sense of loss.

As his thoughts swirled, Gu Shuning’s voice pulled him back to the present. “I’m a bit of an insomniac…” he replied, trying to suppress his emotions.

Gu Shuning smiled, a concerned look in her eyes. “Why don’t you stay home today and rest? You don’t look well. I can stay with you.”

Shang Yichen hesitated. The idea of being alone with Gu Shuning had always appealed to him, but now he didn’t feel the same excitement. Instead, an unfamiliar sense of strangeness lingered.

“I have a lot of work today. I have to go to the company,” he lied. The rejection left a strange taste in his mouth.

Gu Shuning didn’t push. Her smile remained gentle, “Alright, you go ahead and get busy. I’ll wait for you here.”

Shang Yichen felt a pang of guilt when he saw her unwavering trust. After a moment of thought, he took out a card and handed it to her. “Don’t wait for me here. You haven’t been back to the country for a while. Go out, buy something you like.”

Her smile grew brighter as she took the card. “Okay, I’ll take you up on that.”

After sending Shang Yichen out the door, Gu Shuning’s smile faded immediately. She pulled out her phone, dialed a number, and typed a message before slipping the phone into her pocket. Holding the card between her fingers, she waved it in front of her eyes, preparing to go out and shop.

---

Meanwhile, Shang Yichen arrived at the office but still couldn’t focus. He checked his phone constantly, hoping for a message from Zhou Yi, but nothing came. He flipped through the old chat history, where the last message was a brief exchange from when Zhou Yi transferred money to him. Zhou Yi had replied with a simple “Thank you, boss,” and nothing else.

The messages he sent last night were still unanswered. The more Shang Yichen read them, the more his irritation grew. Before, Zhou Yi had always replied promptly, and now this silence felt unbearable.

He had never experienced waiting for a reply to feel so painful. The suspense was unbearable, and his mind filled with questions. Was Zhou Yi as anxious as I am?

Shang Yichen wondered, but he didn’t know. What he did know was that he couldn’t bear the silence much longer. He opened his address book and found Zhou Yi’s number, just as he was about to dial when his phone rang.

It was Meng Rongze. Shang Yichen answered impatiently.

“Are you free? Let’s go for a drink,” Meng Rongze’s voice came, full of sarcasm.

Shang Yichen responded gruffly, “I’m not free.”

“Right, you’re with Shu Ning now, must be busy,” Meng Rongze teased. “He made a surprise for you, didn’t he?”

Shang Yichen’s patience snapped. “How dare you say that? You planned it, didn’t you? You never told me, and now I’ve let him meet Zhou Yi.”

“Isn’t it a surprise?” Meng Rongze replied, almost mocking.

Shang Yichen sneered, unwilling to discuss it further.

“So, how did it go last night? Is that Beta still there?” Meng Rongze pressed.

“Let him stay in a hotel for now,” Shang Yichen replied indifferently.

“Ha, if he likes you so much, would he really leave?” Meng Rongze teased.

Shang Yichen paused, but didn’t answer. Meng Rongze continued, “He’s head over heels for you, but he’s not pestering you anymore?”

Shang Yichen’s silence only made Meng Rongze laugh louder. “What’s the deal with you and him? Just a substitute, right?”

Shang Yichen’s frustration reached its peak, but before he could respond, Meng Rongze was already inviting him out for drinks again. Shang Yichen wasn’t listening anymore. His thoughts drifted to Zhou Yi, and the realization dawned on him. He had been too quick to dismiss Zhou Yi, assuming that he’d be waiting like he always did, too much like a Beta. But was he really so sure of that?

Eventually, Shang Yichen found some peace in his thoughts. He shrugged off the discomfort and stopped worrying, convinced that Zhou Yi would eventually come back to him, because after all, he likes me that much.